Chapter 14 - A Water Ghost?
Was it possible that this person was actually dead? Even if not, with half of the body in the icy water, they would have frozen to death in this bitterly cold weather. Thinking of this, Yuan Ge couldn't care about anything else and hurried over, putting his hand under their arms and trying to drag the person to the shore. However, as his eyes swept across the pond, he noticed that the submerged legs, which seemed to be without trousers in the hazy moonlight, looked like they were stuck together, not like human legs, but a huge fish tail, still glistening with the silvery light of fish scales.
Yuan Ge shook his head again. Was it because he had told too many ghost stories and legends tonight that he was actually hallucinating? Or was it because he had been writing a film script about a Qing Dynasty actor and had gotten too deep into it and had been having some strange dreams lately?
With a strong pull, he finally pulled the person out of the water. When he looked at the lower half of the body again, there was no fish tail at all. Beneath the white robe, there was only a pair of long white legs.
It was actually a man!
Yuan Ge felt even more incredulous when he recalled the outline of the man's bone structure and the tightness of his muscles that he had just touched. With this striking white robe and such long hair, it was unlikely that he was a burglar. Was it possible that the man had chosen this old mansion to commit suicide, but finding the water too cold for him to die painlessly, changed his mind and struggled back to the shore, only to collapse from exhaustion by the icy water and cold wind? Better not delay any longer, it's time to call an ambulance and get him to the hospital.
Thinking of this, Yuan Ge bent down and tried to check if the man was still breathing. After the dragging and pulling earlier, the man seemed to have finally regained his consciousness. He was lying on his side on the grass under the tree, shivering, seemingly completely disoriented, oblivious to his surroundings and Yuan Ge's presence. He maintained his rigid posture and mumbled something incoherently under his breath.
"Mate, are you alright? Can you hear me?" When Yuan Ge saw that the man had woken up, he tried to help him sit up. However, when his hand touched his arm, the man unexpectedly clutched Yuan Ge's wrist with both hands like a drowning man clutching at the last straw, and refused to let go.
By now, the cold wind had blown away the dark clouds, the sleet had stopped, and the moonlight was pouring out between the clouds. Holding Yuan Ge's hand for strength, the man finally sat up slowly.
Yuan Ge felt a piercing chill on his wrist. Looking at the man's long wet black hair and skin as white as moonlight, he suddenly recalled water ghosts his mother Violette Fu had told him about when he was a child. People who die by drowning sometimes find a double at the water's edge in order to be reincarnated early. This kind of ghost is usually pale white in colour from prolonged immersion in the water. Although it looks weak on the shore, once a living person is dragged under the water by it, it becomes immensely strong. It will then cover the victim's seven orifices with silt and pull it into a cave underwater…
The image of a water ghost eating a man alive sent Yuan Ge's heart pounding. He jerked his hand violently, trying to get out of the man's grip, but he would not relent, pulling back and forth as hard as he could, clutching at Yuan Ge with all his strength, as if he was afraid of being abandoned.
There were no garden lights by the pond, but by now the moon had fully broken through the clouds, so Yuan Ge tried to get a good look at the man's face in the bright moonlight.
Hidden beneath the damp black hair was his high nose and thin lips; his fair skin was completely bloodless, but his silhouette was perfect. Even the hands that gripped him were exquisitely delicate; ten slender fingers with well-defined knuckles and the utmost elegance. The white robe he wore was of the finest silk, intricately embroidered with patterns of orchids and bamboo, far more elaborate than the white satin robes made by the DDP's costume department.
Finally unable to hold back his curiosity, Yuan Ge reached out to brush aside the man's long hair, only to be stunned once again by the face before him.
The person looked so much like Rong Qing he had seen in his dreams - a small, delicate face with a full forehead, prominent brow bones and nose, and thin, slightly curved lips. Flawless white porcelain skin and dark, bristly eyebrows added depth to his features, giving him a sense of gallantry. Even with Yuan Ge's extreme pickiness about a person's looks, this man could be considered stunningly beautiful with perfectly proportioned features. In particular, there was an indescribable sadness on his face, which seemed to have undried tears, and the ends of his eyes seemed to be tinged with a thin layer of red hue, making one's heart ache for him while also bringing out a feminine fragility in his male handsomeness.
Only a beauty that blurs the boundaries of gender can be described as heavenly, existing only in the world of the gods.