Chapter 20: Leading the Ghost Into the Door On the dark mountain road, the car slowly...
The car was driving slowly on the dark mountain road.
The high beam illuminated the bumpy dirt road ahead, and Su Huaiwang was driving even slower than someone riding a bicycle.
She seldom walked this road at night because it was really unsafe, but there was no other way. After coming out of Baiyang Temple, the sun had already set. Even if they walked at that time, they would have to walk on the mountain road in the dark, so they simply had a meal before coming back.
"Don't worry, go ahead. I'll keep an eye on it for you." Lin Jue said caringly while sitting in the passenger seat.
Su Huaiwang forced a smile. In fact, if she was asked to drive on a mountain road, she would not be afraid, but for some reason, she always felt a little uneasy today.
All the car windows were rolled up, and in the closed compartment, only the sound of the air conditioner's wind was heard. Apart from that, there was silence. The turbid darkness fell on Su Huaiwang's hands holding the steering wheel, causing his hairs to go cold.
There was a sense of uneasiness in his stomach, and it was itchy from the tip of his tongue to his nerves. Su Huaiwang's throat slid, and he took the initiative to start a conversation: "Nancheng... What do you think of Nancheng?"
Lin Jue, who had been sitting quietly, turned to look at her after hearing her words. From the corner of his eye, he could see that her skin color was abnormally pale, blending with the silent darkness in the car, flickering, hazy, and unreal.
Su Huaiwang suddenly felt a surge of fear in her heart, as if the person sitting next to her was not the familiar Lin Jue, but... a strange girl who was taken into her car after waving at her on the roadside in the early morning.
His breathing suddenly became rapid. It seemed the air conditioner was turned up too high. A chill spread from deep within his body to his limbs, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead...
"It's quite nice, but it has a very big city feel. It's quite novel to go there once in a while. If I lived there for a long time, I probably wouldn't be able to stand it."
Lin Jue's voice broke the panic-inducing illusion. Her voice was calm, not too high or too low, and no different from her usual speech. It immediately pulled Su Huaiwang back to the present world from that strange state.
"Yes, yes..." Su Huaiwang swallowed and took a deep breath: "Me too, I'm more suitable to live in the countryside."
Lin Jue glanced at her, rubbed the fingertips of his right hand at his side, and crushed the unknown ghost in his hand.
She leaned over and turned up the air conditioner. "Are you cold? The temperature seems to have dropped quite a bit at night."
"It's indeed a bit cold." Only then did Su Huaiwang feel the goose bumps on his arms.
"Do you want to wear a coat?" Lin Jue took out a coat from somewhere and said, "Just in case. I haven't worn it yet."
Su Huaiwang was a little hesitant, not only because these were Lin Jue's clothes, but also because she felt that Lin Jue was wearing less than her.
She was wearing short sleeves and long pants, while Lin Jue was wearing a thin dress. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed that Lin Jue was colder, and she also had a cold body.
Lin Jue seemed to see what she was thinking and said, "I'm not very cold, you can put it on." As he spoke, he gently placed his palm on Su Huaiwang's forearm: "It's ice cold."
The warm skin pressed against him, completely dispelling the remaining fear.
Su Huaiwang secretly felt it was absurd that for a moment he actually felt that the warm Lin Jue was scary.
"Thank you then."
The vehicle stopped by the roadside, Su Huaiwang put on Lin Jue's coat, and started the car again.
Lin Jue's coat fit him unexpectedly well. It felt warm on his cold skin and had a familiar fragrance. The quiet and cold smell was the feeling that Lin Jue gave people.
Su Huaiwang belatedly realized that she was nervous because of this intimate behavior. Once she felt nervous, she started looking for topics to talk about:
"Come to think of it, where are you from? You don't look like a local." Lin Jue spoke without an accent, and Su Huaiwang was really curious about where she was from.
Lin Jue hesitated for a moment before speaking: "Minguan, I... was born in a very small village."
