Astrology Hall with Flesh and Blood

Chapter 24

Yang Yan was stunned. Before this, she had been too confident in her charm, believing that as long as she beckoned, she could win Shi Xiu's heart, no matter how many times she betrayed him. She simply couldn't believe what Shi Xiu was saying now. "But just now, as soon as I called to say I was going to commit suicide, didn't you immediately abandon that woman and come to find me? You're lying to me," a spark of hope rekindled in her eyes, "Actually, the person you love most has always been me, right?"

Shi Xiu sighed in frustration. He should have known Yang Yan's character best, knowing full well that her so-called "suicide" was nothing more than a petty trick. Back when they were dating, Yang Yan had pulled countless "jumping off buildings" and "overdose" stunts, each time requiring Shi Xiu to apologize profusely and shower her with sweet words before she'd stop. She was never short of admirers who were infatuated with her good looks; how could a woman like her possibly commit suicide for a mere man?

But a knot remained in his heart. Even knowing that the so-called suicide attempt was just another prank, he still couldn't shake the unease. He couldn't tell Li Mei, so he decided to lie to her for now and go check on Yang Yan. Before he even got out of the taxi, he saw Yang Yan's smug smile. She was still playing him, from the beginning until now.

He felt a slight sound in his arms; it was Li Mei. Her small, thin body was curled up against his chest, and she uttered a weak question:

"Do I have a good figure?"

Shi Xiu gently stroked her hair. "Beautiful," he said, but as he spoke, he felt her, who had been shrinking, suddenly stop. So he shouted again in her ear in a deafening voice:

"Beautiful! Very beautiful!"

In my eyes, you will always be the most beautiful!

She lifted her head, the grease dripping from her eyes and nostrils obscuring her eyelids and sealing her lips together. Even so, she bravely leaned forward, guided by instinct, and accepted Shi Xiu's deep kiss amidst her greasy face.

At No. 666 Frozen Street, there's an astrology shop known for its vibrant and lively atmosphere. The astrologer, as usual, is engrossed in current events, a bottle of yogurt in hand. Maya, however, is far from leisurely; her slender frame is busy wiping down all the dolls in the storage room.

“But the gentleman is acting strangely this time!” Her voice drifted from the storeroom. “He didn’t even charge her anything, just generously gave her a bottle of nonfat yogurt. What a rip-off!”

Non-fat yogurt: just one bite for a perfect figure, two bites to make you skinny, and as for three bites...

“I look forward to that day,” the astrologer said, raising the middle fingers of both hands to face each other. “Out of dissatisfaction with herself, she takes a second sip, then a third… and at that time, muscles, fat, blood, and even bones will all vanish into thin air.”

"Only 21 grams of soul remain, pure and beautiful. When that time comes, I will definitely prepare the most beautiful doll to contain that heavy soul."

“So, in preparation for that day,” he waved to Maya from afar, “you’ll have to clean them all until they’re sparkling clean!”

June 16th

Birthday flower: Provins Moss Rose

Flower language: Humility

This plant differs from other rose varieties in that its flowers are a dark, moss-like color, as if it wants to hide its beauty. Therefore, its flower language is – humility.

Those born under the blessing of this flower possess extraordinary talents but dislike showing off; they are very humble and prefer to keep their abilities hidden. However, they should sometimes appropriately reveal their strengths to avoid burying their talents!

Volume Two: The Beauty Bonsai of the Spider Lily and the Soul-Summoning Tree (Part One)

My girlfriend and I just broke up!

It's funny, but we had a huge argument over the age-old question of how to spend Christmas. Year after year, she demands a "surprise" for her—the year before last, last year, and this year is no exception. I'm just so fed up. It's just a Western holiday, I really don't understand women, they have to make such a big fuss to be satisfied. In my opinion, just going out for dinner together and giving her a small gift is enough to get through the holiday peacefully! Why the need for a surprise? Women are just so troublesome!

Needless to say, it must have been my uninhibited, heartfelt words that angered her. She cried out to me, her eyes brimming with tears:

"Do you even have me in your heart anymore?!"

"You don't care about my feelings at all!"

"Let's break up, let's break up!"

