Qilan sat in the corner of an open-air garden bar in the square, her expression dazed.
She gradually realized a fact: none of these people could see her, nor could they hear her.
The fact that she could enter this bar without being welcomed or stopped by anyone was proof enough.
Why?
What kind of thing was she?
And the chaotic images in her mind, why did the same period of time hold two completely different sets of events? Was she really a 22-year-old new graduate, or…
At the same time, Xiao Xi, having searched in vain, returned to the suite.
“What do we do? Dawn is about to break!” He pushed open the door, only to find the room empty. The man he had repeatedly told not to leave was gone.
The young man bit his lip until it turned white. With leaden steps, he walked toward the far end of the room.
Stiffly, he crouched down, his fingers picking up the unearthed plant. The result was worse than he had imagined.
He exhaled weakly, letting the rootless plant fall limply to the ground.
ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
As New Year’s Eve approached, the city welcomed the festive season. Shopping malls and restaurants stayed lit throughout the night. The streets were filled with pedestrians, and traffic flowed endlessly.
A Porsche drove through the city’s streets, turning again and again.
In the rearview mirror, the man’s skin was white as paper, dark circles shadowing his eyes.
The air in the car seemed filled with an intangible dust; he couldn’t stop coughing, his body deteriorating at an alarming rate.
But he was unaware of his growing weakness.
Liang Jianshi gripped the steering wheel, the veins on the back of his hand bulging frighteningly, as if only by holding on tightly could he suppress the frantic trembling.
The phone screen flashed with an incoming call. Liang Jianshi glanced at the display and raised his heavy finger to answer.
The young man’s angry, tearful voice came through.
“Are you out of your mind? How can you take that stuff!”
Liang Jianshi’s shirt was soaked with cold sweat. Even with the car’s heating on full, his lips were blue with cold. Whether from overwhelming panic or dangerously low body temperature, his chest convulsed uncontrollably, his voice trembling hoarsely.
“It’s the only way I can see her, isn’t it!”
A second of silence on the other end, then a sniffle. “Do you know how dangerous this is? You’re driving, aren’t you? Pull over now. Whatever you do, don’t open the door until I find you. It’s still dark, and there are many unclean things…”
Liang Jianshi couldn’t hear the rest.
As the car slowly passed, the scene before him seemed to slow down. In a corner hidden by trees, he saw a frightened, bewildered face.
Like a fawn lost in the forest, her shoulders trembling, she looked around helplessly.
The moment Liang Jianshi saw Qilan, Qilan saw Liang Jianshi.
As if drawn by some special connection, her gaze fell on him without warning.
He couldn’t turn in time. He pulled over to the roadside, got out, his eyes locked on her, and ran toward her.
Cars sped past, their taillights blurring into streaks of neon.
Qilan stared blankly at the figure rushing toward her, her lips moving slightly.
She heard herself whisper, “A-Shi…”
She couldn’t even recognize herself, but she still knew her A-Shi.
She stood up hesitantly and walked toward him. A road of less than a hundred meters now seemed light-years across, the distance between them impossibly vast.
Qilan’s vision blurred. Tears had filled her eyes without her realizing.
She didn’t notice the black mist that suddenly emerged behind Liang Jianshi.
In an instant, it attached itself to him, its invisible tendrils seeming to suck at the depths of his soul.
Qilan’s pupils contracted. “A-Shi, !”
She ran toward him recklessly, like a bird diving into the sea, throwing herself at him.
A strange pressure emanated from her. The black shadow was instantly expelled from Liang Jianshi’s body.
Qilan embraced him. Liang Jianshi, regaining awareness, steadied himself unsteadily.
The double vision faded. He saw the pale, delicate face before him.
Unlike the ghosts, she was like a spirit of the night.
Liang Jianshi cupped her tear-streaked face. His pale, sickly features were marked by terrifyingly bloodshot eyes. He tried twice before managing a hoarse whisper.
“Lanlan…”
Qilan knew something was wrong with him, even more than with her. “What’s wrong? Why do you look so terrible?”
The sky lightened on the horizon. A ray of sunlight broke through the clouds.
Qilan’s eyes stung, and she closed them.
Liang Jianshi pulled off his black coat, draping it over her head, looking for a shady spot.
They were in an open area; soon it would be fully light.
A breakfast cart passed by, a piece of black cloth hanging from it.
Liang Jianshi had no cash, no phone. He took off his watch. “I’ll trade for your cloth.”
The vendor stared at the watch in astonishment. “Huh?” Even a fake would be worth millions.
Dazed by the unexpected windfall, he watched as the man draped the black cloth over himself and crawled into a flower bed.
The vendor: ????
ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
The sun shone brightly throughout the Spring Festival. Citizens out enjoying the beautiful spring weather were in high spirits, but for Qilan, sunlight was a disaster.
