Chapter 127
Chapter 127
The instant the words left his mouth, it was as though a black curtain dropped over everyone’s eyes. While no one could see, a shrill scream tore through the hall.
Something long and coarse seemed to brush past their lower legs. The sensation sent a chill through every inch of their bodies.
“What’s happening?”
One streamer cried out again in fright. Immediately afterward, another scream rang out.
Warm blood poured down over Bian Feibai’s head, splattering his face. He instinctively tried to speak, but a hand covered his mouth first.
A few seconds later, the darkness cleared like clouds parting before the moon. The great hall returned to its previous state. Aside from two empty spaces in the crowd, nothing had changed.
The only evidence was probably the blood sprayed across Bian Feibai’s face.
So… one wrong move in the performance meant death!
The sight terrified the streamers. Their faces turned white as paper, making them blend seamlessly among the Ghosts.
Shang Yan lowered his eyes and stepped forward. Mimicking a woman of ancient times, he folded his hands and dipped into a curtsy. “This consort of the Lou household, née Tao, greets Your Majesty.”
The emperor in bright-yellow robes dabbed his mouth with a handkerchief and looked at Shang Yan, his gaze as cold as ever. Only after a long silence did he sneer. “You dare remain standing at your first imperial audience? The Princess Consort of Lanling has violated court etiquette. Go kneel in the side hall for two hours as punishment.”
Without a complete script, everyone could only play along with whatever the other party gave them.
None of them, Shang Yan included, understood where this sudden hostility came from.
After brief consideration, he decided not to cause trouble yet. He turned to follow the eunuch Ghost toward the side hall.
But the sight infuriated Qiao Yu.
He was allowed to bully Shang Yan. But some thing that might not even be human dared make his boyfriend kneel as punishment?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He floated into the side chamber, picked up an inkstone from the table, and hurled it.
Thud! The emperor’s head snapped sideways.
The blow came without warning. Shang Yan stopped and looked toward the translucent figure. The Soul-Hooking Chain coiled around his wrist began to stir restlessly.
Yet even after a long wait, no disaster followed. The emperor shoved the empress aside and strode into the center of the hall. Like a madman, he shouted at empty air, “A-Yu! A-Yu, is that you?”
Shang Yan frowned. His gaze shifted to the empress, who had been pushed over. The thin veil covering her face had fallen away, exposing a strangely familiar face to everyone in the hall.
The Prince of Lanling…
Anyone granted Lanling as his title had to possess beauty capable of toppling kingdoms, peerless beneath the heavens.
Even Qiao Yu was stunned. His head filled with question marks at the direction this script had taken.
Once again, he had to ask: were they fucking sure this movie could get past the censors?!
He shuddered and, taking advantage of his weightless form, shot out of the great hall.
As the others left the hall, the clap of a film slate sounded beside them.
“Imperial City Storm, scene three, take two-action!”
What?
They were filming back-to-back!
The streamers’ nerves had only just relaxed after leaving the hall, but they instantly pulled taut again.
They followed the eunuch Ghost to the side hall. Two patches of rouge stood out against his deathly pale skin, while his pitch-black eyes cut toward them like blades. “After you, Princess Consort of Lanling.”
Shang Yan ignored him and pushed open the battered door left ajar before them.
The moment he stepped into the side hall, he knew something was wrong. A cold draft rushed into his face, carrying the nauseating smell of damp earth…
Everyone entered in turn. The instant Luo Yunmeng crossed the threshold, her vision went black. Then she found herself in an unfamiliar place. The other streamers and extras had all vanished, leaving only the faint smell of earth spreading through the air.
She covered her mouth and nose in disgust, untied the red cord around her wrist, and watched it swell in the wind into a long red whip. Only after wrapping it around her palm did she feel a little safer.
Then she cautiously moved forward, calling as she walked, “No. 17? No. 19? Are you here?”
“Boss Qiao? Benefactor Qiao?”
No one answered her. Inside the side hall, where visibility was almost nonexistent, it was as if the whole world had forgotten her. The silence was terrifying.
Luo Yunmeng coughed lightly to make some noise, then turned and headed back the way she had come.
But even after walking for a long time, she did not find the door. She involuntarily quickened her pace.
Just as panic began to consume her, she heard a soft drip… drip… beside her ear.
It sounded like falling water.
She instinctively glanced overhead and saw a bluish-white head hanging from the ceiling. Its eyes were stretched wide and stared at her without blinking.
The moment Luo Yunmeng looked up, the head opened its mouth and extended a long, purple-black tongue.
That dripping sound was its saliva!
Luo Yunmeng lurched back and lashed her whip toward it.
It did little good. The head easily dodged her attack, nimbly circling around the whip as it continued toward her.
“Aah! Oh my god!”
Luo Yunmeng abandoned all resistance, turned, and ran.
As she fled, she wailed, “Aaaaaah! Master, you said I’d be able to beat ghosts flat if I studied hard! Why am I still getting chased and beaten by ghosts? Why, why…?”
The instant Qiao Yu entered, his body grew heavy. His floating-ghost state vanished. He was alive again.
Sure enough, after dying often enough, there was nothing worth making a fuss about.
He stood in place and stamped his numb legs, then gazed into the pitch-black side hall.
A cold wind blew from nowhere. Two candles suddenly flared to life in the distance, silhouettes against the darkness.
The next second, the projection of a woman in an opera costume appeared. Her eyes were extended with dramatic patches, and stylized colors painted her face in the makeup of a female-role performer. She began to sing.
“In dreams, orioles sing. How riotously the springtime sprawls, while someone stands in a secluded courtyard. The incense has burned away, the embroidery thread lies cast aside-why does this spring stir the heart just as the last one did…?”
Qiao Yu did not understand a single word of the high, lilting song.
Just as he began to nod off, her singing gradually faded. When Qiao Yu opened his eyes, her figure had somehow grown more solid. She took a few steps forward and extended one delicate hand. “My lord, what did you think?”
Unlike the long bones of a man’s fingers, a woman’s hands were usually small and soft.
An ordinary man might have lost control and taken it, but Qiao Yu remained perfectly clearheaded. He hid both hands behind his back and answered perfunctorily, “Not bad.”
He attributed his behavior to the fact that he was gay-a faithful gay man with a boyfriend, at that.
So he was completely immune to temptation.
Besides, this opera performer was definitely not as beautiful as Beauty Shang…
She seemed surprised when he avoided her. Withdrawing her hand, she curved her bright-red lips. “What wasn’t bad?”
Qiao Yu looked her over from head to toe, then pointed at her face. “The powder. You put it on that thick and it still isn’t flaking. Pretty good.”
The Opera Ghost: “…”
After a long, stunned silence, she rolled her eyes with coquettish annoyance. “You hopeless blockhead!”
With that, she swept one long water sleeve across Qiao Yu’s cheek. By the time his vision cleared, the Opera Ghost had disappeared.
Qiao Yu touched the tip of his nose. A heavy cosmetic fragrance lingered before him. Unable to stop himself, he sneezed, then vigorously rubbed his nose.
At that moment, a scream seemed to come from nearby.
The voice sounded familiar…?
“Aaaaaaaaaah!” As the figure raced closer, she spotted Qiao Yu. Her eyes lit up, and she shot toward him.
Seriously, a missile launch was not that fast.
Qiao Yu narrowed his eyes at Luo Yunmeng’s two skinny legs and sighed. “Why are you so determined to get a doctorate? Wouldn’t joining the track team and winning glory for the country be better?”