Chapter 37 I'm bound to you, we're bound by fate.

"This is a hair dryer?"

Fu Qinghuai seemed to have never seen anything like it before, his face full of curiosity as he rubbed the switch to turn it off. "Xunxun, if you want to dry your hair, why go through all this trouble? I can use Yin energy to dry your hair for you, I guarantee it will be faster than this."

As he spoke, he flicked strands of yin energy around his fingertips, aiming them at Xie Xun's hair.

"No need," Xie Xun refused decisively. "I don't want to sleep with my hair covered in moldy, gloomy energy."

Fu Qinghuai wasn't annoyed by the mockery. Instead, he readily turned the hairdryer back on and carefully combed Xie Xun's wet hair, his technique a little clumsy.

"Then I'll help you."

He deliberately softened his voice, his fingertips playing with his hair under the hot air from the hairdryer, "Let me serve you, okay?"

This technique is neither particularly good nor bad.

Xie Xun hesitated for a moment before glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.

Fu Qinghuai's previous feigned pitiful appearance had long since vanished, replaced by an eager look, much like a large dog seeing a bone.

Having a silly dog ​​willingly provide labor to do the work, neither good nor bad, but saving you the trouble of doing it yourself, seems... not so bad.

Xie Xun was never one to compromise himself over trivial matters.

He relaxed his tense body and let Fu Qinghuai blow-dry his hair, but he clearly stated his needs.

"You can turn the fan up a bit, starting from the top of my head and blowing along my hair, so it doesn't burn me."

"good!"

Fu Qinghuai's eyes lit up, and his movements even carried a hint of cautious reverence.

A gentle breeze caressed his damp hair as his fingers ran through Xie Xun's thick, black hair. At first, he played with it gently, but soon, Fu Qinghuai began to get restless again.

With a knowing look in his eyes, he brushed Xie Xun's nape, slid down his neck to his earlobe, and gently kneaded it.

The movements were gentle, and the techniques were ambiguous.

It was less about drying her hair and more about taking the opportunity to touch him.

Xie Xun kept his eyes closed but did not speak to stop it. Only when the daring touch crossed the line again did Xie Xun lazily speak, his tone clearly commanding.

"Focus, or get out of here."

Fu Qinghuai was scolded, but the corners of his mouth curled up, and the smile in his eyes almost overflowed. Only then did he obediently continue drying his hair.

Xie Xun was enjoying the peace and quiet, and even felt drowsy in the warm breeze.

...

In the middle of the night, Xie Xun was awakened by a faint sobbing sound. The sound was mournful, filled with an overwhelming sense of melancholy and confusion, which gave people goosebumps.

But this wasn't the first time Xie Xun had heard ghostly cries. He found his earplugs and went back to sleep.

But on the second night, the faint weeping sound came again right on time. Xie Xun was disturbed by her and could not concentrate on drawing talismans. He put down the cinnabar brush in frustration, and the talismans on the paper lost their spiritual light because of his restlessness.

He was never some compassionate and benevolent person, so the female ghost's fate was none of his concern.

But the crying continued night after night, disturbing him so much that he made several mistakes while drawing talismans, which he could not tolerate.

We must perform a ritual to help her pass on to the afterlife!

Xie Xun simply walked to a corner of the room and lit a small piece of calming incense.

"You're making a racket. If you have a strong opinion, you might as well just say so."

Xie Xun's voice was calm, "If you are still entangled in worldly affairs and thus linger, speaking out might bring you relief."

The crying stopped, and the female ghost appeared in the wisps of smoke. She was still wearing a blue school uniform, but this time she was pitifully sitting on the ground, hugging her legs.

"I...I don't remember. I only know that I'm waiting here for someone very important. We promised to go together...but..."

She became increasingly agitated as she spoke, raising her face with a chilling aura emanating from her. "I can't remember! It's so painful!"

Xie Xun stared at her. His pure Yin constitution allowed him to clearly perceive the causal threads entangled by the female ghost in front of him, but he could not make sense of them.

He frowned in thought, then suddenly recalled a passage about spirit summoning in his great-grandfather's notes:

Those with deep-seated obsessions and confused memories are bound by more than just romantic love and kinship; they are often bound by broken promises made under the pressure of the times.

Thinking of this, he flicked his fingertips and lightly touched the female ghost's brow, trying to probe the source of her chaotic obsession.

In an instant, fragmented images, accompanied by a strong emotional impact, flooded into Xie Xun's mind.

Books hastily crammed into a suitcase, a boat ticket soaked in sweat, hands tightly clasped in the darkness, running wildly through a narrow stairwell, and the dull thuds that followed the sound of gunfire.

