Chapter 44

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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 44

For the next few days, Lin Yan stayed at home and looked up various materials, including the Fengshui tomb bureau, the five elements of yin and yang, and the background of Xiao Yu’s life during the era he was living. When he was free, he combed through the clues at hand with Xiao Yu and discussed them. He fished out a clue from an ancient book. The clue was that the reason why Xiao Yu didn’t dare to trouble him during the time he ran away from home was entirely due to the torrential rain that turned the entire city into an isolated island.

The continuous rains for many days blocked the scorching summer sun. In May, the scorching sun emerged. Families put dogwoods on their doors to drive away insects and avoid filth. Yin things had nowhere to hide. The unbecoming wild ghosts were like beads of water on a fireplace. Their skin was roasted to a crisp, revealing a skeleton that was half rotten. Lin Yan went out to buy things at night, and when he passed through the dank wetlands, he was often frightened by the passing wild ghosts and had goosebumps.

Since being able to see ghosts, his life has turned into a real-life version of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio*.

*(T/N: 聊斋志异 or Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling is a collection of 104 Chinese tales, which were written more than 400 years ago. Songling includes stories that focus on the supernatural, haunted houses, and shape-shifters.)

After the sun returned, Xiao Yu’s life wasn’t easy. Every time Lin Yan went out under the scorching sun, when he came back, he saw that his face was blue, and he leaned on the sofa for a long time before he regained his senses. The end of the day was bitterly hot, and even though the curtains were tightly drawn to prevent a ray of sunlight from entering, the ghost was still uncomfortable holding his forehead, the resentment and chaos between his eyebrows resembling the scene of their first meeting.

Lin Yan was terrified. If someone wanted to take Xiao Yu by force, separating them right now was probably the most effective way.

It’s a good thing that the weather was preventing that. Lin Yan felt that this was undoubtedly a good sign.

In addition, he was puzzled by the ancient tomb. He didn’t think anything about it when he heard A-Yan talking about it before. Now, after reading the “Classic of Burial*”, he deeply appreciated the meaning of the little Daoist priest’s puzzled face. The site chosen for the burial mound was low-lying. A river system almost surrounded the cemetery. Seeing the water, the tomb was a big source of evil. It was easy to accumulate resentment and yin and cause corpse transformation. It was not even a place for mass burials. Add to that the strange plaques and the disappearing historical materials, Lin Yan suspected that Xiao Yu had offended some masters before his death. The ghost, however, could not remember how.

*(T/N: 葬经 is a now-lost book that centred on how the flow of qi to the appropriateness of a tomb’s location was influential on the development of Fengshui.)

The cicadas screamed. After the stagnant water was evaporated by the sun, the whole city returned to its furnace-like original appearance. The asphalt road was scorching, and shoes stuck to it. Every pore was steaming vapour. After walking in the sun for a long time, every part of their skin was exposed. In the last week of the semester, Lin Yan held a sunshade umbrella and walked to the teaching building under the shade of the trees. He was too embarrassed to look up so he had to sneak around. He’s a big man. What was with this motherly shade from the sun?

The only umbrella in the family that can block ultraviolet rays was left by his mother. A pink umbrella covered with small blue flowers.

Lin Yan felt like he was the walking embodiment of a stereotypical bottom.

It’s really troublesome to take a ghost out in the summer… Lin Yan muttered. Xiao Yu was stuck to him, and it was cold, like he had a refrigerator with him. Thinking about the situation when he went out in the morning, he couldn’t help but want to laugh. The ghost was in a bad mood and didn’t want to get out of bed. Lin Yan coaxed and persuaded him. Lin Yan didn’t want to be late and he became late did he drag the sunshade umbrella out of the closet and dragged Xiao Yu out.

Midsummer was a threshold for all yin things. Lin Yan’s physique was the best shelter for that ghost. He didn’t dare leave Xiao Yu at home alone.

A few girls in the same class came over and glanced at Lin Yan in surprise.

“The class president is afraid of getting tanned?” The girl sneered.

“I’m afraid of the rain.” Lin Yan gritted his teeth and pinched Xiao Yu’s waist.

A lot of people gathered in front of the examination hall. This was the last exam before the holidays. Students in the same major couldn’t hold back their excitement for the upcoming holiday. They stood in front of the hall with books but the group wasn’t concentrated. Groups of people gathered to discuss the results of staying up all night to study, and from time to time a shout of thirty minutes hailed, causing a burst of laughter.

