Chapter 3

Nie Xiaoqian smiled with her lips pursed, gently resting her head on Xue Ming’s shoulder, and whispered, “I don’t know any Ning Caichen. I only like you, young master.”

Although the atmosphere was not good, and Xue Ming clearly sensed that she was in danger, she still had something to say.

Is Nie Xiaoqian blind?

Even after unwrapping her chest, she wasn’t exactly flat-chested. How could she mistake her for a man? Even as a ghost, does she not use her eyes?

Of course, Xue Ming would never dare to say this out loud. She tried to shrink towards the foot of the bed, but Nie Xiaoqian had cornered her against the wall, leaving her no place to hide. She had no choice but to muster up the courage to try to talk to her, “Miss, have you mistaken me for someone else?”

Nie Xiaoqian’s fingers slid from Xue Ming’s neck, making her shiver. She said, “This is the first time we’ve met. How could there be any mistake?”

“No…” Xue Ming leaned slightly, pulled her collar open to show her, and said weakly, “I’m a woman, not a young master.”

After saying that, she quickly shrank back, tightly covering her collar, and watched Nie Xiaoqian warily in case this female ghost suddenly went crazy.

Unexpectedly, Nie Xiaoqian was only briefly stunned before she laughed and said, “Weren’t you the one who wanted to disguise yourself as a man?”

Xue Ming replied casually, “That’s because it’s more convenient to travel as a man. But, miss, shouldn’t you be next door? According to the story, you should be in Ning Caichen’s room now.”

“According to whose story?” Nie Xiaoqian asked.

Xue Ming didn’t expect this question and hesitated momentarily before tentatively saying, “Pu Songling?”

Nie Xiaoqian’s eyes flickered as she scanned Xue Ming’s face several times. It seemed that for the first time since becoming a ghost, she realized their conversation was going nowhere. So she straightforwardly said, “Don’t worry, I’m not here to kill you, just to take a bit of your yang energy.”

Xue Ming’s hair stood on end. “What?!”

“Yang energy,” Nie Xiaoqian explained. “It’s something all living people have. I’ll just take a little; at most, you’ll feel weak for half a day, and a good sleep will restore you.”

Xue Ming looked at her face and wanted to grab the mirror on the table and let her see herself. Her current expression was like that of a deceitful boss tricking employees into working overtime, a bus driver luring people onto the bus, or a vendor at a tourist spot ripping off customers. Her eyes were shining with an “I’m definitely going to harm you” gleam. How could anyone believe she was a good person? Who would trust her?

Xue Ming didn’t know what “yang energy” meant in this world, but she absolutely did not trust Nie Xiaoqian. Before meeting Ning Caichen, this female ghost had harmed many people, whether forced or not. She was a true evil spirit, and too many people had been bewitched by her appearance and lost their lives, so Xue Ming couldn’t afford to be careless. She remembered that Ning Caichen firmly rejected Nie Xiaoqian in the original story, and nothing happened that night. Perhaps she should do the same.

“Impossible,” Xue Ming pretended to be tough, placing her hand on the box in her arms and subtly threatening, “I am human, and I won’t make any deals with a ghost like you. Don’t think you can take advantage of me just because I seem easygoing. I have plenty of treasures in this box that can deal with you. I’m just staying here for one night and don’t want to make an enemy of you. If you leave now, I can pretend nothing happened.”

Nie Xiaoqian’s gaze fell on the box in her arms, and she seemed genuinely apprehensive, not daring to advance further. However, she didn’t give up and said, “I mean no harm. I only want to borrow a bit of your yang energy.”

Xue Ming replied, “The person next door has more yang energy. Why don’t you try him?”

Nie Xiaoqian suddenly leaned closer, sniffing as if tasting something, and released a long breath, “Your yang energy is purer and more comforting.”

Goosebumps rose all over Xue Ming’s body, and her spine chilled. She vaguely sensed something from this statement and suddenly realized that Nie Xiaoqian entering her room instead of Ning Caichen’s might not be a coincidence. She stopped arguing with Nie Xiaoqian and unlocked the box, pretending to take something out. Seeing this, Nie Xiaoqian floated off the bed lightly. The candlelight cast a long shadow on the ground, and Xue Ming realized that using shadows to distinguish between humans and ghosts was utterly useless.

