Marcus Li secretly glanced back at the two ancestors, rolling up a paper ball and gossiping with Thaddeus Feng: "Oh, there are indeed few people who know about this, no more than five people including me. I told you this because you have joined Taixuan Dao and are considered one of our own... This Yinke was raised by our boss for nearly a hundred years, but later they turned against each other and things got really bad. The two haven't seen each other for more than a hundred years. But it's strange to say, in the past, when Yinke was mentioned in front of the boss, his face was not very good, especially in recent years. It's really strange. I secretly wondered if the older he got, the less he could resist flirting. It was really sad that we met today and it was quite harmonious. But the boss has been a little abnormal these days, don't you think---"
"Has anyone ever taught you not to be so smart as to say bad things about your boss?" Gabriel Yin's voice suddenly interrupted, "You must remember not to look back at me before you speak. You are quite amazing for being as stupid as ever for decades."
He always spoke slowly, with a lazy tone in his voice, and he was obviously not a person with a quick temper. He often said such things, and they sounded like jokes, so no one took them seriously, especially Marcus Li, who had been with him for more than a hundred years.
But Gabriel Yin these days inexplicably frightened Marcus Li. So he was startled, then respectfully pulled Thaddeus Feng to his feet, and followed Gabriel Yin obediently.
"What are you planning?" Ethan Xie raised the hand that was held by Gabriel Yin, his brows furrowed so tightly that even the black bandage covering his eyes could not hide it.
Except for the first time when he spoke face to face with Gabriel Yin, he never raised his head again. No matter who was speaking, what they were talking about, or whether it had anything to do with him, he always half-nodded, showing an indifference that contained resistance.
Gabriel Yin said "Oh", was silent for two seconds, then suddenly laughed and said, "I just subconsciously felt that I had something to say. You asked me so suddenly, and I thought about it, and it seems that I really have nothing to say. It's been about a hundred years since we last met, and I hope you can stay in front of me for a while longer."
Ethan Xie finally raised his head, his lips slightly parted, as if he couldn't understand what Gabriel Yin said at all: "Did you take the wrong medicine today?"
Gabriel Yin looked at him with satisfaction: "Oh, you've become more humorous."
Ethan Xie couldn't stand it any longer and turned his head away. He said coldly to Marcus Li and Thaddeus Feng, "Don't you think he's abnormal? Why are you standing there like an idiot? Take him back quickly."
Marcus Li nodded twice subconsciously, then stopped suddenly and shook his head hastily, "It's okay, it's not abnormal, it's understandable, think about those empty-nest elderly people in the world."
Ethan Xie: ...
Gabriel Yin: ...
His words shocked both of them.
Ethan Xie took advantage of Gabriel Yin's loose strength and pulled back his hand, and then threw out a piece of black mist without saying a word. As soon as he stepped in, he grabbed it with his backhand and closed it in the blink of an eye.
He took a few steps in the darkness, the first two steps were big and fast, then slower and slower, and finally stopped. He lowered his head, expressionlessly removing the black bandages on his hands and eyes in the darkness, and then turned around and looked back.
Gabriel Yin had long been blocked outside the entrance. Behind him was a dark place. In fact, the distance was not very long, but it seemed endless, just like the endless time of more than a hundred years before...
After pausing for a while, Ethan Xie turned back and continued walking forward. In fact, the remaining distance was very short and he reached the end in just a few steps. He raised his hand and split a hole, then landed on the ground amid the cold wind and the crying of ghosts.
This is an alley sandwiched between buildings. It is very old. The street lamps are covered with a thick layer of dust, making the lights very dim. The ground is wet with rain. When Ethan Xie walked in the alley, his feet hardly touched the ground. He didn't get stained with mud or make any sound.
But after walking a few steps, a dark shadow jumped down from the awning on the second floor in front. When it landed on the wall, it was as silent as Ethan Xie. It did not open its mouth and let out a low cry until Ethan Xie walked in front of it.
This is a black cat without a single stray hair on its body. It would be scary if it suddenly appeared in such a quiet place.
