Chapter 25

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

Original Title: 挖坟挖出鬼

Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Yaoi

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 25 - Cemetery

Buzz buzz…

Was there an earthquake? Lin Yan sat up abruptly from the sofa, looked around in a daze, and fixed his gaze on the coffee table.

It was just his phone. Lin Yan rubbed his face and answered the phone. Suddenly Yin Zhou’s angry roar came through the receiver, shocking him enough to almost make him fall back on the sofa.

“Your Excellency finally decided to answer the phone!”

Lin Yan held the phone away from his ear and muttered: “I didn’t get home from the kid’s father’s house until really late. I just woke up.” Speaking of, he looked up at the wall clock. It was 10:20 in the morning. That doesn’t add up. Based on Yin Zhou’s usual schedule right now, he should still be lying in bed, dead to the world.

“Hurry up and get to the hospital! I called you 20 times and you weren’t answering.” Yin Zhou suddenly lowered his voice: “Something’s not right.”

“… What? What happened to Xiao Yang?” Lin Yan grew anxious.

Yin Zhou hesitated on the phone and replied, “It’s not… you, you’d better come and see it for yourself. I can’t explain it.”

After hanging up the phone, Lin Yan hurriedly washed his face, brushed his teeth and rushed to the hospital. Before leaving, he made a point to check every room. There was no one, no ghost. Xiao Yu didn’t come back at all last night.

When Lin Yan arrived at Xiao Yang’s room, Lin Yan understood what Yin Zhou was saying about something being off. The windows of the ward, which had been painted over by the little Daoist priest the day before, were clean. The charms written in cinnabar on the walls were gone, the windows had been scrubbed, and the small bedside table was piled high with flowers and food. The girl, on the other hand, was quietly curled up under the blanket, staring at the ceiling in a daze.

Xiao Yang’s mother wasn’t there. Lin Yan gently walked in, and suddenly there was a scrap of a stool from the other corner of the ward. His attention snapped over and he saw the middle-aged man who slammed the door on him standing on top of a stool with his wife. He was wearing a paper hat, clutching a rag and working hard to scrub down the walls. When he saw Lin Yan come in, the man rushed over as if he had seen a saviour. He grabbed his hand and whined tearfully: “Master, I know I have no conscience. I’ll do anything you say, anything, just have mercy and leave us alone!”

This situation seemed like it was straight out of a drama. Lin Yan almost thought he was imagining things. He was thinking about whether he should leave and start over again. Zhou Mo saw that he was going to leave, and hurriedly reached out and grabbed him with his other hand. “I brought all the things Jintian loved to eat and play when he was alive, and I’ve cleaned the room three times. I’ll do whatever you say. Please don’t let that thing follow me. I can’t live in my house now!”

“Alright, alright, let go first…” Lin Yan tried hard to pull his arm off.

“Lin Yan, you’re here!” Yin Zhou’s voice suddenly sounded from behind him. Lin Yan looked back and saw that Yin Zhou and A-Yan were walking in with a pile of things. They glanced at Zhou Mo as if they weren’t surprised, and then slipped a package into his arms.

“I-I checked. This is too much. Just pick two things and buy some incense paper money to bring with you. T-That’ll be enough.”

“Whatever, whatever!” Zhou Mo replied bitterly while holding the bag.

Yin Zhou picked up a paper windmill from the bag. He glanced at it and threw it back. He sneered at Zhou Mo and said to Lin Yan: “This dude looks very stylish but his brain’s not quite right. He was just supposed to come to see his son. Why is he acting like he lost his mind? He showed up this morning in a suit and leather shoes, picked up a broom and started to clean. Everyone was shouting, a nurse even threw him out, but now he’s scrubbing the walls.” Yin Zhou flexed his hands: “Is he also possessed?”

“Well, ‘He who never wrongs others does not fear the knock in the night’. This dude has done a lot of bad things, maybe he just got a little karma yesterday.” Lin Yan looked relaxed: “That door knock might have been a bit loud.”

The little Daoist priest smiled beside him. Yin Zhou was still confused and shook his head in disbelief.

“It’s a long story.” Lin Yan curled his lips: “A-Yan, I brought them, what should we do?”

Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Zhou Mo repeated his pleas with a frown, holding a rag. “Young man, you can help. My whole family is waiting outside. The nanny was scared away. My child is at his grandma’s house…”

Lin Yan glanced at him in disgust: “I thought I was just cheating you out of money. Are you going to pay me? You’re smarter than that.”

Zhou Mo’s eyebrows furrowed. He wanted to say something but, to save what pride he had left, his mouth slammed shut like a fly had flown in. Lin Yan pointed to Xiao Yang who was lying on the bed and said to Zhou Mo: “Ask him. If your son forgives you, I’ll leave you alone.”

