Chapter 146

Chapter 146

Le Ziyou's sudden change of expression greatly displeased Xu Shuhuai.

"If possible, I'd prefer not to resort to force, so I hope you'll cooperate," Xu Shuhuai said, his fingers gently tapping on his leg. With his ghost qi now recovered, dealing with a fraudulent charlatan like Le Ziyou was more than enough.

Le Ziyou asked, "What do you want me to cooperate with?"

He hadn't expected Xu Shuhuai to be a ghost too. Was he destined to be entangled with ghosts his entire life?

Xu Shuhuai stared at Le Ziyou’s face. No one in this world could replace his beloved; he simply wanted to see that face more. He raised his hand, hoping to see the expression he remembered—the look of love—on it.

"Fall in love with me."

His fingertip brushed Le Ziyou’s cheek.

Le Ziyou’s mind went blank. Chen Zui’s chilling threat still echoed in his ears, and now another one had appeared. Did these ghosts have some kind of KPI for this sort of thing?

Frowning, he dodged the hand touching his cheek. Such familiarity was disgusting.

Xu Shuhuai didn’t try to touch him again.

The car fell silent. Le Ziyou glanced at his backpack, which still contained the life-saving items Liao Ziqi had given him. His gaze shifted to the cars passing outside. The driver was under Xu Shuhuai’s control, and if things got out of hand and caused an accident, it would be quite dangerous.

He decided to endure it for now.

"Why are you looking for me?"

"It's your good fortune."

In Xu Shuhuai’s view, merely resembling his beloved was a stroke of luck. Le Ziyou, however, looked exactly like his beloved, which meant he should belong to Xu Shuhuai.

Le Ziyou nearly scoffed but said nothing more, just watched outside to see where the car was heading.

Xu Shuhuai didn’t mind him knowing, as he had no intention of letting Le Ziyou have his freedom.

—

Ao Tian: "There’s something about Le Ziyou you might want to hear."

Chen Zui leaned on the pool cue, taking aim: "Go on."

Ao Tian: "The higher-ups detected that the protagonist and the love interest have met."

Chen Zui pushed the cue forward. The white ball struck the table, rebounded, and knocked another ball into the pocket. He set down the cue and picked up the chalk, rubbing it on the tip.

Xu Shuhuai was quite capable.

Ao Tian: "Xu Shuhuai is taking a forceful approach with Le Ziyou, right from the start."

Chen Zui eyed the pool table. The next shot should target the 6-ball.

—

Le Ziyou looked at the villa in front of him—it was the Wei family’s villa, where he and Mi Jin had once exorcised ghosts. It was here that Mi Jin had said the effects weren’t his doing, and they had truly encountered a ghost.

The car door slowly opened on its own.

Xu Shuhuai said, "Get out."

Le Ziyou stepped out of the car and suddenly understood: the Wei family really had a ghost, and it was Xu Shuhuai. It was because of that incident that Xu Shuhuai had noticed him and sought him out.

The taxi drove away.

Le Ziyou glanced back, then withdrew his gaze. With Xu Shuhuai right beside him, trying to open his bag and take something out would easily draw attention. He needed to wait for the right moment.

The main gate suddenly swung open.

Xu Shuhuai said, "Go in."

Le Ziyou figured that if Xu Shuhuai dared to let him walk in so boldly, the Wei family probably wasn’t home. As he entered the villa, he noticed something was off—the ground was covered with fallen leaves, unlike the clean state during his last visit.

Through the floor-to-ceiling window, he saw that all the furniture inside was covered with white cloth.

"Where are the people who lived here?"

"Oh, they were scared off. At first, they wanted to find someone else to take a look, but after their precious son fell down the stairs and broke his leg, they gave up and moved out directly."

Xu Shuhuai spoke casually, but Le Ziyou stopped in his tracks. He thought of that family. He knew he was a fraud, but he had always believed there were no ghosts in this world. Some people had later contacted him, him saying there were still strange sounds in their homes, but he had brushed them off and blocked them to avoid further trouble.

For the first time, his mind, which had been preoccupied with finding Chen Zui, turned to other thoughts.

Ghosts really did exist in this world.

