A Skeleton’s Love Story: Chasing Love in a Ghost City with Many Twists and Surprises

My grave was dug up.

I don’t understand. After all, I don’t have any burial objects, just a skeleton. What’s there to dig?

Do they covet my beauty when I was alive?

I was very angry and decided to rise from the dead.

When the seventh sound of the shovel hitting the coffin board came, I burst out of the coffin without hesitation.

Goodness! There was more than one person digging my grave!

The leader was a young man, looking like a scholar. When he saw me, his eyes lit up: “It’s really you!”

Hello? Are we very familiar?

Just as I was wondering, he suddenly knelt down on one knee in front of me and said respectfully, “Lord City Master!”

Me: “???”

These days, does tomb – robbing involve role – playing?

They took me back to the city – the city was said to be called Sifang City, a small border city by the sea – and then in the luxurious main hall of the City Master’s Mansion, they placed one piece of human skin after another in front of me and asked me to choose a skin for myself.

The beauties on the human skins were shy and charming, each with their own charm.

But I think they must be mistaken.

Can they recognize a person just by a skeleton?

Moreover, before I died, I had never been a city master, and I had never heard of Sifang City!

I reached out and stroked one of the human skins, and said tentatively, “This…”

The leader nodded as if he understood: “Understood. The City Master likes this skin!”

As he spoke, he nodded to the people behind him, and immediately someone surrounded me and helped me put on the human skin in a hurry.

I don’t know what the human skin was made of. As soon as I put it on, I felt a surge of qi and blood rising from my body, rushing straight to the top of my head, making me instantly transform from a white skeleton into a living person with flesh and blood.

I was so dizzy from the surging qi and blood, but I still had the conscience not to occupy others’ positions. I struggled to explain: “I…”

The leader said again, “Bring up all the beauties prepared for the City Master -“

As he spoke, he clapped his hands, and someone led a row of men in from outside the hall and lined them up in front of me. At a glance, there were cold – looking ones, gentle – looking ones, and those who smiled like a bright little sun. In short, each had their own temperament, and without exception, they were all very good – looking.

Me: “???”

Is there such a good thing?

My hand that wanted to refuse was slightly trembling, but my eyes had involuntarily lingered on their faces.

The first person had beautiful eyes, the second person had a very superior nose, the third person’s lips looked so kissable! The earlobes of the fourth person made people want to take a bite at the first sight…

Each of them made my little heart beat wildly, until I saw the last one.

My heart stopped beating directly.

He actually had beautiful eyes, a superior nose, kissable lips, and earlobes that made people want to take a bite at the same time! How could there be someone in this world who was born exactly like my dream lover?!

Most importantly, while the others were showing off their beauty, only he had a look of indifference on his face, with an air of “keep away from strangers” all over his body, as if he had written “chaste and strong – willed man” directly on his face!

I almost fell in love with him immediately and couldn’t control my eyes at all, so I could only stare at him.

The leader: “Understood!”

Me: “?”

I still decided to stay in Sifang City and not tell the truth for the time being.

Mainly because Cui Jue – that is, the person who brought me back to Sifang City – he had been looking for the City Master so hard. It wasn’t reasonable for him to endure the pain of losing what he had just found before he had even had time to be happy.

I am a kind – hearted person. I can’t bear to see such a tragic thing happen.

Of course, I also had to accept those beautiful men.

Mainly because of Cui Jue – he had been looking for the City Master so hard. Finally, he found the City Master and happily gave a gift to the long – lost City Master, but he was going to be rejected. Is that reasonable?

I am a soft – hearted person. I can’t bear to see others being poured a bucket of cold water when they are full of enthusiasm.

When I made this decision, Cui Jue had already thoughtfully taken the others and left.

For a while, only me and my dream lover were left in the main hall.

Silence, silence. Silence is tonight’s Sifang City.

I was the host and thought I should say something. But I had been dead for so long and hadn’t seen a living person for a long time, especially such a good-looking living person. It was really hard to grasp the proper tone and words when I opened my mouth.

I said, “Hi, husband -“

From the slightly trembling pupils of the beautiful man, I saw that my love had ended before it even started.

I was so annoyed that I quickly made up for it.

I said, “Who was talking just now? Why do I seem to hear someone talking? Did you hear it?”

The beautiful man looked at me and didn’t speak.

I laughed haha: “Probably it’s the wind. This wind is strange. Why does it seem to be calling someone husband? Haha.”

I tried my best to make myself look like an upright good person: “Don’t be afraid, this -“

I paused: “What’s your name?”

This beauty was not reluctant to let me know. He coldly spit out two words: “Yu Jing.”

“Mr. Yu Jing,” I continued to be amiable and smiled, and gently comforted him, “Don’t be afraid. The people under me are not sensible. In fact, I can also see your reluctance. I left you here on purpose, actually wanting to give you freedom.”

Yu Jing said, “Then what are your hands doing?”

One of my hands was still on his chest, and the other had climbed onto his lapel and was about to slide in along the collar, but I was caught by the wrist before I could succeed.

His hands were slender and well – defined, with a slight coolness. The coolness suddenly rushed up my arm, making me feel numb all over.

I swallowed a mouthful of saliva and feebly defended, “I’m afraid they were rough when they caught you. I’m checking if there are any wounds on you.”

As I spoke, I looked up. Yu Jing was also looking down. For a moment, our eyes met, and my eyes were full of him.

I was just a skeleton covered with a human skin. In fact, I didn’t have a heart, but at this moment, I only felt as if there was a heart in my chest, and it was about to jump out thump – thump.

Since ancient times, when people praised a man for his handsome appearance, they often said that he had sword – shaped eyebrows and star – like eyes. But Yu Jing was different. He was not tough – looking, nor was he too feminine. Rather than saying he was handsome, the word “pretty” was more appropriate.

Especially those eyes, long and narrow but not sharp, set off by the tall eyebrows, were like the winter sun, with a sense of aloofness and a bit of tenderness and warmth.

He slightly lowered his head, and his beautiful eyebrows frowned: “What did you say?”

This was terrible! We were too close!

I only felt that there was a loud noise in my mind, and all the qi and blood rushed to my head, making me so dizzy that I could hardly even stand still.

I really didn’t stand still, because my eyes became blurred, and the sky and the earth seemed to be spinning.

Vaguely, someone let go of my wrist and instead held my shoulders.

Then I heard a faint and somewhat unreal voice, which seemed to float from a very far place, as if someone had called “A Tu”.

I shook my head, and in front of my eyes was still Yu Jing’s face. He didn’t let go of my wrist, but his other hand, which was originally empty, was placed on my shoulder, and his brows were furrowed even deeper.

I have always hated it when a beauty frowns. I quickly endured the discomfort of my body and comforted him incoherently: “Mr. Yu Jing, don’t, don’t be flustered, don’t be afraid…”

Yu Jing was not flustered.

Instead, he was quite calm and looked at me and said, “I’m fine.”

Yu Jing paused and then said, “But you seem to have something wrong.”

I followed his gaze and hurriedly looked down. I saw that the human skin on my body was hanging loosely, like a deflated fish bladder, outlining the shape of the skeleton inside.

I was leaking air.

I remembered.

I died because of my lust in my last life.

My previous life was not a human being, but a little ghost born and raised by nature. I lived on Xiaoyu Mountain on the shore of the Great Wilderness South Sea. The mountain was bare, with not a single blade of grass. Only a peach tree grew on the cliff, also bare, without flowers or leaves, only with branches coiling for three thousand miles.

Xiaoyu Mountain was really a remote place where nothing grew. I didn’t have any playmates either. My daily entertainment was to “hang myself on the southeast branch” – facing the rising sun, hanging myself upside down on the peach branch in the southeast, either swinging or sunbathing.

Sometimes when there were storms on the sea, I would listen to the crashing waves on the shore, and the rolling waves were like thousands of piles of broken snow; sometimes when the weather was clear, I would climb down the cliff along the peach branch and look at myself in the water.

In those years, there were always some broken souls floating from the sea on Xiaoyu Mountain.

Those were ordinary people who died in the human world. They couldn’t find the way to the afterlife. When they came here in a muddle, they didn’t know how long they had been drifting on the sea. Therefore, only a faint outline was left, barely able to maintain a human form.

These people either died of old age, with wrinkles all over their faces, or some were still very young. Then it was even worse. Either they had a sickly look on their faces, or they died a violent death, and they might even be missing arms or legs. In short, none of them were as good – looking as me.

When I touched those broken souls with my fingertips, I could see their past lives, from birth to old age. When they were alive, I was still more beautiful.

I was very proud. When I looked at myself in the water, I couldn’t help asking the passing fish: “Little fish, little fish, am I the most beautiful fairy in the world?”

The fish didn’t pay attention to me. However, a big bird from the north, when it stopped on Xiaoyu Mountain to rest, sneered at me disdainfully. It said, “You probably haven’t seen a real beauty, right? The Lord Ming in the North Sea is the real fairy!”

How could I tolerate this?

I resolutely went into the sea.

The South Sea and the North Sea were thousands of miles apart, and there were many storms on the sea. I crossed the ocean, was blown by the wind and beaten by the waves. After two months, I finally swam to the North Sea and saw Ming.

Then I realized that I had made two fundamental mistakes in the question I asked before.

First, I was not the most beautiful in the world. Ming was.

Second, I was not a fairy. Ming was.

How should I describe Ming’s beauty?

