Chapter 74: Reality: Rock-Paper-Scissors

Chapter 74: Reality: Rock-Paper-Scissors

Yan Qiling gently placed the frail Lin Yongjian on the sofa and instructed Pan Hu to call Meiya immediately.

Meiya initially expressed concern about the heavy rain making it difficult to drive over, suggesting that Yan Qiling order a same-city delivery service to buy stomach medicine for Lin Yongjian. She promised to send a driver later when the rain subsided.

Unexpectedly, as their conversation was still ongoing, the rain suddenly stopped.

Meiya: ...

Meiya: Teacher Yan, I'll send a car right away.

After hanging up, they all waited for Meiya to come and pick them up.

The car arrived promptly. Lin Yongjian, in great discomfort, clung tightly to Yan Qiling's clothes, refusing to let go no matter what.

Seeing his condition, Meiya clasped her hands together in a plea:

"Please, Teacher Yan, get in the car. We'll bring you back soon. We're quite worried about Teacher Lin in this state..."

Yan Qiling didn't resist and nodded slightly.

"Alright, I'll go with you."

Lin Yongjian grumbled in response, sounding a little aggrieved.

"Troubling Teacher Yan."

After outfitting the man fully, meya got into the front passenger seat. Yan Qiling helped Lin Yongjian into the car, but he didn't notice that the seemingly extremely uncomfortable person, due to his stomachache, shot Ming Yiyang a provocative smile when he glanced back inadvertently.

Ming Yiyang, leaning against the door, narrowed his eyes dangerously.

The young man's lips curled into a chilly arc as his voice echoed casually.

"Teacher Yan."

Yan Qiling turned around.

"What is it?"

The person nonchalantly dropped a bombshell:

"I'm scared to sleep alone tonight. Can I stay at your place?"

Yan Qiling chuckled and dismissed it with a casual response:

"You can stay. Ask Pan Hu to make the arrangements."

The smug expression in Lin Yongjian's eyes instantly transformed into shock and anger.

In the car, lying sprawled on the back seat, Lin Yongjian still couldn't comprehend Yan Qiling's unexpected intimacy with another person.

Recalling something, he pretended to struggle to sit up, using his frail appearance to inquire:

"Mr. Yan... um, Mr. Ming, is he... your friend... or...?"

Yan Qiling simply uttered two words:

"A friend."

For some reason, Lin Yongjian felt a slight relief:

"Well, you two seem to be very good friends... Yet there's not a single hint of it out there..."

"That doesn't seem to concern Mr. Lin."

The man spoke, his handsome jawline reflecting the cold light inside the car, giving an impression of a metallic texture, leaving no room for warmth.

Back then, just being in the same car with this person would have made Lin Yongjian ecstatic. He wouldn't have cared about the man's cold demeanor, and might have even been delighted that the man didn't show such aloofness to others.

But after witnessing how this person treated Ming Yiyang...

He could no longer accept such treatment.

Though Lin Yongjian felt aggrieved, he knew that anything he said now would only backfire. So, suppressing the roaring malice within him, he softly apologized:

"Sorry, Mr. Yan, I always want to know more about things related to you. After all, we're sort of friends, right?"

Yan Qiling remained silent, and Lin Yongjian took that as consent.

As Meiya came to support him, he heard Yan Qiling say to her,

"Meiya, next time Mr. Lin plans to visit, he should still give us a heads up. Otherwise, if his actions today attract paparazzi, it wouldn't be ideal."

Meiya's expression wasn't pleasant either, and she nodded repeatedly.

Lin Yongjian got out of the car silently. When he turned around, the driver had already taken the man away.

-

Upon returning home, the lights were still on inside.

Yan Qiling was changing his shoes in the foyer when he heard footsteps coming from the living room.

Ming Yiyang emerged from the living room, standing in the corridor with his shadow stretched long by the light from the side:

"Pan Hu has gone back first. How was the send-off?"

"The man's agent took him away."

Yan Qiling replied as he walked barefoot into the wooden corridor. The young man approached, bending down to fetch him a pair of slippers.

"Did you notice the train ticket on his arm?"

The tickets for the Train to Hell were invisible in the mortal world, unless one possessed extraordinary abilities.

Ordinary people who were taken into that realm would lose all related memories after their experience, only recalling those events in the Realm of No Return when they entered again.

Yan Qiling hummed in response and walked forward, slipping on his slippers. "But he doesn't have any memory of it."

Ming Yiyang followed behind, asking, "You're not going to remind him?"

"There's no need. I'm not taking this case."

