To Raise A Soul

After an abrupt introduction, everyone at the lake headed to a quaint tea shop nearby.

Wen Yi, the gentleman who was with Yin Yan earlier, was also a businessman from B City. As his family"s business wasn"t very large, he was left at the periphery of B City"s business circle. He and Yin Yan were high school cla.s.smates. While they couldn"t be considered very close, they shared enough of a friendship to be more than just nodding acquaintances. Each time they b.u.mped into each other, they would have a chat. 

“I can"t say I expected you to settle down in the few months since we last met. Congratulations.”

Wen Yi"s appearance was delicate and pretty, with a refined temperament. His speech was neither rushed nor slow, and was amiable and natural. Smiling as he spoke, he gave off a refreshing feeling, like a clear spring breeze.

Yu Zhen was born with little immunity towards this kind of friendliness and he quickly developed a very favorable impression of Wen Yi. Without Yu Zhen"s notice, the embarra.s.sment he felt from openly hugging Yin Yan earlier had faded greatly.

“Thank you,” Yin Yan replied. 

Beneath the table, two hands were clasped together. Yin Yan picked out the red stone from within the hollow of Yu Zhen"s hand.

Yu Zhen looked at Yin Yan, and gave him a silent, inquiring "What are you doing?" look.

“What brings you to the park? You"ve even come with a group of children.”

Yin Yan did not look at him and continued to talk with Wen Yi. The hand under the table was released, and Yin Yan rested it on the table. He then reached for a sachet of sugar.

Losing his only source of heat, Yu Zhen"s body temperature began to drop. Yu Zhen"s body reacted before his brain could register the thought. He moved closer, squeezing into Yin Yan"s s.p.a.ce. His hand under the table pressed on Yin Yan"s thigh and rubbed it twice. 

It"s so cold. I still want a hug.

Yin Yan froze for a moment. Then, as if nothing happened, he opened up the packet of sugar and poured it into Yu Zhen"s coffee. Slowly, he stirred the coffee and said, "Drink some coffee to warm up."

As he spoke, Yin Yan dropped the red stone into the coffee.

Yu Zhen stared with wide eyes and unconsciously clenched his hands. "You…" Why did you throw that in?! 

“Is your stomach uncomfortable again?” Yin Yan asked.

Distracted by his heartbeat which had accelerated without a reason, Yu Zhen nodded.

“Drink this. You"ll feel better,” Yin Yan continued to cook up nonsensical reasons.

“…”

Yu Zhen looked at the coffee cup with great bitterness. He weighed the “irregular heart rhythm” against “drink this weird liquid” before he took his hand off Yin Yan"s thigh and picked up the cup.

Shifting to the side a little, Yin Yan looked to Wen Yi and found that the man had politely looked away. "Sorry, he"s not feeling very well."

"It"s alright," Wen Yi replied. While Yu Zhen obediently looked down at his coffee and drank it, Wen Yi"s gaze landed on him for a second before tactfully moving elsewhere. He looked at Yin Yan again and happily continued, "Your relationship is so good it makes others envious. When are you preparing to hold the wedding? I"ll have to shamelessly ask for a gla.s.s of wedding wine."

"The wedding is being prepared. Mom and Dad want to make it a big event so the official date will be about a year later."

"One year is the perfect length of time. You can prepare well. Nowadays, wedding companies and hotel venues aren"t very good – "

Wee-Woo-Wee-Woo-Wee-Woo-

As Yu Zhen started to set his cup down, the park"s alarm suddenly began to ring, interrupting the conversation.

“What"s going on?”

“Did something happen?”

The guests in the tea stall immediately became restless. Wen Yi hurriedly turned to calm the children he had brought along. He frowned at the manager of the tea bar who hurried in.

"It"s okay, it"s okay. Don"t panic. It"s just some trees in the grove at Crescent Moon Lake that fell onto our fencing and triggered our alarms. It"ll be fine as long as no one goes to Crescent Moon Lake. Everything is okay!"

