Realm of the Night God - Chapter 128: Happy New Year

It’s hard to say when it started, but every year on New Year’s Eve, it’s the happiest day of the year for Yang Haoran.

But this year is an exception. No one is here to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new one with him. The day that used to bring him the most joy, the day he looked forward to the most, has now become the most tormenting for him.

The entire Yangjia Bay is shrouded in darkness, with no lights from households, no fireworks, and no laughter.

All there is, is a deathly silence.

Under the waning moon, in the courtyard, Yang Haoran sits alone with a cup of wine, one after another.

On the table, besides the wine, there’s nothing, not even a pile of peanuts.

His expression is calm, devoid of the sadness from a few days ago, as if he has emerged from his grief.

But whether he has truly emerged from his sadness, only he himself knows.

This winter, in particular, feels colder.

Snowflakes drift down, one by one, landing on him, penetrating his heart.

Tonight, Yang Haoran doesn’t know how much he has drunk. When he wakes up, it’s already bright.

He’s covered in a thick layer of snow. The table, the ground, the roof, all covered in white.

The sunlight spills onto the earth, dispelling the darkness. The snow glows faintly, signaling the start of a new year.

Shaking off the snow on his body, Yang Haoran rubs his groggy head and looks at the wine jug on the table, then at the rising sun. It takes him a while, but he finally manages to force a smile onto his face.

It’s an ugly smile, unnatural, almost like crying, but it signifies a new beginning.

A new year, a fresh start.

Looking at the messy courtyard, the messy house, and then at his own messy self, he grits his teeth against the discomfort of his hangover and starts cleaning up with a broom.

He could easily use his Yin spirit power to clear his mind and sober up, but he chooses not to. Why he doesn’t want to, perhaps only he knows.

It takes him the whole morning to clean up the entire old house meticulously. He doesn’t overlook the trash on the floor, the dust on the furniture, or the cobwebs in the corners. He cleans with great care.

In the afternoon, he spends more time cleaning the courtyard, making the whole place look fresh again.

These are things that should have been done before New Year’s, but in the days leading up to it, he didn’t have the heart.

After taking off the torn suit he was wearing, washed himself, and put on a new set of clothes.

Wearing new clothes for the New Year, that’s what his mother used to tell him.

After doing all this, he starts preparing dinner for himself. Although it’s still early for dinner, he hasn’t eaten properly for the past few days, but he has drunk a lot of wine, leaving his stomach empty.

Before long, smoke rises, breaking the silence, adding a bit of liveliness to this ghostly village, Yangjia Bay.

Dinner is simple. Yang Haoran just wants something to fill his stomach, nothing fancy, so he simply boils some porridge.

After dinner, as the sky darkens, Yang Haoran spends some time making two spirit tablets for his parents, placing them on the ancestral altar in the middle of the main hall. This is where their family used to pay respects to their deceased ancestors during festivals, but now the spirit tablets of his parents are also placed there.

Yang Haoran knows that his parents’ souls have already departed, but he still made the spirit tablets for them, not for any blessings, but to give his longing heart a place to rest.

Lying on a chair, Yang Haoran closes his eyes intending to rest for a while, but he ends up falling asleep deeply.

He’s exhausted these days, carrying too much in his heart. If it weren’t for the Yin spirit power supporting him, an ordinary person would have probably collapsed by now. So, with this moment of relaxation, he falls into a deep sleep.

As the New Year’s Day arrives, Yang Haoran’s deep slumber comes to an end.

Early the next morning, he wakes up from his sleep. He dreamt of his parents, dreaming that they were doing well in another world.

As a Night Watch, Yang Haoran knows this is impossible. Everything he dreams of is just what he wants in his heart, not the reality, but he doesn’t dwell on it. He’s willing to believe that everything in his dreams is real.

Waking up with a smile, Yang Haoran quickly freshens up, then comes to the altar, sincerely paying respects to his ancestors, his parents, and the statue of Death God.

These days, Yang Haoran hasn’t worshipped Death God. This is the first time since his parents’ passing. In his eyes, his parents’ life and death are far more important than Death God.

Perhaps, he’s not a devout believer at all.

Everything seems to slowly return to normal. Yang Haoran’s mood becomes more stable, and he has accepted his parents’ passing. All that’s left is to heal with time.

After breakfast, Yang Haoran brings out a recliner and places it in the courtyard, just like his father used to do.

Looking at him, it seems he still has no intention of going out today.

Lying on the chair, letting the bone-chilling cold wind blow over him, he slowly closes his eyes.

This time, he doesn’t fall asleep. With his eyes closed, he starts organizing his thoughts. His mind has been a mess lately, and it indeed needs some sorting out.

After a while, Yang Haoran slowly opens his eyes. He reaches into his pocket for his mobile phone, but he realizes it’s not there.

He’s puzzled for a moment, then remembers that he didn’t take out his mobile phone from the torn suit.

