Banquet of a Hundred Ghosts

Chapter 10

Suddenly, a feeling of nausea welled up in his throat. He hurriedly pushed open the door and ran towards the villa. What secrets were hidden here? Fertilizer made from blood, flowers that never wither? This was what he saw. Could there be something else hidden here that he couldn't see?

The villa looked shadowy in the darkness, like a monster baring its fangs and claws. No, no, I have to go back and wake up my classmates. Wait, so much blood, has something happened to them?

He was about to push open the wooden door of the villa when he saw a person with disheveled hair, wearing white clothes, standing in the living room with a flashlight.

The terror reached its peak at this moment. He could no longer bear it and opened his mouth to scream, but his throat seemed to be tied in knots, and he could not make a sound.

The man turned around and looked at him, also startled: "Are you Chen Kai from earlier in the day? Where have you been so late?" It was Ruyi.

With her long hair loose and wearing a white nightgown, she looked no different from a female ghost in the dim light.

Chen Kai breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was her, only to find his clothes soaked with sweat. "What about you? Didn't you get up after playing like that?"

"Me?" Ruyi smiled at him: "Actually, I heard strange noises in the bedroom downstairs and came out to check!"

The strange noise was probably caused by him and Lao Zhang going out together. He felt completely exhausted and wanted to rush upstairs to check if his classmates were alright! So he hurriedly told her, "I can't sleep, I went out for a walk. It was probably me who made it. I'm going back to sleep!"

"Then I'm relieved. Goodnight!" Ruyi said, then took the flashlight and went back to her bedroom on the first floor.

Chen Kai carefully pushed open the door, hoping that everyone was alright and still alive and healthy. When he opened the door, he saw that everyone inside was fast asleep, and Liang Dong was still sprawled out, snoring loudly.

Seeing this peaceful scene, Chen Kai finally felt relieved. It turned out that he had been overthinking things; nothing had happened, and it was still a peaceful night.

He lay down on the bed, feeling as if what he had just seen was a nightmare. No, perhaps it was just a nightmare, and he had been lying in bed the whole time. Old Zhang, the greenhouse, and Ruyi were just coincidentally appearing in his dream. Thinking this way made him feel much better, and he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

The next day was another bright and sunny day. Looking at the sun outside, Chen Kai felt as if nothing had happened the night before. He stretched and got out of bed. "Ugh, so sleepy!" He looked at the sun outside, feeling like he was in a different world.

"Sleepy? What are you sleepy for?" Liang Dong's loud voice rang out again from behind. "You slept all night and you're still sleepy?"

Chen Kai looked at him. Yes, he had slept all night and snored all night long, while he himself didn't close his eyes until the early hours of the morning.

"Hurry up and pack your things, let's go rafting!" Liang Dong said, jumping off the bed. "Hey? What happened to your hand?" he asked, pointing to Chen Kaifang's hand on the bed.

Upon hearing this, Chen Kai noticed that there was dark brown blood on one of his hands, dried bloodstains. Memories of last night flooded back. It was this hand, wasn't it? He had touched the liquid that had overflowed from the bucket with this hand.

"No, it's nothing, maybe just a cut!" It seems it really wasn't a dream; everything really happened.

"Let's have some fun!" Liang Dong said, jumping up immediately. "Brothers, let's go!"

The group of people, like prisoners just released from prison, jumped and shouted as they rushed out the door. Seeing their energetic demeanor, and not a single one of them, male or female, seemed to have been hurt, Chen Kai realized his worries were unnecessary. These guys really didn't need anyone to think about them.

"Let's go! This is a vacation, why are you always looking so gloomy like a wronged wife?" Liang Dong said, grabbing Chen Kai and pulling him away. "Our destination is just ahead. Once we climb over this hill, there'll be a mountain stream over there!"

Chen Kai, having been dragged along by him, finally understood what a passionate young man was. It seemed like this guy was never not full of passion.

When they arrived at their destination, everyone shared a kayak. Unfortunately, Chen Kai ended up sitting next to Liang Dong. As soon as Liang Dong got on, the kayak sank a bit.

"Will this float?" "It seems overweight." Several classmates nearby also complained.

"Come on, let's go!" Liang Dong seemed not to hear him, rolled up his sleeves, picked up a wooden paddle next to him and started paddling.

The kayak darted forward with the current, and amidst the splashing water, Chen Kai suddenly noticed a pea-sized red dot on Liang Dong's thick arm.

The red dot kept swaying in front of Liang Dong as he moved. "What's wrong with you?" Chen Kai asked, grabbing his arm to check.

"It's probably just a bug bite!" Liang Dong didn't take it seriously at all and went back to playing.

Others? Where are the others? He suddenly had a bad feeling, grabbed the arm of the boy next to him and looked. There was also a red dot, exactly the same as Liang Dong's, and there was a little bruising around it.

