After Marrying the Lord of the Underworld

At this moment, if Chu Banyang were a peacock, then Lu Yingjiu would see his feathers all fluffed up, messy.

 

But humans were good at hiding their emotions after all.

 

Chu Banyang kept a straight face, his body stiff as a board, a mix of panic, tension, unease, and the shame of having his hidden thoughts exposed.

 

After a long while, he squeezed out a cold voice from his throat, “What nonsense are you talking about? How could I possibly like you?”

 

“Oh,” Lu Yingjiu had no expression on his face, nodded and said, “I was just asking, just in case. If it’s a misunderstanding, then I apologize.”

 

He jumped down from the railing and said, “Let’s go back to the classroom.”

 

Then, there was silence between the two.

 

Lu Yingjiu walked ahead, Chu Banyang followed with a straight face, several times because of too much tension, he moved his hands and feet together.

 

Heaven knows, since Young Master Chu became an adult, he had never been so embarrassed. There was no one around, but he felt as if the whole world was watching him. In just half a minute, his back was sweating.

 

He inexplicably thought of Chu Qianju’s words.

 

Chu Qianju said, “If one day you meet someone you like, you must express yourself straightforwardly. Always hiding, how would others know? I’m afraid you’ll miss the person.”

 

A strong sense of unease permeated Chu Banyang’s heart.

 

As they were about to reach the classroom, Chu Banyang blurted out, “Why did you ask me this question? Where did I give you such an impression?”

 

“Not really.” Lu Yingjiu thought for a moment, “Just suddenly had this feeling.”

 

He didn’t understand much about emotional matters.

 

And after getting to know Jing Xian, for the first time, he realized what the look of liking someone was like. Then looking at Chu Banyang, he didn’t know why, but such a thought emerged in his heart.

 

Lu Yingjiu said, “I just thought that even if there is a one in ten thousand chance that this is the case, I should clarify it with you.”

 

“…Clarify what?” Chu Banyang asked.

 

Lu Yingjiu lightly hummed and said, “I wanted to clarify that I already have someone I like.”

 

Chu Banyang stood still.

 

His face was almost astonished, standing there for a long time, unable to move.

 

Lu Yingjiu didn’t notice his abnormality and entered the classroom.

 

Inside the classroom, Wu Runzhi was still in his seat, talking non-stop to Fang Yu, as if he wanted to finish all the words of these ten plus years.

 

Fang Yu had become a ghost, automatically filtering out all the unreasonable things in his words, nodding and listening, and bursting into hearty laughter when he heard something funny. He patted Wu Runzhi’s shoulder, almost laughing to tears. “Old Wu! Where do you get so many funny stories!”

 

“And there’s more,” Wu Runzhi said, “I was on a business trip before, went to a foreign place, and only found out that a dish was made with bugs after I finished eating! Scared me to death… The game console you’ve always wanted to buy has also come out with the latest two generations, when are we going to play together?”

 

After saying that, he started crying again.

 

For a while, Fang Yu was laughing on the side, he was crying there, and outside a classmate accidentally fell off the window sill and died…

 

The scene was very chaotic for a moment.

 

Jing Xian looked up as soon as he entered the classroom and said, “Yao Gou asked me to tell you that just now two girls said they were going to the dormitory to play Pen Fairy.”

 

Lu Yingjiu knew as soon as he heard it, those two were definitely in big trouble.

 

The ways people in this class seek death were simply endless and unpredictable.

 

He rubbed his forehead and said, “Let’s go and see the situation, maybe we can save them…”

 

He and Jing Xian walked towards the dormitory building.

 

The dormitory building was quite empty, not many people, and most of them were black blurry figures, standing still.

 

Lu Yingjiu walked and said, “Did Yao Gou tell you the dormitory number?”

 

Jing Xian said, “On the 4th floor.”

 

They went up to the fourth floor.

 

The fourth floor was deadly quiet, no one was there, looking into the dormitory, they were all empty beds, not like someone was living there, but it was quite suitable for secretly playing supernatural games.

 

Lu Yingjiu asked again, “What is the specific room number?”

 

This time, Jing Xian did not answer him.

