Lantern: Reflection Of The Peach Blossoms Chapter 7

Volume 1: Incident of H City's Earth-born Fetus

Editors: Isalee, Rei

Chapter 7 – Zhang Shun forgot about the dangers and unknowns. This icy kiss was all he could feel.

The gla.s.s door seemed like it was painted with the black ink of the night. Zhou Yi stood in front of it in silence as if he was waiting for something. After a moment, he suddenly pushed it open and walked in.

"Chairman Chu? Ah, you're here. I was wondering where you went."

Zhou Yi turned around and saw Chu He standing in a corner, gasping lightly. His face was as ghastly as white paper under the moonlight. Upon further inspection, even his clothes seemed a bit disheveled.

"Why are you here?" Chu He asked.

Zhou Yi laughed, "That's a strange question. This restaurant is so famous in H City that I don't see any reason why you can be here but I can't. Well, speaking of the restaurant, their braised lobster is pretty good. It's just that I was in a hurry and didn't really taste it…"

Chu He said, "Then you can continue enjoying it. I have to leave for now." He tried to walk around him to head outside, but just as he brushed past Zhou Yi, the latter suddenly caught his wrist.

"Chairman Chu," Zhou Yi said, smiling from ear to ear. "Your tie is crooked."

He reached out and helped Chu He fix his tie, his movement so slow and attentive that it almost seemed a little affectionate. Were they not in the wrong place at the wrong time, two people standing like this would have looked as intimate as a couple deeply in love.

"…Are you done yet?" Chu He asked.

Zhou Yi took a step back to appreciate the result of his work: "There's no hurry."

He then reached out again to help Chu He straighten up his collar, smoothing away even the most subtle crease as gently and considerately as if he was running his hands over a maiden's skin. After a while, he finally finished and looked up with a smile, "Every encounter is the work of fate. It's such a fine night tonight. Why don't you stay a little longer? We can talk about life."

"…" Chu He turned around and left at once.

Zhou Yi didn't stop him. He just watched with a smile on his face. Chu He had almost walked out of the garden when he suddenly froze —— A transparent wall had risen quietly before him! If it weren't for the blue currents streaking occasionally across its surface, one probably wouldn't have noticed it in the dark!

"What do you mean by this, Mr. Zhou?"

Zhou Yi was still wearing that laid-back expression. "Nothing. I just want to tell you that there has yet to be a person who can come and go as they wish before me."

"What a coincidence!" Chu He showed no anger. In fact, he even laughed, "There has yet to be a person in this world who can make me stay or leave according to their will. Why don't you try to be the first one today?"

——The night breeze seemed to have paused all of a sudden, and the air began to condense square inch by square inch into tiny, twinkling, bladelike crystals.

Every flower shrub around them cracked simultaneously under the heavy pressure.

"…Chairman Chu." At this explosive moment, Zhou Yi suddenly broke into laughter,  "The way you talk really reminds me of my ex-wife…"

The tension surrounding him relaxed at once, as if the head-to-head confrontation just now was simply an illusion. Smiling, Zhou Yi snapped his fingers, and a tall square table with a wine set on it suddenly appeared next to him out of thin air. He poured a small amount of red wine into the crystal gla.s.s and asked, as though nothing had happened, "Chairman Chu, how about a gla.s.s of wine?"

Chu He replied coldly, "There is probably something wrong with your head. Have you seen a doctor yet?"

"Oh, I think I'm quite fine like this. Do you have a problem with me?"

"No." Chu He said. "I just thought… No wonder your wife has become your ex-wife."

Surprisingly, Zhou Yi did not react to his provocation. Not only that, there was now an even bigger smile on his face. "You must have misunderstood something. The problem between me and my ex-wife is very complicated. It's not something I can explain in a few minutes… Let me try to put it in simpler terms. What are some of the main causes for divorces you've seen in human society?"

Chu He suddenly found the conversation rather absurd, but he still answered a few moments later, "Cheating, infertility, and not getting along."

