VL Chapter10

The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, the night of the full moon, was the Mid-Autumn Festival of the Great Min Dynasty.

The southwestern region to which Jin County belonged had only been incorporated into the Great Min Dynasty a century ago. Its festival culture was not entirely similar, and being remote and isolated, many of its customs and habits had yet to be fully assimilated. Thus, the Mid-Autumn Festival was not a major holiday here, treated by the locals merely as a minor occasion. For someone like Yan Jiang, who had no household to manage and no family to gather with, it was all the more dispensable.

Today, he set up his stall as usual. It was only Brother Lin, who sold stuffed flatbread at the neighboring stall, who brought over a plain sweet pastry, treating it as a festive gesture. The pastry was filled with red bean paste; Yan Jiang took a bite, and the sweet, soft, sticky flavor spread across his palate. Perhaps it was what people often called the taste of home, but having gone so long without experiencing it, he felt nothing at all.

When evening arrived, he returned to the thatched cottage draped in the fiery red glow of the sunset. Surprisingly, the Ghost King was not cooped up in the bedroom as usual but was present in the main hall.

Shi Xiao sat lazily by the table, drinking alone from a white jade flask and cup that had appeared out of nowhere, filling the narrow hall with the rich aroma of wine. Seeing the scholar enter, as if suddenly remembering something, he sat upright, set down the jade flask, and summoned him forward.

Not daring to disobey, Yan Jiang set his book basket down in the corner and stepped forward as bidden, “What are My Lord’s orders?”

Shi Xiao had a tall, imposing build, and as he sat in the high-backed purplewood chair at that moment, he exuded an air of absolute authority. Even with Yan Jiang standing, he barely towered over him, remaining thoroughly suppressed under the other party’s powerful aura.

He did not dare to meet Shi Xiao’s eyes, able only to lower his eyelids and stare at the tips of his toes.

After a long moment, a flash of black adorned with gold trim entered his field of vision.It was the Ghost King’s distinctive, bony hand, two ghastly pale fingers pinching a tiny white jade cup and holding it steadily before him. The liquid contained within was faintly yellowish, sending a wave of alcoholic aroma straight into his nostrils.

“Fine, top-quality wine… consider it a reward from this venerable one.”

Yan Jiang raised his head in astonishment. Seeing that the Ghost King’s expression bore no trace of joking, he hurriedly shook his head repeatedly in refusal: “I do not know how to drink alcohol.”

Wine was a pastime meant only for wealthy households to enjoy; in all his years growing up, he had never touched a single drop of alcohol. What’s more, this wine came from the Ghost King’s hand and was of unknown origin, how could he possibly dare to drink it? Yet for some reason, Shi Xiao was in an extraordinarily good mood today. Hearing his refusal, he surprisingly did not take offense and calculating that the scholar would not dare to run, he even pushed the cup even further forward.

“This is a tribute that you humans present to emperors. This will be your only chance in your entire lifetime, so do not fail to appreciate my kindness.” He seemed to want to soften his voice to persuade him, yet owing to his status, the words came out sounding much more like an order, “It won’t intoxicate you. Drink.”

The warm, smooth rim of the cup pressed directly against Yan Jiang’s lips, moistening them until they glistened. Because they were so close, Yan Jiang could already feel the chill emanating from the other party’s arm. His knees went soft, and hardening his heart, he obediently drank the half-cup of wine directly from the Ghost King’s hand.

Upon entry, it was refreshing and cool at first, laced with the unique pungency of alcohol. After swallowing it down in a hurry, a wave of spirits burned from his throat down to his belly, only to strangely leave a sweet, fragrant aftertaste of peaches; it wasn’t actually as bad as he had imagined.

Yet seeing him comply, Shi Xiao suddenly found it unamusing. He no longer continued to make things difficult, waving his hand to grant the scholar his freedom.

This year’s summer was truly far too hot.

Unlike wealthy families who had all kinds of ways to seek cool relief, in a place like Jin County, most commoners did not even own a proper fan in their homes and had to grit their teeth through the entire summer. Yan Jiang did not need to perform manual labor, so he was relatively better off. Still, carrying his book basket back and forth every day inevitably left him drenched in sweat. Seeing that the sky was still light, he drew some water and retreated to the backyard to take a bath.

