After the Sickly Beauty Was Haunted by an Evil God - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Lin Yu’s gaze sharpened. The hand resting on the bedsheet quickly reached back, tightly gripping the lightning-struck wood exorcism sword kept under his pillow.

His loose silk robe splayed open even further with his movements, half-revealing a straight, slender leg. The bare skin was like high-quality mutton-fat jade, appearing to reflect a lustrous, translucent glow even in the dark.

He stared unblinkingly at the pitch-black mass, staying in a deadlock for dozens of seconds without any movement, as if the earlier disturbance had merely been a product of his imagination.

“Whew…” Lin Yu let out a soft breath and released the sword, only then realizing that a thin layer of sweat had seeped into his palm.

That’s right—that thing had terrified him in his dreams for over a decade, yet it had never affected him in the real world.

So, it must have been that he felt hot while sleeping and had pushed the robe open himself…

With a “click,” the crystal chandelier lit up, dispersing the darkness from the room.

Lin Yu closed his eyes briefly, pulled his robe shut, and leisurely tied the sash before getting out of bed to get some water.

After drinking, he returned to bed and continued sleeping with the lights on.

The first time he saw that thing in a dream was when he was six years old, right after the incense-lighting ceremony.

He was small back then, and for a long time, he was so terrified that he didn’t dare sleep, resulting in two large dark circles under his eyes. Eventually, he couldn’t hold out any longer and fell into a heavy slumber.

His father thought he was plagued by nightmares; however, even after using every magical artifact and incantation available, the nightmares persisted.

The current head of the Lin family had tried every means possible but could not eliminate the entity in his son’s dreams. For a family of Celestial Masters, this was undoubtedly a resounding slap in the face—the kind that would make people laugh their heads off if word got out.

Fortunately, that thing couldn’t appear in the real world. After all these years, Lin Yu had grown used to it; he slept when he needed to.

However, for the past half-month, that thing hadn’t entered his dreams. He thought the nightmare that had lasted over a decade was finally ending, but who would have thought it would come back tonight just to choke him…

The light was a bit uncomfortable for his eyes, so Lin Yu simply rolled over and buried his face in the pillow.

After an unknown amount of time, a pitch-black mass appeared out of thin air in the bright bedroom.

The thing was condensed from countless baring-claws-and-fangs strands of black mist. The mists pressed against each other, constantly shifting, eventually forming a vague humanoid shape.

Since the appearance of that black mist, the temperature in the bedroom dropped several degrees.

Lin Yu let out a soft moan in his half-asleep state and, following the sudden onset of coolness, fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, when Lin Yu finished washing up and went downstairs, his father was sitting at the dining table reading the newspaper, and Qing Mei was brewing milk for him.

“Little Young Master is up?” Hearing the familiar footsteps, Qing Mei turned and gave him a bright smile. “How did you sleep last night?”

Lin Yu’s footsteps paused, and he replied expressionlessly, “Not great.”

Qing Mei: “…”

Lin Zhengyang put down his newspaper, glanced at him, and spoke in a deep voice: “Come eat breakfast.”

The three of them each occupied a side of the dining table, eating breakfast in silence.

As they ate, Lin Yu suddenly spoke up: “Father, do you think it’s possible for that thing to condense into a physical form?”

As soon as the words “that thing” were spoken, Lin Zhengyang’s expression instantly turned sour. “Did you dream of that beast again?”

Qing Mei also widened her large eyes. “No wonder you said you didn’t sleep well just now; so that thing came to harass you again!”

“Mm.” Lin Yu gave a hum of acknowledgment, his tone as flat as if he were discussing the weather. “I feel like it’s becoming stronger. If—”

“There is no ‘if’!” Lin Zhengyang heavily set down his teacup, making a “bang” sound on the table. “If it dares to condense into a physical form, I will make it vanish into thin air, never to be reincarnated!”

Lin Yu instinctively shuddered and leaned his body back.

Lin Zhengyang realized he had made too much noise; his ashen face softened as he asked in a lowered voice, “What did that beast do again last night?”

“Choked my neck…” Lin Yu raised his hand to gesture at his throat. After hesitating for a few seconds, he swallowed the rest of the sentence.

After all, having one’s clothes stripped off and being blindly felt up in a dream by a mass of who-knows-what sounded truly bizarre.

