Chapter 162 Longing for Love
 
An Ruoxue suddenly realized that when she imagined embracing someone like those two, she couldn't even find a suitable object of fantasy.

So, her hands could only hang uselessly.

Then, she walked towards Chen Yuan, sat beside him, and, with her hands propping up her cheeks, quietly watched this man writing problems she couldn't understand at all.

Undoubtedly, she envied that girl named Xin Yu.

At this moment, any doubt she had about this boy completely disappeared.

Looking back on it, even without this sincere affection, he would still have returned the hairpin after finding it, having been told to in a dream. He would treat a girl unrelated to him by blood like a younger sister, and he hadn't even considered being greedy when he found the bag, waiting patiently for the owner to retrieve it.

People nowadays say a very good thing: "Don't look for someone who treats you well, look for someone who is inherently good."

And he was the kind of good person who would treat the world gently.

She herself had also been cared for by his kindness, although much of it was out of pity and sympathy.

She wanted to apologize.

Apologize for comparing him to Ruan Lang before.

How could that man compare?

Chen Yuan continued to write.

Because there was a question he didn't understand, he directly photographed it and sent it to Xia Xinyu, along with a WeChat voice message: "Teacher Xinyu, help!"

Then, Xia Xinyu sent back a draft and a voice message, teaching Chen Yuan how to do the problem.

Seeing this from the side, An Ruoxue suddenly understood what had caused the tragedy of their love.

At that time, only men could take the imperial examinations.

Before he passed, she was Ruan Lang's considerate and kind younger sister. But after he passed, she became the daughter of a lowly merchant family.

Their positions were always unequal.

Think about it, could a promising *juren* (successful candidate in the imperial exams) look up to a merchant's daughter, especially a widow?

Even if they were together, he would eventually resent her for being unable to converse with him and for her lack of worldly knowledge.

An Ruoxue envied the girls of today and also wanted to experience an equal love like Xinyu…

How wonderful.

Still maintaining that posture, propping up her cheeks and looking at Chen Yuan, An Ruoxue was somewhat lost in her own imagination.

"Why do I keep feeling a cold draft?"

Chen Yuan felt like the air conditioner had been turned on, but in reality, it wasn't even plugged in, yet there was a chill. So, he finally couldn't help it and stood up to get a coat from the closet.

Seeing this, An Ruoxue quickly hid in the corner, trying to get as far away from him as possible.

Just as Chen Yuan was about to put on his coat, he noticed that the cold feeling suddenly disappeared.

Something was wrong, definitely wrong.

After combining what he had done today, he suddenly had a bold guess.

Could he really be haunted by a *piao* (ghost)?

Moreover, this damn *piao* was in his room!

Thinking like this, Chen Yuan began to move around the room.

If there really was a *piao*, and if he hadn't guessed wrong, then her characteristic must be as he felt, capable of releasing some demonic gusts of cold air.

So, he began to patrol.

What's wrong? Why did he suddenly stand up and wander around?

An Ruoxue didn't understand, so when Chen Yuan walked in front of her, she immediately dodged to the side like a chick caught by a hawk, jumped off the bed, and hid in another corner.

After about three or four times, Chen Yuan still couldn't find the source of the cold air.

So, was he overthinking it?

Since An Ruoxue didn't know what he was trying to do, she simply lay down under the bed.

It wasn't until Chen Yuan sat down at his desk and continued writing that a head of long hair slowly emerged from under the bed.

An Ruoxue peeked out her head like a cat.

At this moment, a face suddenly appeared in front of her.

Mommy!

An Ruoxue was so scared by Chen Yuan that she screamed out loud, her soul almost scattering.

Chen Yuan, on the other hand, reached under the bed with his hand, passing right through An Ruoxue's body.

Nothing, there was nothing.

Damn it, was he scaring himself?

Or was it really just because it was cold that he felt chilly?

Chen Yuan stopped searching for the *piao* because doing so made him look too much like a paranoid idiot.

Do problems, do problems, next week is the Xia Hai Seven Sects' quarterly competition, can't afford to mess it up.

Seeing that he really sat down, An Ruoxue breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, she knelt by the bed, placed her hands on the bed, rested her chin on her hands, and cautiously peeked at him.

That's not right.

Didn't she want to be utterly destroyed?

Wouldn't it be better if he found her?

At least, he would try to eliminate her.

Or rather, with his gentle and kind nature, he might even send her to reincarnation without destroying her.

