After Marrying the Lord of the Underworld

Time flies in the illusion. Two or three pages of the calendar on the wall are torn off, and it finally arrived on the 24th.

 

On March 24, 2004, a bus carrying all the students of Class 2 went to a lecture in the city center. On the way back, the driver suddenly fainted on the coastal bridge, and the bus broke through the guardrail and sank into the deep sea. Only Wu Runzhi survived.

 

In these two or three days, Lu Yingjiu watched his classmates die in various ways.

 

Wu Runzhi had no choice but to carefully protect Fang Yu and Jiang Ruyun – one was his good brother, and the other was the girl he had a crush on. He was almost always with them, fearing that they would have an accident.

 

Now there were only four or five people left in the class, including Fang and Jiang. Wu Runzhi’s loving care was indispensable.

 

As a result, early in the morning, Wu Runzhi and Fang Yu had breakfast and happily came to the classroom. When they saw the calendar marked “24”, they suddenly burst into tears.

 

“Fang Yu!” he shouted, “You hurry up and play another game with me!”

 

“I can’t today.” Fang Yu said while rushing to do his physics homework, “I still have three pages of homework that I haven’t written, and I have to listen to that damn lecture in the afternoon. Where is the time?”

 

“I’ll let you copy my homework!” Wu Runzhi shouted again.

 

“No, I was found copying your homework last time, and I had to write a thousand-word review.” Fang Yu’s pen kept writing, “I don’t want to.”

 

Wu Runzhi was furious, and suddenly grabbed the physics homework and held it in his hand. “If you don’t accompany me to play basketball, you won’t get this homework back.”

 

Lu Yingjiu: “…”

 

It can be seen that Wu Runzhi is desperate.

 

Fang Yu: ???

 

He was full of question marks. “What are you going crazy about, why don’t I see you so active usually?”

 

After speaking, he still reluctantly let Wu Runzhi take him to the playground.

 

The next few dozen minutes, the two were playing basketball on the playground.

 

Lu Yingjiu sat in the classroom, bored listening to the ghost teacher’s lecture, and chatted with Jing Xian by the way.

 

Chu Banyang and Yao Gou didn’t know where they went, they might be wandering around the school, and the classroom was empty.

 

As he listened, Lu Yingjiu became distracted.

 

Chu Qianju, Zhang Family, Chu Family, Heavenly Way and Sacrificial Ceremony…

 

Those words lingered in his heart, like dark clouds that couldn’t be dispersed.

 

He thought of his mother, Zhuang Xueduo’s years of hard work – running around, finding different exorcists to dispel his bad luck. He had no playmates since he was a child, living in fear, and had a lonely childhood.

 

He originally thought that the reason why he had such amazing exorcist talent was a compensation from fate, compensating for his unusual constitution.

 

But now someone told him that everything was man-made.

 

The compensation he thought he should have had, and only bad luck was imposed on him. Now those so-called families were still obsessed with that unfinished ceremony, wanting to return him to Heavenly Way.

 

Lu Yingjiu thought so, and there was an indelible gloom between his beautiful eyebrows.

 

The ghost teacher was still on the podium, eloquent and incessant, and Jing Xian next to him gently touched his elbow.

 

“What’s wrong?” Lu Yingjiu asked, turning his head.

 

He couldn’t help but relax his eyebrows and eyes, almost subconsciously, throwing those chaotic thoughts behind his head.

 

“I drew our wedding photo.” Jing Xian showed him the notebook.

 

On it were two stick figures standing hand in hand, showing a poor smile. Behind them was a messy thing like a ball of yarn, Lu Yingjiu suspected it was the sea.

 

Lu Yingjiu: “…Are you doing this kind of thing in class?”

 

“Not really,” Jing Xian said, “I’ve been staring at you for a long time, but you never looked at me.”

 

“Listen to the class well,” Lu Yingjiu teased, “There are no schools in the ghost world, right? Don’t you study hard?”

 

The ghost teacher coughed on the stage. “The students below, don’t whisper.”

 

Jing Xian didn’t care at all, quietly held Lu Yingjiu’s hand under the desk, and whispered. “What else do you want to see, I will draw it for you.”

 

Lu Yingjiu thought for a while. “Aren’t you the Ghost King? You should have a lot of subordinates, draw them for me to see.”