Lin Zhengyang remained silent for a moment before offering comfort: “A-Yu, don’t worry. As long as the Lin family is here, we will never let that beast truly hurt you.”

Lin Yu held a skeptical attitude in his heart. If they couldn’t even manage to let him have a peaceful night’s sleep, could the Lin family really protect him if that thing condensed into a physical form?

However, he didn’t voice his concerns. He simply gave a slight smile and replied, “Okay, Father.”

After breakfast, Lin Yu originally wanted to go back to his room and lie down for a while, but several uninvited guests arrived at the house.

“Uncle Lin.” Lin Wu had dropped his furious attitude from yesterday, bowing respectfully and greeting Lin Yu with a smile, “Xiao Yu, what book are you reading?”

Lin Yu leaned lazily on the sofa, his long, jade-like fingers flipping through a book, not even lifting his eyelids.

The flesh on Lin Wu’s face twitched. He couldn’t explode in front of the family head, so he had to continue explaining his purpose.

It turned out there was a problem with the mission they had accepted a few days ago. They hadn’t been able to find the malevolent spirit responsible, and as a result, the client’s son had also met with trouble yesterday. He was now lying in the hospital half-dead, which was why they were finally starting to panic.

Members of the Lin clan could take on missions once they turned eighteen, but considering their limited ability and experience, they often formed teams to exorcise ghosts in the beginning.

This group was the team led by Lin Wu. In their panic, they didn’t care about anything else and came directly to the family head for help.

Compared to pride, the Lin family’s reputation and prestige were the most important; they absolutely could not let it be destroyed in their hands.

“Don’t panic.” Lin Zhengyang raised his hand to signal. “Tell me the details of the situation you encountered.”

Over on the other side, Lin Yu didn’t care to listen any further. Stepping into his slippers, he walked out to the courtyard, found a shady spot to lie down, and continued reading his book.

After a while, following a burst of cluttered footsteps, a deliberately lowered voice rang out in the courtyard: “Lin Youqian! What did you mean just now?”

Lin Yu’s brow moved slightly as he listened silently.

Lin Youqian lowered his head, his voice barely audible: “I didn’t, I…”

“You dared to imply in front of the family head that I’m irresponsible?” Lin Wu’s anger surged upward. He couldn’t even wait to leave the house before starting trouble. “If it weren’t for me taking pity on you and bringing you along on missions, you would have been kicked out of the Lin family like a dog long ago. How dare you bite the hand that feeds you?”

Lin Youqian quickly shook his head vigorously, explaining stiltedly: “I, I-I was just… speaking, speaking the facts I kn-kn-know. I wanted, wanted…”

“You know sh!t!” Lin Wu rudely interrupted him, grabbing his collar and pulling him upward. “With your ‘Lone Star’ fate, you’re only a tiny bit better than that-Lin-whoever. Is it your place to order me around?”

Lin Youqian’s face flushed bright red, but he didn’t dare to struggle, only looking at Lin Wu with pleading eyes.

But Lin Wu was in a fit of rage and wanted to give him a harsh lesson, when he heard a crisp “snap” from behind.

The others looked toward the source of the sound, and their expressions all changed.

Lin Wu turned his head along with them. A pale, cold face came into view. His hand shook, releasing Lin Youqian, and he gave an awkward laugh: “Xiao Yu, why are you—”

“Xiao-what Yu?” Lin Yu gave him a cold glance. “Am I familiar with you?”

“You—” Lin Wu was choked by his words, his face turning blue and white like a chameleon.

Lin Yu tilted his chin slightly, his gaze sweeping from left to right: “Are you guys very bored?”

“No, no, no!”

“We’re going to solve the mission! Leaving now!”

These few were very observant; they dragged the frozen Lin Wu and walked out quickly, fearing the Little Young Master would find trouble for them on a whim.

Lin Yu’s gaze fell on the person who remained: “Aren’t you leaving?”

“Th-thank you for… h-helping me again…” Lin Youqian lowered his head even more, his hands rubbing nervously against his hem.

Lin Yu watched him quietly: “Actually, I don’t quite understand why you mix with the people who bully you?”

“I…” Lin Youqian opened his mouth. “I w-want to… train myself.”