Zhou Yi said, "Different people have different opinions on whether two people get along or not. We had two sons, so infertility can be ruled out as well. As for cheating, well, we've been together for at least a thousand years or so. Even if there were one or two affairs, it wouldn't be a big deal—— Are you sure you don't want some wine?"

Chu He shook his head. Zhou Yi clicked his fingers, and everything disappeared again except the wine gla.s.s in his hand.

"Thinking about it afterwards, the main reason he left me is because our first son died."

Zhou Yi finished the wine with one gulp. Tossing the gla.s.s casually into the air, he slowly continued, "And he thought I caused it."

Chu He finally lost control of himself: "You should have saved that for your ex-wife. How is telling me going to help?!"

"Oh, perhaps I've been keeping it to myself for too long. Now I just want to hear someone else's judgement." Zhou Yi said, slowly and almost methodically, "After all, killing one's own son is a h.e.l.l of a crime that even I myself find a little disturbing… Besides, I think he was clearly the one most responsible for it. If he hadn't spoiled him so much, resulting in that child committing a heinous crime which made the G.o.ds and buddhas from the Six Realms cast down the Heavenly Condemnation…"

Chu He turned around and left. The transparent wall at the garden gate suddenly radiated a bright blue, but it soon collapsed right before one of Chu He's furious fingers.

In a frightening voice, Zhou Yi exclaimed, "Did I say you could leave?!"

He disappeared into the air. The very next second, he appeared behind Chu He and stretched his hand toward Chu He's neck!

Chu He blocked him with the back of his hand and swung his fist at him, blowing the man's face to the side. Then, Zhou Yi kneed him in the abdomen —— a blow so heavy that it could probably make an ordinary person throw up their internal organs!

Even someone like Chu He tasted blood in his throat almost instantly, but his movement didn't stop at all. Swallowing back the blood he had vomited, he threw an uppercut at Zhou Yi with his elbow and successfully staggered him.

"Go away!"

Zhou Yi spat out some b.l.o.o.d.y spittle, his ferocious nature swelling out of control, "What did you say?"

Chu He took half a step back. However, within that span of time, Zhou Yi had already vanished and appeared behind him again!

Like lightning, Chu He saw Zhou Yi's shadow changing rapidly under the moonlight. His pupils contracted in an instant —— he was too familiar with this process. Granted that it had been many years since he last saw it, he would never mistake it, even at a glance.

It was his Dharmic Projection!

Out of the Six Realms, the Realm of G.o.ds ranked first. Zhou Hui summoned his Dharmic Projection through the Realm of G.o.ds!

"Demon Lord! Reveal yourself!" Zhou Yi caught Chu He and forced him down onto the ground. When he looked up again, his eyes were completely red. "I didn't kill you that year in the Realm of h.e.l.l-Dwellers. Now it's time to come out and meet your death——!"

Suddenly, there came a series of explosive sounds, shattering all the gla.s.ses around them!

Chu He was gasping for breath. He jumped to his feet under the gla.s.s fragments that smashed down like a torrential rain and broke into a run. However, he was soon caught by Zhou Yi. The man turned him around by the shoulder and commanded, his face as cold as ice, "You, watch me on the side…"

Before he could finish the sentence, he heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind, followed by Zhang Shun's horrified cry, "Brother!"

For a moment, Chu He forgot to breathe.

He turned around abruptly. He was now in his human body after all. A large piece of broken gla.s.s cut his forehead, and blood covered his eyes. From the corner of his eyes, he could barely make out Zhang Shun rushing over and pulling him behind his back.

No matter how good Chu He was at keeping himself calm, at this moment, he felt a strong urge to curse: "Zhang Shun! Why are you here?!"