When I was on Xiaoyu Mountain, although the mountain was bare, when I stood on the cliff, I could bathe in the warm sunshine, hear the sound of the waves hitting the reefs, and see the seabirds flying low over the sea not far away. When they flew up, they grabbed a struggling fish under their claws. In short, there was full of vitality everywhere. But the North Sea was a deep blue. From the sky to the sea, it was all dim, without a bit of light, and it was extremely quiet. Even if a big fish swam under the water, it was silent. Even if you shouted, you wouldn’t hear an echo. In fact, it was very gloomy and terrifying. But with Ming sitting there meditating on the sea surface with a serene expression, people no longer felt gloomy, only that this sea area was a quiet painting.

Facing such a painting, my saliva could flow out another North Sea.

I was an uninvited guest in the North Sea, but Ming didn’t drive me away. I made a lot of noise around him all day long, and he never said anything. He just sat quietly on the sea surface, closing his eyes and meditating all day long.

I saw this. One day, I finally couldn’t help asking, “What are you doing here all day long?”

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at me faintly with his light – colored pupils.

I stopped breathing for a moment.

He said, “Waiting to die.”

Oh! Originally, I just thought Ming was good – looking, but I didn’t expect him to have such a cold and aloof personality.

I just like this kind of beauty who says “Don’t touch me”.

I immediately fell in love with him.

I completely settled down in the North Sea. At first, I just quietly watched him when he was meditating. Later, I became more open – minded and stared at him with my chin in my hands. And then I had a more greedy heart –

I started to be greedy for Ming’s body.

I thought it was so pitiful for him to stay alone in the North Sea. And when I went back to the South Sea in the future, I would be so pitiful not to see such a beautiful sight every day.

I decided to steal Ming back to Xiaoyu Mountain.

I painstakingly planned for a long time and finally came up with an extremely careful plan. But just when I was about to put it into practice, I was discovered by Ming.

He refused. He behaved like a chaste and strong – willed woman who would rather die than be molested by a rogue. But he didn’t die to show his determination.

Because his martial arts skills were so high that he didn’t need to die to show his determination.

He directly killed me.

A successful woman should not fall twice for male beauty, unless that man is as good – looking as Ming.

Coincidentally, Yu Jing was not only good – looking but also looked exactly the same as Ming.

But I leaked air in front of him.

Yu Jing was placed in the separate courtyard of the City Master’s Mansion, and I hid in the main hall all day long, too ashamed to see people.

Cui Jue brought two painters to draw a new human skin for me, but since I had already leaked air once, what was the use of drawing it more beautifully? I just crouched in the corner of the main hall all day long, unable to cry tears, just dry – sobbing “wuwuwu” with my face covered.

Cui Jue comforted me: “Why should the City Master care so much? You’re not even a human being. How can you lose face?”

I sobbed even louder.

Before long, the painters finally finished drawing the new human skin. They led me to the mirror and helped me put it on again.

I let them do as they pleased. Thinking about it, I felt unwilling and asked Cui Jue with a sniffle: “You say, what can a person rely on to quickly win someone’s heart?”

Cui Jue thought for a while and said uncertainly: “Rely on a good – looking appearance?”

I looked at myself in the mirror. I had only put on half of the human skin, and my head above the neck was still a skull.

I said unconfidently: “Well… Does a round skull count as good – looking?”

Cui Jue’s action of putting on the human skin for me paused, and he couldn’t say anything.

After a long time, both of us sighed heavily at the same time: “Forget it.”

Cui Jue said again: “I often hear people say that a good – looking appearance is not as good as an interesting soul. In front of an interesting soul, good – looking is not worth mentioning at all.”

I asked humbly: “What is interesting?”

“Probably it’s something that makes people laugh.”

I showed him a smile, with the corners of my mouth grinning all the way to my ears: “Do you think I’m interesting?”

Cui Jue couldn’t bear to look and turned his head away: “City Master, let’s put on the human skin first.”

I understood.

Sorrow welled up in my heart, and I cried sadly again.

“Never mind, never mind,” Cui Jue hurriedly persuaded again, “Even if we don’t have a good – looking appearance and an interesting soul, we can still conquer him with abundant financial resources -“

My crying stopped suddenly.

Yes! I almost forgot that I was a city master now!

I immediately perked up and rubbed my hands expectantly: “Does that mean that there are several mines around our Sifang City?”

Cui Jue was stunned and shook his head: “No, there aren’t.”

Since there were no mines, I thought of the row of beautiful men they brought up that day, with all kinds of different looks.

“Then does that mean that our Sifang City is famous for having many beauties?”

“Not really,” Cui Jue said, “What our Sifang City has a lot of is neither mines nor beauties, but ghosts! We are originally a ghost city. In the mortal world, people call our Sifang City Fengdu.”

Me: “???”

Cui Jue was still a little embarrassed: “Only the ghosts that don’t enter the cycle of reincarnation and have nowhere to go come to Fengdu.

So, to say there are few beauties is an understatement. There are really very few. It was already the limit to gather eighty – five for you that day.”

Cui Jue looked at me, wondering, “Shouldn’t you know all these things, my lord?”

Me: “…”

Of course I didn’t know, because I was just an impostor.

I gave a dry laugh, “I’ve been buried in the ground for too long and forgot for a moment.”

After a pause, I thought of something, “So, Yu Jing is also a ghost?”

Cui Jue let out an “ah”, scratched the back of his head, and sighed, “He’s not. I picked him up outside the city. He’s an ordinary mortal, yet he was able to enter Sifang City. It’s really strange.”

If Yu Jing were also a ghost, then me leaking air in front of him wouldn’t be a big deal. After all, a skeleton and a ghost would be a match made in heaven.

But he happened to be the only human in this ghost city.

I didn’t have the courage to see him. Even after putting on a new human skin, I still hid in the main hall all day and didn’t see anyone.

Cui Jue thought this couldn’t go on like this. He said he had thought of a way for me, but he didn’t tell me. He just winked at me and said, “My lord, just go ahead and try. I guarantee it will succeed!”

I didn’t believe him. He then said, “Is the lord of a ghost city afraid of an ordinary mortal?”

As soon as I heard this, I knew it was a goading method.

Laughing to death, do I seem like the kind of person who would be easily goaded?

I am.

Half an hour later, I appeared under the courtyard wall of the separate residence where Yu Jing lived.

– It’s not that I couldn’t enter through the main gate. I just thought later that Yu Jing was, after all, a mortal. He must have been shocked when he saw me, who still looked somewhat human, leak air in front of him that day. What if he remembered that scene when I swaggered to see him?

Everything should be done step by step. Today, I’ll just climb over the wall and take a peek to see if he has any psychological trauma and if his behavior is normal.

After all, although I’m a lecherous ghost, I’m also a ghost who knows how to care about others.

So I walked around the separate courtyard twice and finally stopped at the northwest corner.

The height of the courtyard wall here was just right. There were green pines supporting the eaves outside and crape myrtle branches reaching out from the wall inside. It should be the quietest and least – visited place –

A good place to climb the wall.

I was agile. I climbed up the green pine and quickly hung on the wall eaves. Then I stretched my head and saw a person standing under the crape myrtle tree. He was in white clothes, with black hair, long and slender eyebrows, long and deep eyes, and…

I finally fixed my eyes on his lips and couldn’t help swallowing.

Even a woman would find it hard to have such tender lips.

It was Yu Jing.

Unfortunately, out of so many small courtyards in the separate residence, he happened to be practicing swordsmanship here. At this moment, when he heard the sound of me climbing the wall, he stopped practicing, held the sword behind his back, and slightly raised his head to look at me.

I blinked and forced a smile, “Hi, what a coincidence. You’re also here to exercise -“

My hands were still propping on the wall, and I said, “I like doing pull – ups. What about you?”

Yu Jing looked at me as if I were a stranger he had never seen before.

He said, “Who are you?”

Goodness.

Cui Jue really lived up to his reputation as a bully among ghosts. He actually made the guy lose his memory! No wonder he was so confident that I would succeed!

Why should I be polite then? I took a deep breath and immediately adjusted my emotions, “Actually, I’m your wife.”

Yu Jing hesitated, “Wife…?”

I nodded like a pounding garlic, “Yes, yes, husband.”

Yu Jing frowned, “But I remember I don’t seem to be married.”

Me: “…”

I was careless. It turned out to be selective amnesia!

But fortunately, my greatest strength is my ability to adapt.

I quickly calmed down, “Yes, you’re indeed not married, but I’m really your wife.”

Yu Jing looked at me.

I took a deep breath and told him, “I’m your wife from your previous life.”

I was telling the truth.

Back then, when I tried to take Ming away from the North Sea, it was to take him back to Xiaoyu Mountain to get married. Is there a difference between a would – be wife and a wife? Besides, Yu Jing had the same face as Ming. So, rounding it up twice, I wasn’t really lying.

But it would be a bit difficult to explain it to Yu Jing.

I tried my best to describe our previous lives in an easy – to – understand way, “It was like this. At that time, I was a goddess on the fairy mountain in the South Sea, and you were a small fish in the North Sea. Once, you came to the South Sea with the ocean current and happened to see me sitting on the peach branch protruding from the cliff, singing. You were so struck by my beauty that you fell in love with me at first sight.”

Yu Jing listened carefully, looking thoughtful.

