Chapter 90

Chapter 90

◎It's My Constant Longing◎

Dong Xuan couldn't calm his emotions anytime soon. Even though he couldn't touch Tangyuan, just sitting there and looking at it was enough.

The slightly protruding tongue, the eyes that focused on you, the innocent gaze that was filled with you—every time Dong Xuan thought about how his Tangyuan was no longer there, how it could no longer jump on him like before, how it would never wag its tail to beg for food again, his heart ached with a sharp pain.

He reached out to touch Tangyuan, but each time his hand would pass through it, making Dong Xuan sob once more, "Tangyuan, my sweet Tangyuan, do you miss me? Tell me what you want. Do you want some meat? Or do you want me to hug you again? But I can't hug you anymore."

Dong Xuan sat under the next table, whispering to his ghost dog.

Chen Shiyi asked Jiang Lei, "Has he always been this sensitive?"

Although it was understandable that he was excited and sad to see Tangyuan, crying like this was still a bit surprising.

Jiang Lei: "He's quite sentimental. He can't walk past cats and dogs without stopping. Sometimes when he sees stray cats and dogs outside, he always thinks of Tangyuan, and then he imagines what if one day Tangyuan accidentally got lost and ended up starving and dirty like those strays. He could just stand there on the street and start crying."

Chen Shiyi smiled, "He really loves cats and dogs."

Jiang Lei: "He's even planning to study veterinary medicine."

Chen Shiyi nodded, "If he loves animals so much, turning his passion into a career would be a great idea."

Ji Nanxing, who was eating chicken wings, said, "He's not suited to be a vet."

Everyone turned to look at Ji Nanxing, including Dong Xuan, who was wiping his tears with a big wad of tissue, "Why?"

Ji Nanxing: "The ones abandoned at the hospital entrance, the ones abused until they're disabled, the ones with terminal illnesses that can't be saved, the ones that have to be euthanized—vets face the most powerless deaths. Not many people are willing to spend money on their pets' treatment. Some can be saved with ten or twenty thousand, but not all pet owners are willing to spend that much. The first time, you might do it for free, the second time you might dig into your own pocket to subsidize, but can you do it every time? Can you always do it for free?"

Looking at Dong Xuan, who was stunned, Ji Nanxing continued, "Have you seen people who have to put their beloved pets to sleep? Have you seen the despair of elderly people who treat their pets as their children but can't afford the high treatment costs when they get sick? Have you seen the hunched, helpless figures shielding their pets from the snow? Have you seen the guilt and helplessness of being entrusted with the responsibility of saving a pet's life, only to fail and be blamed by the owner? People with strong empathy and fragile emotions are not suited to be veterinarians."

Dong Xuan looked at Tangyuan, meeting its round dog eyes. He hadn't thought that deeply about it. He wanted to be a pet doctor because he had Tangyuan at home, and because of Tangyuan, he liked cats and dogs and wanted to choose a career related to animals.

But after hearing Ji Nanxing's words, he felt like he couldn't handle it. Just the thought of those scenarios made his tears well up again.

Xiao Ye said, "If you really love cats and dogs but aren't sure about your future direction, you can choose a related major first. Veterinary medicine is fine, but after graduation, you don't have to be a vet. You could open a pet shop, run a business to make a living, and also do some rescue work for stray animals. You can even treat minor illnesses."

That would be much better than dealing with the life and death of cats and dogs in the hospital every day.

Dong Xuan's eyes lit up, "That sounds pretty good."

Jiang Lei tapped the table with his finger, looking at Dong Xuan, "Now is not the time to discuss your future career plans. The question is why Tangyuan is still following you. Does it have some unfulfilled wish?"

After Jiang Lei said this, everyone turned to look at Ji Nanxing again.

Ji Nanxing glanced at everyone, "Why are you looking at me? I'm a Taoist who can see lingering ghosts, but a dog is still a dog after it dies. Just because it becomes a ghost doesn't mean I can understand animal language."

Chen Shiyi looked at the dog and then at Ji Nanxing, "Then how do you handle this kind of situation? Have you dealt with it before?"