Sigh, we always end up arguing about the same old clichés, even about "breaking up." She's probably said it to me twenty times already. Next, let's see if my prediction is right: she'll turn around and leave within five seconds, storming back to her dorm room to heal her wounds.

Then, a full twenty-four hours later, unable to bear the loneliness, she called me and berated me for not apologizing to her. Of course, given how blunt she was, I naturally played along, coaxing her, teasing her, and getting back together with her.

It's all a routine! It's all just a routine! We've been practicing for three whole years, 3-365-24=26280 hours, and I still don't know it by heart!

But this time, the phone didn't ring until the third night.

I was getting restless. Could it be that she was really angry this time and was actually going to dump me and find someone new? I secretly changed my username and lurked in a corner of the BBS's matchmaking section, not missing a single suspicious post, especially those "Christmas Eve dating" posts. I knew that during major holidays, thousands of single men at K University would swarm out, using various excuses like celebrating the holiday, going to the movies, or inviting me to dinner to exploit the increasingly scarce pool of single women at K University. At this crucial moment, I absolutely couldn't let anyone take advantage of the situation! With incredibly high proletarian revolutionary consciousness, I was better off killing a thousand innocent people than letting one guilty person go free! Fortunately, her main ID only frequented some forums she usually visited, and her words were as clear and concise as ever—it seemed she was having a pretty good time on her own these past three days since the breakup, I cursed angrily.

The afternoon sun vanished in an instant, replaced by large, leaden-gray clouds that painted the blue sky a grim, imposing face. I wandered alone on the street, bald and hunched over, the howling north wind filling my ears. Damn it, why did they have to name it Frozen Street? It's just adding insult to injury! Christmas Eve is just around the corner. In previous years, we'd spend those precious days together, even just squatting on the street eating a two-yuan bowl of sweet fermented rice balls, feeling a sweet warmth that warmed my entire being. What happened this year? Why did we end up like this, separated like birds flying apart?

As I was wiping away tears of sorrow for my tragic experience, suddenly a snow-white hand reached out in front of me:

"Merry Christmas!"

Oh, it wasn't that his hands were white; the man speaking was wearing white gloves. At that moment, a small red paper bag with a golden Christmas bell printed on it was held in his white palm. Seeing my questioning and wary look, the man in black smiled gently:

"Please accept this, a special Christmas gift."

I squeezed the paper bag hard; it was flat inside, except for one bulge. Opening it, I saw a round, dark brown plant seed lying peacefully at the very back of the bag.

These are extremely rare seeds from the Soul-Summoning Tree, the man explained. The Soul-Summoning Tree is a rare plant that grows on the banks of the Sanzu River on the Road to the Underworld. It flowers once every three hundred years and bears fruit once every three hundred years, producing only three seeds each time. It is said that this tree possesses the magic of the Netherworld and can summon the spirits of the dead, hence its name, the Soul-Summoning Tree.

Wait a minute, wait a minute, why does this sound so familiar? It feels exactly like the description of that "red spider lily," doesn't it?

The man smiled mysteriously, leaving everyone guessing what lay hidden beneath that innocent smile. "It will grow according to your wishes and fulfill your dreams—this time, I don't need anything from you," he said, magically disappearing into a corner of the street. "Please try it for free."

What's with all this mystical talk? Anyway, it's a free gift, might as well take it. I casually stuffed the paper bag containing the Soul-Summoning Tree seeds into my coat pocket.

Winter nights come early; it wasn't even six o'clock, and the sky was already completely dark. I turned on the fluorescent light, and as expected, the dorm room was empty. The other three were either celebrating with their girlfriends or attending school celebrations—I should have been one of those happy ones back then. I sat down with a gloomy expression, the icy chair making me shiver violently, almost letting out a cry. A summoning tree? I pulled out the paper bag; the seed had an unusually cold and smooth appearance. Even when I warmed it with the heat of my hands, it remained cold and unmoved, as if it inherently carried an aura of the underworld, as soft and icy as ice. I shivered violently; maybe it really was some kind of ghost! So I opened the balcony window and threw it far out.