The cool well water washed over his body, dispelling the oppressive heat and leaving only a warm sensation in his abdomen, though Yan Jiang thought nothing of it. It was only after taking his bath and returning inside to tidy up the small hall that he gradually felt a wave of dizziness, his face burning intensely.

He took a few unsteady steps, initially intending to return to the bedroom to rest, only to nearly collide with the Ghost King standing by the window. The world spun before his eyes, his five senses completely numbed and scrambled by the potency of the wine.

The Ghost King said something and hoisted him onto the bed with one hand. He did not know how to refuse, closing his eyes and curling straight up into the cool silk bedding, feeling entirely weightless and light as a feather.

No wonder since ancient times, the frustration and heartbroken had always been so fond of wine.

In his groggy state, all sorts of chaotic thoughts raced wildly through Yan Jiang’s mind. Yet that cup used for today’s wine seemed to be the one the Ghost King had drunk from…

Not knowing how long he had slept, Yan Jiang’s heart suddenly tightened. A couple fractions of clarity broke free from his drowsiness, and he instantly became aware of a dull, throbbing pain in his head.

Yet his body remained heavy as lead. Without opening his eyes, he merely felt in his haze that the surroundings were dead silent; it ought to still be before dawn. He unconsciously buried his head deeper into the blanket, seeking to drift back off to sleep.

Without the slightest warning, a crisp gong clash exploded right beside his ear.

Clang—In the dead of night, the gong sounded immensely loud, its lingering reverberations repeatedly crashing against the walls, rebounding, and crashing again within the tiny space, endlessly echoing off the rafters.

It was all too familiar, the very beginning of all his terror that had repeatedly surfaced in his nightmares.

His heart skipped several beats, and Yan Jiang snapped his eyes open. Sure enough, five paces away stood that terrifying, rigid, headless male corpse, holding the gong with its body facing straight toward the bed.

Only after a pause of several breaths did the terror transmit to his limbs. Letting out a shrill scream, he scrambled in the opposite direction while wrapped in his blanket.

Having the Ghost King constantly before his eyes had actually rendered him not nearly as frightened of him anymore. But the bloody, severed neck of this male corpse was entirely different; the memory accompanying this male corpse was the moment Yan Jiang had thought he saw a ray of hope for survival, only to be dragged right back into the abyss of despair; it was a nightmare he could never forget in his entire life.

—And yet, in truth, this headless male corpse was no vengeful spirit, but rather Shi Xiao’s right-hand man, named Kang Yuan.

When Kang Yuan was still alive, he was a loyal and heroic civil official of the former dynasty. Because he died by decapitation under a foolish tyrant, his ghost retained the state of having his head separated from his body after death. Originally, he did have his head, but later he found it far too burdensome; constantly rolling off as it did, and since it didn’t affect his movements anyway, he simply stopped carrying it around, finding a ghost gong to speak in his stead instead. On the night of the upheaval in the Ghost Realm, it was precisely he who escorted the severely injured Ghost King to the Mortal Realm.

Tonight was the night of the full moon. Taking advantage of the Ghost Gate flinging wide open, Kang Yuan had evaded the surveillance of the false ghost master, Gui Feng, sneaking into the human realm to report the month’s developments to the true Sovereign of the Ghost Realm.

Right in the middle of his report, he was cut short by the human’s shrill scream. Both master and servant froze for a moment. Shi Xiao turned his head to look, only to find the scholar who had been sleeping peacefully just moments ago now completely huddled into the corner of the wall while wrapping himself tightly inside the blanket as hoarse sobs escaped his throat.

Kang Yuan “saw” it too. After a moment of thought, he tapped his gong hesitantly: “Your human servant seems to be afraid of me.”

Yan Jiang couldn’t understand it, mistaking it for a warning that his life was being claimed. Each clash of the gong struck against his fragile nerves, threatening to scatter his delicate soul.

Shi Xiao initially had no interest in bothering with him.