Ji Nanxing shook his head. He had dealt with humans the most. Animals rarely have lingering obsessions after death because they think less and have simpler minds. Unless they were maliciously harmed and had deep hatred, like Tangyuan by Dong Xuan's side, he hadn't encountered such cases much.

After some casual conversation, Dong Xuan finally calmed down from the excitement of seeing Tangyuan. He waved at Tangyuan, "Tangyuan, come here. Do you remember your godbrother?"

Tangyuan still hid under the table, unwilling to come over.

Jiang Lei asked, "Do lingering ghosts fear Taoists?"

Ji Nanxing glanced at Xiao Ye, who smiled and handed a chicken wing to his mouth. Whether lingering ghosts fear Taoists, he didn't know, but he knew that lingering ghosts feared him. Probably because of the yang energy in his body, the ghost dog was afraid to stay close but couldn't bear to leave, so it hid under the next table.

After all, it’s a dog that he has raised for eighteen years, growing up together since childhood. Ji Nanxing doesn’t understand dog language, but Dong Xuan can understand his own dog’s meaning.

The boy and the dog communicated for a while, sometimes raising the left hand, sometimes the right hand. By the time Ji Nanxing and the others finished a plate of fried chicken, Dong Xuan finally said, "Tang Yuan doesn’t want to leave me; it wants to see me go to college."

He had been talking about going to university at home, worrying about what would happen to Tang Yuan if he went to university, and checking if his scores were good enough for a local university. Although Tang Yuan didn’t understand everything, it did catch the words "university."

Unfortunately, it died before Dong Xuan could get into university, but even in death, it couldn’t let go, which is why it became a lingering ghost and stayed by Dong Xuan’s side.

Jiang Lei said, "It’s almost April, and the college entrance exam is not far away. But having Tang Yuan follow you like this, I don’t know if it will have any impact on you or Tang Yuan."

Both Dong Xuan and Jiang Lei are high school seniors and will take the college entrance exam this year. If Tang Yuan’s lingering wish is to see Dong Xuan get into university, then it won’t be long.

Ji Nanxing said, "Young people have strong yang energy, so being followed by a dog doesn’t have much impact. However, Tang Yuan’s lingering ghost in the mortal world consumes itself every day. You can sustain it with incense."

Dong Xuan: "What kind of incense? Can I use the kind we offer at home?"

Ji Nanxing directly gave Dong Xuan an address: "Here, they sell incense specially made for lingering ghosts. The quality varies, and so does the price. You can choose for yourself."

Dong Xuan carefully noted the address and asked, "If I burn things for Tang Yuan, will it receive them? I want to offer it some food. Can it eat it?"

Ji Nanxing took out a bag of blank charms from his bag, asked for Tang Yuan’s exact birth time, converted it into the lunar calendar’s birth date, and wrote it on the charm.

"For burning clothes or toys, you can burn the items first and then burn the charm. For offering food, first offer the food, then burn the charm and sprinkle the ashes over the offered food. Just ten charms are enough; you don’t need too many for this kind of offering."

One charm costs a thousand yuan, plus two Heaven’s Eye Charms, totaling sixteen thousand yuan.

Dong Xuan scanned the QR code to pay and then noticed that Tang Yuan’s figure in front of him was becoming increasingly blurry. He panicked: "What’s happening to Tang Yuan? Why is its spirit fading away? Is it hungry, weak? Will burning incense for Tang Yuan make it better?"

Zhang Yuan smiled and said, "It’s not that its spirit is fading, but the Heaven’s Eye Charm’s effect is wearing off. Hurry up and talk to your Tang Yuan; soon you won’t be able to see it."

Dong Xuan checked his balance and said to Ji Nanxing, "I want to buy Heaven’s Eye Charms from you. I want to buy ten."

One charm costs three thousand yuan, ten charms cost thirty thousand yuan. Although he doesn’t have much saved from his allowance and New Year’s money, he still has thirty to fifty thousand.

