Chapter 19: “Reminiscence”

The next day, Luo Bojing flew to another dimension and approached a great palace. In there, many souls stood in line to get reincarnated. In the front line, there was an old man who seemed to be in charge of the place. When he spotted Luo Bojing walking towards him, he immediately bloomed with a smile,

"Oh, if it isn't practitioner Luo. Are you finally made up your mind to work here?",

"In your dreams.", Luo Bojing said curtly, then he swiped over to the souls, "I have a question regarding a certain soul named Cheng Lan.",

The old man furrowed his long eyebrows, "Aiya, can't you respect the elders for just one minute?!",

"Yeah, my apologizes… so, I want to ask about a certain soul named Cheng Lan.",

The words didn't seem to reach Luo Bojing's head, so the old man sighed. He took a thick book from the drawer and looked for the name Cheng Lan.

"There's over hundreds of girls named Cheng Lan, which one were you looking for?",

"One that has the name Yu Qian in her previous lives.",

"Ah, so it's Yu Qian that you were looking for… you still haven't given up on her?", the old man closed the book and changed to pick up a bamboo scroll.

Luo Bojing took the bamboo scroll and looked at its content, "She had been reincarnated for over three hundred times?! No wonder there's something wrong with her head in this life.",

"Huh? What do you mean?", the old man retrieved back the bamboo scroll and looked at Luo Bojing, "Look, I don't know what happened between you and Yu Qian in this life. But you must let her go, it's already your destiny to join us in this place. Luo Bojing, you belonged to us...",

Luo Bojing snorted and swayed his hand, "No way, only I who determine where did I belong to.",

Hearing such a response, the old man sighed and leaned on the table, "It's been thousand of years and you still hadn't changed.",

"Same goes for you.", Luo Bojing was about to leave, the old man suddenly stopped him and said, "Wait, do you know a ghost named Wei Xiu?",

Hearing a familiar name, Luo Bojing stopped and turned around, "It's not unfamiliar, why are you looking for her?",

"You see, she was fated to die in her thirties to prevent repeating the same mistake as she did in her previous life. Strangely, her soul didn't arrive here… did she get some trouble along the way to the afterlife?",

Luo Bojing blinked in confusion, repeating the same mistake? What mistake?

"Old man, what kind of mistake did she committed in her previous life?",

"Oh? Do you know her?", the old man raised his long eyebrows and took the thick book again, "She had committed same-sex adultery for five lifetimes, although she avoided such things in this life, however, it was predicted that she will repeat the same mistake again, so we had no choice but to take her life before that happens. So, tell me, where is she?",

Luo Bojing propped his chin and asked, "What are you gonna do with her?",

"We simply wanted to inspect her life deeds and if she was clear from the cycle of karma, then we won't banish her soul to the demon realm. However, if she was found repeating the same cycle… then we had no choice...",

Upon hearing such words, Luo Bojing was filled with anger, "You… all the likes of you! This is exactly why I don't want to join you! You're always doing whatever you want with someone's fate! What's wrong with loving someone?!",

The old man touched his long white beard and closed his eyes, "It was the rules… we cannot defy it.",

Luo Bojing wrinkled his eyebrows, then turned to leave without looking back. The old man shook his head slowly and continued his work.

…

...

...…

It's been three days since Luo Bojing suddenly vanished from school. Cheng Lan, who had always come to the library, started to feel restless. She even tried to find Wei Xiu at the female toilet on the 2nd floor. However, she found nothing…

"Maybe I should ask the second year from before…",

Once Cheng Lan has made up her mind, she quickly leaves the classroom once the bell rings. She headed to the 2nd floor and hoped that Shen Xiaofan hadn't gone home.

"Who are you? Are you a first year?", Hou Yang asked as he leaned the basketball on his waist with his right arm. Cheng Lan was surprised to see a handsome upperclassman, and timidly said, "I-I'm looking for… upperclassman Shen Xiaofan.",

"Xiaofan? I never knew she's popular amongst the first year. Anyway, wait here.",

Hou Yang returned to the classroom again and approached Shen Xiaofan who was just about to leave.

"Xiaofan, there's a first-year who wanted to see you.",

"First-year? Who?", Shen Xiaofan suddenly remembered Cheng Lan who was able to see ghosts and said, "Nevermind, thanks for relaying it to me.",

Hou Yang chuckled and teased her, "Whoo~ Upperclassman Shen~",

"Shut it, Ah-Yang.",

Shen Xiaofan retreated from the classroom to meet Cheng Lan. Wei Xiu was going somewhere else, so it's just her today. Besides, it would be troublesome if Wei Xiu thought she's seeing a younger person.