Seeing his calm expression, I was afraid this simple love story wasn’t enough to touch his heart. So I changed my tone and sorrowfully created an atmosphere, “How could a goddess fall in love with a fish? You were infatuated with me for a lifetime, but unfortunately, until the end, you couldn’t win my heart – this was the first life.

“Later, I still lived on the fairy mountain in the South Sea. You came to the mountain to gather herbs and met me again. You had been reincarnated as a little doctor named Weisheng. You had a dream of saving the world, but your skills were really not good. You accidentally stepped on empty ground while climbing the mountain, and I saved you. Since then, you were head – over – heels in love with me.

“How could a goddess fall in love with a mortal? So when you asked me to meet you under the beam to express your feelings, I didn’t show up. Who would have thought that it rained heavily that night, and the water rose so high that it almost overflowed the embankment. You, you silly fool, didn’t know how to turn around. You didn’t leave even when the water came, and you were drowned while holding the beam – this was the second life.

“As for the third life… Sigh, this third life -“

I racked my brains, worrying about how to make up the third life, when Yu Jing suddenly said, “So it was you!”

I was taken aback, “Was it me…?”

To be honest, those so – called three lives were all made up by me. I really didn’t expect this to work.

But Yu Jing nodded firmly, “It was the people under you who brought me here. We met in the main hall that day.”

Me: “?”

Yu Jing paused and explained, “It’s just that you changed your face, so I didn’t recognize you just now.”

I was so shocked that I almost fell off the wall. Fortunately, I managed to hold on to the wall and was still hanging there. I said, “You didn’t lose your memory?”

Yu Jing looked at me innocently, “Why should I lose my memory?”

Me: “!”

Damn you, Cui Jue!

I looked at him guiltily, “Then do you know where this is?”

“Fengdu, also called Sifang City – Mr. Cui has already told me.”

As Yu Jing spoke, he suddenly reached out a hand to me.

I was startled and retracted my hand warily, “What are you doing?”

Yu Jing suddenly smiled, his face as bright as colored glaze, “Do you plan to keep talking to me while lying on the wall like this?”

I grabbed Yu Jing’s hand.

I thought that if I really had a heart, it would have jumped out of my chest at this moment.

I’m a weak woman. Grabbing Yu Jing’s hand and jumping off the wall, I would naturally lose my balance and accidentally fall into his arms.

So I pretended to stumble, and an “ouch” was on the tip of my tongue. Yu Jing suddenly let go of my hand and said, “Wait a minute.”

Then he led me to the swing in the courtyard and said, “You can sit here for a while.”

I sat down on the swing in a daze. When I came to my senses, Yu Jing had already turned around and entered the house.

After a while, he came back with a first – aid kit in his hand. He squatted down in front of me and then reached for my right hand.

I subconsciously hid my hand behind my back and asked warily, “What are you doing?”

Yu Jing sighed, “You slipped when you were hanging on the wall just now, and your palm was scratched. Didn’t you notice?”

Then he reached for my right hand again.

I thought it was bad and was about to refuse, but he had already grabbed my right hand and spread my palm in front of his eyes.

Oh no.

I really didn’t notice because this wasn’t my real body, just a painted skin.

When Cui Jue summoned the painters to draw a skin for me, every time I put it on, although I felt full of qi and blood, it was just a feeling. In fact, there was nothing inside the human skin except my skeleton. So, on the day I first met Yu Jing, I didn’t realize I was leaking air until he reminded me.

So, if my palm was broken, it wouldn’t bleed but would only reveal the white bones inside.

Sure enough, Yu Jing looked at my palm and his brows slightly furrowed.

I felt a bit embarrassed and wanted to pull my hand back uneasily.

Yu Jing suddenly asked, “What happened later?”

I asked subconsciously, “What later?”

“Didn’t you say you were a goddess before? What happened later that made you like this now?”

Me: “…”

I really didn’t remember this. I also didn’t expect that although he didn’t lose his memory, he actually believed it!

“La, later…”

I hadn’t made up the story yet!

I looked away guiltily, looking up at the sky, the trees, and the courtyard wall. A crape myrtle branch protruded from the courtyard wall, and a pink butterfly happened to fly by, landed gently on the flower’s heart, and then flapped its wings and flew elsewhere.

I immediately got an idea.

It took me half an hour to tell Yu Jing the third life of our earth – shattering love story.

The general idea was that I had been a goddess on the fairy mountain for most of my life. I was moved by Weisheng’s persistence and became curious about the human world. So I transformed into a mortal and wanted to go to the academy to learn about love. But who knew that the academy didn’t accept female students, so I had to disguise myself as a man and sneak in. Coincidentally, in this life, the little doctor was reincarnated as a little scholar. Not only were we in the same academy, but we were also assigned to the same dormitory. With the two of us living in the same room, it was natural that we would fall in love over time.

I said, “You didn’t care whether I was a man or a woman! At that time, you even thought I was a man! But you still fell in love with me!”

“Unfortunately, you were so shy in your previous life that you didn’t tell me your feelings until we parted. You were so lovesick that you became ill and died young…” I sighed and wiped the corner of my eye with my sleeve, “Later, when I passed by your grave in Kuaiji, I thought you had been infatuated with me for three lives, so I should offer you a stick of incense. Who knew that a crack suddenly appeared in your tomb, and two lingering butterflies flew out from it. I was so startled by this strange sight that I lost my footing and fell in. When I woke up, I was like this.”

I secretly peeked at Yu Jing from under my sleeve.

He was standing against the light, half of his face hidden in the shadow. A wisp of broken hair slid down from his forehead, just covering his eyes, making it hard to see his expression clearly.

He didn’t say whether he believed it or not. He just rubbed the wound on my palm with his thumb and asked, “Does it hurt?”

I didn’t know why he suddenly mentioned this. Caught off – guard, I stammered, “Ac, actually, I don’t feel anything.”

Yu Jing lowered his head, thinking about something. After a while, he looked up at me and actually showed a faint smile, “In that case, I shouldn’t have brought a first – aid kit.”

He said, “Wait for me a moment.”

I looked at him in confusion as he went into the inner room to get the pen, ink, and various pigments and spread them on the stone table.

I curiously leaned over, “What are you going to do?”

Yu Jing smiled, “Bandage your wound.”

As he spoke, he thought for a long time, then picked up the pen and dipped it in lead – white. He said, “Stretch out your hand.”

He held my hand and started painting on my palm.

Yu Jing’s hand was warm, and the touch of the brush on my palm was ticklish, making my heart tingle.

No, if this goes on, I’ll leak air again.

I didn’t dare to look at Yu Jing anymore. I didn’t know whether to look up at the sky or down at the tip of his pen.

After a long time, he suddenly asked, “I was infatuated with you for three lives?”

I nodded heavily, “Yes.”

Yu Jing smiled, non – committal, and just said, “A -“

He started to speak but paused, tilted his head to look at me, “I don’t know how the City Master is called?”

I felt a bit embarrassed, “Why don’t you give me a name?”

Yu Jing didn’t speak. He just dipped the brush in some light yellow color and added a few strokes to my palm, “Okay.”

I looked down. The lines spread from the wound, forming a delicate and small cluster of flowers. The petals were lead – white, and the tips were light yellow, blooming in my palm.

I was stunned.

Yu Jing put down the brush with satisfaction, “Why not call you A Tu?”

Ming had given me a name before.

In fact, I had a name. I was born on a peach tree and was originally called Taogu. But I thought this name wasn’t nice, so I pestered Ming to give me a new one.

He said at that time, “Then call you A Tu.”

A Tu, A Tu.

Although Ming had a face that made people keep their distance, even if he called out these two words expressionlessly, there was an inexplicable sense of tenderness. I was overjoyed.

It was not until much later that I learned that “tu” was the meaning of a bitter herb.

I went to him with a sad face. He was so annoyed by me that he let out a soft sigh, motioned for me to sit down beside him, and pointed in a direction for me to see.

I looked in the direction he pointed. In that corner, for some reason, several thatch grass emerged from the calm sea surface. The long and thin leaves clustered around a cluster of white – yellowish flowers.

He said, “The only thing I can see is these few thatch grass.”

The cluster of white flowers that Yu Jing painted on my palm was exactly like this.

I was lost in the distant memories and couldn’t come back to my senses. Suddenly, Yu Jing asked, “What about you?”

“What?”

“I was infatuated with A Tu for three lives. Then what about A Tu? Did you ever love me?”

Yu Jing looked at me. Although there was a smile on his face, there was no trace of a smile in his eyes. They were just shiny, full of exploration.

I answered without thinking, “Of course I love you!”

Yu Jing said, “Why do you love me?”

I quickly blurted out, “Because -“

But I didn’t know how to continue after opening my mouth.

I couldn’t say that I loved him because he was good – looking and I was lusting after his body, could I?

I stammered, “Because we were entangled for three lives and met again in this life. It’s only natural that I should love you.”

“So it is.” Yu Jing said.

The flower on my palm had dried. He closed my palm for me, “You see, in the first life, I was infatuated with you, but you didn’t really know my feelings. In the second life, I died holding the pillar. On the surface, it was for you, but actually, it should be said that I was inflexible. In the third life, not to mention unrequited love, I even made you…”

A hint of a smile seeped into his eyes. After a pause, he continued, “I even made you like this now.”

Yu Jing said, “The first three lives were all my one – sided love. So, you actually don’t owe me anything, right?”

He asked me if it was right, and I couldn’t refute at all. I couldn’t even think because with such a face, whatever he said seemed right.

