Lakeside Ghost Story 20

The moon hung above the treetops, spilling its hazy light over the cabin. Even the breeze was gentler tonight than it had ever been before.

Every intruder at Golden Lake had been dealt with.

The exorcist, his mind under Zhuo Yu's control, lay unconscious in the storage room. Liu Jingyun was only an innocent bystander, and nothing here would tempt her. For once, Golden Lake enjoyed a peaceful night.

Zhuo Yu lay in bed. Only after finally letting himself relax did the exhaustion from so many sleepless nights catch up with him, leaving him desperate to sleep the entire day away.

He knew tonight was his only chance to catch up on sleep.

The exorcist had already contacted the mayor. The mayor had no intention of coming at night, and apparently still needed time to gather the church members and bring them here for some sort of ritual.

Tonight was safe.

Lying against an old, worn pillow, Zhuo Yu reached out and drew the person beside him into his arms.

Asha lay at his side.

Zhuo Yu knew what had happened all those years ago. Asha had still been alive when he was transformed into Golden Lake's guardian, so he was not a drowned revenant but a human being through and through. Not that any ordinary person who saw his terrifying appearance would believe it.

Zhuo Yu had spent quite some time cleaning the blood from Asha's body and removing the bullets lodged inside him. The wounds had closed before his eyes, leaving behind scar after scar, each one a record of the battle.

As a human, Asha naturally needed sleep as well. He usually slept at the bottom of the lake, a special ability granted to him by Golden Lake.

But Zhuo Yu did not want him to leave, and Asha refused to let Zhuo Yu out of his sight. So naturally, the two of them slept in the same bed.

"Does it hurt, being shot?"

By the moonlight, Zhuo Yu admired Asha's godlike physique. Not even a Hollywood heartthrob had a body this sensual. Even if Zhuo Yu had written him himself, he would never have made a character so perfect. Nor did Asha fill him with fear or make him feel oppressed. All Zhuo Yu felt was an incomparable attraction.

"After the day you died..." The boss spoke very softly, as if afraid he might wake from this beautiful dream. "Nothing hurts anymore."

Zhuo Yu lowered his eyes. Asha's body was capable of sensation now, but Asha had already experienced the absolute limit of pain. Even if someone hacked off one of his limbs, he probably would not so much as flinch.

Compared to what he had endured back then, none of this even qualified as pain.

Zhuo Yu fell silent, remembering what his character had gone through. His feelings were deeply conflicted.

Judging by Ma Yuan'an's behavior, a character and the actor playing that character were two separate individuals. Zhuo Yu had accepted everything that came with his role without a qualm, but he and "Zhuo Yu" were different in the end. After all, he had not lived through those tragic events himself. He had only inherited the memories.

The person Asha cared about, the person he clung to, was probably not Zhuo Yu at all, but "Zhuo Yu."

For once, a petty competitive streak rose in him, as though he were enjoying something that did not belong to him.

Asha belonged to "Zhuo Yu," not to him.

"Just as I thought. More than possessing you, I want to conquer you." Zhuo Yu stroked Asha's red hair and pressed a kiss to the skeletal half of his face. But the kiss was cold, gone almost the instant it touched him.

"A good-night kiss. Go to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be rough."

Asha caught his hand.

"You always think too much." Something shifted subtly in Asha's voice, as though he were remembering something, though that memory definitely did not belong to Golden Lake. "I know I'm stupid. Maybe I did something wrong again."

That strange feeling came over Zhuo Yu again. His heart stirred, and he immediately asked, "How could you have done anything wrong?"

"The way I've acted makes it look like I'm living for the past." Asha frowned, annoyance filling the handsome half of his face. "Instead of living for you."

"Living for me..."

"Mm. I suppose the things I did and the way I thought gave you the wrong idea."

"So 'I' am just 'me,' not 'Zhuo Yu.' Is that right?"

Asha smiled. "Mm."

"Good boy." Zhuo Yu felt as if some obstruction inside him had been pulled free, leaving behind nothing but lightness and joy. He let out a long breath and smiled along with Asha.

He took Asha's hand in his own. It was large and powerful, capable of tearing any living creature apart, an executioner's instrument of death. But to Zhuo Yu, it offered sheltering warmth, tender caresses, and fierce, wholehearted embraces.

He had seen through the boss.

This foolish boy who could speak so fluently now was probably Asha as well, not "Asha."

The night breeze drifted through the room. The two of them fell quietly asleep together, feet touching.

[What kind of cryptic game are Zhuo Yu and the boss playing?]

[None of that matters! What matters is they're sleeping in the same bed! Aaaah!]

[Zhuo Yu was so gentle when he picked the bullets out of him. Who says Zhuo Yu doesn't like the boss?!]

[I think the analyst had a point. I get upset when my dog gets hurt too.]

[Hey, I don't think the analyst was talking about a dog. Zhuo Yu really does see the boss as his muse. That scene you're all hoping for isn't going to happen. This isn't some steamy movie...]

[Why are you throwing cold water on us?]

[The boss is just a character in a movie. Zhuo Yu will have to leave this place someday. Who would sincerely fall in love with a fictional character they know is certain to leave them?]

[Ugh, I started shipping a couple that's guaranteed to get a bad ending. I'm so sad.]

[Why is everyone so pessimistic? But what if? What if! Maybe I'm that one-in-ten-thousand genius who picked a ship that's actually canon!]

[Why are you all watching Zhuo Yu? Look at the mayor! He's about to pull something again!]