For the next three hours, I sat bored in front of the computer watching movies. Seeing other families, young and old, celebrating the holiday together, while I was forced to stay alone in my empty room, I felt incredibly miserable. I wished she would appear before me immediately. I would do anything, even if it meant tears streaming down my face, just to have her back by my side—at that moment, an unusual rustling sound came from the balcony.

I turned around, but found nothing.

On the monitor screen, a family is gathered around a traditional eight-immortal table, enjoying each other's company. The clinking of glasses echoes throughout the room. They open their mouths, offering each other joyful blessings, the clinking continuing.

Damn it! What's going on?! I ripped off my headphones. Yes, it was coming from the balcony—a strange rustling sound loud enough to drown out the music in my headphones. I stood up, hesitating whether to move. Rustling, the sound of seedlings breaking through the soil; rustling, the sound of tree trunks shaking their leaves; rustling, her snow-white face flashing past on the balcony.

Volume Two: The Beauty Bonsai of the Spider Lily and the Soul-Summoning Tree (Part Two)

"Feng Lei!" I shouted her name and saw her standing against the wall of my dormitory balcony, her snow-white body completely naked, trembling and huddled together. As soon as she saw me, she raised her pointed chin, her starry eyes filled with tears, and tremblingly stretched out her hands to me, her fair fingers covered in mud.

My head swelled up with a buzzing sound. What happened to her? Why was she naked, searching for me in the cold wind of Christmas Eve? Without thinking, I grabbed a long coat and rushed out. She really was frostbitten. When I put the coat on her and held her icy fingers, she was still curled up in my arms, trembling uncontrollably.

"It's alright, Feng Lei," I said, stroking her long, black hair that reached her feet, trying to suppress the urge to investigate. Strange, when did her hair get so long? Just a couple of days ago it was barely past her shoulders.

“Feng Lei…?” She stared at me blankly, her clear eyes filled with confusion. “Who is Feng Lei?”

"...It's you." How pitiful, she's even forgotten her own name? Oh my god, what happened to her? So I looked directly into her eyes, those bright, clear eyes like a starry night, and gently, with a smile, told her, "Your name is Feng Lei."

She smiled along with me, a smile of utterly innocent detachment from the world. "And you? What's your name?"

"Tong Wei, that's my name." Could it be that she's suffered too much and lost her memory? Even though she's forgotten my name, she still remembers to come to my dorm room for help. Poor Feng Lei! I hugged her even tighter, afraid she would slip away from my arms.

"Tong Wei, Tong Wei..." she kept repeating the name, as if chewing a heavy olive repeatedly. Afraid that someone would see her like this, I picked her up and tried to take her home.

Strangely enough, she didn't move an inch.

She never weighed more than 50 kilograms, and I was strong enough to lift her up horizontally—I tried again, but it still didn't work. Her feet seemed to be rooted to the ground, as steady as Mount Tai.

I couldn't help but glance at her. She was staring straight back at me, muttering my name, a silly smile spreading across her face. Wait a minute! My spine jerked back. Although she looked exactly like Feng Lei, her frighteningly long hair and her charmingly naive attitude, so different from Feng Lei's, meant it couldn't be her!

"This is an extremely precious seed from the Soul-Summoning Tree... It can summon the spirits of the dead..." The words of the man in black echoed in my ears again. He gave me a seed from the Soul-Summoning Tree, and I threw it off the balcony... I moved extremely slowly and carefully, lifting a corner of "her" coat, my gaze slowly sliding down her jade-like legs...

Sure enough, her feet were buried deep in the soil, and something brown like vines was wrapped around her legs. I slowly backed away, then slowly straightened up. "Are you the Summoning Tree?" I swallowed a few times, still unable to believe what I was seeing.

She gave a sweet, ethereal smile. "These tears were born for you, Tong Wei."

"I was born into this world solely for Tong Wei, born with my whole heart and soul for Tong Wei." She stretched out her arms, her fair skin gleaming alluringly through the seams of her coat. "Embrace your tears!"

