Chapter 39

Chapter 39

◎Clingy◎

After carefully guarding the cake all the way home, Xie Paner finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Ji Nanxing place the cake on the table. She then leaned on the table, staring at the cake, but couldn't resist being curious: "You said earlier that there was a bloody smell on that piece of clothing. Is the nose of you Taoists really that sharp? Can you really smell that?"

Ji Nanxing took off his coat: "Not by smelling, but by seeing."

The aura tinged with red energy indicated that the piece of clothing had been worn by a dead person, and they had died while wearing it.

Generally, such clothes, along with the clothes the deceased wore during their lifetime, are either burned on the day of the funeral or on the seventh day after death, known as the 'head seven.' In today's world where most people aren't short of a few pieces of clothing, few would reuse the clothes of the dead.

Xie Paner was somewhat curious: "What would happen if that girl didn't return it and continued to wear it?"

Ji Nanxing: "She'd have bad luck, and if her fortune's particularly low, she might face serious trouble."

Xie Paner made a scared expression, hoping that the girl would heed the advice and return the clothes quickly.

But Xie Paner also knew that the chances of returning it were probably slim. If a random person on the street told you there was something wrong with your clothes and asked you to return them, not thinking Ji Nanxing was crazy was probably because he was really good-looking.

After putting the purchased gift into his backpack, Ji Nanxing changed into home clothes and came out, holding a blank yellow talisman paper in his hand.

Xie Paner didn't want to seem too eager; a girl should keep her cool. But she hadn't eaten such sweets for many years since her death, and even before she died, she rarely had such treats. Even if she didn't say a word, the eagerness in her eyes was almost spilling over.

Ji Nanxing casually grabbed a pen, wrote Xie Paner's name and birth date on the yellow talisman paper, and with a flick of his fingers, the talisman lit up on its own.

As the talisman slowly turned to ash, the cake on the table became more tangible in Xie Paner's eyes, and the scent became even more vivid.

Ji Nanxing cleaned up the ashes and, seeing her still staring at the cake without moving, said, "Go ahead, eat it."

Xie Paner let out an "Oh," and a spoon was placed by her hand, but she just kept staring.

Ji Nanxing gazed at her for a moment, then smiled: "You don't need to do any homework in advance, this cake is my gift to you."

He then ripped open the packaging of a nearby candle, lit a star-shaped one, and stuck it in the middle of the cake. Ji Nanxing then turned to Xie Paner and said, "Happy birthday."

Today wasn't Xie Paner's birthday; her birthday had already passed, before she even met Ji Nanxing.

But this "Happy birthday" was the first time she'd ever heard it, a birthday wish meant just for her.

It wasn't until Ji Nanxing woke up from a nap and saw the cake still sitting untouched on the table that he looked a bit puzzled at Xie Paner, who was sprawled on the sofa: "Why aren't you eating?"

Xie Paner chuckled: "It's so pretty, I can't bring myself to eat it. By the way, since the cake's been offered to me, it's no longer part of the living world, right? It shouldn't go bad, should it?"

Ji Nanxing: "Who told you that? If it didn't go bad, then all the offerings to the gods could last forever. It'll spoil just like anything else."

Hearing this, Xie Paner jumped up with a yelp, reluctantly digging her spoon into her perfect cake.

Watching the little female ghost happily eating the cake with her eyes half-closed, Ji Nanxing took a sip of water from his cup. Honestly, the longer you live, the more you see. A ghost like her, who doesn't act like a ghost at all, is really something else.

It was another dreaded Monday, some were worn out by their studies, while others were glowing and full of energy.

Zhang Yuan sped up and threw an arm over Xiao Ye's shoulder, noticing the obvious lunch box in his hand, and shook his head: "You're really relentless, rain or shine. People might think you're chasing a girlfriend."

Xiao Ye elbowed Zhang Yuan in the chest: "Nonsense, I already said..."

"Your brother asked you to take care of him out of the friendship between our families," Zhang Yuan directly cut off Xiao Ye's words.

Zhang Yuan rolled his eyes, then hooked his arm around Xiao Ye's neck and quickened their pace: "Hurry up, hurry up, if we're thirty seconds late, the person you're supposed to take care of might starve to death."