When Ethan Xie first saw the cat, it was so thin that it was almost unrecognizable. It was so small that it lay in the shadow of the corner, dying, and looked like it would have trouble even making it through the night. But when Ethan Xie passed by, it raised its head and called out, hoarse and weak, almost inaudible.
Ethan Xie had seen many creatures dying like this before. They all had their own fates, and he never interfered. Moreover, most creatures, especially animals like cats that communicate with Yin, would instinctively fear him when they were dying, and wished to be as far away from him as possible.
But this one was an exception. From the moment he appeared in the alley, he kept yelling at him, almost using up all his strength...
Ethan Xie had already walked a little further away, but after thinking about it, he turned back, stretched out his thin and pale fingers, and touched its head.
In an instant, there was more flesh under the fur covering its bones, and it looked more alive. It raised its head slightly, rubbed against Ethan Xie's palm, and licked Ethan Xie's wrist with its tongue.
From then on, the black cat would lie in the dark corners of the alley every day. When Ethan Xie appeared, it would jump down and rub against his legs, and then follow him for a while at a distance, until Ethan Xie stopped and looked back at it, and then it would leave, looking back every few steps.
I have been following him for nearly half a month.
Maybe it was because it rained today, so there was a lot of mud and water on the ground. It tilted its head to look at the ground, then silently retracted its head, changed its original plan, and chose to follow Ethan Xie along the wall.
This picky behavior made Ethan Xie stunned for a moment. He frowned and stared at the cat, suspiciously asking: "Gabriel Yin?"
The little black cat with a round head that he raised stopped its claws when it heard him talking, tilted its head and looked down, with a blank look on its forehead, as if it didn't understand what he meant at all.
That's right... No matter how idle Gabriel Yin was, he wouldn't be so bored. He kicked him out and avoided him for a hundred years, so how could he follow him like a cat now, and he couldn't be driven away.
Ethan Xie shook his head in self-mockery, thinking that he was probably being too sensitive about what had just happened.
The courtyard wall was not high. Ethan Xie raised his hand to scratch the black cat's chin, then walked straight to the end of the alley.
Yin guests of every generation have a fixed residence. Ethan Xie used to live there as well. Since he moved away from Gabriel Yin, he has lived there alone for nearly a hundred years.
Ten years ago, for some reasons, he moved out again, and settled down in a two-bedroom house in this unremarkable old neighborhood. Except for the fifteenth day of every month when he would report to the former Yinke Hall, now Kanghe Hospital, to handle some matters sent by Taixuandao according to the custom of previous Yinke, he would spend the rest of his time mingling in the vast sea of people in the neighboring city, working from nine to five, for a few days or a few months, to experience the life he had missed for too many years...
After all, a long time ago, Gabriel Yin once told him: "You are a human being. You should have a wife and children, live a life full of daily necessities for decades, and die of old age. Unfortunately, you were changed into this fate so early... If you get bored in the future, or have some free time, go to the streets and alleys a few times. Life there is quite interesting."
Perhaps because of meeting Gabriel Yin, Ethan Xie recalled this old saying from his memory. When he came to his senses, he found that he had unknowingly walked to the door of his residence, and the black cat had followed him all the way because it had not been driven away, and was rubbing against his legs and peeking its head out...
Ethan Xie hates physical contact with others. The "people" here has a broad interpretation, including everything that is not soul-destroying.
Actually, what Marcus Li said was right. He was raised by Gabriel Yin, who had picked him up when he was only four or five years old, and raised him for nearly a hundred years. Most of his behavior, likes and dislikes, and daily habits were copied from Gabriel Yin.
Gabriel Yin was notoriously picky, and he was not much better, so he was just the pot calling the kettle black.
But Ethan Xie didn't reject this little black cat that kept rubbing against his ankle. Perhaps it was because he gave it a little spiritual power every day, so it already had a similar aura to his own. Or maybe... it was because for a moment, he saw a little bit of Gabriel Yin's shadow in this black cat, just himself a hundred years ago.
After all, Gabriel Yin had not avoided him at that time, and the only thing he could accept at that time was physical contact from Gabriel Yin.