Regardless of what others thought, I was determined to keep her. I borrowed a shovel from the gatekeeper downstairs and carefully dug her out, roots and all. During the digging, I accidentally touched a few of her stems, and she let out a few soft moans and collapsed into my arms, looking utterly adorable. I wrapped her up like a dumpling in my long coat and, while the gatekeeper wasn't looking, I dashed back to my dorm. Where should I put her? I rummaged through my drawers and cupboards for a while, when suddenly my eyes lit up and my gaze fell on a large metal basin. I'd bought it when I first entered the school, originally intending to use it for washing my feet, but boys are prone to laziness. This basin, aside from a few perfunctory washes during the first few days of school, hadn't been touched since, gathering a thick layer of dust. Now, it was perfect to put it to good use! Needless to say, I washed the basin spotless, and even shoveled some soil from outside to put her upright in it. After everything was settled, I was covered in sweat. "Do you like it?" I asked her. "From now on, this will be your new home."

"Hmm..." Like an innocent child, she looked around my dorm room with undisguised pure eyes. "Tears like it here. Tears are no longer cold."

"It's so warm here." Before I could even react, she shook off her coat, revealing her radiant, glowing skin and her beautifully curvaceous body. I rushed over, hastily covering up some inappropriate parts. "Put your clothes back on," I said, blushing, turning to her. "It'll be terrible if someone sees us."

"But my tears are so hot..." she muttered to me as she obediently put on her coat, "It's hard to breathe when it's hot..."

"But this is a boys' dormitory!" I threatened her sternly. "Although I know you're a tree, others might mistake you for a woman, a beautiful woman with a great figure..." Not only does she look exactly like Feng Lei, but she's also an obedient woman who won't fight back. What if she falls into the hands of those ravenous, lustful men—oh my god, I was stunned by my own wild imagination, as if I could see the delicate "her" being ravaged by a group of roughnecks... No, I have to think of a way! Where should I hide her?

Speak of the devil, and he appears. Just then, there was a rapid knocking at the door. Oh no, someone's here! I was frantic inside, like a cat on a hot tin roof, frantically moving her washbasin around before finally shoving it into a corner next to the wardrobe, where a few jerseys hung as a cover.

The knock was from the guy next door. As soon as he entered, the two of them started yelling, "What's going on, Tong Wei? Why did it take you so long to open the door? Are you hiding a woman in there?"

"Are you kidding me? No way!" I poked one of them in the chest. "Spit it out if you have something to say! What do you want from me?"

"Let's go get some skewers! Don't be rude to us!"

Despite my reluctance, they dragged me away without a word. When I returned with the group of single guys, having eaten lamb skewers and drunk beer, my two roommates were already back, and another guy had supposedly spent the night shopping with his girlfriend—sigh, everyone's Christmas Eve is this blissful.

What about her? Is she alright? Has she been discovered? I anxiously studied the expressions of the two people. Everything seemed normal. Their late-night chat didn't end until 2 a.m. After they finally fell asleep, I quietly climbed out of bed to check on her.

Volume Two: The Beauty Bonsai of the Spider Lily and the Soul-Summoning Tree (Part Three)

What about her? Is she alright? Has she been discovered? I anxiously studied the expressions of the two people. Everything seemed normal. Their late-night chat didn't end until 2 a.m. After they finally fell asleep, I quietly climbed out of bed to check on her.

She was resting with her eyes closed, her expression... quite sad. I gently placed my hand on her shoulder, and she woke up. The glittering light in her eyes wasn't from a luminous pearl, but from the gentle, flowing gaze of her eyes in the clear night.

"Are you alright?" Clumsy as I am, all I can say is such a cliché and tasteless question. "Why... do you look so sad?"

"I'll be sad if I don't see Tong Wei," a fleeting look of worry crossed her face. Then she raised her head and looked at me with her beautiful, starry eyes, just like Feng Lei's. "Tong Wei is here, and I'm so happy."

It was true, because she was no longer sad. She smiled, only for me, only because she had seen me again. My heart was filled with a feeling of happiness. For the first time in my life, I was needed so clearly by a girl. I was the light of hope in her life; without me, she would cease to live—her sincere eyes said it all without a doubt. So I gently kissed her forehead, "Goodnight, Tears."

