CH 5

The vortex was full of ghosts.

Gu An looked at the expanding vortex with a tight frown, but it only took a moment for warm fingers to start soothing it away.

Ming Ye soothed: “Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

Gu An’s eyes were slightly dazed. He felt as if someone had said that to him before.

— An An, don’t be afraid. I’m here.

Ming Ye hugged Gu An. A mass of black qi condensed in his hand, and it continued expanding until he expelled it into the vortex from his palm.

The black qi collided with the vortex, and each of the two sides refused to yield to the other. In the end, the vortex was slightly better.

After swallowing the black qi, it rushed toward them with lightning fast speed.

Wang Nie was smashed into consciousness by the female ghost’s yin qi. As soon as he opened his eyes and saw that scene, he was so scared that he began to tremble.

Crying and shouting, he ran away, but the female ghost snatched him. Her fingernails were embedded into his flesh, firmly pinching him. He was unable to move, and could only watch as the vortex moved closer.

521 was also anxious. “An An, run away, ah! If you get caught in that thing, it’s over!!”

Gu An watched the vortex and the ghosts inside of it. There were all kinds of ghosts screaming in his ears.

Ming Ye hugged him tightly. His eyes were narrowed, as if he didn’t expect the female ghost to have such a relationship with the house.

The vortex swallowed the two of them. As for Wang Nie, his eyes filled with disbelief as the female ghost held onto his arms and killed him.

After the whirlpool disappeared, the house returned to its calm state. The female ghost tossed Wang Nie to the side, walked out of the yard, and continued to search for food.

But at that time, the well released a burst of golden light. The golden light turned into a chain and firmly wrapped around the female ghost. After dragging her into the well, the chain formed a net above the well cover. The golden light flashed, then disappeared, but the power binding the female ghost remained.

Since the female ghost was injured, along with the seal around the well, she couldn’t escape easily.

Gu An was inside the vortex. Everything in front of him swiftly flew by, and decades of time passed before his eyes.

Finally, time stopped at a node.

— Eighty years ago.

~ Huaiyang Town ~

There was a family surnamed Lin in the town that were engaged in the incense business. The Lin family were not locals, but came from elsewhere.

Mister Lin was famous all throughout Weiyang County for his skills involving incense. As for why all the young and old of his family moved to Huaiyang Town, no one knew.

At first, the people of Huaiyang Town were resistant to the incense Mister Lin prepared. The traditional customs of Huaiyang Town were simple and clear. Most people did not like incense powders. They advocated for the beauty of nature, and weren’t interested in fragrances.

The incense that Mister Ke Lin prepared had a unique scent that could make people feel calm. Anyone who bought his incense seemed addicted and unable to give them up.

After once or twice, Mister Lin’s incense shop had many repeat customers.

Most of them were wealthy businessmen. Using their recommendations, the incense shop became famous in Huaiyang Town. Business began to improve, and prices naturally rose.

It is said that in order to just get a box of the incense powder prepared by Mister Lin, people didn’t hesitate to sell their belongings.

Alongside incense, Mister Lin was even more famous for having a beautiful daughter.

His daughter was so beautiful that everyone who had ever seen her said she looked like a fairy.

The son of the wealthiest family in Huaiyang Town fell in love with Mister Lin’s daughter at first sight, and promised to provide Mister Lin’s family with many benefits before marrying Miss Lin.

A few years later, the wealthy man’s family returned to their hometown to visit relatives, and the whole family, along with the servants accompanying them, were all killed by bandits.

A few months later, Mister Lin found another match for his daughter, the son of a renowned rice merchant in town.

Two years later, a gardener came to the Lin family. He was isolated because of the scar on his face, but he was not driven away because the roses he planted were exceptionally vivid.

Miss Lin loved the roses very much. The love for a person extends even to the crows on his roof, so she expressed more admiration for the gardener. That admiration gradually transformed into love as time passed.

She fell in love with the stoic gardener.

~ That Evening ~

Lin Wan invited the gardener out to the corner of the garden that night. She wanted to confess to him.

