IMMFBCG Chapter 64

Chapter 64: The Ghost Bride

 

The matters concerning the Yu family were just a small interlude.

Soon, Ye Xue and Yu Qi returned to Xuan Zhen Temple.

As the New Year was drawing to a close, Yu Qi became busier.

Most of the company’s affairs required his attention, and Assistant Zhou would often bring over contracts that needed his signature.

One day, Assistant Zhou came to the temple with a stack of documents for Yu Qi.

While Yu Qi was busy handling company matters in the study, Ye Xue was also occupied in her own room.

After drawing twenty talismans, she checked the time and went to the side hall to bring the cotton doll back, placing it by the window to bask in the sunlight.

A little while later, Ye Xue took out the Soul Summoning Bell from her bag and tied it to the head of her bed for easy use.

The Soul Summoning Bell was a gift from Yu Qi and was used to summon wandering souls back.

The bell originally came in a pair—one string was given to Ye Xue, and the other remained with Yu Qi.

Although Yu Qi’s soul was much more stable now, there were still times when his soul would leave his body.

When his soul left, it would sometimes remain near familiar areas or around the temple, but at times it would wander off, lost and unpredictable, even heading toward the path to the underworld.

In the past, Yu Qi’s soul would wander, and they would have to wait until dawn for it to return. But now, whenever his soul wandered, the calming sound of the Soul Summoning Bell could always be heard.

If Ye Xue noticed that Yu Qi’s soul was not nearby, she would shake the bell. Even if his soul was thousands of miles away, he could still hear the sound of the bell summoning him.

While signing papers, Yu Qi noticed a corner of the red string from the bell peeking out. He carefully tucked it back into place.

After a while, his gaze lingered on the bell.

Yu Qi remained silent for a while, so quiet that Assistant Zhou began to wonder if something was wrong with the contract.

Assistant Zhou quickly asked, “Sir, is something wrong?”

“Nothing.” Yu Qi noticed he had spaced out, gave a light shake of his head, and signed the contract.

Meanwhile, Xuan Zhen Temple was welcoming a familiar guest.

Bao Wenxuan placed all the spare change he had into the merit box, then after offering incense at the Sanqing Hall, he asked Bai Liu, who was frantically working on talismans beside him, “Bai Liu Daoist, where is Ye Daoist?”

Bao Wenxuan’s question caused Bai Liu to lose focus, ruining another talisman.

Bai Liu, who had been locked away in a room drawing talismans to meet the requirements of Bai Ziang, the head of the temple, had long reached his limit. Bai Ziang, seeing his son locked away in the room every day, decided to move him to the front yard so he could practice in the noisiest environment.

This had been draining for Bai Liu.

Although the number of talismans he needed to draw had decreased from fifty to twenty-five, his success rate had also dropped dramatically. What used to take a whole day to draw fifty talismans now barely yielded ten.

Bao Wenxuan’s interruption meant he was now further from finishing his required twenty-five.

He cursed quietly, helplessly taking out a new yellow talisman to start again. He also gestured toward the side hall and said, “Ye Xue Shishu is over there.”

Bao Wenxuan thanked him, and then sat down.

A short while later, Xu Zhou came over with two cups of hot drinks and handed one to Bai Liu, saying, “The master said you can stop drawing for today. You can rest now.”

“Yay!” Bai Liu quickly finished his drink, afraid that Bai Ziang might change his mind, and hurriedly started putting away the tools and talismans.

…

—“Knock, knock, knock.”

Ye Xue, who had been reading her notes in her room, thought the knocking was Yu Qi.

She opened the door, surprised to see Bao Wenxuan’s face. “What brings you here? Weren’t you just in Fengyang Village yesterday? I thought you’d stay there for the Lantern Festival.”

Bao Wenxuan smiled and explained, “My brother-in-law had to come to the provincial capital for something, so I came with him.”

He sat down and explained his purpose, “By the way, Ye Daoist, do you have any extra talismans? Could you give me a few? I have to return to my place soon, and you know, there’s no one else around except me.”

Bao Wenxuan’s residence was almost falling apart, and everyone else had moved away. After the incident with the evil ghost, Bao Wenxuan had been quite shaken. Having protective talismans made him feel a little more at ease, at least it would help him run faster when he encountered ghosts.

Ye Xue found a few talismans from her drawer and gave them to him.

Bao Wenxuan put them away close to his body, and then felt a bit embarrassed. “Oh, by the way, I’ve already placed all the cash I brought into the merit box. Can you give me your payment code? I’ll transfer the money via WeChat.”

He started reaching for his phone to scan the code.

Ye Xue smiled, “No need, these talismans are a gift for you. Besides, I don’t even use WeChat.”

“Oh, okay,” Bao Wenxuan nodded.

Before he left, he suddenly remembered something and said, “By the way, my sister asked me to thank you and Mr. Yu for them.”

Ye Xue was stunned for a moment before smiling, “Thank us for what? If it’s about the firecracker ghost, didn’t they already thank us in Fengyang Village?”