Ji Nanxing directly refused his request to buy Heaven’s Eye Charms: "The Heaven’s Eye cannot be opened at will. Even if you buy the charms, without a Taoist to activate the runes on them, the Heaven’s Eye cannot be opened."

Upon hearing that he wouldn’t be able to see Tang Yuan anymore, Dong Xuan’s eyes turned red again: "Does that mean I’ll never see Tang Yuan again? You’re a Taoist; do you have any way to let me see Tang Yuan all the time? If it costs a lot of money, can I pay in installments?"

Ji Nanxing shook his head at him: "It’s not a matter of money; it’s just not possible."

If it were possible to keep someone’s Heaven’s Eye permanently open, the Taoists of various sects would probably all have their Heaven’s Eyes open. But in reality, there are very few who can truly see both the yin and yang worlds.

Dong Xuan thought that meeting a Taoist, a person of extraordinary abilities, they might have some special way to help people open their Heaven’s Eye.

As Dong Xuan looked at Tang Yuan, he couldn’t hold back his tears again: "Tang Yuan, be good. I know you’re here with me. Be obedient. When I get into university, you can go and reincarnate. Don’t be reluctant to leave me, and don’t worry about me. Mom and I will be fine. You... you should move on to reincarnation when it’s time. I don’t know if the underworld is packed with souls waiting to reincarnate. Nowadays, many people aren’t having children, so there might be fewer reincarnation slots. If there are fewer, just wait a bit longer. Next time, be reborn as my son, okay? I’ll raise you all over again."

Dong Xuan rambled on for a long time until he could no longer see Tang Yuan. Then he went to the bathroom to wash his face and calm down.

Jiang Lei looked at Ji Nanxing: "Let me add your WeChat too. If anything happens with Tang Yuan, it’ll be easier for us to contact you."

Ji Nanxing didn’t mind and was about to take out his phone when Xiao Ye stopped him: "Dong Xuan already has your contact. If anything comes up, he can reach out to you directly."

Jiang Lei wasn’t bothered by the rejection and just smiled: "Having a natural yin-yang eye that lets you see ghosts, does it cause a lot of problems?"

Ji Nanxing: "It’s fine; I’m used to it."

Jiang Lei was curious to learn more about this world, one that only exists in legends. Anyone would be curious.

Xiao Ye stood up and glanced at the two from Wugao High School: "That’s it, you guys do your thing, we’ve got other stuff to handle."

When Dong Xuan came out after washing his face and calming down, he found the place empty.

Seeing Jiang Lei sitting there sipping a drink, he asked, "Where are they?"

Jiang Lei replied, "They left."

Dong Xuan was silent for a while, then looked down at his right foot. Little Tangyuan always liked to hang out there, always walking on his right side during walks, squeezing next to him on the couch, and even sleeping at his right foot while he did his homework.

So if Tangyuan was around, he didn’t even have to look; even if he couldn’t see it, he knew Tangyuan was definitely at his right foot.

Dong Xuan picked up the bag on the chair and said, "Let’s go, accompany me to buy some incense. Tangyuan hasn’t eaten in a while, it’s gotta be hungry. After that, we’ll hit the supermarket. I want to buy some chicken breast to make a chicken meatball soup for Tangyuan, it’s its favorite."

Dong Xuan could no longer see Tangyuan, but Tangyuan could still see Dong Xuan. It followed Dong Xuan to the incense shop and then to the supermarket.

The supermarket was a place it only remembered after it passed away, when it was very, very small. Back then, Dong Xuan had tucked it into his clothes and snuck it in. Now, although it was dead, it could openly follow Dong Xuan inside.

Even though others and Dong Xuan couldn’t see it.

Tangyuan gleefully trailed after Dong Xuan, running here and there, then coming back to rub against Dong Xuan’s pants.

Seeing Dong Xuan picking out chicken breast, Tangyuan got even more excited. That was its favorite, loved since it was little, never getting tired of it after so many years. It bounced around Dong Xuan in excitement.

