IMGH Chapter 62.1

Jiang Yi’s Deception, Qiu Rui Gets Kissed

Jiang Yi’s soul returned to his body, and it took him quite a long time to fully recover.

Han Yuancheng noticed that his complexion looked rather poor and asked with concern, “Mr. Jiang, are you all right?”

Being shown concern by a romantic rival was simply an affront to one’s dignity. Jiang Yi forced himself to rally, pushing through as he said, “Mr. Han worries too much — I’m perfectly fine!”

Han Yuancheng saw that Jiang Yi had returned to his normal state and thought nothing more of it. After exchanging a few brief pleasantries, he took his leave and departed.

Once Han Yuancheng was gone, Jiang Yi could no longer keep up the pretense. He half-slumped against the back of his chair, his face etched with exhaustion.

Qiu Rui quietly regretted his earlier pointless behavior. After hesitating for a long while, he still couldn’t help but ask, “Jiang Yi, are you all right?”

Jiang Yi lazily lifted his eyelids and shot Qiu Rui a resentful look.

“You little devil — are you trying to murder your own husband?”

Shameless. This infuriating man never missed a single opportunity to take advantage of him!

“Bastard!” Qiu Rui cursed furiously and raised his fist, bringing it down hard toward Jiang Yi. Jiang Yi met the fierce, icy glare without the slightest fear, playfully winking and making faces at Qiu Rui.

Qiu Rui’s fist, which had cut through the air with a whistling sound, stopped right in front of Jiang Yi’s face and went no further. He wanted nothing more than to punch this damned man’s face in, yet in the end he was utterly powerless to do so.

Glaring with bitter fury at the smug grin on Jiang Yi’s face, Qiu Rui began to pull his fist back. The man suddenly leaned forward swiftly, and his lips brazenly pressed against Qiu Rui’s tightly clenched palm.

Even though he knew perfectly well that Jiang Yi couldn’t actually touch him, Qiu Rui yanked his hand back as if he had been scalded.

“Jiang Yi, have you had enough?” Qiu Rui fixed him with an intense stare, his gaze as cold and dark as ice-soaked water.

Jiang Yi shook his head, as though he was genuinely lamenting that missed kiss. He clicked his tongue and said, “What a shame, what a shame! But never mind — sooner or later, there’ll come a day when I can touch you and kiss you to my heart’s content!”

This time, having Qiu Rui possess his body left Jiang Yi feeling deeply unsettled — even more drained than the last time. His body felt as though it had been hollowed out, his steps unsteady and weightless, as if each one landed on clouds. His mind was hazy and unfocused, and after running through several red lights in a daze, Jiang Yi didn’t dare keep walking. He found a small garden nearby, staggered over to it, and collapsed onto a bench.

Jiang Yi tilted his head back and gazed up at the deep blue sky, where a few skylarks glided past from time to time.

He curled his lips into a self-deprecating smile and laughed weakly.

Even after being treated that way by Qiu Rui, he still felt not the slightest resentment or anger. It seemed he was truly beyond saving.

Jiang Yi’s gaze gradually grew distant and unfocused. Countless images flickered before him like a slideshow — and in every single one of them was the man who haunted his every waking thought and dream.

The corners of his lips grew weaker and weaker in their curl. The pale smile froze on his face, and his eyes slowly closed…

…

“Jiang Yi, Jiang Yi…”

Chen Yuhe called out anxiously to Jiang Yi, who lay unconscious on the reclining chair. “Jiang Yi, wake up! Wake up right now!”

She called out for a long while, but Jiang Yi remained with his eyes shut tight, his breathing so faint it was barely perceptible.

Chen Yuhe anxiously pulled open her bag and rummaged through it, pulling out an antique blue-and-white porcelain bottle. She tipped out a crimson pellet and fed it into Jiang Yi’s mouth.

After waiting a moment and seeing that Jiang Yi had still not regained consciousness, Chen Yuhe grew so anxious that beads of sweat broke out on her fair brow. She turned toward Qiu Rui, who stood nearby looking flustered and ill at ease, and snapped coldly, “What on earth happened to Jiang Yi?”

Qiu Rui hadn’t anticipated that one impulsive act on his part could have brought Jiang Yi to such a state. He explained in a panic, “I… I didn’t mean to!”

