Lin Hai was tormented by the voices in his ears, and the clothing around his body that had been embroidered with gold thread had long been stained by the dirt on the ground, no longer the same as it was before.
The evil spirits tore at his clothes. A large piece of sleeve was missing, and shreds of clothing were torn away in the moonlit space, revealing the remains of corruption on his body.
Because Lin Hai had always bin in contact with suspicious things in private when he was using his secret methods to make incense, there were occasionally one or two unsuccessful attempts, and it was easy to experience backlash.
The corrupted remnants were in a black pattern that was exposed by his torn clothing, looming across Lin Hai’s entire chest.
Even without the gardener, he would not have survived much longer.
Good and evil will all be rewarded in the end. Lin Hai had too many deaths on his hands, and in the end, there would be no good ending for him.
Lin Hai loudly resisted at first, but in the end, whether it was due to lack of energy or some other reason, he gradually stopped shouting. He just kept rolling on the ground, trying to get away from the harsh, high-pitched screams.
The evil spirits were on the verge of losing control. They threw themselves at Lin Hai, and without waiting for him to react, opened their mouths and used their needle-like teeth to bite into his flesh and absorb the blood underneath his skin.
Lin Hai’s arms spasmed vigorously as he tried to toss the evil spirits away from him, but how could someone like him get rid of them?
The evil spirits were like starving wolves. After a while, they had devoured all the flesh on Lin Hai’s body, and possibly due to remembering the gardener’s instructions, deliberately slowed down as they bit into him.
Lin Hai eventually died of excessive blood loss. In the last second before his death, he vaguely recalled a scene from many years ago when he was playing by a river with his wife and daughter.
It was the Lantern Festival. His wife and daughter went to prepare the lanterns while he watched. An elderly daoist was speaking to him, saying that their fates were intertwined, and gave him a book about incense-making.
The elderly daoist said that so long as he followed what was written in the book, then he would become famous throughout Weining County within five years.
Lin Hai didn’t yet begin following the secret methods.
After thanking the elderly daoist, he had no worries until the eve of the new year, when the Lin family offended a wealthy businessman, who hired someone to take care of them.
The Lin family’s business was in trouble within only a few days. His father appeared helpless and sad, his mother’s head was bowed as she wept, his wife was worried, and his daughter was threatened by debt collectors until her face was full of panic.
Like a thorn, it pierced deeply into Lin Hai’s heart.
So Lin Hai opened the book and seemed to become bewitched. Following some secret methods inside, he killed a servant.
He used the servant’s heart to prepare Ecstasy Incense, confused the rich businessman, and helped his Lin family escape.
The secret book was like Pandora’s box. After Lin Hai opened it, he seemed to turn into a different person.
In the past, Lin Hai was elegant and charming, treating people with kindness. But the Lin Hai since that time has been devious and selfish, and would not compromise on any means to achieve his goals.
The heart that had originally loved his wife had also changed. He had many affairs outside, and had many children.
Lin Hai kept hiding them from Madame Lin. He used them to make incense, but he was always somewhat dissatisfied.
The most powerful incense among the secret methods was known as Rosemary Incense.
It could control someone’s heart, and that person would not be free from the Rosemary Incense’s control until they died.
The preparation of Rosemary Incense was quite complicated. It required the heart and ribs of a girl born on a yin day of a yin month of a yin year1 on the lunar calendar, alongside the flesh of a one year old boy.
And Lin Hai’s daughter Lin Wan was born on a yin day of a yin month of a yin year. Although Lin Hai had committed many atrocities, he was still human after all. He couldn’t get rid of the daughter he had always loved.
Lin Hai showed a sad smile.
He regretted it. He shouldn’t have opened the book, and he shouldn’t have used the secret methods inside the book to make incense.
As the evil spirits carved out his heart, Lin Hai died in remorse.
After the evil spirits finished eating the flesh and blood from Lin Hai’s body, they floated away, leaving behind only his bones.
Evil spirits were scattered around the house.
Gu An looked up at the evil spirits and instructed Ming Ye: “Let me go.”
Ming Ye slowly crouched down with his hands carefully supporting Gu An, afraid that he would accidentally fall.
Gu An tapped his feet twice on the ground and held Ming Ye’s outstretched arm as he got off of him.
After standing on the ground, Gu An saw that Ming Ye was still squatting, and stretched his hand out toward him: “Get up. Let’s go see what’s happening to those evil spirits.”
Ming Ye grasped Gu An’s outstretched hand. As he stood up, he tugged forwards and pulled Gu An into his embrace. Before Gu An could react, he turned around and pressed him against the wall beside them. With his arms encapsulating Gu An, he lowered his head and gently blew on his ear.
Gu An didn’t expect Ming Ye to act like that. Before he could react, he was already pressed against the wall. As soon as he raised his head, his gaze slammed into Ming Ye’s dark pupils, and the emotions in his eyes were too revealing, leaving him momentarily stunned.
“An An.” Ming Ye noticed Gu An staring at him dazedly, and he couldn’t resist lightly nipping at his white earlobe, leaving it with a light red mark. He asked Gu An: “Can I kiss you?”
Gu An subconsciously responded: “No.”
Ming Ye lowered his voice, sounding slightly pitiful: “Is it really not possible? I really want to kiss An An. An An, just let me kiss you, if it’s alright?”