The test was on the history of costumes with which he had an early grudge. The classroom was quiet early in the morning, except for the humming of the electric fan and the sound of heels hitting the ground as the exam proctor walked around. Lin Yan took a breath and scanned the test paper. The paper was full of various embroidery, threading needles, chickweed patterns, honeysuckle patterns, flowers from all four seasons. The necklines and cuffs were cut out separately, each one is almost the same, black and pressed down. Lin Yan rubbed his face vigorously, opened his eyes and looked at it again. It rang a bell but he just couldn’t remember anything.

Xiao Yu leaned against the desk. The sunlight projected on his face through the blinds, and the slightly frowning profile of his face was smooth like a painting.

“Hey.” Lin Yan tugged at Xiao Yu’s cuff and squeezed out between his teeth, “Do me a favor.”

Xiao Yu didn’t even look at him and shook his head: “I won’t help. It’s disgraceful to cheat in the examination room.”

Lin Yan was so angry that he wanted to smash the ghost into a ball and throw him out the window. He didn’t dare to make a loud voice, and gestured with his lips: “Dude, I’ve been stuck with you all this time. How could I have time to study?” Seeing Xiao Yu’s serious face, he reluctantly slid down the hand that was holding his cuff, and shook Xiao Yu’s wrist gently, “I just need to pass or I’ll have to retake it next semester…”

Before he finished speaking, a pretentious cough suddenly came from the front of the classroom. It was the proctor in high heels, who was clipping her nails with her legs crossed. Her bright red nails were like pointed boats.

“The student in the corner, answer your own questions. Don’t talk.”

Lin Yan immediately shrank back, but the ghost couldn’t help laughing. He leaned on his desk and raised his eyebrows: “How will you thank me?”

“I’ll make a ghost exorcism talisman worth 10 taels of silver. I’ll reward you. You can go wherever you like.” Lin Yan counterattacked rudely. Xiao Yu rolled up his sleeves and squinted at him: “I won’t accompany you.”

“It’s not interesting to bargain for something so small.” Lin Yan sat up angrily. Seeing that Xiao Yu had no intention of compromising, he whispered: “I’ll kiss you when I get home, alright?”

“I didn’t hear you.” His handsome face came closer, and the bangs on his forehead rubbed against Lin Yan’s face. He felt himself blushing, and he raised his voice: “I’ll go home and kiss you! Do you hear me?”

The classroom was silent, and his voice was very clear. There was a burst of laughter in the examination room. Lin Yan’s face was flushed red. The red nail proctor just paid attention to cutting her nails and didn’t carefully observe the situation in the classroom. She knocked her knuckles on the table a few times with a dark face and said impatiently: “I heard that. If you want to flirt, go outside and do it. So much noise. Others are still taking exams.”

After repeating this several times, Lin Yan didn’t even have time to answer one question before he was asked to leave the examination room amidst a chorus of laughter because he had broken the rules of the examination room.

On the way to the professor’s office, Lin Yan caught the ghost and pinched him hard. No matter how much he pinched him, he didn’t feel relieved. For a good exam, if he didn’t have time to review it, he was invited in public to flirt in the exam room and broke the bottom line of his more than 20 years of orderly life! All the students in the school were in the examination room, and the corridor was very quiet. Xiao Yu continued to come and pester him for some reason. The two of them pushed and shoved, and they didn’t even notice when they reached the office door. Lin Yan threatened loudly, “You aren’t allowed to sleep in the bed for a week!“ Leaning on the wooden door with his back, who would have guessed that the door was open and couldn’t bear the weight? He threw himself into the office, landing square on his butt, and his posture was particularly pitiful.

When he got up, Lin Yan saw two people in the room, with four eyes staring at him with an expression as if they were looking at a terrifying creature.

Among those shrivelled old men in suits was none other than Lin Yan, who was entangled with Xiao Yu. He caused a nightmare in the classroom and slapped the table domineeringly. I shouted in front of more than 100 people that I was irritated by you, feeling like I was about to cry in front of the costume history teacher.

Lin Yan wanted to cry but had no tears, and wished that 10,000 galloping grass-mud horses would trample Xiao Yu into the groundhog burrows on the grassland.

After a moment of hesitation, Lin Yan decided that no matter how difficult it was, he had to fight hard not to have to retake the exam. He stood up and patted the dirt off his body, and said carefully, "T-Teacher, I’m a student in your clothing history class. There was a misunderstanding in the examination room just now and I left before the exam was over.”

