"The one sleeping in the grave is my man," Feng Yi replied with her usual forthrightness.
"You said you once sold yourself to save him...?"
"Mm." Feeling hot, Feng Yi tugged her collar halfway open. "Sold my body to men for his medicine money. Poor couples face poor circumstances, nothing unusual."
"Then why did he still die?"
"Why did he still die?" Feng Yi tilted her head back with a dazed laugh. "Because he was a proud man..."
Indeed, Gu Qin was a proud man. When Feng Yi first met him, he was still a guard at the Riding Might Escort Agency, standing straight as a spear wherever he went.
Back then, Feng Yi was still a diligent fishergirl—casting nets, sailing the seas, drinking—not losing to any man in any aspect.
Gu Qin fell for her spirited nature, broke with his family for her, abandoned his livelihood, and the two came to the capital empty-handed.
"With my two hands, no obstacle can stop us."
He said this with dashing determination.
Back then, he never imagined his robust health would fail immediately in the capital, his sword-calloused hands eventually withering into ten brittle sticks.
Even then, he rose every dawn to weave bamboo baskets and mats, using his saber to split bamboo, weaving awhile then resting, forever covered in cold sweat.
"A man should provide for his family. Can't live off his wife."
He said this even when his back could no longer stay straight.
One could imagine how such a proud man reacted upon learning Feng Yi had sold herself to the Phoenix Nest Brothel for his medicine money.
From that day, he never spoke another word, refusing all medicine and food, passing away five days later.
As a man, his final dignity was not becoming her burden.
"I disgraced him, so I didn't dare carve my name on his tombstone."
Feng Yi smiled bitterly, picking up the wine jar only to find it empty.
"Do you regret it?" Chi Lian pressed.
Too deeply drunk to hear, Feng Yi looked up dazedly: "His hands were big, my face small. I always liked burying my face in his palms—almost completely hidden."
Hesitating, Chi Lian slowly extended his hand, cupping her face as he whispered: "Like this?"
Feng Yi nodded, burying her face as silent tears fell into his palm. Stroking his hand, she murmured, "Why are your hands so cold? I remember they were always warm."
"Because I'm dead—a ghost now." Chi Lian whispered, indulging her delusion as Gu Qin.
Feng Yi clutched his hands, tears flooding forth as she broke into wrenching sobs.
"You're not afraid of me, a ghost, because you miss me, right?" Chi Lian lifted her face, licking away her tears.
His tongue was slender, forked at the tip, crimson—a standard serpent's tongue.
But Feng Yi was too drunk and delirious to notice, clinging to him desperately, kissing him deeply as if trying to kiss away all her heartache in one breath.
"She's wiping a tombstone—whose tombstone?"
Only after the water images had long vanished did Chi Xue speak, his reaction unusually delayed.
"The tombstone bears a name: Gu Qin." Xuan Ye observed keenly.
"Gu Qin..." The brothel madam rubbed her forehead, vaguely recalling. "That name sounds familiar... who was it again............""That was the lady's former husband." It was the maid serving Feng Yi who came out to ease the tension: "I remember the lady mentioned once that she buried him in the eastern suburbs."
Xuan Ye and Ban Xia immediately vanished without a trace.
"Hey!" Chi Xue, with her notoriously slow reflexes, shouted only after a long delay, and of course remained where she was, unable to catch up.
The cemetery in the eastern suburbs was vast, but Xuan Ye and Ban Xia quickly sensed the sinister aura and almost immediately found Feng Yi.
At this moment, Feng Yi was riding on Chi Lian, her clothes wide open, her pale breasts trembling, sweat mingling with moans, overwhelmed with pleasure and ecstasy.
Seeing this, Xuan Ye said nothing, only tossing Moon Glow through the air. The sharp blade sliced off a lock of Chi Lian's hair.
As the sudden change occurred, Feng Yi immediately awoke from her dream. She looked at Chi Lian, her eyes widening in terror.
At this moment, Chi Lian still retained a human form, his face handsome and eerie, but his lower body had reverted to its original shape, dragging a damp, foul-smelling serpent's tail.
"Y-you... who are you?" Even she, usually bold and spirited, stammered.
"Who I am is unimportant," Chi Lian laughed, his member still inside her, his hands gripping her waist as he held her atop his hips. "What matters is that I've taken a liking to you. Since there are interruptions here, let's continue at my cave dwelling."
"Damn it!" Ban Xia spat at him. "You sure put on airs. Who do you think you are, the Slaughter Hall? Do you take us for dead people?"
Chi Lian laughed at that, indeed displaying some of the Slaughter Hall's style, curling his lips disdainfully as he said, "If you stand in my way, then you are dead people, absolutely right." With that, he thrust his hips, driving into Feng Yi several more times.
Furious, Xuan Ye flicked his fingers, and Moon Glow's radiance intensified, closing in on Chi Lian's head and face. Finally, it pierced his skin, leaving a long gash under his eye.
The green fire in Chi Lian's eyes burned brighter, blood slowly trickling from the wound. He stared fixedly at Xuan Ye, enunciating each word: "I despise those who dare to touch me with a blade. So, now you are a dead man."
As he spoke, a foul wind swept through the graveyard. Holding Feng Yi aloft, he swung his long tail, striking Xuan Ye squarely in the chest.
Ban Xia's eyes widened as she realized Xuan Ye's movements had slowed, leaving him unable to dodge. He merely gripped Moon Glow in his palm, slashing a trail of light to cut himself out of the battle.
"Go quickly," he struggled to say the words. "I'm not in good condition. Go now, don't look back."
"What do you mean, not in good condition?" Ban Xia's voice was hoarse as she recalled their first meeting in the cave, when he had said he was having an episode and couldn't even move. "Do you mean you have no warning when this happens?"
"No..." Xuan Ye gritted his teeth, reversing the blade and mustering all his remaining strength to force Chi Lian back by ten feet. "Go now."
"None of you are leaving," Chi Lian chuckled from mid-air, finally fully revealing his serpent form. His reddish-brown body stirred up a damp, sinister wind.
Before Ban Xia could even cry out, she felt something overwhelming descend upon them, mixed with a nauseating stench, enveloping her and Xuan Ye completely.
Half an hour later, Chi Xue and the madam arrived at the cemetery, only to find Xuan Ye and Ban Xia remaining.
The scene was utterly bizarre. Ban Xia was cradled in Xuan Ye's arms, his knees bent as if trying his utmost to protect her.
Though there was nothing visible, the two of them seemed bound, and the bindings grew tighter and tighter, to the point where the creaking of their bones under pressure could be heard."What's happening to you? Where is Feng Yi?" The madam lit a torch.
With the light, Ban Xia peered through the cracks and vaguely saw patterns.
They were snake patterns, she was certain, and the thing enveloping her and Xuan Ye was extremely thin, allowing light to pass through, so they definitely hadn't been swallowed by a snake.
That left only one possibility.
What was wrapping around them and tightening was a snakeskin—one that seemed to stretch endlessly, reeking of blood, as if freshly shed.
"What exactly is going on!" the madam pressed again, bringing the torch closer to Xuan Ye. Though she still couldn't see the so-called snakeskin, she noticed something was wrong with Xuan Ye.
The snakeskin had tightened, completely covering his mouth and nose. The madam shakily reached out her hand—indeed, there was no breath, not even a trace.
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