"Sister Shen… Um, may I ask you something?", Cheng Lan put her fingers together and tapped them lightly, this action clearly shows that this kid is really nervous. Shen Xiaofan felt funny, so there are other people who could be as nervous as her around new people.

"Sure, what do you need?",

"Um… it's nothing much, but… do you have any idea where the handsome ghost at the library goes to? I have been looking for him, but I found nothing… so, perhaps Wei Xiu might know…",

Shen Xiaofan was thinking for a moment, a handsome ghost at the library?

Though there is no other male ghost other than Luo Bojing in this school, so it must be him.

"I don't know, it just happens that Wei Xiu went somewhere else too. Perhaps they might go together?",

The words 'go together' had pierced Cheng Lan's heart. She didn't know why her chest felt uncomfortable, but she ignored it and thanked Shen Xiaofan. After that, Cheng Lan excused herself and returned home. Shen Xiaofan just watched the kid walk away in despair, she must have liked Luo Bojing very much…

Shen Xiaofan sighed and returned to the class to fetch her backpack. When she returned, Hou Yang was waiting for her at her desk.

"So, what did she ask? A fan sign?",

"My naked portrait.", Shen Xiaofan said curtly.

Hou Yang was shocked and stood up right away, "Can I get a copy?!",

"Get off!", Shen Xiaofan lightly slapped Hou Yang's shoulder, Hou Yang pretended to be hurt and said, "Oh, Xiaofan, you! Oh! My heart!",

"Hou Yang, what's the matter with you today? Are you Song Ehuang?",

Hou Yang quickly fixed his composure and smiled, "I was just happy that you're starting to become popular.",

Shen Xiaofan took her bag and looked at Hou Yang, "Are you my mom now?",

Hou Yang patted Shen Xiaofan's head and messed her hair, "You've starting to become savage, huh? Where's my timid and innocent, Shen Xiaofan?",

Shen Xiaofan slapped Hou Yang's hand and walked away as she said, "She had grown.",

Hou Yang laughed happily and caught up to Shen Xiaofan. Ever since they became classmates, Hou Yang often goes home together with Shen Xiaofan. Especially, when his house is just right next to Shen Xiaofan. On her way, Shen Xiaofan looked at the crossroads at the traffic light, but she didn't find the old woman who does fortune-telling. Shen Xiaofan started to become suspicious, is the old woman a ghost too?

"Xiaofan, are you looking for something?", Hou Yang asked after he saw Shen Xiaofan begin to look somewhere.

Shen Xiaofan shook her head, "Nothing, let's go.", and walked away.

Hou Yang looked in the direction where Shen Xiaofan saw, there was a doll crane machine next to a candy shop. Hou Yang thought Shen Xiaofan wanted one of those dolls. So, he walked over to the machine and get one doll.

"Xiaofan!", Hou Yang shouted.

Shen Xiaofan stopped walking and turned to Hou Yang. Suddenly, something soft and fluffy was pressed against her face. It turns out Hou Yang had gotten her a white cat doll, "You wanted this right? I was just bored, so I got it for you.",

Shen Xiaofan absolutely had zero ideas of what Hou Yang was talking about. However, she appreciates his effort to get her a cute doll like this.

"Thanks, Ah-Yang.",

"No, problem. Come on, I'll take you home.",

Shen Xiaofan felt just like the old days, where Shen Xiaofan was crying because she was bullied at school, and on her way home, Hou Yang was there to accompany her and occasionally tried his best to cheer her up. Giving her a doll like this is also one of his efforts to cheer her up.

"Come to think of it, it was like this too back then, right?", Shen Xiaofan asked.

Hou Yang didn't know what she was talking about so he asked, "What do you mean?",

"Back then, when I was getting bullied after transferring to your school. Then, you had to accompany me back home to make sure I won't get hurt on the way home. At that time when I was crying, you also gave me a plushie to cheer me up.",

Hou Yang tilted his head and then suddenly remembered, "Oh, yeah. That was like five years ago?",

"Yes, but I will remember it for the rest of my life. Thank you for being there, Ah-Yang.", Shen Xiaofan truly felt blessed to have a friend like Hou Yang. To her, he's like a perfect big brother that she often dreamed about.

Hou Yang felt embarrassed and scratched his hair, a weird feeling suddenly arose inside his heart. However, he thought it was a familial thing, so he just enjoyed accompanying Shen Xiaofan.

On the other hand, Wei Xiu who had accidentally met Shen Xiaofan and Hou Yang, secretly watching them from behind. She had overheard their conversation and had a mixed feeling towards Hou Yang. Should she be thankful or curse him to death? Just now, a peculiar feeling arose in the young man's heart, and it would be dangerous if it bloomed into something romantical.

"I was just left for a few hours and this guy had made his move. Even though, it was uncalled for.",

Wei Xiu regretted what she had done today.