“Gu Rong. My name is Gu Rong,” Gu Rong said, looking at Lin Shuhuai and observing his reaction.
“Gu Rong?” Lin Shuhuai was startled. He had not expected Gu Rong to tell him his name directly, but he quickly snapped back to his senses.
“Hello, my name is Lin Shuhuai.” As a courtesy, Lin Shuhuai could only state his own name. However, giving his name did not mean he had completely set aside the doubts in his heart.
Just as Lin Shuhuai uttered that single sentence, the foul stench rushed straight toward him, choking him into a fit of coughing while tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.
Holding his mouth, he coughed and raised his head once more, the corners of his eyes flushed bright red, giving his entire demeanor a delicate, shattered impression.
Seeing Lin Shuhuai like this, the color in Gu Rong’s eyes darkened slightly, an indefinable emotion surfacing within his gaze, though Lin Shuhuai did not notice it.
Lin Shuhuai had many questions in his heart, yet he did not know where to begin.
“This is not a good place to talk. We should go outside first,” Gu Rong spoke up. “I know you have many doubts in your heart, but right now this room is not suitable for a conversation.”
He spoke faintly, his tone gentle, completely lacking the coldness he displayed when facing the dark shadow earlier, appearing as if he were an entirely different person.
Lin Shuhuai thought for a moment and felt that his words made sense. After all, a foul stench was still wafting throughout the room, so talking here could hardly be considered a good choice of location.
“Alright, then let us go downstairs to talk. Downstairs is clean.”
Having said that, Lin Shuhuai opened the bedroom door. Since the dark shadow had vanished, the force holding the doorknob back was also removed.
When he touched it, black fluid leaked out from the keyhole, covering his hand completely.
Lin Shuhuai’s complexion turned even uglier, wishing he could cut off his own hand and discard it. Forcefully suppressing the discomfort in his heart, he opened the bedroom door.
“Let us go,” Lin Shuhuai said to Gu Rong behind him.
“Wait.” Gu Rong suddenly spoke, taking a white handkerchief out from his sleeve and handing it to Lin Shuhuai. Gu Rong’s tone was gentle, and he offered Lin Shuhuai a faint smile, “Use this handkerchief to wipe your hand. That fluid is an impure substance that clean water cannot wash away. My handkerchief can wipe it clean.”
Lin Shuhuai did not refuse. Taking the handkerchief, he wiped the fluid off gently. From his fingertips to the gaps between his fingers, he did not miss a single spot.
Speaking of which, it was miraculous. This handkerchief seemed to possess magic, genuinely wiping his fingers spotless without leaving a trace of dust.
“This handkerchief…” Lin Shuhuai hesitated slightly, “I will return it to you after I wash it clean.”
A faint smile curved at the corners of Gu Rong’s mouth, and he said, “There is no need. Just throw it away, for I have many of them.” As he spoke, he softly recited an incantation, and the handkerchief instantly burst into flames, emitting a eerie blue glow before turning into ashes and vanishing without a trace a few seconds later.
Lin Shuhuai looked at the handkerchief in dumbfounded shock, yet his hand felt not the slightest sensation of burning.
Seeming to notice his shock, Gu Rong explained, “Once it has been contaminated by bad things, there is no need for it to remain in this world, saving it from bringing harm to others.”
Lin Shuhuai nodded, feeling that his words made sense.
The two came to the living room downstairs. The living room remained in its original state without a single trace of damage.
“Strange, why did fog rise outside?” Lin Shuhuai looked outside with curiosity and muttered a sentence.
Dense fog had risen outside the window at some point, enveloping the entire house within it. Looking out from the window, the black mist covered all the scenery, dark and hazy, rendering it impossible to see the end at a single glance.
Seeing this scene, Lin Shuhuai thought of horror novels he had read where the exact same scene occurred, where once a person walked inside, they could never come back out.
“How is this happening?” Lin Shuhuai furrowed his brow. This kind of event was still beyond his realm of understanding, making it impossible for him to accept all at once.