But it was too late. Zhou Yi's face had turned completely livid. He grabbed Zhang Shun by the collar, lifted him up like he was lifting a shopping bag, and attempted to throw him out ——

If he did it with his full strength, he probably would have thrown Zhang Shun right off the building. However, something unexpected happened. Black smoke came out of the hand Zhou Yi was lifting Zhang Shun with and he immediately released the boy as if he was burnt by fire!

"This is——"

Zhou Yi resumed his human body in no time. He stood on the ground as he stared at his hand with raised eyebrows.

His palm was a badly mangled piece of blood and flesh. A golden "swastika" loomed between the cut flesh and disappeared in an instant.

"The reincarnation of the Buddha's bone…" Zhou Yi mumbled to himself, "…I've really underestimated you."

"What are you doing? Brother, are you alright?" Zhang Shun propped Chu He up, still in shock. The sight of his brother's blood-covered face was driving him crazy, "What the heck?! Did someone beat you?! Psychic! You f.u.c.king wanna die, don't you? Wait right there! See if I don't get you dragged out of H City!"

Chu He caught hold of Zhang Shun and panted, "Let's go."

"But you…"

"What!" Chu He scolded, "Let's go! Now!"

Zhang Shun was unwilling to let Zhou Yi off, so he only retreated step by step while supporting his brother. Chu He didn't have time to explain it to him. He had to keep a close eye on Zhou Yi in case the man suddenly changed his mind and started acting crazy again.

Zhou Yi didn't. He just stood there as if he had calmed down all at once. He even looked up and smiled at Zhang Shun, "Brother-in-law, I'm sorry that I lost control of myself. But your brother's complexion… It's not just my saying this, but his Core Blood is almost exhausted —— if you can't think of something to do, then just let him eat whatever he likes for the next month or two. Treat him nicely in his last days."

Zhang Shun asked in a daze, "What did you just say?"

Chu He shouted angrily, "He's just crazy! What are you still doing here?!"

Big Dork Zhang wanted to ask more, but his brother turned around and staggered out, so he had no choice but to follow. By that time, people from the restaurant downstairs had also rushed up. Still in doubt, Zhang Shun threw a final glance back and saw Zhou Yi standing inside the flickering shards covering the ground. Zhou Yi spread his b.l.o.o.d.y palm out towards him, and his mouth stretched into a cold smile.

***

"Your brother already has a boyfriend."

"He's the one haunting your house. If it's not handled well, both of you will die by his hand."

"Your brother's Core Blood is almost exhausted. If you can't think of something to do, it'll just be a matter of a month or two."

Frustrated, Zhang Shun turned over in his bed and stared wide-eyed at the white ceiling of the private ward. A few multi-colored tropical fish were swimming inside a fish tank in one of the corners of the room, their reflection making the wall shimmer like water in the darkness.

——His brother had a boyfriend. Why he didn't know about it?

Ever since Zhang Shun could remember, he had never seen any woman around his brother —— if placed in the Middle Ages, his brother would have been an ascetic monk. Second young master Zhang was handsome, rich, and still young. He liked to have fun and appreciated beautiful people. In fact, there had been quite a few stunning beauties around him over the years, but the way his brother looked at them was as if he was watching a play on the screen.

Zhang Shun once thought that his brother would continue on like this: either end up all by himself, or come across a lady of a n.o.ble family one day, who was beautiful, virtuous, and had the same degree of elegance. Then the two of them would remain faithful and respectful to each other and make a model couple in the standard of the upper cla.s.s.

But he was wrong.

A man had fallen out of nowhere and had become his brother's "boyfriend" without warning. Most importantly: he seemed to be a tough one.

Zhang Shun couldn't help but sit up and gnash his teeth as he looked back at his brother.

His brother was lying on the bed unconscious. A section of white bandage was vaguely shown behind his bangs.

