Imprisoning the Black Moonlight

At the beginning of the year, the Beijing Grand Theatre planned to launch a large-scale dance drama called "All Nations Paying Homage" and recruited actors from all walks of life. Yao Gongyue was one of those who successfully applied for the role.

Although she hasn't received her graduation certificate yet, her professional skills are excellent, and the troupe ultimately decided to keep her. Even though she's only a temporary contracted actress, being able to get training in such a large organization is already a great stroke of luck for her.

Those neighbors and relatives who had once mocked them became much nicer when they heard that she had entered the Beijing Grand Theatre. At least they stopped gossiping behind her mother's and aunt's backs. At that moment, she finally truly felt the meaning of her efforts.

"All Nations Pay Homage" caused a sensation across the country upon its release. To date, it has participated in several major competitions in China and won awards. As actresses, they are extremely busy, which is good, as it helps to alleviate the sadness brought about by their break with Ouyang Xu.

Although he would still have flowers delivered to him for each performance, the two never saw each other again.

However, the content of the meeting held during the day kept Yao Gongyue awake in bed for a long time.

The Royal Theatre of Southeast Asia J country invited the Beijing Grand Theatre to conduct an exchange, specifically mentioning the dance drama "All Nations Paying Homage" as the focus of the exchange. As an actress, she had no choice but to attend.

Although she had completely severed ties with Hong Jin, Yao Gongyue still felt inexplicably uneasy. Hong Jin was a vengeful and extremely vengeful person. If she left suddenly, Hong Jin would definitely hate her to death. What if she ran into him in Phnom Penh? How could she face him...?

"Ugh, so annoying..." She picked up a cushion and covered her head, humming as she rolled over and straddled the cushion. "Men are so annoying..."

"No way!" Suddenly, she pulled the pillow off her face and muttered to herself, "Hong Jin is so busy all day, where would he find the time to go to the theater? He doesn't even watch movies. Maybe he's not even in J country. The kind of person he is, flying all over the world, he definitely wouldn't be so unlucky as to run into him..."

"Besides, so much time has passed. He might have already found someone new and forgotten about me..."

***

At Phnom Penh International Airport, a plane slowly landed. Only when the humid Southeast Asian breeze brushed against her cheeks did Yao Gongyue truly realize that she had arrived in Japan.

The performance went exceptionally well, with three shows in a week, all of which were sold out.

They're going back to China tomorrow, and the local theater organized a day trip for them to famous tourist attractions around Phnom Penh. The girls changed into their gear and headed out early.

Japan is a Buddhist country, where the world-renowned Angkor civilization once arose. Its long history and unique culture have created a special local custom.

The last stop was a boat trip on the Mekong River. The southwest monsoon, carrying gusts of moisture, lapped against the girl's skirt. Although nothing had happened for the past few days and she was going back tomorrow, she didn't know why, but at this moment, she felt inexplicably uneasy.

Bang!

My thoughts were racing when suddenly a loud crash was heard. In an instant, the sky and earth shook violently as the small tour boat was smashed in half by a huge cargo ship and sank into the vast river during the rainy season.

An unprecedented, overwhelming fear gripped her, the despair of being on the verge of death suffocating her. Yao Gongyue couldn't swim, and was usually delicate and timid, even afraid to go near the river. She never imagined that her final fate would be to become a drowning ghost, and she'd heard that drowning ghosts were ugly...

In a daze, she felt a strong force around her waist, and out of the instinct for survival, she grabbed onto that support haphazardly.

……

An art exchange team from China was involved in an accident today while cruising the Mekong River when their vessel collided with an out-of-control cargo ship. Fortunately, the search and rescue operation was timely, and all but one person were unharmed.

The media continues to report on the collision, and local police are taking it very seriously, dispatching wave after wave of search and rescue teams to look for the missing persons. However, as of now, there is still no news...

***

The cool white light dispelled the darkness, and all around was desolate. The night breeze blew through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, causing the white, high-end gauze curtains to flutter lightly.

When Yao Gongyue weakly opened her eyes, this was the scene that greeted her: cold, desolate, and the huge bedroom, though in the height of summer, was devoid of any vitality, icy and cool, inexplicably reminiscent of Xiaolongnu's Tomb of the Living Dead.

She struggled to sit up, but felt something unusual on her legs. When she lifted the blanket, she saw a golden rose anklet on her fair ankle. Although it was not big or heavy, the tiny sparkling points on it made her feel strangely uneasy.

"Yuebao, are you awake?" A man's ghostly voice came from the dark corner by the window.

Yao Gongyue's hair stood on end. The voice seemed to emanate from hell. Although it had only been half a year since they last met, she felt as if the voice came from a lifetime ago.

The girl froze in terror, too terrified to even turn her head. Her pale lips trembled slightly, and cold sweat beaded on her palms. "It's over, it's over," she thought. "Hong Jin will definitely kill me."

Dong~dong~dong~

With each step the man took toward her, her heart clenched; she held her breath, afraid to move.

"What's wrong, baby? Are you feeling unwell?" The man sat down beside her, his cold fingers, like snake tails, tracing across her pink cheek, making the hairs on her cheeks stand on end.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Don't you recognize me?" His tone was gentle, but his dark eyes were cold and indifferent.

"Oppa~"

Yao Gongyue immediately cowered, speaking in a coquettish voice, her eyes welling up with tears, and she clung to the man's arm, shaking it gently, "Oppa~ you look so thin, haven't you been eating properly!"

She cupped the man's handsome face in her slender fingers, examining him from all angles. "You've got dark circles under your eyes. No matter how busy you are with work, you still need to take care of yourself!"

The man remained silent for a long time, his bloodshot eyes trembling. He lifted her delicate chin, gritted his teeth, and said painfully, "What a beautiful face, what a cruel heart!"

"..." Yao Gongyue saw that the man was not in a good mood and did not dare to speak rashly.

“Yuebao, no one has ever thrown me away like trash before. You are the first!” The man’s face remained expressionless as his sharp eyes scanned the girl’s beautiful face.

"No, Oppa, don't overthink it, I don't miss you that much!" She suppressed her fear and held the man's cold hand. "There's no trash as handsome as you. In the end, it's just that I feel I'm not good enough for you!"

As she spoke, her bright eyes welled up with tears, and she scanned the man's handsome face to gauge his emotions.

“Baby, in these past six months, have you even thought of me once?” Hong Jin asked, her voice choked with emotion.

"Yes, yes, I miss you so much!" She nodded repeatedly.

Suddenly, the man gripped the girl's slender neck tightly with his tiger's mouth, his wolf eyes bloodshot, veins bulging on his forehead, and he roared tremblingly, "You're still lying to me!"

"My phone has been on 24/7 for a full 234 days and 18 hours, and you haven't sent me a single message, not even a punctuation mark. And now you say you miss me? Do you think I'm that good? You think I'm lying?"

The man's eyes were bloodshot, his whole being shrouded in a desolate rage, like a lion on the verge of despair, knowing there was no way out, yet still clinging to that delusional thought.