Her face was covered in darkness, but Su Huaiwang, who was paying attention to the front, did not notice:
"Minguan, I've been there before," Su Huaiwang continued the topic in a relaxed tone: "The food there is quite delicious."
"Do you like the food from Minguan?" The darkness dissipated, revealing a beautiful softness.
"Yeah," Su Huaiwang nodded repeatedly. It was not difficult to see that she really agreed with the dishes there. But after nodding, her originally lively expression became depressed again: "It's just a pity that I probably won't go there again."
"Why?"
"When I went there before, I had a small accident. I fell down the mountain and hit my head. I was kept in a villager's home for a month before I was found. I have a bit of a traumatic experience there."
As he was speaking, a dark shadow suddenly jumped out and Su Huaiwang slammed on the brakes.
The vehicle made a teeth-grinding sudden stop sound. Su Huaiwang was affected by inertia and his head hit the steering wheel, but was pulled back by the seat belt.
When the vision became clear again, there was nothing on the dirt road illuminated by the car lights.
Only the swaying shadows of the trees were shaking, like ghosts with bared fangs and claws.
Fear once again rose in his heart, and Su Huaiwang clearly heard the sound of swallowing saliva in his head:
"Was there a dark shadow just now? Or was I dazzled?"
Lin Jue lowered his eyelashes: "It must be some small animal. Did you feel like you bumped into something?"
"No……"
"That's okay, it probably ran away on its own, just keep driving."
"Wait!" Su Huaiwang grabbed Lin Jue's wrist and said, "Do you feel something strange tonight?"
Su Huaiwang has always been an unsteady materialist and does not easily believe in ghosts and gods, but there is a saying, "You can only believe that they exist, not that they do not exist." The series of events tonight have made her feel nervous and afraid of everything.
Not to mention, they just talked about her memories of Nanguan Village. If it wasn't for some supernatural power, there was no explanation for the month of memory loss...
Just as Su Huaiwang was daydreaming, human skin suddenly covered his hand.
Lin Jue placed his other hand lightly on her trembling hand, rubbing it slowly, his voice as gentle as a mountain spring's, "Don't be afraid, it's just a small animal."
"Would you like to shake hands? Would that be better?" Lin Jue raised his head, his amber eyes looking at her gently, successfully making Su Huaiwang swallow back his refusal out of shame.
"……want."
The wrist that was as hard as jade and as slender as a leaf in her hand turned over easily and pressed against her palm. Her fingers were inserted into her fingers, and the slightly rough skin rubbed the thin connection between her fingers.
Besides the fear, there was an electric shock-like feeling rushing through my nerves, replacing the panic with uneasiness.
Lin Jue formed his hands into shell shapes, protecting her hands inside and moving them to caress them from time to time.
It must be said that this trick is indeed effective, and Su Huaiwang's sense of security surged in his heart.
It's just a bit embarrassing that she is being comforted by a girl five years younger than her...
After recovering, Su Huaiwang coughed lightly and whispered, "Sorry, I'm a little timid."
Lin Jue, who had been looking down at the intersection of their palms, immediately looked up with a smile on his face: "It's okay, I was scared too, luckily there are two of us."
"Yeah, yeah, it's okay..." Su Huaiwang said, glancing awkwardly at his clasped hands from time to time: "That... I'm not afraid anymore..."
Upon hearing this, Lin Jue obediently let go of his hand.
Su Huaiwang licked his lips and was about to restart the car when he heard Lin Jue say:
"How about I drive it later? Let's switch seats."
As she spoke, she turned sideways and pretended to open the car door.
In a hurry, Su Huaiwang grabbed the hand that he had just let go of:
“Don’t get out of the car!”
Lin Jue turned his head to look at her and said nothing, but Su Huaiwang felt as if she had said everything.
Su Huaiwang simply closed his eyes and lowered his head, pretending that what he said before, "I'm not afraid anymore," was bullshit:
"There's only a little left, I'll open it all!"