Although the traditional customs of the time period were conservative, and most men and women didn’t dare to meet in private, Huaiyang Town was different. The traditional customs there were simple and honest, and there was a rare openness about things such as affection or love.

Men and women could meet and play in private. If you looked around, there were also people who confessed in public. Everyone looked at each other with smiles, followed by jeers and cheering.

As for lovers meeting secretly at night, there were also a few.

Lin Wan was slightly scared. She was afraid of being seen, but she had already made up her mind.

She didn’t like the son of the rice merchant. He played around with many courtesans, and all of Huaiyang Town knew about his affairs.

Some people say that their engagement was like flowers on cow dung, or a good pot with a rotted lid.

Lin Wan resisted, but his father wasn’t as loving as he showed to outsiders. He treated her request like it was nothing, making her a joke amongst her sisters.

Thinking of that, Lin Wan tightly gripped her handkerchief. There was a hint of unwillingness on her enchanting face. Why should she marry that big radish just for the sake of the Lin family? She didn’t want to have to deal with a group of competitors as soon as she walked through the door!

A few minutes passed.

There was the sound of footsteps, followed by a deep voice. “It’s late. What does Young Miss need from me?”

The gardener asked softly. His clothing was rough cloth, and there was scar damage on his entire face, making his original handsome appearance extremely terrifying.

When Lin Wan saw her beloved approaching, she raised her head demurely and said: “Er-lang,1 my father told me today that he wants me to marry the son of the rice merchant as soon as possible.”

She looked at her beloved hopefully, optimistic that he would sweep her away.

But the gardener spoke apathetically: “Then I wish Young Miss and the Young Master a good relationship for one hundred years in advance, and hope you give birth to a precious son early.”

Lin Wan raised her head in disbelief and met the apathetic eyes of the gardener. She couldn’t believe it. The gardener had treated her gently and considerately before. She hadn’t seen him for a few days, but he seemed to be a different person.

Her eyes quickly reddened, and her voice became hoarse.

She took a deep breath and gathered her confidence, asking boldly, “Er-lang, are you willing to take me away? Let’s go to a place where nobody knows us.”

Lin Wan waited anxiously for the gardener’s reply, but to her disappointment, he only said: “I apologize. I’m just a gardener. I’m not worthy of you, Young Miss.”

Lin Wan couldn’t bear it any longer. She covered her face and ran away.

She left the gardener alone, facing the blooming rose garden.

Not far away, Gu An and Ming Ye hid behind the flowers witnessing the entire scene.

521 sighed: “Ai. That poor young lady. Her infatuation was wrongly fixated on a gardener who didn’t understand her. Pitiful, ah, pitiful.”

Gu An spoke coldly: “Shut up.”

521: “……”

Right, ba. There’s another inexperienced one.

Gu An looked at the gardener not far away from them, then at the vivid roses in full bloom. A flash of contemplation appeared in his eyes.

Why couldn’t those strange roses be corroded by the yin qi?

Ming Ye, who was beside him, saw that Gu An was contemplating with lowered eyes, so he didn’t interrupt. Instead, he quietly held Gu An’s hand, subconsciously wanting to put it in his pocket, but only felt empty space.

He looked down and realized that the clothes he was wearing had no pockets, so he gave up.

Ming Ye contacted 521 and asked: “When will An An remember me?”

“…..” It was a question of life and death. 521 wanted to pretend it couldn’t hear him, since it had fooled him in the past, but Ming Ye’s next sentence was: “Don’t play dead.”

521: “……”

Why can’t you be nice to me?

Am I not good, not obedient QAQ

But it didn’t dare to say that to Ming Ye, so it whispered: “I don’t know either.”

Ming Ye was dissatisfied with the answer, and asked again: “What did you do wrong?”

521 curled into a ball. It could be said that because it collided with the power of the escape game’s Lord God, the energy became destabilized, causing Gu An to forget Ming Ye.

But could it say that? Of course not!

521 spoke in a low voice: “I don’t know. Maybe something is interfering with my operations……”

Ming Ye didn’t respond to 521’s answer. He only hummed and didn’t say anything more. Instead, he turned his head to gaze tenderly at Gu An. The softness between his eyebrows was overflowing, making 521 sigh.