“You possessed Jiang Yi’s body again and again — did you ever stop to think whether he could actually withstand it?” Chen Yuhe’s usual calm had vanished completely. Her beautiful eyes blazed with fury as she said in a sharp voice, “Chairman Qiu, Jiang Yi has been so good to you — he would tear out his own heart and give it to you — and yet you still treat him like this. Do you even know what he has done for you—”

“Yuhe, that’s enough…” The man’s faint voice cut in at just the right moment, interrupting Chen Yuhe’s indignant tirade. Seeing that Jiang Yi had come around, Chen Yuhe forgot everything else and rushed over to him anxiously. “Jiang Yi, where does it hurt?”

Jiang Yi tugged the corners of his mouth into a reassuring smile for Chen Yuhe. “You’re panicking over nothing, little girl. I just feel a bit tired, that’s all.”

“You’re still putting on a brave face in front of me — you nearly lost your life, and you can still manage to smile!” Chen Yuhe chided him, though the tight worry on her pretty face had already eased considerably.

Sensing the concerned gaze coming from his side, Jiang Yi turned his head and smiled at Qiu Rui, who stood not far behind him. “I’m fine. The little girl is making a fuss over nothing — don’t take it to heart!”

Qiu Rui opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing at all.

The man’s face was as pale as a sheet of paper. Though he was smiling, the smile was strained and feeble — it was clearly forced on purpose so as not to worry him.

A sour, swelling ache pressed down on Qiu Rui’s heart, and inwardly he cursed — cursed Jiang Yi for being a fool. Knowing full well the harm that came from being possessed, why had he allowed it to happen again and again?

Qiu Rui hated himself even more for the ignorant, pointless thing he had done and the harm it had caused Jiang Yi. How could he have acted so recklessly on impulse?

The guilt in the depths of Qiu Rui’s eyes — Jiang Yi saw it. And at the same time, something clenched tightly inside his own chest. He didn’t want Qiu Rui’s guilt. He would rather Qiu Rui keep lashing him with harsh words the way he always had than see that look of remorse on his face.

Jiang Yi had his pride and his arrogance. He had no use for sympathy or pity.

Jiang Yi looked away and pushed down the turmoil in his heart. He turned to Chen Yuhe with an almost pleading lift of his brow. “Yuhe, the moment has come for a beauty to rescue a hero. Could I trouble you to help me home?”

Chen Yuhe shot him a resentful glare, pouting as she said, “Weren’t you doing so well holding yourself together? Since when do you know how to admit weakness?”

Jiang Yi let his head droop, affecting an air of fragility, and said in a pitiful voice, “Miss Chen, I know I was wrong! Please stop lecturing me!”

Chen Yuhe gave Jiang Yi an exasperated look and reached out to haul him up from the bench.

“Good grief, you weigh a ton. Shouldn’t you be going on a diet?”

Chen Yuhe strained to support Jiang Yi, who broke into a wide, sheepish grin. “A real man is supposed to be built!”

“You’re such a real man, and yet you need a frail little woman like me to hold you up — have you no shame?”

“Well, it’s an exceptional circumstance, isn’t it?” Jiang Yi turned to look at her, puzzled. “Speaking of which, little girl, what are you doing here?”

Chen Yuhe rolled her eyes. “You’re only just thinking to ask that now?”

Jiang Yi gave a dopey grin. “I forgot earlier, didn’t I? How did you find me?”

“I calculated that you were going to be in danger today, so I came specially to rescue you!” Chen Yuhe tilted her small face upward with an air of great pride, her expression as good as saying: See? If it weren’t for me, you’d be rotting in a ditch somewhere.

Jiang Yi’s mouth twitched. “Little girl, stop keeping tabs on me all the time!”

“I’m trying to look after you, and this is the thanks I get!” Chen Yuhe shot Jiang Yi a deeply aggrieved glance.

Since Chen Yuhe had to help support him, the two of them walked close together, bickering and quarreling every few steps, making quite a lively scene of it.

Qiu Rui followed not far behind them, watching the two figures leaning against each other up ahead. The sight was strangely grating to look at — not just hard on the eyes, but unsettling somewhere deeper as well. He trudged along behind them in a daze, and by the time they got home, Qiu Rui couldn’t even recall how they had made it back.

The moment Jiang Yi got home, Chen Yuhe ordered him straight to bed. Having barely recovered, he had now fallen ill again within just a few days — it was genuinely frustrating.

Jiang Yi hadn’t dared tell his mother about this bout of illness either. Chen Yuhe took it upon herself entirely to care for him during his recovery. Jiang Yi felt bad about troubling her and tried in every way to dissuade her, but Chen Yuhe remained completely unmoved.

Having a woman he wasn’t particularly close to suddenly living in his home made Jiang Yi terribly uncomfortable. Yet Chen Yuhe didn’t seem to find anything odd about it at all, and devoted herself wholeheartedly each day to looking after him.