"Oh well."
Lin Jue sat up straight again and did not expose her poor excuse.
She patted Su Huaiwang's hand to comfort him.
Feeling this gentle force, Su Huaiwang felt mixed emotions, both touched and ashamed.
She started the car, and while her mixed emotions overshadowed her fear, she continued to drive shakily along the night mountain road.
Fortunately, there were no accidents on the last bit of the road. The car drove down and was about to reach the foot of the mountain where there was a village.
Su Huaiwang saw from afar the headlights of the village’s party and government agencies that would light up at seven o’clock in the evening, and he almost burst into tears.
Even after enduring this night, she would still be an unsteady materialist.
She turned her head slightly to look at Lin Jue, wanting to say something cheerful, but saw that he was supporting his head and looking out the car window.
“Lin Jue…?”
Su Huaiwang called out tentatively.
"Hmm?" Lin Jue turned his head back, still with that pretty face: "What's wrong?"
Su Huaiwang breathed a sigh of relief: "Nothing, we're almost home."
There was a note of relief in her voice. After this, she would never walk on mountain roads at night again! At least not for the next six months!
"Yeah," Lin Jue nodded gently, "I'll be fine once I get home."
Su Huaiwang smiled and was about to agree, but he heard Lin Jue's next words:
"Did you know? Ghosts can't enter a living person's home unless they invite you in. So remember, if you meet someone at night, whether it's a stranger or someone you know, don't let them into your home. They will disguise themselves as someone close to you and find ways to get into your home."
As soon as these words came out, Su Huaiwang felt his knees suddenly go weak and he could hardly step on the brakes.
"Let's not talk about this anymore, shall we?" Su Huaiwang's voice trembled.
Lin Jue finally reacted and showed an apologetic look on his face: "Sorry, I forgot..." He was afraid that he didn't say the word out loud, which showed that Lin Jue was understanding.
"No, it's okay..." How could Su Huaiwang really blame Lin Jue? She could only continue driving and take the road that happened to pass by the party and government agencies, letting the headlights and emblems soothe her fragile materialistic heart.
The car stopped in front of the villa. Lin Jue got out and was about to say goodbye to Su Huaiwang when she stopped him.
"That..." Su Huaiwang hesitated when he spoke, not daring to look into Lin Jue's eyes. The two of them communicated through the car's high beams that were still on:
"If it's convenient, would you like to stay at my house tonight?" He was stuck again. Su Huaiwang gritted his teeth, stretched his neck, and said what he had been holding back for a long time: "Would you like to stay at my house overnight?"
After she finished, she hurriedly added, "It's about playing together. You know, Tu Zhizhuo just left, and I kind of...ah, no, it's not that I mean anything else. I just mean, if it's convenient for you, uh, I have Go and chess, snacks, and drinks here. We can watch a movie together...or something like that."
Su Huaiwang's speech became increasingly incoherent. In the end, she gave up and hung her head, as if she had never said anything before:
"Well, goodnight, goodnight."
Lin Jue's sudden voice interrupted her frustration:
"Do you mean to invite me to your house?"
Su Huaiwang raised his head, his face flushed, and his voice was as thin as a mosquito's: "...Yes."
"Okay." Lin Jue agreed with a smile and walked across the front of the car towards Su Huaiwang: "But according to what we just said, inviting others into the house at night is a very dangerous thing." She stopped in front of Su Huaiwang, her eyes flowing with light and shadow locked on her gently but forcefully.
Su Huaiwang suddenly felt as if he had returned to his dream from last night, facing the same gentle yet powerful punishment.
Besides the fear, something restless emerged from deep within my heart.
"You're fine." Su Huaiwang unconsciously took a step back, then leaned forward, getting a little closer to the girl. Her throat slid and she repeated:
"It's okay. I believe you."
The author has something to say:
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I always feel that Su Huaiwang is becoming more and more reserved as I write about him. Is this the character he is designed to be? (I’m not sure)
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