Banquet of a Hundred Ghosts

Chapter 30

As the two were talking, the girl in the prince's arms slowly woke up, her big eyes wide open, looking at the two strangely dressed people in front of her.

"Tell her whatever you want to say!" Prince Jin said to Bai Lan when he saw that the girl had woken up.

Bai Lan squatted down, cupped the girl's round little face in her hands, and burst into tears. This face, exactly like her own, was gone forever.

"Big sister, why are you crying?" the girl stood up and asked her curiously.

"Baiyu, I... I'm your older sister!" Bailan said, already sobbing uncontrollably. "I've grown up now!"

The girl stared wide-eyed, as if she didn't understand what the woman in front of her was saying.

"So many years, my life has been so hard!" Bai Lan continued, "Just like you wrote, I got into a good university, and then I got a job at a company. Now I'm a junior manager, but I still feel so miserable!" She cried as she told her story. Wang Zijin, who was watching from the side, felt heartbroken. No matter when, there are always people who feel helpless.

Bai Lan was still saying, "I'm so tired right now. I have nothing. Everyone says I'm a strong woman, but that's because I have no one to rely on and no love to depend on. Do you remember when we were together? Back then, we said we would play the piano when we grew up, but why is life so helpless now that we're grown up!"

She then asked urgently, "My dear sister, you are so clever. I've gone through so much trouble to finally see you again today. I want to ask you: Is this my life? Am I destined to grow old and die as written in that diary? Is fate truly something we cannot defy?"

The girl still stared indifferently at Bai Lan, the woman with tears streaming down her face and disheveled hair, a woman struggling against life. She opened her small mouth and said, "I am Bai Lan, not Bai Yu. We've changed clothes!"

Wang Zijin and Bai Lan were both shocked by her words, and Bai Lan even sat down on the ground. Could it be? Could it be that she was the one who died? Not Bai Yu? Then what is she now? She's clearly alive and well!

The girl continued, "Bai Yu is always so superstitious, so I swapped clothes with her. She kept saying she would die today, but I knew she wouldn't!"

Wang Zijin hurriedly asked the girl, "Could it be that you died in place of your sister to protect her?"

"I don't know!" the girl said. "Maybe I just wanted to show her that there is no such thing as fate!" She then smiled and said, "Even if I really die, it doesn't matter. Bai Yu will live on in my place. We are all the same. It doesn't matter who lives on!"

"Me? I'm Bai Yu?" Bai Lan pointed at herself, her eyes wide with disbelief.

“It seems that’s how it is!” Wang Zijin said. “Feixiao also said that your sister is not dead, because it was actually your sister who died!”

"But, but why don't I have any precognitive abilities? And I've forgotten so many things?" Bai Lan couldn't believe her ears.

"I don't know!" Wang Zijin shook his head. "Some talents might disappear as people grow up!"

Bai Yu immediately collapsed onto the grass and burst into tears. Her sister, her beloved sister, had told her this with her own life in her final moments. She only now realized that half of her life had already passed, and she didn't know if it was too late to start over.

"Big sister, you must take good care of yourself!" The young Bai Lan reached out her hand to her.

"Okay, I understand!" she said, grabbing the small hand in front of her as if she were grasping her own destiny.

"You're back?" Fei Xiao brought a cup of hot tea, sat down, and saw the two people in front of her open their eyes.

"Yes!" Wang Zijin stretched, now he was using Chen Kai's body again.

"Did you see that supernatural girl?" Fei Xiao asked curiously.

“I see her, she’s sitting right next to me!” Prince Jin pointed to Bai Lan, no, Bai Yu, who was sitting beside him!

The person sitting next to her had their eyes closed, tears streaming down their face. After a long while, they opened their eyes, looked at Feixiao, and smiled: "Thank you, I saw my past!"

"How was it?" Feixiao asked her with a smile.

“Very good!” she said, nodding. “Not only do they know my past, but they also see my future!”

As she spoke, she looked out the window. It was already morning, and the bright morning sun shone through the glass, casting a warm glow on the ground.

"Feixiao, it's time for me to go too. Daytime has arrived, and this body should be returned to its rightful owner!" After seeing Baiyu off, Wang Zijin looked at the rising sun outside and said.

“You can see me anytime you want!” Feixiao said to him with a smile.

"I don't know!" Prince Jin looked at the person in front of him, the same person for a thousand years. "I am now just the part of my memories that you have sealed away. Even if I don't see you, everything about me is still about you. In my mind, my life ended long ago on that snowy morning!"

"Perhaps I shouldn't have done this!" Fei Xiao shook his head, a look of regret on his handsome face: "So you won't even know what your life will be like after that, and you won't disappear even after reincarnation!"

"No, don't say that!" Wang Zijin smiled. "No matter what happened afterward, my life really did end on that snowy morning. All my happiness was buried by the falling snow!" He closed his eyes as he spoke, and two lines of tears streamed down his face. "I'm leaving!"

Feixiao smiled at him and reached out to pull him. As soon as she pulled, the person in front of her opened his eyes, his face full of surprise: "Feixiao, where have you been all this time? You're back!"

