Banquet of a Hundred Ghosts

Chapter 8

"Alright!" Feixiao sat down on the ground. "We'll stay with you!"

Chen Kai had no choice but to sit next to Fei Xiao, where he could see Chen Yanfei's beautiful profile as she gazed at the stars, seemingly filled with both boundless longing and unspeakable sorrow.

Alas, everyone has something they cherish. I wonder if, even after I die, I will linger in this world, unwilling to leave, for someone else?

Thinking about it, he actually fell asleep, but the cold night wind disturbed his peaceful dream.

"Chen Kai, get up! It's almost dawn!" Fei Xiao said, pushing Chen Kai, who was leaning against her.

"Ugh, I haven't had enough sleep yet!" Chen Kai complained.

I opened my eyes, and sure enough, it was getting light; the eastern sky was already tinged with a faint white.

"Teacher!" Chen Yanfei suddenly called out. They hurriedly looked into the still dimly lit corridor and saw someone coming down, walking slowly with a rhythmic gait.

As she spoke, she stood up, and Chen Kai then noticed that she was even more beautiful, possessing an ethereal beauty in the soft sunlight.

A moment later, a man appeared outside the door. He was around forty years old and looked haggard. She rushed over to him and said, "Teacher, do you remember me?"

Chen Kai never expected that the person she, such a beautiful woman, could never forget was actually such a middle-aged man who seemed to have neither wealth nor good looks.

The man called "teacher" looked at her as if he had seen a ghost. He immediately sat down on the ground and hurriedly said, "Yanyan, Yanyan, please let me go! My wife was right next to me when you called me that day. I couldn't go!"

"I don't blame you~" she said, with a happy expression on her face.

"I called you later, but who would have thought that you would actually..."

Before he could finish speaking, she pressed a long finger to his lips: "Teacher, I've liked you since I was 17. This is my own business. I won't blame you!"

The man said, trembling, "I answered your call, but I didn't save you. You really don't blame me?"

"It's not your fault. I died, not just because of you. I just want to ask you one thing now." She said, taking out the ring she had been holding in her hand. "What did you say when you gave it to me at that intersection?"

"Forever, forever abandoned, my companion in fireworks~"

"Yes, eternal abandonment, companions in the fireworks, these are the most beautiful words I've ever heard. Did you really say them?" After saying that, he sighed again: "But, but you abandoned me first!"

"No, no!" the middle-aged man cried out hoarsely, "No, no, I like you, but I...I..."

"Let's not talk about that now!" Chen Yanfei continued, "I know you're afraid of what the world thinks, but today I just want to ask you one question: In these ten years with you, have you ever truly loved me?"

"I...I'm so sorry, Yan Yan!" The teacher said, burying his face in his hands and squatting down. "My wife is still the one I love most. She has suffered so much for me. I can't betray her!"

"Is that so?" she said, standing up. The man she loved in her life now seemed so distant. "You'd rather lie to me than lie to me?"

"I...I'm so sorry!" the man said, choking back tears, unable to speak, and not even having the courage to look up at her.

Chen Kai saw two lines of clear tears streaming down Chen Yanfei's beautiful, heavily made-up face. She closed her eyes, as if she had endless thoughts to ponder. After a while, she turned to the two of them and said, "The question I wanted to ask has been answered. Thank you!" She seemed to have regained the aloofness she had when they first met.

"Then what are you going to do?" Chen Kai asked her.

"What else can I do? A bad woman like me should naturally go where I belong!" With that, she handed the ring to Chen Kai: "Thank you. My feelings are as cheap as this ring." Perhaps even she herself could not have imagined that a year of searching and pleading would result in such an answer.

"No, no!" Chen Kai quickly reassured her.

"I understand everything! Don't say anything more!" After saying that, she tossed her long hair: "What joy is there in life? What bitterness in death? It's just life and death, what can we do against fate?" Her tone was full of sorrow. She turned and walked forward. Her beautiful red dress and long black hair swayed with her steps in the morning light. She was resolute and beautiful, more like a poppy, exuding a deadly beauty.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Chen Kai said as he chased after her, but in the blink of an eye, she had disappeared, as if she had never been there at all.

"Feixiao, where did she go?" Chen Kai asked Feixiao beside him.

"She's gone. Perhaps there's nothing left in this world for her to cherish?"

Chen Kai stood alone, silently looking at the ring on his hand. His thoughts seemed to drift back to last night, to the woman who exuded fragrance in the darkness. She seemed happier. Should he not help her?

Perhaps on that street corner, she could have been endlessly anticipating the happiness that awaited her; why bring back such a cruel reality for her?