Just as he was about to turn his head back and continue discussing matters with Kang Yuan, he caught sight of Yan Jiang’s soul becoming increasingly unstable from his intense emotions, shaking loose and wasting a portion of his already scarce soul energy. At the thought of the food, he had so painstakingly cultivated being squandered like this, he couldn’t help but feel it a pity. Glancing back, he sat by the edge of the bed and reached out to pat the blanket, “He is this venerable one’s subordinate; what are you so afraid of?” At the same time, he activated the ghost energy embedded within the human’s body, preparing to knock him unconscious directly.

Yet before he could do so, in the very next instant, the human, wrapped tightly in his blanket, threw himself right into his arms. Shi Xiao reached out to stop the body that was about to roll off the bed, leaving their position looking somewhat like an embrace.

Looking down, he found the human already somewhat delirious; whether out of sheer terror or still drunk from the wine, the moment he grabbed onto a physical entity, he held on and hugged tight with total abandon. He seemed entirely unaware that the one he was clinging to was the Ghost King, driven purely by the instinct of a terrified mortal seeking to bury himself into something to draw a shred of security.

Shi Xiao was rendered temporarily speechless.

This cowardly scholar, who usually wished nothing more than to shrink into the farthest corner whenever he saw him, was now tightly gripping his shoulder with one hand and clutching his sleeve with the other while burying his tear-stained face into his chest; it was a truly bizarre spectacle. Anyone else, even the three-headed hound Shi Xiao had raised in the Ghost Realm from a pup, would never dare to be this intimate with the Ghost King.

In his heart, Kang Yuan silently berated the human for his audacious nerve.

Yet he watched as his ruthless, bloodthirsty master; the majestic Sovereign of the Ghost Realm, lowered his head to sniff the scent on the human, before simply allowing the human to cling to his body just like that.

—It was a good thing he hadn’t brought his head out with him tonight, or his expression right now would surely be extraordinarily strange.

Interrupted by this turn of events, neither master nor servant had any desire to continue their conversation. After hastily exchanging thoughts on the remaining matters, Kang Yuan picked up the small copper gong that was the culprit behind the chaos, silently turning into a cloud of black mist before vanishing from the thatched cottage.

Only then did Shi Xiao release his hand from covering the human’s ears. Lowering his head, he took another sniff; fortunately, the remaining nine-tenths of his soul energy had been preserved after all.

Yet because his soul was somewhat unstable, the fragrance emanating from the scholar today was exceptionally rich, lingering around the two of them without dissipating. Shi Xiao took a few deep breaths, feeling his ghost energy grow faintly restless once more. He dug the scholar’s tear-stained face out from his chest without hesitation, forcefully raising his chin.

He actually looked decent enough; the tear tracks on his fair, clean face wasn’t ugly, nor was he as disheveled as when they first met. The tip of his nose and the corners of his eyes were intensely red, adding a touch of vivid, captivating color compared to his usual meek, unremarkable demeanor.

Ghosts were not bound by the moral codes of the Mortal Realm.

Without the slightest hesitation, Shi Xiao lowered his head, pressing his lips against the scholar’s slightly parted mouth. His tongue slipped inside with an effortless curl, and the delicious soul energy, infused with the fragrance of wine, slid down his throat and was swallowed whole into his abdomen.

The scholar’s rigid body went limp in response.

Yet the Ghost King did not let go. Even having consumed the soul’s energy, he licked inside the scholar’s mouth for quite some time as if still craving more. His tongue was like a cold serpent, carrying threat and venom as it slithered through the softest depths of the human’s mouth, thoroughly gathering up every bit of the unique fragrance within Yan Jiang.

In the end, noticing that the scholar was nearly suffocating, he licked his lips and withdrew.

He had never used such a method to extract soul energy before. It was merely a sudden whim of Shi Xiao’s tonight; the moment the thought arose, he acted upon it directly. Perhaps it was because the scent of the soul energy, the wine, and the faint, unique fragrance of ink on the scholar’s body tasted exceptionally wonderful when blended together, or perhaps because seeing the descendant of the enemy who killed him able only to huddle in his arms’ seeking protection was truly entertaining.

Shi Xiao pinched the scholar’s tear-drenched cheek.

With a flash of red light in his eyes, he released a wisp of ghost energy. The human sobbing unconsciously in his arms finally forgot his fear entirely, sinking back into a deep slumber once more.