I and My Husband Sleep in a Coffin

Chapter 75 The truth is terrifying

The car zoomed the entire journey. It did not stop except to restock food and water and to take care of physiological needs.

Wang Xiaomie fought to hold back when he needed to use the restroom the entire ride. After all, he was now an obedient puppet. Who knew if he could or couldn't speak? It would be disastrous if he unintentionally exposed himself.

Yi Yan, thankfully, did not ignore him. Bai Yu assisted Wang Xiaomie in going down to take care of bodily needs whenever they took a break.

Their group was highly noticeable. Wang Xiaomie had a kind and attractive appearance. He was plainly a male, yet he sported long black hair and a dead expression...

Furthermore, Yi Yan appeared to have just left the Republic of China Theater.

Yi Yan explained to the curious, without panic, with a smile, "This is my younger brother. He was born with a brain problem."

Wang Xiaomie: "......" YOU have a brain problem! Your whole family was born with brain problems!

Passers-by averted their gaze in embarrassment.

They dragged Wang Xiaomie back into the automobile after easily resolving the suspicious passers-by. The car finally exited the highway after stopping at who knows how many rest stops.

The roadside scenery got progressively overgrown, and the vehicle jolted slowly. Wang Xiaomie surreptitiously gazed out the window and noticed that their current location resembled a barren mountain.

The roads were all dirt, there were rocks everywhere, and the leaves of the weeds that had been cut off on both sides of the road were still fresh, indicating that this road had only just been constructed.

For half an hour, the car bounced along the road, scattering dry loess everywhere, and the white car was covered in dust and ash as it swayed by a stele.

The stele should have had such-and-such village or so-and-so site inscribed on it, but this section of country they drove through was desolate, and even the new worn stele appeared to have been recently cut from a quarry.

The car came to a halt as they approached the village. Bai Yu drew Wang Xiaomie from the vehicle and followed Yi Yan and Xiao An.

The black eyes were expressionless, yet when no one was looking, a spark of light shot through them.

Wang Xiaomie rapidly scanned the village's layout.

The houses were built in a random pattern, with little regard for their proximity to one another. They were all two-story wooden log structures.

The four people strutted into the village, and the sound of their activities was audible, but no one came out to see. The doors remained securely closed, as were the windows.

A desert mountain, new roads, a desolate village... Uh, this place isn’t haunted, right?

A shudder ran down little zongzi Wang’s spine.

Although he was a zombie, he was a fake!

Who said he wasn’t afraid of ghosts?!

The teary-eyed Wang Xiaomie: I miss my wild man the day after I left, boo-hoo.

Yi Yan approached the gate of a small wooden building, took out the key, and opened the door. "We live separately and stand watch separately," he said, turning his head and smiling at Bai Yu.

He handed Bai Yu another key and tilted his head, indicating that Bai Yu should go to the two-story wooden house next to them: "This is where Xiaomie and I will be staying. The 'puppet silk' must be refined in a timely manner. Others will be here in a few days to accompany me into Qishan. I'll hand this over to you at that time."

"You want to avoid me?"

Bai Yu glanced at the key in Yi Yan’s hand and looked up with a calm expression.

"Why? Because I’ve already lost my exploit worth in your eyes?"

Wang Xiaomie, who was standing behind them, twitched his lips: ...Da Bai, your question is too direct!

When confronted with such a straightforward question, ordinary people show some of their true sentiments, regardless of whether they have a guilty conscience or harbor ill intent, yet Yi Yan's smile remained unchanged.

He stated, "Whether you believe it or not, I will never harm you, let alone assess your worth. You are and will always be my closest person."

Bai Yu bowed his head in silence.

And Yi Yan pulled Wang Xiaomie, who was acting stupid, and stepped into the house. The wooden door was closed, keeping outsiders' prying eyes at bay. Bai Yu's palms clenched slowly and he exhaled. He instantly turned around with a cold expression and walked into the cabin next door, grasping Xiao An's hand.

Yi Yan took Wang Xiaomie's hand in his and led him to the stairs. Yi Yan's palm was unlike Wen Fengjin's, which was ice-cold and slender. Yi Yan's hand looked beautiful, but it had several hard scars on the palm. Wang Xiaomie wanted to rip the warm and dry palm apart.

