Quickly, my brother turned on the overhead lights.

The thief, whose head was swollen from the beating, released his arms from covering his face, revealing a face tinged with a greenish-black hue, his pupils eerily rolling upward…

I froze—wasn’t this the blond guy who was picking up corpses at the bar entrance that day?! The news said his two companions were dead! Why was he unharmed?!

“Be careful! There’s something off with this guy—”

Before the words even finished, Jiang Qiyun had pinched a spell and pressed down on the blond guy’s crown chakra. The blond twitched as if electrocuted, then slowly fell to the ground.

I covered my mouth and crouched at the stairwell, too scared to make a sound.

My brother checked over him and asked, “Is he possessed by a ghost?”

Jiang Qiyun’s expression was somber: “This is Tibetan sorcery. The sorcerer hired by the Hou family must be a practitioner of wicked magic, knowing there were items from the ghost market here, they aimed at your warehouse.”

“Damn, had I known, I wouldn’t have sold it, just attracted flies for nothing!” my brother grumbled. “Today, Hou Shaowen even came asking about an octagonal Liuli bronze tower, definitely instigated by that sorcerer.”

“That tower is used for soul refining. It seems the soul-sucking incidents recently are related to this sorcerer,” Jiang Qiyun frowned.

A human’s spirit is supposed to enter the netherworld after death. Such acts of soul-sucking gravely violate the laws of the netherworld, so Jiang Qiyun couldn’t ignore it.

After much consideration, my brother called Officer Lu and said: “Whether you believe in ghosts or not, just take this blond guy away, don’t let him lie dead in my house, it’s annoying just looking at him.”

Jiang Qiyun looked up at me and walked over to carry me back to my room, saying, “Be careful these days, stay away from all strangers.”

I nodded, uneasily adding, “But my brother is half-competent, and my dad is currently in the hospital, I don’t know if something might happen…”

“I’m here… give me your phone,” he suddenly reached out for my mobile.

I saw him trace a complex white rune onto my phone with a flicker of cold light, perhaps to communicate with spirits?

The ghostly envoy had said, without spirit communication, there’s no signal inside the barrier.

“Jiang Qiyun, why don’t you get a mobile phone too? Sometimes I run into trouble and want to contact you but don’t know how,” I suggested.

He furrowed his brow, slightly annoyed, “Where do I get a mobile? You gonna burn one for me?”

Burn one for you?

That’s when it hit me why he always wore ancient Chinese attire—it was like the paper clothes burned for the dead!

He’s a ghost… a ghost… I couldn’t help but shiver.

His crisp voice continued, “Items used in the netherworld are sent by relatives from the living world. Some things can’t even be bought with underworld money because they aren’t meant to be burned for oneself.”

“Then… maybe I’ll burn one for you sometime…” I cautiously offered.

What should I buy to burn for him? A ghost using an iPhone 7, surely he deserves something decent…

Should I really spend a fortune on an iPhone 7 to burn? That’d be such a waste! Just thinking about it made my kidneys ache.

“Why are you so silly?” He seemed to read my thoughts, pinched my chin, and pushed me onto the bed, “Can you even burn such a phone? You need to get the kind meant for burning to the dead! Now go to sleep!”

###

Tantric sorcerers are usually referred to as “Masters.” This faction, seen as demonic outsiders by orthodox sorcerers, is scorned and guarded against by monks, Taoists, and laypeople alike.

Their most infamous evil practice is leveraging the name of the Blissful Buddha to promote debauchery, plus possessing people with spirits…

I read through various small-time information on my phone, feeling nervous—had such demonic outsiders targeted our shop?

A WeChat message popped up from my brother saying he got the “sorcerer’s” phone number from Hou Shaowen and was having Officer Lu check on it.

“Xiao Qiao! Look.” Song Wei opened a thermos, inside was her mom’s braised pork, insisting I had to try it. We grabbed some rice and slowly ate in front of the supermarket.

“How’s your little brother?”

“Much better! He just needs more sun exposure. Oh, when you have time, shall we go see some houses? My family plans to sell our land for a condo, and my mom insisted on having you look.”

I shook my head, “I’m just a novice, better hire a master.”

“What about your boyfriend? He seems like a master, no wonder he dresses so old-fashioned… Hey, is he also in your family business?”

I didn’t want to delve into this topic and changed the subject with some casual remarks.

With no classes in the afternoon, Song Wei suggested house hunting. I thought about buying a few sets of clothes to burn for Jiang Qiyun, to spare him from always wearing funeral attire.

When he asked “You gonna burn one for me?” and mentioned “everything is sent down by relatives from the living,” I suddenly felt sorry for him.

Song Wei’s shopping stamina was unmatched; after a mall and several real estates, she was still energetic.

“Miss, I can’t walk anymore, it’s already dark!”

During the evening rush hour, buses were packed like sardine cans, and no cabs were free. I reluctantly hailed a Didi by the roadside.

Traffic was terrible, and after an afternoon of shopping, both Song Wei and I yawned non-stop, eventually dozing off…

###

A cold wind woke me with a start.

The car stopped in front of a decrepit courtyard, its pale headlights illuminating the wall.

I tensed—weren’t we just in the city center? How did we end up here?!

Song Wei was still dozing next to me. I swallowed hard, where was the driver?!

Suddenly, I saw a figure standing in front of the car—it was the male driver!

I stepped out and demanded, “What is this place?! What are you trying to do?!”

His face was pale, and he stuttered unnaturally, his facial muscles twitching, “I’m… I’m taking you… home… we’re here…”

I was secretly alarmed—could he be possessed by a ghost?

His movements were strange, stiffly walking toward the small courtyard.

Lucky to have a signal, I shakily sent a location to my brother, who immediately replied: “Your ghost husband is already on his way, don’t be scared.”

Ghost husband…

In such a spooky setting, seeing those words surprisingly calmed me a bit.

Just as I turned to wake Song Wei, I saw her seat was empty! She was also staggering towards the courtyard!

“Song Wei!” I hurried over to grab her. She looked off, her eyes not even open!

I slapped her face hard, saying, “Song Wei, something’s not right here, we can’t go in—”

After a couple of slaps, she barely opened her eyes, rubbed them, and gasped, “Hey, where is this… Ah! Be careful!”

She suddenly widened her eyes, pointing behind me in terror, and screamed—