IMMFBCG Chapter 58

Chapter 58: Experiencing “Hallucinations”

Because it was crowded and lively, everyone decided to go to a hotpot restaurant together.

Coincidentally, the place they went to was the same one that Bai Liu had taken Ye Xue and Yu Qi to earlier.

Bai Liu ran over to grab a few bottles of beer. Bai Guanzhu noticed his movement but said nothing. After all, it was still the Spring Festival, so a little drinking was acceptable.

The hot steam rose and momentarily blurred everyone’s vision.

When they all raised their glasses to make a toast, Bai Liu suddenly heard a voice saying, “You stepped on my foot!”

Startled, Bai Liu quickly looked down but didn’t notice stepping on anyone.

Then, as if he remembered something, he glanced to the side, where Ye Xue had cleared a small space on her right to place a cotton doll.

It turned out that Bai Liu’s elbow had accidentally brushed against it, which caused the doll to be upset.

Bai Liu awkwardly smiled. “Sorry, I didn’t see it.”

The cotton doll hummed but didn’t say anything else.

Everyone continued drinking. Ye Xue poured some drink for the cotton doll and even burned a talisman over it so the doll could drink.

The people from Xuan Zhen Temple were used to chatting at the dinner table. Bai Liu had been listening to Bai Guanzhu and Xu Zhou’s conversation, but he felt a little dizzy. It was so profound that he couldn’t understand most of it.

So, Bai Liu just lowered his head and ate.

But as he ate, his pace slowed, and he couldn’t help but glance at Ye Xue and the person sitting next to her, Yu Qi.

Yu Qi had several bottles of alcohol in front of him, but he hadn’t touched them. Apart from some shrimp that had been peeled clean, and the shrimp shells, he hadn’t touched anything else.

No one dared to encourage him to drink either.

Since Yu Qi sat down, he hadn’t said much. He was focused on peeling the shrimp shells and placing the peeled shrimp meat neatly onto a plate.

Bai Liu was surprised at how focused Yu Qi was on peeling shrimp, thinking to himself, “So Mr. Yu likes shrimp. I didn’t realize that before.”

Just as this thought crossed his mind, he saw Yu Qi place the peeled shrimp meat in front of Ye Xue, whisper something to her, and smile.

What surprised Bai Liu even more was that Ye Xue didn’t refuse; she naturally took it and ate it.

Bai Liu thought for a moment and then grabbed a shrimp, peeling it clumsily before handing it to Bai Zi’ang.

Bai Guanzhu, who had been drinking and talking to the staff, noticed Bai Liu’s actions. When he saw how poorly Bai Liu had peeled the shrimp, he couldn’t help but comment, “Did you do something guilty again? Trying to be nice without reason.”

Bai Liu was confused. “Huh?”

Bai Zi’ang, disgusted by how Bai Liu had peeled the shrimp, shoved it back into Bai Liu’s bowl, saying in a dismissive tone, “You should just eat it yourself.”

Looking at the shrimp back in his bowl and then at the nearly finished shrimp on Ye Xue’s plate, Bai Liu was even more puzzled.

Why did Ye Xue, Master Ye, accept the shrimp from Yu Qi so naturally?

Bai Liu couldn’t make sense of it.

After a while, Ye Xue got up to use the restroom. While walking through the corridor, she overheard two waitstaff talking.

“One of the lights in the restroom keeps going out. I even told the boss about it before, and they’ve changed the bulbs a few times, but it didn’t help. But now it seems fine.”

The other staff member whispered, “I heard that the restroom is haunted, so that’s why…”

The first staff member replied, “I don’t think so. If there were ghosts, how could we still be standing here? Plus, the boss never brought in a master to check it.”

When Ye Xue overheard their conversation about the restroom, she recalled the ghost she had encountered there the first time she came.

The faulty light was probably the ghost’s doing, and now that the ghost was gone, the light worked fine.

One of the staff continued, “By the way, isn’t Xuan Zhen Temple nearby? My mom said it’s effective…”

The conversation about whether it was a supernatural event stopped when they noticed Ye Xue walking by. They stopped talking about the restroom.

As Ye Xue walked past the two staff members and entered the restroom, she paused for a moment when she opened the door.

The restroom was filled with thick, cold air, and the moment she opened the door, it seemed to rush toward her.

She furrowed her brows slightly and turned her head to the side.

Two almost tangible spirits were standing in front of the sink, casually looking in the mirror. If it weren’t for their feet floating off the ground, they would have looked like ordinary people.

When the ghosts heard the door open, they both looked toward it, their pale faces devoid of any color.

Ye Xue tightened her grip on the door handle, casually closing the door behind her as she walked in.

Her expression was calm as if she hadn’t noticed the ghosts at all.

One of the ghosts, a seductive woman, curiously watched Ye Xue, eyeing her with interest.

Ye Xue kept her hand behind her back and silently made a hand seal.

The other ghost spoke up, “Xuanxuan, when are we leaving?”

The ghost called Xuanxuan lazily twirled her hair. “Later. I’m about to be reincarnated, so I want to enjoy a few more days.”

When Ye Xue overheard their conversation, her hand froze for a moment as she finished making the hand seal.

It turned out that they were ghosts about to reincarnate, so they weren’t here to scare anyone, just passing through.

