I Am the Gloomy Male Lead's Dead First Love - Chapter 3

Lu Xincheng had encountered too many bizarre and grotesque ghosts just moments ago. Although the girl looked filthy, she was not terrifying. Assuming she was as mindless as the other wandering spirits, Lu Xincheng gave her only a brief glance before stepping down the stairs.

“Save him.”

As they brushed past each other, the girl spoke. Lu Xincheng looked down at the slender, wet hands gripping his arm.

“He is a good person. Please, save him.”

The girl’s strength was surprisingly immense, indicating she was clearly no ordinary wandering spirit. She was likely a much more powerful entity. Lu Xincheng patiently knelt down and rubbed her head. “You have the wrong person. If you want to save someone, you should find a doctor.”

“A doctor cannot save him,” the girl said. Her voice was crisp, but her accent sounded unnatural, likely because she rarely spoke.

Lu Xincheng stood up with a slightly regretful expression. “The length of a life is not something we can control.”

Crystal-clear tears dripped from her chin, merging with the falling raindrops. Lu Xincheng had intended to leave, but he knelt again to wipe away her tears. As the girl wept harder, he felt as though the rain was intensifying as well.

Lu Xincheng hated being in the rain. Although he was a soul and could not physically get wet, he still despised walking through it. He thought to himself that it seemed even the heavens would not let him leave.

“Is this the person you want to save?” Lu Xincheng followed the girl and discovered that the “brother” she mentioned was the same man he had seen earlier in the hall. “What do you mean when you say he is not dead yet?”

The mortician was currently preparing the young man’s body. Lu Xincheng and the girl stood at the foot of the bed. The man was clearly deceased. However, what about his soul? Usually, the soul of the recently departed stays near the body.

“Something terrible wants to steal his soul,” the girl said, looking around with fear in her eyes. “That is why he is not here.”

The girl explained the situation to Lu Xincheng. After the young man fell into the water, he was rescued quickly. Under normal circumstances, he should have survived. However, because he had been targeted by an evil spirit in the water, he could not wake up. He had lost his vital signs, and the hospital had issued a death notice.

“His soul will not wander far; it is nearby.”

Having explored the area for a while, Lu Xincheng was already familiar with the layout of the funeral home. “I can help you look for him, but…” He looked at the girl and spoke candidly, “Even if we find him, it may be useless.”

The girl fell silent for a long moment, tears welling up in her eyes again. “It is all because of me. If he had not tried to save me, he would not have been haunted by that thing.”

She recounted how they met. Years ago, she had accidentally fallen into the water while playing with friends. The young man had jumped in and rescued her from an aquatic evil spirit. Although her soul was not taken, she ultimately did not survive. By snatching her away from the evil spirit, the young man had unknowingly made an enemy of it. Recently, he had fallen into the same waters where the spirit resided while trying to save someone else.

No one mocks an aquatic evil spirit twice. Consequently, he became its target.

Du Ye. Age: 21.

Lu Xincheng looked at the name on the tag at the foot of the bed. As the girl described, he was indeed a good person—only university age and in the prime of his youth. Lu Xincheng occasionally enjoyed a bit of drama and would sometimes meddle in others’ business, but this matter was clearly beyond his capabilities.

The book mentioned that aquatic spirits were usually confined to a specific body of water. One that could leave freely was at least approaching the level of an evil deity. Lu Xincheng checked the clock on the wall; it was after one o’clock in the morning.

“Let us find him first,” Lu Xincheng said, sighing softly as he glanced at the tear stains on the girl’s face.

The Third-Floor Washroom

Inside the innermost stall, dark sewage flowed continuously, carrying weeds and mud as it slowly spread toward the outer room. A tall young man stood dazed in front of the mirror. He stared blankly ahead, but the reflection was empty.

His first reaction was that the mirror was a fake. He tapped on it and checked the reflection from various angles. He could see the faucet and the wall behind him, yet he could not see himself. Was someone playing a prank?

The young man was so deep in thought that he failed to notice the water creeping toward him on the floor. Suddenly, someone tapped his shoulder. The force was light, yet it startled him. In the mirror, there was still no one to be seen.

The young man turned around and saw a person behind him. The stranger appeared to be about his age and was quite striking. He had trendy milk-tea gray hair and wore a fresh gray T-shirt with jeans. His expression was bright and handsome.

Before Du Ye could ask who he was, the gray-haired youth grabbed his wrist familiarly. “I finally found you. Let us get out of here,” he said, pulling Du Ye away.

The two of them ran to the end of the corridor. At the stairwell, Lu Xincheng released Du Ye’s wrist and looked back toward the washroom, sighing in relief. Once they stopped, Du Ye finally had a chance to speak. He looked at the young man again, confirming that this face—which was handsome enough to belong to a celebrity—was a total stranger.

Du Ye coughed awkwardly. “Excuse me, do we know each other? Do you have the wrong person?”

Lu Xincheng withdrew his gaze and scanned the other man’s face. “Du Ye, what is wrong with you? Do you not recognize me anymore?” The gray-haired youth opened his eyes wide in surprise, then placed a hand on his forehead in exasperation. “Did water get into your brain when you jumped into the river?”