"Watch the steps," he whispered as he turned to see if Wang Xiaomie would fall.

His voice was light and soft, and his facial features were tender and loving to the point of dripping, as if he were tending to his incomparably precious frail flower vase or his most treasured baby daughter who was prone to falling down.

Wang Xiaomie felt sick at the bottom of his heart while pretending to be an idiot.

He'd never been fond of this Yi Yan guy.

Although the other party appeared gentle and kind, as if he were an older generation teacher who treats people well, once such a person recognizes his own 'path,' he will do whatever it takes to persevere to the end, rejecting all other 'paths.'

He who desires nothing has few friends.

The more aloof people, such as Yi Yan, are, the more terrifying they are.

Take the dagger KaiMing for example. Wang Xiaomei's enlightened artifact could sense people's malice and murderous intent towards its holder, and it would also radiate heat to warn of those who commit the most terrible crimes.

Despite being so near to Yi Yan, KaiMing had not overheated.

What did this imply?

It suggested that even though Yi Yan poisoned him to obliterate his awareness and turned him into a puppet, Yi Yan believed in his heart that he was doing it for Wang Xiaomie's good, not evil, but good!

So much so that even if his hands were stained with monster blood, it was to protect mankind, which was also virtuous!

This type of person...is too scary...

The man led Wang Xiaomie upstairs, who was becoming increasingly terrified. Yi Yan draped dark blue flannel over the chair and sat Wang Xiaomie on it.

Wang Xiaomie was dressed casually in light gray trousers and a short shirt. His eyes were large and sparkling, his brows were thin, and his eyelashes were thick. Plump pale pink lips sat below his high, straight nose. Because his facial contours were not sharp, he looked like a gentleman.

He sat obediently in the chair covered in dark blue flannel at this time, like an expensive luxury item in a glass cabinet - exquisite and lovely.

Yi Yan, it seemed, agreed.

His feelings for Wang Xiaomie, however, were significantly more.

Yi Yan crouched in front of Wang Xiaomie on one knee, his narrow eyes flashing, and he stretched out with both hands to inspect.

Wang Xiaomie struggled to keep his eyes open due to anxiousness. Those hands didn't do anything to him, but they spooned the back of his head. Xiaomie's scalp moved slightly when the rubber band that held his hair in place untied, and his long ink-black hair cascaded down like a waterfall.

Yi Yan's lips curved up as he grasped a strand of hair.

He abruptly stated: "I shall be able to possess you once I have allowed the puppet silk in your body to grow and refine thoroughly. I know what traits you 'people' have, hehe."

"Neither old nor dead, appears human but is inhuman, seems stiff but isn't stiff." Yi Yan lowered his gaze and twisted Xiaomie's black hair with his fingertips. "When it comes to the reason why I can create the most flawless masterpiece of my life with you, I want to thank my former client Yan Chun. Did I mention I met Yan Chun 20 years ago while collecting herbs?"

"Twenty years ago... I was the central figure in the craftsmen's circle. I am proficient at refining tools and creating puppets, and I have the ability... even without a puppet like Xiao An, I have the power to battle a drought demon!"

Wang Xiaomie's face was expressionless, but his heart was pounding with horror. Yi Yan could combat Drought Demon An Kai while unarmed and defenseless?! Is this guy still human?!

He processed this fact while listening as Yi Yan continued, "When I met Yan Chun that year, he recognized that I had the capacity to kill him as well as save him, so he wanted to strike a bargain with me..."

"How dare a walking corpse who cannot even control the power in his own blood dare to talk to me like that?" he sneered.

"Heh~ I made a show of promising him to extract his blood for long-term research. The feather pattern— is actually just the first version of puppet silk. A monster who thinks highly of himself and only seeks vengeance, he had long been under my control but was unaware of it. Truly stupid!"

"........."

"Later, in order to solicit my help, he told me a story from a thousand years ago..."

Yi Yan brought his face close to Wang Xiaomie's, causing their breaths to blend. His voice was clear as he added, smothering his laughter: "So, Wen Fengjin and Mian Deng… I already knew about your existence— Did you ever think your burial place was a secret back then, and Yan Chun became a living dead and crawled out of the earth for so many years without finding your tomb location, so why Yan Chun suddenly find out?"

