Banquet of a Hundred Ghosts

Chapter 2

I quickly ran over and saw that the ward was actually a VIP ward. It seems that Amy's husband is a very rich or high-status person.

When Feixiao saw him coming over, she put her middle finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet. The two of them pushed open the door and tiptoed inside.

There was only one bed in the white ward, on which lay a gaunt old man who looked to be about sixty years old. His complexion was ashen, and his silver hair made the snow-white bedding stand out even more.

Amy lay beside the old woman, holding her hand, a contented expression on her face. Chen Kai felt there was something odd about the ward; although the bedside table was filled with fruit baskets and fresh flowers, something seemed to be missing.

"You've arrived?" Amy turned to them and said, "This is my husband!"

Looking at her happy smile, Chen Kai realized what was missing. It was indeed a bit strange that such an elderly woman had no one to care for her or visit her.

"Um, Amy, are you his only relative?"

"No, there seem to be other people here, but I don't know them!" she said, tilting her head in confusion.

"Your husband is lying here, unable to move an inch. What are we supposed to look for?"

Before their question could be answered, the door was pushed open, and a nurse on duty shouted at them, "How did you get in? This patient is still in critical condition; how dare you just barge in?"

Upon seeing this, Feixiao quickly smiled and said, "We are his family members. We just received the news recently and rushed over from afar. We didn't know about these things."

The nurse had a large, square face. When she saw Feixiao, she blushed and replied very politely, "This patient was in a car accident while walking his dog. If he doesn't wake up tonight, it will be troublesome!"

Then, in a coquettish tone, she said, "You family members are really something. You didn't even bother to come and see him. Now these two people have finally arrived. You don't care at all!" Chen Kai looked at the nurse and listened to her words, and goosebumps almost rose all over his body. It was so sickeningly sweet.

"Amy, Amy, let's go!" Chen Kai couldn't stand it anymore and quickly pulled her out.

The three of them sat on a chair in the corridor. Amy hugged her knees and cried softly, "If the master doesn't come back soon, I can't live. That's why I came to find you!"

"Isn't your husband here? What are we supposed to look for?" Chen Kai really didn't understand why she kept saying that she was going to look for someone who was right in front of her.

"The man is here, but his soul has vanished somewhere—I can't find it anywhere!"

"Ahhh! Who can help you find something like this?!" Chen Kai finally understood what she was looking for.

Feixiao playfully punched him on the head. "No problem, we'll definitely help you find it. The deadline is tonight, right? There are about six hours left, right?"

"Hey, where are you going to find that damn thing? Do you even have the ability?" Chen Kai yelled.

"Hehe!" Feixiao turned around and gave him a mischievous grin. "I don't have any other skills, but this is the only one I have!"

Chen Kai was still puzzled, but he now understood what Fei Xiao did. A chill gradually rose from his heart, and he realized that he had truly embarked on a path of no return.

As the three were talking, several fashionably dressed people came from the other end of the corridor and stood in front of them. Chen Kai could tell there were two men and three women. There were quite a few of them, and a strong fragrance wafted over, almost suffocating.

Those people seemed not to see them at all; they simply looked inside through the glass window of the ward.

"Mom, Dad still doesn't seem to be feeling well today!"

The old woman, whom they called "Mom," sighed, "Never mind, I hope he'll get better!" She didn't seem worried at all.

"To be honest, Dad doesn't seem to have any feelings for anyone. You've suffered enough with him all these years!" a middle-aged man said from the side.

"Don't say that. He is, after all, your father. He's just a little stubborn!" The old woman was quite well-mannered.

"Hey, is that just stubbornness? No, it's torture! He just won't let us have a single day of peace!"

"Stop talking, let's go back, we can't stay here!" the old man said, wiping away his tears.

Chen Kai understood a bit. If we use the current fashionable terminology, this Amy was still a third party!

Those people left as they were talking, seemingly showing little affection for the old man lying inside.

As I walked, I overheard them saying, "Do you really hope he wakes up? I don't really hope so."

