Chapter 56: Tiger-Head Shoes Trampling the Infant's Funeral Hall (Twenty-Two) His eyes were filled with lust...

The blow Ye Qingzhan had struck at Chuntao in a moment of desperation had indeed been heavy. She couldn't wake up for a while, so she and her grandmother had to move her to the bedroom and make further plans after she woke up the next morning.

Grandma Tao's memory had returned, and she insisted on staying by Chuntao's bedside. Unable to resist, Ye Qingzhan painstakingly set up a large barrier outside the room. After completing this, she remained by Ye Shaolin's bedside, quietly watching him as he slept.

Ye Shaolin suddenly began to mutter in his sleep, "Qingzhan, you're back."

Ye Qingzhan, squatting on the ground, was startled and took Ye Shaolin's outstretched hand.

"Why do you always put sugar in the pear soup you make? Dad knew it was you the moment he tasted it."

Tears fell without warning, and Ye Qingzhan's shoulders trembled.

"Dad's been having these dreams these past few days. I dreamt something happened to you and Xuejun, and that I died in the mansion. So thankful, so thankful, you're back..."

Ye Shaolin let go, a tear sliding onto the pillow.

Ye Qingzhan took out a handkerchief and wiped it clean for him, looking at him closely.

The Gates of Hell offer ghosts who have tragically died a chance to untie the knots that cling to their hearts. It also offers those chosen to be ghost ferrymen a chance to rediscover their lost memories.

Ye Qingzhan recalled many things—

Ye Shaolin had always been strong, but after meeting County Magistrate Jin and Doctor Fox, he'd become frequently ill, and this time his illness was strange.

Jiang Xuejun, her mother, was troubled by her father's illness, recalling her childhood and the ruin of her family. Unsettled by the rumors, she devoutly worshipped Buddha, hoping to cleanse her "sins."

Hearing of the efficacy of the White Jade Temple, her mother wanted to go there to pray for blessings. She was worried, and neither was her father. After discussing it, Ye Qingzhan decided to go with her mother to pray for her father. At Jade Butterfly Peak, they encountered falling rocks, shattering the carriage. Her mother fell to the ground, trapping her in the carriage, as the horses, pulling her, panicked, raced toward the cliff. Just before she fell, she saw Wen Gu, dressed in red.

Wen Gu... it had been days since they'd parted in the carriage.

Ye Qingzhan stood up and tucked the corners of the quilt around Mr. Ye, then sat back on the ground, her hands resting on her cheeks, her mind racing.

Before she became a ghost ferryman and reached the Gates of Hell, in the recurring dream, she hadn't clearly seen the man who had drawn his sword and stabbed Madam Jiang. She only remembered a bloody mark between his eyebrows and a dark aura surrounding him. It was the black fog that first awakened her from her first encounter at the Gates of Hell, the dream itself.

Even amidst the perilous illusion, she could sense Wen Gu's hidden "malice" toward her.

With this in mind, Ye Qingzhan pulled out the ginkgo leaf Li Zhixing had given her. It was a gift from the exiled immortal when they first left the illusion. It instructed her to "coax" Wen Gu while also being wary of him. The exiled immortal said the evil spirit within Wen Gu constantly sought to devour her.

Honestly, she had no desire to accommodate him; she was terrified and desperate to stay away.

But if she wasn't willing to be near him, who else would dare? When they first met at the Red Dust Inn, both ghosts and immortals avoided him like the very plague.

...But after all, Wen Gu was just a teenager her own age. Could the black mist covering his body and the pain that caused him to vomit blood be his own choice?

She wanted to know his past, just as she wanted to remember her own.

This was one reason she chose to trust Wen Gu.

Another reason was that she felt the lord of each illusion was inextricably linked to her. And the same was true of Wen Gu.

Ye Qingzhan thought that she and Wen Gu might have a cause and effect.

Wen Gu's back was very similar to the phantom she saw in her dream when she fell into the deep sea that day...