They both entered the living room, where the coffee table had been tidied up and now held only an old, handwritten book bound with string.

"I saw it in your bookshelf and flipped through it out of boredom," Yan Qiling explained.

Ming Yiyang offered an explanation.

Yan Qiling, on the other hand, picked up the book and casually flipped through a few pages, not seeming overly concerned. "It records the incantations and their countermeasures that my ancestors from the Yan family, up to my father's generation, have encountered. I've been restoring it over the years based on my memory and other sources."

Ming Yiyang was surprised by the book's history. He had been wondering why this grimoire contained such a myriad of peculiar cases, including the mirror traversal he had experienced at the hotel, which seemed identical to the description in the book.

Ming Yiyang perceived Yan Qiling's thoughts. "You're trying to break the curse that leads you to the gate of death."

"Yes," Yan Qiling confirmed.

"Have you found a way to counter it?" asked Ming Yiyang.

Yan Qiling smiled. "If I had, there would be no need to continue restoring the book."

Ming Yiyang suddenly realized something:

"Could it be that the curse, apart from the Gate of Death, has other issues that make it so significant to you?"

Yan Qiling handed him the book and sat down, speaking nonchalantly,

"Do you know where those who claimed to love me have gone?"

"They've entered my Realm of Everlasting Torment. Although they obey me, they need to draw on my power to survive. As time passes, they will continually assimilate into me until they become an integral part of me."

Just from this explanation, Ming Yiyang could already envision several horrific consequences.

Yan Qiling lowered his eyelashes, revealing an uncommonly cold demeanor:

"They become me, and I become them. Until my personality, character, and interests are utterly destroyed, I'll turn into a mindless zombie, a dangerous monster."

Ming Yiyang fell silent for a long while. Eventually, he asked,

"Who cursed you with this?"

Yan Qiling didn't respond.

Midnight arrived, and the rain began to fall again.

-

Both of them, sitting in the living room, were wide awake.

Yan Qiling didn't need sleep, while Ming Yiyang found it impossible to doze off.

Even though they were no longer in the Realm of No Return, he still instinctively remained vigilant against any hidden dangers lurking within the rain when he closed his eyes.

After the breeze passed, it brought a chill into the room.

Ming Yiyang wasn't reading; instead, he held the wine that Yan Qiling had poured for him, sipping it intermittently.

The soft, orange glow from the lamp cast a warm, dusky hue, making time seem to slow down.

The young man's breathing was relatively normal, but the man sitting across from him, with a delicate brush in hand, recording something in an ancient bound book, was almost completely silent.

In the intervals between lifting his brush, Yan Qiling glanced at the clock and asked:

"Not sleeping?"

Ming Yiyang shifted his position, his voice roughened by alcohol, imbued with a hint of languidness:

"I can't seem to fall asleep. My mind is cluttered with all sorts of nonsense. Even if I do manage to sleep, it'll be hard to stay asleep until morning. Since I'll have to wake up eventually, might as well not bother trying."

"I have some frankincense. If you want, I can light it for you."

"No need."

The young man, lounging in his seat as if without a care, toyed with his wine glass. After a pause, he suddenly looked at Ming Yiyang.

"Since we have nothing better to do, let's play a game."

Yan Qiling completed the flourish of his pen, lifting it to gaze at Ming Yiyang with his slightly raised, enchantingly captivating peach blossom eyes, seemingly holding a question within.

Ming Yiyang proposed,

"Rock-paper-scissors. The winner gets to ask the other a question. How about three rounds?"

Putting down his calligraphy brush, Yan Qiling didn't decline the suggestion:

"Sure."

Before the first round even began, the young man declared,

"I'll go with 'Scissors' later."

Yan Qiling was taken aback, then chuckled.

They both threw 'Rock', resulting in a tie.

Ming Yiyang clicked his tongue softly but didn't comment further.

In the second round, Yan Qiling lost.

He wasn't bothered though; he lifted his delicate jawline and said,

"Ask away."

Ming Yiyang gazed at him in the dim light, his eyes filled with profound curiosity and unspoken desire. All gentleness was cast aside, replaced by an assertive edge that emphasized his intensity.

He sipped his wine unhurriedly, his gaze unwavering as it locked onto the person before him. His lips, now tinted by the wine, slowly parted:

"Do you prefer men or women?"

Beyond the curtain of rain, distant and dry thunder rumbled faintly.

Yan Qiling hid his butterfly-like eyes in the shadows, lifting them slightly with a hint of a smile:

"In matters of affection, there is no distinction between the two."

Ming Yiyang didn't press for more. He showed no reaction to this eloquent response, simply setting down his glass and saying:

"Again."