The old man gave Lin Yan a once-over and said with a blank face that he had received a call from the proctor: “There are rules in the examination room. You’re not allowed to talk to each other, you know?”

“I know.” Lin Yan defended in a low voice, “I remembered something urgent. It has nothing to do with the exam. I wasn’t discussing the exam questions, I really wasn’t.”

Just in time, before he missed his chance, Xiao Yu pinched the back of his neck maliciously. The itch caused him to shiver but he didn’t dare to move.

The old man turned his gaze and looked at Lin Yan: “Student, you look familiar.”

Lin Yan thought sheepishly and decided not to tell the embarrassing story of throwing the teacher’s book, slapping the teacher’s desk, and threatening him with force, so he bowed his head and pretended not to hear.

A familiar voice suddenly sounded: “Isn’t this Lin Yan? Why are you here and not in the exam?”

Lin Yan was so frightened that he hurriedly raised his head, only to realize that the person holding the cup on the other side of the desk was none other than the file folder professor who studied the history of the Ming Dynasty. His outer appearance was very shiny and imposing and he stared at him with squinted eyes filled with interest. This was humiliating, he lamented. Lin Yan sighed, wishing he could bury himself along with Xiao Yu in a groundhog burrow.

Lin Yan told the story of how he was kicked out. Of course, he didn’t mention the part related to Xiao Yu, and he didn’t dare to say that he hadn’t studied, and even if he took this test, he wouldn’t be able to answer anything. But the old man suddenly became interested in him after knowing that he was the one who had dropped the professor’s incense burner, and said with a smile: “The exam is halfway through. It’s too late to let you go back now. What should I do?”

“Just let me take a makeup exam. It’s too much trouble to retake the exam next year in less than thirty minutes…” Lin Yan muttered.

The old clothing history teacher looked at the professor, a little embarrassed, Lin Yan looked at Professor File Folder for help. The professor was accustomed to all the outrageous behaviour of students in the examination room, plus he owed Lin Yan a favour, so he put in a few good words. The old man couldn’t refute the professor’s face, so he pondered for a while. He pointed to a brocade box on the table and said, “Here’s another option. I’m going to give you a test question related to this class, and if you get it right, you’ll be given a chance to take a make-up test.”

“Before you came, I was discussing this with Professor Chen. This object isn’t very researched. Let’s talk about its name and use, and see if you are as good as the rumours.”

The long box was printed with grey jacquard, which was very detailed. The lid of the box was set aside. The professor took out a piece of brocade-like thing from the inside and unfolded it carefully. Because of its age, the silk has been oxidized to a smokey yellow. The silk was embroidered with imperial golden silk, five colours of thread lining it. The embroidery is extremely delicate, emulating the style of the aristocracy. The brocade is less than a foot wide, but nearly a meter long. Lin Yan tested what it felt like. It was so thin that he could feel his fingerprints through the silk patterns. It was too wide for a belt and too narrow for a garment. He had never even seen such things in textbooks. Lin Yan wanted to hold it in his hand for a closer look, but Xiao Yu grabbed his arm.

“Don’t touch it.” Xiao Yu’s expression was unnatural. “It’s not clean.”

Could it be used for hanging? It wasn’t strong enough. Lin Yan withdrew his hand. He thought Xiao Yu meant that this thing was evil, but the ghost’s expression was suddenly ambiguous. He looked like he wanted to either laugh or cry. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards several times. He moved to his ear and started muttering. Lin Yan shook his head after listening to him, staring at Xiao Yu in disbelief, but the ghost was very sure. He narrowed his thin eyes, explaining a bit more with a gung-ho expression.

“Have you thought about it?” The old man took a sip of tea.

Lin Yan pointed at the brocade box and said hesitantly, “It’s a foot-binding cloth.”

Professor File Folder poked the tabletop with a pen. He shook his head and said: “Tell me, what kind of fabric did women use to bind their feet in the Ming and Qing Dynasty?”

“Generally, white cotton or blue cloth was used. Women’s feet were bound with a blade to cut the bottom of the foot. It rotted and healed, and rotted again. Cotton cloth doesn’t hurt the skin. The indigo dye had the effect of promoting healing.”

“And how is this object explained?” The professor continued.