Those who had sought his help might truly have had ghosts in their homes—maybe even ghosts like Xu Shuhuai, who would push people down the stairs…

And those who had later reported that things still weren’t right at home…

Le Ziyou, who had always thought he was just scamming people for money—charging more from wealthy families and less from ordinary ones, even priding himself on his "kindness"—now looked at the desolate villa and realized his mistakes went far beyond just fraud.

Xu Shuhuai said, "Let’s go in."

He floated past Le Ziyou, and in that instant, Le Ziyou felt a chill sweep from behind him to the front. His eyes darkened, and he quickly unzipped his crossbody bag, pulling out the protective item Liao Ziqi had given him.

He deliberately spoke to lure Xu Shuhuai into confirming his position: "Was it you who pushed Wei Zhou down the stairs?"

"No, it was my hand…"

As Xu Shuhuai turned around, a marble-like object was thrown straight at him. The moment it touched his ghost qi, it exploded, releasing Samadhi True Fire that engulfed him, making him stagger and groan in pain.

Le Ziyou threw all the remaining ones at once. Burn, you evil ghost!

Other ghosts in the villa, seeing their leader burning, wanted to help, but as ghosts, they were too afraid of the Samadhi True Fire to approach.

Le Ziyou turned and ran toward the villa’s main gate.

Xu Shuhuai, writhing in the Samadhi True Fire, noticed Le Ziyou’s movement and revealed a fierce expression. He controlled his ghost qi to wrap around one of Le Ziyou’s legs, pulling him back.

Le Ziyou was yanked off his feet, falling forward onto the ground.

The fall was hard.

Le Ziyou panicked. If he was caught, it would be over! This was a harmful, evil ghost!

Xu Shuhuai tried to drag him closer, but another wave of dense ghost qi shot through the air. A closed black umbrella forcefully crashed into the ghost qi restraining Le Ziyou, scattering it.

Xu Shuhuai recognized that black umbrella. He hadn’t expected Chen Zui to find them so quickly. But now, surrounded by Samadhi True Fire, Chen Zui probably wouldn’t dare…

The black umbrella opened and lifted, and a hand with distinct knuckles reached out—completely disregarding the Samadhi True Fire—and grabbed Xu Shuhuai by the neck, who was in too much pain to get up.

The black umbrella was fully raised, revealing Chen Zui's face.

He stared expressionlessly at Xu Shuhuai.

Le Ziyou, dazed from the fall, looked back. The Samadhi True Fire cast a faint ghostly silhouette, and he saw an unfamiliar man being slowly lifted, his neck gripped by a hand.

He fixed his eyes on that hand.

It was Chen Zui!

He'd gotten a vague glimpse of this hand in the bathroom!

Le Ziyou's heart hammered in his chest.

Different from the panic he'd felt just moments before when he thought he was about to be caught.

Chen Zui had come to save him!

An overwhelming sense of security surged within him, and Le Ziyou scrambled up from the ground with joy.

Xu Shuhuai controlled his ghost qi to attack Chen Zui. He absolutely could not be captured again, tied up, and shoved under the bed!

Their ghost qi clashed, and Le Ziyou felt blasts of eerie wind so strong he was nearly blown off his feet. He mentally chanted, "Go, Chen Zui! Go, Chen Zui!"

Chen Zui, still holding on, hadn't released his grip on Xu Shuhuai's neck. "Can't I just kill him?"

Ao Tian: "Tie him up and stuff him under the bed."

When the Samadhi True Fire died down, Le Ziyou, clinging to an ornamental tree to steady himself, could no longer see anything. He was hopping from foot to foot in frustration.

Chen Zui waved his hand, and the black umbrella returned to him. He swung it at Xu Shuhuai, dispersing even the defensive ghost qi around him.

Xu Shuhuai waved his hand again, and a nearby rock from the artificial mountain flew up, controlled by him to hurl toward Chen Zui.

Chen Zui kicked out, his ghost qi striking the rock first and effortlessly batting it back with his foot.

Xu Shuhuai dodged, and the rock shattered the floor-to-ceiling window, making Le Ziyou's heart pound with fear.

Chen Zui closed the distance between himself and Xu Shuhuai. The moment he grabbed Xu Shuhuai's arm, there was no escape for Xu Shuhuai.

A series of fierce attacks—palms, fists, legs—all carried immense force, overwhelming Xu Shuhuai.

