Chapter 2 The Charm of That Night

  Long Bao's gaze drifted out of the hall into the dark night, he remembered that in his hometown in the mountain city, the old people used to say: When a person dies, their soul is still spiritual and doesn't immediately go to see King Yan. On the evening of the day they die, they will return to their own home to take a look around, visit their children and grandchildren, and see the people they care about most.

  Is that so? If it is, then wouldn't Old Qian be watching his grandchildren from inside this luxurious mansion, watching how they are making things difficult for him? Wouldn't he feel heartbroken about it? Is that so?

  The summer night after the rain seems to have driven away the sweltering heat, and the cool breeze occasionally blows into the hall, dissipating the tense and stifling atmosphere in the room.

  Long Bao's face was dark and self-inflicted, with a miserable smile. He spoke to them in a difficult tone: "That's right, I am indeed an outsider of the Qian family, and there is no blood relationship between me and the Qian family. Please don't use incorrect words to tarnish the spirit of the chairman who has passed away. When people speak and act, heaven is watching, and restless souls are also watching. Now, the chairman's will has not been announced, what you understand is just a rumor. If everyone feels that the will is false, they can apply for probate in Hong Kong at that time. So, I would like to ask everyone not to discuss the issue of the will for now, let's talk about it after the chairman's funeral and burial."

  After finishing speaking, Long Bao turned around and walked towards the gate, Kang Ding Zhuang Jing'er hurriedly followed up.

  Ye Zi Hen rushed towards the iron-like back of Long Bao, shouting loudly: "You mainland brat, don't be too proud! Wait for our Qian family to join forces and sue you!"

  Long Bao didn't turn back and replied faintly: "Please go ahead."

  Back at the hotel, Jing Er's grandfather was already waiting in Long Bao's room. Long Bao forced a smile and walked over to sit down on the bed, lighting a cigarette. Kang Ding Zhuang and Jing Er quietly reported what had just happened to Jing Er's grandfather, who simply nodded calmly and sipped his tea.

  Grandfather Jing stood up and walked to the window, looking through the glass at this incredibly prosperous international metropolis. After a long time, he turned around and walked back, patting Long Bao's shoulder with his right hand, saying calmly: "Little Dragon, just do what you need to do, you only need to take care of Lao Qian."

  After finishing this sentence, Ye Ye opened the door and returned to his own room. Kangding Village and Jing'er sat for a while, also feeling that they couldn't find suitable words to comfort Long Bao, so they also bid farewell and left.

  Long Bao sat alone in the room, staring at the steady light shining down from the lamp on the wall. All the objects in the room appeared static and solid under this unchanging light, except for the wisps of smoke that curled up continuously between his fingers, swirling around until they vanished into the air, adding a thick layer of smoky flavor to the stale air that filled his lungs.

  It wasn't long before Long Bao was suddenly choked by a thick smoke, and he started coughing violently. A pungent sour taste surged up, his throat felt extremely uncomfortable, and his Adam's apple felt even more blocked!

  Long Bao quickly walked to the bathroom, turned on the faucet and took a big gulp of water, gargled several times before spitting it out, then gurgled again and drank a few more mouthfuls. He scooped up some water with his hand and splashed it onto his face, rubbing it clean. Only then did he lift his eyes to stare straight at himself in the mirror, looking haggard, pale as dry wood, with stubble on his chin.

  Is it me? Is it me? Who am I? What am I doing?...

  ……

  Knock knock knock!

  Someone knocked on the door, Long Pao opened it and took a look, it was Jing Er.

  Long Bao squeezed out a smile and asked: "Jing Er, why haven't you rested yet?"

  Jing'er looked at Long Bao, whose face was covered in water droplets, and asked softly: "I just finished talking to Grandfather and happened to pass by your door when I thought I heard you coughing. So I came over to take a look. Are you okay? Is it serious?"

  Long Bao shook his head and restrained the surging feeling in his throat, trying to speak calmly: "It's nothing, just got choked by smoke for a moment."

  Jing'er stared at Long Bao's eyes for a while, and said even more gently: "Look at you, smoking so much, come on, let me open the window to ventilate it!"