He looked closely at the people around him and saw that they all had insect bite marks on their arms or necks. What was going on?

His good mood immediately plummeted, and he was sullen all day. Seeing everyone's smiling faces seemed to have nothing to do with him, as if they were so far away. The longer he stayed in this situation, the heavier the mystery in his heart became.

When he went back that night, he didn't even want to step into the house. The place that had seemed warm and lovely the day before now seemed to be gaping with its jaws, ready to devour them one by one.

"We'll be going back in half a day tomorrow!" Liang Dong said happily at the dinner table.

Dinner was as lavish as ever, so lavish it was almost frightening, like the Last Supper. Of course, only Chen Kai thought so; everyone else was enjoying the delicious food.

Old Zhang sat on the other side of the table, eating his meal silently, his eyes constantly glancing at the students around him who were happily eating, as if he were watching his prey.

Chen Kai felt a chill run down his spine when he saw the look in Zhang's eyes. He had heard that some people would fatten up any animal they ate to remove its fishy smell. He increasingly felt that Old Zhang was like a butcher, and they were the sheep he raised in the sheepfold.

"You're leaving tomorrow, right? Sleep well tonight!" Ruyi suddenly said to Chen Kai, winking at him as if to hint that he shouldn't run around anymore.

"I'm exhausted today, of course I need to get some sleep!" Chen Kai replied, but in his heart he was thinking: If I don't go out, am I just going to sit here and wait to die?

After dinner, everyone tidied up, and it was time for bed. Chen Kai walked up the wooden steps, his steps as heavy as his heart. What to do? What to do? Another terrible night was about to begin!

Just like yesterday, Liang Dong lay in bed and started snoring loudly, as if the two steps were done at the same time without any interval in between.

After a while, Chen Kai couldn't fall asleep. He hugged his knees and leaned against the corner of the bed. What should he do? He had never been so afraid before. Should he just wait here to die?

Feixiao, Feixiao, if only Feixiao could be here, everything would be alright if he came.

Oh right, a mirror. Feixiao seemed to have given him a mirror before she left. I don't know if it'll work, but I'll give it a try.

He thought about taking the mirror out of his backpack, putting it in his pocket, and walking out of the room to find a secluded place to try it out. He finally found a quiet corner in the corridor, took out the mirror, and looked at it in the moonlight. Chen Kai's heart sank.

The antique mirror with its carved frame had been chipped several times over. Looking at it, Chen Kai felt a wave of despair wash over him, murmuring to the broken surface, "Feixiao, Feixiao, your things are truly unreliable!"

Just as he was feeling disheartened, a voice suddenly rang out: "Who is it? Chen Kai?"

Chen Kai was startled by the voice. He looked around and saw no one. Then he looked at the mirror in his arms and saw Fei Xiao's face, which had a half-smile, reflected in the broken mirror.

"Feixiao!" Chen Kai cried out as if he had grasped at a straw. "Can you come any closer? I'm about to be eaten alive!"

"It's not that serious. It doesn't seem like anything's wrong with you." Fei Xiao smiled, looking absent-minded.

"You, you, if you don't come over, I won't cook for you when I get back!" I never dreamed this guy would be so heartless.

"Oh dear, I give up! You can't do anything without me! Wait a minute, I'm coming right now!" With that, a slender, white hand reached out from the mirror. It reached halfway out, as if groping for something, and then stopped!

"What's going on? The passageway suddenly narrowed, I can't get through!" Feixiao shouted from the other end.

Chen Kai never expected that he would come through the mirror, and grabbed his outstretched hand: "Try again, I'll pull you over!"

"It still doesn't work, it's too narrow! What's wrong?"

Chen Kai suddenly remembered something: "Feixiao, I broke the mirror, what should we do?"

"………………" Fei Xiao remained silent for a long time, then withdrew her outstretched hand.

"Feixiao, you have to find a way to come here! I'm waiting for you!" Chen Kai wailed at the broken mirror.

Suddenly, a white thing darted out from inside and pounced on Chen Kai's face.

"Wow! What is this?" Chen Kai was so startled that he sat down on the ground, and the mirror in his hand fell to the ground and shattered with a "crack!"

Chen Kai turned around and saw a white fox squatting behind him, shaking its squashed fur.

He didn't care about anything else anymore, holding the mirror and calling out, "Feixiao, can you hear me? It's even more shattered, can you still come over?"

One end was fine, but the mirror shattered into countless pieces on the floor. Chen Kai stared blankly at the glittering fragments, his last hope shattered. What was he to do? Be at the mercy of others?

"Hey! I'm here!" A man's voice suddenly rang out from behind, clear and pleasant. Who else could it be but Fei Xiao?

"You, how did you get here?" Chen Kai turned around in surprise, and sure enough, Fei Xiao was standing behind him, still wearing white clothes, tidying his messy hair.

"Hehehe, didn't you see that fox just now?" Feixiao said to him with a grin.