 

Lu Yingjiu waited for a long time without getting an answer.

 

Then there was a weight on his hand, Jing Xian directly pushed open an empty dormitory and dragged him in.

 

Lu Yingjiu: ?

 

Before he could react, Jing Xian had already pushed him into the corner and started kissing him wildly.

 

Lu Yingjiu: ??

 

He was completely bewildered, his hand lightly resting on Jing Xian’s arm, but he was powerless to resist, and could only let Jing Xian take over, forcing a few muffled groans from him.

 

Jing Xian was particularly aggressive this time, pressing him and kissing him for a long time.

 

Finally, it was Lu Yingjiu who groaned lightly and forcefully pushed him away a bit. Jing Xian reluctantly stopped, but still didn’t let him go.

 

Lu Yingjiu was forced to shrink between his embrace and the wall, his lips still warm from him, and laughed, “What’s wrong with you?”

 

Jing Xian didn’t speak, and after a while, he said in a muffled voice, “…I don’t know. But I was sitting in the classroom just now, and suddenly I felt very upset, the jealousy was gushing out like a fountain – just like the day you got married, waking me up directly.”

 

Lu Yingjiu: “…”

 

It seems that Vinegar Xian is working again.

 

Jing Xian said, “I was so sour that I couldn’t stand it, what did you and that surnamed Chu say on the rooftop?”

 

“Nothing.” Lu Yingjiu said, “I just asked him about Chu Qianju, and then asked him if he likes me… mmhp.”

 

As soon as his voice fell, he was pressed and kissed by Jing Xian again, emitting a few light groans.

 

It took a lot of effort for him to push Jing Xian away again, and Jing Xian said, “I’ve only been with you for a few minutes, and you’re already looking for someone else…”

 

“What are you talking about?” Lu Yingjiu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “I clearly told him that I have someone I like.”

 

“Did you really say that?” Jing Xian’s eyebrows lit up with joy.

 

“Why would I lie to you?” Lu Yingjiu reached out and touched his head, “Don’t be jealous anymore.”

 

Jing Xian hugged him for a while, and only then was he satisfied, saying, “I was thinking, if you didn’t make things clear with him…”

 

“What would you do?” Lu Yingjiu asked.

 

Jing Xian didn’t answer, his eyes drifting towards the bed next to him.

 

Lu Yingjiu: “…”

 

Suddenly he felt he was in danger just now.

 

He patted Jing Xian and quickly comforted him, “Have some trust in me, how could I be so scum.”

 

“I do trust you very much.” Jing Xian touched his cheek, “But trust is one thing, and jealousy is another.”

 

“Good, good, worthy of being Vinegar Xian.” Lu Yingjiu laughed.

 

After such a fuss, the two finally went to the student dormitory.

 

Sure enough, as Jing Xian said, there was a piece of paper on the dormitory table with the numbers 1 to 10 and “yes” and “no”, and the Pen Fairy’s handwriting had already fallen on it.

 

A black pen fell on the ground, and two female students huddled on the same bed, shivering.

 

Lu Yingjiu picked up the pen. “Did you invite the Pen Fairy?”

 

Female Student A nodded. “Yes, yes…”

 

Lu Yingjiu asked, “What questions have you all asked?”

 

Female Student B said, “We asked about its cause of death.”

 

Inviting the Pen Fairy, the most taboo thing was to ask about its cause of death, these two must have stepped on a mine.

 

Looking at their panicked appearance, they definitely didn’t send the Pen Fairy away properly, most likely they were going to be cold. The key was that they were ghosts to begin with, and Lu Yingjiu couldn’t do anything to change the illusion.

 

Sure enough, just as he was thinking about this, suddenly Female Student A exclaimed. “Ah! My head hurts so much!”

 

After saying that, her head tilted and she stopped breathing.

 

Female Student B also covered her head, showing a painful expression, and after a while said, “Ah, I’m dead.”

 

Then she died.

 

The bodies of the two turned into black fog and dissipated.

 

Lu Yingjiu: “…”

 

It was a wasted trip, he calmly made a call to Wu Runzhi, telling him that two more students had died.