 

Jing Xian complied, and after stuffing Lu Yingjiu with a few packs of snacks, he held his hand with his left hand and drew with his right hand.

 

Every time he finished drawing one, he showed it to Lu Yingjiu.

 

“This is the Night Travel God.”

 

A stick figure’s mouth spits out long lines – Lu Yingjiu guessed that was his tongue, flying and rolling in the air.

 

“This is Black and White impermanence.”

 

Two stick figures without feet, floating in the air, one with a black head and the other with a white head, looking a bit scary.

 

“This is Niu Tou and Ma Mian.” (TL: Buddhism says that there are two ghosts in hell, one with a head like a cow and the other with a face like a horse.)

 

Two stick figures with polygonal heads appeared, and Lu Yingjiu couldn’t tell which one was the cow and which one was the horse.

 

Jing Xian drew a few more in succession.

 

Without his explanation, Lu Yingjiu wouldn’t recognize any of them.

 

As he drew, Jing Xian moved closer and closer to him. Lu Yingjiu was sitting by the window and had nowhere to hide, so the two of them were almost squeezed together.

 

Lu Yingjiu whispered, “What are you leaning over for?”

 

“Other couples in class are like this too, they even hug each other.” Jing Xian said.

 

Lu Yingjiu: “I’ve never seen such a blatant couple. And why do you have to hold my hand? You’ve been holding it for more than ten minutes.”

 

He wanted to withdraw his right hand, but Jing Xian didn’t want to, and he intensified his efforts to rub against him—

 

Snap!

 

The teacher on the stage slapped the table and said angrily, “What’s going on with you two?! Do you think I don’t exist?! Even if you are two male students, you can’t hug each other like this!”

 

Lu Yingjiu pushed Jing Xian away forcefully. “See, the teacher has an opinion! There are people all around!”

 

“They are just ghosts, they have no consciousness.” Jing Xian hugged his waist, rubbed his neck contentedly, smelling the faint fragrance in his hair, “Let’s skip class and go to a deserted corner to get intimate…”

 

“Stop! Listen to the class!” The teacher shouted again.

 

Jing Xian raised his hand, and a book on the table was lifted by the cold wind. The book, with a harsh wind-breaking sound, spun and flew out and hit the teacher, directly turning him into a cloud of black fog, dissipating in the air.

 

Lu Yingjiu: “…Too violent.”

 

The surrounding students cheered again.

 

Then they happily ended the class early, and not a single ghost cared about their teacher.

 

Lu Yingjiu looked out the window, the remaining few male students joined Wu Runzhi and Fang Yu’s basketball game, and the playground suddenly became lively.

 

Jiang Ruoyun, dressed in a refreshing white dress, holding a bottle of drink, was still standing on the edge of the basketball court, waiting for Wu Runzhi’s game to end.

 

She brushed the broken hair by her ear, and her eyebrows were full of the pure beauty of a teenager.

 

The classroom was empty.

 

Jing Xian got his wish and hugged Lu Yingjiu, kissing him several times on the face.

 

Lu Yingjiu let him start playing rogue again, leaning against the corner to take a nap, and was pulled over by Jing Xian to rest on his shoulder.

 

“You sleep peacefully!” he promised, “I’m here.”

 

Lu Yingjiu pushed away his hand that was almost going into his clothes, and muttered, “It’s because you’re here that I’m not at ease.”

 

Jing Xian chuckled.

 

Lu Yingjiu fell asleep in a daze.

 

It was unknown how long it took, Wu Runzhi finally brought a group of good brothers back to the classroom.

 

He was originally sweaty and excited, but when he saw the calendar on the wall, he started crying again.

 

He cried and shouted, “You must not get on that bus this afternoon! Don’t go to that crappy lecture!”

 

A group of ghosts laughed and joked with him, completely ignoring his warning.

 

Wu Runzhi cried for a while, and sat blankly in his seat.

 

Jiang Ruoyun was sitting next to him, looking at him, as if she wanted to say something.

 

Wu Runzhi turned his head, grabbed her hand and asked, “I’ve asked you many times, but I want to ask again, do you have any wishes?”

 

“…Wishes?” Jiang Ruoyun thought for a while, “To get into a good university?”

 

“No, no.” Wu Runzhi was anxious, “Didn’t you call me back in my dreams? There must be something you want to tell me, right? You want me to help you, right? Today is the last day, if you don’t say it, there will be no chance!”

