With a "meow," a milky kitten's cry finally made Xie Bai step back and separate from Yin Wushu.

Xie Bai opened his eyes, a misty layer clouding his gaze, his expression somewhat dazed. He furrowed his brows slightly to clear his mind, and his gaze fell on Yin Wushu's chest.

What he saw was a little black kitten, already leaping and clawing its way up Yin Wushu's leg, arriving at his heart. It clung there, meowing loudly while simultaneously executing a high-difficulty maneuver to raise one front paw and give Yin Wushu a slap.

Yin Wushu: "..."

Xie Bai: "..."

All the romance instantly vanished. Xie Bai looked at the ferocious little black cat, then at Yin Wushu with narrowed eyes, feeling a mix of amusement and exasperation.

The confrontation between one person and one cat was unexpectedly serious and childish.

Yin Wushu, looking down with his gaze from above, surveyed the little cat perched on his chest. Then, with a straight face, he asked Xie Bai, "What if I throw it out of the yard right now?"

As if understanding, the little black cat gave another swipe, scratching Yin Wushu's chin. Then, it flipped over and jumped into Xie Bai's arms, glaring at Yin Wushu as if to assert dominance.

Xie Bai: "..."

To think he could provoke himself like this. Xie Bai had never seen anything like it.

He irritably scratched the little black cat's chin and then turned to Yin Wushu. "It's too much trouble now. If you had the guts, you wouldn't have dug it up in the first place."

Yin Wushu was taken aback. "You know? How did you find out?"

Xie Bai casually replied, "Guessed."

Yin Wushu: "..."

Whenever the subject of digging up hearts and pledging one's life came up, Xie Bai couldn't help but turn cold. He stared into Yin Wushu's eyes and said each word with emphasis, "If you ever do something like this again, I'll dig with you. You dig out one heart, I'll dig out one. You dig out two, I'll dig out a lung. I'll wash the streets of Guyang with blood. No jokes."

Yin Wushu: "..."

He looked at Xie Bai for a long time, at a loss for words, then leaned over and kissed him, stifling his words. "You're talking so gruesomely. Where did you learn that? Better not say anything..."

After that, he took advantage of the situation to pick up the little black cat, who had been causing trouble in Xie Bai's arms, and dropped it onto a nearby stone table. Then, as an afterthought, he erected a makeshift barrier, enclosing it inside.

The little black cat watched with wide eyes as Xie Bai's ears turned red from the kiss, and Yin Wushu pushed him back against the peach tree, causing the blossoms to fall in a flurry, scattering at their feet.

The emotions that had been suppressed for over a hundred years couldn't be released with just a touch. They always wanted to get closer, even closer, to make up for all the lost time.

When Yin Wushu stepped back, Xie Bai was already a little out of breath. After struggling to catch his breath for a moment, he finally managed to breathe deeply. His usually pale complexion finally gained a bit of color, rising from his neck and gathering at the tips of his ears, adding a layer of mistiness to his half-open eyes, making them seem somewhat bewildered.

A petal from a peach blossom brushed past Xie Bai's clear brows and eyes, landing in the hollow of his neck.

Yin Wushu glanced down for a moment, then lowered his head to pick up the peach blossom petal, saying softly, "I feel like having peach blossom wine. Does Lou Xianyue make it?"

When Yin Wushu's touch grazed Xie Bai's neck, his body trembled, and it took him a moment to catch his breath. "Except for this yard, everything else is an illusion. You can only hear voices but not see people. Where would you find peach blossom wine?"

Yin Wushu sighed with regret. "I wanted to drink with you."

"You...don't say that..." Xie Bai's breath was made uneven by Yin Wushu's words against his neck, causing his scalp to tingle. He tilted his face up, leaned against the tree, and felt his waist go weak.

"Without wine, peach blossoms will do just fine," Yin Wushu said, picking up another fallen petal from Xie Bai's chin and then kissing down his jawline...

In the old alley, the peach blossoms bloomed, and the sun was casting its rays westward...

Outside the courtyard, people passed by, their laughter clear and real. Xie Bai stiffened, a pink blush spreading around his eyes. Unable to bear it, he leaned against Yin Wushu and exclaimed, "There...there are people..."

"You've said it yourself, it's all fake," Yin Wushu reassured him, then continued.

Xie Bai choked back a sob, unable to help but arch his waist...

*

When the little black cat was released from the barrier, its eyes were a little unfocused, walking as if in a daze, swaying as if it had been struck by lightning.

Xie Bai's neck was still flushed, his forehead against Yin Wushu's shoulder, his eyes closed, gasping for breath.

Yin Wushu quickly covered Xie Bai with a half-fallen wide robe, then disappeared in a flash to take his usual bath in the hot spring.