I nodded blankly.

“Then why do you love me?”

I anxiously explained to him, “But when I saw you in the main hall that day, I fell in love with you at first sight. Loving you in this life is destined by heaven.”

“A Tu,” Yu Jing called me softly, “In your opinion, what is love?”

I was stunned. My mind went blank, and I couldn’t answer.

But Yu Jing didn’t need my answer. He just smiled and said, “A Tu, when you figure out what love is, come and love me again.”

Later that day, I stood alone outside his small courtyard for a long time.

I thought that when I first saw him, I thought he was unapproachable, but actually, it wasn’t the case. He just had a natural aloof temperament, so when he kept a straight face, it made people feel distant.

He was actually a very gentle person. He would smile and help me down from the wall, and hold my hand to draw a cluster of flowers on my palm. Just like Ming in the past, although he didn’t like to talk to me much, he never drove me away when I made such a ruckus in the North Sea.

Yu Jing thought I didn’t love him.

I thought hard in the main hall for three days and thought Yu Jing was the fool.

How could I not love him? I loved him so much that I wanted to leak air whenever I saw him!

I thought that Yu Jing thought I didn’t love him mainly because my love was too low – key, so low – key that he couldn’t even notice it.

This wouldn’t do.

I decided to pursue Yu Jing properly and let him feel my passionate love.

Cui Jue gave me advice. He said that all love starts with a good – looking appearance.

I had heard this twice already, and I was very dissatisfied. “I’m just a skeleton. You know that.”

Cui Jue had a mysterious look on his face. “I mean, all love starts with a good – looking – appearance.”

Master, I got it.

So, one day, the gates of the City Master’s Mansion were wide open, and all the painters in Sifang City were invited to the mansion as guests.

A day later, I put on a new human skin and “accidentally” met Yu Jing outside his separate courtyard.

I looked at him sincerely. “I’ve thought for three or four days, and I still love you. I love you even more than when I saw you last time.”

Yu Jing looked puzzled. “Who are you?”

As soon as he said that, he seemed to understand, and then said, “It’s A Tu.”

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You’ve changed your appearance again.”

“Yeah, yeah! It’s even more beautiful than before!” I turned around in front of him, showing off my new skin, and then looked at him expectantly. “So, have you fallen in love with me?”

He didn’t answer. He just looked me up and down, nodded in approval, and said, “You look innocent and cute.”

!!!

If a man sincerely wants to praise a woman for being beautiful, he can come up with tens of thousands of ways to say it. Only when he has nothing good to say will he use the word “cute”!

That night, the City Master’s Mansion was brightly lit all night. The painters stayed up all night to paint, and I gave them instructions beside them. “Make the face a little thinner, don’t draw the eyes so round, raise the end of the eyes a bit, and dot a mole under the left eyelid. It should be in the sexy wild – cat style.”

Two days later, I put on a new human skin and “accidentally” met Yu Jing in his separate courtyard.

I said, “I love you.”

This time, he recognized me a little faster than last time. He just stared for a moment and said, “Ah, A Tu is here.”

As he spoke, he picked up a plate of pastries on the table. “These are newly made crape – myrtle pastries. Want to try some?”

I put my hand on his and pushed the plate away. “No, I need to lose weight.”

As I said that, I winked at him shyly.

Yu Jing didn’t notice my winking. His eyes swept over my whole body, and he said with a faint smile, “I think A Tu has a well – proportioned figure. Why do you need to lose weight?”

Well – proportioned!

That night, the painters stayed up all night again. I was so angry that I stood aside with my hands on my hips. “Draw my chest bigger! Make it 36D!”

Three days later, I put on a new human skin and “accidentally” met Yu Jing on his bed…

He lifted the bed curtain, and I was half – lying on his bed, full of charm. “I love you.”

This time, he just looked at me once and then picked me up. “Is this also a coincidence?”

Me: “Isn’t this a coincidence?”

“A Tu.”

Yu Jing called me. This time, there was no smile in his voice, and his expression was solemn. He seemed really angry.

Although I didn’t know what he was angry about, I immediately wilted. “I was wrong.”

Yu Jing: “…”

After a long time, he sighed, pulled a thin quilt over me, and said, “A Tu, you don’t need to worry so much about your appearance. Your original look is very beautiful.”

I thought to myself that my original look was just a skeleton. What’s so beautiful about that.

Later, Yu Jing drew an appearance for me himself.

That appearance wasn’t extremely beautiful. There were a pair of round eyes on a small nose, and it actually looked a bit like me before I was killed by Ming.

I took it to the painter to make a new human skin according to the drawing. Then I put it on and walked around in front of Yu Jing to show him. “Is it beautiful?”

Yu Jing said, “It’s beautiful.”

I leaned my face towards him. “So, do you love me a little bit?”

Yu Jing laughed, and with his slender fingers, he tapped my forehead. “Silly girl.”

He didn’t say whether he loved me or not.

Tempting him with beauty didn’t work. After all, Yu Jing was very good – looking himself. Loving me because of my appearance was like falling in love with himself in the mirror.

Cui Jue said again, “To capture a man’s heart, you must first capture his stomach.”

This seemed reasonable.

So, Cui Jue watched me blow up the kitchen for half a month.

Half a month later, I finally became a master chef and made a delicate Manchu – Han banquet, inviting Yu Jing to taste it with me.

I placed the delicious food on the table and introduced them to Yu Jing one by one. “This is almond curd, this is pickled potherb mustard with pond loach, this is Ruyi roll…”

Yu Jing interrupted me. “Ruyi roll?”

Me: “…”

I looked at the Ruyi roll that had fallen apart into a mess and changed my words readily. “Ruyi cake.”

Yu Jing: “…”

I continued to introduce the next dish. “This is stone – grilled shrimp.”

This time, before he could question me, I explained first. “There are shrimps. It’s just that I didn’t control the heat well, so the shrimps and the stones underneath seem to be a bit integrated.”

As I spoke, I picked up a black piece with chopsticks to show him. It was in the shape of a shrimp.

I pointed to the next dish. “This is thin – sheet – wrapped vermicelli soup… I cooked it for a bit too long, and the soup may have dried up a bit. Maybe we can consider it as a staple food…”

Me: “…”

Me: “Forget it.”

Me: “How about we go out to eat?”

Although I said this, there was still a glimmer of hope in my heart.

I was familiar with this plot. I had heard so many stories like this before. Even if the heroine’s cooking was extremely bad, the hero would still force himself to eat it and praise it as “delicious”.

I looked at Yu Jing.

He slowly picked up the chopsticks.

He looked around with the chopsticks in his hand, looking lost.

He slowly put them down again.

He looked up at me and showed a gentle smile. “Let’s go out to eat.”

Me: “.”

Yu Jing and I went out to eat together.

This was also good. Although I couldn’t capture his stomach with my cooking skills, I could dazzle his eyes with my wealth.

Although Sifang City was a ghost city, it was still a city. And I, as the city master, was at least a city master.

I, the city master, wanted Yu Jing to see the territory I had conquered for him.

At that time, the night was just falling, and the lanterns were lit. The city was full of blue ghost fires, and it was very lively.

Yu Jing and I walked side by side. First, we saw a little girl sitting by the roadside. Her white clothes made her face even paler. She was holding a wooden comb in her hand, combing her hair one stroke at a time. After combing for a while, probably feeling that it was tiring to raise her hand like this, she frowned, took off her head and held it in her arms, and slowly combed it. Then she showed a satisfied smile.

We walked a few more steps, and two hanged ghosts were chatting head – to – head. One of them held his tongue up proudly to show off. “Look, I just got a tattoo last month! Along the River During the Qingming Festival! Isn’t it beautiful?!”

The other one sneered disdainfully. “What’s so great about that? Tattooing the tongue is out of date these days. Now it’s popular to get a tongue – piercing! Look at mine -“

As he spoke, he hung his tongue down. There were seven shiny diamonds on it, looking like a spoon from the beginning to the end. “I got this Big Dipper constellation from the blacksmith Lu in the west of the city yesterday. There’s a 12% discount for a whole set.”

Me: “…”

I secretly peeked at Yu Jing. He took all this in, but his expression was as usual, without any change.

My heart was itching, and I couldn’t help but reach out to hook his finger.

Yu Jing turned his head to look at me. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I dodged his gaze uneasily and said with a serious face, “I’m just worried that you, as an ordinary mortal, might be scared in your heart…”

As I said this, I couldn’t help but secretly peek at him from the corner of my eye.

He was stunned for a moment, then smiled. “I’m a little scared. I still feel a bit scared in this situation.”

I was stunned. He held my whole hand, tilted his head, and said, “Oh, suddenly I feel much more at ease.”

Me: “!”

Damn it, this man is so good at this.

It took me a lot of effort to calm down. I became a little worried and insecure.

“Yu Jing,” I called his name, “Are you really scared of them? If I didn’t have the human skin, I might look even scarier than them. Would you be scared of me then?”

Yu Jing stopped, looked down at me for a long time, reached out to stroke my head, and let out a soft sigh. “A Tu.”

I only heard this “A Tu”.

Because the next moment, I was pulled by him and somehow fell into his arms. I only felt a gust of wind pass behind me.

I turned around. A woman was running past the place where I was standing just now at top speed, with a string of little ghosts chasing after her, giggling and shouting “Mom”.

