My brother has a nickname for the old lady—“Dirty Hag.” Honestly, it fits; she’s as raunchy as the younger crowd, with a sense of humor that could rival any bawdy joke.

She took my pulse and said the signs of miscarriage had faded, then asked if I’d had any “dark discharge” lately. Embarrassed, I shook my head, face red.

“That’s good,” she said. “But you still can’t be intimate. Wait until the spirit fetus stabilizes, understand?”

I blushed even more, muttering, “How would I even do that alone…”

The old lady paused, then chuckled mischievously. “Looks like we have another innocent little girl, deceived by a male ghost…”

The word “deceived” stung a bit.

“At first, you were scared, weren’t you? But then, as he showed you care and affection, you stopped being afraid. Now you’re even calmly carrying his spirit child?” She laughed. “It just goes to show, you can’t trust men—let alone ghosts.”

“What about ghosts?”

“Ordinary ghosts don’t have much emotion. But ghosts with feelings have strong attachments. Such ghosts are smart, really smart; they can bewitch the human heart. That’s why there’s the saying, ‘ghostly words are not to be trusted.’ Our ancestors taught us well. Ghosts’ words, you can’t believe them, can’t trust them…” She mumbled as she shuffled her herbs.

So, was my heart really enchanted by Jiang Qi Yun?

Just then, a sound like a baby crying pierced my ears—a cat’s yowl, creepy enough to make my skin crawl. I looked toward the door.

A cat spirit materialized from a dark mist by the door, holding something in its mouth, and walked straight to the old lady.

It was an inky black cat, her most loyal companion. Even after its death, it stayed to guard her home.

I took a step closer, noticing what it dropped on the ground—a human finger with bright red nail polish!

“Ah—!” I screamed in shock.

The old lady’s face grew serious. She reached down to pet the cat’s head, murmuring, “Where did you find this…? Really… Hmm, there’s more of this lately… Go on, put it back where you found it…”

The black cat picked up the finger, transformed into a mist, and slipped out through the crack in the door.

“Xiao Qiao… Strange things are happening more frequently these days. I can’t shake the feeling that something big is coming… You two are still inexperienced, so stay vigilant…” The old lady’s raspy voice warned.

I nodded silently, and as I stepped out of her shop, a gust of wind rose from nowhere, prickling the back of my neck. It felt like someone was watching me.

Behind our school, there’s a big undeveloped area reserved for future expansion. It’s got a hillside and some woods, nicknamed “Lovers’ Hill” and “Wild Boar Grove.”

Lovers’ Hill is a spot where couples go to hold hands or sneak a kiss; as for Wild Boar Grove… Well, it’s rumored that the sounds from there are like “squealing pigs.”

I cringed. “Squealing pigs”? What kind of description is that?

Song Wei laughed, saying, “Oh, it’s just when people get a little too into it, letting themselves go~ Especially when they’re outdoors—it’s no wonder they end up howling and yelping.”

She leaned in to whisper in my ear, “And you know what? Some girls are ‘selling’ there! Fifty bucks for a ‘half-package,’ and a hundred for a ‘full-package’!”

“…What do you mean by ‘half’ and ‘full’?” I asked, frowning.

Song Wei rolled her eyes. “Are you really this clueless, with a boyfriend and all? ‘Half’ means using hands or mouth; ‘full’ is the real deal! How do you not know this?”

I sweated awkwardly. Not knowing these “technical terms” is perfectly normal, right?

“How do you know so much?” I shot back.

Song Wei grinned slyly, gesturing toward a girl in the front corner of the classroom.

“They say Zhao Xiao Ru is into that! See how no one in class talks to her…”

Zhao Xiao Ru does seem a bit solitary. She looks pretty average, and in a department full of beauties, she doesn’t stand out. She seems like the quiet type, definitely not the kind to do that.

“Don’t spread rumors; it could hurt her reputation,” I warned.

Song Wei shrugged. “Rumors don’t come from nothing. I think she’s up to something.”

That afternoon, just after class, Song Wei and I saw Zhao Xiao Ru on her phone, rushing off toward the back of the school.

Song Wei’s eyes sparkled. “I bet she’s going to meet someone! Let’s go see!”

“What’s there to see?” I hesitated. Even if Zhao Xiao Ru was up to something, I wasn’t interested.

I’d been bumping into ghosts so often it felt routine, and I’d mysteriously managed to attract resentment from people in “the circle.” My brother and I decided to play it safe for a while.

But Song Wei wouldn’t let it go; she dragged me along to “prove the rumor was true.”

The Lovers’ Hill was dotted with couples having lunch together, oozing so much affection it made bystanders want to gag.

Behind the hill was a dense “grove,” though it was more of a forest. Most people only wandered around the edges, as the deeper parts were full of wild undergrowth and fenced off with barbed wire.

Zhao Xiao Ru walked right into the grove without hesitation. Song Wei scoffed. “I knew it. She’s definitely up to no good.”

Sure enough, we saw plenty of discarded wrappers on the ground near the edge. Song Wei chuckled, “This place is a battlefield, littered with fallen soldiers. How many poor tadpoles have died here?”

She was completely unfiltered. I gave her a light smack, and she finally shut up.

Zhao Xiao Ru kept going, not stopping even as the weeds reached waist-high. Eventually, we spotted a man waiting impatiently by the barbed wire.

“Why are you so slow?” he muttered, pulling out his phone. “What’s your Alipay? I’ll transfer it to you. I’ve got class later, can’t spend all day on this…”

Zhao Xiao Ru quietly took out her phone to accept the payment.

The man, eager, reached to grab her, but she pushed his hand away. “In broad daylight, someone might see us. There’s a hidden spot inside, let’s go there…”

We hid behind a tree, watching them slip through a gap in the wire. Song Wei immediately followed, ready to snap a photo.

I grabbed her. That area was a restricted zone with high-voltage towers, where students were absolutely forbidden. We’d get in serious trouble just for trespassing, so why risk it?

But the two didn’t go far in, and we could faintly hear voices—

“Damn, it’s freezing here…”

“There’s a pond here, and so many trees. Of course, it’s cool. Hurry up.” Zhao Xiao Ru’s voice was flat.

“Alright, alright… Could you tilt up a bit? I can’t get in…”

Then came the unmistakable sounds of flesh hitting flesh.

Song Wei and I exchanged a look, already knowing how this would end. “Should we just go?”

Just as I turned to leave, I heard a woman cry out, “Ah… Faster!!”

“Huh?” The guy grunted, surprised by the sudden enthusiasm. “Damn, it’s like a sponge in here! So much… water!”

“Mmm… yeah… you’re not half bad~ Come on, faster…” The woman’s voice was sultry, her moans loud and wanton.

A chill ran down my spine. This woman’s voice—I recognized it!

It sounded exactly like the female student from the alley behind Bar Street!

Wasn’t she the soul from that Fiend Buddha statue? Didn’t Jiang Qi Yun summon it to devour her soul?

Why was she here again—