"By the way, where's the dog?"

"He died, and they disposed of him right then and there!"

"Why is he walking his dog during the day? And out on the street no less!"

"If he didn't act like this, he wouldn't be my dad."

After saying that, there was a burst of laughter. Chen Kai felt a chill run down his spine when he heard the laughter. These people were too terrifying. His father was still in danger inside, how could they laugh?

They really are like ghosts.

"Feixiao, let's quickly find that old man's soul and bring him back to life!" Chen Kai said, grabbing his shoulder. He suddenly felt sorry for the old man lying inside. Such a thin and frail person, abandoned by his family, shouldn't have died like that.

"Hmph! You still say you're not Wang Zijin? The way you're talking right now is exactly like Wang Zijin's!"

"Never mind that, let's find him quickly!" Chen Kai said, pointing at Amy: "Look, Amy is about to cry again!"

Amy stood to the side, her big, watery eyes brimming with tears; she was indeed about to cry.

"Sigh~" Feixiao shook her head. "I'll do it as soon as possible!"

"You said as soon as possible, where do you want to start looking?"

"So, if you were to die, and your soul could leave your body, where would you go?"

"I'm not dead yet! Don't say that!" Chen Kai protested. In the dark hospital corridor, mentioning death was truly frightening.

"It's just an example, hurry up and tell me!"

"Um, um, let me think!" Chen Kai said, his face flushing red. "What I probably want to see most is what the girl I like looks like now. I might even want to see her one more time before I die~"

"Hehe~" Feixiao laughed happily, "You humans are really interesting~"

"Tch!" Chen Kai's face turned even redder. "As if you're not human yourself. Aren't you human too?"

Fei Xiao laughed until she was almost out of breath, pointing at Chen Kai: "That's right, he might have just gone to find the girl he likes. I'll see what he can find in his memories!"

After saying that, she tiptoed into the ward, where the square-faced nurse in charge of care had fallen asleep at just the right moment.

Feixiao crossed her arms and looked at the old man's gaunt face. "I hope his soul has left, but he still has some memories left in his body!"

As he spoke, he pointed one finger at the old man's forehead and said to Chen Kai with the other hand, "Zijin, if you hold my hand, you can see his past!"

Chen Kai sighed. Who was this Prince Jin? Fei Xiao's mind was always filled with Prince Jin when it came to crucial moments, and she forgot everything else. He was too lazy to argue with him, so he reached out a hand to pull him. But a small hand also reached out to him. It was Amy. "I want to see Master's memories too!"

"You really believe him? He's just lazy and good-for-nothing!"

Before I could finish speaking, I felt a wave of dizziness, and suddenly it was as if I was being pulled into another world by some magnetic force.

What an era that was! There was noise in my ears, but pitch black in front of me; I couldn't see anything.

"What's going on? What's this?" Chen Kai felt as if he had been plunged into boundless darkness, with no idea where the way out was.

Suddenly, the view opened up before me, and all I could see was red, like red flowers, like fresh blood. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the glaring red was actually maple leaves.

A beautiful, tall maple tree—Chen Kai had never seen such a magnificent maple tree before, blooming with colors more brilliant than summer flowers in the autumn chill.

Where am I? I looked around, but there was no one there.

Wait, who's under that tree? A girl in a blue top, the blue of which has been washed until it's faded. What era is this clothing from?

The girl had a fair and delicate face, and was very pretty. Even her ordinary clothes could not hide her beauty. Her thick black hair was braided into two shiny braids next to her face, with two red hair ties at the ends. Her appearance reminded Chen Kai of the era when model operas were sung everywhere, a time he had never experienced.

Is this the old man's memory? A maple tree, a beautiful woman? Is this all that he cherished in his life?

But I'm now so captivated by this scenery that how could such a beautiful view evoke feelings of sadness!

Just then, the girl placed a note under the big tree, weighed it down with a stone, and seemed to wipe away tears from her face. The scenery seemed both near and far, and not quite real. After crying for a while, she turned and left, running as if eager to escape this scene.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Chen Kai said as he chased after her, but the girl disappeared in the blink of an eye, and he couldn't catch up with her.

