Chapter 11: First Encounter with Lin Zhixia

“Ah!!!” Bai An covered her small bag, startled and stumbling back a few steps.

Lin Zhixia watched Bai An’s reaction, his eyes darkening slightly. “What happened?”

“Nothing, nothing.” Only when that pale face spoke did Bai An realize it was Lin Zhixia. She calmed herself and said softly, “I was just suddenly scared.”

Lin Zhixia didn’t ask why she was scared but instead gently inquired, “Did you come for something?”

Bai An looked at him as he leaned against the door, arms crossed. His face was a bit pale and indifferent, his gaze on her filled with a faint, almost imperceptible smile.

She wanted to call out to Cui Ju, but for some reason, the way Lin Zhixia was looking at her made her feel a little afraid.

“I came to find Cui Ju,” Bai An clutched her small bag tightly and said quietly.

Lin Zhixia noticed her wary posture and scoffed, “Am I really that scary? Why do you always look so scared when you see me?”

It’s because you keep staring at me every time, and I don’t know what you’re thinking.

“Because we don’t know each other yet,” Bai An explained, seeing him still staring at her. She smiled obediently, “But now we should know each other.”

Lin Zhixia raised an eyebrow and stepped aside. “Come in, Cui Ju’s inside.”

It was nearly dark when Bai An entered Cui Ju’s huge house. As soon as she walked in, it felt like her eyes were covered with mist.

“Why haven’t you turned on the lights?” Bai An stayed close behind Lin Zhixia, looking around the dimly lit room, the furnishings faintly visible.

Although the house no longer had much inside, the layout, the materials used to build it, and the overall structure still hinted at its former wealth.

Lin Zhixia glanced at Bai An behind him and chuckled lightly. “Do you think every house is as extravagant as yours?”

“What?” Bai An grabbed the corner of his clothes, her brow furrowing.

Lin Zhixia looked down at the hand clutching his clothes. It was delicate and pale, and he couldn’t help but feel amused.

That family really dotes on her.

“I didn’t say anything.” Lin Zhixia pulled Bai An’s hand, walked to Cui Ju’s room, opened the door, and pushed Bai An inside. “She hasn’t come back yet, so wait here for her.”

Bai An was nearly knocked to the ground by the push, but he caught her in time, preventing her from falling.

Angrily, Bai An turned around to scold him, but he had already closed the door.

“Lin Zhixia, are you out of your mind?” Bai An slapped the door hard, shouting his name, “Lin Zhixia, don’t let me see you outside, or I won’t let you off.”

Lin Zhixia sat by the door, listening to Bai An’s accusations from inside. He widened his eyes in surprise, then shrugged, looking amused.

I thought she was just a little bunny, but it seems that’s not the case.

Bai An, inside, had shouted until her throat was dry, and in frustration, she kicked the door hard.

“I’m just not getting any good deed repaid,” Bai An took the few books from her bag, turned around, and placed them on Cui Ju’s desk. By the light of the moon outside, she vaguely wrote a few sentences.

After finishing, Bai An tried pushing the door again, but it still wouldn’t budge. She then turned around and began examining the room more closely.

There’s a window.

Bai An ran over to the window and touched it. There was no dust, so it must have been opened frequently.

This means the window wasn’t sealed shut.

Bai An pressed down on the bottom of the window and pushed hard, creating a small gap.

It works!

Just as Bai An was about to fully open the window and climb out, a voice suddenly whispered in her ear.

“Where are you going?”

Bai An was almost frightened into stepping back, but she silently rolled her eyes and continued fiddling with the window. That person, noticing it was inconvenient for her, kindly gave her a helping hand.

When Bai An landed on the ground, she shook off Lin Zhixia’s hand and said loudly, “Where else would I go? Of course, I’m going home.”

Lin Zhixia looked up at the sky and replied casually, “It’s pretty late, indeed.”

Taking advantage of his distraction as he looked at the sky, Bai An snuck a push on him, then, with a mischievous smile, she made an international peace gesture toward the retreating Lin Zhixia. “I’m not someone you can easily mess with. If not for the fact you’re Cui Ju’s brother, you’d be in big trouble today.”

Lin Zhixia placed his hand over his chest, watching as the girl in front of him seemed to flee, and couldn’t help but chuckle, “So childish.”

The village had no streetlights, and the villagers went to bed early. As Bai An walked along the path home, the surroundings were completely dark, and she felt a bit scared. But the more scared she was, the more her mind wandered.

She recalled a time in the orphanage when an aunt had told her that in their era, because there were fewer people, it was easy to see ghosts. Now that there were more people, ghosts were less common.

Ah, it’s been so long, how could I still remember that?

Bai An hugged her bag tightly, lowered her head with an expressionless face, trying her best not to look around. She increased her pace, walking faster.

The more I try not to think about something, the more I end up thinking about it, Bai An thought, and with a sigh, she glanced to the side.

A figure stood next to a haystack, and when it saw her glance in its direction, it quickly took a step toward her.

Bai An’s face turned pale, cold sweat beading on her forehead. She trembled, hurriedly lowered her head, and ran toward her home.

“Amitabha, Amitabha.”

“Long live the Goddess of Mercy!”

“This strength is steel, this strength is iron.”

Bai An began babbling nonsense. She truly believed that such things existed in the world—after all, she had crossed over, so the existence of such things didn’t seem all that strange.

“Bai An!”

Lu Jin’an had planned to find Bai An while she was walking home, but when Bai An looked up and saw him, why did she suddenly run so fast?

Lu Jin’an followed behind her, hearing her mumbling nonsensically.

Unable to help himself, he called out to her.

When Bai An heard the voice behind her and recognized it was Lu Jin’an, she stopped. But she didn’t dare turn around immediately because a person’s body has three fires. Once she turned, one of those fires would disappear.

Lu Jin’an watched as Bai An stiffly shifted her steps to face him, her terrified expression still not fading.

She really was scared.

Lu Jin’an pinched her cheek and laughed, “So scared, but you still dare to go out alone at night?”

The fingers that pinched her face were warm.

Bai An’s tense heart finally relaxed.

“Brother, you don’t know how scared I was.” Bai An grabbed Lu Jin’an’s hand and leaned into him pitifully. “I won’t go out alone again.”

Lu Jin’an pulled his hand from her embrace and directly wrapped Bai An in his arms, comforting her, “Don’t be scared, Mom has already cooked dinner and is waiting for us.”

Suddenly, Lu Jin’an seemed to notice something. He looked up and, with the light from the moon, clearly saw the figure behind the tree.

Lu Jin’an narrowed his eyes, pulling Bai An closer into his arms.

There are no ghosts in this world. If there are, they’re just people pretending to be ghosts.