Ji Fuyao

When Wen Ya woke up, it was just before dawn.

She forgot to draw the curtains the night before, so she could see the sky outside the window as soon as she opened her eyes.

She was used to waking up early, but at this moment, gazing at the pale dawn sky, she didn't want to move.

She hadn't dreamed of her parents in a long time. Even after years of wandering alone, even after encountering all sorts of people when sending away spirits, even after exorcising troublesome evil spirits, she had never felt so weak.

That's right, she becomes weak whenever she sees her parents again.

They've been gone for so long.

Wen Ya inevitably thought of her grandfather again, and a lingering doubt remained in her heart. Her stay in Xiqiao Village was also for her grandfather—she hadn't seen his ghost.

Logically speaking, if a person has no obsessions, they will not become a ghost after death. Although such a situation is rare, it is not entirely impossible.

But did Grandpa really have no regrets when he passed away? Did he... truly trust her?

Wen Ya couldn't help but look at the resurrection lamp by the bedside.

And why did this magical artifact restart? She really wanted to ask her grandfather, but no one could answer her anymore.

Wen Ya only allowed herself to stay in bed for a little while, so when she came out of the guest room, Aunt Chen was already busy in the kitchen. When she heard footsteps, she came out and exclaimed in surprise, "Miss Wen, you're up so early?"

Wen Ya nodded: "Good morning, Aunt Chen."

As soon as she finished speaking, the doors on the second and third floors made a locking sound at the same time. Aunt Chen was stunned for a moment: "Why is Xiao Cheng up so early today too?"

The villa has four floors. Si Mucheng's parents' bedroom is on the third floor, and the second floor is Si Mucheng's territory, with his bedroom, a game room, and a small guest bedroom where Wen Ya stayed yesterday. At this moment, Si Mucheng burst out of his bedroom, as if he could no longer contain himself: "Great God!!"

Si Licheng and Chen Hui happened to be at the corner of the stairs when they saw Si Mucheng rushing over recklessly. They both stopped in their tracks and watched him come downstairs with his hair all messy.

"God! Help!"

Si Licheng and Chen Hui: "..."

Although they knew their son wasn't dating and was very open-minded about different beliefs, their feelings were mixed when they saw Si Mucheng starting to show signs of feudal superstition.

Si Mucheng had been disturbed all night and was in no mood to care about what others thought. His large dark circles under his eyes seemed to be protesting something. He grabbed Wen Ya: "Help! That Zhang Wei is practically haunting me! He's been outside my window all night..."

Seeing that he was starting to talk nonsense, Wen Ya grabbed his hand and pinched his Hegu acupoint, which immediately brought Si Mucheng back to his senses.

Who is Zhang Wei?

At this moment, Si Licheng and Chen Hui also came downstairs and heard Si Mucheng's words, and asked questions.

Aunt Chen was clearly used to Si Mucheng's loud and boisterous manner, and without changing her expression, she brought out the breakfast she had prepared.

Si Mucheng realized what he had said, and his expression immediately turned sour.

Chen Hui was still asking, "Your room is on the second floor, how come someone is outside your window?" She frowned, remembering what Si Mucheng's second aunt had said about him having nightmares, "Having nightmares again?"

Si Mucheng nodded quickly: "It's just... I had a nightmare..."

Si Licheng smiled and asked, "How old are you?"

Chen Hui reached out and touched the back of Si Mucheng's neck: "Dreams are all fake." Then she joked, "Do you need Mom to pat your head? Let me ruffle your fur, it won't scare you."

Si Mucheng forced a smile.

Wen Ya remained calm, raised her fingertip and gently touched his brow, softly reciting a spell.

As Si Mucheng gazed into Wen Ya's clear, amber eyes, his chaotic heartbeat gradually calmed down.

Wen Ya withdrew her hand when she saw his gaze settle down, and said calmly, "Let's have breakfast first."

Si Licheng and Chen Hui were in a hurry to get to work, so they quickly finished their breakfast and left. Aunt Chen also had other chores to do, so she started getting busy after breakfast as well. Before long, only Wen Ya and Si Mucheng were left at the table.

"What's wrong?" Wen Ya asked.

Si Mucheng glanced at Aunt Chen and saw that she was cleaning on the third floor. He sighed and began to complain to Wen Ya.

For some reason, Zhang Wei floated to Si Mucheng's window last night and kept muttering the same things over and over again, such as "My game, my game" and "When will it be available online?" It was just rambling without any logic.

Even though Si Mucheng closed the window, he couldn't block out Zhang Wei's noise.

"It's like the whispers of a demon!" Si Mucheng declared definitively. "It's like it's right next to my ear, making me so irritable and unable to sleep."

Wen Ya knew that this was just the effect of the ghost becoming confused; "he" was only filled with obsession, and his resentment was starting to affect the living. It was probably because Si Mucheng had been chatting with "him" all along that he felt he posed no threat, and thus picked on the weakest link, which was why he had become attached to him.

Wen Ya was unsure whether to praise Si Mucheng for his good character. Only someone with such a good temper could be harmless to both humans and ghosts. In any case, he was an unlucky guy in this situation.

"Please, let's go and take care of it quickly! I can't take another night!" Si Mucheng cried with a mournful face, but even with such an expression, he still looked very handsome.

Wen Ya hesitated for once, but finally nodded: "Let's go and take another look at 'his' company."