  Long Bao stood at the door, watching Jing'er open all the glass windows. Jing'er felt that the room was still stuffy, so she opened the door leading to the balcony and invited Long Bao to come out and appreciate the night view of Hong Kong, to feel the cool breeze.

  Long Bao and Jing Er stood on this small balcony, about a foot or so apart.

  "Dragon Scale, I have a question for you. Last time you were at my place, I saw you writing on paper: 'Is the world in the fog, or are we in the fog? I couldn't find my universe in the fog.' What does it mean? Tell me, okay?"

  Long Bao remembered that he had written it on Jing'er's desk in a state of confusion, and didn't expect Jing'er to remember it so clearly! He looked at Jing'er's gentle and elegant figure swaying in the wind, his heart beating uncontrollably, and hastily turned away, answering distractedly: "I don't know, I forgot."

  "Dragon Scales, Grandpa just said that we won't be attending Old Man Qian's funeral ceremony after all. We'll leave tomorrow, I'm telling you first!"

  Long Bao's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't turn around or respond immediately. Only after a while did he ask, "Why? Is it because your grandfather is not feeling well?"

  "Quietly, Jing Er said: 'It's not that, it's just that Grandfather can't stand seeing fake emotions from others. He says those false things will pollute his eyes.'"

  Long Bao turned around and looked at Jing'er, nodding slightly: "That's right, tomorrow there will be many hypocritical rituals and people, it's better for you to go back. Jing'er, your grandfather is old, so take good care of him."

  Jing'er was filled with hope that Long Bao could persuade her to stay with words, she gazed at Long Bao's eyes with a sad expression, feeling that his gaze had already become like a dark giant hand crushing her into powder. She yearned to merge into this gaze, but also realized how unattainable it was, and so softly said: "Long Bao, do you really wish for me to leave your line of sight?"

  Jing'er's simple words always left Long Bao helpless, and he gazed deeply at this mysterious girl. He knew Jing'er was just within arm's reach, and if he stretched out his hand, he could hold this girl who made his heart chaotic and restless. His throat felt constricted, making it extremely difficult for him to speak, and with great effort, he replied in a low tone: "Jing'er, all of you stay away from me, I'm cursed, I'm an unlucky person, and I'll only bring disaster to those who get close to me."

  Jing'er saw a reflective glint in Long Bao's eyes under the lamp light, and her body trembled slightly. She quickly spoke in a gentle voice: "Long Bao, you're daydreaming again, didn't we just agree on this last time?"

  Long Wan's bitter smile, pointed to the sky with his finger, then pointed to the ground and finally pointed to himself, said sorrowfully: "In the past, Wai Gong hadn't died, Qian Lao hadn't died, Jin Zong hadn't died, Jiao Rongsen hadn't died, Sun Wenquan hadn't died, even that high-ranking official Yang Xiu hadn't gone mad! But what about now?"

  Jing'er didn't dare respond.

  Long Bao waved his hand in sorrow and anger, turned around, leaned over to listen to the sounds of the city. The rolling of wheels accompanied by the wind seemed to be the main stream of this sound. After a long time, he said in a sad voice: "If my grandfather didn't leave me, if Qian Lao didn't leave me, I might still have some illusions about the curse, wondering if the curse would end with my generation."

  Jing'er was moved by Longbiao's sorrowful tone, she took a step forward and leaned against him, still comforting him gently: "Longbiao."

  Long Bao couldn't stop shaking his head, bitterly smiling, with a chill in his voice that was not quite desolate, miserably muttering: "The heavens are blind... the heavens are blind... blind..."

  Long Bao completely lost control in front of Jing Er, and tears of regret flowed down. Jing Er's heart ached extremely, and she involuntarily grabbed Long Bao's arm to try to convey her comfort, but Long Bao seemed not to have noticed.

  "I'm scared, I'm terrified that the curse's harm will bring to them..." Long Bao pounded his head with his fist, choking back tears, "I'm a sinner! This lifetime, these things... for the sake of venting my own anger, I didn't even spare others' lives as a price... I've become so evil in the face of hatred!"

  "How many people have died because of me... Father... Mother... Uncle Qi... the fortune teller... Grandfather... Lao Qian... Jiao Rongsen... Zheng Xue's family... Which one didn't leave this world because of my fault? Even Hu Zi De was drowned because I abandoned our last effort due to fear of death! How can I be so selfish for my own despicable life?"