As the manager finished the explanation, the park"s broadcast began relaying an announcement. The situation was exactly as the manager had described.

Relieved, the guests calmly returned to their seats.

However, Wen Yi paled at the report. With lingering fear in his heart, he said, "These kids are my girlfriend"s pupils. I brought them here with my girlfriend to let them sketch from nature. Before I ran into you, there was a child who had diarrhea. My girlfriend took the child to the toilet and told me to wait with the other children by the lake. If I hadn"t met the two of you…"

The consequences were unimaginable.

Yu Zhen looked down at his empty cup of coffee and then up at Yin Yan.

It is just as Yin Yan said, if the boundary of attraction isn"t dealt with, sooner or later something would happen.

"It"s good that nothing happened. To prevent accidents, next time you take the children out, remember to avoid places with deep water and thick forests."

While he continued talking calmly with Wen Yi, Yin Yan held Yu Zhen"s hand under the table and gently caressed it.

"You"re right. This time, I didn"t consider things thoroughly." Wen Yi nodded in fear. He turned around again to look at the kids who were obediently eating their pastries. He thanked Yin Yan again.

Five minutes later, Wen Yi"s girlfriend hurriedly appeared at the tea shop with a child in tow. After hearing Wen Yi explain the near-miss situation, she profusely thanked Yin Yan.

—-

“It was scary to meet with ghosts, but this painting is quite beautiful,” Yu Zhen commented on the drive back.

 He touched the childishly painted landscape in a gentle manner, his eyes curved in a content smile.

“En,” Yin Yan replied quietly and extended a palm to him with a pill sitting in its hollow.

“What?”

“Eat it. It will suppress the effect of the boundary of attraction. The effect of the previous pill you ate is about to wear off.”

Confused, Yu Zhen asked, “What pill? I don"t remember taking a pill earlier… Ah, you dropped something else in the coffee?"

Yin Yan nodded and moved the pill in front of Yu Zhen.

“…” How many strange things have I been fed today?

Yu Zhen grumbled, pinched the little thing and ate it. At that moment, he realized that the cold effect from the ghostly encounter had completely faded after drinking the coffee. He smiled and glanced at Yin Yan"s side profile as he drove. Yu Zhen couldn"t resist praising, “You"re very cool today, saving so many little friends – “

Screech!

The car pulled to an abrupt stop and Yin Yan quickly undid his seat belt and left the car.

Yu Zhen stared on blankly. Watching Yin Yan walk around the car to the convenience store beside the road, Yu Zhen lowered his window and shouted, "What are you doing now?!" 

“Buying some necessities.” With his long legs, he quickly reached the shop entrance, answering without looking back. 

“…” Who is he trying to fool?! 

———————

Dinner was served just as the two arrived home. Qiu Feiqian had also calmed down considerably. Even when she saw Yin Yan only carrying two boxes of briefs into the villa, Qiu Feiqian didn"t say much. She simply asked them to sit down and eat.

After dinner, Yin Hexiang and Qiu Feiqian went to the study on the third floor to deal with work that had been neglected in recent days. Yin Le didn"t want to be a third wheel to the newlyweds, so he returned to his room to study. 

Yu Zhen followed Yin Yan back to their room. As soon as they entered their room, Yu Zhen s.n.a.t.c.hed the boxes of men"s briefs from Yin Yan"s hands. Ears red, he spluttered, "W-why didn"t you leave them in the car? It"s so embarra.s.sing to let Mom and Dad see this."

Yin Yan did not speak. He raised a hand and elegantly waved it in front of his face.  

Swoosh.

As if an invisible layer of protection was suddenly removed, Yu Zhen"s body trembled and warmth quickly escaped from his body. At the same time, his heart began beating wildly. Countless, monstrous wails coalesced by Yu Zhen"s ear. Chilling winds sprang up from all directions and something in his stomach impatiently jolted, trying to escape. 

“Take deep breaths. Sit cross legged, in the Heaven Facing Five Hearts position[1]. Internally recite the chant I taught you.”

