The Haunted Garden of the Round Gate: The Lament of the Lost Lovers

The moon hung low in the sky, casting an eerie glow over the Round Gate. The garden, a place of whispered legends, lay in the heart of the ancient city, its beauty marred by the tales of unrequited love and the ghostly whispers that echoed through its hedges. The Round Gate, a circular stone archway, was said to be the threshold to another world, a place where the spirits of the departed could find solace or be trapped in an eternal dance of sorrow.

In the heart of this desolate garden, a young woman named Liang Mei wandered, her heart heavy with the weight of a love she could never have. Her lover, a man named Feng Jun, had been lost to her years ago, his spirit said to be bound to the garden by a love that transcended the veil between life and death.

As Mei walked the garden paths, she felt the chill of the night air seep into her bones. The moonlight revealed the ancient stone walls, their carvings of flowers and birds long faded by time. She knew the garden was haunted, but she had no choice but to seek solace within its eerie embrace.

The Round Gate stood before her, its archway a perfect circle, as if it were a portal to another realm. Mei approached it cautiously, her fingers tracing the cool stone as she whispered Feng Jun's name. She felt a strange pull, as if the gate were calling to her, beckoning her to cross over.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the moonlight, a silhouette against the dark sky. It was a man, his face obscured by the shadows. "Liang Mei," he called out, his voice echoing through the garden. "You seek him, but you will never find him here."

Mei turned, her heart pounding. "Who are you?" she demanded, her voice trembling.

The figure stepped forward, revealing a face etched with sorrow. "I am Feng Jun," he said, his voice filled with pain. "I am trapped in this garden, bound by the love we shared. But you, Liang Mei, you are free to leave."

Mei's eyes widened in shock. "Feng Jun? But you are dead!"

"The flesh may be gone, but the spirit remains," he replied. "I have watched over this garden for years, waiting for you to come and set me free. But you must cross the Round Gate, for only then can you break the spell that binds us both."

Mei stepped back, her heart racing. She knew that crossing the gate would mean leaving Feng Jun behind, but she also knew that she could not live with the pain of his absence any longer. She turned to face the Round Gate, her resolve firm.

As she stepped through the archway, the garden around her seemed to blur, the shadows swirling and twisting. She felt a strange sensation, as if she were being pulled through a vortex of time and space.

When Mei opened her eyes, she found herself in a place unlike any she had ever seen. The air was cool and crisp, the ground carpeted with soft moss. She looked around and saw a vast, open field, filled with blooming flowers and the gentle rustle of leaves.

In the distance, she saw a figure standing at the edge of the field, a man with a face that was both familiar and strange. It was Feng Jun, but he was also not him. His eyes were filled with a profound sadness, and his form seemed to be made of mist and light.

"Mei," he called out, his voice breaking through the silence. "I have been waiting for you."

Mei ran towards him, her heart pounding with a mix of fear and joy. As she reached him, she felt a strange sensation, as if she were being pulled into his form. The mist around him coalesced, and he became solid, his hands reaching out to her.

"I have been waiting for this moment," he said, his voice filled with love. "To be with you, to be free."

Mei closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of his embrace. She knew that she had found a way to break the curse that had bound them, to be together at last.

As they stood there, in the field of flowers, the Round Gate shimmered in the distance, its archway a perfect circle in the moonlight. Mei knew that she had to return, to fulfill her promise to Feng Jun, but she also knew that she would never forget this moment, this place where love had found a way to transcend even the boundaries of death.

With a heavy heart, Mei stepped back through the Round Gate, the garden around her returning to its eerie silence. She looked back at the field, the figure of Feng Jun standing at the edge, his form already beginning to fade.

"I will come back," she whispered to the wind. "I will come back for you."

And with that, she turned and walked away from the Round Gate, her heart heavy but filled with hope. The garden of the Round Gate remained a place of mystery and sorrow, but for Mei and Feng Jun, it had become a place of love and redemption, a testament to the power of love to overcome even the most daunting of obstacles.