Chapter 9

The young “Big Witch” ran incredibly fast, and even though he was wearing cumbersome flip-flops, it didn’t affect his frantic sprint at all.

Ling Chen and He Jinchao exchanged a glance and, with perfect timing, both started running after him.

Soon, customers in the coffee shop, dogs being walked by people on the street, and even the security guards in their booths saw a strange sight—

A curly-haired, tall young man was running while shouting loudly, his words incomprehensible; closely behind him, another young man with a gentle, refined appearance was running and calling after him, “Big… cough, don’t run, I’m not a bad person!”

Hearing the young man’s shouts, the curly-haired young man did hesitate for a second, instinctively turning his head to look behind him. No one knew what he saw, but his face quickly showed even more fear. His foot stumbled, and one of his flip-flops flew off.

He didn’t even bother to pick it up, continuing to run with uneven strides, flip-flop flying with each step.

Meanwhile, the young man chasing him stopped, sighed, and neatly picked up the flip-flop.

Onlookers all looked up at the sky—why was the curly-haired young man so scared? The sun was so bright, surely it wasn’t ghosts!

A child holding their mother’s hand whispered, “Mom, look, the prince picked up a crystal shoe!”

The mother quickly covered the child’s mouth, whispering, “Stop saying nonsense, no princess wears flip-flops.”

So the child obediently corrected, “Oh, the prince picked up a crystal flip-flop~”

Ling Chen, holding the flip-flop, wanted to explain: “He’s not… I’m not… and it’s not… oh, never mind.”

Forget it, no need to explain. The Cinderella transformation into a vengeful spirit chasing a life-threatening monster would scare the country’s children to tears.

Although Ling Chen was slowed down by the flip-flop, He Jinchao didn’t stop. In his ethereal form, He Jinchao rode the wind and effortlessly caught up with the frantic “Big Witch.”

Not only that, but He Jinchao even surpassed him, blocking the curly-haired young man’s way.

He Jinchao spread his arms wide, trying to show friendliness: “Big Witch, don’t be nervous, we’re here because—”

Before he could finish his sentence, the curly-haired young man, shouting incoherently, ran straight into He Jinchao’s chest—then immediately crashed through his back.

This was the first time He Jinchao had been “passed through” by someone: “…?”

Though, theoretically, He Jinchao could pass through all walls, cars, and elevators now, passing through a person was no problem; he always adhered to a strict code and never passed through other living beings—if he encountered a dog, he would just fly over it.

Seeing He Jinchao suddenly being “passed through,” Ling Chen became worried and ran over, holding the flip-flop: “He Jinchao, are you alright?”

He Jinchao touched his chest and then his back, looking confused: “Theoretically, I’m fine, but emotionally, this is an issue.”

“Emotionally having an issue doesn’t count as a real problem; you’re just too complicated,” Ling Chen sighed in relief. “Anyway, you’ve been dead for more than a few days, sooner or later someone was going to ‘pass through’ you.”

He Jinchao sighed gloomily, “Thanks for reminding me I’ve been dead for three days already.”

But no time for small talk, business calls.

The man and the ghost teamed up, reinitiating their grand chase. This time, they worked together, employing deception and gradually closing the encirclement, eventually trapping the curly-haired young man in a corner of a community garden.

As the saying goes: He runs, they chase, he can’t fly away.

The curly-haired young man crouched, covering his head, completely bewildered, unable to believe that the two kind souls who had supposedly saved his pet were actually one of them a ghost! His mind went blank as he stumbled into the corner of the garden.

He hid behind a fake rock, crouching down as if hoping to disappear, his head tucked between his knees, hoping the “vengeful ghost” wouldn’t see him. His pet hamster, trembling just like him, was in his arms, its tiny heart nearly leaping out of its chest.

It seemed like today would be the hamster’s last day.

Seeing the tall young man looking like he was about to faint, He Jinchao and Ling Chen exchanged glances, both looking confused and helpless.

He Jinchao signaled to Ling Chen, mouthing, “You talk to him.”

Ling Chen mouthed back, “Why don’t you go?”

