The sound of waves echoed from time to time. I sat quietly on the swaying yacht, gazing at the sea, as waves of fragrant scents drifted toward me. I hadn't tasted food from the Living World in days.
What I had eaten before was all stuff grown in Ronan's Shadow Realm. If not for my innate abilities of coexistence and rebirth, my body would have been scorched. Right now, Vivian Ouyang was busy cooking. We had just left Ronan's Shadow Realm and returned to the island.
It turned out the old people I saw when I first arrived were just illusions. In other words, I was deceived the moment I set foot on this island. This is what I hate most about ghosts—without realizing it, you might be bewitched, and everything you see is a lie.
Miles Mao looked grave in front of me. I watched him quietly. We’d been friends since university, more than ten years now. When I first met him, he was already in the Ghost Burial Squad, but he never wore the uniform—always choosing his own Taoist robe for each mission. But now, things had changed: Miles Mao was wearing the uniform.
"After we eat, you should head back."
I said, glancing at the clock—it was already past 4 a.m.
"The others have been captured."
I responded with a quiet "Mm."
"I’ll have Ronan Wu release them soon."
"You’ve changed, Rachel Lan."
Miles Mao said with a puzzled look, leaning back, while Vivian Ouyang kept cooking at the counter nearby.
I no longer wanted to talk to them about John Chou and Ethan Zhang. They'd been wary of John Chou for ages—I knew that much. These problems weren't new; they'd been buried long ago, only now exposed because of Ethan Zhang. The Immortality Society bastards had intensified the conflict.
"How did you all get through these years?"
I asked, and Miles Mao replied with a bitter smile.
"We train every day. Sometimes I even wonder if those Immortality Society guys might actually be the good ones!"
I gave Miles Mao a stern look, and he burst out laughing.
"At first, we feared and hated those Immortality Society people. But gradually, everything changed without us noticing. Because of them, we gained so much, so..."
"Evil is evil, no matter how much you disguise or decorate it. Its essence is still evil."
I looked at Miles Mao in disbelief. He hadn't always been like this. Back when we faced injustice together, Miles Mao would always stand up with integrity.
"Ah, Rachel Lan—we all know, every one of us knows. But..."
Miles Mao paused, then looked up, sorrow flooding his eyes—a grief so intense it shocked me into standing.
"What exactly have you all been through?"
"Sit down, Roxie. It's time to eat."
Vivian Ouyang brought over some dishes she'd finished preparing. Judging by Miles Mao's expression, he had no intention of continuing the conversation. I decided to wait until after the meal to ask him in detail.
There was almost no conversation at the table. The meal was silent and heavy, almost suffocating. I just couldn't understand how things had come to this. Miles Mao no longer rejected the Immortality Society from the bottom of his heart. That shocked and confused me.
If even Miles Mao had changed, then what about the whole Ghost Burial Squad? Had they already... I didn't dare think further. My heart ached and my scalp tingled.
Half an hour later, after dinner, we brought out some red wine. Vivian Ouyang sat close beside me, pressing against me, her hand gently caressing my back and legs, her head nuzzling me affectionately from time to time.
"Vivian's been troubled."
I pushed Vivian Ouyang away and looked seriously at Miles Mao.
"Why is this happening? The you from long ago..."