Banquet of a Hundred Ghosts

Chapter 11

Old Zhang was stunned by what he heard. He opened his mouth wide and couldn't speak. Chen Kai was also surprised. This Old Zhang looked older than Ruyi's grandfather. How could he be under thirty years old?

"Then I'll speak for you!" Fei Xiao said, shaking the insect in her hand. "Someone parasitized your body with this. You live by feeding on blood, but it also sucked away your youth, didn't it?"

"No, that's right!" Upon hearing this, Old Zhang covered his face and burst into tears: "I, I'm only twenty-eight years old this year, but I already feel so old, it's been ten years already, what am I going to do?"

"Just tell me what you want to do with the blood, and I can kill this bug. Maybe it will even extend your lifespan by a few years!"

"How is that possible?" Old Zhang stared at Fei Xiao with a suspicious look: "Master said that no one can kill it. It is already connected to my life. If it dies, I may not be able to live either!"

"Who is the master? I can solve your problem. Just tell me what you need the blood for!" Fei Xiao said, placing the worm on her wrist.

"The 'master' probably refers to Ruyi's grandfather, the owner of this house!" Chen Kai added from the side.

"I... I don't know what to do either," Old Zhang said. "All I know is that blood is used as fertilizer. We have connections with several schools, providing free accommodation for students to attract enough people to suck their blood!"

"Flower fertilizer? I know that. Who told you to bring it up?" Fei Xiao looked displeased. "Why would you use human blood as fertilizer for that flower? Is it really only for growing flowers?"

"I...I don't know!" Old Zhang collapsed to the ground, slumped over. "All I know is this, maybe it's to keep those flowers from withering!" His eyes filled with terror. "Those horrible flowers! Where's the beauty in them? How terrifying! They bloom all year round!"

"Alright, alright!" Fei Xiao waved her hand, unwilling to listen to his nagging: "Stop talking, I can find it myself faster than you can tell me!" After saying that, she put the insect's mouth on her arm: "I'll remove the spell for you right now, you should hurry up and find a place to retire!"

As soon as the insect touched Feixiao's arm, it began to suck blood frantically. Soon its body began to swell, and even its skin turned transparent.

Chen Kai was horrified by what he saw. "Feixiao, don't do this!"

Feixiao waved to him, indicating that everything was alright. As the insect was sucking, it suddenly "popped" off Feixiao's arm, its belly swollen and full, and even the yellow paper talisman stuck to its body burst open.

Chen Kai went over to take a look, and the insect was already dead! Fei Xiao smiled at him: "My blood is not something ordinary demons can drink; it's nothing short of poison to them!"

Old Zhang, who was standing nearby, also fainted immediately. Chen Kai, seeing this, hurriedly asked, "What happened to him? Did he die with the bugs?"

"No, she just fainted after the curse was lifted!" Fei Xiao said, stepping over Old Zhang's body. "Let's go take a look at that garden!"

"Ruyi... Ruyi..." Old Zhang mumbled incoherently on the ground.

"What happened to Ruyi?" Chen Kai squatted down and asked him. But he remained silent, as if he were dead.

The two had just come down the stairs when they saw a woman in a white nightgown standing in the living room. Upon seeing her, Feixiao stopped and stood on the stairs.

"It's Ruyi!" Chen Kai whispered to him.

"Are you running around again because you can't sleep?" Ruyi looked at Chen Kai, smiling like a flower, her eyes full of laughter.

"Yes, yes!" Chen Kai said, pointing to Fei Xiao, "A friend of mine came overnight to see that garden!" This lie was really poorly told.

"Is that so!" Ruyi said, carrying a large high-powered flashlight. "Then you should come again tomorrow; the garden is much prettier during the day!"

"Ah, yes!" Chen Kai never dreamed that anyone would believe his clumsy lie. "Feixiao, let's go!"

Feixiao, however, wore a solemn expression and remained silent, her bright eyes fixed on Ruyi.

