Chapter 145

Chapter 145

Chen Zui entered a vacant presidential suite at the hotel. Although the Celestial Thunder Mace had been removed and the pain subsided, he still felt a lingering weakness and fatigue—a likely consequence of the recent torment and the depletion of his ghost qi. It was his first time experiencing such intense pain that he passed out.

He collapsed onto the bed.

As a ghost, he found himself drowsy from sheer exhaustion.

Chen Zui closed his eyes and continued to rest.

The room was quiet, and Ao Tian didn't disturb him. Ao Tian sighed to itself. While not every couple in every world was sweet—for instance, in the *Black-Hearted Little Cake* world, Chen Zui was manipulated into fighting a tiger—in this world, his wife had personally stabbed him.

However, Chen Zui and his wife are different in each world. Chen Zui's memories from previous worlds are merely sealed, akin to a factory reset upon entering the Dark Transmigration Bureau after death.

His wife, on the other hand, must fully embrace the character's complete persona in each new world, with distinct personality traits emphasized in every iteration. Essentially, each world entails over two decades of life experience and meticulously arranged memories.

Given such an overwhelming influx of data, it was quite remarkable that she still retained even a trace of instinctive affection for Chen Zui.

Although Ao Tian was furious when Le Ziyou hurt Chen Zui, deep down, it didn't want the couple to break up. It hoped they would be happy in every world, so that when their memories were finally restored, they wouldn't suffer from having hurt each other.

Sigh…

Ao Tian sighed and sought out its superior to request compensation for the couple.

Superior: "Do you remember you’re a system of the Dark Transmigration Bureau, not Chen Zui’s personal…"

The superior deliberated over his words: "lackey."

Ao Tian: "Supervisor, what are you talking about? Who said that we and our hosts are family, that we should assist them as much as possible during missions and not cause trouble, but if the host is a troublemaker, don’t be afraid, just report to the superior and replace them?"

Ao Tian: "Is Chen Zui a troublemaker? No, he’s not. He has a 100% mission completion rate. Besides asking for a newbie gift pack, he’s never asked for anything else."

Superior: ...He didn’t ask, but you’ve asked plenty on his behalf.

Ao Tian continued to chatter, and the superior, not wanting to be lectured by a subordinate, agreed to its request and dismissed it.

——

Chen Zui slept deeply until dawn. The feeling of fatigue and weakness finally disappeared. He clenched the cigarette Ao Tian gave him between his teeth—it was his favorite rose flavor. It seemed the Dark Transmigration Bureau was very familiar with the profiles of their taskers.

This time, he had expended too much ghost qi. To confirm his current combat ability, Chen Zui went out.

Of the powerful ghosts Xu Shuhuai had mentioned, only one remained unchecked. The light rail sped forward on the elevated track. Chen Zui stood on it, umbrella in hand, the hem of his black trench coat fluttering in the wind. As they passed over a bridge, he leaped lightly from the light rail onto a passing bus.

When it came to picking a fight, Chen Zui was quite proactive.

Le Ziyou lay in bed, breaking into a cold sweat, his face flushed, and his body aching all over. After getting drenched in the rain that night and the subsequent days of exhaustion, plus feeding Chen Zui his blood, his body could no longer hold up, and he fell ill.

The quiet room was filled only with his heavy, uncomfortable breathing. He curled up alone on the bed, looking pitiful. He licked his dry lips, wanting water, but had no strength and couldn’t bring himself to get up.

The wrist extending from the bed was still wrapped in bandages.

He drifted into a hazy sleep and dreamed of stabbing Chen Zui with the Celestial Thunder Mace. Trapped in this "nightmare," Le Ziyou shook his head slightly.

This time, Chen Zui pulled out the Celestial Thunder Mace himself, looked at him coldly, and said, "I hate you."

Le Ziyou shook his head more vigorously. "No, don’t..."

He whispered weakly, "Don’t hate me..."

Chen Zui arrived at the hospital. Hospitals should have many ghosts, but in this hospital, he didn’t see a single one.

Standing in the bustling hospital lobby, he used his ghost qi to project his voice.

"Ming Qianyin."

He called the other’s name.

Before long, a middle-aged man appeared in front of him, wearing ancient-style armor, with long hair and holding a long spear.

He looked like a military general.

Ming Qianyin: "What do you want with me?"

Chen Zui closed his umbrella. "Let’s fight."

Ming Qianyin laughed at his words. He had only one thing to say to this young man: "You've got nerve."

"With you?"

A mere youngster daring to challenge him.

Chen Zui didn’t have much to say. He swung his umbrella and charged forward. "My apologies."

He took action, and Ming Qianyin couldn’t just stand there and take a beating. He was dragged into the fight by Chen Zui. Ming Qianyin touched the plume on his head and flicked it backward.

"Don’t say I’m bullying a junior if I make you weep."

Chen Zui’s swinging black umbrella collided with Ming Qianyin’s raised long spear.

Both their eyes lit up.

Chen Zui: "Don’t blame me for disrespecting my elders if I injure you."

Ming Qianyin looked at Chen Zui with appreciation and laughed heartily. This youngster was interesting.

The people coming and going in the lobby felt the wind blowing chaotically, and it was a bone-chilling wind.

Chen Zui and Ming Qianyin were locked in combat. Both rarely encountered worthy opponents, and they grew more excited the longer they fought.

Ming Qianyin was strong. Through his strength, Chen Zui realized that he had indeed weakened. After all, initially, Ao Tian had given him the boost of being the strongest in the ghost world, making it easy to defeat Xu Shuhuai and Wang Zhi.