Under the black cloth, Liang Jianshi carefully shielded Qilan with his body.
She clutched his shirt, feeling the cold dampness.
“Are you scared?” Liang Jianshi felt her trembling.
Qilan’s voice was choked. “Are you?”
If he wasn’t scared, why was he drenched in cold sweat?
A gentle smile lingered on Liang Jianshi’s pale face. “I was terrified. When you disappeared, I was going mad with fear.”
Qilan buried her face in his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“I’m not human, am I?” The girl screaming in the mall, the waiters who ignored her, the cars that passed through her, all pointed to the same truth.
Liang Jianshi kissed the top of her head, his tone indifferent. “So what? We can still be the same as before, can’t we?”
“No matter what you become, you’re still the one I love most…”
With those final words, he collapsed against her, silent and still.
ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
In the suite, the curtains were drawn tight, leaving no gaps. Only the bathroom’s doors and windows facing the sun were wide open. In the sun-drenched area stood a large thunderstruck wooden tub, filled with precious medicinal herbs, a ginseng root particularly conspicuous.
Xiao Xi looked toward the bathroom, speaking to Qilan, hidden in the shadows. “This is a ginseng spirit obtained from a monk at an ancient temple. I knew we would need it someday.”
Qilan was anxious. “Will A-Shi be alright?”
Xiao Xi turned back with an optimistic expression, flashing his white teeth. “Thankfully, it hadn’t been long. The poison has been expelled. He still has some yin energy, but that can be balanced with yang energy. No need to rush.”
Qilan stared dejectedly at the floor. “Why did he do it? If he knew it was poisonous…”
Xiao Xi came over and held Qilan, who was crying, her face wet with tears, patting her back gently. “He just wanted to see you. It was the only way he could see you. Let him have this.”
“What exactly is that thing?”
“Magusa. It only exists in myths and scriptures, found only in the most yin-corrupted places. Remember that ancient tomb? The tomb owner was a princess. Records say she hanged herself for her country, but actually, she was strangled by treacherous officials. Her corpse held immense resentment. In the most qi-dense part of the tomb, a seed formed. That’s Magusa.”
“As Magusa grows and blooms, it releases heavy yin energy, disrupting the magnetic field. When the yang realm becomes as saturated with ghost energy as the yin realm, humans and spirits can see each other. And you’re not exactly a ghost, you’re a spirit body.”
“Everyone laughed at Liang Jianshi for the bad luck of having that tomb unearthed on his land. They didn’t know that he had paid a fortune to have a master survey it.”
With each truth Qilan learned, her heart ached more.
“So at first, when I thought he was being rude… the real reason was that A-Shi couldn’t see me. He even fabricated a medical record, pretending he was sick… But why? Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”
Xiao Xi held her tighter, like a child seeking warmth from its mother. “Because when you woke up, you had forgotten so much. Memory loss is usually irreversible. Your spirit body was very weak then. The truth would have been too much for you… You couldn’t handle it. The least would have been you becoming a wandering ghost; the worst, you would have been destroyed. We had no choice.” Xiao Xi’s voice was sad, but a hint of relief crept into his smile. “But we were lucky, weren’t we? In the end, we found the real you. I’m truly… truly happy. I’m sure Liang Jianshi feels the same.”
Qilan was confused. “The real me?”
Xiao Xi’s eyes were clear and bright in the darkness, giving Qilan a strange sense of familiarity.
“Your memories are still jumbled. Let me help you sort through them.”
He took out a pill and placed it in Qilan’s mouth. “Take this. It will help you feel more stable.”
The pill helped stabilize her spirit body. Qilan was flooded with fragments of memory, too much for her to bear. That was why she had been so panicked and confused, why she had run aimlessly yesterday, overwhelmed by chaotic memories and emotions.
After taking the pill, she felt her mind calm.
“I’m so confused. How old am I really? I thought I was 22, but why do I have two sets of memories from age 22?”
Xiao Xi took her hand. “I’ll take you somewhere. Then you’ll understand.”
As Qilan followed Xiao Xi, she paused by the bathroom.
Liang Jianshi lay sleeping in the warm water and sunlight, his pale face moist, his handsome features relaxed, his long lashes resting on his cheeks. He looked peaceful and beautiful, like a painting.
Xiao Xi touched her hair. “He will wake up.”
Xiao Xi had a way. Qilan obediently closed her eyes, and when she opened them, the scene had changed.
Before her was a sterile space filled with electronic equipment. If Qilan were not a spirit, she would have been shivering from the cold.
Xiao Xi stood before a capsule, his head bowed, his round eyes sadly downcast.
Puzzled, Qilan walked over and looked inside.
Inside was none other than Qilan herself.
Or rather, her true body.
Xiao Xi’s voice was hoarse. “Perhaps… this is one of the most advanced technologies in the world, cryonics.”