"It’s naturally since I told him~"

Yi Yan smiled, his affectionate face tinged with a touch a lunacy that made people shiver.

This pervert!

Wang Xiaomie was terribly frightened, wishing to shout and cry for help from Wen Fengjin, but he could only sit on a chair like a puppet in the end.

"...When I was cleaning up those filthy monsters in Qishan after I met Yan Chun and collected the blood, I came upon the drought demon." Yi Yan's smile faded as he stated this, as if he were caught in a flashback. "The drought demon and I were fighting to the death," he mumbled involuntarily. "I badly hurt him, and he seriously hurt me... I drank a tube of Yan Chun's blood out of desperation..."

"I knew Yan Chun's blood had the power of resurrecting the dead, but I didn't anticipate it— to make me look like this."

He let go of Wang Xiaomie's hair strand and reached out to touch his own face.

"Who can believe that my body and time have actually returned to my youth?"

"I couldn’t use my ID card. Who would believe that a man in his forties, on the verge of old age, had become a resentful silly boy aged less than 20? I couldn’t go home, and my son and my grandson could no longer recognize me!"

"Do you know that kind of pain?!"

Yi Yan's face got increasingly hideous, and he yelled at Wang Xiaomie!

"I am Bai Cheng! Yes, me!"

"But I could only become a homeless and aimless vagabond watching my son rush about to find me! See my son die at the hands of monsters due to an accident! See my daughter-in-law die of illness! See my poor grandson grow up alone and without support!"

"I couldn’t even pretend to help them as their relatives! I could only send them money in the dark!"

"My wife was also killed by monsters... She was a good woman, and I loved her more than a craftsman loves refined tools— but that day, I brought back the corpse of a baby who had been turned into a demon, intending to save[1] it out of good intentions... but it instead confused and killed my wife!"

"Damn it all! Monsters don’t deserve mercy; they must all die!"

Yi Yan, or rather Bai Cheng, was gasping for air. His pupils were blood-red from hatred and anger, and his gentle face and temperament were distorted and menacing!

Wang Xiaomie was scared enough to pee.

Why are you yelling so loudly! Roar at my family’s Xiao Wenzi if you dare!

Wang Xiaomie, who was about to bawl, saw Yi Yan finish venting his rage, panting and gradually calming down. His expression and breathing finally eased after a long time.

"Did I scare you? Sorry."

He forced a smile, but it was even scarier than the devil's smile in Wang Xiaomie's eyes.

"I won't get upset at you like this again."

Yi Yan extended his hand and stroked Wang Xiaomie's cheek.

"I lost track of the drought demon after I was hurt in combat with it and this happened. He changed his dwelling place, but I can't forget that he’s the reason I’ve fallen to this point, so I vowed to kill him!"

"I began by spending a lot of materials to produce golden tools, and then I distributed these monster-restraining items to the tomb raiders, who frequently went to the underground tomb. They were greedy for money, and my goal was simple: locate the drought demon! It could even eliminate the zombies in the grave with minimal effort."

"I looked for a long time. I have visited your tomb palace as well. I entered your underground palace and saw the inscription with the records. Only then did I realize how close your legend was to what Yan Chun had told me."

"I didn't know what you were capable of, so I retreated to be safe. I planned to sell this information to Yan Chun and let that moron find the way."

When Wang Xiaomie heard this, he yelled in his heart, "F*ck!"

He’d wondered how Yan Chun discovered them; he even had the map of the underground palace in his hand! It turned out to be you, dog thief[2]!

[The author has something to say: Yi Yan is Bai Yu's grandfather, Bai Cheng, who was severely hurt in a battle with the drought demon An Kai and drank a lot of Yan Chun's blood. As a result, he changed from an old man to a youth, and no one in his family recognized him.]

Footnotes:

[1] as in help in transcending; perform a religious ceremony to help the soul find peace.

[2] Gǒuzéi refers to individuals who are worse than pigs and dogs. They're really hypocritical and corrupt. It's similar to calling someone a swindler/brigand as an insult, but not as ‘satisfying’ as dog thief, don’t you think?

Translator:

The title of the chapter directly translates as "The truth is like thunder." Quite apt, huh

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