Chapter 137

Chapter 137

The elevator doors opened, and the couple walked out, laughing and chatting.

When the doors opened again one floor up, it was Le Ziyou’s turn to exit. Yet, his eyes were still slightly unfocused, clearly not yet fully recovered from the intense pleasure.

Chen Zui quite liked this dazed look and breathed a cold puff of ghost qi into Le Ziyou's ear.

"Step out."

Le Ziyou’s pupils trembled from the ghost qi, gradually focusing. Before his mind could even process the situation, his body had already obeyed the command.

He lifted his foot and walked out.

His steps were wobbly, as if his legs had turned to jelly.

Chen Zui followed closely behind.

When Le Ziyou headed toward the wrong door, Chen Zui reached out and grabbed the back of his neck, guiding him to the correct one. Le Ziyou felt as if an ice cube had been pressed against his neck, making him instinctively shrink back.

His mind finally started working again, and the first thing he did was look down at his pants. The gray sweatpants now had a dark stain with a whitish tint, and his face instantly flushed red.

How did this happen?

He remembered the ghost sucking away his yang energy and then returning it. When the yang energy, tainted with ghost qi, returned to his body, it felt cold at first—so cold it was almost stinging—then gradually warmed up and turned hot.

It was during this process that he had gotten excited, and then...

His hand, fumbling for the keys, paused for a moment, his brows furrowing in thought. The elevator’s surveillance camera seemed to be just for show. When he first moved in and took the elevator with the landlord, the landlord had specifically reminded him not to leave anything behind in the elevator because the cameras were useless.

He sighed in relief.

Otherwise, his reputation would be ruined. Since others couldn’t see the ghost, if a video of him got out, he’d be labeled a pervert who could get turned on in public!

The more Le Ziyou thought about it, the angrier he became. After opening the door and stepping inside, he suddenly turned around. Since the ghost was definitely following him, he yelled at the empty air, "Don’t you dare come in!"

Chen Zui, who had already grown impatient with his slow door-opening and phased through to sit on a chair inside: ?

Le Ziyou stood at the doorway, hands clenched at his sides to muster courage, glaring ahead. Based on the vague figure he remembered, his eyes were tilted up.

"You went too far tonight!"

"What if someone had seen?"

Chen Zui watched Le Ziyou with amusement, a faint smile curling his lips that even he hadn’t noticed.

Le Ziyou continued his rant: "You’re a ghost—no one can see you. But have you ever thought about me? You can’t just bully people like this!"

He wasn’t some kind of pervert. Being haunted by a ghost was scary enough, but having to go through such an embarrassing experience on top of that? He was human, not some spineless pushover. "You stay outside and reflect on what you’ve done. You can come back in only when you’ve realized your mistakes!"

With a loud bang, he slammed the door shut.

Le Ziyou felt a sense of satisfaction. He had made up his mind—he couldn’t keep acting scared. That would only encourage the ghost to become more aggressive. He needed to stand his ground!

Chen Zui watched as Le Ziyou strode confidently toward the bathroom.

He let out a soft chuckle.

—

After finishing his shower, Le Ziyou glanced at the door, wondering if the ghost had come in.

He still needed to find a solution. He had to seek out a more powerful master. He wasn’t just going to surrender. Maybe he could also get some black dog’s blood and virgin boy’s urine to use against the ghost.

At that thought, Le Ziyou blinked. He was still a virgin himself…

Wait, no—being a virgin didn’t necessarily mean he counted as a "virgin boy" for these purposes.

He continued scrolling through his phone, searching for a master, but he didn’t entirely dismiss the idea. Maybe it was worth a try. At worst, he’d just be wasting a bit of urine—it wasn’t like he was short on supply.

It was a zero-cost experiment. No harm in trying.

His eyes darted around suspiciously as he glanced about.

Chen Zui: He’s definitely up to no good, scheming again.

Le Ziyou thought to himself, I have to find a chance to piss all over that male ghost!

Drown him!

"Hehe."

Just the thought of it made Le Ziyou snicker foolishly to himself.

Then he went back to searching for a master on his phone.

Ao Tian: "What’s he thinking about?"

Chen Zui: "No idea."

But it definitely wasn’t anything good.

Ao Tian: "Want me to check his favorability level toward you? Aren’t you curious?"

Chen Zui: "It’s definitely negative."