"By the way, where's the fox? Where's that fox from earlier?" Chen Kai was also puzzled.

"I am that fox! The passage was too narrow because of your fall, so I had to turn into a fox to barely squeeze through!"

"What? What?" Chen Kai could hardly believe his ears. A fox spirit? That was all he could think of, and his knowledge of fox spirits came from "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio".

"Let's not talk about this anymore! I'll tell you when we get home!" She sniffed, then looked around. "You guys really know how to pick tourist spots! There's a strong smell of blood here!"

Chen Kai felt like his mind was a complete mess, and he couldn't understand anything.

"Let's go!" Fei Xiao said, pulling Chen Kai up from the ground. "Let's go see what kind of mystery this place has."

Chen Kai followed him in a daze, feeling that Fei Xiao's secret was a bigger blow to him. The white figure in front of him seemed to be getting further and further away.

The two walked along the dark corridor, but Feixiao walked as if it were broad daylight, as if she knew the way well.

Reaching the end of the corridor, Fei Xiao pushed the door open, intending to go in, but the door was locked. He smiled, gently twisted the doorknob, and the lock clicked open. He turned back and winked at Chen Kai, a smug smile on his face.

Chen Kai also felt it was a waste that he hadn't gone to do anything petty theft.

"What are we doing here?" Chen Kai asked him. Shouldn't we be thinking about how to escape first?

"Waiting for someone!" Fei Xiao said, wiping the dust off a worn-out sofa in the room and plopping down on it. "Waiting for the person who took the 'blood fluke' to come!"

"What is that?" Chen Kai asked. This thing sounds like a serious disease from the past!

“This place smells of blood, but no one has died. The person who did this must have used ‘blood flukes’! You wouldn’t understand even if I told you. Let’s deal with them one by one!” Fei Xiao said, leaning back comfortably on the sofa.

Chen Kai was still very worried, so he told him about all the strange things he had encountered here, including the blood-stained fertilizer and the garden that never withered.

As Fei Xiao listened, his two sword-like eyebrows gradually furrowed together, as if he couldn't understand why either. He had only spoken halfway when Fei Xiao suddenly put a long finger to his lips and whispered, "Here it comes, don't make a sound!"

The two of them cracked the door to the empty room. They couldn't see anything in the darkness, but the faint sounds from last night drifted down the corridor.

"Let's go!" Fei Xiao said, pulling Chen Kai out of the room. After taking a few steps, she pushed open a half-closed door and gestured for Chen Kai to look inside.

Chen Kai peered through the crack in the door and could only see a person hunched over, holding something in their hand, seemingly busy with something. He knew without guessing that it was Old Zhang.

Chen Kai shook his head at him, meaning he couldn't see anything. Fei Xiao quickly pulled him to the door, and the two of them leaned against the wall outside the door.

As soon as he stepped aside, the person inside came out and closed the door. He turned around and saw Fei Xiao and Chen Kai standing outside the door. His wrinkled face was full of astonishment. It was Old Zhang.

"Who, who are you?" Old Zhang was startled.

"Why are you sucking so much blood? Are you trying to nourish something by getting angry?" Fei Xiao said, and then slapped his wrist.

"Ouch!" Old Zhang cried out as something fell from his hand. It was a fist-sized, black object wrapped in a yellow paper talisman, still wriggling on the ground.

"What are you doing? I need to call someone over!" Old Zhang said, lunging at Fei Xiao.

Feixiao dodged in a flash and twisted his wrist. "Old man, you can't fight me. You'd better tell me what you need so much blood for!"

"You, you, you~" Old Zhang couldn't finish his sentence, as if his body couldn't hold on any longer.

"Hmph, you, a mere human, dare to try and manipulate things in the dark world? You only have yourself to blame!"

"You know everything?" Old Zhang turned around and looked at Fei Xiao, his eyes filled with fear, as if he had seen a ghost.

"Speak over there!" Fei Xiao said, pulling Lao Zhang towards the empty room where the two of them had just been. Turning back to Chen Kai, she said, "Pick up the bugs on the ground, let's go over there!"

Hearing their conversation, Chen Kai felt the mystery was only deepening, showing no sign of resolution. He quickly turned back and carefully picked up the black object from the ground. It really was an insect—black, with shiny skin and a sucker-like mouth. Chen Kai felt a chill run down his spine as he grabbed it. Gritting his teeth, he picked it up and followed Fei Xiao away!

"Alright, just say what you have to say!" Fei Xiao said, pushing him to the floor of the room, then sitting down on the tattered sofa, crossing her legs, looking very smug.

"What's there to say?" Old Zhang became defiant again: "You're trespassing! I'm going to call the police to arrest you!"

"What did you say?" Fei Xiao said, taking the insect from Chen Kai's hand and playing with it. "Just tell me why you've turned into this before you're even thirty!"