“This is ghost fog. It was created by that creature’s master just now. It did not want you to escape this house, so it cast a fog around the perimeter.” Gu Rong explained to him, his tone as calm as still water.
“Then will we be trapped here forever without being able to leave? Is there really no way?” Although Lin Shuhuai felt deeply shocked in his heart, ever since he returned to Lin Family Village, various signs indicated that this place was far from simple.
Lin Shuhuai did a bit of mental preparation and accepted everything that was currently happening.
“It is fine. The dark shadow has already been eliminated by me, so this black fog will disperse on its own shortly.” Gu Rong walked over and drew the curtains shut, blocking Lin Shuhuai’s line of sight.
Hearing his words, Lin Shuhuai breathed a subtle sigh of relief. At least for tonight, he would face no threat.
He currently had many doubts in his heart. Lin Shuhuai parted his lips repeatedly, ultimately asking the very first question in his mind.
“How did you end up inside this house? What relationship do you have with that dark shadow?”
Hearing this, Gu Rong smiled softly. He crossed his hands, signaling Lin Shuhuai not to be anxious. “Sit down and rest first. I know you have many doubts. Do not be anxious, for we can take them one by one.”
As he spoke, a glass of hot water appeared on the table out of thin air.
“Drink a glass of hot water first to calm your nerves,” Gu Rong said with concern, a flash of amusement gleaming in his eyes.
However, Lin Shuhuai still harbored suspicion toward him in his heart. In these desolate mountains, Gu Rong had appeared in his room out of thin air with unknown origins and an unknown identity, so how could he put his mind at ease?
“There is no need to be nervous. I hold no malice toward you.” Gu Rong noticed Lin Shuhuai’s resistance toward him and began to explain his own background.
“I am merely a pitiable person. A hundred years ago, in order to save my wife, I was plotted against by treacherous people and trapped in these deep mountains and old forests for a hundred years. I was in a deep sleep during this entire time, until I saw a ray of yellow light, whereupon I woke up.”
Gu Rong explained while observing Lin Shuhuai’s expression.
Hearing Gu Rong’s words, Lin Shuhuai fell into thought.
A hundred-year-old ghost? Trapped in deep mountains and old forests? And even framed by others?
Even more doubts arose in Lin Shuhuai’s mind, yet he had nowhere to begin asking.
This is far too absurd. Being trapped for a hundred years, wouldn’t one go insane? Lin Shuhuai thought. He looked into Gu Rong’s eyes, and those pitch-black eyes were filled with absolute sincerity, without the slightest bit of falsehood.
Lin Shuhuai’s heart suddenly throbbed violently. His instinct told him that Gu Rong was not lying, and that every single word was the truth.
“Yellow light?” Lin Shuhuai thought for a moment, removed the jade pendant hanging on his chest, placed it in the palm of his hand, and examined it carefully.
“This jade pendant was given to me by my grandmother. It was said to have been blessed, and I have worn it around my neck since childhood.”
The jade pendant was round, crafted from white jade, with a dragon carved in the center. The dragon held its mouth wide open, roaring toward the sky, as though one could hear its roar.
“It was precisely this jade pendant that attracted me here. Where did your grandmother get this jade pendant from?”
Gu Rong had approached his side at some unknown moment, half of his body pressed close against Lin Shuhuai’s right side, his eyes staring intently at the jade pendant in his hand.
Their posture was extremely intimate, looking just as if Gu Rong was holding Lin Shuhuai in his arms. If an outsider were present, they would surely believe they were a couple.
An ice-cold touch transmitted through his clothes onto his body, the coldness causing Lin Shuhuai to involuntarily shudder.
As a ghost, Gu Rong also breathed, yet the air he exhaled was likewise freezing cold. His breath brushed against Lin Shuhuai’s ear and neck, evoking an itchy sensation.
Lin Shuhuai moved uncomfortably, taking a small step to the left without drawing attention to distance the two of them.