Lin Yu raised an eyebrow but didn’t say much more: “Then I wish you luck.”

Just as he turned around, a hand suddenly grabbed his arm.

“Lin… Yu…” Lin Youqian seemed to summon all the courage of his life, asking carefully, “I also g-got into A University. After school starts, c-can I go find you?”

“Congratulations.” Lin Yu turned his face slightly, answering the question: “You can, but it’s better not to.”

The Lin family was populous with many branches, and many juniors frequently visited the main house. Lin Yu could never remember those people and didn’t care to try; he only had an impression of Lin Youqian because he had once lent him a hand.

Lin Youqian’s parents had died one after another when he was young, and shortly after, his twin brother had also met a violent death. Gradually, rumors spread within the Lin family that he was a “Lone Star of Great Ill Fortune”—cursing his father, mother, and brother, and eventually killing everyone around him.

But, as it happened, fate was the one thing Lin Yu believed in the least.

So when Lin Youqian’s uncles and elders tried to kick him out of the Lin family, Lin Yu saw he was being bullied too severely and casually mentioned a few words to his father.

With the family head speaking up, naturally, no one dared to act recklessly anymore, and the Lin family didn’t lack for food to give him.

“I, I know…” Lin Youqian let go of his hand as if he’d been electrocuted, emphasizing in a low voice, “I w-won’t bother you.”

Lin Yu nodded and walked inside with unhurried steps.

Behind him, Lin Youqian watched his back intently until he disappeared around the corner before turning to leave.

In the middle of the night, Lin Yu suddenly woke up from a dream.

This time, it wasn’t that thing making waves; it seemed he had simply had a nightmare of his own, but after waking up, he couldn’t remember what he had dreamed about.

After a long while, Lin Yu let out a long breath, only to realize his back was soaked with cold sweat. His robe clung tightly to his body, making him very uncomfortable.

Turning on the light and getting out of bed, he walked barefoot toward the bathroom.

The black silk robe slid down his translucent skin, piling up in layers on the floor tiles in front of the bathroom door like a blooming black lotus.

Turning on the shower, warm water poured over his head.

No matter how hot the weather, Lin Yu didn’t dare take a cold shower. Wisps of white mist soon steamed up in the bathroom.

But strangely, those white mists seemed to come alive, silently gathering around him.

The temperature in the surroundings dropped sharply. The water from the showerhead felt a bit cold as it hit his body. Lin Yu opened his eyes in confusion.

In the next instant, an icy, sinister aura struck. He frowned and turned to grab his bathrobe.

But he was one step too late. Black mist abruptly filled the bathroom, completely assimilating the white mist.

A strand of black mist as thick as a child’s arm reached out and wrapped around his waist, pinning him against the sink.

His heart rate suddenly accelerated. Lin Yu instinctively held his breath, his eyes filled with disbelief.

How was it possible? How could that thing appear in his bathroom?

“Heh…” A sound that was like a sigh yet not a sigh rang in his ear. Calling it a sound wasn’t quite accurate; it was more like a cold breath.

Like a maggot on a bone, it burrowed into his body through every pore.

Lin Yu’s pupils constricted. A familiar fear arose in his heart and quickly spread to all four limbs, rendering him unable to move.

He was pinned against the cold marble sink like that, his sickly body trembling slightly as if unable to bear it.

This subtle trembling seemed to please the thing. Another tentacle reached out from the black mist, pinching his jaw and forcing him to lift his face.

Thus, Lin Yu saw the thick, inseparable black mist behind him in the mirror—it had actually condensed into the shape of a person.

Taller than him, broader than him, more than double his size…

Under extreme terror, Lin Yu struggled to regain a sliver of logic.

He opened his mouth to bite the tip of his tongue, but the thing had predicted his movement. The black mist took the opportunity to probe into his mouth.

“Mmph…” The cold, slimy tentacle almost instantly filled his mouth, pressing down on his tongue and preventing him from biting down.

Physiological tears instantly welled up in his eyes, and saliva slid down the corners of his mouth. The person in the mirror had his brows tightly knit and the corners of his eyes were red, looking as if he possessed a beauty born from being abused.

The black shadow behind him approached inch by inch, and the condensed humanoid form became clearer and clearer, though it still lacked facial features.

Soon, Lin Yu felt something wet lick his left earlobe.