Ethan Xie looked down at the little black cat for a few seconds, and seeing that it was hesitating and had no intention of leaving, he bent down, pinched the soft skin on the back of its neck, and lifted it in front of him.
The man and the cat looked at each other for a moment, and Ethan Xie commented on the kid: "He's taking it a bit too far."
The little black cat stared at him with wide eyes, looking extremely innocent.
Ethan Xie frowned and raised his hand towards the stairs. The little black cat was startled and immediately used its front and back paws to hug Ethan Xie's wrist. Its soft and warm belly rose and fell, and it was obviously frightened. But even so, it did not forget to put away its claws to avoid scratching Ethan Xie's skin.
"...Forget it." He frowned and withdrew his hand, took out the key, opened the door, bent down and put the black cat in.
If other people saw this house, they would not believe that Ethan Xie had lived here for more than ten years, because the layout of the house was too simple. There was only a single sofa, a square table, and a floor lamp next to the sofa in the living room. There was no TV, no dining table, and no chairs for others to sit on... The whole house seemed empty.
As soon as Ethan Xie entered the room, he took off his scarf and coat and hung them on the hanger by the door. Then he put on his shirt, trousers, slippers and walked towards the bedroom.
After walking only two steps, he turned back as if he remembered something - the little black cat hiding by the door just raised its paw to step into the living room, but when it met Ethan Xie's eyes, it froze, and then awkwardly retracted its paw, hiding by the door obediently, and meowed at Ethan Xie in a somewhat flattering manner.
A cat's mouth is usually chamfered with two downward swollen sides. I don't know if this little black cat was born with "smiling lips" or if it has been fed with too many spirits and is about to become a spirit. The corners of its mouth are actually slightly upturned, giving it a half-smile look.
People always have a problem. Once they become suspicious of someone or something, they will feel more and more that something is wrong. Not long ago, he coldly said that Gabriel Yin had taken the wrong medicine. Now he just felt that he had probably taken the wrong medicine too. Looking at the kitten's mouth, he actually felt that the smile was somewhat similar to the expression Gabriel Yin had when he used to tease him.
"Squat down and don't move." Ethan Xie said to the little black cat, then went into one of the bedrooms.
There was not even a bed in this bedroom, but it was not empty at all, because the whole room was filled with palm-sized white paper lanterns floating high and low, each with a light, some larger, some smaller, some brighter, some dimmer. But without exception, they were all somewhat gloomy, and some even had a green tinge.
Anyone who is a little timid would have to pee if they suddenly walked into such a place at night. But Ethan Xie had lived in such a creepy place for more than ten years. If Marcus Li knew about this, he would definitely be labeled a pervert.
Since Ethan Xie entered the room, the lanterns began to sway slightly without wind, and it was unclear whether they were excited or uneasy... But Ethan Xie looked as if he was used to it, and he didn't even frown. He raised his hand and took out a new pocket lantern from somewhere, and took out the Oliver Stork pill he had taken out before, put it into the lantern, and then held the lantern in the air and hooked it. When he let go of his hand, the lantern was suspended in the air.
He stood under the floating lantern and looked for a moment, then left the room and closed the door.
As the door opened and closed, the little black cat saw every weird scene in the room. When Ethan Xie returned to the living room, he saw the little black cat staring at the door without blinking, then tilted its head to look at him, looking so calm that it didn't seem like a cat that was sensitive and easily frightened by nature.
Ethan Xie walked up to the black cat expressionlessly, squatted down, stared at its eyes for a long time, and said with certainty: "You are not a cat." At least definitely not a normal cat.
And it looked like they were coming for him.
People who knew him but were not afraid of him, who were familiar with him or even close to him... He thought about it in his mind, counting from a hundred years ago to a hundred years later, and there was only one Gabriel Yin, and he had to add a qualifier: once.
"...I still think you are not him." Ethan Xie said calmly. After a pause, he added: "Even if you are, just pretend you are not."
After he finished speaking, he lifted his hand and carried the kitten into the bathroom. He gently threw it into the sink, held its round head, and said coldly: "If I find out that you are Gabriel Yin who transformed me to play a trick on me, I will make sure you can never transform back and sterilize you."
The little black cat rolled his eyes: ...
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