Gu Rong naturally noticed Lin Shuhuai’s small movement. The corners of his mouth curved upward by a few pixels, his mood inexplicably turning better.
He is just like a little kitten. Even when trembling with fear, he will still flash his claws for others to see, warning them not to come near.
Gu Rong looked at the young man’s fair neck and the stray hairs beside his cheek, his gaze turning dark uncontrollably.
How I wish to take a lick, to bite through it with the tips of my teeth, leaving my mark upon it to declare to the world that this is my possession.
At this thought, Gu Rong’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, his tongue licking over his canine teeth. His canine teeth were sharp enough that as long as Gu Rong wished, he could definitely pierce the skin and leave his mark on that neck.
However, Gu Rong suppressed his thoughts, warning himself repeatedly in his heart that it was far too early and the time was not yet right.
He took a deep breath, his nose filled with the familiar fragrance of night-blooming cereus. The scent of night-blooming cereus brushed across Gu Rong’s heart, easing some of the stray thoughts within him.
Lin Shuhuai knew none of this, still immersed in past memories. He searched his mind for everything related to the jade pendant. After a long moment, he shook his head, his tone carrying a bit of helplessness.
“I do not know. Grandmother said a master gave it to me, and I know nothing beyond that.”
“A master?”
“Mm, perhaps it really was a master,” Lin Shuhuai speculated, complex emotions swirling within his eyes as he looked at the jade pendant.
This jade pendant was far too extraordinary, actually capable of summoning a figure like Gu Rong.
Suddenly, Lin Shuhuai turned to face Gu Rong with a serious expression on his face, “Do you happen to have a secret manual on you? Should I drop a speck of blood onto it right now to make this jade pendant recognize me as its master, whereupon you will teach me martial arts, and finally we will rise to the peak of life?”
It was no wonder Lin Shuhuai thought this way. When he was in high school, cultivation web novels were popular in his class, where every single male protagonist found a jade pendant, bound it as its master, and took on a master.
Except most of the masters in those novels were white-haired old men.
Driven by curiosity, Lin Shuhuai had read a bit of it and kept the contents in mind. At that time, he was thinking how absurd such novels were, taking on masters and slapping faces whenever they pleased, lacking any logic whatsoever and completely failing to conform to a scientific world.
Now, such a scenario had actually appeared upon his own person.
Lin Shuhuai waited quietly for Gu Rong’s reply.
His sudden words caught Gu Rong off guard, completely unable to understand the meaning behind Lin Shuhuai’s words.
“What are you talking about? I am merely an ordinary wild ghost whose corpse has been sealed for hundreds of years. If I possessed such abilities, I would have escaped long ago.”
As Gu Rong spoke, he directed a concerned look at Lin Shuhuai, “You haven’t been frightened out of your mind, have you?”
As he spoke, he reached out his hand, wanting to measure the temperature of Lin Shuhuai’s forehead.
“It seems I overthought things,” Lin Shuhuai took a step back, dodging Gu Rong’s movement.
“However,” Gu Rong changed the topic, a sly smile appearing on his face, “if you wish to learn martial arts, I can teach you as well. As long as…” Having said this, he paused.
“As long as what?” Lin Shuhuai asked back.
“It is nothing,” Gu Rong spoke no further, his face returning to that casual expression.
“Then what are your plans next? Thank you for your assistance today. As a token of gratitude, I will do my best to help you within my power,” Lin Shuhuai said, thinking that since Gu Rong had been trapped for a hundred years, he must surely long to get out.
“Then how about you offer your body to me in marriage? That is how all the storybooks describe it,” Gu Rong spoke, his tone carrying a bit of cheeky playfulness.
Hearing him utter these words, the tiny amount of goodwill Lin Shuhuai held toward him instantly dropped to zero.
“No way,” saying so, he even rolled his eyes at Gu Rong.
“Alright then,” Gu Rong spoke with an aggrieved tone.