Tangyuan was so happy. Today, Dong Xuan had noticed it and chatted with it for a while. Although it couldn’t be held or petted like before, Tangyuan was still happy.

It was so joyful, even in death, it could still be with its owner.

The snack street by Wugao High was packed with tasty treats. They stuffed themselves so much they couldn’t even think about dinner.

Zhang Yuan and Chen Shiyi had to go home early, so they left ahead of time. Noticing Ji Nanxing was stuffed, Xiao Ye dragged him to the arcade.

Seeing another basket of tokens and a claw machine, Ji Nanxing said, "You know those dolls last time were meant for Xie Paner."

Xiao Ye replied, "All I know is, every time we snagged a doll, you lit up. Come on, let’s go grab some dolls."

Ji Nanxing figured such a brainless game was totally lame.

But when Xiao Ye dragged him to the claw machine, he couldn’t help but laugh.

The inter-school match ended with just bragging rights and no real prizes, but the topic lingered for several days, especially with various photos of Xiao Ye playing basketball circulating on the school forum.

Over at Yulan, they were hyping up the winner’s moves, while on Wugao’s forum, there were more screenshots of Huang Baining getting smacked.

Someone had gone out of their way to snap shots of Huang Baining getting hit, from various angles and positions. According to statistics, he was hit at least nine times.

On top of that, someone had collided with him, breaking two of his ribs.

Broken ribs aren’t exactly a walk in the park, but as a high school student, even with a busted leg, you still gotta show up for class. Huang Baining only rested at home for two or three days before being urged to return.

Back at school, Huang Baining became kind of a legend. Everyone walking by would sneak a peek at him, curious to see what this unlucky guy who was favored by basketballs really looked like.

If it were just that, things might have calmed down eventually. But in the basketball team, Dong Xuan directly had a falling out with him.

He wasn’t dumb; he could totally see what Huang Baining was getting at with Ji Nanxing that day.

From that quick chat with Ji Nanxing, he could tell who was solid and who wasn’t. Not to mention, he had sought help from Ji Nanxing regarding Tangyuan. Either way, there was no point in getting chummy with someone like Huang Baining.

The basketball team at their school was more like a club, complete with perks. So once he got back to school, Huang Baining checked in with the team. Even if he couldn’t play, the injury happened during the game, so it still counted as a win.

When Huang Baining got back to the team, he noticed that everyone was giving him the cold shoulder.

Huang Baining frowned slightly and looked at a friend who usually got along well with him, asking, "What’s going on? You’re not pinning all the blame on me, are you?"

His friend gave him a half-hearted smile, "It’s not that big of a deal, but everyone’s heard about you telling your grandpa to scram."

Huang Baining’s expression changed, "That was a ghost! If you saw a ghost, could you keep your cool and not freak out?"

His friend shrugged, "If I could see my late grandma, I’d want to give her a hug and call her grandma."

So he could kind of understand Huang Baining’s fear, but not completely. Putting himself in that position, it was his family member after all, provided it was still his loving grandmother. If she had turned into a terrifying vengeful spirit, he would probably be scared too.

Huang Baining’s face darkened as he walked into the training room, and everyone clammed up the moment they saw him.

Dong Xuan, however, smiled at him and said, "Thanks for that day. If it weren’t for your mouthing off, I wouldn’t have known there are real Taoists out there with serious skills. They even let me see my late Tang Yuan. Even though you started off with bad intentions, it turned out okay. I gotta thank you for that."

As if remembering something, Dong Xuan added, "Oh, and if you’re freaked out, you’d better keep your distance. My Tang Yuan’s still hanging around me."

Someone asked curiously, "Aren’t you scared at all?"

Dong Xuan replied matter-of-factly, "Why would I be scared? Tang Yuan was just a dog, but we spent eighteen years together. Even as a ghost, it’s still my precious buddy that I can’t stop thinking about."

Another person asked curiously, "Can that Taoist really help people open their Yin-Yang eyes?"

Dong Xuan said, "Yeah, but it’s pricey. A talisman to open your Yin-Yang eyes costs three grand."

