parfum

Chapitre 36

"What method did you come up with to restore his wife's spirit?" Chen Kai asked him curiously.

Feixiao walked down the hospital corridor, her brows furrowed as if she were thinking about something.

"What are you thinking about?" Chen Kai asked him persistently.

Feixiao smiled at him and said, "Have you forgotten? We have a ready-made soul here!" She pointed to her chest.

Upon hearing this, Chen Kai was overjoyed. He had felt great sympathy for the two people while listening to Chang Qing's detailed account in the hospital room, and hoped that they could find happiness. Now that he heard there was a way to solve the problem, he was extremely happy and blurted out, "Happy?"

“That’s right!” Feixiao nodded. “Ximan has no body, and Changchun has no soul, isn’t that perfect?”

"If it really succeeds, it will bring happiness to three people!" Chen Kai was extremely excited upon hearing this. "But..." Fei Xiao hesitated for a moment, her face also showing an expression of not knowing whether to make a decision or not.

"But what?" Chen Kai asked curiously again, "Isn't it supposed to be a happy ending for everyone?"

“Chen Kai, I’ve met Zhang Ye before, but maybe he doesn’t remember me!” Fei Xiao turned to him and said.

"So what? When did you see him?"

“He, he’s not that kind of person!” Fei Xiao said, her gaze becoming deep, as if she were studying something interesting.

"What kind of person?" Chen Kai didn't understand what he was talking about.

“Not such a calm person…” Fei Xiao answered him slowly, her thoughts drifting back to the morning she first met this man. That day, Zhang Ye was so thoughtful, so ambitious, definitely not such an ordinary, calm man. Why was he so desperately hiding his personality? Could anyone truly trust this man? He stared at the long hospital corridor, stopping in his tracks. Should he continue down this path?

In the hospital room, Zhang Ye tucked the blanket around his wife, who was lying on the bed, and held her slender hand, stroking her face affectionately. "Xiao Chun, look, look, it's only been two days, and your complexion is so much better than before!" After saying that, he smiled and added, "That person is so foolish. Once the curse is activated, how can it be stopped?"

"Xiaochun, don't you think so? Our spell has been activated~" After saying that, he stared at his wife's face and said nothing more.

The woman lying on the bed seemed to have regained consciousness; two red clouds appeared on her pale face, as if she were agreeing with her husband's words.

"Ximan, Ximan, you need to have your own body now!" As soon as he got home, Chen Kai hurriedly said to Ximan.

"Really?" Xi Man's voice was filled with joy, which could be heard even through the porcelain bottle. "Whose body is it?"

"Someone you know!" Chen Kai deliberately kept everyone in suspense.

"Is it Changchun?" Ximan replied.

Chen Kai listened with a hint of disappointment, "How come you're all so smart? It's like you know everything!"

“I don’t know many people, so it’s easy to guess!” She paused and then said, “But could Changchun’s body be obtained so easily?”

"Don't worry, I'll help you find a way!" Fei Xiao comforted her from the side. Now they had no choice but to take a gamble. Xi Man only had this one chance to get the body, and no matter what the outcome, he would do his best to help her.

"Chang Chun, such a clever woman!" Xi Man sighed. "You sly fox, I know you mean well, but if possible, stay away from Chang Chun." After saying that, she stopped talking, as if this answer disappointed her greatly.

"What should we do?" Chen Kai glanced at Fei Xiao, and from Xi Man's words, he also vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

"No matter what, we have to try!" Fei Xiao said, gazing at the full moon outside. The crucial moment was just one day away; success or failure hinged on this. If they succeeded, Xi Man would find happiness, but what if they failed? What would they lose? This was the first time he had felt so uncertain about something. Zhang Ye's face made him uneasy. He could see through everything in the world; all things followed their own laws and had their own orbits, whether flowers bloomed or withered, clouds rolled or unrolled. The only thing he couldn't understand was the human heart. In his view, that was the only treacherous place, one he could never venture into in his lifetime.

Now he could only hope, he could only hope that everything would go smoothly. No matter what tricks Zhang Ye was playing, he had no choice but to take the plunge. The full moon outside the window still shone with a hazy light, and the cold moonlight cast on his face, making him look even more sorrowful.

Two days later, Fei Xiao and Chen Kai went to the hospital to see Chang Chun and Zhang Ye again.

Tonight is the last day of the forty-nine days.

On the way there, Chen Kai looked at Fei Xiao's face with great concern. Fei Xiao had been depressed for the past two days, as if something was bothering her.

"Feixiao, what's wrong?" Chen Kai asked him, following behind him.

But Fei Xiao didn't answer, as if she hadn't heard him at all. She just walked ahead with a cold expression on her handsome face. After a while, she looked at the dark clouds in the sky, looking very worried, and said, "There won't be a moon tonight, will there?" Her words didn't seem to match Chen Kai's question.

Chen Kai shook his head and said to him, "It seems to be a cloudy day, so I guess there won't be any more!" There are always more gloomy days in spring, but he was really worried about Fei Xiao's appearance.