  Long Bao could no longer conceal his infinite sorrow and regretful emotions in front of Jing Er, whom he unknowingly deeply loved. He knelt down on the ground with a thud, supporting himself with both hands, unable to control the choking sensation in his throat, and burst into tears!

  Jing'er, who had been quietly weeping like a pear blossom in the rain, knelt beside him, tightly grasping his arm and sobbing: "Bao, Bao, none of this is your fault. Grandfather told me earlier that even if De YeYe, Qian YeYe, and Jiao Sen had never met you before, they would still have lived to this age. This month or next, they would still have passed away. Bao, think about it, they were all old men! Don't blame yourself anymore, okay?"

  Long Bao shook his head, knelt down and wept bitterly. Suddenly, he turned around and tightly hugged Jing'er who was leaning against him, choking with sobs: "Ye Ziheng scolded me and it's true... Don't I feel that everything about myself is suspicious? ... This curse, am I a monster or a devil? ... Jing'er... tell me... you tell me..."

  Long Bao's strength was so great that Jing Er was almost out of breath from his tight hug, and she couldn't respond, she could only gently stroke Long Bao's back with her hand to comfort him and try to calm down the tremors in his body.

  Long Bao's ears were listening to Jing Er's faint breathing, his back was feeling Jing Er's warm and gentle touch, the soft warmth penetrated through his clothes and into his body. He held Jing Er's delicate body in his arms, every part of her felt tender and smooth. His nose smelled Jing Er's pure and sweet scent. He felt Jing Er getting hotter in his arms, all these new and exciting stimuli suddenly confused his breathing, obscured his sadness, disordered his thinking, and blurred his senses. Perhaps it was an instinctive escape from the pain in his mind, a desperate need for stimulation to shift his focus. In Long Bao's mind, scenes of him and Jing Er's intimate encounters kept emerging!

  In his blood, a primitive flame began to surge, this flame rapidly spread throughout every blood vessel in his body, even the extremely fine blood vessels on the surface of his skin could feel that instinctual response. This response grew clearer and more intense, under this frantic response, he felt himself being shattered into fragments by the rapid torrent of blood, each fragment anxiously searching for a place to hide and settle on the body of his beloved...

  Unconsciously, Long Bao's hand was touching Jing Er's slender and firm ** through her clothes. He pressed his face tightly against Jing Er's white jade-like neck, greedily inhaling her fragrance, and whispered in her ear: "Jing Er... I miss you so much."

  Jing'er, who was invaded by Long Biao for the first time in her sacred territory of chest, was about to resist Long Biao's demonic claws out of defensive instinct. However, she was made numb all over by Long Biao's passionate words and the strange stimulation from the territory, suddenly losing strength in her four limbs and becoming weak throughout her body. She didn't know how to refuse or escape, and her mind began to become as confused as Long Biao's!

  Long Bao extremely yearned to taste Jing Er's tender red lips again, he completely forgot everything, and with a raise of his head, he kissed Jing Er's lips. The moist, soft feeling that was still fresh in his memory thoroughly occupied his consciousness. He exerted himself to press his mouth onto Jing Er's lips, Jing Er's mind went completely blank!

  Jing's trembling body further ignited Long Biao's masculine instincts, the soft fragrance on Jing's cherry lips made him start to wrap his mouth around her wildly sucking, he stood up with force, one hand embracing Jing's upper back, one hand embracing Jing's slender waist, squeezing hard, as if wanting to press Jing into his own body, his lips still desperately sucking the nectar from Jing's lips.

  ……

  Again it's Xiongshan, the fragrant wind caresses my face, lying on the soft and tender small hillside, the green grass tickles my neck, the soft clouds lazily wrap around the clear water vapor, wave after wave, just wrapping Xiongshan in a mythological Penglai.

  Reach out your hand upwards and you can touch the smooth sky, downwards and you can scoop up the mountain stream's water, the birds sing in a sweet voice, the bees buzz with excitement as they flutter their wings, the warm breeze blows by, and the leaves gently drop off sparkling dew.

  The flowers under the tree shade opened their secret petals, far away, as if a piece of red haze, bright red wild fruits hung on the branches but couldn't bear to pick, only filled with loving touch, using fingertips to feel the round beauty.