Ruyi, who was leading the way, looked like a heroine from a novel. She carried a lantern, and her white nightgown fluttered in the night wind. It was unclear whether she was leading her to a dead end or a path to life.

Ruyi led them to the backyard, took out a key, and opened the iron gate: "This is the garden, look!"

Under the bright moonlight, a beautiful array of flowers bloomed in the night, their dazzling beauty seemingly tinged with an eerie hue by the dim light.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Ruyi asked, looking at Feixiao with a proud expression.

Feixiao took a few steps forward, her expression incredulous. "This, this is... this is the garden?"

“Yes, this is the place. It’s said that the flowers here never wither!” Chen Kai added from behind.

Feixiao stared wide-eyed at Chen Kai's face, utterly astonished: "This is clearly a graveyard! How can it be a garden?"

"What? Don't scare me!" Chen Kai said, taking a few steps back and looking around. "Where are the graves? I don't see any?"

"The air is thick with the smell of death, can't you sense anything?" Fei Xiao said, turning to look at Ru Yi: "Who exactly are you? This garden isn't just filled with flowers, is it?"

"What are you talking about?" Ruyi asked, holding a flashlight, confused. "There are flowers blooming all over here, how could it be a grave?"

“You should know that yourself!” Fei Xiao turned to Ru Yi and said, “You have neither the aura of the living nor the aura of the dead. What exactly are you?”

Upon hearing this, Ruyi was taken aback. She stood blankly in the middle of the garden, holding the lantern, and whispered, "Yes, what am I? I will never grow old, I will never grow up!"

"What?" Chen Kai was startled. Wasn't she like Fei Xiao? Someone who was immortal?

"What's the blood for?" Feixiao asked, grabbing Ruyi's arm. "Why are the flowers here fertilized with fresh blood? Does the life force of the people inside really only nourish the flowers?"

"I don't know!" Ruyi flung Feixiao's hand away. "I only know about fertilizing! I have no idea what fertilizer is made of!" Her face was full of sorrow, as if she had mentioned something she didn't want to talk about. She cried and said, "Everyone gets old and gets sick. Grandpa got old too. He started as Dad's, and then he became Grandpa's! Only me, only me, will always be like this!"

"Could it be? Could it be?" Fei Xiao turned to look at the sea of flowers, a beautiful, colorful ocean, so dazzling yet concealing so much evil. "Could it be? Is it you that's growing in these flowers?"

Ruyi and Chen Kai stared wide-eyed, wondering what was going on.

Suddenly a loud voice came from behind: "That's right, this garden is Ruyi's grave!" An old man carrying a hunting rifle walked in through the iron gate. He had white hair and a straight posture. He was Ruyi's grandfather.

"How could this happen?" Chen Kai rushed to Fei Xiao's side. "What exactly happened?"

"Don't move!" Ruyi's grandfather said, helping Ruyi up from the ground. "Ruyi, forget all of this, don't remember any of this!"

Ruyi cried and hugged her grandfather: "Grandpa, I believe everything you say! Is this really my grave? I was perfectly fine, why am I dead?"

"My dear, Ruyi, Grandpa is lying to them. Ruyi is still alive and well!" The old man said, reaching out his wrinkled hand to stroke Ruyi's head in his arms, with a loving expression.

After saying that, he looked up at Feixiao and said, "It was you, wasn't it? The one who killed my blood flukes?"

"Not bad!" Fei Xiao said smugly, "That's something that doesn't belong to this world; it shouldn't even exist!"

"Heh? Is that so?" The old man chuckled wearily. "That's the only thing that can supply this garden with blood. Now tell me, what are you going to do?"

"How would I know?" Fei Xiao smiled, not taking it seriously at all.

"I'm going to kill you all and turn you into fertilizer to nourish my flowers!" he said, raising his gun and aiming at Feixiao.