“What? Jumped into the river?” Du Ye opened his mouth to argue, but he realized his mind was blank. He could not remember where he was, how he got there, or where he had been before.

His last memory was…

“Xiao Du, going out for night fishing again this late?” “Yes.” “The small stream fish you gave me last time were great fried with some drinks.”

The security guard had pressed the remote to open the gate. Du Ye, carrying his fishing gear, squeezed through the gap. “No problem, I will bring you some more this time.”

Fish? Yes, he went fishing. He shouted urgently, “You are lying! I clearly went fishing. Why would I jump into a river?”

The ring on Lu Xincheng’s index finger grew slightly warm. He watched the soul before him, whose emotions were becoming erratic. Du Ye’s aura was different from the other spirits; it was white. Due to his emotional fluctuations, the mist surrounding him surged irregularly.

Lu Xincheng looked at him and said calmly, “Do you not realize someone is chasing you?”

Du Ye froze. “What did you say?” His confused expression seemed genuine, but the aura around him surged even more violently.

Lu Xincheng recognized that emotion. The ring on his left index finger was designed to collect an emotion called “Dread.” Fear. At this moment, Du Ye was terrified. Even if he had temporarily lost his memory, the fear remained, instinctively warning him: You are being hunted. Run!

Du Ye’s legs began to shake uncontrollably. As a physical education major, he usually had great control over his body, but now his feet felt as if they had a mind of their own.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lu Xincheng noticed black sewage creeping along the floor cracks at the end of the corridor. It looked like the hand of a demon reaching out from the darkness.

A flash of urgency crossed Lu Xincheng’s eyes. “Follow me quickly. I will take you to see someone.”

They hurried down the stairs to the first-floor lobby, which was where Lu Xincheng had agreed to meet the girl. They had promised to meet there after fifteen minutes, whether they found the person or not. The time had passed, but the girl was nowhere to be seen.

The sounds in the darkness became distinct. The sound of flowing water drew closer. Lu Xincheng looked back and saw dark water rushing down the stairs they had just descended. The speed far exceeded a normal flow; it moved as if it were alive, lunging toward them.

Du Ye’s voice trembled so much he could barely speak. “Where is all this water coming from?”

Lu Xincheng had not expected the danger to approach so quickly. His eyes sharpened as he slightly loosened his grip on Du Ye’s sleeve. He was very good at weighing pros and cons. He knew the best choice was to avoid the trouble—to abandon Du Ye and find Wen Yaozhi directly.

He frowned as countless thoughts flashed through his mind in a split second. He turned his gaze toward the door. “I will take you to find someone. That person can definitely help you.”

Even if an aquatic evil spirit leaves its domain, it cannot manifest a physical form without water. Therefore, they had to avoid all water sources.

The rain outside had stopped. The two of them quickly left the funeral home and hurried through the empty city in the middle of the night. Water sources were everywhere, so they could only escape temporarily. Lu Xincheng was taking Du Ye to find Wen Yaozhi. At this moment, Wen Yaozhi was likely the only person in the city who could save him.

Although Du Ye was currently a soul, the little girl had implied he was not yet truly dead. Wen Yaozhi would still help a living person being harmed by an evil spirit. Lu Xincheng was taking a great risk, but he had calculated that there would be a benefit. He planned to use Du Ye to perform a scene in front of Wen Yaozhi.

According to the timeline in the book, Wen Yaozhi was currently working part-time at a large amusement park. After crossing half the city, Lu Xincheng and Du Ye arrived at the staff dormitory. In his current state, the only way Lu Xincheng could see Wen Yaozhi was by entering his dreams.

For a ghost, entering a ghost hunter’s dream was essentially walking into a trap. Similarly, it was extremely risky for the evil spirit chasing Du Ye to enter a ghost hunter’s dream. Lu Xincheng knew that Wen Yaozhi disliked using talismans, so his residence was usually undefended.

The two spirits slipped inside easily. Only one of the four beds in the dormitory was occupied. Lu Xincheng approached the bed to look at the man lying there. Upon seeing his profile, Lu Xincheng paused. He had seen many drawings of Wen Yaozhi from various angles, but seeing him in person was different. He had not realized such perfect facial features actually existed. From the brow bone to the bridge of the nose and down to the jawline, he was like a masterpiece.

Lu Xincheng thought to himself that if anyone in the entertainment industry were to play this man, it would have to be him.

Wen Yaozhi was lying on his back and appeared to be in a deep sleep. However, a closer look revealed a layer of fine sweat on his forehead and a deep frown. His eyes were moving rapidly under his eyelids. He was dreaming.

Lu Xincheng did not hesitate. He reached his hand toward Wen Yaozhi’s forehead.

The sound of a noisy crowd rushed toward him. Lu Xincheng stepped into a bustling, familiar corridor. A bell rang, and the hallway suddenly became lively. Several young boys ran past them with a ball, wearing their loose school uniforms in various stylish ways.

This was a school.

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