Xiao Ye entered the classroom and saw his desk mate was still alive and well, lying on a stack of books while listening to the gossip from the people in front.

He looked as relaxed and comfortable as a cat lounging in the sun.

Xiao Ye walked over, placed the food box next to Ji Nanxing, and casually asked the group of people gathered in front, "No last-minute homework today?"

A boy sitting in front of them with thick black-framed glasses pushed his glasses up: "We finished it earlier, we're talking about the Rose Road murder case."

Xiao Ye: "Rose Road? Our Rose Road?"

Someone curiously leaned over: "What did you bring for the genius today?"

Xiao Ye: "Corn and red date porridge."

Ji Nanxing, holding the spoon Xiao Ye had handed him, said, "Don’t bring anything tomorrow."

Xiao Ye: "Bored of it? I’ll switch it up."

Ji Nanxing shook his head: "Don’t bring anything. I’ll tell you if I want something."

Noticing Ji Nanxing’s healthier complexion, Xiao Ye was reluctant to stop. He’d already mapped out a month of meals, and it was better to continue since he had finally managed to bring some color to Ji Nanxing's cheeks.

But since Ji Nanxing didn’t want to eat, Xiao Ye didn’t push, only reminding him, "Alright, just tell me what you want, no need to hold back."

Ji Nanxing took out a wooden box from his desk: "Here, this is for you."

Xiao Ye took the box and looked at him, smiling, "A gift for me? How sweet, but bro, I’m picky about gifts."

As he spoke, Xiao Ye opened the box to find a bracelet, smooth and translucent, but the color: "Isn’t this a little too delicate?"

Men usually wear obsidian or black jade, but this pale yellow bead bracelet, resembling amber, seemed more suitable for a girl.

Ji Nanxing closed the box and took it back: "If you don’t like it, forget about it."

Xiao Ye quickly retracted his earlier words and snatched the box back: "You’re small but feisty, I didn't say I didn't like it."

He took the bracelet out of the box and directly put it on his wrist, extending his hand to show Ji Nanxing a couple of times. Xiao Ye's wrist was bony with long, slender fingers, exuding a masculine strength, and paired with the green fish stone bracelet, it looked unexpectedly good.

Xiao Ye smiled and said, "Not bad, it looks good. Naonao’s got great taste."

Ji Nanxing waved away the hand that was almost poking his face: "Stop calling me that."

Xiao Ye laughed, "Alright, alright, I won't call you that. Thanks for the gift, Xingxing. Bro loves it."

Ji Nanxing raised an eyebrow, his eyes threatening.

Xiao Ye mimed zipping his lips, then put the empty box back into his desk, happily running his fingers over the beads on his wrist, the smooth, cool beads reminded him of holding Ji Nanxing’s hand.

Thinking this, Xiao Ye's gaze couldn't help but fall on Ji Nanxing's hands.

Watching him take spoonfuls of the porridge he brought, those slender, elegant fingers were just perfect.

Xiao Ye clicked his tongue in his head, feeling like his hand fetish was getting worse. If he couldn't find hands prettier than Ji Nanxing's, he wouldn't even want to hold them, how would he ever find a girlfriend? Ugh, so annoying.

The morning self-study bell hadn't rung yet, and the group in front was still deep in conversation. Xiao Ye, while admiring his new gift, passively listened to the gossip.

"It’s probably a revenge case, otherwise, breaking in and killing the whole family is just too brutal."

"I'm just concerned that since someone died in that house, is it haunted now? Will the Rose Garden area’s property values drop?"

Some classmates mocked him for being overly optimistic: "Relax, even if prices drop, we probably still won't be able to afford it even after a lifetime of hard work."

"Ugh, my mom enrolled me in yet another tutoring class, 200 bucks per session, two sessions in the morning and two in the afternoon on weekends, totaling 1600 bucks for two days. Spending so much on me, and then my future monthly salary will only be 3000 bucks."

Xiao Ye missed the beginning and only caught part of it, so he curiously asked Ji Nanxing: "What home invasion?"

Ji Nanxing: "A real estate tycoon and his family of four were killed at home. The police investigation showed it was a home invasion, and the murderer has already been caught."

After hearing this, Xiao Ye thought, no wonder they were all into conspiracy theories. Not to mention if they had bodyguards, the area they lived in wasn't exactly prone to home invasions.