 

Wu Runzhi cried again, hung up the phone, and continued to cry while holding his good brother Fang Yu.

 

Thankfully, time flies quickly. In the blink of an eye, the campus had already entered the night. The lights in the teaching building were on, illuminating the small paths between the schools.

 

Just one more day until the 24th, the day of parting.

 

****

 

Taking advantage of the students’ evening self-study, Lu Yingjiu pulled Jing Xian to Chu Qianju’s office.

 

The entire office was empty, his desk was clean, apart from paper and materials, there was nothing extra, just as cold as he was.

 

Lu Yingjiu opened every drawer, carefully turning over the things inside. The locked cabinet, he also demonstrated his lock-picking skills, prying it open with a bent paperclip.

 

After all, it was inside an illusion, there was no privacy, no human rights, everything happened in the past, so no one would feel guilty.

 

Jing Xian helped him search, the documents covered the entire table and were not enough, so they were placed on the ground.

 

As he searched, he became restless, approaching Lu Yingjiu.

 

Lu Yingjiu was sitting cross-legged on the ground, looking at Chu Qianju’s notes on the ground, when suddenly a warm person rubbed against him from behind.

 

Jing Xian was behind him, almost hugging him, resting his chin on his shoulder.

 

“We’re doing serious business, doing serious business.” Lu Yingjiu protested verbally, but didn’t reach out to push him away.

 

“I am doing serious business.” Jing Xian said, “Sorting files is the real idleness.”

 

Lu Yingjiu couldn’t refute.

 

After all, as an idol drama actor, Jing Xian really took dating seriously.

 

He let Jing Xian hold him, and they looked at the same document together.

 

After a while, Lu Yingjiu exclaimed.

 

He took out a completely blank notebook from a file bag.

 

The paper was white and delicate, with nothing on it.

 

But when his fingers touched it, his keen intuition told him that something was wrong with this file.

 

It had the fluctuation of a talisman paper, and the text should have been hidden by some kind of talisman.

 

He said, “Jing Xian, can you bring me a pen and paper?”

 

Jing Xian reluctantly let go of him and brought him a pen and paper from the table.

 

Lu Yingjiu took it and drew smooth and complex lines on the paper, gradually forming a dog-shaped beast.

 

He gently placed the paper on the blank page, and after a few seconds, the lines on the talisman paper began to flow and change, as if the dog-shaped beast was wandering and sniffing for clues.

 

Chu Qianju’s strength was remarkable, even using exorcism techniques from more than a decade ago, it was not so easy to unravel.

 

Lu Yingjiu waited patiently.

 

After about ten to twenty minutes, a dog’s bark sounded in the office.

 

The dog-shaped beast on the talisman paper stopped in one direction, making a sniffing gesture. Lu Yingjiu placed his left hand on that spot, made a gesture with his right hand—

 

On the blank paper, something like a ripple swept across and disappeared without a trace.

 

But at least, he found the weakest spot.

 

Lu Yingjiu estimated that with the strength of this talisman paper, he might be able to unravel it in half an hour.

 

Just as he was about to continue trying, a warmth came over his hand, Jing Xian gently covered his left hand and said softly, “Let me help you, I’ve seen this kind of talisman before.”

 

Lu Yingjiu didn’t know how a ghost should cooperate with an exorcist.

 

One side was full of yin energy, and the other side was dedicated to removing yin energy, it seemed contradictory no matter how one thought about it.

 

But Jing Xian somehow deliberately concealed his sharpness and yin energy. Lu Yingjiu only felt warmth on the back of his hand, an invisible force gathered in the air, and when he made the gesture, the ripples on the paper immediately showed violent fluctuations, like a tsunami, with waves surging one after another.

 

Swiish——

 

Accompanied by this slight sound, another round of waves surged, and handwritten fonts slowly emerged on the blank page.

 

[I have had many contacts with the Zhang family, and wanted to inquire about the ceremony, but when I asked about it, everyone was at a loss. My memory is incomplete, I can only flip through ancient books based on impressions, but I couldn’t find any clues.]

 

On the next page, there was another line of text, which should have been written after a period of time.