Ao Tian: "It can’t be. We at the Dark Transmigration Bureau optimized the system. To help hosts complete tasks smoothly, the initial favorability level of the mission target is set at 0. It won’t show negative numbers, and there won’t be any deductions in the future either."

Chen Zui: "No wonder you’re such a good system. You’ve got such a great work environment."

Though Ao Tian often received praise from Chen Zui, it still felt pleased.

It cheerfully checked Le Ziyou’s favorability level toward Chen Zui.

"Wow, it’s actually at 3%. How did that happen?"

Chen Zui was also puzzled.

Le Ziyou rolled over and glanced at his "good brother." But then again, what happened in the elevator really was amazing.

A hundred times better than doing it himself.

—

Le Ziyou found a master and scheduled a meeting two days later. To prevent the male ghost from following him, he decided to pretend to get along well with the ghost over the next two days to throw off his suspicion.

Early the next morning, he started talking to the air: "You’re here, right? I’ve thought it over. Since I can’t escape you, I’m willing to try and get along."

"Perfect. I don’t have much going on these next two days, so I’ll stay home and keep you company. Let’s work on building our connection."

Chen Zui's comment on this was: Where there's something strange, there's something wrong.

Le Ziyou's way of expressing friendliness was—taking off the clothes he'd been wearing lately.

He was really going for it.

Standing naked in the middle of the room, arms akimbo: "From now on, I won't be on guard against you anymore."

Ao Tian quickly shut off his vision.

Chen Zui clearly saw that after Le Ziyou took off his clothes, all his muscles tightened. Even though he was clearly nervous, he still went through with it—seemingly planning some serious trouble, the worst of which would be scheming to get rid of him.

Quite tenacious and undiscouraged—that’s a strength.

Le Ziyou walked over to a chair and plopped down. For a moment, his raised rear came infinitely close to Chen Zui’s face. After sitting down, since he was smaller in build than Chen Zui, he was completely nestled within Chen Zui’s form.

Le Ziyou remained completely unaware of this. He crossed his legs and started shaking one, his little bird swaying along: "Since we’ve reached an agreement and I’ve promised to get along with you, we should set some ground rules. First, when we’re outside, you can’t bully me like you did last night."

Chen Zui tilted his head, propping it up with his hand, watching Le Ziyou’s lips move nonstop: such a chatterbox.

"Also, from now on, you can’t hit me anymore, and especially not my butt. I’m an adult. Doing that shows a complete lack of respect for me, and without respect, you won’t get my love."

Chen Zui gently inhaled Le Ziyou’s scent. It was strange—he couldn’t get enough of it. As for what Le Ziyou was saying, it went in one ear and out the other; he paid no attention at all.

"And one more thing, the most important." Le Ziyou slapped his thigh with exaggerated seriousness. "Can you keep the room temperature at 26°? That’s the most comfortable."

Ao Tian, who was listening, laughed: "So that’s the most important thing?"

Chen Zui could indeed control the room temperature—it was just a matter of releasing more or less ghost qi—but he wasn’t keen on cooperating. If he did, Le Ziyou would probably get too full of himself.

Le Ziyou spent the whole day monologuing to Chen Zui, showing off his friendliness.

Chen Zui never responded.

The next day, Le Ziyou was still in the same state. Chen Zui was surprised that one person could talk nonstop for two whole days.

"What do you look like?"

Le Ziyou asked this while sitting on the edge of the bed, cheeks cupped in his hands, an ice pop in his mouth that he occasionally sucked on. He seemed both expectant and a little uncertainly afraid.

Afraid the other might be ugly—that he’d been forcibly kissed by an ugly man. Even more afraid the other might be both ugly and old. The thought alone made him not want to live.

But the other’s figure must be great. With such a good body, the face probably wouldn’t be too bad, right? But since heaven had already given him such a good body, would it be generous enough to also give him a handsome face?

Nothing that good ever happens.

He took a hard suck on the ice pop, put his hands down from his cheeks: "Forget it, forget it. Better not tell me."

It was better not to know. That way, he could imagine the other as a super handsome guy, making it easier to bear. He lay back, using his own preferences to imagine what this male ghost who bullied him looked like.

"But why did you choose me?"

Le Ziyou couldn’t figure it out. He couldn’t think of anyone in his life who had died and had such a connection with him.

He sat up abruptly: "Could it be you’re coveting my good looks?"

Chen Zui looked at Le Ziyou’s face. He did like it. The first time he saw Le Ziyou, he even wondered if the Transmigration Bureau had assigned him a target based on his personal preferences.