"What should we do? Has this old man gone mad?" Chen Kai exclaimed. He didn't want to be turned into fertilizer to nourish these horrible flowers.

"You call this a flower?" Fei Xiao laughed. "Don't joke around. What's the difference between this and a demon?" She then pointed at Ruyi: "Didn't you just want to use these flowers to keep her in this world? What's the point of her existing like this?"

"What happened?" Ruyi looked up and asked her grandfather, "Tell me quickly, Grandpa!"

The old man didn't answer, his eyes filled with hatred as he stared at Feixiao.

“Let me explain!” Fei Xiao looked at the old man and said, “There’s a kind of magic called ‘Returning the Soul,’ which uses a person’s belongings to manifest the deceased’s appearance in life through objects with spiritual energy!” After saying that, she looked at Ruyi’s grandfather and asked, “Am I right?”

“That’s right, but I only know a little bit about these things!” The old man said with a sorrowful expression. “Ruyi, Ruyi is my daughter, but she lived too short a life. She died at the age of sixteen! Sixteen years old, an age when she knew nothing. She loved flowers when she was alive, so I scattered her ashes in this garden!”

"And then?" Chen Kai asked, realizing that some things really shouldn't be scattered indiscriminately.

"Later, Ruyi actually appeared before me again as if she were still alive, but she would die once the flowers withered." After saying that, he looked at Ruyi in his arms: "I searched for all the books on metaphysics and magic and found out that what she lacked was human blood and life force, and those flowers were the place where Ruyi depended on. As long as we keep supplying the flowers with blood and life force, Ruyi will live in this world forever!"

"Grandpa, Grandpa, what should I do?" Ruyi lowered her head and cried.

“There’s nothing I can do. Look, look! I’ve given you a new life, and you can stay a young girl forever, never aging or dying!” He said, his eyes wide and bloodshot, filled with cloudy tears. “Daddy’s good to you, isn’t he? Ruyi, I’m the daddy who loves you the most in the world!”

“Dad,” Ruyi looked up at the old face in front of her, the old man with snow-white hair, her own father, and suddenly burst into tears: “Dad, I hate you, I really hate you!”

The old man looked bewildered and grabbed Ruyi, asking, "Why? Ruyi, Dad has been so good to you, why do you hate Dad?"

"Hmph!" Fei Xiao sneered, casually picked a flower, and sniffed it. "Everyone thinks that immortality is wonderful, but once they actually achieve eternal life, they will know the loneliness and solitude, and the sorrow of being forgotten by time!"

"Shut up!" the old man shouted at Feixiao. "Where did you come from? If you hadn't come, we could be living perfectly well here! You should go back to where you belong!" As he spoke, he aimed his hunting rifle at Feixiao. "You killed something that could be used as fertilizer, and now you've become fertilizer yourself. You shouldn't have any complaints, should you?"

"No!" Chen Kai shouted and rushed forward. "Feixiao, don't kill Feixiao!"

Feixiao, however, remained unperturbed, dressed in white, standing amidst the sea of flowers, plucking a blossom and smiling, as if nothing had happened to him.

Chen Kai rushed forward, grabbed him, and threw him to the ground. At the same time, a gunshot pierced the silent night sky, accompanied by Ruyi's scream.

Chen Kai only saw blood flying before his eyes. Whose blood was it? His own? Or Fei Xiao's? The world ended with that gunshot!

"It's over, it's over, I'm doomed!" Chen Kai lay on the ground with his eyes closed, thinking, "If I die, where will Fei Xiao scatter my ashes?"

"Dad! Dad, what's wrong?" Ruyi's heartbroken cries could be heard from the side.

"Huh?" He opened his eyes and looked around. Before him was a beautiful night sky, a sky full of bright stars. He felt around again, and it seemed like he didn't feel any pain anywhere on his body.

"Feixiao, Feixiao? Are you alright?" He turned to ask Feixiao, who was lying next to him, but saw a piece of wood. What was going on?