  Wandering in this mysterious and beautiful forest, I dare not break the tranquility of the obstacles, but facing that crazy temptation, I can't help but be drawn to that mysterious, urgent, and unstoppable step forward, which is actually due to my fear of paradise.

  Xiongshan under the floating water vapor seemed to have become the legendary Wu Shan, the unknown unexplored edge of the territory began to have a painful wandering, the flame of the soul burning the sparkling stream, the boiling blood finally locked in eternal praise in the echo of music.

  ……

  Jing'er endured the pain of being ravaged, trying not to cry out loud. She really didn't want to resist Longbiao, nor was she able to resist him. All she could do was tightly wrap her arms around Longbiao, tolerating the rough object inside her body, and bury her head deep in his chest.

  Long Bao mobilized all his knowledge of the two sexes in the midst of confusion, and after the painful **was finally satisfied and entered**, he also felt a slight stinging sensation coming up, but afterwards, that unprecedented tightness and warm wetness made him forget the stinging sensation. Immediately following was the surging and rolling of blood energy gathering at **above**.

  His body pressed down on Jing'er, his emotions uncontrollably bursting forth in a mournful wail that increasingly stimulated him to an unbearable itch for immediate action. He brutally squeezed and trampled Jing'er's icy skin and jade bones with ferocity.

  The splitting pain made Jing'er's stunningly beautiful face reveal a sorrowful expression, but Long Bao was still ignorant and continued to forcefully pave the way through the rugged road...

  A thoroughfare, fallen petals scattered, like morning clouds and also like evening clouds. In the world, only madness remains, only possession remains, only dedication remains. No escape, no compromise, everything starts to surge...

  The strong aroma of Longjing tea rushed straight into Jing'er's delicate nose, and she was dazed and intoxicated by it.

  Long Bao greedily sniffed the fragrance of Jing Er's skin, his heart racing wildly as he grasped her waist and buttocks, which were as white as jade, and began to thrust into her with abandon!

  Jing'er's slightly painful moans made the pleasure even more intense, and Long Bao was about to explode in a frenzy!

  ……

  Fell, who can say clearly that this is the fall of emotion or the fall of desire, the fall of life or the fall of soul. In short, everything has fallen, all possessions have fallen, those rolling long hair, that strong conquest, that mournful moan, that thunderous and rapid penetration...

  ……

  The pain of pleasure, the happiness of being ravished, the satisfaction of humiliation. Jing'er tightly hugged Long Biao, her pink face pressed against Long Biao's stubbly face, tears streaming down her face, murmuring: "Biao... I love you... My blood is flowing in your heart..."

  Long Bao gazed deeply into Jing Er's extremely shy eyes, slowly, slowly, he moved his scorching hot body in Jing Er's smooth and warm depths, caressing Jing Er's silk-like skin, warmly kissing Jing Er's lips, and responded with deep emotion: "Jing Er, I love you too, I know, just like how your body has me now, my body also has you..."

  Jing'er narrowed her eyes sweetly and asked: "Really? Brother..."

  "Really, Jing Er, I often dream of you, and often think of you for no reason. I remember every word you've ever said to me..."

  ……

  Long Bao was eager to express his excitement and inadvertently increased the frequency.

  Jing'er's face contorted in pain again, and she moaned: "Bao, gently, it hurts..."

  Long Bao controlled the intense urge inside his body, quietly feeling the wet heat and slipperiness of the flower path, and asked in a warm voice: "Does it still hurt, Jing Er?"

  Jing'er nodded shyly, Long Bao gently stroked Jing'er's firm and delicate **, kissing the slightly transparent skin with a hint of redness, softly comforting her: "The book says it hurts the first time, but it won't hurt afterwards."

  ……

  Long Bao felt himself drifting on the top of Xiongshan, being blown by that magical wind, being supported by that mysterious cloud, flying in the nine-day sky, and being pulled by a heavenly call, flying straight to the paradise he had never been to!

  Again, as if swimming in the river bottom, playing in Taihu Lake, holding his breath underwater, he finally found the most beautiful pearl in the world. Extremely delighted, he floated to the water surface, and he wanted to give it to his Jing'er!