Bao Wenxuan scratched his head. “No, it’s about the road repairs. Didn’t you know? Not long after you left, Mr. Yu hired workers to repair the road in Fengyang Village. It’ll be done in three months. He also donated several buses to the county, making it much easier for people to travel there. And with your donation, they’ll also be able to repair other mountain roads. The villagers are all very grateful to you.”

Ye Xue was once again stunned.

She remembered the phone call she overheard when she woke up in Fengyang Village. Yu Qi seemed to be arranging something, and at the time, she thought it was business-related, but it turned out to be something connected to the village.

Yet he never mentioned to her how much he had done.

After Bao Wenxuan left, Ye Xue sat quietly in her room for a long time.

Until Yu Qi came in with dinner, seeing her lost in thought. He walked over and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ye Xue looked up at him.

Yu Qi had just placed the bowls and chopsticks down when she gently hugged him.

He looked down at her, wrapped his arms around her, and gently pressed his cheek against hers, repeating his question with deep concern in his eyes.

Ye Xue lifted her face and smiled at him, “It’s nothing, I just really like you.”

Yu Qi’s ears immediately turned red, and he softly hummed in response.

It was just past midnight.

The butler brought over a cup of hot milk and knocked on the door of Yu Minghe’s study.

Yu Minghe was still looking at recent project proposals. He gently rubbed his forehead, and upon seeing the butler’s figure, he said softly, “Zhao Uncle, you don’t need to worry about me, go ahead and rest.”

The butler placed the milk on the side and sighed, “Young Master, you should take care of your eyes and not stay up too late.”

Yu Minghe smiled and nodded, “Don’t worry, I’m aware of it.” He looked at the butler and asked, “Is Mother asleep?”

The butler replied, “Madam took her medicine and went to sleep.”

Yu Minghe felt reassured.

The butler didn’t disturb him further and quietly closed the study door before leaving.

Yu Minghe stayed in the study for a while longer. When he looked up, the clock was almost at 1:30 AM. He finally stopped working and left the room.

The lights in the villa’s hallway were all turned off. Yu Minghe used his phone’s flashlight for illumination. His mother had fragile nerves, and even the slightest light would disturb her sleep, so the Yu family had long gotten into the habit of turning off all lights in the villa late at night.

He returned to his room and turned on a dim light.

As he raised his hand, the talisman that Ye Xue had given him slid off his hand.

Yu Minghe paused and picked up the talisman. After a moment of thought, he placed it close to him.

He walked to the bathroom sink, turned on the faucet, and began to wash his face. Yu Minghe closed his eyes slightly, splashing cold water on his face to try and wake himself up.

But in the unnoticed corner, the cold water from the faucet began to drip slowly from the switch. When it reached Yu Minghe’s hand, the water, once clear, turned a dark, sticky red, resembling blood.

A red figure suddenly appeared, slowly approaching him, with long black hair billowing without wind.

Yu Minghe seemed to feel something gently brush against his earlobe. He quickly lifted his head.

The tap water returned to its normal clear state the moment he opened his eyes.

Yu Minghe stood still for a few seconds, staring at the empty, silent bathroom. He couldn’t shake the strange feeling lingering in his heart.

He wiped his hands dry and dried his face with a towel before turning back to his bedroom.

—”Husband.”

The soft woman’s voice seemed to echo in his ears. Yu Minghe woke up with a start, looking around the quiet room.

Was it a hallucination? He couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching him.

But there was no one else in the room. The servants rarely entered his room at night.

He wondered if he was just too tired, and his nerves had become overly sensitive, making him feel like there were eyes on him.

Yu Minghe sighed softly, reaching to press the light switch beside the bed. But as he turned his head and glanced at the mirror, his motion froze. A chill ran down his spine, and he was immediately struck with a bone-deep terror.

There was no one beside him on the right side of the bed.

But in the mirror, his reflection was accompanied by the image of a woman in a red dress.

The woman was disheveled, wearing a red bridal gown, silently sitting at the edge of Yu Minghe’s bed.

As though sensing something, the woman in the mirror slowly lifted her head and revealed a pale, twisted smile. “Husband, I’ve always been watching you…”

She gazed at him, her lips curving into a sorrowful smile. With one hand resting on the bed, she began to crawl toward him.

Yu Minghe sucked in a cold breath.

He should have left the bedroom immediately, but he found himself unable to move, his limbs frozen as he watched her draw nearer.

A sudden warmth spread across his chest.

Just as the woman was about to touch him, she suddenly stopped. Her gaze grew filled with sorrow.

It seemed like she was wary of something, unwilling to come any closer.

Yu Minghe locked eyes with her in the mirror, unable to look away. He suppressed the fear rising in his heart and, with the warmth on his chest, his mind began to calm little by little.

The woman bit her lip, and with a flick of her dress, she vanished.

Yu Minghe’s face turned pale, and he found himself able to breathe again. He realized he could move.

He reached for the light switch, and when he looked back at the mirror, there was no one there except for his reflection.

Then, Yu Minghe seemed to remember something. He took out the item that had been close to him and saw that the talisman had already turned to ash, half of it burned away.