The reason Jiang Yi had fallen ill in the first place was entirely because Qiu Rui’s soul had occupied his body for too long. Had Chen Yuhe not arrived in time to feed him the medicinal pill specially prepared by Xuanqing Palace, Jiang Yi might very well have lost half his life.

Afterward, Chen Yuhe gave Jiang Yi quite the thorough dressing-down, and at the same time, her attitude toward Qiu Rui dropped sharply.

She didn’t care who Qiu Rui was. So what if he was a company chairman? Did being a chairman give someone the right to bully others at will — to seize another person’s body and cause them harm?

With her temper flaring, Chen Yuhe treated Qiu Rui as if he were invisible.

Qiu Rui was genuinely worried about Jiang Yi, and made several attempts to visit him in the bedroom. But Chen Yuhe kept getting in the way, deliberately or otherwise, and Qiu Rui found no opportunity to see him.

Chen Yuhe came out of Jiang Yi’s bedroom carrying a meal tray and ran straight into a certain ghost pacing in circles by the door. Chen Yuhe straightened her back, walked past Qiu Rui without a change in expression, her small steps crisp and purposeful.

Qiu Rui had no choice. He tried to pass through the door, but a sudden burst of golden light blocked his way.

Right in the center of the bedroom door, a strip of paper covered in talismanic writing fluttered in the draft. Qiu Rui stared at it and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

In the kitchen, Chen Yuhe’s beautiful eyes gleamed with undisguised cunning as she smiled to herself.

After being kept out for several days, Qiu Rui finally couldn’t take it anymore and sought out Chen Yuhe.

“Miss Chen, would you please remove the talisman? I’d like to go check on Jiang Yi.”

Chen Yuhe turned a deaf ear and continued to treat Qiu Rui as though he didn’t exist.

Qiu Rui kept his patience, softening his tone a touch further. “Miss Chen, I didn’t know the consequences would be this serious, otherwise I wouldn’t have—”

Chen Yuhe was clearly not buying it. She cut him off with a wave of her hand and said coldly, “Chairman Qiu, when you possessed Jiang Yi’s body, you could certainly feel the changes happening to him. You had already noticed his distress, and yet you didn’t withdraw from his body in time. Jiang Yi has sacrificed so much for you — how could you treat him so cruelly?”

Qiu Rui’s face went several shades paler. He had no way to refute Chen Yuhe’s words. The cold, detached mask that habitually covered his face cracked open, and through it seeped guilt and helplessness.

Using his own life as a wager — staking it on whether Qiu Rui would waver — when you thought about it, Jiang Yi was even more ruthless than Qiu Rui.

And clearly, Jiang Yi had won the bet. Qiu Rui had indeed wavered.

But whether that wavering was love or merely sympathy, Chen Yuhe couldn’t say. A part of her recoiled with something close to fear at Jiang Yi’s absolute, consequence-be-damned resolve.

Chen Yuhe truly didn’t dare imagine what would have happened to Jiang Yi that day if she hadn’t arrived in time. Looking at the dazed Qiu Rui standing before her, she let out a quiet inward sigh.

…..

That evening, when she brought the meal tray into the bedroom, the very first thing Jiang Yi said to her was to take down the talisman from the door.

Chen Yuhe pursed her lips and glared at him, saying reproachfully, “Jiang Yi, saving Qiu Rui matters, yes — but so does your life! I hope you won’t do something so reckless again in the future.”

Jiang Yi gave an awkward chuckle. “Yuhe, Qiu Rui isn’t like ordinary people — it’s fairly clear that ordinary methods won’t work on him.”

Chen Yuhe’s eyes flickered, and she said in a low, sharp tone, “Jiang Yi, do you really have to make Qiu Rui fall for you? Are you truly prepared to sacrifice your life for him?”

Jiang Yi lowered his eyelids, his gaze drifting to some uncertain point, and he said softly with a long sigh, “Yuhe, you already know why I’m doing all of this, so please — stop trying to talk me out of it.”

“But is it really worth it?” Chen Yuhe still couldn’t understand Jiang Yi’s stubborn fixation on this path. She paced a few agitated steps and said, “Jiang Yi, seeing you like this — I genuinely can’t keep going along with this. Can we just stop? Can we give up?”

By the time she finished speaking, Chen Yuhe’s voice had taken on an almost pleading quality. She half-knelt at the edge of the bed, looking up earnestly at Jiang Yi on the mattress.