They ran all the way. When they passed a bridge not far away, the woman stopped and called to a young man in green clothes holding an umbrella under the bridge. “Weisheng, you’re still waiting here? That girl won’t come. When it rains in the middle of the night, you’ll be flooded again -“

The young man had a faint, gentle smile on his face. “I know. I just miss her a little, so I’m standing here for a while – Auntie, where are you in such a hurry to go?”

The woman laughed. “I’m taking the kids to Shanbo’s place to get a cup of wedding wine. Today is his and Yingtai’s big day. They couldn’t get married when they were alive, so today they want to make up for the regret of their previous lives and complete all the ceremonies!”

As she spoke, she glanced at the little ghosts following behind her, with a smile in the corner of her eyes. “You know, I didn’t have any children when I was alive. But after I died, it’s great. So many kids want to recognize me as their mom. I can’t afford to raise them! I can’t work, so I can only live by begging like this.”

I was still leaning in Yu Jing’s arms. I looked up and met his gaze.

I opened my mouth, trying to explain. “That…”

He looked at me with a half – smile. “Weisheng holding the pillar, huh?”

Me: “…”

Yu Jing: “Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai turning into butterflies, huh?”

Me: “…”

I was simply speechless.

But I still struggled a bit. I said, “No, listen to my excuse.”

Yu Jing let go of me and watched me with interest.

I started to make excuses. “Actually, it’s like this…”

But I really couldn’t think of any excuses.

I hung my head dejectedly and confessed. “Okay, I admit it. In order to keep you, I did use some exaggerated and rhetorical methods when describing our relationship… But one thing is definitely true!”

I pointed to the sky with my finger, looking sincere. “I like you – I really like you!”

Yu Jing looked at me with a slight nod, his eyes deep. After a long time, he said softly, “A Tu…”

With this tone, he was going to reason with me.

Yu Jing had reasoned with me many times, but this time, I suddenly didn’t dare to listen –

I liked the tenderness and lingering in his voice when he called my name, but after so many days, I was also afraid that my entanglement was in vain and that I would always be stuck in the same place.

I was afraid of hearing his rejection.

So I interrupted him hastily, even a bit self – deprecatingly. “Anyway, whether you believe it or not, Sifang City can only open its gates once a year. How long has it been since the Ghost Festival in the human world? You’ll have to stay here for most of the year!”

Yu Jing looked at me for a long time, then suddenly smiled.

“So that’s how it is,” he said, “Then when the Ghost Festival comes next year, will you let me go?”

He really still wanted to leave.

My heart sank. I was sad, but I was even more stubborn. “Of course.”

Yu Jing said, “Then after I leave, will you miss me?”

I subconsciously said, “Of course…”

But I couldn’t say a “no” –

Not to mention the future, just thinking that he would eventually leave, I was already sad at this moment.

Yu Jing saw that I was silent for a long time and couldn’t help laughing. “The name A Tu really suits you. But it should be the ‘tu’ for muddle – headed.”

He said, “You should say that when the time comes, you’ll ask Cui Jue to find you another group of people, and then you’ll pick out the most good – looking one from them, and be happy every day, never thinking of me again.”

As he said this, he probably thought it was funny himself, looking in a very good mood. “Let’s go.”

“Where to?” I couldn’t figure it out for a moment.

“Didn’t you say we came out to eat? ” He patted my head, took my hand again, “City Master, take me to the wedding banquet to get a cup of wedding wine, too.”

Was Yu Jing really an ordinary mortal? I thought he was like a mage proficient in witchcraft, who somehow planted a gu – worm in my heart, making me muddle – headed whenever I saw his smile.

Ming had also said I was muddle – headed before. At that time, I refuted him, saying that what was wrong with being muddle – headed? He was silent for a long time, then just smiled and said, “Yeah, what’s wrong with being muddle – headed?”

He said, “It’s hard to be muddle – headed as a person.”

I immediately followed Yu Jing’s train of thought.

Although he would leave sooner or later, I might not have no chance at all. For example, if I took him to the wedding banquet and let him experience the grandeur of being the husband of the city master, maybe he would fall in love with this feeling, then fall in love with me, and finally be willing to stay.

I immediately got energetic, held his hand back, and said with determination, “Let’s go.”

Laughing to death, no one recognized me at all.

Fortunately, this wedding banquet was grand, with many guests, and all were welcome.

I took Yu Jing and mingled among them. During the intervals of feasting and drinking, I didn’t forget to explain to him: “I’ve always been low-key. This time I’m traveling incognito. Seeing that the city is full of peace and harmony, I’m very satisfied.”

Yu Jing handed me a glass of fruit wine and nodded in agreement: “They don’t look at you differently just because you’re the city lord. It’s really good.”

Me: “…”

So angry that I drank three big cups of wine.

So that night, I was helped back to the city lord’s mansion by Yu Jing.

I staggered, my steps were unsteady, but my mouth wouldn’t stop.

“I’m so happy today.” I grabbed the corner of Yu Jing’s clothes and spoke in a slurred voice, “I’ve been thinking for a long time that if there was such a city where homeless wandering souls could all come and live, and I lived here too, and everyone lived just like when they were alive, as prosperous as the human world, that would be great.”

I looked up at the sky and then down at the bluestone – paved road under my feet: “Look, now I’m in such a city. It’s so nice.”

I turned my face to look at him again: “And you’re still by my side. It’s so nice.”

Yu Jing supported me and said in a low voice: “A Tu, you’re drunk.”

I looked at him, feeling a little dazed in my heart: “Am I drunk?”

He lowered his head to look at me. The brilliant starry river in the night set off his deep eyes, like a deep pool: “A Tu, who do you think I am?”

I reached out and pinched his face, looking at him carefully: “Xuan Ming——”

He smiled, neither admitting nor denying it, just saying: “A Tu, let me tell you a story.”

I don’t even remember how I got to the roof.

It might be an ordinary family in the city, or we might have already returned to the city lord’s mansion. Anyway, as soon as I looked up, I could see the stars scattered all over the sky, and then his voice came, like a gentle evening breeze.

He said: “Have you ever heard of the North Sea? There is a kind of fish that is several feet long. People don’t know its length, but it’s trapped in a sea area, unable to get out and with nowhere to go.”

The liveliness faded away in the night, and the whole city was quiet, without a sound.

Nor could I hear Yu Jing’s voice telling the story.

I waited for a long time and finally couldn’t help asking: “And then?”

“That’s it.”

I was in a hurry and leaned forward to ask him: “How could it be over? Did that fish succeed in getting out of trouble and finding freedom?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because…”

Yu Jing said this, but didn’t say any more.

The silence made me sober for a moment. Only then did I realize that I could no longer see the starry river, because we were so close that there was only him left in my eyes.

I heard the sound of someone swallowing saliva.

“A Tu, don’t you always ask me what love is?” Yu Jing said, “Now I’ll tell you…”

He didn’t say any more, but a slight coolness landed on my lips.

I only felt my eyelashes tremble violently, and then in my chest, something unknown began to beat powerfully.

Dong, dong, dong.

First it was full of life, and then a dull pain.

What is love?

Love is such an uncontrollable feeling.

My mind went blank, and then it seemed that all the strength in my body was drained.

I lost my energy again.

When I woke up, Cui Jue was guarding me by my bed.

As soon as I moved, my chest began to ache faintly, and I felt a little dazed: “Cui Jue, I seem to have a heartache——”

Cui Jue cried sadly: “If someone cuts a knife in your heart, can it not hurt?”

I reached out and stroked my chest, feeling that there seemed to be something beating in my chest, and it also seemed to be empty with nothing. I didn’t know if there was anything in the chest, but there was really a knife wound.

I was stunned for a while, and my mind slowly came back.

The “dong dong” sound that night was not my illusion, but I really grew a warm, beating heart.

Before, Yu Jing said that I didn’t understand what love was. It turned out that it wasn’t an excuse, but the truth. How could a skeleton without a heart know what love was? But when I really grew a heart, Yu Jing was gone.

On the night of the Hungry Ghost Festival (July 15th in the lunar calendar), the gates of the underworld open, and the dead souls return to the world of the living, so hundreds of ghosts walk at night. But now the cold winter is approaching, and it’s still more than half a year until the next Hungry Ghost Festival. Cui Jue led people to search every corner of Sifang City, but didn’t find a single trace of anyone.

It was as if Yu Jing had never appeared in Sifang City.

I recuperated in the city lord’s mansion for more than half a month. During these half – a – month, sometimes I climbed the building and looked into the distance, seeing thousands of lights on, and a ghost city was as lively as the human world; sometimes I lay on the roof, watching the falling stars all over the sky, and when I stretched out my hand, it seemed that I could hold them all; sometimes I just hid in the room and didn’t go anywhere.

There is a library in the city lord’s mansion. I picked a book and read it all day. The book said that when Pangu created the world and Nuwa created humans, the underworld was not formed. So the souls of the dead humans had nowhere to go and could only float on the sea. Later, an immortal couldn’t bear to see this and built Sifang City with the stones of Kunlun Mountain. It only allows entry and no exit, and is specially for collecting the souls that don’t enter reincarnation. Later, the Heavenly Dao took shape and forged the underworld. Humans had reincarnation. The immortal opened a door for Sifang City again, allowing the souls that want to enter reincarnation to go out of the ghost gate on July 15th every year, cross the Yellow Spring, enter the Underworld Department, and go to reincarnation.

Cui Jue served by my side and saw everything. One day, he finally couldn’t stand it and said: “City Lord, why don’t you cry?”