He wasn’t good at comforting people.

He Jinchao threw up his hands: “I’m afraid if I say something, I’ll scare the hamster.”

Ling Chen: “…”

Ling Chen rubbed his forehead, sighed silently, and after three minutes of mental preparation, he looked down at the crouching young man, speaking in the softest, most gentle tone: “Big Witch, um, sorry, I don’t know your name, so I’ll just call you that for now. I’m really not a bad person, and neither is the ghost next to me. You don’t have to be afraid.”

Unfortunately, every word fell on deaf ears.

Ling Chen moved a little closer, cautiously placing the flip-flop in front of the curly-haired young man.

Because of the chase, his left foot had been bare on the ground, hurting from the small stones and twigs.

Ling Chen looked at the young man’s dirty foot, about to speak, when he suddenly heard the faint murmur of the young man.

“Fu…min… wen…he…”

Ling Chen: “?”

He leaned in a little more, trying to hear clearly.

“Fuqiang…minzhu…wenming…hexie…”

Ling Chen: “??”

It sounded so familiar.

“Fuqiang, minzhu, wenming, hexie…zizhu, pingdeng, gongzheng, fazhi…”

Ling Chen: “????”

This time, he clearly heard it.

Ling Chen tentatively added the last phrase: “Aiguo, jingye, chengxin, youshan.”

Finally, the curly-haired young man raised his head, face tear-streaked, a big snot bubble at the tip of his nose, and, panicked, asked, “How… how do you know the ‘24-character Exorcism Chant’ my grandma taught me?!”

Ling Chen: “Uh, because I’m a civil servant?”

—-

Twenty minutes later, Ling Chen and He Jinchao, as guests, walked into the “Big Witch’s” home.

By the way, there was a little subplot—this apartment building had three households per elevator, but when they tried to use the elevator, they found a notice posted by the property management saying that the elevator’s lights and door were broken and needed urgent repair, so it was out of service.

“Strange,” the young “Big Witch” mumbled, “I’ve lived in this community for years, and the elevator’s never been broken before.”

Ling Chen and He Jinchao exchanged a knowing glance and said in unison, “Let’s take the stairs.”

So, after about ten minutes, they climbed to the eighteenth floor and sat in the “Big Witch’s” living room.

The apartment had two bedrooms and one living room, with great natural light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows, overtaking the entire couch.

He Jinchao comfortably sat in the sunlight, his semi-transparent body revealing the Survey Corps emblem on the cushion.

Ling Chen sat next to him on the other side of the couch, openly surveying the small apartment.

The place had a strong sense of life, every space was filled, with a gaming console in front of the TV, anime figurines packed into the cabinet, and even the bookshelf was overflowing with comics.

Also, as He Jinchao mentioned earlier, the “Buddha shrine”—He Jinchao only said it housed a figurine of Hatsune Miku but didn’t mention that the entire shrine was made out of LEGO bricks.

Well, before, Ling Chen had only heard of pain bags and pain cars, but this was his first time seeing a “pain house.”

Ling Chen asked He Jinchao, “Why didn’t you tell me the room had such a strong 2D atmosphere?”

He Jinchao calmly replied, “It’s not that bad.”

“Not that bad?” Ling Chen pointed to the Gundam poster on the opposite wall. “This otaku vibe is almost suffocating me.”

He Jinchao responded, “Putting up a few posters and some merchandise is normal. My fans also put up my posters at home, display my standees, and some even make chibi dolls of me. Oh, and they hang my photo cards on their backpacks, and even when they go out to eat, they make sure my photo card eats first.”

Ling Chen: “…”

He Jinchao glanced around the pain room and said calmly, “Compared to this, I think Da Wu doesn’t love the 2D world enough. You can ask him what fan level he is in the ‘Hatsune Miku Super Talk’ fan club.”

Ling Chen really wanted to let the star’s fans see his arrogant, self-absorbed, narcissistic expression.

While they were talking, footsteps echoed from the living room. The owner of the house—curly-haired youth—walked out from the study. His foot injury had been rinsed with water and hastily treated with some medicine. It looked bruised and swollen.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting,” he said, avoiding eye contact with them and looking only at the floor, too shy to meet He Jinchao’s gaze.