“From the beginning of foot binding after every cloth replacement, the foot wrapping can’t be removed. Years of old injuries, plus walking, sweating, and wrapping for several years, that smell…” Lin Yan touched the tip of his nose embarrassedly. “The Ming and Qing dynasties attach importance to women’s feet to a perverted degree. When they marry, their husbands have to untie the foot-binding cloth, so they will wash their feet and change a cloth on the eve of their marriage. This is the case, so as not to smother the groom to death, this kind of cloth is incredibly expensive and thin. Ordinary people can’t afford it, and a rich lady only uses it once in her life, and because of the rules, you can’t wash it after having intercourse. After a hundred years of worms and rats, very few are preserved.”

“There are also– There are also rich families who specialise in this. The two curved lotus petals on the shoulders are also a kind of lustful affair…”

The two men in the office laughed together. The old costume history professor repeatedly praised the professor that he was really talented. The professor knocked on the desk and said that this child knows a lot of obscure things and has an air of cleverness, so let him take the make-up exam next semester. When the two were talking, Lin Yan kept staring at Xiao Yu. After leaving the office, he pulled him to find an empty classroom where he could talk easily. He locked the door, and stared at the ghost. “Tell me, how many concubines have you married?”

A pair of bow shoes, sapphire blue roots, embroidered with gold braids, red like lotus petals, holding a small glass of wine in your hand, while tilting your neck to gulp wine out of the cup… The games of rich families were a ridiculous affair. , while reading Confucian classics, he reads the book, page after page of prostitution, even debauchery is euphemistic under his decent face. What kind of story does he have? What kind of stories can he accept? Reality is never as clean and crisp as the imagination. What if, what if. Lin Yan pinched the palm of his hand. This is what happens when you fall in love with a person. Even the heart grows smaller.

Xiao Yu shook his head.

“What, did you go to the red-light district brothels every day?”

The ghost continued to shake his head.

“I don’t believe you.” Lin Yan gritted his teeth. He sat on the table and stared at Xiao Yu with his arms crossed. “Then you studied these things…”

“Jealous?” Xiao Yu put his hands on Lin Yan’s sides, rubbing his lips against his face, tickling him.

“No.”

“There are also silver settings, sex toys, and medicinal powder. Would you like to try them?” Xiao Yu teased him deliberately. He stretched his hand through the hem of his T-shirt and rubbed that small spot on his chest. Lin Yan didn’t hold back his gasp. The expression on his face tensed up for a moment.

However, Xiao Yu got serious and straightened Lin Yan’s t-shirt: “There’s no one else. It’s always been only you.”

“You’ve only known me for a few days.” Lin Yan muttered, leaning on Xiao Yu’s shoulder and wrapping his fingers around his sash, feeling a little melancholy. “I don’t know why, but I’m a little nervous when I think about going back there.”

“I really want to see what your life is like, and I’m afraid that if you think about it, you’ll go away and never come back.” Lin Yan sighed, “I always have a bad feeling as if I’ll see something I shouldn’t see.”

Xiao Yu’s long soft hair draped down his forehead and swept Lin Yan’s cheek. He kissed his earlobe Lin Yan raised his hand around his neck and said aggrieved: “Let’s stay away. I’m afraid I’ll feel bad when you leave.”

The cicadas outside the window were making untimely noise, but the two people in the empty classroom were more tightly entangled.

On the fourth day after the Dragon Boat Festival, Lin Yan packed up his things, sent the cat to his parents’ house, and rushed to the Capital Airport with mixed feelings that he could not describe.

After passing the security check, there was still some time before boarding the plane. Lin Yan took Xiao Yu to wander around the duty-free shop. When there was no one around, he explained to him in a whisper what each item was for. This ghost from ancient times was unfamiliar with everything and never wanted to ask. Passing by a classical Chinese shop that lets foreigners pick up souvenirs, ink and wash scrolls and manuscripts of contemporary calligraphers. The paintings were green bamboo with tigers descending, mountains and rivers flowing gold. The maiden on the fan was reclining on a tree, as if the wind blows down. The price was staggeringly high. Xiao Yu’s mouth held a contemptuous smile, his fingers running over a silk satin handkerchief. He simply snorted out a laugh.

Lin Yan sighed. This beautiful young man walked in a time of misery that does not belong to him, waist straighter than anyone, and more proud than anyone else.

Taking Xiao Yu out of the duty-free shop, just as he was about to find a restaurant for dinner, Lin Yan suddenly froze. Two people stood opposite him waving at him, one wearing dirty jeans and a striped T-shirt, the other wearing a blue cloth robe with a pale calf showing at the hem. Lin Yan opened his mouth in surprise. It was Yin Zhou and A-Yan. Why were they here?