Chapter 60 Part 2
The matter in the hospital had nothing to do with the two any longer. Xi Jia believed that the next time w.a.n.g Zhen saw him, he would definitely wish he could turn around and leave with his tail between his legs. Even if the skin of his face was thick to this degree and he would even dare to speak bad stuff about Brother Jia again, Brother Jia would beat him up for a round without the slightest hesitation and let him know how round the moon was.
After settling the shameless small fry, Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi followed along S City’s moat and leisurely took a walk. He turned his head to gaze at the shining reflections on the moat’s waters. Seeing that the breakfast stalls at both sides of the river were already set up, many people going to work stopped before the stalls, bought some things, and started their new day.
This world was beautiful and splendid. The dark was only a piece of it, and the light illuminated the world.
Ye Jingzhi noticed that Xi Jia kept on looking at the several breakfast stalls. He thought a bit and recalled that Xi Jia hadn’t eaten breakfast yet so he rushed over and bought two buns. He brought both buns to Xi Jia. Xi Jia was slightly stunned as he looked at him and took the buns, “You’re not hungry?” Since he gave both buns to him.
Ye Jingzhi shook his head, “I can fast for a month. Jia Jia, eat.”
Xi Jia’s heart slowly softened as he looked at Ye Jingzhi’s sincere gaze. The corners of his lips slowly perked up and he quietly uttered an “En.” After pulling away the plastic bag, he took a bite and noticed that it was the crayfish-stuffed food that was very popular on the internet lately. Xi Jia immediately brought the bun up to Ye Jingzhi to let him try.
Wife was giving him something to eat, Master Ye happily took a bite, “Delicious!”
The smile at the edge of Xi Jia’s lips became even more brilliant. He uttered an “En,” and lowered his head to continue eating the bun. After arriving at the subway station, the two took the subway to the closest station near their home. Once out, they saw the vast Jingdu Lake. The sunlight sprinkled on the lake’s surface, creating ripples of golden light.
In order to go home from the subway, they needed to go along a path beside Jingdu Lake.
Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi walked along the side of the lake. The slightly chilly September autumn wind blew towards them, gentle and pleasant.
After a long time, a silvery voice quietly sounded, “My dad pa.s.sed away right here.”
Ye Jingzhi’s footsteps halted, and he turned his head to look at the youth beside him.
Xi Jia turned his head and looked at the vast lake with a soft gaze. As he walked by the lake, the cool wind blew from the lake’s surface, tousling his hair. With a tender smile, he spoke of many things from years ago with a very calm voice, “He actually didn’t know how to swim, but at that time, it was late at night, and there were few people by the lake. He didn’t have the time to call someone to save me so he jumped down himself. If it was someone else who fell in, he definitely wouldn’t be that impulsive. But because I am his son, he would never think that much.”
Ye Jingzhi didn’t know what he should say. He grabbed Xi Jia’s hand and gently held it.
The warmth from his palm gradually warmed up Xi Jia’s cold body. He closed his eyes and sighed.
There were some things that no matter how many years had gone by, as soon as you closed your eyes, it would seem like yesterday.
In this lifetime, he would never forget that night when he jumped into this lake. It was clearly August, but the lake waters were so cold that it made his heart cold. The ice-cold lake waters poured into his mouth and ears. He simply couldn’t open his eyes. All he could see was the boundless darkness.
At that time, he really thought he was going to die.
Afterwards, he could faintly hear a splash. Someone firmly pulled him, and the two people struggled up and down in the lake.
After being saved did he know that the person who jumped down was his own father. He was always gentle. He was a father that would never say harsh words to other people. He had chased after him for three streets. After he had seen him jump down, he also jumped down without the slightest hesitation.
After being saved by a pa.s.serby again, he had lived, but his father was already no longer breathing.
At that moment, he truly felt that the sky was collapsing. Like a madman, he fell over his father’s body, crying hard and shouting “Dad” repeatedly. However, no one would rub his head and quietly lecture him ever again, making him study properly and not fight.
Xi Jia’s voice was very calm, and there wasn’t much expression on his face, “It was true that I killed my father, w.a.n.g Zhen actually wasn’t wrong.”
Ye Jingzhi squeezed Xi Jia’s hand in concern, “No, it’s not your fault, Jia Jia.”
Xi Jia shook his head while smiling, “You don’t understand. I really killed my father. On that day, the pa.s.sersby told me that when father was rescued, his hand kept on tightly holding something. Jingzhi, do you know what it was?” Xi Jia paused and looked down, “It was my Mt. Tai stone. He kept on chasing after me and jumped into the river. Even after death, he firmly held onto the Mt. Tai stone without letting go.”
Ye Jingzhi suddenly understood, “You didn’t wear the Mt. Tai stone?”
Xi Jia, “En, I didn’t. It wasn’t someone else’s fault. I voluntarily took it off.”
Ye Jingzhi never thought that it would be like this. He looked at Xi Jia in surprise but didn’t speak. But Xi Jia said with a smile, “At that time, I was very rebellious. I wouldn’t also say I was rebellious since I was already past the rebellious phase, but I was still arrogant and conceited. You don’t know that my grades in middle school weren’t good. Everyday, I would fight, and father would be heartbroken. I did well on the high school entrance examination so I went to a pretty good high school in S City. But I didn’t want to play with the people in cla.s.s. I was still playing with my cla.s.smates from middle school everyday. We would always go out and play around everyday during summer vacation. Then, there was a time when my friend once told me that he thought the Mt. Tai stone that I would always wear was very ugly.”
Xi Jia gazed at the lake. After a long time, he muttered, “Actually, it’s not ugly……”
Ye Jingzhi said, “En, it’s not ugly at all.”