I didn't sleep well all night. The next morning, as soon as the sunlight streamed through the balcony glass, I plopped up. I tiptoed out of bed so as not to wake the two sleeping creatures. Tears were still in the basin, her eyes tightly closed, tear tracks still clinging to the corners. Gone was the worry from the night before; now she slept peacefully, her round, delicate nose breathing steadily—no, it should be saying she was photosynthesizing, after all, she's a tree! Her whole face was bathed in an indescribable happiness, and even I felt a sweet warmth in my heart when I saw it.

I didn't want to wake him, so I played games online while waiting for those two lazybones to get up and leave. It's Christmas today, time to go out with your girlfriends! I didn't allow them to resist and practically shoved them out of the dorm. As soon as their footsteps disappeared, I immediately locked the door.

The tears had already begun to flow.

"Are you hungry? Thirsty? I have some instant noodles." As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized how stupid I was, and I slapped my forehead in annoyance. Or should I have asked her, "Is photosynthesis going well? Is there enough chlorophyll?"

"I feel a bit suffocated by the tears, and I can't breathe..." she answered honestly. I looked closely, and my face instantly turned as red as a monkey's bottom. The clothes I was using to cover my tracks were all smelly jerseys soaked with the sweat of my youth, piled up in front of her. It was cold, so the clothes took a little longer to turn over, and I couldn't help but feel embarrassed. I'd take them to wash in a couple of days.

"Tong Wei's clothes?" Her eyes lit up.

I nodded awkwardly, and then something surprising happened. She gently stretched out her arm, pinched the corner of the jersey, and respectfully brought it to her nose.

"It smells just like Tongwei!" she sighed, seemingly intoxicated.

I swear, in my more than twenty years of life, there has never been a moment when I was so embarrassed and uneasy yet suffocated by happiness. She is not Feng Lei, but a soul-summoning tree that looks just like Feng Lei. However, her eyes, as clear as snow water from the Tianshan Mountains, tell me without a doubt that she loves me more than Feng Lei, a hundred times, ten thousand times more, wholeheartedly and unconditionally.

"Come on, I'll take you to get some sun." A surge of emotion welled up inside me, and without a word, I picked her up and carried her to the balcony. The thin winter sunlight streamed through the glass doors and windows of every dormitory room, spilling everywhere, the dazzling sunlight so bright it was impossible to escape. Tears streamed down my face as I bathed in this unrestrained sun shower, my arms outstretched in ecstasy, my high, firm breasts rising and falling beautifully beneath my coat.

"Do you like it, Tears?"

"Yes!" She nodded vigorously. "Tong Wei is so good!" Her face was filled with happiness, her eyes glistening with tears, and she almost cried.

What a simple-minded girl, getting so excited just from sunbathing… I simply moved a chair over and lay down next to her, closing my eyes to rest. She's right, sunbathing in winter is so comfortable. When I was just a naive child, I was also blissfully happy over this tiny bit of joy. So, when did the threshold to the temple of happiness become so high, and I almost never feel anything truly joyful anymore?

Even when I was with Feng Lei, I didn't feel particularly happy. Perhaps, only after experiencing the pain of loss will I truly appreciate the simple pleasure of basking in the sun?

"Is Tongwei feeling unwell?" she asked me with concern. "Doesn't he like the sun?"

"It's alright... If you like, then post more pictures." I was a little absent-minded, still reminiscing about my time with Feng Lei.

"I won't let the tears dry, I won't let them dry!" Unexpectedly, she suddenly became agitated and hurriedly waved her hand at me, "Because Tong Wei doesn't like it."

“Ah…of course not,” I gave her a smile to reassure her, “I just remembered something.”

“Something…?” She repeated after me, “Something that’s uncomfortable?” She tilted her head, thinking hard, “Like tears, is your hair uncomfortable?”

Oh dear, I hadn't noticed until she pointed it out. On her long, silky, black hair, eight pale green, translucent, fleshy worms were wriggling around. Oh no, she'd gotten parasites so quickly! Thankfully, my rational mind reminded me in time that she's a tree, I should buy some insecticide to spray her. But, will spraying that toxic insecticide on her head cause any problems…?