Le Ziyou suddenly hugged himself: "Or are you lusting after my body? You…"

He automatically swallowed the next two words, not daring to say them.

He lay back down, thinking it unlikely. This ghost had such a good body—why would he lust after his? He had no pectorals or abs, just a bit more flesh on his butt.

Two days passed peacefully. Early on the third morning, Le Ziyou dressed himself up neatly: "Since you’ve behaved well these past two days and we’ve gotten along pleasantly, I’m going out to buy you a gift. You must be good and wait for me."

He waited a moment. No movement in the house.

"Then I’m off. I’ll be back soon, so don’t go wandering around."

He stepped out, glancing back over his shoulder repeatedly, and before closing the door, repeated again: "Wait at home—I’ll have a surprise for you."

Chen Zui didn’t follow him. It was a bright sunny day, and Chen Zui knew where he was going. Last night, Le Ziyou had contacted that master again; they talked for over half an hour.

Interestingly, Le Ziyou was a fake Taoist priest himself, yet he still trusted others in such matters.

Xu Shuhuai: "When are you going to let me go?"

Ao Tian: "Oh right, I almost forgot about him."

Xu Shuhuai asked Chen Zui this question almost every day, mainly because he was afraid Chen Zui would forget about him. Being a ghost, he didn’t want to stay under the bed forever.

Chen Zui: "Don’t rush."

Xu Shuhuai gritted his teeth in anger. It’s not you stuffed under the bed, of course you’re not in a hurry.

A while later.

Xu Shuhuai: "What was your relationship with him before?"

Chen Zui glanced under the bed. The ghost qi binding Xu Shuhuai suddenly tightened, almost twisting his body, his features contorted in pain.

Chen Zui: "I told you, he’s mine. Don’t even think about him, not one bit."

Xu Shuhuai: …

He would definitely get revenge for this!

—

Le Ziyou went to see the master alone. After all, he had already told Mi Jin that he had dealt with the male ghost, and even if he told Mi Jin, it wouldn’t help.

To make it quick, Le Ziyou splurged on a taxi to the master’s place.

The master lived in a self-built villa in the suburbs. Even though Le Ziyou arrived early, there were already many people in the yard, all drawn by the master’s reputation.

Le Ziyou felt a bit more at ease—this master probably had real skills.

After entering, he gave his name to register and received a number 7 tag. He went to a shaded area in the yard and sat on a red plastic stool.

Le Ziyou watched a new group of people entering. If only he could achieve this scale of business, how great would that be?

His eyes filled with envy.

He needed to keep working hard. He was still young; the future was promising!

It wasn’t until noon that his turn came. Le Ziyou entered the room. The plump master sat behind a desk and, upon seeing him, looked grave: "Your forehead is dark; you’re shrouded in ghost qi. This is serious."

Le Ziyou sat down across from the master: "Master, this ghost has been haunting me. Can you give me some tools to destroy him?"

The master studied him for a moment longer. "I hadn't realized your situation was this severe. I'd prepared some talismans to give you, to help resolve your troubles."

As he spoke, he pulled a stack of talismans from the desk drawer.

Le Ziyou glanced over—they looked familiar, similar to his own yellow paper with red symbols, though the designs were different.

The master said, "But in your current state, relying solely on these talismans won't be enough. You'll need some precious artifacts as well."

Le Ziyou clasped his hands together. "Master, save me!"

He didn’t want to be haunted by some random male ghost whose appearance he didn’t even know.

*Damn it!*

The master gave a few instructions to the person beside him, and soon that person brought over a vermilion wooden sword, a string of copper coins threaded with red cord, and a bottle of red liquid.

The master stood up and accepted the wooden sword reverently. Le Ziyou, watching with nervous anticipation, also rose to his feet.

The master declared, "This is Zhong Kui’s Blood Sword."

Le Ziyou’s eyes widened.

The master continued, "Normally, I wouldn’t bring out such a treasure, but to save a life, it must be done. The other items I can give to you freely—I am here only to relieve suffering, not for money."

Le Ziyou said, "Thank you, Master."

The master added, "But this treasure is different. To summon it into action requires your sincere offering. Only when I see your sincerity can its spirit be invoked."

Le Ziyou understood. "Master, what should I offer to avoid disrespect?"

—

Holding the precious sword and the black dog blood, with the red string of copper coins tied around his waist, Le Ziyou sat confidently in the taxi on his way home.