Love was so great. It could actually make someone like Ming Ye change his nature.

Gu An returned to himself and looked at Ming Ye.

He narrowed his eyes and asked him: “What are you doing looking at me?”

Ming Ye replied: “I’m looking at the person I like.”

Gu An couldn’t respond to that.

He let out an imperceptible sigh. He could feel emotions related to Ming Ye, but he didn’t feel any rejection to his closeness. He only felt traces of familiarity.

It was as if their bodies were already familiar with each other, so his would naturally not resist Ming Ye’s actions.

Even if he had no memories, his heart and body still remembered.

Gu An raised his eyelids to look at Ming Ye, asking a question: “Are we really lovers?”

“No.” Ming Ye caressed Gu An’s cheeks and replied softly: “We’re legal husbands. We have the certificates, and we’ve held the wedding banquet.”

Gu An’s eyes were wide, and he asked dumbfoundedly: “You didn’t lie to me?”

Ming Ye said softly but firmly: “I never lie to you.” ‘

An An, my darling.

After saying that, he reached out to hold Gu An in his arms. He first caressed Gu An’s forehead affectionately, then gently tapped the tip of his nose, sighing as if he was falling in love: “Little asshole, you almost scared me to death.”

Ming Ye recalled the moment when Gu An disappeared, feeling desperate and regretful.

Desperate because his An An couldn’t be found, and regretful about letting Gu An go shopping alone.

Ming Ye went crazy for two days searching for Gu An. Just when he was utterly disappointed and wanted to find a short-term solution, Gu An entered the game world, and also pulled Ming Ye in alongside him.

He didn’t know how long he had been in the strange world. He didn’t escape from the darkness until players entered the house.

At the same time, he also smelled Gu An.

After a while, he found his darling An An. Fortunately, nothing had happened to An An, otherwise he didn’t know what kind of insane actions he would have taken.

Gu An felt the sorrow emanating from the man. His eyes lowered, and after a short time, he raised his arm and comforted Ming Ye by lightly patting his back.

The two quietly embraced.

On the other side, after Lin Wan left, the gardener stood for a while, then took out a short dagger. He rolled up his sleeve, and without blinking, sliced into his arm. Blood flowed from the wound like a river, dripping onto the roses.

The evil spirits within the roses smelled the blood and rushed out of the petals, devouring the blood that dripped onto the roses.

The gardener watched the scene with indifference. The hatred in his eyes surged, and there was regret in his heart, but that regret disappeared without a trace when he thought about the words he heard of the words he heard outside the window, leaving nothing except the piercing hatred.

The evil spirits who devoured the gardener’s blood grew again, and the gardener was somewhat happy when he saw it.

Seeing that scene, Gu An frowned.

The gardener slashed again, but at that moment, a voice suddenly appeared: “Gardener, what are you doing here?”

The gardener looked behind himself and saw that it was a Lin family servant, so he didn’t care.

Unexpectedly, the servant spoke: “I know what you’re doing. You’re raising evil spirits, gardener. Whether you believe me or not, I’ll tell the master about this and see how he punishes you!”

The gardener heard his words, and his eyes became fierce. A thought flashed in his heart.

Then he turned and smiled at the servant, who asked him cautiously: “What are you going to do?”

The gardener smiled gently, holding the dagger. While the servant was not paying attention, he aimed at the servant’s chest and stabbed sharply.

Blood sprayed on his face, and at that moment, he looked like an evil ghost.

Just after he killed the servant, Lin Wan reappeared behind him and asked in a loud voice: “Er-lang, what are you doing?”

She looked at the servant who had fallen to the ground, and was terrified: “You actually killed him?!”

Lin Wan watched her beloved walk toward her with a gentle smile on his face. She couldn’t stop trembling, and then everything went dark and she didn’t know anything at all.

All of that was seen by Gu An nd Ming Ye.

TL Notes: And there’s chapter 5~ That makes 27k words TLd in 2 days ,,ԾㅂԾ,, We’re off to a good start!