Chapter 8: “Third Brother! I’m Here to Save You!”

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Zhang Huihui saw that Xie Jingting seemed genuinely scared and quickly toned it down.

“No, little bro, I was just messing with you. You actually took it seriously?”

“Come on, use some common sense, would you? Ghosts only come out at midnight, right? It’s only ten—what ghost would be out now?”

Xie Jingting: “……”

He rolled down the car window and stuck his head out, yelling angrily, “Are you insane, lady? I don’t even know you, and you think it’s fun to scare me for no reason?!”

Zhang Huihui was amused by his straight-man energy and laughed, “Alright, alright, I’m sorry, okay?”

Xie Jingting patted his chest and let out a relieved sigh.

He knew it—Tu Shanju had to be full of crap.

That whole “debt knife-bearer” thing? He’d looked into it already. It was just a bunch of folk peddlers giving themselves a mysterious identity for marketing. No way it was as godly as his grandpa and the others claimed. Back then, maybe it was just a lucky coincidence.

“Second Brother believes everything.” Xie Jingting muttered in frustration.

Suddenly—the car moved.

Xie Jingting froze.

He hadn’t stepped on the gas.

When he looked up, a thick white fog had silently surrounded his sports car.

Click. The car locked itself.

Outside, Zhang Huihui instinctively backed away from the slowly rolling car. She pointed at the passenger seat, mouth agape, face filled with terror.

Xie Jingting followed her finger and looked—only to find a female ghost sitting next to him.

Her eyes were blood red. Her face pale as a corpse.

She wore a bright red qipao—only, the red didn’t look like fabric dye. It looked like blood.

She stared directly at Xie Jingting. Then suddenly, her crimson lips curved up into a smile.

“Little brother, this car of yours is so beautiful. I love it. But… you’re even better looking. I think—I’ll take both~”

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At the Xie Family Old Residence, in the dining room.

Grandpa Xie had ordered the kitchen to make several Nancheng specialty dishes.

“Xiao Jiu, I wasn’t sure about your taste, so I had the chefs prepare dishes from all major cuisines. The ones in front of you are all local Nancheng specialties. Try them—see if you like them?”

“Alright, thank you, Grandpa.” Tu Shanju believed that nothing was more important than eating.

She wasn’t a picky eater—but she had a serious sweet tooth.

Nancheng cuisine tended to be light in flavor, but it wasn’t bad.

After trying a few bites, she told Grandpa Xie, “Very delicious. I like it. Then I won’t be shy?”

“This child! This is your home now—what are you being polite for? Eat up!” Xu Airu ladled a bowl of soup and handed it to her.

Tu Shanju nodded and took it with a thank you. After thinking for a moment, she decided to give them a little heads-up.

“I eat quite a bit. In our line of work, you need strength.”

Everyone at the table looked confused. Isn’t a “debt knife-bearer” supposed to be a fortune-teller? Why would she need strength?

But no one asked further.

By the time Tu Shanju finished her eighth bowl of rice, Grandpa Xie and Xu Airu gulped in unison.

Xie Shiyu didn’t show any surprise—he simply turned to her and asked, “Want another bowl?”

Tu Shanju put down her bowl and chopsticks and shook her head. “I’m full.”

She was straightforward and didn’t pretend. When she was full, she stopped eating.

After spending a few hours together, Xie Shiyu seemed to understand her personality pretty well.

Everyone moved from the dining room to the living room.

The servants brought out post-meal fruit.

Tu Shanju ate a few grapes, glanced at the time, and checked the knife she had lent Xie Jingzhou. She raised her hand, made a calculation gesture, then frowned.

As expected, something had gone wrong.

Was today’s situation a “buy one, get one free”?

Looks like she couldn’t avoid getting involved.

She glanced at the anxious Xu Airu, then turned to Xie Shiyu. Leaning toward him, she whispered, “Xie Shiyu, can you drive me somewhere? There’s been a change in the situation with your third brother.”

Xie Shiyu was momentarily puzzled by her sudden closeness, but when he followed her eyes sneaking peeks at his mother, he immediately understood—she didn’t want to spook his mom.