But maintaining a combat level like Ming Qianyin’s meant that in this ghost-filled world, he could still do as he pleased.

The two fought for two full days, battling through every corner of the hospital, fighting their way out and back again.

They fought until they were tired and satisfied.

Ming Qianyin flicked his plume and slung his spear over his shoulder. "Enough, enough. We can’t determine a winner no matter how much we fight."

Chen Zui also stopped, lowering his umbrella so the tip touched the ground like a cane. "Then I’ll come find you next time to work out my limbs."

Ming Qianyin waved his hand. "Don’t come empty-handed."

Chen Zui gave him a carton of cigarettes. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Ming Qianyin didn't expect him to have such a good thing. He had been dead for so long that no one had made offerings to him in a long time. He had only seen others smoke but had never tried it himself, and he had long been curious about it.

He happily accepted it.

"You're so young, how did you die?"

"I was killed."

The two went to the rooftop, smoked, and started chatting.

—

Mi Jin carried the takeout and sat down on a chair, looking at the barely alive Le Ziyou. "You didn’t know to call me earlier? Why wait until you’re almost dead from illness before calling me to burn joss paper for you?"

As he spoke, he opened the takeout and handed it to Le Ziyou. Le Ziyou had been feverish for two days and his fever had finally broken, but he was still weak all over and had no appetite. He silently picked at his pork and century egg rice porridge.

Mi Jin snorted. "Hurry up and get better. I’ve got a big job, another ghost-catching gig, the usual deal."

Le Ziyou put down his spoon. Mentioning ghosts made him think of Chen Zui.

Still no news at all.

It was so hard.

If it were a living person, he could put up missing person notices or even call the police.

But Chen Zui was a ghost.

As long as he didn’t want to be found, Le Ziyou couldn’t see or touch him.

Le Ziyou felt a choking feeling in his chest, a discomfort he couldn’t cough up or swallow. Chen Zui had left without saying a word. In his imagination, after Chen Zui woke up, they should have had a good talk.

But that didn’t happen.

Chen Zui had disappeared so abruptly, as if he had given up on him completely.

In a way, he had gotten what he wanted—Chen Zui no longer demanded his love or pestered him.

But he wasn’t happy.

Mi Jin: "You’re only eating that much?"

Le Ziyou lay back down. "No appetite."

Mi Jin muttered a few more things, but Le Ziyou didn’t pay close attention. Just as he was about to close his eyes, a thought suddenly struck him, and he jolted upright, eyes wide.

Would Chen Zui go to someone else to seek love from them?

Le Ziyou only realized it then. Would he also suck that person’s yang qi, always stay by their side, spank them, and then hold them while sleeping, whispering in their ear?

Mi Jin had just finished cleaning up the takeout when Le Ziyou suddenly sat up, opened the takeout container, and started shoveling food into his mouth.

Mi Jin: "I thought you had no appetite?"

Le Ziyou gulped down the food in his mouth. "I need strength, so I can..."

Mi Jin: "So you can what?"

Le Ziyou stuffed his mouth full again, his cheeks bulging, his eyes filled with resolve. He needed strength, good health, and plenty of yang qi!

After eating, Le Ziyou got ready, and picked up the backpack he had thrown on the floor days ago. "I’m going out."

Mi Jin: "What made my brother suddenly sit up like you're rising from the dead?"

Le Ziyou was going to the hospital to find Liao Ziqi, to see if he could convince him into giving him something that would allow him to see ghosts.

He had to find Chen Zui!

He had to find Chen Zui!

Le Ziyou ran out of the apartment complex gate, waited for a while, and then got into a taxi. As soon as he got in, he shivered.

It was rare to find a driver who was blasting the AC. "Driver, to the Second Affiliated Hospital."

The driver didn’t respond, and the car started moving forward.

Le Ziyou heard a "thunk" and looked at the car door—the locks engaged.

Confused, he turned to look at the driver.

"Driver, why did you lock the door?"

The driver still didn’t speak.

Le Ziyou felt something was wrong. Clutching his phone, he pressed against the door and craned his neck to get a better look.

All his actions were watched by Xu Shuhuai, who was sitting beside him.

Xu Shuhuai had been watching Le Ziyou’s face the entire time. After all the ups and downs, he was finally back where he belonged. As for that Chen Zui...

He would never have another chance.

He hadn’t expected his luck to be so good. Not only had he been saved by a Taoist master, but that Taoist master was also gullible. He had helped him replenish his ghost energy and hadn’t returned recently.

Having regained his freedom, he had used every chance and every method to find Le Ziyou.

"Driver?"

Le Ziyou noticed the driver’s eyes were glazed over, yet he was driving normally, like he was being puppeteered.

There was a ghost.

Le Ziyou sat back and called out expectantly, "Chen Zui?"

Hearing him call Chen Zui’s name, Xu Shuhuai frowned. It seemed they had gotten along quite well.

"Chen Zui, is that you?"

Le Ziyou reached out to the side, his lips unconsciously twitching into a smile. After being sick for days, his pale and worn out appearance suddenly perked up.

The hand reaching toward the seat beside him was caught.

It felt cold.

Le Ziyou looked over excitedly. "Chen Zui, I—"

"I’m Xu Shuhuai."

Le Ziyou’s expression went rigid. It wasn’t Chen Zui...

But the name Xu Shuhuai sounded familiar. Le Ziyou remembered—that system had said that he and Xu Shuhuai were...

He snatched his hand back, his expression icy. "I don’t know you, and I don’t want to know you. Let me out of the car," he said.