Nie Xiaoqian walked barefoot, her steps almost silent on the ground. When she reached the door, she suddenly turned her head and gave Xue Ming a charming glance, “Tonight might not be peaceful. You should protect yourself.”

Before Xue Ming could think it through, she saw Nie Xiaoqian’s figure blur and dissipate into a wisp of smoke, like a magic trick. She quickly opened the box and grasped the small sword, carefully recalling the original plot of “Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.” She clearly remembered that on Ning Caichen’s first night, Nie Xiaoqian entered his room and tried to seduce him but failed. However, there was no noise from the room next door, and Nie Xiaoqian had come to her room instead. Moreover, the treasures in the box hadn’t worked. Xue Ming couldn’t understand what had gone wrong.

As soon as dawn breaks, she’ll leave immediately. Xue Ming made up her mind, deciding not to sleep for the rest of the night and to stay awake until the sun rose. However, things didn’t go smoothly; Nie Xiaoqian’s appearance seemed to be just the beginning. At first, she heard some rustling sounds, like someone scraping their nails back and forth on the wall. The sound was faint, but because the night was so quiet, Xue Ming could hear it clearly. She cautiously searched for the source of the sound.

The noise came intermittently, faint but annoying, especially in Xue Ming’s current state. The more she listened, the more uncomfortable she felt, as if dozens of claws were scratching at her heart. Grasping the small sword, she slowly got out of bed, bending over and moving slowly towards the window. When she pressed her ear to the window, she realized the sound seemed to be something touching the window.

Xue Ming waited patiently for a long time, but nothing happened. She slowly stood up and pushed the window open, only to find that a tree branch blown by the wind was scraping against it. In such a situation, she could scare herself to death. A small tree branch had made her nervous for half the night.

Xue Ming smiled wryly, mocking her own cowardice. She then reached out, intending to break off the branch. Unexpectedly, as soon as she extended her hand, an ugly creature suddenly hung upside down from above the window, letting out a sharp, piercing scream.

“Ah—!”

Xue Ming’s heart almost stopped from fright. She shuddered violently, and a scream escaped her lips. The next moment, she saw the ugly monster quickly reach out to grab her, its black nails long and exaggerated like chopsticks. She instinctively raised her hand, which held the small sword, to defend herself, but the highly anticipated treasure was useless.

Xue Ming felt a sharp pain in her shoulder as she was clawed fiercely, and the force threw her backward.

Xue Ming reacted quickly, immediately getting up from the ground. She saw those creatures climbing in through the window, one after another, each about the size of a small dog but with particularly long claws. At this moment, she couldn’t care less about the treasures in the box. She slammed into the door with all her might. Whether the latch was too fragile or her burst of strength was too great, she broke the latch and ran out of the room.

“Help—!” Xue Ming shouted.

Instinctively, she wanted to head towards a crowded place, but as soon as she turned after exiting the door, she saw many of these tiny monsters surrounding Ning Caichen’s room, crawling all over the windows and eaves, densely packed.

Without any hesitation, Xue Ming turned and ran in the opposite direction. These tiny monsters moved quickly, but their short legs were a disadvantage.

Xue Ming ran with all her might, truly putting some distance between them. She cursed continuously in her heart, thinking that in the original “Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio,” Yan Chixia killed these demons and monsters as easily as drinking water. But here, not only could she not use those powerful spells, but even the treasures in the box were useless.

This must not be the original story; it must be some fan fiction written by a foolish author.

The shrill cries behind her grew louder and closer. Xue Ming ran for her life with all her strength, not caring about the road ahead. She ran towards any open space she saw, not daring to stop for a moment.

Under the cloudless night sky, a full moon hung high. The whole magnificent palace was bathed in moonlight, and as the breeze passed, the dense tree crowns rustled, weaving a beautiful picture. Two people stood side by side on the eaves, one wearing a long snow-white dress and the other an apricot-colored dress. As their skirts fluttered, their graceful figures were revealed; both had stunning faces and stared simultaneously at the person running desperately below.

On the vast path, Xue Ming ran wildly under the moonlight, her posture far from elegant. At some point, the ribbon in her hair had been snagged by the claws of the little monsters behind her, causing her long black hair to fly wildly.