A flash crossed Jiang Yi’s eyes, and in the instant he raised his head, it was as though he had become a different person entirely. A fierce, unyielding resolve surged across his face, and he spoke with cold, absolute finality, “Yuhe, everything has already been set in motion — the formation has been activated. Whether it succeeds or not, there is no longer any chance for me to back down.”

Chen Yuhe’s straight posture crumpled in an instant. Her beautiful eyes filled with pain, and a faint mist gradually rose within them.

“Jiang Yi, you—” Her voice broke and she clearly could not continue.

Jiang Yi reached out and placed his hand over Chen Yuhe’s, offering comfort. “Yuhe, the time has not yet come. Everything is still uncertain. How do you know I’m bound to lose?”

Chen Yuhe looked up and met the blazing intensity of the man’s gaze — those eyes burning with an unwavering light, so bright, so dazzling.

But if things went wrong — if the formation turned back on him—

Though she had long since considered the consequences of failure, the thought of actually witnessing that moment with her own eyes filled Chen Yuhe’s heart with wave after wave of sorrow.

“Jiang Yi, let’s not wait any longer!” Chen Yuhe suddenly lifted her head and looked at him with an imploring gaze. “Let’s break the formation! As long as the formation is broken, Qiu Rui can return to his body, and you’ll be fine!”

Jiang Yi shook his head and sighed. “Yuhe, you’re too naive. Do you think the Eight Baban Soul-Binding Matrimonial Formation is something that can just be broken like that?”

(TL: 八幡 (Bābǎn) — either a proper noun, the name of the formation, or a deity/legendary reference within the Chinese setting.)

Chen Yuhe looked at him and said earnestly, “As long as all the ritual instruments are gathered, the soul-binding formation can be broken. Jiang Yi, let’s not wait anymore!”

“Yuhe, the time is not yet right!” Jiang Yi cut off the anxious Chen Yuhe, and in that moment there was something about him that moved heaven and earth — a solemn, formidable composure. “I don’t want to give up halfway. As long as there is even a single part in ten of a chance, I want to give ten full parts of effort!”

Jiang Yi tilted his head back to gaze at the clouds outside the window, the curve of his lips carrying a bewitching smile. When he spoke, his voice drifted out slowly, carrying an unshakeable certainty. “Qiu Rui’s safety — I will guard it. Qiu Rui’s heart — I will capture it. I will not allow any deviation from the plan. I have already waited this many years. What does a little more time matter?”

Chen Yuhe stared blankly at the man before her. The road ahead was rough and treacherous, and one misstep could cost a life. Yet Jiang Yi pressed forward without hesitation — even with a kind of willingness. She hadn’t understood it five years ago, and five years later, she still didn’t.

After coming out of Jiang Yi’s room, Chen Yuhe tore down the talisman paper from the door. Though she was reluctant, she still didn’t want to go against Jiang Yi’s wishes.

Jiang Yi spoke with easy confidence, but Chen Yuhe knew the time he had left with Qiu Rui was not much longer. She didn’t want Jiang Yi to suffer, didn’t want him to be in pain — and more than anything, she didn’t want him to carry any regrets.

Qiu Rui saw the talisman come down and drifted over urgently. Spotting Chen Yuhe at the doorway, he nodded with a small smile and said, “Thank you, Miss Chen.”

Chen Yuhe’s face remained cool. She said evenly, “Don’t thank me. If you’re going to thank anyone, go thank that fool in there.”

Qiu Rui smiled awkwardly. Chen Yuhe clearly had no interest in further conversation. She went to the living room, picked up her bag, changed her shoes, pushed open the door, and left Jiang Yi’s home.

Qiu Rui watched Chen Yuhe’s figure disappear through the door, then slowly drifted inside.

Jiang Yi was in fairly good spirits on the bed, though his face still looked a little haggard.

Seeing Qiu Rui approach, Jiang Yi smiled. “She has a bad temper — don’t take it to heart.”

Qiu Rui shook his head. “Miss Chen was right. It was I who made you fall ill.”

“Jiang Yi, I admit that I prolonged the possession out of spite. I was only trying to—”

Qiu Rui stopped himself. It wasn’t that he was unwilling to acknowledge his mistake — it was just that thinking about how his own willfulness had put Jiang Yi in bed and nearly cost him his life filled him with a guilt he didn’t know what to do with.

That hadn’t been his intention. He had simply refused to swallow his anger. He didn’t want to keep being influenced and pulled around by this man.

Qiu Rui lowered his eyes, his gaze falling to the floor, too guilty to know how to continue.