  ……

  Boom!

  The thunder of feelings finally exploded in the seamless fusion of the soul, and the mighty mountain torrent rushed out from the top of Xiongshan, and the Milky Way water burst down from the ninth heaven!

  As the extremely intense pleasure radiated from his lower abdomen, Long Bao's eighteen-year-old primordial yang burst out of Jing Er's warm and narrow flower path with rhythmic contractions, shooting into her body without reservation. Long Bao let out a beast-like roar from the depths of his throat: "Jing Er... Jing Er... you are my Jing Er... I love you... really love you..."

  Jing'er was biting back tears and enduring the pain, softly whimpering and bearing it.

  ……

  Two people got lost, lost in the possession of instinct, lost in the fusion of souls, lost in natural longing, lost in each other's mysterious echoes.

  They were completely unaware of what to do, only knowing that they desperately needed each other's forgetful union. Their spirits and desires were vaguely elevated in the bewildering entanglement of their bodies, but in this night of passion, they struck a kind of delightful pain.

  The frenzy has passed, the white sheets covering the naked bodies of Longbiao and Jing'er. Longbiao is holding Jing'er in a reclining position, Jing'er enduring the sharp pain of her torn body, burying her face deeply in the crook of Longbiao's arm.

  Long Bao felt the delicate body in his arms sobbing slightly, and he quickly turned around to support Jing Er's face, asking softly: "Jing Er, are you still in pain?"

  Jing'er shook her head hard and said in a low voice: "No."

  Long Bao thought he had roughly taken possession of Jing Er and hurt her, so he said with a hint of apology: "Sorry, Jing Er, I was the one who hurt you, I should die!"

  Jing'er stretched out her small hand and placed it on Long Bao's face, gently stroking it. She looked at him with a soft yet firm gaze and said, "Bao, I'm willing."

  Long Bao was so moved that he tightly hugged Jing Er, gently kissing her face, her eyes, and her lips, saying in a low voice: "Jing Er, it turns out happiness can be so real!

  Jing'er's infinite warmth and gentle feelings responded, but the unstoppable tears still flowed from the corners of her eyes.

  Long Bao felt a bit tense and asked worriedly, "Tell me, is it really painful? Let me rub it for you." Long Bao reached out his hand to gently massage Jing Er's abdomen.

  Jing'er gently stroked Long Bao's warm and tender skin, speaking in a very low voice: "Bao, I'm just too happy, so I worry that my possession might be too fleeting."

  This sentence suddenly awakened Long Biao from his anesthesia, and he only then realized the enormity of the mistake he had made!

  Jing'er felt Long Bao's hand, which was massaging her lower abdomen, quietly withdraw. Jing'er couldn't help but smile wistfully.

  Long Bao didn't dare to look at Jing Er, he tried hard to recall how all this happened, and once again remembered the decision he had just made before, for a moment his heart was in extreme pain, feeling that he couldn't face Jing Er who had already become one with him in spirit and flesh, couldn't face that decision.

  The warm and tender atmosphere in the red wave room suddenly turned icy, a terrible chill spreading between the two lovers.

  Time passed minute by minute, second by second. Neither of them spoke a word, both quietly listening to the city sounds outside the window, listening to their heartbeats, and the sound of blood flowing through their veins.

  Long Bao stared blankly at the ceiling, not responding. Jing Er's heart ached, and tears rolled down again, flowing along her face onto Long Bao's skin. She wrapped her arms around him, her entire soft body pressed against his.

  Long Bao was completely awake, and with a reverse hand, he took out the cigarette from the pants that had been thrown on the bedside table, lit it up. At this time, he needed cigarettes to calm his mood.

  Jing'er was originally the woman he deeply loved, everything about Jing'er was so intoxicating to him. If it wasn't for this crazy night, perhaps he would never have known that love could be so unrestrained and deep-seated. He truly felt that the Jing'er in his tight embrace wholeheartedly loved him. He loved Jing'er, loved her without reason, loved her inexplicably, loved her deeply to the bone marrow, but...

  Qiu Ya undoubtedly deeply loved herself and moved herself, and she had also promised to marry Qiu Ya as her wife...