As he spoke, he wiped his eyes again: "Look at me, so pathetic, why am I crying?" It was Chen Kai.

Feixiao didn't speak, but looked at his face, smiled, and patted his head as if he were a beloved child: "I'm back now, aren't I? Don't cry!"

"I missed you so much!" Chen Kai burst into tears, clutching Fei Xiao's hand—a warm yet firm hand—as if afraid he would disappear again. This wasn't a dream, was it? After all these days, Fei Xiao had finally returned.

"Ding-a-ling!" The doorbell rang.

A woman who looked to be around forty years old went to open the door, and a beautiful woman in a red cotton coat stood outside. She wasn't wearing makeup, and her face was full of youthful vigor.

"You're here! Come in!" The middle-aged woman said, turning to go to the kitchen. "Practice by yourself for a while, I'll make some tea and come over!" She was a retired piano teacher, and this student was the oldest and most diligent of all her students.

The young woman took off her cotton-padded coat, revealing a bone-like ornament hanging from her chest. "I'll go in first then!" she said to her teacher. She had already resigned from her job and was now wholeheartedly pursuing her childhood dream.

She opened the piano lid, sat down at the brown piano, and her slender fingers landed on the black and white keys. Now she could play some simple pieces. She sat in the warm afternoon sun in the music room and began to play:

I remember being young at the time

I love to chat, you love to laugh.

Once we sat side by side under the peach tree

The wind rustles in the treetops, birds sing.

We don't know how we fell asleep.

How many flowers fall in dreams?

Sister, I can see my future now. I no longer need to harden myself like a dried walnut, nor will I have to stand still just to hold on. My life is truly beginning now.

Through her glistening tears, she seemed to see a girl in a red dress standing in a corner, smiling at her with eyes full of wisdom, as if saying, "Am I right? Destiny is in your own hands!"

She played a tune, gazing at the sky outside. Even without that diary, she knew where her life should go. Her sister in heaven was always watching over her. How could death sever the existence of love?

Chapter Ten: Family Banquet

After Fei Xiao returned, Chen Kai began sleeping day and night, as if trying to make up for all the sleep he had missed in the past few days. The two continued to live peacefully as before, but neither mentioned Wang Zijin, nor the third person who had always lived between them. Wang Zijin never appeared again. However, Fei Xiao seemed more melancholic than before. On moonlit nights, she would sing old songs that Chen Kai didn't understand to the cold moonlight. Her slender, white figure appeared so ethereal in the moonlight. Whenever this happened, Chen Kai would feel very sad, as if Fei Xiao was about to leave him. When? Perhaps now?

Before he knew it, the end of the semester was approaching. After finishing his final exams, Chen Kai was about to have his first vacation since starting school. This vacation was exceptionally long, meaning that he would also be spending the Chinese Lunar New Year during this period.

After finishing his exams, Chen Kai packed up to go home. He was gone for more than a month, and he was extremely reluctant to part with Fei Xiao. But Fei Xiao just smiled at him and said, "There is no banquet that does not end. Unity and separation, gathering and scattering, life and death are always intertwined. You are leaving, but won't you come back again?" There was a faint indifference in her smile.

Chen Kai felt only sadness; his existence seemed to be nothing more than dispensable.

"Enough talk, let's go eat out. If you leave, I'll have no one to keep me company!" Fei Xiao said, already holding the white cotton coat and cheering as he went to open the door, finally revealing his true nature.

"Wait for me! You didn't bring your wallet, did you!" Chen Kai shouted as he followed him out. Two sets of cheerful footprints were left on the snow in the residential area outside.

During the meal, Fei Xiao actually ordered a bottle of wine and drank it all by herself, enjoying herself immensely. She held a greasy chicken leg in both hands, and it seemed like she couldn't even finish eating it all. Such a handsome person, but once she was at the dinner table, she completely lost all her composure.

Chen Kai was in a particularly good mood and drank two glasses with him. However, he had never drunk any strong liquor before, and as soon as the alcohol went down his throat, he started acting crazy: "Feixiao, come home with me!" he said to Feixiao across from him.

"Oh dear, stop talking. I'm your relative here, but what would I be if I went back to your hometown? Your parents would be terrified!"

"You're not scary, so what's there to be scared of?" Chen Kai asked him with a grin, his face flushed.

"What's scary about me is that I can't resist the temptation of food, and I ate too much during the Chinese New Year!"

"Hmm, that's true!" Chen Kai nodded. "But what's so scary about that?"

"Where there's good food, there must be fine wine. I'm a fox, and this is the greatest joy I've ever felt since I became human!" Fei Xiao said, picking up the wine bottle and pouring herself a cup. The wine these days is far inferior to that of ancient times, but she had no choice but to make do with it.

“My dad loves to drink too! You two make a perfect couple, so you should come with me!” Chen Kai was overjoyed to hear this.

"But I'm a fox, I have no self-control, I get drunk easily!" Fei Xiao said, her eyes already glazed over. Only then did Chen Kai realize that she had already downed half a bottle in a short time, and it seemed that her alcohol tolerance was really not very good!

