Chapter 38 Chapter 38

Chapter 38

1

The entire Chen residence was shrouded in a heavy, stormy atmosphere.

Before Mr. Chen even got to the main gate of the ancestral hall, a leaf from inside the courtyard drifted down to his feet.

His eyes were dark, his entire face shrouded in shadow, and his silent authority had the servants keeping their heads low.

The middle-aged man next to him held his breath, tiptoeing forward. Before he could even push, the main gate of the ancestral hall swung right open.

His face went pale, and he quickly lowered his head, not daring to look at Mr. Chen’s face.

A cold wind swept by as Mr. Chen stepped through the doorway.

Ahead, the red carved door swung open too.

Going deeper in, the loud sound of things breaking cut through the heavy, dark night.

The middle-aged man stayed with his head down, following behind Mr. Chen. The cold wind swirling around him made his limbs go numb, and leaves kicked up by their steps stuck to his pants. His eyes widened, and he shook them off like they were covered in acid.

The further they went, the more the carpet of leaves shocked him, against the dark clouds rolling overhead, making it feel like divine punishment that scared you to the core.

With a loud bang, the door flew open, and everything went quiet.

Silence choked the middle-aged man like death’s hand.

He carefully looked up and saw a small fire burning on the floor, with tons of memorial tablets scattered around. The flickering candlelight showed the mess, and the dancing shadows looked like ghost fires.

Just one look made his eyes burn and his mind shake. He quickly looked down, too scared to look again.

"Lin Chenxin."

In the silence, Mr. Chen’s rough, raspy voice cut through.

"Tap."

"Tap."

"Tap."

In the flickering candlelight, footsteps came down from the altar one by one, throwing long shadows on the floor.

"Bang!"

A memorial tablet smashed in front of Mr. Chen.

The middle-aged man shuddered, frozen stiff with a chill, too scared to move.

"Lin Chenxin, you’ve got some nerve!"

Mr. Chen’s angry roar echoed through the whole hall, the candle flames jumping with his rage.

"I should be saying that to you," Lin Chenxin said coldly.

"Do you even know where you are? Do you know what you’ve done and what’ll happen because of it!"

Mr. Chen’s eyes went bloodshot, his sinister vibe overpowering his noble look, showing a scary, vicious side.

Lin Chenxin tossed her head back and laughed scornfully.

"So what!"

Her eyes were even redder than his.

Fear, anger, disbelief—all these strong, mixed emotions pounded in her chest, drowning out her reason.

Right now, all she wanted was to burn this hell on earth to the ground!

"Fine, fine. Looks like you’re way too cocky, or do you think you’re the only Young Mistress the Chen family can have?"

Lin Chenxin’s temples pounded hard, the intense shock stirring up a fierce anger inside her.

"Cut the crap. Your Chen family is truly remarkable, treating a curse like divine decree," she sneered.

"Shut up!"

Mr. Chen’s eyes bulged with fury, his expression twisted and grotesque.

But Lin Chenxin just gave him a cold laugh.

"This is the curse."

She kicked the rolled-up scroll at his feet.

Mr. Chen stared at her, then suddenly laughed in rage.

"Do you think doing all this will make things easier for him? I told you, he and the Chen family rise and fall together."

Mr. Chen’s eyes were sinister, like a snake flicking its tongue in the shadows.

Outside, the wind rustled, sweeping large piles of fallen leaves to the threshold. Under the overcast sky, they looked like ashes carrying the breath of death.

Lin Chenxin’s pupils contracted, and she clenched her fists tightly.

"Take her away," Mr. Chen ordered, staring at Lin Chenxin.

Watching the leaves fluttering outside the door, Lin Chenxin’s fists tightened, her body trembling slightly as she let out a suppressed call.

"Chen Gujun!"

On the recliner, Chen Gujun opened his eyes, their black depths unfathomable.

The middle-aged man standing at the door looked up, shocked at the wind rushing in from outside.

The heavy, carved wooden door banged loudly, and the massive tree in the courtyard swayed its branches in the oncoming gale.

An overwhelming pressure, accompanied by the howling wind, surged forward, sending chills down everyone’s spine and halting their breath.

Just as the gale was about to sweep through the threshold, Mr. Chen, his back to the door, spoke calmly: "I won’t touch her."

The wind abruptly ceased.

The air was dead silent.

A single leaf drifted gently into Lin Chenxin’s palm, as if a distant sigh echoed in her ear.

—Come back.

Lin Chenxin pressed her lips together tightly, her eyes rimmed red.

She looked at the fallen leaf in her hand, slowly folded it into her palm, clenched her fists against her chest, and staggered over the threshold.

Mr. Chen turned around, glanced at the middle-aged man, then fixed his dark gaze on Lin Chenxin’s retreating back.

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth and straightened up, following far behind Lin Chenxin.

Cradling the leaf against her chest, Lin Chenxin stumbled out of the ancestral hall’s gate, walking like a ghost under the streetlights.

She passed the long corridor that had felt so eerily empty on her way here, went by the brightly lit pavilions and towers, and finally arrived at the dark, secluded entrance to the Junzi Courtyard.

Seeing the still figure standing in the shadows, she turned her empty eyes, and a sliver of clear moonlight glinted in her pupils.

She shuffled forward, one step at a time.

Then her eyes closed, and she went limp.

A long arm wrapped around her waist, catching her and holding her steady.