"Chen Kai, let's go!" Fei Xiao said, glancing back at the man still squatting on the ground. This woman, as beautiful as a flower, the man she had loved for ten years, the man for whom she had given her life, now looked so old and wretched. Whose fault was this? Perhaps no one was at fault? He couldn't understand even a trace of these people's feelings. There seemed to be a lingering fragrance in his nostrils, the scent of poppies.

Who is whose beauty? And who is whose poison? Who knows the tragedy of the poppy?

Chapter Four: The Garden

Autumn arrived in the blink of an eye, and the weather grew increasingly cool. Early in the morning, Chen Kai was rummaging through drawers and cabinets, packing his things.

"What are you doing?" Fei Xiao pushed open her bedroom door, revealing a messy head, clearly still half asleep.

"We're going on a field trip! Liang Dong just called me this morning to let me know!" Chen Kai was in a flurry of activity, stuffing a bunch of things into a large hiking backpack in no time.

Feixiao looked at him and found it amusing, crossing her arms: "It's your fault for always skipping class, it's good enough that he even remembered to tell you!"

"I'm leaving!" Chen Kai said, slinging a huge backpack over his shoulder. "Hey, I've saved the phone numbers of all the restaurants nearby that offer takeout in my contacts, so remember to order some!"

"Chen Kai!" Fei Xiao said, pulling his arm. "Can I go with you?" Her two watery eyes were full of reluctance.

"How can that be?" Chen Kai never dreamed that he would have such an idea.

"But you went out to play, and I'm so bored at home all by myself. There's no one to cook or clean, how am I supposed to live?" she said pitifully.

"You...you can't bear to part with me because of this?" This guy really lives a simple life.

"What else can I do?" Fei Xiao looked at him. "Tell me quickly, can I go or not?"

"No way!" Chen Kai said sternly, "This is a class activity, how can we bring outsiders? Besides, if you go, people will definitely gossip!"

"Oh, is that so!" Fei Xiao said with a look of disappointment, "You are really heartless!"

"Alright, I'm leaving now. It'll only be three days. Take good care of yourself!" Chen Kai said, pushing open the door to leave.

"Hey, don't rush, wait a minute, I have something for you!" Fei Xiao said as she ran into the house to get something.

When he came back, he had a mirror in his hand, about the size of an A4 sheet of paper.

"What... what's this supposed to do?" An ominous premonition rose in his heart.

"Take this mirror with you. If you encounter any difficulties, just call my name while looking at it!" Fei Xiao said, handing over the mirror.

"What? Did I hear that right? I'm going on vacation, why do you want me to carry this?" This guy is just a nuisance.

Upon hearing this, Fei Xiao's face immediately turned cold, and her icy gaze fixed on Chen Kai: "Are you taking it or not?"

"I'll take it, I'll take it! Not just a big mirror, I'll even take a stone!" He nodded repeatedly, his attitude changing faster than turning the pages of a book. He had finally seen it for himself.

"That's good~" Feixiao said with a happy expression again: "If you encounter any ghosts or monsters, I can help you!"

What kind of ghosts or monsters could we possibly encounter? More than forty people traveling together! He swallowed the words back and obediently put the mirror into his already bulging backpack and left.

"Chen Kai, be careful on the road!" Fei Xiao waved to him at the gate.

Chen Kai looked back at him; he was wearing silk pajamas, leaning lazily against the doorframe. To be honest, he was a little reluctant to part with this lazybones. "I will!" he said, and then ran towards the school.

The autumn sky was so blue and clear that his steps became lighter. He wondered what the next three days would bring, his heart filled with anticipation.

As soon as I arrived at the school gate, I saw my classmates getting on a bus. In the distance, someone was waving at me: "Chen Kai, hurry up! Why are you always the last one?" It was the chubby Liang Dong.

"You were the last one to notify me, so of course I'm the last one!" Chen Kai was out of breath from running.

"There's no other way, the seats have all been assigned, you'll have to sit with me!" Liang Dong said to him happily.

"Oh!" Chen Kai replied blankly, not knowing why he was so happy.

He only realized his mistake after getting on the bus. Liang Dong was fine when he was standing, but once he sat down, he took up a full one and a half seats, leaving him with only half a seat.

"Oh, thank goodness you're thin, otherwise it would be uncomfortable for us to sit together!"

"Hehe, really?" Chen Kai finally understood why he was so happy just now. "How long will this take?"

"Four hours. We're going to a place called Fog Mountain, and there's rafting and stuff. It seems the school has connections with the accommodations there; several classes are going!" She then nudged Chen Kai, her eyes crinkling into slits with laughter. "Accommodation is free, how about that? Not bad, right?"

"Really? Hehe~" All he could do now was chuckle foolishly. A four-hour drive! How was he supposed to endure it? He couldn't hear anything else; all he could think about was those four hours, those four hours... sigh~

Finally, in the afternoon, the bus, which had been speeding along, came to a stop. "Hurry up, we're here!" Liang Dong patted Chen Kai on the back.