The woman in the apricot-colored dress asked, “Sister Xiaoqian, are we really not going to save her?”

Nie Xiaoqian stared at Xue Ming for a while, then suddenly turned her head to look further away. In the hazy night, a large hall loomed in the distance.

“She sure knows how to pick a place to escape to,” Nie Xiaoqian chuckled, then added, “She’s already entered the lotus pond area. Whether she lives or dies depends on her own fate. We can’t interfere.”

Xue Ming discovered that one’s potential really could be stimulated. Sometimes, you think you’ve reached your limit, but you can still improve if you push harder.

When Xue Ming first started working, she rented a place in a relatively cheap area. She had to pass through a narrow alley in front of someone else’s house to get home. Unfortunately, an old man in the alley kept a very aggressive dog that was never leashed. For some reason, the dog disliked Xue Ming. The dog would recognize her footsteps every time she passed and rush out to bark and chase her. After several unsuccessful attempts to negotiate with the owner, Xue Ming began a long period of sprinting to and from work. As a result, her running speed and endurance improved. Later, she gritted her teeth and spent a fortune on an electric scooter. When she went home, she carried a stick. Whenever that dog chased her, she would twist the throttle and hit its head with the stick. After a few days of this, the dog became obedient.

Xue Ming slacked off for a while, so she was almost caught several times when the little monsters chased her. Their sharp claws grazed her neck, nearly cutting it open.

Xue Ming knew this wasn’t the dog from her neighborhood. If she got caught, it would mean death, possibly being disemboweled with her intestines strewn everywhere. Thinking of this, she found a new burst of energy. She didn’t know where she had run to; the surroundings were completely unfamiliar. As she ran, wide ponds appeared on both sides, filled with dense lotus flowers and leaves swaying in the wind. The air was filled with their fragrance, and the breeze finally had the warmth of summer, no longer cold and piercing. There was only one path left, ending at a house hidden in the night.

With no other option, Xue Ming ran forward, stepping onto the path through the lotus pond and heading towards the house. The house, built in the middle of the river, was strange. It had no door, and Xue Ming crashed into it, falling into the main hall. She couldn’t get up after the fall. She was in extreme pain; her heart and lungs felt like they were about to explode, and even breathing was difficult. She screamed in frustration, her brain foggy from the rush of blood, and collapsed on the ground, unable to lift a finger.

Xue Ming had resigned herself to being torn apart by the swarming little monsters, but to her surprise, everything went quiet. The sharp, piercing cries disappeared, leaving only the sound of the swaying lotus leaves.

Lying half-dead on the ground, she endured the worst of the pain. Her breathing gradually became smoother, and her heart and lungs no longer hurt as much. The breeze made her realize she was drenched in sweat, her clothes soaked through, and she understood she had narrowly escaped death. A faint pain came from her left shoulder. She turned her head and saw that the initial claw strike had indeed torn her shoulder, leaving three long marks. However, the wound didn’t bleed but emitted wisps of black smoke, and the pain was mild as if lightly anesthetized.

It was better than being disemboweled, Xue Ming comforted herself. Just as she let her mind go blank, staring at the ceiling, she suddenly heard a very light sound near her head. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something like fabric fluttering as if someone was standing above her.

Again?!

Using her newly regained strength, Xue Ming sat up in a panic and turned halfway around to look. Sure enough, a person was standing behind her, a very young man. He wore a loose black robe, his long hair half tied and falling over his shoulders. He stood in a casual, lazy manner, looking down at Xue Ming. The most striking feature was his exceptionally beautiful face, with eyes like inked jade reflecting the bright moonlight, matching the heroic spirit between his brows. He was cold as ice, devoid of any emotion.

When Xue Ming met his gaze, she felt her heart hit hard, trembling violently. This person gave her the same feeling as when she first saw Nie Xiaoqian, instinctively making her think he was not human. Upon closer inspection, his skin was pale without a trace of blood, his fingernails were black, and he stood barefoot on the ground, his shadow cast a short distance by the moonlight.

Nie Xiaoqian was charming and gentle, but this person exuded a cold sharpness that made it hard to resist the urge to retreat when facing him. He looked like a ghost that was difficult to deal with.