 

[The Zhang family and the Chu family often worship the Heavenly Way, with the Zhang family leading, the two families have held many ceremonies, among which large-scale ceremonies often use sacrifices, attached is a list:]

 

[In 1991, Yuanhe City, Zenglin Mountain, the Zhang family presided over the worship of the heavens, offering 59 ordinary talisman papers, 59 gold-plated talisman papers, a total of 118 livestock to be slaughtered, including 59 lambs, 59 piglets…]

 

[In 1988, in Lintian Village, the Zhang family presided over the worship of the Heavenly Way, offering 59 ordinary talisman papers, 59 strings of exorcism copper coins, 59 livestock to be slaughtered, and 59 incense sticks burned.]

 

[In 1985, in Xianglian Town, the Zhang family and the Chu family presided over the worship of the Heavenly Way, offering…]

 

Lu Yingjiu quickly scanned these records.

 

As Chu Banyang had said, the Zhang family believed that the number “59” represented the Heavenly Way, and their obsession with it was deeply ingrained, everything had to be exactly 59.

 

They firmly believed that once the number exceeded or fell below this, the Heavenly Way would be angry.

 

And the facts proved them right.

 

For those 59 sacrifices, the Heavenly Way accepted them all, blessing these two families with a hundred years of peace and prosperity.

 

In the early years, the Zhang family was wealthy and could afford to hold such frequent worship ceremonies even when the economy was not booming, each time on a large scale. Thinking of their decline today, their obscurity, it was indeed sigh-inducing.

 

Lu Yingjiu looked at the lines of text, and thought of the “1/59” written on the back of the photo taken by Zhang Nianyun.

 

A very ominous feeling emerged in his heart.

 

Jing Xian next to him was also silent, looking at the notes.

 

Chu Qianju had no memory, but knew that he was cursed by the Heavenly Way, and was persistently pursuing the Zhang family.

 

Flipping through the notes, they were full of his efforts to make contact with the Zhang family.

 

However, the Zhang family was very exclusive, outsiders could hardly pry open their mouths, and after the changes in the world, the family gradually declined, and in the past ten or so years, they no longer held worship ceremonies, and Chu Qianju could not find out why.

 

So nearly ten years passed, Chu Qianju was trying to recall the past while investigating, running all over the country. He clipped train tickets and bus tickets in the notes, which were densely packed when flipped through.

 

Finally, in 2009 – the year he died, he went to a small museum in the South Sea, where he flipped through ancient books and found the most critical clue.

 

Lu Yingjiu turned to the next page and saw what Chu Qianju had written:

 

[Every 200 years, there must be a particularly grand ceremony to worship the Heavenly Way. This ceremony is different from the daily worship, it cannot tolerate any mistakes, and each time the Zhang and Chu families go all out, spending decades to hold this ceremony.]

 

[The Heavenly Way was not satisfied with live livestock as sacrifices. After deliberation, the Zhang and Chu families colluded with bandits to steal 32 babies from the people, and then bribed merchants and officials to buy another 27 babies.]

 

[The two powerful families worked together, and it took nearly three years to offer 59 babies as sacrifices to the Heavenly Way in 1500, the youngest of whom was less than half a year old, and the oldest was less than five years old.]

 

[After the ceremony, the children either bled to death from their seven orifices or turned into green-faced, fanged ghosts. The wind at the altar was like the howling of ghosts and wolves. For three years, passers-by could hear the crying of children at night, hence the name ‘Child Cry Ridge’.]

 

The notes recorded shocking and cruel facts.

 

Turning to the next page—

 

[However, no matter how careful the two families were, the ceremony still went awry: among the 59 babies, a child with the surname Lu survived and disappeared afterwards.]

 

[‘59 offerings’ were not satisfied, the ceremony was not completed, the heavenly Way was angry with the Zhang and Chu families, leading to more than a hundred years of misfortune, almost causing the two families to decline and fall.]

 

[Whatever the Heavenly Way did not get, they must be repaid. The two families have been searching for the whereabouts of that child for a long time, intending to return him to the Heavenly Way.]

 

[Returning him to the Heavenly Way is the end of everything.]