"Wow!" Chen Kai had been half-squatting and half-sitting the whole way, and now he was shakily straightening his stiff legs. When he was patted like that, he almost rolled off his seat.

"You little brat!" Liang Dong said, glancing sideways at Chen Kai with a disdainful look: "You've been sitting for four hours and you're still this tired~" He snorted and got off the bus.

When Chen Kai got off the bus with his large backpack, the other students also got off. Liang Dong ran over to discuss the return trip with the driver, then sent the bus away. Turning back to his waiting classmates, he said, "Our place is about 200 meters ahead. Let's go!"

They were all young people in their twenties, singing and laughing all the way to their destination. Chen Kai then realized that because their class was a science class, there were fewer than ten girls. Perhaps because they were rare, the boys were all hanging around those few girls.

"Sigh!" Seeing the plain-looking girls whose names he didn't know, Chen Kai could only sigh. Being with Fei Xiao every day, everyone else paled in comparison to him. If this continued, he was afraid his aesthetic sense would be affected.

"Hey, you must be Chen Kai?" a quiet-looking boy next to him said.

Chen Kai looked at him excitedly for a while. This boy seemed to be one of his own kind, and he had nothing in common with that fat-headed Liang Dong. He nodded vigorously.

"Hehe, isn't that the guy who lives with the handsome guy?" the boy said, his eyes scanning Chen Kai from head to toe.

"Yay~" Chen Kai never dreamed that he would ask such a question. He waved his hand and ran forward, "Liang Dong, Liang Dong, wait for me!" Compared with these people, the chubby Liang Dong seemed to be better.

"Hey, I have something to ask you!" the boy behind him shouted. Chen Kai pretended not to hear. These people just wanted to ask something and then embellish it themselves. Just like Fei Xiao said, rumors stop with the wise. He would just ignore them and see what they would do.

"This is it!" Liang Dong, exhausted and covered in sweat, took off his coat and pointed to a house in front of him.

It should be said that this house is more like a villa, a two-story detached house with a red roof and white walls, looking like it came out of a painting. The autumn sun shining on it seems to have been warmed by the cozy villa.

"That's great! Are we staying here?" A bunch of people chattered incessantly.

"This is it. This is a building for a botanical research institute. We'll be staying here for two nights!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than an old man came out of the house, his back hunched and his waist bent. He slowly walked to the iron gate of the yard and opened it with a loud bang.

"You're from the school, right? Did you bring your letter of introduction?"

“Here! I’m the class monitor. There are forty-two people in our class. Is there enough room for us?” Liang Dong said, pulling out a leather envelope.

The old man carefully examined the letter and then looked at the number of people: "There shouldn't be any problem! Come in with me!"

The group skipped and shouted as they entered. Chen Kai felt as if a light was drawing his gaze. He quickly darted out of the group and moved a little to the side. It was a garden, a huge garden, with purple, red, and yellow flowers of all kinds, many of which he couldn't name. They were blooming profusely behind the house. The grass around them looked withered, but the flowers were so vibrant that it felt like spring had arrived.

The old man who had been leading the way turned back and glanced at Chen Kai: "Don't get lost, this place is very big!"

"Oh, I understand!" Chen Kai hurriedly lowered his head and followed the group. The old man glanced back at everyone out of the corner of his eye, then turned back and walked ahead.

That gaze sent a chill down Chen Kai's spine. Was it the gaze one would give a person? It was more like the gaze one would give a prey, no, the gaze of a prey, a greedy, drooling look.

He glanced around at the people. They all looked happy. What? How come no one noticed? Or was he just overthinking things? A sense of unease began to creep in. Feixiao, where are you?

Once inside, the room was simply furnished. The old man was arranging the accommodations, with six people per room, all on the second floor. The room was spacious and bright, and the windows offered views of the distant mountains.

"Ah, this place is so much better than the dorm! I never thought traveling could be this nice!" the frail-looking boy next to him exclaimed. Chen Kai sighed, though. This place was far worse than his apartment. Fei Xiao might not be good at anything else, but she was a master at enjoying life. She had decorated a perfectly good room like a palace, and the bedding was so soft you could sink into it. Now that he was away from home, he was thinking of how good Fei Xiao was.

"Ouch!" someone shouted from behind and pushed the door open. It was Liang Dong, looking dejected.

"What's wrong with you?" Chen Kai asked him, sitting on his bed. It was rare to see him like this. Although he asked, he was secretly happy. Who told him to always put him down?

“There are only nine girls, and there’s one boy left over. We can’t let the girls share a bed!” Liang Dong said, staring at Chen Kai.