In Springwater Town, Mayor Marcus was weeping uncontrollably. He repeatedly bowed to the sky, releasing manic, howling laughter that seemed to have been suppressed to the breaking point.

"At last. At last! I've waited fifty years for this day!"

He retrieved a book from the basement, its pages filled with intricate magic arrays and diagrams as well as cryptic incantations no one could understand. Then he took out a list of the church's members and checked off everyone who had rendered distinguished service back then.

He needed to notify the faithful. It was time for the ritual to begin.

After a full night of preparations, broad daylight had arrived. A grand procession of more than twenty people set out for Golden Lake, marching with their heads high as though eager to avenge their earlier humiliation.

Mayor Marcus sat in the passenger seat of the lead car, constantly fidgeting with the six bottles in his hands. The closer they drew to their destination, the more restless he became. His thoughts churned in utter turmoil, and his usual arrogance and composure had vanished without a trace.

He had followed his father into the Church of the Fountain of Youth at the age of seven. After reaching adulthood, he spent more than a decade tracking survey teams before finally locating a lake that roughly matched the church's records. Through his connections and cunning, he then secured the position of local mayor. He was the greatest bishop of his generation.

He was the church's most devoted champion. He had even sacrificed his beloved son for its cause.

Everything he had done had been for this day.

The evil spirit entrenched in Golden Lake could no longer stand in his way.

The power of immortality was a dream pursued by countless emperors throughout the ages. If Golden Lake submitted to him, the pyramid of society would collapse, and the Church of the Fountain of Youth would become humanity's new master.

And he, Marcus, would become a god.

The only difference between a human and a god was lifespan.

Marcus's hands trembled without pause. He gripped the bottles firmly and said in a cold voice, "Can't you drive any faster?"

About ten minutes later, the speeding convoy stopped at the foot of the mountain below the Golden Lake reservoir. Like pilgrims approaching holy ground, the church members walked a few steps, stopped to chant verses, then walked on. Many among them had never come here in their lives and had never dared to. This was the first time they had ever set foot in the domain of the Fountain of Youth, and quite a few wept with excitement.

The wind shifted.

The breeze that had once blown so gently suddenly turned violent, thrashing the leaves with a ceaseless rustle. But the faithful did not recognize a warning sign when they saw one. One after another, they climbed the mountain in hooded black robes.

Amid a dazzling expanse of shimmering light, Golden Lake came into view.

The exorcist had been waiting on the shore for some time. He had bound two evil spirits and one human with ropes soaked in holy water and now displayed them like trophies.

"Mayor Marcus, you certainly kept me waiting." The sleazy little exorcist stood with his hands on his hips. His pupils were dark and fathomless, but Marcus noticed nothing unusual about him.

"Thank you for your trouble. Where are the others?"

The exorcist sneered. "It was all because of these two damned things."

He nudged Zhuo Yu with the toe of his shoe. "These two evil spirits ambushed my brothers. We fought a bitter battle to the very end, and I was the only one left. But you don't need to blame yourself. Such is the fate of men of the cloth. We are cleansing God's kingdom in His name."

The faithful peered more closely. Three people lay on the grass in a half-conscious stupor. The most conspicuous among them was an inhuman monster more than six and a half feet tall. Its crocodilian head made their hearts hammer wildly. Beside it lay a strikingly handsome Asian man, presumably the vengeful spirit who had returned.

At the same time, they spotted a human.

One of the faithful whispered, "Isn't that the Stuart girl? What rotten luck."

"Yeah. I heard she wanted to go hiking."

The faithful looked at the girl with pity, but not one of them appealed to the bishop on her behalf. A sacrificial offering was exactly what they needed.

"Reverend Father..." Marcus said with feeling. "Thanks to all of you, Golden Lake can finally see the light of day again, and Springwater Town will be spared the evil spirits' depredations."

He beckoned, and one of his followers handed over a black leather case.

"Your two hundred thousand dollars."

Marcus surrendered the enormous sum without the slightest reluctance. In the 1980s, it was enough money for an ordinary person to live on for the rest of their life.

"There is, however, one more matter in which we require your help."

Marcus gave him an arrogant smile. "Please offer us your pure blood."

The moment the words left his mouth, several of the faithful emerged from behind the exorcist. One held a curved blade while the others abruptly seized his limbs and pinned him in place. Cold light flashed. Before the stunned exorcist could react, his throat was slit. Blood gushed out in torrents, pouring into an urn positioned beneath him.

The mental connection between Zhuo Yu and the exorcist snapped instantly.

[Actor Huang Shu is dead. Cause of death: throat slit.]

[Prerequisite Quest: Survive the four exorcists. Complete.]

[Main Quest updated: Destroy the Church of the Fountain of Youth and restore peace to Golden Lake.]

Zhuo Yu received the System notification with some surprise. Still feigning a dazed stupor, he considered the current situation.

He had not expected Marcus to be truly this deranged. If it had been up to Zhuo Yu, he would certainly have let one exorcist go. That way, the church would have had an explanation and would not send more people to investigate when the priests disappeared, saving him a great deal of trouble.

But Marcus did not see things that way. He had killed the man with ruthless efficiency, as though the murder had been planned long in advance.

The black-robed faithful carefully put away the vessel of blood. Several others brought out an old, thick parchment-bound book and presented it to the bishop.

Zhuo Yu stole a glance at it. The moment he saw the book's cover, he froze.

What in the world was Marcus planning to do?!