Every now and then, he glanced at the box containing the sword, his heart sinking—10,000 yuan!

But if it could resolve the ghost problem, he was willing to pay the price.

Chen Zui heard the door open, and soon Le Ziyou appeared in the doorway, looking nervous, his smile strained.

"I'm back~"

As Le Ziyou stepped inside, he glanced around. "Where are you? Come take a look at the gift I bought you."

Chen Zui glanced at the long, narrow box in his hand. Based on its shape, if he wasn’t mistaken, it likely contained a sword.

Le Ziyou asked, "Are you here? Give me a hint, okay?"

Chen Zui appeared before him and placed a hand on the box. Le Ziyou felt one end of the box press down, and he looked up.

"Are you here?"

A cold breeze suddenly brushed past his ear, carrying with it a chilling voice: "Yes, I am."

Le Ziyou’s breath hitched. After the cold wind passed, his ear felt oddly warm.

He stared at the spot where Chen Zui stood, his hand supporting the bottom of the box already grasping the sword hilt. It was a box without a bottom, deliberately designed to deceive the ghost.

Le Ziyou twisted his lips. "Then open the gift yourself."

Too tense and eager, the muscles at the corner of his mouth trembled uncontrollably. Though he couldn’t see Chen Zui, he could feel the ghost tapping the box with a finger.

Each tap made his heart skip a beat.

The main event hadn’t even begun, and he was already on the verge of losing his mind from Chen Zui’s teasing.

Chen Zui deliberately toyed with him for a while before slowly opening the box. The moment it opened, Le Ziyou thrust the sword covered in black dog blood toward Chen Zui.

*Le Ziyou thought: Die!*

Fantasy was beautiful; reality was cruel. Nothing happened.

The so-called precious sword in his hand seemed to cut through empty air. Le Ziyou was stunned. Chen Zui glanced at the sword passing through his chest—it was even less effective than the previous peachwood sword.

It truly had no effect at all.

Unwilling to believe it, Le Ziyou slashed horizontally and vertically several more times, but still, nothing unusual occurred. For a second, he wondered if the sword was so powerful it had instantly vaporized the ghost.

"Are… are you still here?" he tentatively asked.

Then he heard a sound. Following the noise, his pupils widened in disbelief as he watched the peachwood sword he had discarded emerge from behind the refrigerator and move toward him.

He could already imagine what was coming next.

Damn that master!

He's a fraud, just like me!

He backed away in panic. "You, you…"

Even with his gift of gab, he had no idea how to explain or excuse himself now.

Waving the useless broken sword in his hand, he said, "We agreed—you can’t hit…"

His hand holding the sword was slapped, and the pain made him cry out, "Ah!" He dropped the sword instantly. Before it even hit the ground, he was pressed onto the bed, forced to kneel on the floor beside it, his pants pulled down.

Le Ziyou struggled. "Don’t hit me!"

Chen Zui stared at the red string with copper coins around Le Ziyou’s waist. Le Ziyou’s fair skin made the red string particularly suggestive. Wielding the peachwood sword, Chen Zui struck—this time, it wasn’t just his buttocks that trembled; the red string and copper coins swayed and dangled against his slender waist.

After being hit, Le Ziyou went quiet. In that moment, what upset him more than the pain was the sense of grievance…

Another strike from the peachwood sword left a red mark almost the same color as the string around his waist.

Le Ziyou bit his lip hard, refusing to make a sound.

Chen Zui only hit him twice—a punishment for misbehaving.

But whereas he had screamed in pain last time, this time he was unusually quiet. Chen Zui set down the peachwood sword and moved around to the front, where he saw a tearful, aggrieved face.

Le Ziyou also sensed that his punishment was over. Without a word, he pulled up his pants, burrowed into the covers, and curled into a tight ball.

He did look somewhat pitiful.

In the darkness, Le Ziyou’s tears kept falling. Bullied by a ghost, taken advantage of by a ghost, scammed out of money, and now beaten by a ghost—no matter how he looked at it, he felt so wronged he could hardly breathe.

That was 10,000 yuan, after all…

Damn scammer!

Chen Zui heard the muffled sobs and looked at the tightly wrapped blanket. Afraid he'd suffocate himself, he reached out to pull the blanket away, but the other was resisting, gripping it tightly and refusing to let go.

Chen Zui’s brows furrowed slightly as he exerted force, and the blanket was yanked away forcefully.