 

Jiang Ruoyun was still quiet, looking down.

 

She tilted her head in confusion and said softly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

 

Wu Runzhi grabbed a few more people and continued to ask, but to no avail.

 

Lu Yingjiu looked at him and said, “Don’t you have any guesses?”

 

“I really don’t.” Wu Runzhi was almost distraught, “If they don’t tell me, how could I possibly know? I’m about to never see them again.”

 

Just by closing his eyes, he could recall everything that happened.

 

In fact, that scene often appeared in his nightmares.

 

On the bus returning from the city center, carrying a bus full of sleepy students, no one thought that disaster would fall on them.

 

Boom!!

 

A loud noise came, followed by a terrifying sense of weightlessness. Screams exploded in Wu Runzhi’s ears, the world spun, the bus broke through the guardrail, and they finally plunged into the cold sea.

 

The bus window shattered, and the heavy seawater rushed in, pouring into their mouths and noses. Wu Runzhi was a good swimmer, but at that moment, he was still pressed hard in the bus by the water pressure and could not move. It was only when the bus was filled with water that he could barely start to move—

 

But he was too panicked.

 

The surroundings were dim, like falling into an abyss, he couldn’t see anything, and even couldn’t find the exit among the struggling people. The bone-chilling temperature of the seawater was like maggots, sharply drilling into his bones.

 

[Where is the window?]

 

[It’s so dark around, am I going to die?]

 

[I want to breathe, I want to breathe, I want to breathe…]

 

In the confusion, there was a strong force on his collar, someone was trying to pull him in one direction.

 

It’s extremely difficult to exert force in the water. Even the most professional rescuers have to be careful not to be entangled by the panicked drowning person and suffocate together.

 

Like most drowning people, Wu Runzhi instinctively flailed.

 

Until a beam of light shone on his face.

 

—Looking back, it was this light that gave him the courage to calm down.

 

His mind miraculously calmed down a bit, struggling in the direction the person was pulling him, and he actually touched a hard object.

 

That was the window frame of the bus.

 

The window frame was still lined with a circle of jagged broken glass. When Wu Runzhi grabbed it tightly, blood immediately spread. But he couldn’t feel the pain at all, he clung to the window frame and swam out with all his might.

 

He first escaped from the bus, then left the light of the flashlight.

 

The road to the surface was very long. In the darkness, he could hardly feel any direction, he could only instinctively go up. His lungs were so painful that they were about to explode, his heart was pounding, and he barely squeezed a little oxygen from his blood vessels…

 

“Ha——!”

 

The second he poked his head out, he let out a terrifying gasp.

 

His head was splitting, he was like a lone boat in the swaying waves, a few strands of black hair stuck to his ears, but oxygen finally filled his lungs.

 

After his consciousness slowly woke up, he looked around the dark sea.

 

There was only him.

 

Those teenagers disappeared in the waves with a beautiful dream.

 

They drowned in the sea, leaving a lonely Wu Runzhi.

 

“……”

 

At this moment, in the classroom with bright sunshine, Wu Runzhi held his head in both hands.

 

It took a long time for him to say, “I remembered later, actually, under the light of the flashlight, I saw the person who was pulling me.”

 

“It was Fang Yu who pulled me in that direction.”

 

“He just bought that flashlight, saying that he was going to venture into the teaching building at night to steal his confiscated mobile phone. All the way, I watched him study the flashlight, turning it on and off.”

 

Wu Runzhi smiled bitterly, “His swimming skills are much better than mine, I know. But why, in the end, I escaped, but he didn’t?”

 

Lu Yingjiu said, “Luck is also a very important factor.”

 

“Maybe it’s luck.” Wu Runzhi still smiled bitterly, “But I’ve been thinking, if he didn’t try to pull me towards the window that day, if he didn’t spend that effort and time, maybe he could have survived…”

 

He rubbed his face, “There’s one more thing, I haven’t told you guys.”

 

“I didn’t take the college entrance examination afterwards, nor the second year, nor the third year. I never took the college entrance examination again, I just came out to work directly.”

 

“My relationship with my family is very bad, and I haven’t been in contact for a long time. During that time, I couldn’t sleep at all. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the sea and my struggling friends. I took medication, took antidepressants for a long time, and had countless thoughts of suicide.”