If he really thought about it, his brother's face was plain. It always had an inorganic quality due to its paleness, as if he had just lost too much blood. His brother also spoke or handled matters with a polite, distant, and often unpleasant manner. However, despite all that, Chu He was actually a very conspicuous person. Zhang Shun didn't know why, but he visited the company often enough to know that all the women, from the new young girls working at the company to the experienced female white-collar workers in the management team, were secretly watching Chairman Chu's each and every move. They would even blush, their hearts thumping, at his cold glance —— somehow it was more effective in stirring up their excitement than if second young master Zhang came flirting in his luxury car and diamond watch.

It was a kind of grace and charm that words could not describe; something of an entirely different calibre than handsome faces and sweet talk. It was a power that stirred one's soul. So much so that Zhang Shun even felt that someone like Zhou Yi, with his Hollywood star-like appearance and stature, appeared slightly inferior to his brother when they stood together.

——Which man had conquered his brother?

Zhang Shun also had the impulse to ask him directly, but Chu He fell sick the night they came back.

In his memories, Chu He had never been sick. But this time, the disease came on horseback. When they returned to the hotel, Chu He had a high fever of nearly 40 degrees Celsius and didn't wake up all night no matter how doctors flipped him around. He did not attend the meeting with Mayor Huang and the j.a.panese investors the next day either. He was in such a complete state of unconsciousness that he couldn't even take in any food or water and had to rely on injecting glucose intravenous drips to maintain his physiological functions.

Zhang Shun was worried like a house on fire that he was almost going to smack the table in the president's office, but there was really nothing that the doctors could do about it. That knee kick from Zhou Yi didn't cause any internal injuries, and the wounds on Chu He's palms and forehead were just light scratches. However, Chu He just couldn't wake up. In the end, the president had to order the nurses to monitor Chu He's respiration and heart rate 24/7 and send him directly to the ICU in case of any emergency.

Fortunately, the private ward was well-equipped and pretty advanced. Second young master Zhang thought of his brother wholeheartedly, so he didn't consider a.s.sisting his brother all day long to be laborious.

"It has been three f.u.c.king days," murmured Zhang Shun as he stared at the flashing LED calendar on the nightstand.

Maybe it had something to do with his brother's coma lasting longer and longer, but Zhang Shun was growing increasingly fretful inside. The weather was already hot in H City, and recently it was steamingly humid at night. The AC was already running at its max, but it was no use. Second young master Zhang felt a fire burning inside him.

He called the nurse on the night shift and asked her to take care of his brother for a moment. Meanwhile, he decided to go for a walk outside.

No one was in the hallway. The fluorescent lights with their pale, wretched radiance, illuminated the walls with a blueish white. The wind was making sharp whistle-like noises, perhaps because the hallway was too long. Should this place be used as the setting of a horror film, it wouldn't even need any more props. Just bring a camera over and it would be all set.

Second young master Zhang stood in front of the window at the end of the hallway. After a while, he started to feel a bit creeped out, so he decided to buy a pack of cigarettes from the vending machine downstairs.

The private ward was on the tenth floor. When the elevator arrived, someone was already in there. The person was wearing a green operation gown, standing in the corner motionlessly. Zhang Shun forgot to check and entered right away. Only when he was about to press the b.u.t.ton did he suddenly realize that the elevator was going up and would stop at the top floor.

"…" Without much thought, Zhang Shun pressed for the first floor.

Ding!

The elevator slowly opened on the top floor, but the person behind him didn't move.

Zhang Shun glanced up inadvertently and saw that the elevator was facing a long hallway. At its end was an operating room. The red light had just turned off, and its doors thumped open as a few doctors and nurses rushed out with a gurney.

The patient on the gurney was already covered with a white sheet.

"s.h.i.t!" Zhang Shun was taken by surprise and immediately tried to press the b.u.t.ton to close the door. But as soon as he raised his hand, he heard the doctor scream, "Hey! Wait a second!"

"Yeah, young man! Why are you in such a hurry?" seconded the nurse.

"Are you really in so much of a hurry to be on your way [1]?"

"People waiting to be reincarnated aren't as impatient as you!"

