Banquet of a Hundred Ghosts

Chapter 28

Under the streetlights, Chen Kai gazed at the woman beside him, her small, delicate profile, her curly hair, and her meticulously applied makeup. She looked like a typical urban white-collar worker. Everything about her seemed flawless, yet everything about her felt so empty. A sudden pang of pity struck Chen Kai. Bars were places for lonely people, weren't they?

But as he looked down her face, he didn't feel sorry for her; instead, he found her terrifying. On the chest of her black sweater, there was a clearly visible, pale white object, which, judging by its shape, seemed to be a human bone.

My sister left me my bones, which she hangs on her chest!

Chen Kai didn't dare to speak the whole way, his eyes only glancing at the thing hanging on the woman's chest beside him. Was it human bone or something else? Could everything written on the title page of that notebook be true? Had someone really been murdered?

He felt like a taut string was stretched in his heart. Fortunately, the woman remained silent and looked exhausted as she leaned back in the back seat, showing no intention of acknowledging him. Otherwise, he would have gone crazy.

The two remained silent the entire way, each lost in their own thoughts. After about half an hour, the car abruptly stopped in front of a street. "This is where you're going. It's inconvenient for the car to come out after it goes in, so you can get off here!"

The woman took out her wallet from the large bag she was carrying, paid the bill, and got out of the car. "Let's go, weren't you going to stay up all night? I'll keep you company!"

Chen Kai didn't dare to say anything. He got out of the car and followed behind her. There were bars with colorful lights on both sides of the road, but the inside was dark. He couldn't tell what the interior was like. Chen Kai looked left and right curiously. This was his first time in such a place.

The woman in front of me was wearing a thin trench coat, carrying a large bag, and walking in pointed high heels. Her brown hair fluttered in the wind. She walked so fast and so nimbly that the cold wind seemed to have no effect on her.

“Let’s go to that place, they have karaoke tonight!” she said to Chen Kai, turning around.

"Okay! Okay!" Chen Kai agreed, and walked forward with her with his head down. It was a very lively bar. Fortunately, they found a place like this, otherwise he really couldn't imagine how he would spend a night with someone he didn't know well.

The two went inside and found a seat. The woman immediately sank into the soft sofa, looking very tired.

"I'm so sorry, why don't you go back?" Chen Kai looked at her tired face and suddenly felt sorry for her.

“Go back? What’s the point of going back?” She said to Chen Kai with a wry smile, extending a hand in front of him: “My name is Bai Lan!”

"I, my name is Chen Kai!" Chen Kai shook her hand and felt that her hand was icy cold, as if it had no human warmth.

"Then tell me why you stayed up all night? You look like the kind of well-behaved, good student!" Bai Lan said with a smile as she looked at Chen Kai.

When Chen Kai was asked this question, he became nervous again. He twisted his fingers together and after a long while said, "Do you believe that souls exist in this world?"

Bai Lan's expression changed upon hearing his words: "I've never believed in that!" But she lacked conviction.

"Really?" Chen Kai continued, "It seems there's another person inside my body, but he only comes out when I'm sleeping."

"So you want to try not sleeping and see if anything really comes out?" Bai Lan's eyes suddenly lit up with curiosity.

"Not bad!" Chen Kai nodded.

"Hahaha!" She suddenly burst into loud laughter: "No, don't worry, nothing will happen, I know!"

"What do you know?" Chen Kai was very curious as to why she would say that.

Bai Lan beckoned to him mysteriously and whispered, "The person who will appear tonight is a man dressed in white, not a ghost!"

"A man in white?" The only person Chen Kai could think of was Fei Xiao, but... but? He looked around at the men and women in their colorful clothes. Would Fei Xiao really appear here? He never wanted to come to such a noisy place.

He turned back to Bai Lan and asked, "How did you know? Who was that person?"

"Hehehe!" Bai Lan chuckled. "Don't worry about how I know, just watch!"

The two chatted for a while longer, and Bai Lan ordered Chen Kai a hot chocolate drink. Drinking something like that on such a cold day was really pleasant.

Before long, Chen Kai felt his eyelids getting heavy, and sleepiness washed over him like a tide. There was a singer singing, but he couldn't hear it anymore. He groggily glanced at his watch and saw that it was nine o'clock again.

"Bai Lan, don't let me fall asleep!" Chen Kai reached out his hand to her helplessly.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Bai Lan saw that the strange boy was about to fall asleep on the table. She reached out and pushed him hard, but it didn't seem to stop him from falling asleep. He just slumped onto the table with a "thud," as if he had been knocked unconscious.

"Hey, Chen Kai, Chen Kai!" Bai Lan shook Chen Kai vigorously. "Don't let me fall asleep!" She remembered what Chen Kai had just said, but he fell asleep too quickly. It seemed like only a blink of an eye before he fell asleep, and there was no time to stop him.