Xu Shuhuai had been dead for many long years. Throughout that time, his lingering thoughts of his lover, along with his hatred and resentment over his lover's premature death, had caused his ghost qi to grow denser and stronger.

Scaring humans took no effort at all.

With lesser ghosts, his ghost qi alone could crush them.

But now, his ghost qi was no match for Chen Zui. In a real fight, he was utterly defenseless before him.

The ghost qi he had painstakingly recovered was quickly dispersed by Chen Zui.

As the eerie wind died down,

the battle was over.

Xu Shuhuai, nearly transparent with weakness, was pinned beneath Chen Zui's foot, seething with resentment.

Le Ziyou blinked, staring ahead. "Chen Zui?"

He firmly believed Chen Zui would win, because Chen Zui was just that powerful.

He dashed over, his steps crunching on the broken gravel.

"Chen Zui, are you back to full strength now? Did you win? Are you hurt?"

"Did you come to save me? Are you not angry with me anymore? Where have you been all this time?"

Le Ziyou fired off countless questions but got no response.

Chen Zui bound Xu Shuhuai with ghost qi and prepared to lead him away like a dog on a leash once again.

Le Ziyou looked around in confusion, afraid that Chen Zui would leave without a word again. Suddenly, he dropped to the ground. "Chen Zui, I'm injured."

Chen Zui looked over, his gaze settling on the scraped chin.

The person sitting on the ground held his ankle, his eyes darting around. "I know what I did before hurt you. You can hit me, scold me, do whatever you want. Just don't leave. Can we talk properly?"

Xu Shuhuai was infuriated by this scene. How dare he wear the same face as his beloved and say such things! Do such things!

Chen Zui continued dragging Xu Shuhuai toward the door, this time using ghost qi to press Xu Shuhuai's body down, forcing him to crawl forward as he was pulled along.

It wasn't painful, but it was humiliating.

Le Ziyou grew frantic. He didn't even know where Chen Zui was—had he already left? He instinctively ran toward the door, and as he passed a toppled artificial tree, he steeled himself and deliberately let himself trip over it.

At the doorway, Chen Zui heard a startled cry.

When he turned around, Le Ziyou had already fallen beside the tree, a clearly visible gash on his ankle, deep enough that the flesh was torn outward.

He frowned, dropped Xu Shuhuai, and returned to Le Ziyou's side.

Le Ziyou felt a chill, and then a hand grasped his ankle. He quickly clutched Chen Zui, afraid that if he hesitated even a second, he would lose him again. He looked pleadingly in Chen Zui's direction. "Chen Zui, I'm not lying this time, I'm really hurt."

Chen Zui used ghost qi to stop the bleeding from his wound.

Le Ziyou gently shook the hand holding him. "Chen Zui, I'll never lie to you again. I've been trying to find you all these days. I wanted to tell you I don't want you to die, to apologize for what happened. But I still think you were also in the wrong for scaring me. I'm not trying to pick a fight or shift blame."

"It's just that we've never really talked properly."

"I don't know why you sought me out, and I never told you I was a little afraid of you."

"I admit my mistakes. Will you give me a chance to make it up to you?"

"I really regret hurting you."

Le Ziyou's knack for chattering remained as strong as ever, but this time it came from the heart. By the end, his eyes were red.

His grip on Chen Zui unconsciously tightened, as if clutching a lifeline.

"Chen Zui."

"Just say something to me."

Anything, any single word would do.

Just give him a response.

Chen Zui stared at Le Ziyou, still saying nothing, and picked him up with one arm.

With his other hand, he dragged Xu Shuhuai away from the villa.

Le Ziyou felt frustrated by Chen Zui's silence, afraid that if he kept chattering, Chen Zui would get annoyed and leave again.

He said nothing more, just groped to wrap his arms around Chen Zui's neck.

As long as Chen Zui didn't leave, there was still a chance.

They returned to Le Ziyou's residence, where Xu Shuhuai, struggling, was kicked under the bed by Chen Zui.

Le Ziyou was placed on the bed, but Chen Zui still didn't let go, making him lean over with one hand braced against the bedside.

Le Ziyou gazed at the face he couldn't see: "Don't go,"

"You haven't taken in any yang energy all these days, have you?"

"Let me give you some."