Zhou Mo looked at the girl under the blanket completely speechless and nodded tearfully.

“It-It’s good that he’s here. Later, we’ll go to his son’s grave and burn one of his belongings for Jintian and let him put a few plates of fruit as an offering.” A-Yan said.

“Should we go now?” Although Yin Zhou didn’t fully understand what was happening, he looked at the young wife next to Zhou Mo and could make a rough guess. He gazed at Xiao Yang sympathetically. “Let the child find peace quicker.”

Lin Yan was just about to nod when suddenly he saw Xiao Yu at the door, who had appeared at some point, leaning on the door frame and staring at him. From this position, his long figure was bathed in sunshine, and he looked like he was straight out of a magazine advertisement. Lin Yan was a little stunned. He smiled at Yin Zhou and whispered: “Wait a minute, I still have something to do.” He walked around to Xiao Yu. The ghost’s eyes changed. When he reached out to hold him, Lin Yan shook his head and dragged him to the bathroom at the end of the corridor.

This floor only had private rooms so the public washroom was rarely occupied. After making sure that all the stalls were empty, Lin Yan locked the door with a click.

“I’m impressed. Tell me, what extraordinary methods did you use?” Lin Yan asked Xiao Yu, propping himself against the marble counter, tilting his head.

Xiao Yu shook his head.

“I’m really curious.” Lin Yan raised his eyebrows: “The man wasn’t even hurt. How did you do it?”

“You really want to know?”

“Yeah.” Lin Yan nodded.

Xiao Yu nudged his chin with his finger and said after some thought, “You asked for it.”

Seeing Xiao Yu turn around, Lin Yan suddenly sensed an ominous sensation, and he couldn’t help but blurt out: “No, no, I don’t want to see, ah!”

Unexpectedly, before he closed his eyes, a hideous face appeared in front of him. His eyes became two deep black holes, and half of his face muscles were rotting, oozing out pus and thick blood, staining strands of his messy hair. His gums were exposed, the dark green layers of plaque resembling mould growing on tofu. A pair of eerie bony nails were poking into Lin Yan’s side, its voice sounding like a broken bellow. Lin Yan could almost feel the rancid breath from the mouth of that thing: “Your… son… is… here… with… me…”

“Ahhh!” Lin Yan harshly shoved the thing away. The sudden stare down froze him to the spot, hands flying up to cover his eyes. His hands were forced apart by a burst of cold air and a familiar face appeared in front of him. Lin Yan was petrified. He anxiously pinched at Xiao Yu’s side, shaking and yelling, a quiver in his voice: “You. . you scared me to death!”

“Lin Yan…” Seeing that the gag was going too far, Xiao Yu held Lin Yan against the sink, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and gently rubbing his back. It took a long time for Lin Yan to come back to his sense. He pulled back from Xiao Yu’s arms to give him an unimpressed stare. The two of them glared face-to-face with wide eyes and finally couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Xiao Yu propped his hands on both sides of Lin Yan, and the two of them leaned against the marble countertop. The other man in front of him leaned forward and the tips of their noses bumped together, they were that close.

Lin Yan’s heart inexplicably started beating faster.

It seemed that things weren’t progressing right. His confused thoughts wondered how they went from a scene from a horror movie to this sudden refreshing change. He vigorously pushed Xiao Yu’s shoulders, trying to slip out of the confinement of his arms, but the ghost’s arms were like iron rods. Lin Yan could only use his knees to prevent him from coming any closer. He glanced at the door, wondering how he could be so careless as to look himself in here with a ghost… This was really problematic!

Xiao Yu simply pushed through his legs and pressed against his chest. Before Lin Yan could take another defensive measure, the ghost unceremoniously pressed a kiss on his lips. First was a gentle nudge and a peck, then he sucked on his lower lip and started grinding against him. The cool and soft touch made Lin Yan’s lips feel like flower petals. Then he pried his teeth open and wantonly started sucking on his tongue.

Lin Yan roughly shook his head to push him off. Xiao Yu yanked him into his arms. With his tongue roughly pushing all the way to his throat, one hand groped up Lin Yan’s thigh with the other gripping his hip against the marble countertop.

The grass mud horse trampled across the grasslands, leaving a mess of holes behind.

He seemed to be… reacting to it…

It seemed like… the reaction was a bit intense…

Lin Yan stared angrily, watching the ghost’s eyelashes trembling like dragonfly wings. The lower edge of his thigh up near his waist was being rubbed up and down with the palm of his hand. Lin Yan wrapped his arms around Xiao Yu’s neck while softly intertwining their tongues, silently swearing that he would go back and clean up that mess once this was over.