Dong Xuan then looked at Huang Baining and said, "You probably saw your grandpa back in elementary school, right? They opened your Yin-Yang eyes so you could see your late family member for free, didn’t they? You got to see your late family member for free, yet you’re still holding a grudge and badmouthing them, causing drama."

Huang Baining angrily retorted, "What are you even saying!"

Dong Xuan put on an expression of not wanting to argue, "Alright, alright, whatever you say. The Taoist didn’t hold a grudge, so why should I be the jerk."

Then he turned to his basketball team friends and said, "Let me tell you, the talisman might be pricey, but it actually works. My buddy Jiang Lei, who you all know, saw it with me. Before Tang Yuan got old, I was always dreading the day it would pass, always on edge. I never thought I’d get the chance to say a proper goodbye to Tang Yuan. I feel so lucky!"

He wasn’t saying this to mock Huang Baining but genuinely felt this way.

Before, he didn’t know when Tang Yuan would be gone. Even though he kept bracing himself, when the day came and he saw Tang Yuan too weak to even breathe, still trying to look for him, it was just too much.

Now Tang Yuan’s gone, but its spirit’s still around. For Dong Xuan, it’s like he’s been given a set time to properly say goodbye. Even though it’ll still be tough to let go, at least this time there won’t be any regrets.

Seeing the whole basketball team take Dong Xuan’s side, Huang Baining stormed off, humiliated. He’d never been treated like this before. Since he was a kid, he’d always been popular and never been snubbed like this.

On his way back to class, Huang Baining was seething, convinced Ji Nanxing had cursed him. If Ji Nanxing could make people see ghosts, maybe he could also curse people.

Huang Baining also secretly regretted why he had inexplicably provoked Ji Nanxing. If he had just pretended not to know him, there wouldn’t be so many problems now.

But he was jealous.

Jealous that Ji Nanxing, who barely attended school, was still liked by so many people. Jealous that every time Ji Nanxing came to school, those who usually hung out with him wanted to get close to Ji Nanxing.

But those people only dared to watch from afar, too shy to even speak to Ji Nanxing.

In the end, it was he who approached Ji Nanxing. Rather than Ji Nanxing using him to blend in with classmates in elementary school, it was more like he used Ji Nanxing to establish his authority among classmates.

They all wanted to play with Ji Nanxing, to be friends with Ji Nanxing, but only he was the closest to Ji Nanxing, and thus he received more attention.

Over time, he forgot why those so-called good friends initially gathered around him, making him think he was the most popular in the class, that he was the one bringing Ji Nanxing along.

Later, he said that Ji Nanxing was unclean, that he could see ghosts, and even isolated him because of it. But in reality, Ji Nanxing only came to school to take an exam, attended a few classes, and then never came back.

Forget about isolation; some people even regretted not having the courage to approach Ji Nanxing and speak to him once throughout their entire elementary school years.

As for his attempts to sow discord and ostracize, it was merely a one-man show. Ji Nanxing wasn’t even at school, and few in the class responded to him. It was like punching air, making him look like a fool.

These were all cringe-worthy moments for Huang Baining. By middle school, he had almost reverted to his old self. The adoration he once received no longer existed, as there were more outstanding individuals in his class.

Even in high school, he clung to the older members of the basketball team. The basketball team was the most popular in their school, with tall and handsome members. He often hung out with the basketball team, acting like he was above the regular students in his class.

But this time, Ji Nanxing’s appearance brought him back to his original state.

Ji Nanxing was clueless about the complexities in Huang Baining’s mind. After their falling out in elementary school, this person didn’t linger in his mind for long. He was somewhat insensitive in certain aspects, never dwelling on unimportant matters, and could let go easily.

Besides, he now had other things to deal with.

Not long after Dong Xuan’s incident, Jiang Lei still managed to get his WeChat through Dong Xuan and added him. However, Jiang Lei didn’t contact him about Dong Xuan’s glutinous rice balls this time, but for his own brother.

His brother seemed to have either run into a ghost or fallen under a curse, as his body grew increasingly cold, and his illness worsened.