Ming Yiyang had won once more.

Yan Qiling remained as gentle as ever, awaiting his question.

This time, Ming Yiyang pulled out a small box from his pocket.

Holding the box in his hand, he seemed to be contemplating something. However, it didn't take long before he opened it and turned towards Yan Qiling.

Inside the box were two shimmering silver tail rings that emitted a faint glow in the dim light.

The handsome young man's face was bathed in an ambiguous oblique glow from the lamplight, while his pure black eyes were laced with golden threads reminiscent of the evening sky.

"Willing to wear the ring made by my sister-in-law?"

He paused intentionally, waiting for the person in front of him to respond before smoothly continuing:

"It's similar to a unity band, but it also has the function of Full Passage. When we enter the Realm of Endless Torment later, we can communicate directly through the tail ring, making any plans we need to execute much more convenient."

Upon hearing him finish his explanation, Yan Qiling finally nodded.

"Many thanks."

He slid the tail ring onto his left pinky finger.

Ming Yiyang did the same for himself.

In that instant, an indescribable bond emerged between them.

Ming Yiyang attempted to remove the ring but failed.

Looking surprised, he whispered, "I had no idea the ring from Sister-in-law was like this..."

Yan Qiling smiled and replied, "It's alright."

The atmosphere in the air subtly shifted, yet neither of them mentioned it further.

In the final round, Yan Qiling emerged as the winner.

The man sat upright, smiling warmly at him:

"You answered my questions sincerely, so you should answer mine the same way—what's the purpose behind these questions?"

Ming Yiyang toyed with his pinky ring, his lowered silver lashes resembling a butterfly dusted with golden powder, casting a gentle and melancholic shadow:

"I want to confirm certain things."

Yan Qiling gazed into his eyes:

"So have you confirmed them?"

The young man raised his wine glass, appearing unrushed:

"No, I need more clues."

Although they didn't cross any boundaries afterward, both were aware that something had changed irrevocably that night.

-

When Ming Yiyang woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.

The guest room on the first floor was closest to the courtyard, and he could hear the sound of water gushing from a hose as someone watered the flowers.

The splashing of droplets was so loud that, were it not for the clear blue sky outside, one might have mistaken it for another rain shower.

He instinctively reached for the cigarettes in his pocket, pulled one out, and was about to light it when he suddenly remembered that this wasn't his own home, but Yan Qiling's.

He put the cigarette between his lips and looked down at himself.

His young body bore both old and new scars, exuding a vibrant vitality.

But all of this was predicated on his youth.

Recalling the dreamless night before, he glanced at the time on his phone and realized that he hadn't been startled awake by any sudden noise throughout the entire night.

How peculiar.

It seemed that every time he slept at Yan Qiling's place, the quality of his sleep significantly improved.

Is it the bed that's the issue?

He reached out to touch the mattress, sensing that it seemed a bit harder than the one at home.

Perhaps he should buy a firmer mattress for sleeping.

With this thought in mind, he put the cigarette back in its box and grabbed his white coat, heading for the living room.

Surprisingly, Yan Qiling was the one tending to the flowers in the yard.

The man wore rain boots and a waterproof black apron, meticulously nurturing the garden with great care.

Ming Yiyang leaned against a nearby wall, observing him through the glass.

The scene before him was incredibly tranquil, with fine mist from the rain creating tiny rainbows in the air of the small courtyard. The man's appearance dominated the garden, yet didn't exude aggression; instead, it conveyed the gentle face of a loving father.

Ming Yiyang reminisced for a long time, realizing that this was a brand new, beautiful image for him.

All his imaginings of warmth and serenity condensed into this world beyond the glass.

Standing here, he seemed to become an integral part of it, empathizing with the warmth and basking in the beauty purely. If possible, he wished to experience it eternally.

Someone in the garden noticed him, turned around, and pushed their straw hat up with the back of their hand, revealing a slightly dampened face from the sprinkling of water droplets. They offered him an extremely subtle smile.

"Awake now, wash your hands and come to dinner."

They enjoyed a breakfast that was, for the most part, satisfactory. However, shortly thereafter, the man who had removed his straw hat now impeccably groomed himself and once again presented his fashionable and handsome visage,departing from this ancient mansion after the meal.

As before, he instructed Pan Hu to take care of him.

Yet, the moment the door closed, Ming Yiyang suddenly found the villa devoid of any appeal to him.

Declining Pan Hu's invitation to stay, he drove back home.

While waiting for the traffic lights on his way home, he ordered a few mattresses for himself, intending to try them out alternately.