At first, she just followed the instructions of the exiled immortal and "smiled" at Wen Gu. Later, seeing his sick face, he was always tortured by the Yin Sha to the point of heartache and vomiting blood, and she felt a little uncomfortable. In Mo Zhi's illusion, Wen Gu even used his own power to control the Yin Sha full of resentment, protected all the embroiderers in Jinxiu Villa, and kept an eye on her at all times.

Since then, she herself didn't know how much sincerity and how much falsehood were in her "smile" to him.

Ye Qingzhan couldn't figure it out, and buried her face in her arms.

At this time, someone stepped into the door, and Ye Qingzhan looked up at the sound.

"Butler Zhang, you're back?"

Zhang Sanrang saw the distinguished guest sitting on the ground and walked a little faster. He hurriedly helped Ye Qingzhan and said, "I'm really sorry to trouble you to stay by his side every day."

Ye Qingzhan waved her hand and was about to say something, but Butler Zhang said before her, "I'll just take care of Mr. Ye. Go check on Mr. Dongfang. He..."

Forgetting what he was going to say, Ye Qingzhan glanced at Mr. Ye who was sleeping soundly on the bed, turned his head and asked hurriedly, "What's wrong with him?"

Mr. Dongfang had instructed not to say too much to his wife, but it was really worrying that he was alone. For the sake of his safety, I'm sorry I can't comply. Zhang Sanrang steeled himself. "The master has saved many lives and has fallen ill. Master Xu and I worked together to get him back to the mansion, but he refused to leave anyone to watch over him, and now he's lying alone on the couch."

Before he could finish his words, Ye Qingzhan grasped Butler Zhang's arm and anxiously said, "Please keep an eye on my father. His fever has subsided, but he just needs water at night. Please get him a glass. I'll go see my husband."

With that, she hurried out of the east room, skirt in hand, oblivious to the look of astonishment on Zhang Sanrang's face.

Ye Qingzhan hurried to the second-floor wing. Opening the door, she was met with a swirling black mist, like a spiderweb, covering the entire room. It was even more numerous, thicker, and more chaotic than when they'd first seen it at the Red Dust Inn.

It was like it was out of control.

The black mist, upon catching sight of her, rushed towards her like a hungry wolf at a delicious lamb. It was like thousands of taut, strong strings, wrapped around her waist and clasped her hands. It didn't hurt, but she couldn't break free.

In the blink of an eye, Ye Qingzhan was brought to the bed by Yin Sha. The thousands of black strings that bound her suddenly loosened, and like a black silk curtain, it gathered up this world.

Bang -

the door closed.

After sitting up straight, Ye Qingzhan rubbed his wrist and saw the person lying on the bed.

Wen Gu closed his eyes tightly, his skin was pale, and the blue veins on his neck were throbbing. Looking up, his lips were almost light white, and his eyebrows were full of fatigue. His long eyebrows were furrowed, as if they were never relaxed.

Ye Qingzhan touched his hand and gently rubbed his eyebrows.

"Wen Gu, what on earth did you do behind my back?" Ye Qingzhan took out a handkerchief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead bit by bit, "Do you know that I protected Grandma Atao, Chuntao, and my father by myself."

"It turns out that Grandma Atao's knot was to find out who killed Chuntao. She saw the hidden arrows shot by those killers, and they were the same ones she picked up at my house when she was alive."

"Grandma Chuntao said that when she was selling shoes, she met a fox Taoist priest wearing a mask. He bought a pair of tiger-head shoes. When she gave him the money, she met his eyes and felt dizzy. When she woke up, she walked out to the wilderness without taking anything with her except the pair of shoes hanging around her neck."

The young man, his face pale, lay quietly on the bed. Ye Qingzhan checked his breath, sighed, and continued to talk to himself: "What do you think that fox is up to? Why is he everywhere? And, let me tell you, that fox and the county magistrate, Jin Xiao, have fallen out. Oh, and Jin Xiao is the man who calls himself 'Golden Cicada.' You don't know, but I saw them arguing tonight. It's good that they're arguing, because we don't have to instigate it..."

