Nightmare Shuttle

In the dark sedan, the woman's face was briefly lit up by the thunderous lightning, and for a brief moment, the entire sky was filled with light.

In the darkness, there was only a touch of red, a red so bright It was as if the dye had been made from dried blood.

The red skirt dripped with blood hiding the darkness beneath torn tresses as the woman floating in the darkness. There was only a pair of bright red embroidered shoes, looming under the blood-red wedding dress, however, if one looked closer, they would be mortified to see that instead of feet, her shoes were filled with black roots.

The woman who wore a solemn old-fashioned wedding dress was astonishingly white, like ice cubes with no temperature. It was as if all the blood in her body had been drained dye her wedding dress. But only those lips, still carried a trace of color, bright red and vengeful.

Her eye sockets were empty as if someone had forcibly gouged them out, but the sockets were filled with blood, and at first glance, they looked like a pair of completely red eyes. The woman slowly turned her head towards, smiled up coldly, her eyes resentful.

The light in the carriage faded and the woman disappeared from her sight. Ning Ning inky felt that her heart was about to leap out of her throat, only gurgled cries of horror were choked out of her mouth, the rain from outside blew in and swiped across her face like a cold knife. 

Tang Shun slowly shifted his sight from the barred window and turned his head back slowly. It only then did Ning Ning see that in his hands, a wet piece of paper was slowly spread across his palm. The bright red "Fu" drawn onto it was chilling. 

A cold light slowly burned in the bottom of Tang Shun's eyes, on the other hand, the golden compass that was supposed to be pointing northwest was spinning crazily. In the silent night, the sharp crack of the metal encasing being snapped shut echoed loudly. His fingers clenched tightly onto the compass and looked around gloomily, the fate was shifting.

Outside, the carriage continued to cart through the treacherous terrain of the forest, the elf soldiers marched solemnly in the ominous flute. What no one could see, was that the red lanterns hanging on the eaves of the carriage slowly turned white.

The color of Funeral Lanterns.

*

"Are you pregnant?"

Chu Yi's mind blanks and he was rarely confused.

"You–"

But in the next instant, his wrist was held by a pale and slender hand. A very familiar voice came from behind, with a deliberately raised and extremely surprised exclamation, he whispered jokingly: "So you still have such a thing."

Chu Yi narrowed his eyes in an instant.

Damn.

"Don't be surprised, if I hadn't come to catch you, how would I know you are staging the scene of running away with the ball."

The evil spirit laughed. Chu Yi's chin was pinched, and he was forced to look at golden orbs that were filled with dark fire, moving together constantly like a roiling wave, "I'm a little curious about your hobby, why don't I perform it with you?"

His tone gradually became frivolous and yet Chu Yi could sense an underlying coldness, "By the way, let's see, when exactly will you get tired of running sway"

He didn't see Ruan Quixi for a few hours and when he suddenly appeared at this moment, Chu Yi was already ready to bash him.

Arrogant, exciting,.

The calm nerves that we're able to withstand rocking waves, twisted into the shape of a lunatic again.

"Cough!––"

A tiny cough pulled the two out of their standoff and Chu Yi's eyes glanced down at the green thing in his hands once more. "Are you pregnant?"

The little thing was very persistent in getting the answer to this question. "Yes," Chu Yi furrowed his brow and glared at Ruan Quixi, "Don't listen to him, I'm not pregnant."

"Oh–"

The tiny wings flapped and flew off of Chu Yi's hand, "Since you are not pregnant, then I must find another elf that is pregnant." 

Chu Yi narrowed his eyes and wanted to reach out and catch her but before he could Ruan Quixi's hands came up and grabbed his. "No need, that's just a lingering spirit."

Just as he said, the little creature flew up until it reached the ceiling where the tree passed through and suddenly disappeared as if she was never there. 

Chu Yi looked back at Ruan Quixi, and slowly licked his lips, before asking a question abruptly, "Why are you here?"

In rapid succession, he asked again, "How are you here and what's your purpose."

The hand holding the chin tightened suddenly, and Ruan Quixi's tone raised, "My dear, I've been preparing a surprise for you since we first met. The reason I can appear here is that your gift is almost ready"

The evil spirit looked behind Chu Yi at the waves crashing against the tree roots and the black chains pulled taut by the force, the shaking of the cave had slowly decreased as time passed but the river had become more restless.

The roar of the river was deafening, and even the majestic trunk seemed as if it would rock from the force.

Ruan Quixi watched with interest.

This kind of thing wouldn't have garnered an extra look from him now had a much greater meaning to it, the increased patience in his heart make him look more. 

"What surprise?" He pulled his attention back to the man in his arms, he laughed nastily and pulled Chu Yi's chin up further, "It wouldn't be a surprise if I just told you."

Chu Yi sneered, "Then what's the use of you then‐" Chu Yi stepped back on Ruan Quixi's feet, twisted with both hands, and broke free from his hands. 