Zhang Shun was just about to get gooseb.u.mps from their talking back and forth when he suddenly saw a hand stick out from under the white sheet. The sheet was pulled down, and the patient sat up abruptly without bending his back, shouting, "Wait for me!"

"Holy s.h.i.t!" Second young master Zhang's mind exploded at once. He didn't know how many times he hammered that b.u.t.ton in panic. The elevator door slowly closed at last, and he heard a hoa.r.s.e voice coming from behind: "Wait for me!"

Zhang Shun looked back in shock. In front of him, the person in the operation gown looked up and was staring at him with fixed eyes, his ghastly face covered in rigor mortis. "Why are you in such a hurry? Why don't you wait for me?"

Zhang Shun felt like a bucket of ice water had poured right over his head —— This man was clearly that patient covered by a white sheet on the gurney!

"Wait for me!" The patient took a step forward, then lunged at him fiercely: "Wait for me! Take me with you!"

"f.u.c.king h.e.l.l!" Zhang Shun almost p.i.s.sed his pants out of fear. He lifted his hand to stop the patient as much as he could, not even noticing his elbow hitting the floor b.u.t.tons. "H-h-h-help! Help! Ahhhhhh! Brother! Brother! f.u.c.k——!"

The patient was swinging his long fingernails, trying as hard as he could to get a hold of Zhang Shun's face. In a moment of desperation, a huge force broke out of Zhang Shun and he kicked that ghost-or-zombie right onto the back panel of the elevator. Soon, the patient got up again, groaning and wobbling, his body reeking with the stench of death, and threw himself over at Zhang Shun. Just then, ding, the elevator came back to the tenth floor and slowly opened.

Zhang Shun tumbled out of the elevator, but he didn't take precautions against the patient following him out as well, his two turbid grey eyes gazing straight ahead. "Wait for me! You, wait for me…"

"I wait for you, motherf.u.c.ker!" People in extreme fear would often experience extreme anger. By now, Zhang Shun wasn't afraid anymore. His anger towards Zhou Yi, towards that boyfriend of his brother's, and towards the fact that Chu He still couldn't wake up after so many days, rushed to the top of his head. Without a second thought, he knocked down the zombie with a punch, ran up and began trampling him madly: "I'll make you wait! You f.u.c.king wait! You son of a b.i.t.c.h! See if I can't send you on your way to h.e.l.l in a stretcher!"

The zombie went crazy from all the trampling. With a groan, it took hold of Zhang Shun and lowered its head to bite Zhang Shun's neck. Zhang Shun let out a loud cry and stopped its decaying ashen face with his hand. In the chaos of the fight, his face was suddenly scratched heavily by the zombie's sharp nails. Blood came out immediately.

"f.u.c.k… f.u.c.k you…" Zhang Shun struggled to keep the zombie off of him, but the strength of a living man was no match for the dead. The zombie's teeth and its rancid smell were still approaching his neck inch by inch.

s.h.i.t! Why is there no one around to help… Am I going to die…

Zhang Shun grit his teeth, but his hands lost power gradually. Just when he thought that he couldn't hold on any longer, he was suddenly relieved and saw that the zombie was lifted up in a strange posture. A crisp "crack" followed immediately afterwards, and the zombie's head fell to the side.

Zhang Shun cried, "Brother!"

Chu He panted as he grabbed the zombie's rotten neck and suddenly broke it from behind.

The zombie fell to the floor and quickly started to burn. Within a mere blink, it had already become a pile of ash. Zhang Shun struggled to get to his feet, but every time he tried to exert strength, he would have sudden blackouts. The scratch on his face was burning in pain. He wanted to touch it with his hand, but then he realized that half of his body could no longer feel anything.

"Brother, brother, what's going on?" Zhang Shun couldn't get up from the floor. Even his voice started to tremble, "I, w-why, I w-was——"

Chu He knelt down as he struggled to catch his breath. He propped Zhang Shun up and tottered toward the ward. It was hard for him to carry second young master Zhang who was even taller than him by about ten centimeters as he walked. Before he could make it far, he had completely exhausted his strength and fell on his knees with a thud.

