After Proving the Dao Through Severing Love, I Was Haunted by a Dark, Damp Ghost

[Niche tastes, self-indulgent comfort food, please read the content warnings | Complete, check out my upcoming stories]

It's said that cultivators must endure eighty-one heavenly tribulations to ascend: sever worldly ties, purge distracting thoughts, take on a new body, and finally cross the Heavenly Gate.

A once-revered immortal failed his tribulation and was left stranded in the mortal world, barely clinging to life.

Heaven's Will told him: You have one unfinished bond. You must kill the person you love.

Bai Yuezhou, in a broken body, carried his sword up the mountain and personally cut off his rival's head.

And still, he failed to ascend.

Under the star-lamps of a lonely temple in the wilderness, he hid Jiang Du's corpse inside the belly of a wooden Buddha statue. To buy himself a moment's peace, he held three incense sticks and prayed to the gods and ghosts.

The wind stirred, the flames went out, and a chilling voice whispered in his ear:

"Zhouzhou... The sword you cut me with... hurt so much..."

Unable to escape, he lay dazed in the other's arms as a tremendous tide of ghostly energy poured into him. Beneath his intact clothes, his belly had swollen into a horrifying shape. When he looked up, all he saw was the wooden statue in which he had hidden the corpse.

The statue had been worn away by time until its features were unrecognizable, its origin impossible to determine. From its outline, though, its gaze seemed to fall on the meditation cushion.

Was this his punishment for killing Jiang Du? He had left Jiang Du without a whole corpse, and now an evil ghost pinned him beneath Jiang Du's feet and violated him.

[Ruthless, heartless cultivator who follows the merciless path x damp, obsessive male ghost who returns from the dead]

Content warnings:

1. A short story driven by illogical kinks, expected to be 30,000+ words.

2. The ghost = rival = pursuer = Jiang Du. One-on-one, both sexually inexperienced, together for good.

--Updating on alternate days: Sweet Tide--

[Provisionally opening July 10, full draft in progress]

Xie Zhenyan quit his job. After taking the fall for his former company and signing an agreement accepting an industry-wide ban in City A, he received a severance payment.

He planned to return to his hometown, but nearly got his ETC card swiped at a highway entrance.

When the attempt failed, a breathtakingly beautiful young man got out of the back seat of the other car.

Xie Zhenyan thought, With a face like that, how can he do something like this?

They soon crossed paths again on the highway. This time, with no toll barriers in the way, the young man was shoved without warning onto the scorching road. The car door slammed shut in front of him, and the car sped away.

In the blazing summer heat, in the middle of the highway, Xie Zhenyan's heart skipped a beat. He couldn't help honking, then rolled down his window and shouted to the dazed young man, "Get over to the roadside!"

The young man snapped out of it, got to his feet, and stumbled toward him.

1.

The young man's name was Mi Jiayu. The driver was his junior schoolmate, and the man who shoved him out was his scumbag boyfriend.

He was gay.

Xie Zhenyan thought he should comfort him, but that combination only made his already restless heart beat faster.

He helped call the police, took him home, and exchanged contact information with him. Then, in the middle of the night, he got a call from the young man asking for help. His scumbag ex was blocking his door.

By the time Xie Zhenyan arrived, the police were already there. A crowd of onlookers had gathered around the young man, who looked frail and helpless as he cast Xie Zhenyan a pleading glance.

Xie Zhenyan took a deep breath, stepped out of the crowd, and held out his hand. "Come stay at my place. You're scared."

2.

The beautiful young man moved into his house.

The wiring in the old house was worn out, and the light suddenly went out while the young man was showering.

"Zhenyan?" he called from inside. "I think the light shorted out. Can you turn on the light in the hall? I'm not done showering yet."

"There isn't a light in the hall." Xie Zhenyan walked over with his phone and turned on the flashlight. "I'll use this to light things up for you."

The door opened a crack, and a damp, sweet breeze slipped out.

Mi Jiayu reached out a pale, wet arm, and Xie Zhenyan placed his phone in his palm.

Content warnings:

1. Love at first sight. A road-trip story written as practice. It might not quite fit the genre, but the original intention was to write a road-trip story.

Theme: Beware the traps of cultivation and seeking the Dao. Embrace a beautiful life on the right path