 

His spirit began to falter.

 

Lu Yingjiu saw that there was a faint black fog around him.

 

People who have this kind of black fog often have extremely poor mental states and weak survival instincts. This also makes them prone to encountering ghosts.

 

However, since Wu Runzhi mentioned that he had suicidal tendencies…

 

Lu Yingjiu asked, “I want to ask you a rather personal question. Have you had suicidal thoughts recently?”

 

Wu Runzhi was stunned, “I always have, but…”

 

He hesitated for a moment.

 

After all, it takes courage to speak out about such personal emotions.

 

A few seconds later, he continued, “I’ve been under a lot of pressure at work recently, and there are problems at home. I’ve been on the rooftop three or four times in the past two months, maybe more, I don’t remember. Each time, I was just one step away, just one step away, and I could end it all. Maybe this period is really the worst time for me.”

 

Lu Yingjiu said, “And you dreamt of your classmates in the past two months?”

 

“Yes,” Wu Runzhi nodded, “If it weren’t for this dream… if it weren’t for my desire to see them again, to go back to school and see if they have any wishes, I might have jumped already.”

 

Lu Yingjiu thought for a moment, “Then it’s possible that these ghosts called you back, not because they wanted you to help them fulfill their wishes.”

 

“What else could it be?” Wu Runzhi was stunned.

 

As soon as his voice fell, the bell rang in the corridor.

 

The afternoon class was about to begin.

 

But their class didn’t have to attend class in the afternoon, and in half an hour, everyone would board that bus.

 

Although many students in Class 2 died, a few survived, preventing this illusion from ending prematurely.

 

And that was enough.

 

They had waited for the end of the story.

 

As the bell rang, the entire illusion began to change constantly, the building was twisting, the clock was melting, the flowers on the windowsill bloomed and withered… and in the classroom, the books were piled high, the water bottle reflected the bright sunshine. The desk was spread with books, pens, and countless unfinished test papers, as if his classmates had just left their seats and would be back soon.

 

The black fog in the air was gathering, constantly converging into those dead classmates.

 

In less than three or four seconds, the empty classroom was crowded with people.

 

The blackboard was filled with tonight’s homework, and the flowers in the flower pots were blooming beautifully.

 

Friends sat in their old seats, and laughter filled the entire classroom.

 

Wu Runzhi’s eyes widened.

 

Countless pieces of paper appeared out of thin air on his desk, all in familiar handwriting, all with familiar names, and lines of messages written on them.

 

[You have to work hard, there are countless tomorrows =v=]

 

[We’ll go to the internet cafe to play games again in the future, I promise I won’t let you down!]

 

[I really enjoy playing table tennis with you, your backhand is very good’]

 

[You have to strive to live!]

 

[I remember you as a very optimistic person, I hope you can always be happy.]

 

“……”

 

Fang Yu came over and hooked his shoulder, “I had a lot of fun these days, next time we have a chance, let’s play ball games together! I won’t let you win anymore. And new games, new movies, we will have the chance to go out and climb over the wall together! We will meet again!”

 

Jiang Ruoyun, who was still quiet, had a blush on her face, bit her lip and said to him, “Actually, I’ve always liked you… so I hope you can truly find happiness. You’re a very brave person.”

 

Wu Runzhi’s vision blurred.

 

No matter how hard he tried to look, he couldn’t see the faces of the people around him clearly. He rubbed his eyes hard and finally saw their smiles.

 

Bang!

 

Little confetti flew up in the classroom, falling down in colorful circles, landing on Wu Runzhi’s shoulders.

 

He looked back and saw that the blackboard was painted with school badges, clouds, and sunflowers, orange, bright yellow, sky blue… various colors crowded into his eyes, just like these colorful youth years.

 

They surrounded the big words in the middle:

 

[We’ve graduated!]

 

This was the graduation ceremony they owed to Wu Runzhi.

 

Finally realized today, after decades.

 

Lu Yingjiu said to him, “It’s possible that they wanted you to come back to let go of the past and resolve your inner conflicts. You are their true wish.”

 

Laughter and applause filled the air, everyone was looking at Wu Runzhi with anticipation, their eyes full of encouragement and expectation, as if all their strength and hope were placed on him.

 

He couldn’t help but move to tears.