The bewildered little black cat followed, scratching at the door and seeming ready to fight Yin Wushu.

Only someone like Yin Wushu could create such a difficult situation of opposing oneself.

The next morning, Xie Bai, stiff with soreness in his waist, pointed at the half-bald peach tree in the courtyard and said expressionlessly to Yin Wushu, "If the peach blossoms are gone, you don't need to come anymore."

With that, he sent himself to the Forensic Centre using the Yin Gate.

Yin Wushu: "..."

He arrived a bit early, half an hour earlier than usual. Lao Chen and the others were not there yet, only the girl Xiao Shen had arrived and was about to make herself a cup of coffee in the pantry to wake up.

When Xiao Shen came back, Xie Bai had just sat down in his chair. She handed him a cup of coffee, then looked at him strangely for a moment, suddenly realizing, "No wonder you look a bit strange. You used to leave some buttons on your shirt unbuttoned, but today they're all buttoned up to the top. It looks a bit unusual."

Xie Bai almost choked on his coffee.

He coughed twice, making up a reason on the spot. "I have a bit of a cold, my throat hurts if I'm exposed to the wind."

Xiao Shen responded with an "Oh," paused for a moment, then another "Oh—" with a slightly elongated tone, as if suddenly realizing something.

She blinked and sat down in the chair in front of Xie Bai with her coffee cup in hand, then suddenly exclaimed, "Finally, a handsome guy shows up, and he's taken—"

Xie Bai: "..."

"What's wrong, Xiao Shen? Mourning so early in the morning..." When Lao Chen and the others arrived one after another, they heard her last words and were startled.

Jiang Haoran rubbed his temples and joked, "Hey, guess what? Your melodious voice scared me awake."

Xiao Shen was indignant. "Get out."

The weather that day was unusually good, with clear skies and warm sunshine, making people lazy and relaxed.

Yin Wushu probably didn't want to be told to "get out," so he didn't show up here all day. In fact, he hadn't even seen him in the corridor. He might have been in the office, or maybe not even in the office, just using the closed door as a cover.

Until it was time to leave work, Xie Bai hadn't seen him all day and couldn't help but feel a bit puzzled.

The people in the office greeted each other, gradually leaving. Xie Bai deliberately slowed down, waiting until everyone else had gone before shutting down his computer, intending to go to the opposite office to see if Yin Wushu was there. But as he was about to get up, the window next to him suddenly darkened, as if something was stuck to the outside.

Xie Bai frowned and turned his head, only to see Li Dong swaying outside the window like a ghost, grinning mischievously.

Xie Bai: "..."

He raised his hand to open the window and let Li Dong in, asking, "How did you come here?"

"Oh, it's the fifteenth again today. I've sorted out the information about the demon corpses this month and brought it for you to stamp, Master. The boss said you might not be able to go back and forth between the hospital and your residence today, so he asked me to bring it over directly," Li Dong said, scratching his chin. "The boss also said you don't need to wait for him to finish work tonight. He has something to do and has already gone back to the bridge, waiting for you there."

Xie Bai remained expressionless: "...”  As expected, not in the office. Who would wait for him.

"Where's the list?" Xie Bai reached out and took the scroll from Li Dong's hand, carefully examined it, then took out a jade seal and stamped it at the end of the scroll. "Okay, I'll leave now."

He handed the list back to Li Dong, then walked through the Linyin Gate and headed straight for the bridge.

The moment he landed, he almost thought he didn't recognize the way and had taken the wrong path. If it weren't for a Huaimen Tobacco and Alcool shop not far away, he would have considered reopening the Yin Gate.

Instead of the ruins left the previous day, there was now an endless peach blossom forest. Yin Wushu leaned against the stone railing of the bridge, raised his eyebrows and smiled at him, saying, "I made some modifications to your living environment. Ten miles of peach blossom embankment. Even with half the trees bald, it's enough for quite a while."

Xie Bai: "..."

Without saying a word, he turned and walked onto the arch bridge. Yin Wushu followed behind, smiling calmly. After a few steps, a small black cat bounded over, clinging to Xie Bai's shoulder and glaring fiercely at Yin Wushu behind him.

The two of them, along with the cat, crossed the arch bridge, passed over the round stones floating on the river, and walked through a misty fog. They knocked on the door and entered one after the other.

With a creak, the door closed tightly, shimmering with golden light as the enchantment sealed.

*

Passersby would never know that on the other side of this broken bridge, there was an invisible street, where two people lived.

Behind their house, a sinuous stream had whispered for a hundred years, and in front of the door, peach blossoms bloomed brightly for ten miles...

 

End

 

Translator : DarNan