With that in mind, Yang Haoran looks to a corner of the courtyard where there’s a big bag filled with rubbish he cleared yesterday. His torn suit is also in that bag.

Without any hesitation, Yang Haoran stands up, goes to the bag of rubbish, and retrieves the torn suit. From the pants pocket, he takes out a mobile phone.

After pressing a few buttons, the mobile phone shows no response. It seems it’s out of battery.

The mobile phone had been turned off since the day Yang Haoran used it to take photos in the cave. He hadn’t used it since then, so he wasn’t sure when it had been turned off.

Thinking of the mobile phone now, it was because Yang Haoran remembered the yellow cloth, the one that contained information about the soul-refining cauldron.

According to Xu Meijing, this soul-refining cauldron could change their lives significantly. Yang Haoran understood the importance of this soul-refining cauldron, and as he sorted through the information in his mind, it was the first thing he thought of.

However, what he didn’t expect was that his mobile phone had been turned off for some time.

He found a charger in the car and rushed into the house to charge his mobile phone.

Fortunately, even though Yangjia Bay had become a ghost town, electricity hadn’t been cut off yet. Perhaps it was because he was still there that electricity was still supplied.

After charging the mobile phone, Yang Haoran tried to turn it on. After a few attempts, the mobile phone finally came to life.

As soon as it turned on, message notifications kept ringing. Yang Haoran frowned slightly and opened the message bar.

“Brother Yang! Why is your mobile phone turned off! I heard that something happened in Yangjia Bay! Are you and Uncle Aunt okay?”

“Did something happen? Please reply when you see this! I’m really worried!”

“I’ve heard some things from Master Wu. As long as you’re okay, as for Uncle Aunt’s situation, I hope you can face it correctly and not overthink it.”

“Are you there? Why is your mobile phone still off?”

“Are you there?”

“Brother Yang, why hasn’t your mobile phone turned on yet?”

“…”

These messages were all from Guanhai. There were many messages, and Yang Haoran read through them one by one. From these messages, Yang Haoran could feel Guanhai’s concern for him, but among that concern, there was mostly worry.

A warm feeling surged in his heart, and Yang Haoran showed a slight smile on his face, replying to Guanhai’s message.

“I’m fine, thank you for your concern. Let’s talk when I come back. Right now, I just want some quiet time alone. I’m sorry.”

After sending the message, he quickly received a reply.

“Okay, as long as you’re fine. If there’s anything, make sure to tell me. Don’t keep it to yourself. I’m always here, and my mobile phone is on twenty-four hours.”

Guanhai also knew that it was necessary for Yang Haoran to have some time alone at this moment, so he didn’t call to disturb Yang Haoran.

“We’re brothers, so rest assured. If you really can’t handle it on your own, I’ll definitely come to you.”

Yang Haoran replied to Guanhai’s message and then looked at other messages.

“Haoran, I’ve heard some things about your family from Yiming. You have to be open-minded and not do anything foolish.”

This message was from Master Wu. From this message, it could be seen that he knew something had happened to Yang Haoran’s family, and the information came from Wang Yiming.

Yang Haoran had never told Master Wu where he was from, but Master Wu knew he was from Yangjia Bay. He didn’t find it strange at all.

Yang Haoran knew a little about Master Wu. If he guessed correctly, after Master Wu knew that he was an Underworld Envoy, he probably had investigated everything about him.

So, it wasn’t surprising that he knew Yang Haoran was from Yangjia Bay.

Wang Yiming was also here. Master Wu knew he was a spirit police officer. When the plague inexplicably occurred in LechengYangjia Bay, Master Wu sensed something different about it and instinctively felt that it wasn’t so simple, so he contacted Wang Yiming.

In Master Wu’s view, with such an event, Wang Yiming, as a spirit police officer, couldn’t be unaware. To get the most accurate information, it was right to ask Wang Yiming.

Spirit police officers had their own rules, but faced with Master Wu, Wang Yiming had to reveal some information.

However, even if Wang Yiming didn’t, as Master Wu, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to find out what happened in Yangjia Bay. Back then, he could make people send Wang Yiming to deal with the ghosts in the villa, so it wouldn’t be difficult for him to find out what happened in Yangjia Bay.

“I’m fine, thank you for your concern, Master. I just want some quiet time now, so I won’t call you.”

After sending a message to Master Wu, Yang Haoran looked at the next message. This one was from Wang Yiming, also filled with words of concern.

After replying to Wang Yiming’s message, Yang Haoran looked at the next one, which was from Ma Ling.

However, the message from Ma Ling wasn’t one of concern.

“Brother Yang, Happy New Year!”

This message was sent in the early hours of the first day of the new year, indicating that Ma Ling didn’t know what had happened in Yangjia Bay.

Yang Haoran hesitated for a moment, then smiled lightly and replied to Ma Ling’s message.

“Happy New Year!”

[Heartfelt thankyou for the support! BokuBoku]