Also, why was she screaming just now?

She was the *piao*!

Ugh, what a waste she was…

An Ruoxue stayed in Chen Yuan's room like that.

After Chen Yuan finished doing his problems, it was getting late. So, he lay on the bed and took out a notebook from the bedside drawer.

An Ruoxue leaned over and saw that it was a diary, and the owner of the diary was the girl next door.

She gave the diary to Chen Yuan?

Although An Ruoxue didn't feel anything, she still chose a very comfortable lying position, leaning against the headboard and poking her head towards Chen Yuan so they could read the diary together.

"Damn, it's getting cold again."

"…" An Ruoxue shut her mouth and lay down beside him, feeling guilty.

Then, Chen Yuan wrapped himself in the blanket to ward off the inexplicable chill.

Two people… or rather, one person and one *piao*, read the diary.

Chen Yuan spent a long time reading the diary today, rereading every entry from the beginning, including the girl's evaluation of him when he and Xia Xinyu became neighbors.

But unfortunately, it was just one sentence: "Eleventh Middle School student."

He had heard of judging people by their appearance, but this was the first time he had seen someone judged by their school.

As she read the diary, An Ruoxue gradually understood everything.

Including Xia Xinyu's family background, the reason she came here, their first meeting, the accidental deaths of Xinyu's parents, her desire to die, Chen Yuan saving her, getting close to her, and gifting her stars…

Just by reading the diary, An Ruoxue could imagine the scene.

Sadness, mixed with beauty and warmth.

This man…

Looking at his profile, An Ruoxue felt for the first time after her death that love was so beautiful.

If she had met Chen Lang instead of Ruan Lang…

How wonderful, how wonderful it would have been.

Thinking like this, she slowly leaned her body 'against' Chen Yuan, 'placing' her face next to his profile, feeling that non-existent, stolen happiness…

"Achoo—"

Then, after Chen Yuan sneezed, she immediately moved to the side, her body slightly curled up, like a frightened hamster, timid to the extreme.

"Is there a *piao*? If there is, stand out and face me head-on!"

Chen Yuan was annoyed. Whether it was psychological or there really was something dirty, he was starting to get irritated.

When the other party appeared, he would create lightning with his bare hands and erase her existence!

Although An Ruoxue was still invisible and didn't worry about being discovered, she didn't want to be hated.

So, she should leave quickly…

"Damn, it's 12 o'clock, gotta go to sleep!" Chen Yuan glanced at his phone and suddenly realized the time, so he quickly put the notebook on the bedside table.

12 o'clock?!

An Ruoxue's reaction was the same, utterly astonished.

And the next moment, a suction force, like a black hole, instantly extracted her soul from the room, turning it into a demonic gust of wind and transferring it entirely to that ginkgo tree…

There's wind!

Chen Yuan saw with his own eyes that there was a gust of wind in the room.

Because the curtains moved.

Damn it, the curtains moved, he's not playing anymore!

Chen Yuan was really frightened, his face not looking too good.

But when he looked at the curtains again, they were hanging motionless in front of the window.

Was this also his psychological suggestion?

Yuanzi, had he become obsessed with materialism?!

Believe your eyes.

Or even if you don't believe your eyes, you must believe in Chaozi.

Then, he got out of bed, put on his slippers, walked slowly to the window.

Revealing the curtains was a closed window.

Even if the window wasn't closed properly, there wouldn't be any wind because the door was closed.

Without convection, how could there be wind?

So, he placed his hand on the curtain to read the previous memories.

Sure enough, the curtains really moved, blown by the wind!

Looking again, it was the same, there was wind!

The door was closed, the window was also closed, yet a gust of wind blew from inside the room to the outside…

He wasn't playing anymore, he wasn't playing anymore!

Although Chen Yuan was a warrior of materialism, he didn't care about materialism now!

Thinking that a *piao* had just run away in his house, Chen Yuan picked up his pillow, put on his slippers, opened the door, went to the corridor, and prepared to knock on Xia Xinyu's door.

Wait, what should he say after Xinyu opens the door?

Um, he didn't dare to sleep alone, could they hug and sleep together?

Stop joking!

Maybe Xinyu would agree, but using benefits to exchange for family status, such a short-sighted behavior, would damage his dignity as the head of the family.

So, he returned to the room with his pillow.

Locked the door, the window… was already closed.

Wasn't it easy for someone to come in if they wanted to?

Wait.