"Burp!" Fei Xiao hiccuped and continued, "When you get too drunk, you'll reveal your true form. What should I do?" As she spoke, she looked at Chen Kai with an innocent smile on her face.

Chen Kai looked at Fei Xiao's face, which was about to be distorted with laughter, and suddenly his eyes widened, and he sobered up halfway because he saw a furry thing swaying back and forth behind Fei Xiao, looking very comfortable.

That thing, that thing, if he wasn't mistaken, looks like a fox's tail!

Before he could react, Feixiao's mouth was stuffed full of chicken, and hair began to grow on her face. After a while, a pair of pink ears appeared and swayed back and forth on her head, completely oblivious to her surroundings.

"Hey! Shrink back! Shrink back!" Chen Kai whispered, pointing to the ear on his head.

Feixiao looked up at him, her phoenix eyes now as dark and shiny as grapes, completely losing their usual seductive look, and she really looked like a little fox.

He seemed to open his mouth to say something, but only made a "squeaking" sound. Suddenly, with a "whoosh," his whole body seemed to shrink, and his clothes collapsed onto the seat.

What to do? What to do? Chen Kai stared at the leftover food on the table, looked around helplessly. It seemed that no one had noticed yet. He picked up the pile of clothes, wrapped the fox inside, and rushed out of the restaurant. The security guard at the door tried to stop him but was knocked over by him.

"A customer is skipping out on the bill! A customer is skipping out on the bill!" It sounded like someone was chasing him. Only then did Chen Kai realize that they hadn't paid yet, but he couldn't worry about that now. If he got caught now, he would really be seen as someone who ate and dashed, and the consequences would probably be even worse.

Fueled by the alcohol, Chen Kai somehow found the strength to fling the restaurant staff far away. He carried the fox around the building twice before daring to go home.

As soon as he got home, he collapsed on the floor, panting heavily. From the pile of scattered clothes, a white fox crawled out, still hiccuping, scratching its ears and wagging its tail. It looked exactly like a fox, with no trace of a human left.

Chen Kai looked at Fei Xiao, who was fast asleep on the floor, and shook his head helplessly. He wouldn't dare to take her home now, even if he were beaten to death.

Just as he was sobering up a bit, the phone rang in the room. Chen Kai glanced at his watch; it was exactly 7 o'clock. He had no idea who was calling.

"Hello, is this Chen Kai? This is Professor Wang!" Professor Wang's confused voice came through the receiver.

What a strange thing to do today! But when Chen Kai remembered that his final grades hadn't come out yet, he quickly said in a very surprised tone, "Oh, it's you, Professor Wang. What can I do for you?"

"Hurry up and come over to the student residence next to the school, I'll treat you to dinner!" He hung up the phone after saying that.

Food, food, food, more food! Why are there so many food-related things happening today? But Professor Wang is so stingy, inviting him to dinner probably won't bring anything good.

He was about to get dressed and go out when he glanced back at Feixiao, who was still fast asleep. Suddenly, he felt something was off. What had turned its big tail into all of a normal thing?

He grabbed a colorful rope and tied it to Feixiao's fluffy white tail, covering his mouth and chuckling to himself. He knew he'd find out where Feixiao's tail was when he returned. Having done his mischievous thing, he happily skipped out the door.

As soon as he entered the student residence, he heard someone calling his name from inside. Looking up, he saw Professor Wang, his face flushed from drinking, his mouth, missing a few teeth, grinning from ear to ear.

Looking at his expression, Chen Kai seemed to understand why he had called him over. Could it be that he wanted him to take him home? It seemed that he not only had a knack for eating with people today, but also for getting along better with drunkards.

"Chen Kai, are you going home?" Professor Wang called him over and asked this as his first question!

“Yeah!” Chen Kai nodded. What would he do at school if he didn’t go home during the holidays?

“This is a friend of mine who likes to study folklore and magic!” Professor Wang said, pointing to a man sitting next to him. “He wants some Qin Dynasty Banliang coins. I think your hometown has these, right? Could you help me bring some back?”

Chen Kai sized up the man. He was quite handsome, probably around thirty years old, with a somewhat melancholy look between his brows. He was wearing a brown coat, and there was nothing particularly special about him. The man had a calm demeanor, and if Professor Wang hadn't told him, he wouldn't have even noticed that there was someone sitting next to him.

"Yes, I can bring it, but I can't tell which ones are real!"

"It's alright, I can teach you!" the man said. "My name is Chang Qing, so we're practically from the same hometown!" As he spoke, he glanced at Chen Kai's back, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Looking into his eyes, Chen Kai suddenly felt a little scared. Could it be that Professor Wang's friends all had some strange abilities? Would he see the fox following behind him?

"What's your name?" the man then asked.

Chen Kai then realized his lapse in composure. "My name is Chen Kai! I'm sorry, I hope I can be of help!"

"It's alright, I'll give you the money. It's not easy to buy the real thing. If you really can't buy it, it doesn't matter!" Chang Qing said.

"Oh!" Chen Kai responded, only to find that Professor Wang across from him was slumped unconscious on the table. Chen Kai and Chang Qing exchanged a glance, shook their heads helplessly, and it took them more than half an hour to get Professor Wang home on campus.