As he said this, he reluctantly turned his body to the side: “If you need it, I can lend you my shoulder.”

I thought it was a little funny and couldn’t help asking: “Cui Jue, how long have you been in this Sifang City?”

He probably didn’t expect me to ask suddenly. He tilted his head seriously and thought: “For about a hundred years, maybe even a thousand years.”

He said with some melancholy: “It’s really been a long time——”

“Then why don’t you leave?”

Cui Jue was stunned.

“Go out of this Sifang City, go to the Yellow Spring, go to the Underworld Department, and go to a brand – new life. It’s so free and easy.”

I looked at Cui Jue. He was always casual, but now he put away his smiling expression and became serious. After a long time, he let out a long sigh.

“City Lord.” He called me softly and reached out his hand to me.

I pinched his fingertips and then saw his memories of when he was a human.

It was Cui Jue at the age of twenty, the year of his coronation. He passed the imperial examination and was appointed as a court official. He was full of youthful spirit and high – spirited. He rode a horse through Chang’an Street. The pedestrians on the street all turned their heads to look at him, with envy on their faces. So he became even more proud and raised his head. Just then, he saw a little girl sticking her head out from the railing on the second floor of a tea house on the street. She had a pink face and red lips, and there was a hibiscus flower pinned to her temple. Their eyes met from afar in the air. The girl suddenly smiled brightly, and he seemed to forget how to ride a horse all of a sudden.

“Two blushing faces are like peach blossoms blooming from a mirror, and a pair of eyes are like spring water, shining coldly.” Cui Jue smiled and said, “Yes, a new life is certainly good, but I have an old acquaintance in my heart and can’t bear to forget her.”

Having an old acquaintance in the heart and being unable to bear to forget.

I lowered my eyelids and felt that I couldn’t read the book anymore. After a long silence, I still couldn’t help asking: “Then do you think it’s right to take another shadow as him just because you’re greedy for the shadow of your old acquaintance?”

I covered my face with the book. Without waiting for Cui Jue to answer, I already had the answer myself: “Of course it’s not right, because greed itself is wrong.”

Wei Sheng went to wait under the bridge every day. In fact, he knew clearly in his heart that he couldn’t wait for the girl he loved, because that girl had stood him up that year and later didn’t come to Sifang City either. But he missed her so much. This miss, after thousands of years of fermentation, was not diluted but became even stronger. So whenever the miss became too much to bear, he would come and stand under the bridge, think about the full anticipation when he was waiting at that time, and then he could become happy and content again.

Cui Jue sent some souls going to reincarnation out of the city every Ghost Festival. He stood by the city gate and watched their faces, which were either happy or expectant. Didn’t he know that reincarnation was good? After reincarnation, everything would be new. He might be a scholar, a poet, a doctor, or a young general, with a red tassel on his silver spear, a strong horse in silver armor, and commanding on the battlefield. Going out meant countless possible lives; staying here, however, was just year after year of darkness. But he couldn’t bear to forget the girl he had seen at first sight in his previous life.

Since ancient times, people’s hearts can’t escape greed. Wei Sheng was like this, Cui Jue was like this, and how could I be any different?

I was born with a special ability. As long as it’s a human, even if they have become souls, when I touch them with my hand, I can see all their past. Only with Yu Jing, when I touched his fingertips and tried to see his past, it was a complete blank.

This is actually not hard to guess. How could an ordinary person enter Sifang City and have the same appearance as Xuan Ming?

He is not an ordinary person, but just a puppet.

The one who can create such a lifelike puppet is probably only Xuan Ming.

The book I read also said that there are heartless ghosts in the world. They can’t be killed, and only by giving them a heart and draining their blood can they die.

Xuan Ming probably hated my entanglement before extremely. Killing me in the previous life was not enough. Now that I have become a skeleton, he still has to create a puppet to kill me again.

But I’m greedy.

Before, on Xiaoyu Mountain, I met so many living souls and saw their whole lives, but I was always just a passer – by. Day after day, year after year, I just watched the sunrise and sunset on the cliff, feeling that life was no more joyous than death. Until I met Xuan Ming.

How quiet the North Sea is! And isn’t there also silence under the hustle and bustle of the South Sea? But when I met Xuan Ming, everything became alive.

I lingered and made a ruckus in the North Sea and slept beside Xuan Ming. Sometimes when I was in a good mood, I would compose tunes and whistle them to him. After a tune, my face would be red, and then I would ask him how it was. He thought for a long time and finally said: “At least I can’t whistle so many strange sounds.”

Sometimes I told him the stories I saw. I said, look how bitter the people in the world are, with greed, anger, ignorance, hatred, and displacement. Once they die, their souls still have to cross the sea, homeless. He gave me a faint look with his light – colored eyes and just said: “There is always a place to return.”

Sometimes I was also worried about gains and losses. I said that people in the world have separation when they are alive and eternal separation when they die. Will we also be separated in the future? He didn’t speak, just sighed. Later, when I fell asleep, I felt that someone seemed to touch my head and then pulled my hair strands to wind around their fingertips, circle after circle. In my sleep, I thought that as long as he didn’t drive me away on his own initiative, I must stay by his side.

A long time ago, I seemed to be floating aimlessly in the water, and Xuan Ming, he was a reed, a cluster of floating duckweed, a piece of driftwood that I met after floating for many days.

Later, after I died for many years, I still longed for such vividness. Because of greed, even though I knew that Yu Jing was just a puppet and that his tenderness might be fake, I still couldn’t help but keep him and get close to him.

Cui Jue advised me to cry, saying that crying might make me feel better, but what did I have to cry about? Greed was originally a delusion. I was the one who forced it, so no matter what the consequences were, I deserved it.

On the contrary, the blood in my heart didn’t drain out, allowing me to keep a remnant life and live in the old dreams of the past day after day. This was already a great kindness from heaven.

The wound on my chest healed extremely slowly. I had been recuperating for more than half a year and it still hadn’t healed.

It was Ghost Festival again. At night, the gates of Sifang City opened wide. I stood at the city gate with Cui Jue, sending hundreds of ghosts out of the city.

Suddenly, there was a burst of children’s laughter. I followed the sound and saw the woman I had met in the city that night when Yu Jing and I were wandering around looking for food. A string of children were following behind her and were also in the line to go out of the city.

I was a little surprised. Cui Jue had already asked: “Auntie, are you going out of the city this year too?”

The woman shook her head and smiled naively: “I’m here to send these children off. I had a hard life when I was alive. I was sold by my parents when I was young and beaten by my husband after I got married. I never had a good life. Now that I’ve become a lonely soul, I’m rather carefree. But these children are still young. They died young and became ghosts before they understood anything. Now that there’s a chance of reincarnation, maybe they can be born into a good family!”

As she said this, she turned around and looked at the man behind her: “Wei Sheng, aren’t you leaving this year either?”

Wei Sheng was dressed in a green shirt, still looking like a scholar. He said: “Ah, ah yes, I’m just here to see these children off.”

The woman said: “What’s so good about that girl? She didn’t come to see you that year. Now she’s probably been reincarnated many times. Can’t you let it go?”

Wei Sheng was a little embarrassed: “Maybe in another year, I can let it go.”

I sighed in my heart, couldn’t bear to look anymore, and had to turn my head to look outside the city.

Outside the city, the line of people going out to be reincarnated had already been very long. They were going out of Sifang City, and there was still a long way to the Yellow Spring, but they seemed to see a new life right in front of them. Their steps were cautious and hasty.

Only those little ghost children didn’t know what the road ahead meant, nor did they know that behind them was a permanent separation. They stepped out of Sifang City with novelty in their eyes, thinking it was just a new journey and being very happy.

I looked back at the lady who brought them. She was still smiling, but her eyes were red. She stared at their jumping backs. After a while, she suddenly turned around and quickly wiped away a tear.

I stood at the city gate for I don’t know how long, until those who were about to be reborn had gone towards their new lives, and those who were obsessed were still obsessed. Until the sky gradually darkened, and the thick city gates of Sifang City “creaked” and finally began to close slowly.

I looked at the gradually closing city gates, and my heart moved. I suddenly rushed towards the city gate.

I don’t know what I was thinking.

Sifang City takes in the souls of the dead. I’m a ghost born naturally, without a soul at birth. After being killed by Xuan Ming in my previous life, I’m just a skeleton. If I go out of Sifang City, I don’t know what will happen.

But I vaguely felt that if I stayed in Sifang City like this, I would never see Xuan Ming again in this life.

Behind me came a heart – rending cry of “City Lord” from Cui Jue. I didn’t have time to turn around and look. I just squeezed through the last crack of the door and rushed out, but I didn’t feel any pain and didn’t go out of the city either.

In front of my eyes was a chaos.

A faint female voice came from nowhere and shouted: “Shen Tu.”

I subconsciously asked: “Who’s that?”

The voice didn’t speak.

I asked again: “Who are you?”

She didn’t answer my question, only saying: “I’ve been guarding here because I made a bet with someone a thousand years ago. This bet needs to be unraveled by you.”

Before I could react, what I saw in front of me was no longer chaos but rapidly changing scenes.

The scenes flipped through one by one, and I saw the origin of all things.

At that time, heaven and earth had not yet separated, and everything was in chaos. Suddenly, one day, the first god was born in the chaos, and that was Pangu.

