This Damned Thirst for Survival

Just before the hour of the sun, Lu Youyi sent the ordinary staff back to rest, and before they did so, Ge Zhu gave them a solemn “three don’ts”.

“Don’t turn on the light, don’t look when there’s a noise, don’t open the door when someone knocks. Just close your eyes and go to sleep, and whatever happens, don’t go out.”

The staff kept this in mind and then returned to their respective rooms.

The spa estate fell silent.

Apart from their chatter, there was no other sound in the hall. It was late in the day and the time was slowly approaching midnight.

They also stopped chatting and waited silently for the red and white furies to appear.

I don’t know how long it took, but suddenly a joyous music came from afar, the sound of suona and drums banging loudly and festively, but as if through a layer of fog, as if from a faraway place.

Ge Zhu made a snap decision and said, “Go.”

The crowd rushed to the place where the music was coming from. The closer they got, the clearer the sound of music became, and the lively music was interspersed with a ghostly chant that seemed like joy, not happiness, not sorrow.

Ge Zhu followed the compass and led his companions closer, and when he could see the red and white banshees colliding, he stepped lightly between the trees and turned his head to “shh”, “Keep your voice down.”

At that moment, after a high suona sound, the joyful music disappears and the mournful music begins. Jiang Luo, half crouched behind the weeds, looks at the scene ahead through a gap.

Between the thick white mist, two groups of men were seen facing each other.

To the south, a group of female ghosts, all white as if they were powdered, are dressed in red, their hands so white they are blue, and red paper is flying. In the middle of them is a bright red palanquin, with red silk surrounding it like a flower.

A group from the north carried a black coffin, in front and behind which stood a dozen water spirits with equally pale faces. These water spirits were dressed in white mourning clothes, and long twine was tied around their waists, pulling trails through the dead leaves on the ground.

The white paper was raised and a mixture of red and white paper money flew about.

The sound of the music grew more and more harsh, but the scene was extremely quiet. Lu Youyi’s skin tingles and goosebumps rise as the scene becomes eerie and eerie.

Jiang Luo breathed very softly, and Lu Youyi, who was really scared, whispered to him, “Jiang Luo, this is so fucking scary.”

Jiang Luo nodded and lowered his voice, “Ask Ge Zhu what we should do.”

Lu Youyi passed these words to Ye Xun who was beside him, Ye Xun passed them to Zhuo Zhongqiu, Jiang Luo waited for a while, Lu Youyi turned his head again and whispered, ” Ge Zhu said that it was too dangerous when the Red and White Furies collided, and asked us not to get involved in it. First remember where the Red and White Furies will collide, and then when it is daylight tomorrow, draw a formation on this road so that the two paths of joy and mourning will be staggered.”

Jiang Luo thought it would work, “So we go back first?”

Lu Youyi breathed a sigh of relief, “At last we can go back.”

The men gestured to each other and were about to retreat one by one, but Lu Youyi accidentally stepped on a branch of dead wood. The dead wood made a crunching sound and snapped under his feet.

Lu Youyi froze as he gave a weak smile towards Jiang Luo, who was nearest to him, a smile that looked like he was crying, “I swear, there really wasn’t this dead wood here just now.”

Jiang Luo : “……”

He looked back with a black face as all the ghosts in the Red and White Furies turned their heads in unison, their dark, lightless eyes fixed on Jiang Luo and Lu Youyi.

Ge Zhu’s heart cried out in disbelief, and before he could explain, he shouted, “Run!”

Jiang Luo grabbed Lu Youyi and ran, but before he could take a step, Lu Youyi fell violently to the ground, and he fell with him. Lu Youyi shouted, “My foot is caught in the red rope!”

Jiang Luo pulled him along and in his haste looked down. Lu Youyi’s feet were wrapped in a piece of red silk cloth, which ended in a red demon, dragging them towards the red and white demons. Jiang Luo let out a “fuck” and a golden dagger appeared in his hand, blocking the dead branches and leaves as he slashed at the red silk.

The red silk was successfully cut by him and the two men finally came to a halt. But Jiang Luo looked up and realised that they had been dragged between the red and white fury.

The water ghost was staring at them, and the female ghost was staring at them, both parties expressionless and haunted.

Jiang Luo : “……” Staying with Lu Youyi makes one unhappy.

Stunned by this unexpected turn of events, Ge Zhu’s group didn’t have time to pull them down. Seeing that their friends were caught in the middle of the Red and White Furies, Ge Zhu pulled out a peach wood sword from his bag with a grave look on his face, “The Red and White Furies are charging the road but not the people, and the people but not the road. Now that they have seen Lu Youyi and Jiang Luo, they don’t care about the road, we have to go and get them back!”

But as he was about to rush forward, a voice as light as the wind came from behind him, ” Ge Zhu , why are you still so stupid.”

Ge Zhu froze, and then turned blue.

He clutches the peach wood sword in his hand, the veins on the back of his hand tense. Ge Zhu was always at ease with his own heart and soul, always happy and cheerful, never angry with anyone. No one had ever seen such a look on his face before, and it seemed to be mixed with a bitter hatred in its complexity.