“Without the moon, things will be even more difficult!” Fei Xiao sighed again, then turned to Chen Kai and said, “Let’s go quickly, there’s no turning back now!” It sounded like she was talking to herself.

Chen Kai had no choice but to quicken his pace and follow behind him. The hospital was just ahead, and the gray building looked even more oppressive against the backdrop of dark clouds.

Upon entering the ward, Zhang Ye was waiting for them, his dark eyes appearing exceptionally deep behind his glasses.

"You've arrived!" Zhang Ye nodded to the two people as a greeting, then turned back to pick up a towel and gently wiped his wife's face, as if she were a newborn baby.

“I’ve found the soul!” Fei Xiao said to him, standing beside him.

But Zhang Ye remained calm, as if he hadn't heard anything. After a while, he slowly said, "It's too late. I wanted to tell you last time that my spell has been activated!" After saying that, he glanced at Chen Kai from the corner of his eye.

Upon hearing this, Fei Xiao's expression changed immediately. "When was it activated? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Zhang Ye smiled at him, "I have to bear the consequences of my own actions, whether I say it sooner or later is the same! Thank you very much!"

"How can they be the same?" Fei Xiao grabbed him and pulled him up. "Nothing in this world is unstoppable. Where did you put the thing? I can make it stop working!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ye's eyes suddenly lit up with joy. "Really? You can really stop it? I only know how to cast spells, but I've never known how to break them!"

“That’s right. Although I’ve never dealt with curses before, I’m confident!” Fei Xiao said to him firmly.

"And then?" Zhang Ye asked him, "And then my wife had absolutely no chance of survival?"

Feixiao glanced at him. "I have someone's soul here. All I need to do is use magic to have this soul possess your wife!"

"Can you guarantee there's no danger?" Zhang Ye was still skeptical.

“I guarantee it!” Feixiao nodded at him.

"But is the one who came back to life still my wife?" Zhang Ye seemed to suddenly remember something of utmost importance.

Feixiao did not answer. He didn't know whether Ximan or Changchun would continue to live if this method succeeded.

"How much time do we have? We need to hurry!" Fei Xiao asked him anxiously. "We can figure out those things later!"

Zhang Ye glanced at his watch: "Five more hours, the spell will be complete by 7 PM!"

"What? Only such a short time?" Fei Xiao exclaimed in surprise. "Let's set off immediately!" Turning to Chen Kai, she said, "You don't need to go. Help look after Chang Chun!"

"Okay, okay!" Chen Kai glanced at the emaciated Chang Chun lying on the bed and nodded hastily.

"Let's go!" Fei Xiao said, grabbing Zhang Ye and trying to leave. "Take me to the place you cursed!"

Zhang Ye hurriedly grabbed his coat, and the two of them went out one after the other.

"Be careful!" Chen Kai watched Fei Xiao's white figure recede into the distance down the corridor, and suddenly felt inexplicably worried. He glanced back at Chang Chun, whose appearance had turned withered and haggard, hoping that everything would go smoothly.

The place where Zhang Ye cast the curse was a remote, empty house, a soon-to-be-abandoned tenement building. When the two arrived there by car, it was already late, and the overcast sky made it appear even more gloomy.

"Is this the place?" Feixiao looked up at the dilapidated building in front of her.

"This is it!" Zhang Ye said, walking ahead. "Follow me!"

Feixiao followed him into the dark stairwell. The two climbed all the way to the top floor. Zhang Ye took out his key, opened the door to a room, and turned on the light. In the small room, someone had drawn a circle about one meter in diameter with a talisman. Inside the circle was a piece of red cloth, with seven old coins placed around it.

Zhang Ye glanced back at Fei Xiao, indicating that this was the curse.

Feixiao looked at the circle and whispered, "A passage?"

Zhang Ye looked at him with surprise, then with approval. He nodded and said, "That's right, this is the passage to the curse. I need to find a way to summon Chang Chun's soul back from the dark world."

"Let me see!" Fei Xiao said, circling the circle once. It was a perfect passage, a perfect curse, even more perfect than he had imagined, a curse that was almost successful. How could he stop it?

Chen Kai, who was taking care of Chang Chun in the hospital, was so bored that he started to doze off. He was sleeping when he suddenly woke up.

"How did you fall asleep?" He patted his head, suddenly felt thirsty, and saw that Changchun's IV drip still had a lot left, so he decided to go outside to buy a bottle of water. He went out the door.

Chang Chun, who was behind him, suddenly twitched his thin, vein-protruding hand with the IV needle inserted.

"You once asked me, which would win, sorcery or magic?" Zhang Ye suddenly asked, looking at Fei Xiao who was squatting beside the circle in deep thought.

Upon hearing this, Fei Xiao immediately raised her head, her beautiful eyes widening. "You still remember?"

Zhang Ye smiled. "How could I forget someone as outstanding as you?"

Upon hearing this, Fei Xiao had a bad feeling. He slowly stood up. What was Zhang Ye thinking? He pretended not to know him, but suddenly said such a thing at this moment.