Yet only their family was killed. Such a big villa, and not a single servant? Such a big scene, and none of the security noticed? The key point is that three adult males were among the dead. How could a home invasion take out the whole family? If it weren't for the news, anyone would think it impossible.

Ji Nanxing, who knew the inside story, listened to their gossip. The reason this made the news was because the commotion at the Rong family's place couldn't be hidden in today's fast-paced world. At least, they needed to give the public an explanation. The incident involving two Thais, one dead and one injured, was kept under wraps, so the news only mentioned the Rong family of four.

The real cause of death obviously couldn't be made public, so they could only give the reason of a home invasion.

Now, Rongsheng Real Estate is caught up in internal power struggles. The boss is dead, but the company still has shareholders, and some distant Rong relatives who smelled an opportunity are fighting over the inheritance. As for the real cause of the Rong family's death, who cares?

Looking at the Rong family's fate, if it weren't for knowing their souls had been devoured by the little ghosts, he would have liked to ask Rong Jiaming if he regretted ruining so many families for wealth and ending up like this.

Unfortunately, curiosity couldn't be satisfied; their souls were completely eaten by the little ghosts.

Gossip naturally follows whatever topic is at hand, and soon their topic shifted to the boss of the White Building.

"It's said that it's been confirmed—the female corpse buried in the White Building's basement, the baby she was carrying was the mall boss's."

"After the last fracture activity, the White Building closed, will it reopen?"

"So, did the boss kill her? With so much money, couldn't he just keep her? Did he have to kill her?"

"Maybe the woman was greedy and wanted more, forcing him to kill her."

"Couldn't he at least wait until the child was born? If the woman was greedy, how could the man not be tempted? How come it sounds like you men have no fault at all?"

A girl, hearing the boys trying to shift all the blame onto the female victim, couldn't help but speak up.

The boy stammered, "I didn't mean that, why are you getting so worked up?"

The girls rolled their eyes at them, snorted, and walked away.

With the girls gone, the remaining boys couldn't keep the conversation going, and the gossip group disbanded before the bell even rang.

Xiao Ye shook his head: "The truth of the matter isn't something they can determine by arguing a few words, why are they getting so emotional?"

Ji Nanxing covered the unfinished porridge, wrapped the spoon in a tissue, and placed it in the small pocket next to the insulated bag.

Before he could speak, Xiao Ye took the food box and placed it under his chair: "Are you free this weekend?"

Ji Nanxing flipped through the pages of his book: "Today is only Monday."

Xiao Ye smiled and leaned closer: "I just wanted to book your time in advance."

Ji Nanxing: "I don't know if I'm free, what do you want?"

Xiao Ye: "Come to my house to play. I have a game on Saturday, come with me, then have dinner at my house in the afternoon, and stay overnight."

Ji Nanxing closed his textbook: "I'm not free."

Xiao Ye was anxious: "You just said you didn't know if you were free."

Ji Nanxing: "I get it now, I'm busy."

Xiao Ye pulled his chair even closer: "You really don’t want to come over to my place? You’ve met my brother and his wife, my parents aren’t home, and my grandpa is visiting his old army buddies this weekend, so no parents are around. We can do whatever we want."

Ji Nanxing didn’t budge, just kept saying he was busy, but Xiao Ye didn’t give up, pestering him every day, morning and after school, until Ji Nanxing was tired: "Haven’t we seen enough at school? Do we really need to hang out at home?"

If it were anyone else, Xiao Ye wouldn’t be so persistent, but he just couldn’t resist teasing him, especially every time Ji Nanxing said he wasn’t free, and after being asked a few more times, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes, which was really cute.

"Isn’t it because Zhang Yuan has a family dinner this week? Everyone else has a buddy to hang out with, only I’m going solo, not even someone to back me up. Good buddy, don’t you feel bad for me?"

Ji Nanxing gave him a look: "Are you a kid?"

Xiao Ye slightly lowered his head and smiled: "If I say yes, will you come hang out with me this weekend? At most, we’ll just grab a meal, I won’t make you stay over."

After a week of being bugged, and considering he’d eaten a lot of his porridge last week, Ji Nanxing finally gave in.