Xiao Yu freed up a hand to unbutton Lin Yan’s jeans. Because he was new to this, he couldn’t figure out how to do it. Lin Yan was getting impatient by his teasing, so he simply supported the counter with one hand to help him.

“Hey, no, no… stop!” Lin Yan sucked in a short breath and stiffly fell backward, supporting himself against Xiao Yu for a while before standing up. He said embarrassingly: “My… My back hurts. ”

“I slept on the sofa yesterday and it hurts like hell.” Lin Yan explained awkwardly.

Fuck his life. When Lin Yan walked back to the room with Xiao Yu in a weird posture, Yin Zhou stared at him for a second then yelled out in front of everyone, “Lin Yan, did you rub one out?”

Lin Yan had a black line on his face, and angrily imagined pummeling him down the seventeen flights of stairs. Then he thought about his lack of combat ability. There wasn’t any imminent reaction to what he said, so he swallowed and said grimly: “I slept weird on the sofa. It’s here…While everyone can still move, hurry up and pack everything so we can send the brat away.” He took the key out of his pocket and threw it at Yin Zhou: “You drive.”

After finishing the temporary discharge procedure for Xiao Yang, he followed the instructions of the little Daoist priest to search for little shops in the city to gather what he needed. When he arrived at the suburban cemetery, it was already 6 o’clock in the evening. As the sun set, the afterglow dyed the meticulously manicured lawns with a delicate golden color.

The group of people quietly followed Zhou Mo along the path, stopping in front of a fresh grave in the center of the A area. The headstone was engraved with the words 'beloved son Zhou Jintian’. The black and white photo showed a beautiful boy with a crooked eyes and an innocent smile. Lin Yan glanced back at Xiao Yang standing alone beside him, and asked A-Yan, “Will he go?”

“He should.” The little Daoist nodded affirmatively. He placed the offering fruit and incense in front of the tomb, and bowed respectfully.

Smoke curled up. Pieces of toys and paper money clothes were thrown into the fire, crackling and burning. The paper money rolled up in the flames and blew through the air. Soon, a thin layer of ashes fell across the front of the grave.

Lin Yan was reluctantly to move closer. He walked away a distance and sat down quietly. He suddenly felt a bit bitter when looking at the busy group of people. Could all the wrongs be forgiven? He thought, betrayed by loved ones, abandoned, left alone in the cold darkness; could that really be written off?

A-Yan began to recite the Ksitigarbha scripture in a low voice. The peaceful tone sounded extraordinarily quiet in the grassy cemetery. Then something happened that shocked Lin Yan. Xiao Yang, who had been ignorant and unconscious, suddenly turned her head and stared straight at Zhou Mo. Just when he thought something was about to happen, Xiao Yang walked over slowly, stretched her arms around his thighs, and buried her head in Zhou Mo’s waist.

Like an ordinary child waiting for his father at the school gate, he wrapped his arms around his father’s waist and joyfully told about what was happening at school.

It’s a pity that this child has no future, no school, Lin Yan thought. He was about to take the longest and loneliest road of his life, walking alone, regardless of whether the end of the road might be full of flowers. Maybe he would be reincarnated, maybe he would go to a place called heaven in the fairy tale. Imagining what happens after death is the best way of mourning for the people left behind, but what does that matter? He was such a good boy, there’s no way God would treat him poorly.

Although the world was utilitarian and indifferent, there were always feelings that continued to return. Through hurt, betrayal and forgetfulness, a broken heart would always heal.

The girl limply collapsed. Xiao Yang’s mother couldn’t stop herself from swooping forward to catch her daughter. This time the little Daoist didn’t stop her, but just looked up at the sky and muttered to himself.

The sunset immersed everything in the dim golden halo. Lin Yan eyes widened and he saw Xiao Yu leading a graceful little boy out from under a pine tree not far away. The boy sucked on his thumb shyly. He quickly glanced at Lin Yan and ducked his head.

Xiao Yu squatted down in front of the boy and gently touched his head, seeming like he was asking something seriously. The setting sun coated him with a heavy orange-yellow light, making the two of them appear like golden clay statues. Xiao Yu smiled kindly, the boy gently nodded, and after a moment he stood up and walked towards the tombstone. He took one last lingering glance back before slowly fading into a light blue mist, disappearing in the sunset.

Xiao Yu stood there for a while a hand bumped into his. The man in the delicate white shirt caught his finger and he sighed.

“Let’s make peace.” Lin Yan turned his face and said softly: “No more fighting.”

Xiao Yu nodded.

“Come on, let’s go home.”

The group of people in front of the tombstone were still busy packing their things. The two of them had walked a far distance away already, holding hands. The graves were silent in the sunset. Lin Yan watched his steps, trying not to disturb the graves, feeling the cold body heat coming from his fingers. Lin Yan thought tonight he could finally get a good night’s sleep.