She clutched the leaf to her chest, a tear slipped from the corner of her eye.

Chen Gujun’s long hair cascaded down, shrouding his face.

He tightened his arms around Lin Chenxin, his pitch-black, sharp nails looking ready to dig into her skin.

But those terrifying fingertips only lifted, gently brushing away the tear from the corner of her eye.

It was both eerie and beautiful.

The middle-aged man stopped in the distance, not daring to step forward.

In the blink of an eye, the figure deep inside the moon gate vanished, leaving only the desolate, endless archway, where bright red lanterns hung, so vivid they ached with sorrow.

—

“Slap!”

Ms. Liang wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, her expression unchanged, lifting her chin to meet Mr. Chen’s angry gaze.

“I’ve thought about it over and over, but I still can’t figure out why it had to be you.”

Mr. Chen’s eyes were ice-cold, the dense blackness in them like the churning storm clouds outside.

Ms. Liang stayed silent, her calm gaze sending a chill down your spine.

Faced with Ms. Liang’s silence, Mr. Chen closed his eyes and gave a cold laugh.

The hand behind his back tightened into a fist, as if he wanted to tear a chunk of flesh from his palm.

After a moment, he said in a hoarse voice, “You’ve let me down too much.”

Hearing this, a faint flicker of emotion crossed Ms. Liang’s eyes, but it quickly faded into nothing.

“Tell me, why did you do this? Did I wrong you? Did the Chen family wrong you? Why? Tell me!”

Mr. Chen opened his eyes, their cold light cutting, as he stepped closer to Ms. Liang, demanding answers.

The anger and pain in his eyes were like a biting wind, turning into knives that cut across Ms. Liang’s face.

She closed her eyes, her lips quivering slightly.

But in the end, she said nothing.

The fire in Mr. Chen’s eyes went out instantly, replaced by a dim, dead night.

After a long moment, he stepped back, his eyes dull and empty.

“You can go.”

Ms. Liang trembled. She slowly turned and stepped over the threshold.

A cold, faint voice came from behind her again.

“Don’t leave the Lanting Courtyard for now.”

Ms. Liang paused, then lifted her head and walked out into the wind.

A strand of hair from her neatly combed temple came loose in the wind. She raised a hand and gracefully tucked it behind her ear.

Alone in the hall, Mr. Chen seemed enveloped by darkness, layers of cold, lonely air closing in. He stood motionless, staring intently at Ms. Liang’s slender, retreating figure.

In that moment, the proud, noble house became a prison.

But it was unclear who was truly imprisoned.

Perhaps it was both.

—

Lin Chenxin slept for a day and a night.

The sky over the Chen family never brightened.

The clouds that hung overhead were like a vengeful disaster, bringing a sense of despair and oppression.

The already silent Chen residence was as still as death, without a sound.

When Lin Chenxin woke up, she was leaning against Chen Gujun’s chest.

She opened her eyes and looked at the overcast sky outside.

The thin blanket couldn’t ward off the cold seeping from her heart, but strangely, Chen Gujun’s body, which usually had no warmth, seemed to radiate a faint heat.

She closed her eyes, her pale face bearing a silent resignation.

After an unknown time, a strand of hair brushed against her cheek. She opened her eyes and saw the withered, white lock. Her heart, which had been beating weakly, suddenly clenched tightly.

“Chen Gujun…” she rasped.

Chen Gujun’s chin gently rested on the top of her head, nuzzling her hair with affection and tenderness.

And his arms around her softly patted her back.

In that instant, she almost burst into tears.

She hated it—hated the sins the Chen family had committed.

She hated that she couldn’t bear the truth of it all.

She hated that reality was so hopeless and terrifying.

She also felt pathetic—pathetic that all her hatred came from her own powerlessness.

Pathetic that she was just an ordinary person, powerless to fight back.

Even more pathetic was realizing Chen Gujun had indulged her as she got closer to the truth, and his silence, knowing full well how it would all end.

The bitterness he couldn't swallow—he swallowed it all.

This place was truly awful—beneath the towering tree, the roots were rotting.

Now she started to understand what Chen Gujun had said from the very start.

—The seeds in the Junzi Courtyard would never grow.

She raised her red-rimmed eyes to look at Chen Gujun, reaching out a trembling hand to touch his face.

She wanted to cry, but her ingrained restraint wouldn't let the tears fall.

So, in the depths of her grief, she laughed.

That smile was more pathetic than tears.

Chen Gujun lowered his gaze to her, his eyes tender and stirring.

He had known where the end was for a long time.

Lin Chenxin knew it too.

That's why Lin Chenxin couldn't bring herself to tell him to leave this place.

Nor could she vent her resentment against injustice with a hysterical outburst.

Reason kept them both silent.

They both understood clearly.

He was a monster in others' eyes; outside, the world was bright and vast, but there was no place for him.

And his life was destined to end.

Lin Chenxin clutched Chen Gujun's clothes, burying her face deep in his chest.

She seemed to want to draw his faint warmth, or maybe to warm him with her own body heat.

At this moment, she just wanted to find her heart's refuge in their tight embrace.

Otherwise, the immense emptiness would become a gaping maw, swallowing her sanity.

By then, she didn't know what choices she'd make.

Chen Gujun gently closed his eyes, tightening his arms around Lin Chenxin.

But his strength was fading.

His gaunt chest only felt the hardness of bone.