  The brotherly affection between Shi Wei and his brothers is so precious, but the will of their predecessors is so helpless, and the continuation of the Long family's thousand-year bloodline is so important...

  But this inescapable curse of heaven has caused the death of so many people, I am a lone star, destined to walk alone for a lifetime, I dare not want anything...

  Death, the death of life, no longer willing to face it... Is it a choice to have or a choice to completely give up? In fact, there is no need to think about it again. Life and death are separated, and the curse has already had an answer to the choice...

  Let's put an end to it tonight, let everything be a fleeting and illusory dream. No matter how much pain this beautiful lover in my arms will suffer, no matter how difficult the future will be, nor how those friends will blame... I must not indulge my emotional weakness again, letting myself make mistake after mistake... Otherwise, these loved ones and friends who are most precious to me will be hurt by the curse once more, and there will be no redemption.

  Long Bao was anxiously smoking, allowing nicotine to slowly poison his body. He tried not to think about Jing Er again, but couldn't bear to push her away from his embrace. He attempted to calm his emotions in this conflicting state of mind.

  Jing'er finally couldn't bear the icy pressure and lifted her face from Long Bao's arm, gazing at him with a sorrowful expression. She made an effort to keep her voice gentle as she asked: "Bao, don't smoke so much, okay? It's really bad for your health."

  Long Bao suddenly turned his head and stared at Jing Er, his eyes were extremely complex, as if he wanted to put Jing Er into his own pupils and treasure her. After a long time, his eyes became icy cold, and he pushed away Jing Er's hands that were holding him, and pulled out the arm that Jing Er was leaning on. He said coldly: "Sorry, Su Jing Er, today I offended you, wronged you, and hurt you. If I were a normal person without a curse, I would be moved by you, maybe even marry you. But now everything is different, I finally know that my curse is the heavens cursing all my emotions, from love to hate, it will only bring harm to people related to me, I am destined to be a heavenly solitary star!"

  "Since loneliness will accompany me for the rest of my life, I will never have a close relationship with anyone again. I won't love anyone, nor hate anyone. I won't be brothers or friends with anyone, nor enemies. And I definitely won't get married and have children! Let this curse end with me in this generation!" Long Bao decided to let his heart die from now on. His body emitted a cold aura like iron and stone, without any warmth. "Thank you for giving me tonight's mood. From now on, I will have no regrets in life. Heaven wants me to take this solitary path of no return, so all of you don't need to disturb me again. You can leave, it ends here between us."

  Jing'er trembled violently, feeling the cold-bloodedness of Long Biao's decision to break off their relationship. She stammered: "You think this is a road of no return... why won't you let me accompany you on this road of no return?"

  "My path, I walk alone, no one needs to accompany me!"

  Jing's heart was shattered, and she wanted to throw herself into Long Bao's arms and melt his heart with her warmth. But Long Bao gritted his teeth, used his arm to block her, and ruthlessly pushed her away, saying coldly: "Leave! I don't have any feelings for you anymore. Leave, or I'll start to hate you!"

  Jing'er had never thought that a person's emotions could change so greatly in this short yet long night! Jing'er let her heart be trampled by Long Biao, and looked at him with infinite sorrow: "Are you going to let your heart die like this? Can't you 'seek life from death' as Grandfather said?"

  Long Bao swallowed the roar in his heart, trying not to look at Jing Er, and said coldly: "Rain, since it fell from the sky to the mortal world, it is no longer rain, it has died. To become living rain again, it must go through another cycle, another reincarnation. We, let's continue next life."

  Long Bao's determination had already made Jing Er's heart bleed, relying on her intuition of Long Bao's soulful voice, Jing Er knew that saying anything now would be futile. Her whole body trembled, this originally warm and cozy place was like an icy cave. Jing Er lay there blankly, staring blankly at Long Bao's convulsing face, slowly getting up, standing in front of Long Bao with her delicate jade-like body, tears pouring down like rain!

  Long Bao was stunned, staring blankly at Jing Er, who let tears fall from her cheeks and roll down her pure white chest, silently gazing into Long Bao's eyes with a heartbreaking expression.

  Long Bao finally lowered his head, Jing'er struggled to put on her clothes, leaned forward and lightly kissed Long Bao's forehead, then smiled miserably at him and said: "I know this rain will not die."