“Qiu Rui, I know. I’m not blaming you, so there’s no need to blame yourself either.” Jiang Yi looked at Qiu Rui by his side and gave a roguish little laugh. “If this makes you speak more gently to me, I might just mistakenly think you like me.”

“I wouldn’t mind if you threw yourself into my arms over it — offered yourself to me.”

Jiang Yi spread his arms wide and fixed Qiu Rui with an utterly shameless look, his expression all but saying: Come on then. I’m waiting.

The atmosphere had been rather heavy just moments ago, but Jiang Yi managed to stir it all up completely and change its flavor.

Qiu Rui raised his gaze and stared at the man who had clearly lost all sense of propriety. “It seems my concern was entirely unnecessary. They say the good die young and scoundrels live forever — at this rate, you’ll probably live another hundred and eighty years.”

Jiang Yi grinned shamelessly. “Why would I want to live that long? As long as you’re willing to be with me, I’d be happy to live even just one single day.”

Toward a certain someone’s shamelessness, Qiu Rui had developed something close to immunity by now and no longer flew into a rage. He said calmly, “Since you’re fine, my guilt eases somewhat. Get some rest.”

Qiu Rui turned to leave. Jiang Yi scrambled up in a panic, throwing off the covers and leaping out of bed — with a speed that bore absolutely no resemblance to someone who had been bedridden for the past several days.

The sudden movement caught Qiu Rui off guard, and he paused mid-step. By then, Jiang Yi had already swept across the room like a gust of wind toward the door.

Thud! The bedroom door was flung shut with great force.

And in one lightning-fast motion, Jiang Yi slapped something against the door panel.

A yellow talisman now clung firmly to the red mahogany door, fluttering like a small yellow flag in the draft — much like the insufferably smug person standing right beside it.

Qiu Rui’s expression immediately darkened. He narrowed his eyes, cold light glinting within them, and said icily, “Take it down.”

Jiang Yi’s body gave a small shudder. Forcing a stiff grin, he said, “Rui’er, don’t be in such a hurry to leave — let’s chat for a bit!”

Qiu Rui glared fiercely at the shameless man in front of him, his tone dropping another few degrees. “Jiang Yi, don’t make me say it a third time. Take the talisman down.”

“No!” Jiang Yi crossed his arms and pouted with an aggrieved air. “I’m not taking it down! Why are you always so harsh with me? I haven’t seen you in days — I’ve been aching for you — can’t you just sit and talk with me for a while?”

The more Jiang Yi spoke, the more aggrieved he sounded, until he simply flung himself onto the bed and started rolling around. “Heavens above, what did I ever do wrong? Why won’t my Rui’er like me?!”

“Wuwuwu! I don’t want to live anymore! Rui’er doesn’t like me — I refuse to go on living!”

Jiang Yi carried on with increasing dramatic flair, working himself up into a complete performance. Qiu Rui was so furious his face had gone an ashen shade. He watched the man thrashing on the bed with a gaze that grew sharper by the second.

“I have lived thirty years and there is only one person I have ever loved — why won’t he accept me?!”

“Poor me — I’m barely recovered from a grave illness, and all I ask is that he sit with me for a while — and even that he won’t do. Why is my fate so bitter! Wuwuwu!”

The sobbing was obviously fake, yet Jiang Yi threw himself into it with the dedication of a man gunning for an Oscar, performing with enough force to move heaven and earth and make ghosts weep. Qiu Rui’s mouth twitched uncontrollably, a string of marks forming above his head, as his gaze on the unhinged man grew sharper still.

“Qiu Rui, I like you, and I want you to become the wife of the Jiang family!”

“Qiu Rui, you’re glaring at me — I still like you! Even if you killed me, I would like you as a ghost!”

The wailing continued, accompanied by the rolling on the bed. His voice was loud and piercing. The things he said grew increasingly shameless and explicit by the moment — until Qiu Rui’s face flushed a deep red, his initial fury gradually shifting into flustered, burning embarrassment.

Finally, Qiu Rui could bear it no longer. He said through gritted teeth, “Stop making noise!”

Jiang Yi obediently shut his mouth and half-sprawled on the bed, resting his chin on the mattress and blinking up at Qiu Rui’s stormy expression across from him.

“I’ll stop. But you have to stay and talk with me.”

Jiang Yi started bargaining. Not wanting to hear any more nonsense, Qiu Rui had no choice but to relent. “I’m warning you — don’t say any more of that pointless drivel, or I won’t be nice about it.” The words were cold and cutting, but to Jiang Yi’s ears, the threat was about as soft and harmless as cotton wool.