Even Zhang Shun's voice cracked, "s.h.i.t! Help! Please! Someone——!"

However, as if the entire floor was suddenly empty, no one was around. There was not even a sound. Only his shrill final notes echoed in the empty hallway.

"Brother! Brother, what's wrong with you?!" Zhang Shun finally realized that things were far from good. He propped himself up using the conscious half of his body and pulled Chu He over. There was now a blue-greyish tone under his brother's paper-white face, and the last bit of color faded from his lips. Unfocused, Chu He's eyes wandered and paused on Zhang Shun's face for a moment. He opened his mouth. He seemed to be saying something.

"What are you saying? Brother?" Zhang Shun lowered his head closer to Chu He, but Chu He suddenly turned his face, his icy lips pressing right against Zhang Shun's as he exhaled a breath to him.

"…" Zhang Shun was thunderstruck in an instant.

No word could describe the shock Zhang Shun felt at this moment. He seemed to have forgotten everything. All the unknown dangers, all the chaos no longer existed. Everything became blank, except this kiss.

Except his brother's cold, tender, and slightly trembling lips.

Zhang Shun couldn't help but get to his knees and grab Chu He on the shoulder. Starting from where their lips touched, an intoxicating breath flowed all the way through his body like a warm current in winter, making him shiver in extreme comfort as it pa.s.sed.

As the warm current flowed by, he could feel the unconscious half of his body quickly returning to normal. His heart rate stabled. His limbs became powerful again. Even the cut on his face stopped bleeding.

"Brother…"

Zhang Shun's lingering voice ceased abruptly. His brother pushed him away with a trembling hand, and that wonderful breath ended all of a sudden —— The color on Chu He's face was no longer the kind that belonged to that of a living man. If one had to describe it, it was almost the same as that of the zombie's just now. Frightened stiff at a glance, Zhang Shun immediately picked his brother up in his arms and rushed into the ward. "Brother! Wake up! Don't sleep! Doctor, doctor! Where the h.e.l.l are these f.u.c.king people?!"

Chu He quivered as he shook his head. He grabbed Zhang Shun's hand and softly opened it.

Zhang Shun's eyes widened at once ——

There was a golden "swastika" printed on his palm.

"The B-Buddha's seal?!"

"I… I returned the Buddha's bone to you…" Chu He grasped at Zhang Shun, his eyes unfocused and his mind a daze, but his cold fingers held on like a drowning man clinging to driftwood, "Could… Could you…"

Zhang Shun's mind went completely blank, but his brother's trembling voice hit his eardrum word by word: "Could you please… give Mahā's life… back to me…?"

Mahā?

Who's Mahā?

Zhang Shun sat in a trance as he half held the unconscious Chu He in his arms. Suddenly, there came the sharp, urgent ringtone of a cell phone from the nightstand. The sound startled him. He checked the caller's information displayed on the screen of his brother's phone —— It was Li Hu.

Normally, Zhang Shun would never answer that call. But in a hospital where everyone had suddenly disappeared while having no one to turn to for help, any call was good, even if it was from Zhou Yi. Second young master Zhang quickly grabbed the phone as if it was his last straw and answered, "h.e.l.lo?!"

"Second young master Zhang, isn't it?" Li Hu's calm voice came through, "Don't hang up yet! Listen to me. Someone has cast a spell trying to harm Chairman Chu. Stay by your brother's side and don't move. Don't leave where you're at!"

Zhang Shun shouted angrily, "I know! I was just going out to get some cigarettes and I ran into a ghost! What should I do?!"

"Close the door. Don't let anyone in, whoever it is!" Li Hu said, "Wait for me to come."

Translator's Notes:

[1] On your way: means dying, like one is on their way to the h.e.l.l/death.