“You’re saying Brother Yan isn’t dead?”
Long Feicheng sniffled and stared blankly at Yan Shouyi.
Yan Shouyi sighed, got out of the car, and walked over to Long Feicheng. He reached out and patted Long Feicheng’s face. “My face might be pale, but my hands are still warm. Don’t you believe me? Feel for yourself.”
Long Feicheng was stunned.
The next second, his tears gushed out again. He hugged Yan Shouyi tightly and shouted, “I knew it! How could Brother Yan die so easily! I really thought… I really thought I was going to be homeless!”
That last sentence suddenly seemed to light up the night sky and warm everyone’s hearts.
It turned out that all along, Long Feicheng had regarded Yan Shouyi as family.
Seeing Long Feicheng’s happy demeanor, Yan Shouyi couldn’t help but smile.
A native of Rongcheng, Long Feicheng lost his parents at a young age and wandered around. It wasn’t until he followed Chen Dawei that his life began to improve. Years of struggle had turned him into the seemingly unreliable and flippant person he was today. Yet, it was precisely because he had suffered that he could face everything with optimism and understand how precious kinship was.
Since meeting Yan Shouyi, Long Feicheng had found a true brother. Yan Shouyi treated him with sincerity, and Long Feicheng had long decided in his heart that he would never go anywhere else but follow Yan Shouyi.
If Yan Shouyi went through mountains of knives, Long Feicheng would pave the way. If Yan Shouyi went into a sea of fire, Long Feicheng would follow, never leaving his side.
In this life, Long Feicheng had only one elder brother in his heart, and that was Yan Shouyi!
Yan Shouyi gave Long Feicheng a minute to compose himself. When the time was up, he pushed Long Feicheng away. “Enough, enough. It’s not good for a grown man like you to be seen crying in my arms.”
Long Feicheng laughed heartily. “I’m just happy!”
“Happy?” Yan Shouyi sneered. “You just said you secretly added extra ham sausages to my instant noodles and used my name to pick up girls. I haven’t settled those scores with you yet.”
Long Feicheng flinched and took a few steps back. “Brother Yan, those were just jokes. Don’t take them seriously!”
“However, since you admit you’re younger than me, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear those words before,” Yan Shouyi said with a smile.
Long Feicheng breathed a sigh of relief.
Han San chuckled. “Ah, look at what happened. We should hurry up the mountain. Everyone must be very sad. Let’s give them a surprise!”
“Speaking of which…” Long Feicheng looked at the female ghost in the car and asked, “Who is this beautiful lady?”
Yan Shouyi smacked Long Feicheng on the head. “Don’t go trying to hit on her again. She’s my savior!”
“Nani?” Long Feicheng was startled. He quickly ran in front of the female ghost and said with great seriousness, “Miss, thank you for saving Brother Yan. I, Long Feicheng, have no way to repay you except to offer myself in marriage. You don’t need to be polite!”
The female ghost in the car was amused by Long Feicheng, covering her mouth as she giggled.
Seeing the beautiful woman smile, Long Feicheng put on his standard lovestruck expression.
She’s beautiful! So beautiful!
The netizens weren’t wrong. They were right. As long as you’re brave enough, Sadako can take a vacation!
Yan Shouyi was exasperated. He was about to call Han San to stop Long Feicheng. Who knew that Han San had also disappeared? Looking around again, he saw Han San leaning against the window, grinning and saying,
“Miss, can I also offer myself in marriage?”
“You two are enough!”
Liu Ying could no longer stand it. She grabbed both of their ears and said, “Listen to me, both of you. She is an elder from our family, named Liu Ziqiao! If any of you dare to have any ideas about her, you’ll have to get past me first!”
Long Feicheng blinked. “There’s such a good thing?!”
Liu Ying: “…”
This guy is truly beyond saving…
After a bit of a fuss, Long Feicheng and Han San were stuffed into the car’s trunk, and everyone else returned to their seats.