He Jinchao maintained his graceful demeanor in front of strangers and asked kindly, “How is your little hamster?”

“Chaicha Wan is healthy, just tired. I just put it in its nest, and it rolled into the bedding and fell asleep,” the youth said, scratching his thigh through his pants, unsure whether it was itching, or he was just trying to divert attention.

He awkwardly walked toward them. The sofa was for two people, so Ling Chen stood up to offer him a seat. The youth was so frightened he didn’t dare sit with He Jinchao.

He hurriedly moved a small chair from the side and said, “I’ll sit in this chair!”

The chair was shaped like a yellow block from the Super Mario game, square and with a large question mark drawn on it. The curly-haired youth sat trembling on the question mark, his little head full of questions.

Though he was the owner of the house, he sat humbly there, looking up pitifully at the two guests on the sofa.

Ling Chen disliked socializing because he hated people, but this Da Wu didn’t like it because he was afraid of ghosts.

— Coincidentally, He Jinchao was a “ghost.”

For a moment, the two humans and one ghost didn’t know how to break the silence, and the whole living room was enveloped in awkward silence, with only the sound of the ticking clock on the wall.

Ling Chen sighed again (he didn’t even know how many times he had sighed today). He looked at the nervous and shy youth on the mushroom chair and said, “Earlier, things were rushed, and I didn’t get the chance to introduce myself—I’m Ling Chen, a mortician makeup artist at the XX District Funeral Home. I’m here today to deliver some zongzi for the Dragon Boat Festival on behalf of our director, Director Song. He has had a close relationship with the former Da Wu, your grandmother, and this is why I was sent here.”

“Ah? … Oh…” The young Da Wu was confused, clearly not knowing who Director Song was.

Ling Chen: “May I ask how to address you?”

The youth finally got his wits together and said, “My name is Hu Yizhi.”

Ling Chen: “Fox, Yizhi?”

With a name like that, there was no trace of a clever, quick-witted fox, just a timid mouse.

After exchanging names, it was time for the man beside him to speak.

Da Wu, or Hu Yizhi, swallowed hard, his gaze drifting to the imposing figure beside him.

In his eyes, the man exuded noble charisma, dressed in luxury, with slightly upturned eyes and a smile on his lips. It seemed that with just one glance, people would gather around him and offer up their worthless hearts. He must have been rich and beautiful before his death, able to control hearts with his looks.

Moreover, Hu Yizhi noticed the man’s spiritual energy was solid, his core powerful, suggesting that he had awakened some abilities shortly after death.

He was—truly the worst kind of ghost!

Realizing this, Hu Yizhi couldn’t stop himself from shivering.

He didn’t understand why Ling Chen was teaming up with a ghost. Could it be that this ghost had some dirt on Ling Chen?

He Jinchao had no idea that Hu Yizhi held such a “high” opinion of him. He thought he was showing the utmost kindness with his polite smile and perfect manners, but he was branded as an evil ghost.

The “evil ghost” He Jinchao extended his hand: “Hello, Mr. Hu, I’m He Jinchao. As you can see, I’m a ghost who died but didn’t fully die.”

Hu Yizhi stared at his extended hand, too scared to shake it, fearing that if he did, He Jinchao might use some soul-sucking technique and drain his vitality.

“You… Hello,” Hu Yizhi stammered, “Your name sounds so familiar. Isn’t there a famous movie actor with the same name as you? Come to think of it, you do look like a movie star.”

He Jinchao smiled slightly: “It’s not a coincidence. I am that actor.”

Hu Yizhi: “…………???”

He froze, his eyes widening in shock behind his heavy bangs.

He instinctively looked at Ling Chen for confirmation. Ling Chen nodded silently, confirming He Jinchao’s identity.

Hu Yizhi’s brain instantly overloaded: “AT￥%&…R&W!”

He Jinchao: “Da Wu, in the 30 seconds you spent with your eyes darting around, were you thinking about how to help me reincarnate, or were you planning to expose me online?”