Chen Yuan suddenly thought of something and took out his phone.

Then, he proactively selected memories and began to rewind the scene.

Time returned to the moment when it was exactly 12 o'clock, when the wind in the room appeared.

Was it an illusion?

Chen Yuan tried again several times and then discovered that the demonic wind always rose sharply when the time jumped to 0 o'clock.

Like Chaozi, it was a rules-based system!

Chen Yuan was very sensitive because he also had a mechanism that suddenly refreshed after a certain 12 o'clock.

Such precise timing indicated that it wasn't an active action. But a passive one, to leave this room.

So, let's reason it out again.

What did he encounter today?

He was nosy and went to find antiques, then found a hairpin belonging to a woman who committed suicide by hanging.

Then, he buried the hairpin under the ginkgo tree by rewinding his memories.

Then, this *piao* followed him home.

No, she followed him when they were eating hotpot, his bangs were blown up at that time, it must have been because of this!

So, she had always been there.

But at midnight, she would be sent back to a certain place.

Presumably, it was under that ginkgo tree.

Understood.

He gradually understood everything.

The way to judge whether she was there was that the *piao* would bring her own cold air.

And, after 12 o'clock, she would be refreshed back to the revival point… what a strange way to put it!

But at least it indicated that now in the room, only he was left.

Actually, it was also just him a moment ago… but that's not important!

Chen Yuan lay on the bed, wrapped in the blanket.

Tomorrow, he would bring some paper money to burn for her, right?

She had committed suicide because she was heartbroken, so in this life, he would burn her two more handsome guys, like Kun Kun and Fan Fan… no, was he bullying his pigeon because he couldn't send out a cold green corpse?

He would think of something tomorrow, sleep first today.

It was getting late, and Chen Yuan had to get up early tomorrow, so he could only fall asleep for now.

After falling asleep, he saw a point of light.

Now, the super dream required energy, so he usually didn't enter Xinyu's dream at night.

But now Chen Yuan was more or less a little scared, if he could hug and sleep with Xinyu, it might be able to relieve some of his fear…

So, he entered the dream.

Then, it was a desolate land.

At the end of his sight, there was a ginkgo tree with all its leaves fallen.

Under the tree, was a girl in red…

Damn it!

He had entered the *piao's* dream!

No, did it mean that as long as he touched something, whether it was a person, a dog, or a *piao*, he could enter their dream?

If ghosts really existed, then when he was in Xia Xinyu's dream before, wasn't her mother, that somewhat blurry woman whose face he couldn't see clearly…

Thinking like this, Chen Yuan suddenly wasn't so afraid anymore.

If that was really the case, then maybe his idea could really be implemented.

So at this moment, Chen Yuan wasn't afraid anymore.

He slowly walked towards that tree.

The woman in front of him was getting closer and closer.

Finally, he walked in front of her.

This was a long-haired girl who was about eighteen years old, with exquisite features, fair skin, somewhat unreal, and beautiful like a phantom.

Her eyes, although clear and cold, weren't gloomy.

If that was the case, he wouldn't be too scared.

As long as she wasn't like Chu Renmei, he didn't have anything to be afraid of.

Wait, tell him she won't transform first.

What was going on?

An Ruoxue was a little surprised because she had come to a place that didn't belong to reality.

First of all, a *piao* didn't have any feelings, didn't get tired, didn't need to sleep, and didn't dream.

After she returned to that tree, she would just be a spirit bound to the land, and wouldn't go to any other space.

So, was this Chen Yuan's dream?

"What's your name?"

Just then, Chen Yuan took the initiative to say hello.

An Ruoxue was stunned for a moment and then replied, "My name is An Ruoxue… the owner of the hairpin you found."

"Hello, my name is Chen Yuan," Chen Yuan also introduced himself.

"I know."

"Why?" Chen Yuan asked in confusion.

An Ruoxue revealed a flustered expression, became a little nervous, and stammered, "I, I don't know."

"Do you know, or don't you know?"

"That…" An Ruoxue didn't want to make the other party feel scared, thinking that she was stalking him, so she explained, "When you brought a little sister to the tree and buried the hairpin in the soil, I knew you and heard you tell the story about being told in a dream… that's it."

"Oh, I understand. Then why are you appearing in my dream now, is there anything you want?"

Chen Yuan didn't want to reveal the fact that he could enter dreams, continuing to act like a newbie.