A tear fell on the young man's bony hand.

Ye Qingzhan raised his hand to wipe it away.

"Why, why don't you talk? Why don't you talk? In the illusion, you don't like to talk, and you often do things that are very inappropriate and unethical, such as kissing me while I'm asleep... I, I can forgive you for all these, but please don't not talk to me. Daddy is sick, Mommy is nowhere to be found, the exiled immortal left at any time, and I only have you. Although you don't talk much in the illusion, you will answer everything I ask. Why don't you talk to me now, why?..."

Tears fell like rain, dripping on the soft couch, and shattered into a sad flower.

After not seeing each other for a few days, the person who was blocking her heart became like this. Ye Qingzhan wanted to cry when she saw him. She couldn't help but cry until this moment, but the young man on the bed still didn't show any sign of waking up, and she couldn't help herself.

Ye Qingzhan felt Wen Gu's pulse, and the pulse was so chaotic that she didn't know how to save him.

"Wen Gu, wake up... wake up, please?" Ye Qingzhan held Wen Gu's hand tightly, and tears fell on the young man's heaving chest.

Wen Gu opened his eyes.

Tears hung on Ye Qingzhan's face. She paused, then hugged him tightly, tears soaking the boy's shoulders. "You finally woke up, finally woke up, you scared me to death."

The words flowed between the curtains and bed covered with black mist, and the nightingale chirped outside the window.

Unable to wait for a response, Ye Qingzhan felt a little lost, and slowly retreated, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and looked up at him.

A pair of black eyes stared at her motionlessly. His eyes were long and dark, like an ancient pool with no bottom.

Suddenly, Wen Gu's eyes turned red, and he tilted his head slightly, staring at her.

Ye Qingzhan was stunned.

For a moment, it was as if she saw an endless fire in his eyes, and there was an inexhaustible desire in his eyes.

She was a little scared, and her body trembled, trying to move back.

The black silk mist lingering between the bed curtains waited for an opportunity to move, and turned into thin threads, wrapped around her body. Starting from the outer robe, it peeled off layer by layer.

The black thread was entangled with her hands. Ye Qingzhan could not escape. She could only watch as a thread went up from her waist, lifted her shirt, and slipped to her waist.

Her green waist was revealed.

In the endless soft mist, a ray of moonlight suddenly leaked in and fell on the girl with panic-stricken eyes.

Her black hair was scattered, covering her back moistened with silver light. The green silk wrapped around her water-sculpted muscles and bones, going down inch by inch.

But just a few inches away, Wen Gu's eyes were red, staring at her without blinking.

Ye Qingzhan's cheeks became hot.

But this thread was like a flexible finger, still sticking to the skin and going up, causing tremors wherever it passed. When it reached those two places, Ye Qingzhan could not bear it anymore, and said:

"Wen Gu, what are you doing? Stop it, stop it!"

The young man still had that expression, just watching, his eyes filled with desire.

The black thread cut through the two shoulder cloths of the master's waist, and the green satin slowly slid down from the graceful and exquisite body, and the large expanse of snow-white skin filled the eyes of the evil young man.

Wen Gu stretched out his hands and moved forward uncontrollably.

Ye Qingzhan raised his hands that were twisted by the black thread and leaned forward. The broken master's waist slid down faster because of the awkward movement.

When the red buds were about to bloom, she pressed down Wen Gu.

His hands were tied and he couldn't wake up no matter how hard he shouted. Ye Qingzhan was cruel and bit Wen Gu's lips, and blood spread between his lips and teeth.

"Wake up!"

Wen Gu was still in the same state, motionless, letting the person on him do whatever he wanted.

Yin Sha seemed to understand and moved. In two or three moves, he stripped off his master's clothes.

"..." Their skins pressed together, and the place they touched was extremely hot, as if they were in a sea of fire. In the scorching heat

, Ye Qingzhan suddenly remembered the words of the exiled immortal, and then bit through the blood scab that had just formed on his lips. Without thinking, he kissed the boy's tightly pursed lips.