"Hehe, Chen Kai, get up!" A voice came from behind, and at the same time a hand was stretched out in front of him; it was Fei Xiao.

"You, why weren't you standing here just now?" Chen Kai asked, puzzled as he got up.

"You think I'd just stand there and wait to die?" he said to Chen Kai with a grin.

"You, you!" Chen Kai pointed at him, his face turning ashen with rage. His own reckless act had instantly become a sign of idiocy. Concern for this heartless bastard was utterly pointless.

"You're alright too? Whose blood was that?" Chen Kai then remembered the incident that had just occurred.

"It's Dad's! He was shot!" Ruyi sat on the ground, hugging her father and crying. Half of the old man's clothes were already stained red with blood.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with the gun?" Chen Kai said, picking up the hunting rifle from the ground and examining it carefully.

Feixiao shook her head, at a loss for what to do; his mind was still foggy. She simply looked towards the iron gate and shouted, "Come out!"

"What's coming out?" Chen Kai was still completely baffled.

Footsteps came from beside the door, and an old man with a hunched back emerged from under the dark fence carrying a hunting rifle. It was Old Zhang!

"Old Zhang? Why?" Ruyi's father stretched out his blood-stained hand, his eyes full of confusion.

"Why?" Old Zhang screamed, "You actually ask me why? My youth has been taken away by you, you devil, and you still want to ask me?"

"Cough, cough!" The old man, lying in Ruyi's arms, coughed up two mouthfuls of blood: "Didn't I give you the money back then and make it clear to you?"

"Money? Money? Yes, you gave me money! But how can youth be measured in money!" Old Zhang said, slamming the guns to the ground. "I hate you, I hate you! I'm only in my twenties, how am I supposed to live like this?"

After saying that, he looked at Ruyi's father lying on the ground and said, "You are heartless and insane. You would sacrifice anyone for your daughter! I want you to suffer a fate worse than death, just like me!"

"Ruyi, Ruyi, she is my lifeblood. How can you understand the hearts of parents everywhere?" he said, two more tears streaming down his face. This little girl in front of him was the continuation of his life in this world. Even if he had to give his life for her, he would not have any complaints. How could they understand these things? How could they understand?

"Dad!" Ruyi said, hugging the old man in her arms, whose body was stained with blood. "My dad, it's so painful for Ruyi to be alone in this world!" She then took her father's hand and pressed it against her face. "No one can stay with me forever. I can't grow up. Other people's joys and sorrows are all washed away by time!" As she finished speaking, tears streamed down her father's hand, mingling with the blood, and dripped onto her white nightgown.

"Dad, Ruyi is so happy to have a dad like you. Ruyi is leaving now, Dad, you must take good care of yourself!" After saying that, she carefully placed her father in the sea of flowers and stood up.

"Ruyi, Ruyi? Where are you going?" The old man looked at his daughter, his daughter who would never grow up, with despair.

"I'm going where I belong!" Looking back at the sea of flowers around her, she said, "These flowers must be tired too, blooming in this world for so long? There is no such thing as lasting beauty in this world!" After saying that, she sighed and turned to look at Feixiao: "Isn't it precisely because life is short that fleeting beauty is all the more attractive?"

Feixiao looked at her and slowly nodded, her face also showing a sorrowful expression.

"I need to ask you, how can I leave?" Ruyi asked Feixiao with tears in her eyes, tilting her head and smiling. She really looked like a child who never grew up.

"I'll help you!" Fei Xiao said, placing a hand on Ruyi's head. Ruyi's body began to glow slowly, and after a while, it gradually became transparent.

"Ruyi, Ruyi! How could you bear to leave your father alone in this world?" The old man struggled to get up from the ground.

"Dad, Ruyi feels so comfortable, so warm and cozy. I'm leaving now~" Before she could finish speaking, Ruyi disappeared.