“But at that time, when one person said it was ugly, many friends would also start to tease, saying that I’m like an old fart and still wearing something like this. You don’t know that those friends of mine are the type that would wear jewelry with skulls and bones. The group of us really followed the crowd. When one person said something, the others would chirp in. That day, I was bothered by them. I told them……that tomorrow when we go out and play, I wouldn’t be wearing this lousy thing.”
Ye Jingzhi said in shock, “Jia Jia, how could you not wear the Mt. Tai stone? Then wouldn’t your yin energy not be concealed?”
Xi Jia raised his head and looked at Ye Jingzhi, “For 13 whole years, nothing happened. I have worn it since I was four. Sometimes, I would secretly take it off, and nothing happened each time. So I thought……so what if I take it off one more time?”
Ye Jingzhi slightly parted his lips, but he didn’t speak.
So what if he took it off one more time?
Each time he took it off before, nothing happened. Then, if he took it off for a bit now, who would say there would be a problem?
Wasn’t he fine all these years?
That morning, he went out and left the Mt. Tai stone at home. Everything seemed fine. In the daytime, only a few wandering souls and wild ghosts would glance at him a bit longer. When it was nighttime, he was being stared at by a girl in a white dress when he went to karaoke.
“At that time, I didn’t know it was a ghost. It didn’t look that much different from an ordinary person. It kept on staring at me. Wherever I went, it would smile with a very strange smile. It kept smiling……at me.”
That was Xi Jia’s first malicious ghost that he had encountered in this lifetime.
Before, the Mt. Tai stone would hide his yin energy. Even if there was a malicious ghost, it wouldn’t be interested in him. However, that night, he was so scared that he hid in the bathroom. The malicious ghost didn’t speak. It merely stared at him and giggled. It stood on the ceiling of the bathroom and looked down, smiling and looking at him.
Xi Jia cried as he gave his father a call. He was afraid, afraid that the malicious ghost would suddenly come down and eat him.
When his father found out that he had actually taken off the Mt. Tai stone, he was angry for the first time. On the phone, his father yelled at him nonstop, telling him to quickly rush home. He himself also rushed to hand him the Mt. Tai stone.
It was Xi Jia’s first time running so quickly. The female ghost was chasing after him, just not eating him. He couldn’t help but cry as he madly rushed home. Just as his father took out the Mt. Tai stone, the female ghost seemed to have noticed something and suddenly pulled his arm, dragging him away. In the end, it dragged him into the ice-cold Jingdu Lake.
He couldn’t tell anyone these words. He never would’ve thought that a childish joke, an action to keep face, would end like this.
“After that, I really did go to the Third Hospital to see a doctor. w.a.n.g Zhen wasn’t wrong about this point. But, I only went once and never went again.” Xi Jia held Ye Jingzhi’s hand and continued to walk, “I wasn’t able to say to that doctor that I can see ghosts. I can’t say it. If I did, he would send me to the psychiatric ward. He wouldn’t believe me. So at that time, I quit school and stayed at home for half a year.”
Ye Jingzhi quietly listened to Xi Jia talk. He wouldn’t interrupt, but he would tightly hold Xi Jia’s hand, transferring his warmth to him.
Xi Jia smiled as he said, “At that time, I really wanted to die.”
Ye Jingzhi’s body tensed.
Xi Jia said, “I had thought about suicide several times, but each time, I felt like I can’t in the end. That female ghost is still alive. I know that I killed my dad, but it’s still alive. How could I die? At least before I die, let me meet it. Even if I die, I have to kill it.”
Ye Jingzhi actually didn’t understand what was said just now. How could Xi Jia be entangled by an ordinary malicious ghost and was even frightened to the point of tears?
In his impression, his Jia Jia could tear apart a ghost as he wished and could even punch through a millennium drought demon’s mouth. Jia Jia like this was actually afraid of a malicious ghost? Could it be that the malicious ghost was even stronger than the millennium drought demon?
As if he sensed the confusion in Ye Jingzhi’s mind, Xi Jia asked, “You don’t understand why I would be afraid of an ordinary malicious ghost?”
Ye Jingzhi hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Xi Jia, “Very simple, because I can’t beat it. In its eyes, I was a big meal. It wantonly made fun of me, watched me cry, watched me run in fright. It thought it was interesting. It could’ve eaten me at any time, but when it saw me grieve when my father died, it was even more pleased. Master Ye, you should know more than me. A malicious ghost isn’t a wandering soul. They understand many things, and they aren’t stupid.”
Hearing this, Ye Jingzhi was even more confused, “Jia Jia, why can’t you beat it?”
Xi Jia didn’t reply, but said instead, “When it made fun of me at that time, it thought it was very interesting, but I had also put the Mt. Tai stone back on. With the Mt. Tai stone, it wasn’t able to get near me. So it stayed in my house for half a month. For 15 whole days, it sat in front of me, stared at me, and giggled at me just like that night. Half a month later, it left. After another half a month, I wanted to die, but I wasn’t willing to die that simply. So I went to the karaoke place, and I really found it.”
Xi Jia halted in his steps and looked at the small island at the center of the lake, “At that time, I wanted to go down with it.”
“Jia Jia!”
Xi Jia shook his head, “I checked on the internet. Ghosts are afraid of peach wood swords and black dog’s blood. I even bought a lot of talismans online. I took off the Mt. Tai stone, and sure enough, it pounced at me. I spilled the black dog’s blood, but it didn’t have any reaction. I used the peach wood sword to stab it, but it still wasn’t afraid. Those talismans……were all fake. It watched my jokes and started to laugh again.”
Ye Jingzhi of course knew that these things might have some effect on ordinary wandering souls. But for a malicious ghost with some cultivation, they were really a joke.
Translator’s Addition:
Mirror: Wife is giving me stuff to eat! （*´▽｀*）melts
Translator’s Notes: None~