Ge Zhu gritted his teeth, the clacking of his teeth exploding next to his ears like thunder.

Zhuo Zhongqiu cares: ” Ge Zhu ……”

Ge Zhu tightened his grip violently and turned to stop his companion, looking coldly into the darkness of the jungle, ” Ge Wuchen .”

Slowly a man emerged from the middle of the jungle.

This man, with sideburns like knives and eyebrows like ink drawings, was as elegant as an exile, with his white monk’s clothes untied and unbound. His appearance is incomparably handsome, and even as a bald monk, he seems to glow faintly like an immortal under the moon.

Ge Zhu’s hands were shaking slightly as he looked at the man in front of him with a low, deep voice, ” Ge Wuchen, how dare you appear in front of me.”

Ge Wuchen smiled gently, his appearance was as clear as the sun and moon, but his words were heavily mocked, “As my brother, Ge Zhu, have you fallen to the point where you need to use Taoist magic to subdue evil spirits?”

He seemed to find it amusing and laughed out loud as he twirled his string of Buddhist beads, “All these years, you seem to have made no progress. You are indecisive and still cling to your saying that everything follows your heart, Ge Zhu, are you such a loser that you are going to watch your friends die bloodily in front of you again?”

Ge Zhu breathing heavily.

Ge Wuchen gave him a look and turned away into the darkness.

Ge Zhu subconsciously rushed forward, ” Ge Wuchen , stop right there!”

Wen Renlian said, “Ge Zhu, don’t go!”

Ge Zhu has disappeared into the jungle after Ge Wuchen.

Wen Renlian had a vague feeling that he had fallen into some kind of trap as his friends were suffering on both sides. Zhong Qiu, Ye Xun, you and Qi Ye go to rescue Jiang Luo and Lu Youyi, Kuang Zheng, you and Sai Liaoer follow me to Ge Zhu.”

Qi Ye, who was already anxious, was the first to rush towards the Red and White Furies. But before he could reach them, the Red and White Furies, together with Lu Youyi in the middle, disappeared into thin air.

*

Jiang Luo and Lu Youyi were being watched by these ghosts, and just as he tried to summon the runes of the Yin-Yang Ring, these ghosts slammed into them carrying a palanquin and coffin.

Jiang Luo raises his hands in front of him, but in the next moment he falls forward unsteadily, lunging violently into an enclosed space, tightly closed at the top and bottom, with no light and a pitch-black view, and he is in a coffin carried by water spirits.

The coffin swayed and the music played again as soon as the suona blew outside.

He is in the coffin, so Lu Youyi should be in the palanquin.

Jiang Luo moved and touched a cold body lying beneath him.

The space was small and he was pressed almost entirely against this body. Jiang Luo whispered, “Dude, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, I’ll be right out.”

Jiang Luo turned around, recited the word “offense”, lay on the body and knocked on the coffin lid.

The sound is dull and heavy, enough to give Jiang Luo an idea of how solid the coffin slab is.

The thickness is estimated to be as wide as two bricks.

Jiang Luo touched the Yin Yang ring.

He was not worried that the twelve zodiac signs would not be able to hit the coffin lid. What was important was how he should save Lu Youyi once he got out and escape from this dangerous red and white fury.

Jiang Luo rolled over again with difficulty and felt around the body, trying to find anything he could use.

“It’s not easy to think of a corpse that can give a water ghost a burial anyhow,” he muttered, “Dude, I’m sorry, you mustn’t move. It’s this little place, you move again and neither of us will be able to move.”

The corpse was peaceful and silent, without a single reaction.

Jiang Luo touches the body slowly.

His hand landed where it should have been on the body’s waist, and when it did, he touched the textured fabric of the dress. The fabric was silky smooth and wrinkle-free.

Jiang Luo followed the waist down to the sides and felt the body’s hands.

These hands have wide palms and long fingers. Jiang Luo brushed one by one over the fingers, again finding nothing.

But his right eyelid fluttered involuntarily.

His legs were pressed against those of the corpse, and even then he did not touch the toes of the corpse, which should have been a tall man. Jiang Luo propped himself up on his elbows and moved his hands from the corpse’s waist to the neck of the body.

He carefully touched the body’s face.

Thin lips, a high nose, touched and touched, but the corpse’s lips slowly hooked up.

Jiang Luo was startled when the next moment the sky spun around and he was violently crushed beneath the body.

Jiang Luo grunted and the Jin Guang on the Yin Yang ring flickered for a moment, only to be interrupted in the next instant. The corpse expertly restrained his hand, a low laugh faint.

The flash of the Jin Guang illuminated the body’s face.

Elegant, handsome and effortless, who else but Chi You.

Jiang Luo’s eyebrows jumped twice, and he had the feeling that this was indeed the case.

Inside the narrow coffin, the two men were interlocked up and down in an intimate gesture, with most of their skin forced against each other.

The air gradually became thinner.

The coffin is still swaying, and with each sway, Jiang Luo feels like he is floating on a boat. The sound of music is suddenly happy and sad, and the two paths of joy and mourning are surprisingly travelling together.