"Ah? Oh." An Ruoxue thought for a while and then said, "As you can see, after I hanged myself on that tree, I've been a spirit bound to that place. I can't die, and I can't be reincarnated. So, if you have a way to let me reincarnate, then please."

What a polite ghost.

So, she didn't know the method either?

"Then what should I do?"

"Burn some paper money for me?" An Ruoxue tentatively said.

"But isn't paper money burned for deceased relatives during Qingming? You're still in the world, would it be useful?"

Moreover, Chen Yuan now realized that you couldn't burn paper in the park.

If he wanted to burn it, he could only burn it at night.

So, he was supposed to sneak into the park now and burn paper under that tree?

This kind of behavior would get him banned from live streaming!

"I'm trapped in that ginkgo tree, if the tree is gone…"

"If the tree is gone, I'll go in," Chen Yuan directly interrupted.

A seven-hundred-year-old tree, still in the park, how much money did she think he had to compensate?

"Then, then I really don't know," An Ruoxue bit her lip, feeling very troubled.

She was still quite happy when she could communicate with Chen Yuan, thinking she had found a way to salvation.

But the other party wasn't an expert, and she herself only had a vague understanding of such things, how could she escape the shackles of the mortal world?

"I see some movies, and they say that if you fulfill your last wish, you can immediately become a Buddha and enter reincarnation, do you have any wishes?" Chen Yuan asked.

Hearing this, the woman thought for a while, looked up at the sky, and turned to look at the tree where she hanged herself, recalling the scene and her state of mind at that time, she said in a heavy tone, "Of course, I have hatred, hating him for abandoning me. I also have jealousy, jealous that he lived well after abandoning me. And I have unwillingness, unwilling that I did so much, but didn't get anything good, but these feelings… have long been released in the hundreds of years after my death."

Indeed, hundreds of years were enough for people to forget everything.

"I'm talking about wishes, what about your wishes?" Chen Yuan asked again.

Wishes…

What wishes did she have?

She just wanted to reincarnate sooner.

But reincarnation was the result, only by fulfilling a wish could one reincarnate.

In other words, she was staying in the world because she still had attachments?

But what was she attached to?

Suddenly, she thought of that empty hug.

When she saw Chen Yuan hugging Xia Xinyu, she unconsciously made that action as well.

So…

"I might want to be loved…"

After An Ruoxue finished speaking, she weakly raised her head and then found Chen Yuan looking at her with a subtle expression, as if looking at a pervert, so she quickly waved her hand, "I mean, I need that feeling, not real love."

"Wanting to experience things you haven't experienced… that's reasonable too."

Chen Yuan didn't want to cheat at all, but in order to get rid of this ghost's entanglement, he could only sacrifice himself.

However, he wasn't too willing to really do that.

Just like that, he grabbed the waistband of his casual pants with both hands, falling into entanglement.

"Ah no no, just a hug is enough!"

An Ruoxue quickly reached out to remind him that he might have misunderstood.

"Ah, then that's okay."

So, Chen Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, and a smile appeared on his face.

An Ruoxue, on the other hand, looked at the other party with some shame.

She always felt that what she was doing was a bit nasty.

After seeing Chen Yuan and Xia Xinyu's sincere love today, she had developed envy, and even fantasized that she had met Chen Lang instead of Ruan Lang…

But since the other party had agreed, she would try it.

However, she was a *piao*, could she really touch him?

With such a mood, An Ruoxue slowly walked forward and opened her arms.

Chen Yuan also opened his arms to meet her.

Just like that, the two gently embraced.

She could feel it!

For the first time, An Ruoxue found a sense of reality.

That feeling of touch was not fake.

It was incredibly fulfilling, and because the other party was a very good person, a growing love gradually arose in her heart.

Unconsciously, she buried her head into Chen Yuan's chest, wrapped her arms around his back, and hugged him tightly…

"By the way, after you became a *piao*, do you have any *gongfa* (cultivation methods)?" Chen Yuan asked.

"No," An Ruoxue replied truthfully.

"Can you touch people?"

"I can't touch them."

"What kind of influence can you have on reality?"

"At most, I can blow a breath, or absorb some of the taste in food, that's all, I can't hurt people at all."

"Oh, like that…"

"What's wrong, Chen Lang?" An Ruoxue raised her head and asked weakly.

Then the next moment, Chen Yuan suddenly grabbed her wrist and pointed at her with one hand like a husky scolding someone: "You're so weak, yet you dare to stalk me?"

He had finally caught her!

(End of this chapter)