Later, Pangu split the sky with an axe. The pure qi rose to become the blue sky, and the light of the sky poured down, thus creating the human world.

Looking at the scene in front of me, I felt rather baffled, but a sense of foreboding welled up in my heart: “What kind of bet is this? And what does it have to do with me?”

“Within the chaos, apart from the pure qi, there was also extreme bliss and extreme suffering, mixed together and called turbid qi. The human world couldn’t bear this turbid qi, so the heavens split out the netherworld, and then made the extremely evil turbid qi that was born from nature take form to guard that netherworld.”

The voice paused for a moment and then said: “The North Sea is quiet, with no sunlight all year round, silent and soundless. That is the piece of netherworld split out by the heavens.”

When I first saw Xuan Ming in the North Sea, seeing his beautiful appearance, I called him a fairy. Little did I know that he was not a fairy at all. He came from the chaos, absorbing turbid qi day after day. Later, when Pangu created the world and light reached the human world, he became extremely evil.

We often say that people become ghosts after death. This is actually not accurate. After a person dies, the physical body decays completely, and what remains to enter reincarnation is called the soul. And the so – called evil ghosts are extremely evil spirits born in the chaos, rarely seeing the light of day.

Xuan Ming is such an evil ghost born in the deepest part of the netherworld.

“But the heavens are merciful and gave him a chance.” The voice said, “The Heavenly Dao split out the Northern Dark Sea, guiding the evil spirits into the sea, and then ordered him to guard the Northern Dark Sea and suppress three thousand evil ghosts. If, after tens of millions of years, the resentment of the evil ghosts dissipated, he would be considered to have expiated his sins and be able to obtain reincarnation.”

I was speechless. My mind was in a mess. After stammering for a long time, I could only say: “But this wasn’t his fault in the first place.”

“Yes,” the voice sighed softly, “but the Heavenly Dao is ruthless. That’s just the way it is.”

I asked again: “Then… did he kill me back then because the resentment hadn’t dissipated and he couldn’t leave the North Sea?”

The voice fell silent.

After a while, the scene in the chaos froze into a semi – transparent scroll.

It was a brocade fabric woven with magic, capable of preserving a person’s memory.

On the scroll, I saw a boundless deep – blue sea area. On the vast sea, people looked like just tiny dots. It was a black figure sitting in meditation—

Just from the back view, it looked infinitely lonely.

That was Xuan Ming, alone at the beginning of the world, atoning for his innate sins.

I reached out to touch the scroll, empathizing with him, and saw the North Sea through his eyes.

When Xuan Ming first learned that he was destined to be trapped in the North Sea for his entire life, he actually didn’t think much of it.

When people talk about evil and ghosts, they always feel afraid unconsciously. Coincidentally, he, Xuan Ming, was not only a ghost but also an extremely evil one.

But what exactly is evil? Greed, anger, ignorance, delusion, sloth—all negative aspects are considered evil.

And in Xuan Ming, sloth was the most prominent.

He thought, anyway, he was going to die. Wherever he died was the same. So he would just stay in the North Sea and wait for death. Besides, he was too lazy to move.

Of course, sometimes, other evil thoughts would arise in his heart. At such times, he would think, why do you immortals, demons, and humans all live good lives, while I alone have to guard this dark sea area waiting to die?

So when one day, that little ghost escaped from the Northern Dark Sea, he turned a blind eye and simply pretended not to know.

He thought maliciously, escape, and it would be best to turn the world upside down. Everyone might as well die together.

Then he forgot about it.

The resentment of the three thousand evil ghosts was heavy, but no matter how heavy it was, it couldn’t compare to the evil aura he was born with. They were suppressed under the Nine Netherworlds, not daring to make a single cry. The Northern Dark Sea was so quiet that not a sound could be heard. His life soon returned to normal, just like the calm sea surface, without waves. When he was awake, he would look at the sky and the sea, and when he was tired, he would close his eyes and rest.

Until one day, he heard singing.

It was a really unpleasant song, with no real lyrics, just being hummed randomly. It was out of tune and simply dreadful.

Xuan Ming couldn’t help but frown. Unexpectedly, the singing seemed to sense his dislike. It immediately became softer, drifted around for a while, and finally disappeared without a sound.

That was the beginning.

After that, Xuan Ming could always hear intermittent singing. It wasn’t exactly the same as the previous tune, but how should I put it? It could only be said that beautiful melodies were all alike, while hideous songs each had their own unique charm.

Later on, gradually, the singing decreased, and that voice started talking to itself. It probably caught some passing fish and birds and asked them: “Am I the most beautiful fairy in the world?”

Xuan Ming: “…”

He couldn’t let this go on any longer. Otherwise, in the long run, the Northern Dark Sea would have no peace, and he would never be able to sleep well again.

At that time, there was still a fish in the North Sea. When the Heavenly Dao split out the Northern Dark Sea, it was just a small fry. It strayed into this place and was trapped. By now, it had grown into a huge kun, still dreaming of swimming out of this sea and returning to freedom.

Xuan Ming sometimes watched coldly, thinking it was naive: “How could the Northern Dark Sea be escaped by just swimming?”

He sneered disdainfully: “What’s so good about freedom?”

He paused, “I can give you freedom.”

On an impulse, he made a deal with it: “But when you go out from here, you have to take a message for me.”

So he blew a breath, and a strong wind rose on the sea surface. The big fish grew wings, transformed into a bird, and soared into the sky with the wind, flying ninety thousand li in one go.

The roc flew from the North Sea to the South Sea, where it met a little girl. At that time, she was looking at her reflection in the water, holding a somewhat crudely carved wooden comb in her hand. She dipped it in water and combed her hair, then pinned a fake flower made with magic in her hair and preened herself in front of the sea surface. She caught a fish and asked triumphantly: “Little fish, little fish, am I the most beautiful fairy in the world?”

The roc perched on the peach tree branch by the cliff and dutifully delivered the message: “You probably haven’t seen a real beauty. Lord Xuan Ming of the Northern Dark Sea is the real fairy!”

Xuan Ming didn’t expect that the person who sang would really come to the North Sea.

Originally, he had the roc deliver the message just on a whim, not expecting to attract anyone to the North Sea. But who knew there was such a silly person in the world who, because of a random sentence, traveled across the sea and came all the way north.

That day, at some unknown moment, she appeared on the horizon, soaked through, her face pale, her fine black hair sticking to her face, and even the fake flower by her temple had wilted. She looked extremely disheveled. Yet, there was neither weariness nor resentment on her face. Instead, there was a hint of a satisfied smile at the corner of her mouth, as if she was happy that she had finally reached her destination.

Xuan Ming recognized her almost immediately—

That was the little ghost who had escaped from the Northern Dark Sea many years ago. When she left, she was just an unformed mass of shadow. Now that she was back, she had taken the form of a little girl, looking simple – minded and silly. Clearly, she didn’t seem like the type who could turn the world upside down.

She stared at him eagerly, almost drooling, and asked: “What are you doing here all day?”

Pathetic.

Thinking this way, the corner of Xuan Ming’s mouth almost twitched. He snorted coldly and said expressionlessly: “Waiting to die.”

As a result, the little girl’s eyes brightened even more, as if she had seen some delicious food.

Xuan Ming: “…”

Crazy.

Much later, Xuan Ming thought that at the very beginning, he actually didn’t like this little girl at all.

She was noisy and restless, forcing him to listen to the stories she had heard in the South Sea, like “Wei Sheng Keeping His Appointment” and “Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai Transforming into Butterflies”. She was so persistent and thick – skinned that she couldn’t be driven away. Only when she was tired from playing and fell asleep beside him could she show a bit of tranquility on her face.

Looking at the little girl’s sleeping face, he thought, she didn’t seem very smart, and in fact, she wasn’t. How could such a little ghost escape from the Northern Dark Sea back then? If he had known she was so useless, he shouldn’t have turned a blind eye and let her go.

Then he thought again, if he hadn’t let her go back then, would she still be as lively as she was now? Maybe she would be like the other evil ghosts under the sea. They feared him, so they hid at the bottom of the sea, silent as cicadas in winter. Then this sea area would always be desolate and lifeless.

When Xuan Ming realized that he might have become somewhat dependent on the liveliness this little ghost brought, the little girl was playing by herself. She was lying on the sea surface, looking down at those curled – up and struggling evil ghosts. Their faces were ferocious as they silently wailed, looking hideous. She then pinched her own face, squeezed her cheeks together, rolled her eyes, stuck out her tongue, and made faces at them. She looked even uglier than those evil ghosts.

Xuan Ming: “…”

Forget it.

After realizing his feelings, he had more things to consider.

She was one of the three thousand evil ghosts. Although she was too stupid to know how to do evil, it didn’t prevent the Heavenly Dao from setting a predetermined ending for her—

Between him and A Tu, there was never a choice. The Heavenly Dao gave them a one – way path. At the end of the road was his new life and her death.

He actually didn’t care much about whether he could have a new life. But he knew too well what the Heavenly Dao was like. Even if he voluntarily gave up his new life, the Heavenly Dao wouldn’t allow an evil ghost from the chaos to live in the world for a long time.

He didn’t have much capital to make a deal with the Heavenly Dao. So, he had to think of a more secure way.

Just as he was thinking this, someone tugged at his clothes.

Xuan Ming lowered his head. The little girl’s bright eyes sparkled, but her mouth was pursed, and her expression was as if she had lost a loved one: “You named me A Tu. So, Tu means bitter herbs?”