What was written on that note?

Although he knew it was wrong to read other people's letters, and judging from her expression it was most likely a love letter, his immense curiosity drove him to move the stone.

After reading this letter, I should be able to find out about that gentleman's past, right? But just as my hands were trembling and I was about to move it, I heard the sound of footsteps behind me.

Chen Kai was startled and quickly ran behind a tree to hide. A man, no more than twenty years old, appeared, wearing a grass-green shirt and yellow rubber-soled shoes. Chen Kai vaguely recognized the man. The man walked to Chen Kai's side and bent down to move the stone. Chen Kai peeked out too, wanting to know what the man looked like. His familiar attire reminded him of someone he had seen before.

But as soon as I peeked out from behind the tree trunk, I was greeted by a fair and delicate face with a pair of old-fashioned black plastic glasses.

"Who are you?" The man looked at Chen Kai with a surprised expression.

Upon seeing him, Chen Kai immediately exclaimed, "Wow!" This was the man he had seen on the hospital stairs that afternoon. Had he brushed past a ghost that afternoon?

After that shout, it was as if the world had instantly changed. "What happened?" he yelled again. "I was terrified! I've seen him before!"

"Hey, what's wrong with you? You're the one yelling and shouting. We're out now!" It was Fei Xiao's voice.

"Huh!" He opened his eyes and saw that he was still in the hospital, surrounded by white walls and ceilings, with three pairs of eyes staring at him.

One pair is from Feixiao, one pair is from Amy, and the other pair belongs to that square-faced nurse.

“You should leave now. What kind of family members are you? If you keep acting like this, I’m going to call security!” the nurse yelled at them, her voice noticeably louder than Chen Kai’s two shouts earlier.

"What do we do now?" Chen Kai said dejectedly.

"What else can we do? Let's go find that maple tree!" By this time, the three of them were already on the street outside the hospital.

Amy was very happy to see her husband from when he was young. Chen Kai looked at her and thought she was so young, and that happiness came so easily to her.

"There are plenty of maple trees here, are we going to have to search for them one by one?" Chen Kai said dejectedly.

"Look at that maple tree, so lush and beautiful. It must be protected in some park or scenic spot now. It's better to find a tree that won't move than a ghost that wanders around!"

"Feixiao~" Chen Kai only now remembered to ask him, "Who exactly are you? How do you know such methods?"

"Hehe!" Feixiao laughed, "You'll find out later. Anyway, I won't hurt you!" She always had a carefree expression on her face.

"And what about Prince Jin? Who is Prince Jin?"

Feixiao's pretty face fell upon hearing the name, her gaze drifting into the distance. "Zijin, Zijin is my best friend, nothing more." Her voice was filled with desolation.

Chen Kai had never seen him so heartbroken since they met, and secretly regretted his actions. He quickly pulled him aside, saying, "What are you daydreaming about? Let's go find the maple tree that won't move!" He then looked at Amy, adding, "For a lifetime of food!"

The three of them searched for a while, but it got dark after they had only visited three parks. Chen Kai was so tired that he could no longer walk and sat down on the grass. "Let's rest for a bit, I'm going to collapse if we keep going like this!"

"No, there's not much time left. In just two hours, Mr.'s life will be in danger." Amy was so anxious she was about to cry.

"Amy, do you and him often spend time together?" Feixiao asked her.

"Yes, what's wrong?"

Where does your husband usually like to go?

"I'm not quite sure about that! It's a place with a really big courtyard and lots of people~" This Amy is seriously lacking in common sense.

"Then can you take us to that place?" Chen Kai finally understood what he meant when he heard him say this.

“Okay!” Amy said, standing up, brushing the dirt off her skirt, and skipping and jumping as she ran out of the park.

The two men gazed at her small, white figure as she walked away, their hearts filled with emotion for this little girl. What kind of feeling could drive her to search for an old man's soul for days on end, without sleep or rest?