The basement was quiet for a moment, so quiet that time seemed to stand still. Ji Xuan first eyed Lin Feiran for a little while, then moved his dead eyes slightly so that his gaze landed on Gu Kaifeng. He wordlessly looked them over from head to toe, then with his stern, marble-like expression, he turned his head back.

His neck was very flexible...

Seeing the ghost had no intention of violence, Lin Feiran seemed almost a little disappointed. He lowered the hand holding the glutinous rice and said to Gu Kaifeng, “He looks like he won’t hurt anyone.”

Gu Kaifeng agreed. “He looked at us for so long. He was probably trying to recognize us.”

Lin Feiran was confident now and called out, “Ji Xuan? Can you understand me?”

Ji Xuan neither looked back nor replied, but he now pressed the piano keys harder, like he did not want to listen to Lin Feiran. Seeing the piano in front of Ji Xuan, Lin Feiran realized that he really could move the keys. To an ordinary person without the Yin-Yang eyes, this would seem like the piano was moving of its own accord. No wonder the Ji Mansion had been rumored to be a haunted house. This was not a false rumor at all.

Lin Feiran called out again several times but Ji Xuan still ignored him, concentrating only on haltingly practicing the song. His red-clothed silhouette seemed to give off an air of stubbornness.

This young master Ji’s regrets... could they have to do with this song? Lin Feiran guessed this was the case as he held Gu Kaifeng’s hand and plucked up the courage to walk toward Ji Xuan, sticking his head out to look at the sheet music on the stand.

It was a handwritten score. It was quite old; the paper looked water-stained and wrinkled, a fragile yellow colour showing at the edges. It looked as if it would disintegrate at a touch. At the top of the sheet music were written five beautiful characters in fountain pen: A Song for Ji Xuan.

The fountain-pen ink had also faded with the passage of time.

“This is...’ Lin Feiran was stunned. “This is a song the pianist composed for him?”

These words successfully got through to Ji Xuan. He turned his head, again without moving his body, and his dead stare met Lin Feiran’s. Several seconds later he said slowly, as if giving a command, “Play it for me.”

He must have been the perfect picture of a tyrannical young master!

Gu Kaifeng: “......”

Forget it. He wouldn’t quibble with a dead man.

Lin Feiran asked politely, “Will you let me sit down?”

Ji Xuan stiffly rose from the piano stool and stood to the side. As he got up, Lin Feiran saw that his neck bore a long and deep knife cut, the opening of the wound revealing the black and rotting blood and flesh within. It seemed that he had cut his own throat and died. Lin Feiran’s heart skipped a beat and he hurriedly lowered his eyes. The piano stool Ji Xuan had sat on was stained with darkening blood, and both the blood on Ji Xuan himself and the blood he had shed on other things looked extremely real due to his powerful negative energy. Lin Feiran sat awkwardly on the stool Ji Xuan had sat on, worrying that when he stood up, the seat of his pants would be stained with blood.

It would look very much like his buttocks were bleeding!

‘A Song for Ji Xuan’ was not a difficult song, and the first time through Lin Feiran played it pretty smoothly. Although it was unavoidable that he played incorrect notes and sometimes paused to look at the sheet music, compared to Ji Xuan’s playing, it was as fluid as water. Gu Kaifeng stood warily behind Lin Feiran, eyeing Ji Xuan without blinking, worried that the music would incite him to suddenly go ballistic. However, contrary to Gu Kaifeng’s worries, Ji Xuan not only did not go ballistic, his expression even softened as Lin Feiran played.

Lin Feiran played the song from beginning to end. When he reached the last page of the sheet music, he saw the author’s name on the lower right corner: He Jingyun.

That was probably the name of the ghost in the piano.

The last note vanished into the air. Lin Feiran looked up to see Ji Xuan’s expression, and saw that some color had returned to his face. He was about to ask, but Ji Xuan seemed to be unhappy that the music stopped. He frowned slightly and commanded Lin Feiran, “Continue.”

Gu Kaifeng coldly glared at Ji Xuan.

Ji Xuan spoke in a hoarse voice, grating to the ears. But this was understandable; his throat had been cut open, after all, so some air escaped when he talked. Lin Feiran answered, ‘Very well,’ flipped the sheet music back to the first page and began to play again. Because he had already familiarized himself with it once, the second time he played it was much smoother, with far fewer mistaken notes and pauses. As the melody became smoother,Ji Xuan’s terrifying expression also changed, slowly becoming elegant and mysterious as moonlight. His pitch-black eyes now showed the reflection of a young man sitting on a piano stool, straight-backed...

My name is He Jingyun, your piano teacher. You may call me Mr. He.

His face was stern and serious in front of the servants, as if this was the first time he had met Ji Xuan.

You’re three years younger than me, little teacher.

Ji Xuan’s lips lifted in a teasing smile. While no one was looking, he blew a breath against He Jingyun’s sensitive earlobe.

I wrote a song for you. I’ll leave it here. When you’ve studied the piano for eight or ten years, you’ll be able to play it.

He waved a thin book of sheet music in the air, calmly placed it on the piano, then turned to leave, as if writing a song was something he did casually and was not worth mentioning.

Where are you going? Play it for me, now.

Ji Xuan was both angry and amused as he tugged at He Jingyun’s sleeve. He stepped forward and pulled the man, whose ears were so red they might be bleeding, into his arms.

What... are you going to do?

He sat on the piano stool, expression uneasy, and Ji Xuan made him hold out one hand.

Put this on, and then you’ll belong to me.... I’m not going to ask if you’re willing. You have to be willing.

As if doing a magic trick, Ji Xuan pulled a ring from between his fingers. As if afraid that person would run, he hurriedly caught hold of his hand and slid the ring onto his fourth finger.

If I say I’m not?

His eyes were as bright as stars, and unconcealable happiness radiated from them.

Then this young master will cry for you, and make a fuss for you, and hang myself for you to see.

Ji Xuan pretended to speak fiercely, raising a hand to touch the corner of that person’s reddened eyes...

Lin Feiran finished playing the song for the second time, but did not stop. He turned back to the first page and played it for the third time...

The fourth time...

The fifth time...

So many memories from when he was alive. Sweet, bitter, touching, despairing... Amidst that familiar yet foreign melody, the memories turned into a rain of downy feathers, drifting through the air and covering both heaven and earth. The clean white fragments gently enveloped the red-robed ghost, then melted into his heart.

Lin Feiran did not know how many times he played that song. He only woke from the reverie of the melody when Gu Kaifeng touched his shoulder with a finger.

Following Gu Kaifeng’s gaze, Lin Feiran looked up at Ji Xuan.

Ji Xuan’s eyes, like deep wells, now shed shining tears. He stood woodenly by the piano, passing both hands over his face in a daze, but the more he wiped away the tears the more there were. Try as he might, he could not clear them all away...