The abandoned briefs boxes fell onto the floor with a thud. Yu Zhen instinctively stepped forward to reach for Yin Yan, but Yin Yan avoided his touch. 

"Yu Zhen, this is your path. I cannot help you."

Yu Zhen"s vision blurred as if there were a black veil covering his eyes, wishing to drag him into darkness. 

He tried to open his eyes wider, but the black veil made it so he could still only see an indistinct outline of Yin Yan.

"Control it and merge it with your dantian[2]. Stabilize your state of mind and maintain it. You absolutely mustn"t let it control you." 

In the haze of his chaotic mind, Yin Yan"s voice was the only thing that remained clear, offering a beacon to guide him. Slowly, Yu Zhen began to calm down. He sat on the floor, copying the meditation position he sometimes saw his grandfather use. First, sit cross-legged, then straighten the self and enter the Heaven Facing Five Hearts position. He took another deep breath and let his consciousness sink downwards. 

Bdump. Bdump. Bdump.

In the left side of his chest, a small, pesized drop of dark red blood moved in Yu Zhen heart. Its pattern of movement mimicked the rhythmic beating of a heart, but it repeatedly agitated his heart as the organ expanded and contracted.

Suddenly, a few golden threads of light appeared, followed by the materialization of more and more of them. The golden lights swirled into a vortex and fiercely charged towards the drop of blood. 

[Great "heavenly sect"! Great "world-famous sect"! Tear down your hypocritical masks! How are any of you different from that evil spirit?!]

[Who are you?]

[Master, please accept this disciple"s respects.]

[This disciple doesn"t ask for a long life, but only asks to stay by Master"s side.]

[Bitter abyss, eternal h.e.l.l, savage city… What a great "PaG.o.da of Xu Wu"! But it turns out… Even you are lying to me.]

[This path of a long life – I won"t walk down it anymore.]

[This time, it will be a final farewell…I truly adore you. And you?] 

Boom!

The condensed golden light dragged the drop of blood into Yu Zhen"s dantian. Then, with a rumbling noise, it exploded and a golden glow filled the area.  

As Yu Zhen warmed up again, his consciousness floated back to him. When he finally opened his eyes, the early morning light stung them shut again. Yin Yan remained in the same position, unmoved since Yu Zhen lost consciousness. His back faced the sun and he silently gazed at Yu Zhen.

Yu Zhen"s chest was filled with a sense of repressed desperation. He raised a hand to his cheek and, as expected, he felt the wet trails of tears. Blankly, he asked, "That"s strange. Why am I crying?…I think I dreamt of something bad."

“This heart is with you."

“What?”

Yu Zhen returned to his senses and wiped at his wet cheeks. He moved to get up and approach Yin Yan. But, he failed to realize that his legs had fallen asleep from sitting cross-legged for too long. His center of gravity shifted and, off balance, he fell forward.

Yin Yan quickly caught him and held Yu Zhen steadily in his arms. His chin pressed down on Yu Zhen"s head as he tucked him against his neck, preventing him from seeing his face.

“Thank… What"s wrong? ” Yu Zhen asked. When he managed to stand firm on his own feet again, he attempted to move away from within Yin Yan"s embrace. He failed.

Yin Yan was silent. After a long time, he replied, “You"re cold.”

Yu Zhen mentally checked the temperature of his body, looked up and said, “I"m not cold. But my heart feels a little tight like I"m sad for some reason, and my nose is also a little uncomfortable. Did I catch a cold?”

Yin Yan slowly let go of him. Because of the angle of the lighting, shadows covered his face and his expression wasn"t clear. He didn"t answer the question but instead turned around and strode to the bathroom where he locked the door. 

Yu Zhen: “…”

What strange issues does he have now? Was he scared away by my crying?

Translator(s): Epsea
Editor(s): Miiya
Proofer(s): Avalie

Whew, this chapter has been a bit of a roller coaster.

Miiya:

Poor Yin Yan… Your Yu Zhen doesn"t realize the impact of his actions and words on you. *pat pat*