After fidgeting for a while, Chen Kai, who had finally managed to lie down on the table, hummed in agreement.

"Ah, at least I didn't let you sleep!" Bai Lan said happily when she saw that he was awake.

Chen Kai slowly climbed up from the table, his hazy eyes scanning the surroundings. He looked at Bai Lan with a completely unfamiliar gaze: "Where is this? And who are you?"

Bai Lan looked at his questioning gaze and suddenly felt a jolt in her heart. Could it really be true? Had she really become a different person?

"I'm Bai Lan, Chen Kai. We just met, don't joke around!" Bai Lan hurriedly said to him.

"Chen Kai?" The man in front of him shook his head. "No, my name is Wang Zijin, not Chen Kai!"

"There is another person inside me, but he only appears when I sleep!"

Chen Kai's words echoed in Bai Lan's ears again. Had he really become a different person? Do ghosts really exist in this world?

"May I ask your name, Miss?" the man in front of her asked, his face now bearing a pedantic expression.

"I... my name is Bai Lan!" Bai Lan answered him, her voice trembling.

“White magnolia, white magnolia, white magnolia, white magnolia like jade, Miss, what a beautiful name!” He added, shaking his head, then looked around: “May I ask where we are now?”

"Alcohol, bar!" Bai Lan said, downing the drink in front of her in one gulp, then picked up her bag and was about to leave.

"Miss, Miss, where are you going? Don't leave me here alone!" The man said, grabbing her arm as if he was afraid of being abandoned.

Bai Lan was startled by his appearance and immediately shook off his hand, shouting, "How could this be? How could this be? The diary didn't say you would appear!"

"What diary?" The man who claimed to be Wang Zijin remained steadfast in his loyalty.

Bai Lan slumped back into her seat, her face filled with terror: "The diary, my sister's diary! It should have featured a man in white, how could it be you? There's never been a mistake before!"

"What is a diary?" The person in front of her still seemed not to understand what she was saying.

For some reason, Bai Lan suddenly had a look of surprise on her face and said to him, "Listen, the singer is singing!"

"Yes, yes, I can hear it, but the rhythm is really not good!"

A soft voice echoed in the hall: We don't know how we fell asleep, how many flowers fell in our dreams~

"How many flowers fall in dreams? A man as beautiful as a flower, dressed in white, comes singing!" Bai Lan suddenly said excitedly, "It's all in tune, it's this song, and soon a man in white will appear! This is destiny!"

"What are you talking about?" He still didn't understand what the woman was saying. It seemed that even people had changed too much in the past thousand years.

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a chorus of sighs from those around him. Before he could even react, a strong yet warm hand landed on his shoulder.

A familiar, clear voice rang out behind him: "Zijin, you're finally back?"

Bai Lan noticed that behind the madman sitting opposite her, there had appeared a man dressed in white with an exceptionally beautiful face, long black hair loosely tied behind his head, and a hand resting on his shoulder.

Upon hearing this voice, the man who claimed to be Prince Jin suddenly burst into tears and wailed, "Feixiao, Feixiao, I have waited for a thousand years, and I have finally seen you again!"

He turned around, and the person behind him still had a face as beautiful as a peach blossom in spring, just like the day he went to take the exam, when he stood on the green willow bank waiting for him. At that time, the sky was as blue as a wall, and he was dressed in white, his youthful days seemed to have truly begun with his smile, but ended so hastily.

“Feixiao!” Prince Jin looked at the person behind him. It was still that clean white, an ethereal color, exactly the same as it had been a thousand years ago. It was as if time had stopped on him and never moved forward again.

"Yes, it's me, Zijin!" Feixiao smiled as she saw him, as if everything was within his expectations.

Prince Jin felt tears streaming down his face, blurring Fei Xiao's figure before him. He wiped away his tears and choked out, "After all these years, you haven't changed! But, but I—" He looked down at himself and said, "Now I have to borrow someone else's body just to see you again!"

"Zijin, you're still as childish as ever!" Feixiao smiled at him as before: "If you're still the same after a thousand years, wouldn't you become a monster!"

“Then I’d rather become a monster than be a mortal!” Prince Jin said with a smile after hearing his words.

Feixiao shook her head: "What's so good about being immortal! You can just be reborn after you die, but do you know how long we've been waiting to see you again?" Her face darkened, and her tone seemed to be filled with endless sorrow.

“But even if we met, what then?” Prince Jin sighed deeply. “Things are no longer what they used to be. The past can never be brought back. There is no place for me in this world!”

"Zijin, don't think like that, I'll find a way!" Feixiao saw that he was troubled and didn't know what to say.

Wang Zijin smiled and shook his head: "I know why I came back. I will definitely repay what I owed you a thousand years ago!" After saying that, he tapped the cup in front of him, shook his head and recited: "Green mountains and clear waters remain forever, but where are my old friends? All I have gained is the setting sun, the evening grass, and the light smoke and drizzle!" His tone was full of sorrow.