 

There were a few more scattered sentences in the notes.

 

[In 2000, the Zhang family divined that the biggest ‘Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts’ in a thousand years would appear.]

 

[They were worried about the casualties of the ‘Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts’, and at the same time, they were eager to revive the family. For them, there was no time left.]

 

[Thus, I need to find Lu Yingjiu as soon as possible…]

 

The notes were finished.

 

Lu Yingjiu was silent for a long time.

 

So long that the minute hand on the wall clock turned round and round, he held the notes in his hand, his back straight, his fingertips wrinkled.

 

Jing Xian wanted to take away the notes, but he was unwilling and held on tightly. It was not until Jing Xian hugged him completely and soothingly stroked his hair that Lu Yingjiu’s body slowly relaxed.

 

He said softly, “I am that child, right?”

 

Jing Xian gently responded with a “Hmm.”

 

Lu Yingjiu was stunned for a while, then said, “For decades, there has been a saying in the exorcist world that the balance between Yin and Yang is becoming more and more chaotic.”

 

“I have talked with many exorcists and concluded that the increasingly frequent appearance of evil spirits and the increasingly similar Hundred Ghosts Night Parades are all due to the instability of the Heavenly Way and the collapse of the laws.”

 

“We spent a long time discussing whether there is a way to stabilize Yin and Yang.”

 

He glanced at the notes again and said, “We also discussed how to prevent the largest Hundred Ghosts Night Parade prophesied by the Zhang family. But now I understand what the best way is…”

 

“If the Zhang family finds me and continues the unfinished ceremony of that year, although it cannot permanently appease the turbulent Heavenly Way, at least for several decades or even a hundred years, the entire mortal world will be much more peaceful. Moreover, the declining Zhang family can get rid of the bad luck and start over.”

 

“So that’s how it is,” he murmured, “So that’s how it is, no wonder even the Chen family and Ye family know about this. They have been looking for me and monitoring me, just to exchange me for the family’s glory and the peace of the world.”

 

With a person who should have died, in exchange for wealth and peace, everything would be well.

 

With him alone, in exchange for everything.

 

It sounded like a very worthwhile deal.

 

But is this really fair?

 

From five hundred years ago to now, from a baby who couldn’t even speak and was used as a sacrifice, to the present exorcist Lu Yingjiu who was plagued by bad luck, has anyone asked his opinion? Has anyone really cared about his thoughts?

 

Lu Yingjiu’s heart was in chaos.

 

A feeling of nausea and retching surged up, bringing a sense of unreality, as if he had been living in an illusion for so many years.

 

Now the illusion was ruthlessly shattered.

 

He felt that his struggle against bad luck and fate was like a joke that had been arranged.

 

What kind of mentality did those people from the aristocratic family have when they watched him step by step becoming a top exorcist?

 

Is it disgust, fear, or mockery and irony?

 

In the midst of chaos, the setting sun completely fell to the ground, and there was no light between heaven and earth, falling into an eternal long night. The shadows quickly swallowed the curtains, swallowed the tables and chairs and the flowers on the wall, and drowned the densely packed notes spread out in front of him. The evening breeze blew in, chilling to the bone, dragging him into the dark tide, suffocating his breath.

 

Yet in this bone-chilling cold, Jing Xian still held him tightly.

 

He said, “Don’t be afraid, I will always be by your side.”

 

“No matter who your enemy is, I will tear them apart, crush them all. Evil spirits will devour them, let their souls be tortured in the fire for hundreds of years without dying, dig out their eyes as toys, crush their bones as ornaments, let their blood serve as wine, and the feast will last for ten years without stopping.”

 

“I will throw them into the wilderness, let the vultures eat their internal organs, throw them into the abyss, in mid-air, their flesh and blood will be cut into foam by the strong wind. Then make their skulls into bright lamps, illuminating the way to the underworld all the way.”

 

He touched Lu Yingjiu’s soft black hair, his eyes deep as the abyss.

 

After a gentle kiss, he laughed and said, “I am a fierce ghost, I can do anything for you.”

 

“So don’t worry, nothing can separate us, whether it’s time or death.”