"Isn't this the perfect opportunity right in front of us?" Zhang Ye crossed his arms and pointed to the circle drawn with a talisman on the ground.

"I'll prove it to you!" Fei Xiao smiled at him. This man was so cunning and unfathomable.

"It's not a perfect curse, how can you prove it?" Zhang Ye smiled and took a test tube out of his pocket, which contained scarlet blood.

Upon seeing the test tube, Fei Xiao's expression changed instantly. Her two sharp eyebrows shot up, and her eyes flashed with a fierce light. "What are you going to do?"

“To make the curse perfect!” Zhang Ye said with a chuckle. “Do you think I don’t know what you’re thinking?” He glanced at Fei Xiao as he spoke. “You want to use my wife’s body to resurrect someone else!”

"How can it be someone else?" Feixiao said, "Your wife is still alive!"

Zhang Ye listened, amusement on his face. "Do you even understand love? How can you love someone just for their physical appearance? I love Chang Chun! I love everything about her—her intelligence, her beauty, her cunning, her little temper!"

As Zhang Ye spoke, two lines of tears streamed down his face. "It's all of Chang Chun, not some other woman with her appearance. I can't tolerate someone else taking over her body and enjoying her life!"

Feixiao felt a pang of sympathy upon hearing this. Perhaps she had truly been too selfish, failing to consider these things at all. "But, curses are too dangerous, I just—"

"Stop talking. The curse was cast long ago. I've already gone all in. How can I let it fail?" With that, he pulled out the stopper of the test tube, tilted his hand, and the blood inside was about to spill out, right under the red cloth that had been holding the coins.

"No!" Fei Xiao said, reaching out a gust of air that shot towards the test tube in Zhang Ye's hand. The gust of air was like a sword, instantly knocking the test tube away. The test tube spun several times in the air before crashing into the wall behind Zhang Ye and shattering into pieces. On the gray wall, a large, shocking patch of deep red blood was left.

Zhang Ye turned pale with fright, clutching his hand, unsure of what to do. His hand had been cut by the air current, and blood was slowly seeping out.

Feixiao darted in front of him, grabbed him by the collar, and shouted, "Tell me quickly! Who was the curse cast on!"

Zhang Ye gave a wry smile and slowly uttered a few words, "Chen Kai!"

Feixiao was stunned for a moment, and suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. Yes, yes, it turned out that he never intended to need her help. He knew from the beginning that he would protect Chen Kai, which is why he led her away from Chen Kai at the last moment.

"Why?" Fei Xiao was furious and shoved him away. "Chen Kai is just a child! How can you be so heartless? Is it possible to sacrifice everyone just for your wife?"

"No, no!" Zhang Ye cried out, "He's not an ordinary person, he has the souls of two people! What would he need so many for? I won't hurt him, as long as he exchanges one of his souls for Chang Chun's soul, he'll be fine!"

"So you cast a spell on such a kind person!" Fei Xiao said, grabbing Zhang Ye's neck. He had never hated anyone so much, never wanted to hurt anyone so much. Perhaps spells and magic could not determine a winner. Whoever schemed the most would be the winner.

His hand was gripping Zhang Ye's neck, and he could feel the rhythm of the carotid artery throbbing. If he exerted just a little more force, this man would die at his hands. Large beads of sweat streamed down his forehead. Should he kill this man or not?

Seeing the fierce glint in Fei Xiao's eyes, and realizing his own neck seemed to be bound by an iron collar, rendering him completely immobile, Zhang Ye mustered all his strength to say, "Chen Kai will be alright. The curse is about to succeed, yet he's still alive and kicking. It must be someone else's soul that's been cursed!"

But as soon as she said this, the hand on her neck suddenly tightened again, and the beautiful face in front of her seemed to twitch in pain, and tears seemed to be about to flow from her wide-open almond eyes. "Zijin, that's Zijin! We spent a thousand years to reunite, do you know that?"

After Fei Xiao finished speaking, she flicked her hand, and Zhang Ye crashed into the wall. He felt as if his bones were about to shatter from the impact.

"I'll let you go, you can leave!" Fei Xiao didn't even look at him, standing there looking exhausted.

Zhang Ye clutched his chest, gasping for breath. Just then, a "beep, beep~" sound broke the silence.

Feixiao looked around to find the source of the sound; it was the timer alarm on Zhang Ye's electronic wristwatch.

"Time's up!" Zhang Ye slumped against the wall, sobbing as he fell, tears blurring his vision. "You won, you won, isn't that enough? Chang Chun will never have a chance to stand up again!" he shouted hysterically at Fei Xiao. All his hopes had been shattered once more. The dream that had sustained him for the past two years had vanished like a bubble. So easily!

Feixiao looked at his pained face, not knowing what to say. They both had people they wanted to protect, and they were willing to give their lives for those they wanted to protect. So how could there be a right or wrong?

Just then, a red light suddenly flashed from the circle behind them. Fei Xiao and Zhang Ye were both startled and stared wide-eyed at the center of the circle. Under the red cloth, it seemed that a small sphere was rising and emerging from the ground.