The evil spirit whose arms were empty once again laughed faintly and unconsciously fixed his eyes on Chu Yi's body. His gaze scanned the white skin exposed by the wet translucent shirt that slid down when the black-haired man jumped up.

His gaze was as sticky as venom, but it was a pity that he could only look but not touch. Ruan Quixi hadn't been so aggrieved in a long time, and all of this was brought by the man before him. He could taste the faint touch of bitter orange and rose to linger at the tip of his nose that only made the nameless fire in his heart burned even fiercer.

The rattling of the chain attracted his attention for a moment, and the evil spirit looked down at the river indifferently, before looking at Chu Yi again.

The black-haired young man had already noticed his gaze. He wiped away the water splashed on his face, glanced at him with raised eyebrows, and stretched out his hand to slowly straighten out his clothes.

Under the dark light, the cold jade hand smoothed the wet shirt, and the atmosphere in the cave suddenly became slightly strange.

"Have you ever heard of the story of Hou Yi and Chang He?"

Chu Yi raised an eyebrow wondering why this evil spirit had brought this up.

"If you were Hou Yi, would you have shot Chang He down to always keep her with you?"

Chu Yi lifted a corner of his lips and sneered slightly, "No."

Ruan Quixi stared at him with obsession, his voice filled suppressed emotion, "Why?"

"To punish her for leaving me–"

"Because loneliness is more painful than death." 

He laughed, dark mist surged behind him and Ruan Quixi appeared before him in the blink of an eye.

In the sound of the majestic waves, the evil spirit leaned close to the soft lips, the moisture and cold wind passed through their bodies, and the lips seemed to touch each other, through the sound of water in their ears. In the dark and turbulent cave, under the cold and affectionate touch, Ruan Quixi spoke in a low voice, "Chu Yi, you are so cruel."

The moment his voice fell, Chu Yi could see that the black chain that stretched deep into the depths of the river swayed for a moment as if it was too shaky and fragile as if something heavy had been weighted down upon it. There was a faint sound and d the air seemed to fall stagnant for a moment, all the roaring waves and rumbling froze.

It was as if they did not dare to move forward, as if there was something that made all living beings dread, it should not be desecrated or offended. 

His muscles tightened uncontrollably and the heat from his lips brushed against his face, with a wave of his hands, dark shadows enveloped the two figures.

When it finally dissipated, both of them were nowhere to be seen.

*

The morning sun rose from the edge of the clouds, and the bright morning light spreads all over the earth, the fire from the cleansing ritual still burned but the entangled figures had now vanished leaving only the soil to tell the tales of last night.

The elves that had disappeared walked around the village and slowly checked on each home. The occupants inside each slept with a rosy glow.

Chu Yi dazedly opened the door upon hearing a knock, hair scattered messily across his face. However, as soon as he played eyes on the person outside, all signs of sleep vanished.

"You–"

"Chu Yi this is Ruan Quixi. "

His strong and straight figure stretched beautifully through his clothes, revealing the strength and beautiful contour of his tight muscles. When he stood beside Ling Zheng, he immediately blocked out the entire sun, casting a deep and dark shadow in front of him.

The brim of the peaked sun hat that he wore was lowered so Chu Yi could not see his face but the voice that spoke to him was low and magnetic. 

"Hello. "

Green eyes looked up at the man, but in his heart, there was no sense of doubt about his appearance as if he had always been there, he just nodded his head in a normal manner and said with a frown: "Okay, since Ruan Quixi was late for the ceremony, he can only stay with here with you, Chu Yi, until tomorrow." 

He turned back to 'Ruan Quixi'

"Please don't run around in the elf village, it is a sacred time now and no mistakes will be forgiven."

As if just then noticing Chu Yi's incredulous gaze, the man responded casually, then, he turned to Chu Yi, with a faint smile, and spoke in a deep voice,

"Chu Yi?"

The man raised the brim of his hat, revealing the face covered by the shadow of the hat.

If it is said that Ling Zheng is a handsome man who was cold and dignified, then this man was an evil spirit who sank into the darkness of the eternal night. The familiar face under the brim of the hat was as sharp as a knife and ax, without a trace of blood.

His sharp eyebrows slanted like a falling mountain, but now there were extra touches. Several strange blacks marked his temples, and his long and narrow eyes were as black as ink, only the occasional flash of gold like an illusion showed his nonhuman characteristics.

When he faced Chu Yi, his bloodless lips parted into an uninhibited smile, like a god that had stepped down his alter, ventured into the human world, and was contaminated with the chaos and sin of mortals.

Chu Yi remembered the words he heard before he fell asleep and only felt a surge of irritability in his heart. 

Under this irritability, Chu Yi's tone was also extremely bad: "I'm Chu Yi, what's wrong?"

The man just laughed softly.

"Hello, Chu Yi."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ruan Quixi."