Feixiao gazed at her former friend. Yes, what good did it do to meet again? All gatherings must end in separation; in the end, all that awaited them was parting. In the end, all that would accompany her was the setting sun and the fading grass. A pang of sorrow welled up in her heart.

"As expected of a man as beautiful as a flower, arriving with a song!" Bai Lan exclaimed upon seeing Fei Xiao.

"Who are you?" Fei Xiao turned and glanced at her. She was a tired woman with smudged makeup. He looked behind Wang Zijin and pondered for a moment. "I know, you're the one who brought Chen Kai here!"

"Chen Kai?" Bai Lan pointed to the person sitting opposite her. "Are you talking about him? Who is he now?"

“My name is Wang Zijin. Miss, you haven’t forgotten so quickly, have you?” Wang Zijin said in surprise from the side.

"Hehe!" Feixiao chuckled. "Never mind that. What did you bring Chen Kai here for?"

“He came of his own accord, saying there was another person inside his body and he wanted to see if it was true!” She glanced at Chen Kai, who had transformed into Wang Zijin, and said, “If he doesn’t have a split personality, I believe it’s true!”

"So how did you meet him?" Fei Xiao was very curious about how such a person had suddenly appeared. After learning that Wang Zijin had appeared, she rushed back as fast as she could, but she never dreamed that she would find him here.

“It wasn’t a chance encounter!” Bai Lan smiled. “I know about his appearance and your appearance!” As she spoke, a confident smile appeared on her lips.

"Do you perhaps possess the abilities of a prophet?" Fei Xiao and Wang Zijin exchanged surprised glances upon hearing her words.

"It wasn't me!" Bai Lan lowered her head dejectedly. "It was my sister!"

"That's great!" Fei Xiao said with a smile, "People with this kind of ability usually die young, so it's best if you don't have it yourself!"

“That’s right!” A sorrowful expression suddenly appeared on the woman named Bai Lan’s face. “She is already dead. My father killed her!”

"Murder?" Wang Zijin suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He vaguely remembered this—his father had killed his daughter. Where had he seen it before? Suddenly, a line of words written in red ink flashed into his mind, clumsy characters that twisted and turned like earthworms:

My mother lied to me, my father killed me, and my sister kept my bones, which she hangs on her chest!

It sounded like a girl's dying cry, but I couldn't remember where I had heard it.

“That’s right, it was murder!” Bai Lan answered him calmly. “My parents couldn’t stand her. She was too smart, too terrifying, like a monster, so they killed her!” She lowered her head as she spoke. “And they paid the price, just as she knew all along. Our family would be destroyed because of her!”

Could there really be such terrible parents in the world? Fei Xiao and Wang Zijin both shuddered upon hearing this.

"You think my parents are terrible, right? Well, let me tell you, my sister is a hundred times worse than them. She knows everything. She started writing a diary when she was nine, and it's full of stories about our future. On the first page, she wrote down her fate, and just as she wrote, she died at the hands of her own parents!" She then picked up something hanging around her neck: "And I, I kept her bones and hung them on my chest! No matter how terrible she is, she's still my twin sister. I will never hate her!" Tears welled in her eyes.

Under the colored lights of the bar, the human bone actually emitted a soft luster.

Upon hearing this, Prince Jin felt a chill run down his spine. How could such terrible things happen in every dynasty?

"This diary led me to you, it records the times and places you appeared!" she said, pulling the pink diary from her bag. "And my fate!"

"What do you want with us?" Fei Xiao asked, puzzled.

"I don't know!" Bai Lan suddenly sighed wearily, "The nightmare she brought us is far from over. All the revenge has fallen on me alone! I can't throw this diary away no matter what. It always comes back to me. Maybe I don't want to throw it away myself. After all, what's written in it is all about things that will happen to me in the future!"

"You really want to get rid of this diary, don't you?" Feixiao asked her.

"That's right!" Bai Lan said with a smile, "You're very clever, but how can you get rid of it? It's like my sister, still growing up with me, and has never died!"

Feixiao placed her hand on the pink notebook, and after a long while said, "Is your sister really dead?"

Bai Lan's eyes widened in fear: "You mean she's not dead?"

"I don't know!" Fei Xiao shook her head: "Perhaps she really is an extraordinary girl, and it's not impossible that she would risk her life to write something like this!"

"Help me! I know you can help me!" Bai Lan suddenly grabbed Fei Xiao's hand excitedly. "Since you know my sister has such abilities! Since this book really has a secret..." She paused and said, "What I want most is to see my sister again. I'm so sorry for her. She was killed by her own parents when she was so young!"

Looking at her tear-streaked face, Wang Zijin felt that she was also a pitiful person. He knew the taste of such separation and death.

"Feixiao!" He looked at his ancient friend beside him, "I also want to see her sister!"