14 A Water Ghost?

Is it possible that this person is actually dead? Even if not, with half of the body in the icy water, they would have frozen to death in this bitterly cold weather.

Thinking of this, Yuan Ge doens't care about anything else and hurries over, putting his hand under their arms and trying to drag the person to the shore. However, as his eyes sweeps across the pond, he notices that the submerged legs, which seems to be without trousers in the hazy moonlight, looks like they were stuck together, not like human legs, but a huge fish tail, still glistening with the silvery light of fish scales.

Yuan Ge shakes his head again. Is it because he has told too many ghost stories and legends tonight that he is actually hallucinating? Or is it because he has been writing a film script about a Qing Dynasty actor and has gotten too deep into it and has been having some strange dreams lately?

With a strong pull, he finally pulls the person out of the water. When he looks at the lower half of the body again, there is no fish tail at all. Beneath the white robe, there is only a pair of long white legs.

It is actually a man!

Yuan Ge feels even more incredulous when he recalls the outline of the man's bone structure and the tightness of his muscles that he has just touched. With this striking white robe and such long hair, it is unlikely that he is a burglar.

Is it possible that the man has chosen this old mansion to commit suicide, but finding the water too cold for him to die painlessly, changed his mind and struggled back to the shore, only to collapse from exhaustion by the icy water and cold wind? Better not delay any longer, it's time to call an ambulance and get him to the hospital.

Thinking of this, Yuan Ge bents down and tries to check if the man is still breathing.

After the dragging and pulling earlier, the man seems to have finally regained his consciousness. He is lying on his side on the grass under the tree, shivering, seemingly completely disoriented, oblivious to his surroundings and Yuan Ge's presence. He maintains his rigid posture and mumbled something incoherently under his breath.

"Mate, are you alright? Can you hear me?"

When Yuan Ge sees that the man has woken up, he tries to help him sit up. However, when his hand touches his arm, the man unexpectedly grabs Yuan Ge's wrist with both hands like a drowning man clutching at the last straw, and refuses to let go.

By now, the cold wind has blown away the dark clouds, the sleet has stopped, and the moonlight is pouring out between the clouds.

Holding Yuan Ge's hand for strength, the man finally sits up slowly.

Yuan Ge feels a piercing chill on his wrist. Looking at the man's long wet black hair and skin as white as moonlight, he suddenly recalls water ghosts his mother Violette Fu had told him about when he was a child. People who dies by drowning sometimes find a double at the water's edge in order to be reincarnated early. This kind of ghost is usually pale white in colour from prolonged immersion in the water. Although it looks weak on the shore, once a living person is dragged under the water by it, it becomes immensely strong. It will then cover the victim's seven orifices with silt and pull it into a cave underwater…

The image of a water ghost eating a man alive sends Yuan Ge's heart pounding. He jerks his hand violently, trying to get out of the man's grip, but he would not relent, pulling back and forth as hard as he could, clutching at Yuan Ge with all his strength, as if he is  afraid of being abandoned.

There are no garden lights by the pond, but by now the moon has fully broken through the clouds, so Yuan Ge tries to get a good look at the man's face in the bright moonlight.

Hidden beneath the damp black hair is his high nose and thin lips; his fair skin is completely bloodless, but his silhouette is perfect. Even the hands that gripped him are exquisitely delicate; ten slender fingers with well-defined knuckles and the utmost elegance. The white robe he wears is of the finest silk, intricately embroidered with patterns of orchids and bamboo, far more elaborate than the white satin robes made by the DDP's costume department.

Finally unable to hold back his curiosity, Yuan Ge reaches out to brush aside the man's long hair, only to be stunned once again by the face before him.

The person looks so much like Rong Qing he has seen in his dreams - a small, delicate face with a full forehead, prominent brow bones and nose, and thin, slightly curved lips. Flawless white porcelain skin and dark, bristly eyebrows adds depth to his features, giving him a sense of gallantry. Even with Yuan Ge's extreme pickiness about a person's looks, this man could be considered stunningly beautiful with perfectly proportioned features. In particular, there is an indescribable sadness on his face, which seems to have undried tears, and the ends of his eyes seem to be tinged with a thin layer of red hue, making one's heart ache for him while also bringing out a feminine fragility in his male handsomeness.

Only a beauty that blurs the boundaries of gender can be described as heavenly, existing only in the world of the gods.