“Sure. Let’s go,” he said, standing up.

Tu Shanju also stood and headed for the door.

When she noticed he hadn’t followed, she turned back and asked, “What are you waiting for?”

“Coming.” Xie Shiyu had assumed she’d go upstairs to grab supplies—like some talisman tools or something.

He’d seen Daoist priests at work before—they always carried a lot of gear.

Seeing the two heading out, Grandpa Xie quickly caught on and reminded them, “Be careful, safety first.”

After getting in the car, Tu Shanju gave him an address directly.

Xie Shiyu turned on the navigation system.

He knew what Tu Shanju’s grandfather was capable of—he had seen it with his own eyes.

But as for her actual skills? That remained to be seen. Still, he could sense confidence in her gaze.

They drove out of the Xie estate, the car gradually picking up speed.

The car was quiet.

Tu Shanju stole a glance at Xie Shiyu.

Seeing him silent, lips pursed, she blinked and awkwardly offered, “Don’t worry. With me here, your third brother will be fine.”

Xie Shiyu turned to look at her for a second, then faced forward again. “Mm. I believe you.”

Tu Shanju couldn’t understand how Xie Shiyu could stay so calm in this situation.

She couldn’t help but admire: Worthy of a man with great destiny—he’s calm even on a ghost hunt.

Anyone else would’ve been jumping out of their skin at the mention of ghosts. Like Xu Airu—just hearing “female ghost” had made her faint. Totally normal.

If she had to guess, Third Brother’s heart was probably doing flips by now.

Thinking that, she found it a little funny. The corners of her mouth twitched before quickly returning to a straight face.

Can’t laugh. As the sister-in-law, she had to keep up appearances.

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“I can’t do it—I can’t pull him out anymore!”

Zhang Huihui felt like she’d used every ounce of her strength.

Xie Jingting was half hanging out the car window, wailing, “Sis! Please don’t let go! I’m begging you!”

Just a while ago, after the car started moving, Zhang Huihui—who didn’t even know where she found the courage—rushed up and, through the still-open car window, grabbed his collar and started yanking him out.

The ghost in the passenger seat found this scene amusing and decided to pause the car and watch the drama unfold.

Of course, she wasn’t about to let her prey escape.

So this back-and-forth tug-of-war was just her enjoying the show.

After a while, Xie Jingting realized—this ghost was toying with them.

Despair settled in.

Maybe because he accepted his fate, he actually grew bolder in this final moment. He turned to the ghost and tried to bargain:

“Miss Ghost Lady, could you… maybe let me go? I’ll burn you money, lots of it. Not just money—I’ll burn you a house, a car, a fridge, a flat-screen TV, a washing machine—everything! Okay?”

The ghost gave him a look of pure disdain.

Xie Jingting was desperate. “Come on, Ghost Sister, we have no bad blood between us. Why are you doing this to me?”

At that, the ghost squinted and smirked, her fiery red lips curling. “I told you already, didn’t I? You didn’t hear me?”

Xie Jingting wanted to cry. Girl, I was so scared I almost peed myself. Who the hell had time to listen to what you were saying?

The ghost chuckled, her mood lifted now that she had her favorite toy.

“You want to know? Fine. I’ll say it again. Because—”

Xie Jingting turned his head, holding his breath.

Zhang Huihui, equally curious, leaned in for some high-quality gossip.

“Because I fell in love with your car.”

Xie Jingting & Zhang Huihui: “???”

“What’s wrong with you?!” Xie Jingting snapped. “In ghost movies, they always go after people with grudges, not cars!”

Zhang Huihui was just as speechless.

The ghost smiled and lifted her chin. “At first, I was just into the car. But now I’ve taken a liking to you too. So… I’ll take you both~”

At those words, Xie Jingting didn’t even know whether to feel flattered or doomed.

God really wants me dead, huh?

Suddenly—

a clear, ethereal voice rang out from beyond the white fog.

“Third Brother! I’m here to save you!”