Rain, Stars, and Ghosts

Wu Yingfei clicked his tongue in annoyance as he ducked under the roof for shelter. Of course it would rain the one day he snuck out to stargaze, tch. The way his bangs stuck to his temple was souring his mood even further. He combed his newly damped hair back with his fingers and sighed. Whatever, what’s done was done. Perhaps he could sneak into the bath once more to have a nice, relaxing soak to soothe his aching muscles…

As he was walking towards the baths, his eyes landed on a round ball. He blinked and stared at it longer. Or, a round person…maybe? The moonlight was all he had to make out the dark figure curled up in the corridor. 

He contemplated the pros and cons of walking up to them. On one hand, it sounded very troublesome. What if they were a shady figure? Anyone out during the middle of the night should be regarded with suspicion. On the other hand, perhaps he could earn some brownie points if he offered his assistance… Looking at how pathetic the figure looked, he decided to help out of the generosity of his heart.

“Excuse me, are you a ghost?” He called out, tone airy and teasing. 

There was no response.

He raised a brow and walked closer to the blob. “Are you alright?” 

Still no response. Looking closer, he realized that the figure was covering their ears with their sleeves. 

Oh, that’s why. 

Not wanting to touch it directly, he took out his fan and lightly tapped their shoulder. 

The figure flinched and shot right up, almost knocking into Yingfei. He blinked; that was a close one. 

The moonlight coincidentally illuminated the figure- the girl’s- fearful and startled expression. 

The blue jewel on her forehead and her garnet eyes. It was one of the Xiu girls. 

“Xiu-guniang.” He nodded with a smile. 

“...Wu-gongzi.” She nodded back after recovering from the surprise. 

It was quiet except for the pitter-pattering of the rain. 

“What are you doing out so late at night?” Yingfei inquired to fill the silence.

“Ah, I was h-heading back to my room.” She broke eye contact and fiddled with her sleeves. It sounded like she meant to say something else but stopped herself. Yingfei wasn’t going to pry; he had little interest in getting involved in her business.

“Oh! I was doing the same.” He beamed at her. The bath was indeed in that direction. “Would you like to head back with me?” This way, even if he got caught, he wouldn’t be the only one in trouble~ 

She hesitantly peeked to the left before quickly looking back in Yingfei’s direction and nodded. 

“If it is alright with Wu-gongzi.” She murmured. 

He raised an eyebrow and glanced in the direction the Xiu girl looked in. There was nothing there besides the wilderness. That could only mean…

“Is there a ghost in that direction?” Her small flinch was all he needed to confirm it. 

Ghosts, hmm... Wu Yingfei was neither an avid believer nor a strong rejector of the supernatural; at most he was indifferent to it. Even if they were real, many were harmless. Sinister spirits exist as a minority and could be dealt with with the Xiu clan’s talismans. Was it really something to be so afraid of? 

He looked back in the ghost’s direction, face full of amusement. “What do they look like? Do they resemble the way their corpses were, battered and bruised? Are they dressed in pure white like the stories say they are?” Asking these questions to a girl who was extremely afraid of ghosts was painfully insensitive, but Wu Yingfei was never known to be a sympathetic person. He was, however, a very curious person when it came to matters he took interest in. Since he had a ghost expert with him, he thought he might as well take advantage of it. It wasn’t like she could afford their wares anyway.

The girl was silent for a while as they walked. She bit her lips, contemplating what to say. She strangely felt like she should answer at least one of his questions since he offered to walk her back.

“...It’s hard to describe.” Though that was probably because she refused to face them properly. “The appearance ghosts take on depends on how they passed away, so I suppose they do not look very different from us. But…” she clutched the fabric of her sleeves tightly. “The feeling they give off…” frightens her to the core. “They feel very cold. Perhaps it is because they do not belong in the same world as the living...”

Something that was not supposed to exist but somehow does exist. Is that not terrifying?

Her voice grew quieter and quieter with every word, almost as if she was in a trance. By the end, her voice was almost drowned out by the rain. 

When he glanced at her, he realized that they were very similar in height. He could see the expression on her face clearly. Her eyes were downcasted and her expression solemn and pensive.

Perhaps he made a mistake in choosing the conversation topic? 

“Cold” and “not belonging,” huh...

He really didn’t understand. 

“Hmm,” he hummed. “Is it really that scary that they exist in our world despite not being a part of it? Did you know that the stars we see at night are also “out of this world?” Yet people accept and even admire them." He glanced at the sky before turning back to the girl. "Is it impossible to do the same with supernatural entities? Rather, isn’t it a miracle that we could co-exist like this in the first place? I think it’s pretty interesting.” His eyes had a shine in them and his smile was more boyish than usual.

“Though of course that’s just my perspective on it~” He smiled brightly at her as he stopped walking. Juju couldn’t help but notice how quickly his expression shifted. In the blink of an eye, his usual smile was back in place. “Time sure flies when you’re having fun, hm?”

A little confused, Juju looked in front of them. Oh. 

While they were busy talking, they had made it back to the inn rooms. 

She turned back to him and bowed slightly. “Thank you for accompanying me. Goodnight, Wu-gongzi.”

“Thank you for the enlightening conversion, Xiu-guniang. I hope you can sleep peacefully tonight.” He flashes her one last smile before walking past her to get to his own room. 

Looking at his retreating back, Xiu Xiang Ju had one thought:

Wu Yingfei was an unusual person.