Gu An turned his head to the side, cheeks slightly flushed. His voice was muffled: “Not alright.”
Ming Ye wasn’t discouraged.
He whispered into Gu An’s ear: “An An, just let me kiss you. Just give me a kiss.”
Gu An was annoyed by Ming Ye’s words. He snorted coldly before saying: “You beg me, ah. Beg me, and I’ll let you kiss me.”
He thought that Ming Ye definitely wouldn’t go that far, but Ming Ye surprised him.
The moment Gu An’s voice stopped, Ming Ye murmured: “I’m begging you, let me kiss you.”
Then, he lowered his head and accurately kissed Gu An.
Gu An’s eyes widened. It seemed as if he wanted to say something, but when he tried to speak, all that came out was a whimper.
After a long time, Ming Ye pulled away.
Hi wiped the moisture from Gu An’s lips with his fingers, and his eyes darkened. The contact just now had cause a subtle change in his body, but it wasn’t obvious.
Ming Ye suppressed the turbulent emotions in his heart, then lowered his forehead to press again Gu An’s, and rubbed it affectionately: “An An, you’re so nice.”
Gu An’s eyes were red and his nose was twitching as he took a deep breath of fresh air. Hearing that, he glared at Ming Ye. He had underestimated the thickness of Ming Ye’s face.
After a while, Ming Ye took Gu An’s hand and strolled out of the garden.
After Gu An walked out of the garden, he hesitated for a moment, asking: “Can they see us?”
Ming Ye squeezed Gu An’s hand and said: “They shouldn’t see us. The scene we’re seeing now is jsut a memory of the house. In the original memory of the house, we aren’t present. To the house, we’re strangers who don’t exist, so they naturally can’t see us.”
He paused before continuing: “These spirits may see us.”
“?” Gu An asked. “What do you mean?”
Without waiting for Ming Ye to answer, an evil spirit floating in the air floated over upon seeing the two of them.
The evil spirit deliberately hid its figure, trying to scare the two of them. It appeared brandishing its teeth and claws, opening its slimy gaping mouth and breathing directly on them.
Without waiting for Gu An to react, Ming Ye forced the evil spirit away with a neat kick, and it was propelled far enough away that it disappeared.
It’s just that the odor didn’t dissipate for a long time.
Gu An had a keen sense of smell, so he had always stayed away from such pungent odors.
Ming Ye knew that Gu An couldn’t stand smelling those things. The moment the evil spirit opened its mouth near them, he reached over to cove Gu An’s mouth and nose, then kicked the evil spirit away and pulled Gu An closer.
After walking a short distance, Ming Ye released his hand. He was afraid that covering his mouth and nose made him uncomfortable, so he asked: “An An, are you alright?”
Staring into Ming Ye’s worried gaze, Gu An responded that he was fine.
When Ming Ye covered his mouth and nose, there was a short distance between his fingers that let him breathe. Through that, he was able to smell something.
The stench exhaled by the evil spirit was like meat that had been kept out for a long time.
Ming Ye knew with just a glance that An An was lying.
He was a little worried, but there wasn’t a good way to fix it.
Gu An looked at the anxious Ming Ye and wanted to open his mouth to say it was nothing, but felt a little uncomfortable.
He was just uncomfortable, but when he saw Ming Ye, it became twice as bad.
Gu An didn’t know what happened to him. He was approached by a female ghost by the well, and the smell was a lot stronger than it was just now, but he didn’t become like this.
But he saw that Ming Ye was also anxious and felt bad about it, so he told him honestly: “I smelled a little. I’m not uncomfortable. Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
Ming Ye hugged Gu An. When he heard his words, he whispered: “An An, I’m not in a rush, you’ll be fine.”
Gu An reached out his arms and hugged Ming Ye in return.
The pair hugged each other silently, and after a while, they left hand in hand.
After they left, the evil spirits floating in the air became completely out of control.
They pounced on the servants, sharp teeth ripping through their flesh.
Madame Lin, who was lying on the ground, was also bitten by the evil spirits. After a while, only a white skeleton remained.
There were all sorts of cries and howls from the Lin house. If someone entered and saw that scene, they would likely feel like they were in hell.
Gu An and Ming Ye found a spot where the evil spirits couldn’t see them and cause unnecessary issues. The two also found an inconspicuous place because Ming Ye did not want Gu An to see any cruel scenes.
Time flew by.
But in just one night, all the people in the Lin house, other than Lin Wan who had been knocked out by the gardener, were all devoured by evil spirits.
The evil spirits remembered the gardener’s order: Do not harm Lin Wan.”
No matter what Lin Hai did to his family, the gardener had never hated Lin Wan.
After all, those things had nothing to do with her.
Lin Wan, who had escaped the massacre, pushed open her door the next day and looked at the silence surrounding her, and she couldn’t resist her confusion.
She called her personal maid, but received no response. She tried a few more times, but still no one responded. She couldn’t help feeling anxious.
Lin Wan ran outside, and as soon as she exited, she saw a pile of bones beside the roses in the garden.
She screamed in fear before covering her mouth. Her face was pale as she collapsed to the ground, not knowing what to do.
Lin Wan heard voices and footsteps approaching. She looked up in panic, grit her teeth, and then stood up to hide in a secret location.