Long Feicheng crouched in the trunk, feeling indignant. He couldn’t help but say, “Miss Liu, your sister doesn’t have a physical form, so what’s wrong with letting me share some space with her? This trunk is really too unjust!”
Liu Ying snorted, completely ignoring Long Feicheng.
Long Feicheng, having gotten no response, could only ask Yan Shouyi, “Brother Yan, what exactly happened? Why did Xu Qian and the others say you were dead, but you’re alive and standing here?”
“That’s a long story, but let me show you something first,” Yan Shouyi said mysteriously.
Long Feicheng quickly pressed Yan Shouyi’s hand. “Alright, alright, Brother Yan. I admit yours is bigger than mine. There are so many people in the car right now, you don’t need to show it off.”
Han San also chimed in, “Yeah, last time at the Luotian Grand Ceremony when you killed Wang Qihe, everyone saw yours. I have to say, it’s indeed big.”
“…” Yan Shouyi roared in frustration, “What I want to show you isn’t that, it’s this!”
With that, Yan Shouyi lifted the bangs on his forehead.
Underneath his bangs, on his smooth forehead, was a bright red character: “Sha” (煞).
Han San asked doubtfully, “Brother Yan, at a time like this, you still have the leisure to get a tattoo?”
“This isn’t an ordinary tattoo,” Yan Shouyi said with a smile. “This is a ‘Wen Yin’ (纹阴) or ‘Yin Tattoo’.”
“What’s the difference?” Han San didn’t understand the distinction at all.
Yan Shouyi explained, “Among the inheritors of folk sects, there is a trade called ‘Wen Yin Shi’ (纹阴师), or ‘Yin Tattoo Artists’. In the eyes of ordinary people, they just do ordinary tattoos or brandings. But in reality, they can achieve some magical effects, such as warding off ghosts and evil spirits, or attracting wealth, by tattooing specific characters or symbols onto people’s bodies using special techniques. However, if they wish, they can also tattoo symbols that cause illness and invite ghostly invasions.”
“Miss Liu Ziqiao, who is beside me, was captured by Zhou Yuhu back then and kept in the Xiao Shan Yin House (萧山阴宅) for so many years. It was only tonight that we rescued her… Ahem, strictly speaking, we rescued others but missed Miss Liu. Later, I fought fiercely with the Zhou family ghost king. Although I won, I was overwhelmed myself, my malevolent energy (煞气) went into chaos, and I fell unconscious. It was Miss Liu who timely intervened and tattooed a ‘zhen sha’ (镇煞) or ‘malevolent energy suppression’ tattoo on my forehead, which stabilized my malevolent energy, allowing me to regain consciousness so quickly. Otherwise, if I had remained lying in the Xiao Shan Yin House, and if others from the Zhou family had returned, I would have been in grave danger.”
“After everyone else left, Xue Kai discovered I hadn’t come out and contacted Kang Jinlong. Then Miss Liu Ying and Kang Jinlong went to the Xiao Shan Yin House to pick me up, which is why the situation just now occurred.”
Yan Shouyi’s explanation finally made Long Feicheng and Han San understand what had happened.
Long Feicheng swallowed and asked, “So, Miss Liu is actually already…”
Liu Ziqiao said with a smile, “This old woman is already in her sixties.”
Long Feicheng: “…”
Han San: “…”
Liu Ziqiao continued, “Although this old woman is old, her appearance and state of mind remain young. I wonder if the offer of marriage you two just made can be taken seriously?”
[Author's Note]
Allow me to explain why I was absent yesterday… The mirror in my shop was broken by a naughty child before the Lunar New Year. I hadn’t dealt with it after it was repaired and kept delaying it until yesterday. As it turned out, yesterday that naughty child not only refused to admit fault but also came to my shop to cause trouble. The most infuriating thing was that he had the nerve to call the police… The police came yesterday, so I had to go and handle it, which delayed my writing~ Alas, the compensation that naughty child paid is less than what I lose by not writing a novel for a day. My heart aches! ~