After leaving the Wen family villa, Si Mucheng had tidied himself up, though his face looked somewhat haggard, but there was nothing else wrong. Seeing Zhang Wei reappear, he looked pale and sickly. Before he could speak, Zhang Wei stammered an apology: "I'm sorry, I don't know what happened to me last night, I kept you from sleeping well..."

Si Mucheng waved his hand weakly. What could he possibly argue with a ghost? He then asked Wen Ya curiously, "Why does 'he' seem to have regained his senses again?"

Wen Ya said, "The yin energy is heavy at night, and the resentment will intensify. After a while, he will be completely consumed by the resentment. However..." She wondered if it was just her imagination, but she always felt that Zhang Wei was a little different. Not to mention that he hadn't completely lost his mind after a year, even now she couldn't feel "his" resentment at all. Moreover, last night he didn't enter Si Mucheng's dream to harm him; on the contrary, he only kept him awake.

It's as if, even if "he" is left with only obsession and no mind, he will not become an evil spirit.

Do ghosts like that exist?

Wen Ya pondered without speaking, while Si Mucheng's attention wandered again. He suddenly seemed to remember something and asked Wen Ya, "By the way, Master, where's your Wen Xiaofeng? I haven't seen it for a while."

Wen Ya pondered for a moment before saying, "If I count it, it should arrive around today."

For a moment, Si Mucheng thought he had misheard. After a moment's thought, he exclaimed in disbelief, "Wait, it...it came here by itself???"

Wen Ya corrected: "It's 'fly'."

Si Mucheng froze. In his mind, a colorful chicken flew across the fields. Whether it was a "colorful chicken" or a "flying chicken," it deserved the praise of being a "world wonder."

His mouth twitched; he was really bizarre.

But how can someone who inexplicably gained the ability to see ghosts not be considered one of the oddities among oddballs?

When they arrived at the game company building, it was just before work hours. The workers were hurrying to clock in. Even though Si Mucheng had no work experience, he had seen it all, so when he saw the girl from yesterday, he immediately felt a surge of anger. He cheerfully and sweetly called her "sister" while quickly grabbing her.

The girl was startled at first, but when she saw that it was Si Mucheng again, she was exasperated: "You! Why are you here again! Stop messing with me, I really don't know!"

Si Mucheng smiled innocently, but his grip didn't loosen. His crescent-shaped eyes were clear and devoid of any malice: "Sister, just tell us what you know. We're not here to settle scores with anyone. Don't worry, even if you say something, I won't tell anyone else. Please, please!"

The girl was extremely annoyed. It was all her fault for being blinded by his good looks yesterday and talking to him. Now, it was like she was being haunted by a ghost. What could she do as an administrator?

"You...you don't ask me! I really don't know! And it's been a year since then. A year ago, Zhang's parents came to deal with it, the police investigated, and it had nothing to do with our company. The company paid compensation out of humanitarian considerations. It's no use for you to come now. Even if you want the money, we won't give it to you."

Si Mucheng quickly shook his head: "We're not here to ask for money. I'm just... unwilling to accept this. My brother... he was so energetic, and there was nothing wrong with him. He even said he wanted to earn money to bring my aunt and uncle to live in the city... I don't believe he just fell to his death for no reason. There must be a reason... Sister, you're his former colleague. If you want to know anything, just tell me!"

The time clock was right at the main entrance. The girl was getting imminent and was as anxious as an ant on a hot plate. She really wanted to slap the strong guy in front of her who was still blinking his puppy eyes. How could he be so strong?! Her perfect attendance was going to be ruined!

Wen Ya witnessed the whole process and had only one thought in her mind: blatant lying.

Sure enough, men with this kind of appearance are the most cunning.

By this time, passersby had noticed their struggle and were all casting their gazes. The girl was worried about her precarious perfect attendance bonus, and at the same time, she was afraid that her colleagues would find out that the other person was Zhang Wei's family member, which would cause unnecessary discussion. However, she couldn't break free from Si Mucheng's grasp at all, and she was so anxious that she was sweating profusely and her face turned red.

She was about to say something when suddenly someone walked past them, looking straight ahead and striding away. She abruptly stopped.

Wen Ya noticed her gaze. When the man passed by her, she took a closer look. He was wearing a plaid shirt, buttoned up to the top, with his hair neatly combed. His face was expressionless, but the deep frown lines between his brows and the obvious nasolabial folds made him look serious and weathered.

Wen Ya's eyes flickered slightly. Was there anything different about this person?

The girl was blinded by her perfect attendance award. When she saw the man, she steeled herself as if she had made up her mind. She said to Si Mucheng, "Let go of me first. I'll go and clock out, and then I'll tell you what I know."

Si Mucheng raised an eyebrow, maintaining his smile: "Really?"

"Really!"

"Okay, I believe you, sister." With that, he let go of the girl's sleeve.

The girl managed to clock in at the last minute. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at Si Mucheng and Wen Ya standing outside the building. Their contrasting personalities—one cold, one warm—didn't seem out of place. She knew these two wouldn't give up so easily.

The girl, no longer in danger, still walked over and led Si Mucheng and Wen Ya to a secluded green area. She thought for a moment and said, "I'm in administration, I'm not familiar with Zhang Wei. I only see him once a day at work, so I really don't know anything about him. But I heard… it's all hearsay, I don't know if it's true or not, it was spread by people in Zhang Wei's group…"

“Zhang Wei suffered from bullying by his team leader for a long time, and he committed suicide because he couldn’t take it anymore.”