Le Ziyou shot upright, not even feeling the pain, eyes squeezed shut and neck rigid as he shouted, "You’ve already hit me, what else do you want?! If you’re so capable, just kill me!"

Tears pattered down.

Chen Zui: "Do you want to go teach that scammer a lesson?"

Le Ziyou’s eyes snapped open, peering ahead uncertainly: "You’ll help me?"

His voice still thick with tears, sounding almost like a whine.

Chen Zui: "Mm."

Le Ziyou instantly perked up, vigorously wiping away his tears and getting out of bed: "Then you have to really scare him, make him give back my ten thousand, and pay me at least ten thousand more in compensation."

"Let’s go now." He hurried toward the door, mumbling to himself, "I’ve never been scammed before, we can’t let him get away with it!"

Chen Zui thought Le Ziyou was a really strange person.

Le Ziyou stepped out and looked back: "Are you following me?"

Chen Zui waved his hand before Le Ziyou’s eyes, releasing more ghost qi.

Then Le Ziyou saw a tall, blurry figure.

He instinctively stepped back, his eyes red from crying staring dumbly at the shadow before him.

The facial features were vague, but the eyes were clearer, dark like deep water, cold and sharp.

One look could mesmerize you.

Chen Zui averted his gaze.

Le Ziyou slowly snapped out of it, then quickly turned away. What was going on? His heart was racing a bit? His face felt warm? Though he hadn’t seen clearly, the eyes were so beautifully shaped.

People with beautiful eyes are usually not bad-looking.

Le Ziyou clumsily made his way into the elevator, head down, and saw that the ghost had followed him in, standing right beside him. Beneath the black trench coat that reached his calves were suit pants and leather shoes.

Why did it feel like he was a really handsome ghost!

Outside the residential area, a cool breeze whispered in his ear: "Lead the way."

Before Le Ziyou could react, he was flying, nearly scaring his acrophobic self half to death, and he flung himself into Chen Zui’s arms.

Chen Zui carried him flying toward the master’s residence.

After a while, Le Ziyou had gotten used to it a bit and opened his eyes, sneaking glances at the ghost so close to him. It was still blurry, but it felt so handsome!

And he was helping him get revenge and let him vent his anger!

Actually, thinking about it, he wasn’t so bad after all.

Ao Tian: "Favorability: 5%."

Chen Zui glanced at Le Ziyou, who was sneaking looks at him. His nose was still red from having cried so hard earlier. If he cried even harder, would his whole body flush red?

The night in the suburbs was quiet.

Chen Zui brought Le Ziyou to the master’s yard. No lights were on; he was probably already asleep.

Le Ziyou let go of Chen Zui, already rubbing his hands together eagerly, eager to rush in and scare the guy who dared to scam him.

Chen Zui drifted in first and opened the door from the inside.

Le Ziyou walked in.

Chen Zui: "Wait here for me."

Le Ziyou was very obedient, but before Chen Zui went upstairs, he grabbed his arm: "Then you have to scare him down here. I want to be part of it too."

Chen Zui looked at his sparkling eyes: "Benefits."

"I want benefits."

Le Ziyou couldn’t meet his gaze at all, lowering his eyes.

Benefits?

"Then I’ll burn some paper money for you, a lot of it." In Le Ziyou’s view, that was like giving money directly—the best benefit.

Chen Zui: "Heh—"

Chen Zui: "Forget it, I’ll collect from you later."

He went upstairs, floated through the door into the pitch-black bedroom, lifted his long leg, and kicked the bed domineeringly and arrogantly.

The kick startled both people on the bed awake, huddling together trembling. The master fumbled for the switch; his wife fumbled for her glasses.

The light turned on for a moment, then went out.

In the darkness, Chen Zui kicked the bed again and again, the banging noises echoing.

Downstairs, Le Ziyou heard one scream after another.

The master and his wife cried and wailed, clinging to each other.

"Who is it? Please, spare us!"

"Please, please... we’ll perform rites for you, hold a ceremony for you..."

Suddenly, the bed went quiet, and the lights came on. The two, still clinging together, nervously looked around, their eyes fixing on the open door.

Without hesitation, they rushed toward the door. Just as they reached it, the light suddenly exploded.

Frightened, they screamed again, scrambling and stumbling downstairs.

Le Ziyou ignored the two, watching the tall ghostly figure leisurely emerge from behind.

A subtle change occurred in his heart.

He wasn’t as scared anymore.

He even thought he was—amazing!