Chi You pinched his jaw.

The evil spirit lowered his head and this time it was his turn to run his hands over Jiang Luo’s body.

“Let me find out where I’ve hidden my heart.”

Jiang Luo’s hands and feet were pressed against Chi You’s, the evil spirit obscuring the dark-haired youth’s view as he intoned a smirk, “Well, not on the neck.”

Cold fingertips slid down to Jiang Luo’s chest. Chi You’s palm pressed against Jiang Luo’s heart, feeling the ringing beneath his palm, he said in a daze, “Could it be here?”

Jiang Luo looked at him expressionlessly as his heart beat a little faster.

Rubbing the finger that was pinching his chin gently, Chi You said, “It doesn’t look like it.”

The evil spirit’s hand slowly moved to Jiang Luo’s waist.

The line tightens violently at the waist, a tight, supple waist and abdomen that has always been an attractive position for a man. The evil spirit turns here in a slow, deliberate circle and grasps the side of Jiang Luo’s waist.

As if disappointed, he sighed, “Ah, not here either.”

Further down the line, the itch is a thousand times more sensitive.

Jiang Luo lifted his knee and struck at the demon’s abdomen. The demon easily overpowered his attack, pinning him firmly underneath him, and his long fingers strummed like an instrument to Jiang Luo’s thighs.

“I always have to be careful when dealing with you,” Chi You lamented, “after all, Jiang always has a lot of bad ideas.”

Jiang Luo looks straight at Chi You’s position in the darkness and sneers, “Why don’t you go and die.”

Chi You said, “I am dead.”

The evil spirit forcibly overpowered all the black-haired youth’s resistance and touched him all over his body. From the strands of his hair to the tips of his toes, Jiang Luo’s forehead sweated and his face turned red with rage.

“I can’t believe I didn’t find it,” the evil spirit muttered to himself as he slowly leaned down, his icy exhalation spraying like a poisonous snake next to Jiang Luo’s ear, “Jiang, tell me, where exactly did you hide the teacher’s heart?”

Jiang Luo’s wet hair clung to his ears, his nostrils heavier than before, the air inside the coffin dwindling, making his chest feel tight and hot.

He calmed his breathing and said calmly, “Where do I know where your heart is.”

He chortled, “Teacher, be reasonable, you’re dead, what do you need a heart for?”

Chi You said, “Sharp-tongued.”

He looked down at the dark-haired youth.

Unlike his lazy and casual appearance in the bath, Jiang Luo is wrapped up in a tight wrap, with only a section of his neck, wrist and ankle showing.

His face was flushed from lack of oxygen and anger, his lips were declining, and even though his face was expressionless, he looked like he had just finished a hot spring because of the beads of sweat on his temples.

Or like you’ve just woken up.

But this beauty carries with it a poison, and once the slightest hint of laxity rises against him, a piece of flesh will be bitten off in return.

The evil spirit reaches out carelessly and turns to caress Jiang Luo’s lower lip.

He doesn’t like Jiang Luo’s unruffled appearance today.

He remembered Jiang Luo’s expression in the middle of the hotel when he was forced to lie on the glass table after being controlled by the Hehe charm.

That kind of look was more pleasing to him than what was happening now.

Let him think about what he did that day.

“When dealing with Classmate Jiang, you always have to guard against being bitten back by you,” the evil spirit said, “with such sharp teeth, I’m curious what it looks like. Oh yes, I searched all over Classmate Jiang’s body, but I never looked in your mouth, is my heart, is it hidden here by you?”

He spoke slowly and deliberately, his fingers forcing their way inside Jiang Luo’s lips.

Jiang Luo bit down hard on his lip, but it was as if he had bitten into a stone, a hard texture beneath the softness of the surface, and Chi You’s hand still reached in without moving.

*

Chi You touched Jiang Luo’s teeth.

“Still nothing,” the evil spirit sighed, a hidden smile hiding beneath the pity, “where on earth did you hide my things.”

He withdrew his hand, Jiang Luo was past his angriest moment, his nostrils blazing, a thin mist steaming. His expression was icy, and he looked at Chi You with cold eyes, “There’s one place you’re not looking.”

Chi You raised an eyebrow, “Where?”

Jiang Luo said, “You’re getting too close to me.”

Chi You slowly propped himself up some.

Jiang Luo frowned in disgust and said, “Further away.”

It was as if he wanted to simply drive away the evil spirit with a reason.

Chi You smiled again and stepped back a little.

Sure enough, the dark-haired youth’s expression stretched a little. But the nasty evil spirit was about to close in on him again when he suddenly gave a start and turned to look, “Hmm?”

Only the two yellow talismans on the lid of the coffin were firmly glued to his back.

At the beginning, Jiang Luo put two ghost fixing charms on the lid of the coffin as a precaution to prevent the corpse in the coffin from swindling. The charms don’t last long against Chi You, but at least they have a few seconds to spare.

That’s enough.

Jiang Luo pulled his hands out of Chi You’s grasp with all his might, and the first thing he did was not to escape from the coffin, but to slam his fierce fist into the handsome face of the evil spirit.