The scene abruptly ended.

Xie Xun withdrew his hand, his breathing slightly disordered, and thought to himself, "This is really troublesome."

But these alone are not enough to untangle the wandering spirit's obsession. If they can't be resolved, it means he will be disturbed for the remaining two nights and won't be able to get a proper rest.

“I’ll get jealous if Xunxun stares at a female ghost in the middle of the night.”

Suddenly, Fu Qinghuai leaned close behind him and whispered, her hand naturally wrapping around his waist, her chin resting on his shoulder, "Who didn't have a story back then? Why bother with her? How about listening to my trauma? See how I died? Although, I've forgotten it too~"

Xie Xun: "..."

"Not interested."

He didn't even bother to lift his eyelids, simply turning his head to the side and straightening up, his tone completely flat, "If you're so bored, help me think of a way to shut her up."

All he wants now is to get rid of the noise source simply and directly so that he can get a good night's sleep and be well-rested to prepare for the trip to the ghost market.

As for Fu Qinghuai's old, trivial matters, whether they were true or false, he didn't want to hear a single word.

Fu Qinghuai was taken aback by his merciless attitude, but then seemed to have discovered a new toy.

"Xunxun has such a cruel heart~"

He chuckled, and the black mist whipped up a gale, lifting the female ghost from the ground by the neck into the air. The surrounding area was filled with yin energy. "Just shut up. Dead people can shut up forever, but ghosts... they'll just vanish into thin air."

"Let go of me, waah!" The female ghost struggled violently in the black mist, letting out painful cries.

"stop!"

Xie Xun shouted sharply to stop him, stepping forward and grabbing Fu Qinghuai's arm. His brows were furrowed, his sharp gaze meeting the powerful demon's.

"I'm bound to you, we're bound by fate!"

His voice was low and clear, each word like ice: "If you continue to indiscriminately kill innocent people and incur karma, do you want to drag me down with you to be punished by Heaven?"

Xie Xun did not worship or revere the Way of Heaven, but he was in awe and fearful of it.

Over the years, he had been incredibly unlucky, and was terrified of being tormented by fate. In order to survive, he even formed a symbiotic contract with Fu Qinghuai, this thousand-year-old evil spirit.

If Fu Qinghuai, who shares his fate, were to commit murder, he could not guarantee that he would not be punished by Heaven, nor could he bear the consequences.

"I've had enough bad luck already, I don't want to be dragged down by you and suffer divine retribution."

Xie Xun tightened his grip, a hint of weariness in his fox-like eyes. "Let her go. My affairs are none of your business."

The ferocity in Fu Qinghuai's eyes slowly faded, replaced by a growing sense of amusement and satisfaction.

He enjoyed seeing Xie Xun's anxious expression.

He also liked Xie Xun telling him things like they were a community of shared destiny, even if it was out of self-interest.

As the black mist dissipated, the female ghost suddenly fell to the ground, then curled up in a corner, trembling, her sobs abruptly ceasing.

"Okay, I'll listen to Xunxun."

Fu Qinghuai laughed, as if the violent demon from before was just an illusion. Then he leaned closer to Xie Xun, his tone becoming sticky again, "Then tell me, how can I make her shut up? I'll do whatever you say."

Xie Xun looked at the evil spirit in front of him, whose expression changed faster than turning the pages of a book, and felt a faint pain in his temple.

However, the female ghost was startled by him and stopped crying, which was a good thing.

"That's all for now."

He rubbed his temples, feeling that although the method was unethical, the result was still acceptable.

Xie Xun focused on drawing a stack of talismans, dried them, and put them away before climbing into bed to sleep.

However, this quiet did not last long.

Around midnight, when the dew was heavy, that familiar, faint weeping sound once again seeped in through the cracks in the wall, this time with a hint of grievance and lingering fear, making one's head ache.

Xie Xun took a deep breath, resignedly put on his clothes, got out of bed, and searched through his great-grandfather's notes, carefully looking for a way to help the deceased pass on.

The next day, he found the thin, bony old man at the front desk and offered him a cigarette.

"Sir, I have a question for you. Your inn is quite old, probably seventy or eighty years ago. Did a young woman die here in a gunfight?"

The old man slightly raised his droopy eyelids, took a puff of his cigarette, and slowly glanced at him.

“Young man, I took over this shop from my grandfather, it’s been so many years.”

He clicked his tongue. "There's more than one room where people have died, and more than one person has died. War, epidemics, and people who couldn't think straight—it's all been there..."

Finally, the old man waved his hand, looking helpless, "It's been too long, I really can't remember."