The second ghost nodded and continued, “I heard that after he was punished, Peng Siyuan will be reincarnated as an animal.”

Seeing Xuanxuan’s blank expression, the ghost laughed. “The one who went to the 18th level of hell.”

Ye Xue was surprised to hear the name Peng Siyuan. She didn’t expect the ghosts to know him. From what the ghost said, his life after being castrated wasn’t great.

Ye Xue stayed outside for just two more minutes before finding a vacant stall to use the restroom.

Before she entered, she heard Xuanxuan’s lazy voice, “Oh, it’s that man who died and still tried to disturb his ex-girlfriend. What a disgusting man.”

When Ye Xue opened the stall door again, the ghosts were gone, and the oppressive atmosphere in the restroom had dissipated.

Ye Xue casually burned a talisman to completely dissipate the lingering cold energy inside, then walked out.

…

She returned to the dining table, where everyone else was drunk. Only Yu Qi was still sitting upright, with a composed expression, avoiding Bai Liu’s head as it tipped over and pushed him aside.

By the time they were ready to head back, it was already close to 10 p.m.

The others weren’t in any condition to walk back, so Ye Xue, worried they might fall halfway, called two taxis and had the drivers take them to the Cultural Plaza.

Fortunately, by the time they were almost at their destination, most of the alcohol had worn off, and once they returned to Xuan Zhen Temple, everyone went to their respective rooms to rest.

Ye Xue placed the cotton doll back on the small bed by the window, allowing it to continue absorbing the moonlight. Meanwhile, from the room next door, she heard some noise, as though something had fallen.

Ye Xue hurried over to see Yu Qi’s basin of water had fallen to the floor, spilling hot water everywhere.

He frowned slightly, staring at the water on the ground as if he were about to reach down to pick something up, but his hand swiped at empty air, and he couldn’t even grab a towel.

Ye Xue was surprised to see Yu Qi unable to find what he was looking for.

She called out, “Yu Qi, what’s wrong?”

Yu Qi seemed a bit slow to react, but at the sound of Ye Xue’s voice, he instinctively looked up at her.

He then slowly explained, “…I was getting water.”

“I know you were getting water, I meant… what happened?” Ye Xue began, but before she could finish, Yu Qi continued, “I was getting water for you, but…”

He looked back at the fallen basin. “…The water spilled.”

From his tone, Ye Xue could detect a sense of grievance.

She walked over, helped him up, and noticed that his face was redder than usual, the kind of flush one gets after drinking alcohol.

Ye Xue was even more surprised, as she was sure that Yu Qi hadn’t been drinking before she went to the bathroom.

At first, Ye Xue was the one helping Yu Qi up, but when she held his hand, he unexpectedly grasped hers tightly.

Yu Qi led her over to sit by the table, and then went to pick up the water basin.

“Yu Qi…” Ye Xue was about to speak, but he gently pushed her back down into her seat.

He took the basin outside, and Ye Xue, worried he might stumble and fall, followed him.

When Ye Xue reached the halfway point, she ran into Yu Qi, who was returning with the water.

She couldn’t help but laugh, so she grabbed his arm and led him to the gazebo to sit down. “Let’s sober up here for a bit. I’ll go get you some hangover soup.”

Yu Qi nodded obediently but insisted that Ye Xue sit with him.

He found a new towel, dipped it in the hot water, wrung it out, and gently touched Ye Xue’s face, wiping it clean.

Ye Xue didn’t speak, but she stared at him, surprised, though she didn’t rush to pull away.

Yu Qi moved carefully, using the towel to gently trace the contours of her face, starting from her cheek.

Ye Xue squinted and smiled. “Drunk, and still thinking about washing my face?”

Yu Qi silently gazed at her, then nodded, though his hand never stopped.

Ye Xue lifted her face to look at him, and Yu Qi’s hand brushed over her eyes, nose, and then her lips.

The distance between them grew shorter.

Yu Qi glanced at the towel in his hand, seeming to find it in the way. After cleaning Ye Xue’s face, he tossed it back into the basin.

Then, he leaned closer to Ye Xue. He aimed for her lips, but at the last moment, he accidentally kissed her cheek.

Ye Xue couldn’t help but laugh.

Yu Qi, hearing her laugh, looked at her in confusion, as if asking her what was so funny. Then, almost as if drawn to her, he kissed her lightly on the eyes.

Ye Xue wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer until they were completely in each other’s embrace.

Yu Qi froze for a moment, then quickly recovered, gently biting her lips and sucking lightly.

Suddenly, Bai Liu’s door was flung open.

Someone stumbled out with unsteady steps. “Uh… where’s the bathroom again?”

Bai Liu was dizzy, almost unable to tell which way was which. He walked towards the lighted area.

“Why is it so far…”

His voice grew more confused as he nearly tripped on a stone, groggily looking ahead.

Suddenly, he paused, rubbed his eyes in disbelief, and looked again at the couple standing close to each other not far away.

Ye Xue heard the noise and had already separated a little from Yu Qi, but the drunk young man didn’t notice anything and leaned in to kiss her cheek.

This gave Bai Liu a clear view of Ye Xue and Yu Qi.

Bai Liu: “…”

He slapped his face in disbelief, still unable to accept it. Trembling, he muttered, “Am I hallucinating from the alcohol?!”