He was rarely gentle. He stroked her head, motioned for her to sit beside him, and pointed to the thatch growing on the sea surface. He said: “All I can see are just these few thatches.”

All that he could see was A Tu.

He wasn’t the type to express himself usually. He thought he had said it euphemistically, but after saying it, he started to worry whether the little ghost could understand.

She really didn’t understand, because she quickly jumped from his side to the thatch, squatted down to smell the cluster of white flowers, and then turned her head, her face full of joy: “It seems a bit fragrant!”

Xuan Ming: “…”

Forget it.

Xuan Ming thought that indeed, everywhere he looked, there was this silly little ghost.

Thinking this way, he couldn’t help but smile. He thought he was indeed an extremely evil ghost, having all the vices of greed, anger, ignorance, and delusion.

I remembered that the first time I saw Xuan Ming wasn’t after painstakingly crossing the sea.

It might have been daytime or night. Anyway, as soon as I opened my eyes, I saw him. He was extremely young, his skin was overly white, he was dressed in black, with long hair loose, his eyes tightly closed, not saying a word, just sitting upright on the sea surface.

At that time, I didn’t know the difference between beauty and ugliness. I just looked at him across the sea, feeling that he was solemn and mysterious, completely different from those creatures around me who could only cry and howl.

I thought at that time, this person is so good – looking! Is this a fairy?

But I was really too young at that time, too young to remember things clearly. What happened in a day would be forgotten after a night. When I woke up the next day and saw him again, I couldn’t help but sigh again, this person is so good – looking! Is this a fairy?

Day after day, sometimes if the first thing I saw when I woke up wasn’t him, I would forget about it.

Much later, I muddled out of the Northern Dark Sea, cultivated my original form on Xiaoyu Mountain, and then returned to the North Sea from the South Sea because of a word from the roc. When I saw him for the first time then, I felt he was both good – looking and familiar, but I didn’t know that in fact, I had already carefully examined him for so many days and nights.

Even as stupid as I was, I had already realized it by now.

I didn’t know where the voice came from, so I said to the chaos: “You are the Heavenly Dao, right?”

“What was your bet?”

Xuan Ming had set up a big plan.

He killed me, forged a set of bones for me with the jade of Kunlun Mountain, buried me outside Sifang City, waiting for someone to wake me up later. Then, he moved the abyss of the evil ghosts from the Northern Dark Sea to Dushuo Mountain and made a door to expel evil with the peach wood of my original form. Since then, I have been suppressing the three thousand evil ghosts. He wanted me, as an evil ghost, to enjoy infinite merits, so that the Heavenly Dao couldn’t do anything to me.

I listened in a daze, feeling something was wrong.

He gave me infinite merits, but what about him? The Heavenly Dao required him to guard until the resentment of the three thousand evil ghosts dissipated. If I couldn’t die, he couldn’t be reborn. He would always be an evil ghost born from the sins in the deepest part of the netherworld, without seeing the light of day.

He killed me a thousand years ago, and a thousand years later, he sent me a Yu Jing. But if he was all right, why didn’t he come in person instead of just sending a puppet?

A bad premonition suddenly rose in my heart. When I spoke again, my voice was tinged with a bit of trembling: “Where… is he now?”

The voice was silent for a while and then said: “You actually have other choices.”

The Heavenly Dao said: “You are a born heartless ghost. Xuan Ming made you have a heart and took your heart – blood, actually remolding a physical body for you. Your heart – blood and bones are all new. When the resentment of the evil ghosts dissipates and you achieve full merits, your physical body will become a god, and you will be the first god born after the creation of the world. At that time, you will be completely free and can go anywhere you want.”

My fists clenched so tightly that my knuckles turned white. I only asked: “Where is he?”

The Heavenly Dao said: “The evil ghosts are suppressed under Sifang City. The entrance is on Dushuo Mountain, thirty li south of the city. He has been guarding the Ghost Gate there for over a thousand years.”

I opened my eyes. The city gates of Sifang City hadn’t closed yet. The deep – blue lights in the city were numerous and lively, looking no different from the human world.

When the sky turned white, I left Sifang City.

Cui Jue came to see me off. I asked him: “How did you come to Sifang City back then?”

He said: “At that time, I was immersed in the dreams of my previous life and didn’t want to enter reincarnation. I was floating on the sea. But after floating for many days, I really couldn’t take it anymore. When I was on the verge of death, an immortal saved me. He said he was going to build a city. If there were people who didn’t want to enter reincarnation, they could go and live there. Those homeless souls who had forgotten who they were could also go and live there. But there was one condition. A thousand years later, I had to go outside the city to pick up an old acquaintance for him. He asked me if I was willing. Of course I said yes. So I followed him up to Kunlun Mountain and down to the South Sea, watching him build Sifang City, and then I settled here.”

I remembered something and suddenly found it a bit funny: “So when I liked Yu Jing but hesitated, you kept egging me on, saying you guaranteed it would succeed.”

Cui Jue scratched his head in embarrassment.

I asked again: “Did he say anything when he built this Sifang City?”

Cui Jue thought for a while and shook his head. “He just said, ‘It’s a square – shaped city, so let’s call it Sifang City.'”

Then some distant memories suddenly rushed into my mind.

It was when we were still in the North Sea. I had forced him to listen to the story of “Wei Sheng Keeping His Appointment” for the thirty – eighth time. After I finished, I couldn’t help but sigh, “Saying they’re affectionate, they’re actually a bit silly. Enduring wind and rain on the sea just for the sake of holding onto the past. It’s pitiful.”

I said, “If only I could have a city. I’d let all these homeless souls live in it. Everyone would be lively, telling each other the things they couldn’t bear to forget as stories. Even if they leave in the future, others will remember the stories for them.”

I was very proud of this idea and made up a tune, singing while swaying my head, “A square – shaped city, called Sifang City. Inside the city are a pair of lovers. You’ll be the city lord, and I’ll be the city lord’s wife.”

I wasn’t as thick – skinned as I am now. I was too shy to let him hear the lyrics. So I hid away while singing. Eventually, I even forgot about it myself. But it turned out that he had always remembered.

I walked thirty li south, from sunrise to sunset. When I reached Dushuo Mountain, I felt that the desolate scenery of this mountain was somewhat familiar. It was actually Xiaoyu Mountain, but it was even more desolate than the Xiaoyu Mountain of the past. Looking around, I could only see bare rocks, and even the towering peach tree on the mountaintop was gone.

I walked along the mountain path all the way up and finally stopped at the end of the road. I saw a huge door, formed by two intertwined peach – wood sections. In the middle was a chaotic mass, where black and gray merged, showing some shadowy figures.

Standing outside the Ghost Gate, I could vaguely hear the wailing of thousands of ghosts.

Going in from here might mean being burned by fire, falling into eternal damnation, or facing a sea of knives and flames, never seeing the light of day. But it didn’t matter, because the person I really wanted to see was right behind that door.

I stepped into the abyss step by step. As I got closer, first, I saw a blurred black shadow, then the outline of a person gradually emerged, and finally, his clear features.

Xuan Ming was standing there, his pitch – black eyes gazing at me. As he watched me approach, he let out a long sigh. “A Tu, why did you come?”

As soon as he said this, I got angry and couldn’t help but punch his chest gently. “You don’t discuss anything with me! You make all the decisions for me! If you’re so responsible, why did you make a puppet to accompany me in Sifang City? You might as well have let me know nothing and live out my life alone like a fool. You – “

Before I could finish, Xuan Ming suddenly embraced me.

His chin rested on my shoulder. At such a close distance, I could even hear his breathing.

I immediately lost my temper, but the words I hadn’t finished still blurted out, so they sounded soft and sticky. “Don’t you want me to come?”

Xuan Ming sighed softly. “Do you know that if you come here, there will be no heaven, earth, sun, moon, or freedom?”

I struggled out of his embrace and looked at him seriously. “But you’re here.”

He stared at me for a long time, then sighed in a way that seemed like a compromise. “So, A Tu, I’m very happy.”

“This place is pitch – dark. I really didn’t want you to come,” Xuan Ming said, a smile creeping onto the corner of his mouth. He murmured to himself, “But I was also so afraid that you wouldn’t come.

“You asked me why I sent Yu Jing to Sifang City?

“Before, I was alone, guarding the North Sea for tens of thousands of years without complaint. But later, I saw the light. A Tu, I’m such a greedy and selfish person. I crave that beam of light. So I couldn’t just silently sacrifice. I couldn’t bear to know that you were so close to me but not come to see you.

“A Tu – ” He called my name, looking at me with almost obsessive eyes. “I’m also being greedy.”

I was speechless. I looked at Xuan Ming. I wanted to smile, but as soon as I twitched the corner of my mouth, tears involuntarily fell down one by one.

Xuan Ming and I, we’re not very smart people. So in the years before, misunderstandings piled up, and we wasted so much time in vain.

I suddenly remembered that in the moon – lit Sifang City, when Xuan Ming was still in the guise of Yu Jing, he told me that story. He said there was a fish in the North Sea, several feet long, but trapped in a certain body of water, unable to be free.

That fish never found its freedom until the end.

But what did it matter? It had already found something far more precious to it than freedom.

So it didn’t matter. The years ahead were long. We had plenty of time to tell each other about our love.

– The End –

A Skeleton’s Love Story: Chasing Love in a Ghost City with Many Twists and Surprises

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