Chapter 165 Ghosts are things without a future; they are dead from the very beginning, from the moment they become ghosts…

Ghosts are things without a future; they are dead from the very beginning, and from the moment they become ghosts, they are walking step by step toward destruction. In this situation, what is the point of pursuing yin energy and trying to survive? They are not some particularly powerful beings, the world cannot turn without them, nor are they any favored by heaven or have a reason to live.

The Mud Ghost had long since adjusted its mindset; it knew it would be reincarnated someday. It bid a proper farewell to its boss, shared a moment of mutual respect, and then was sent away by Qiao Yanyu. It had no wishes, no regrets, not even hatred. It was quite surprised itself at why it had become a ghost.

Therefore, the Mud Demon didn't care at all about what it was saying.

Perhaps sensing the mud ghost's indifference, the woman in red wedding dress dropped a more crucial question: "But if you join us, you can help He Zhao. He Zhao is currently imprisoned by the Countermeasures Bureau's own people. They don't all have good intentions towards her; many are hostile towards her. How can she have a good life while imprisoned? As long as you join the Tonghuan Society and become one of us, we can find a way to rescue He Zhao. To be honest, I am also deeply saddened by He Zhao's plight."

“When a major incident occurred here before, wasn’t He Zhao working tirelessly for the Countermeasures Bureau? You also contributed a great deal, but now, He Zhao is imprisoned and suffering inhumane treatment. I feel heartbroken just knowing about her situation, let alone you?”

The Mud Demon clutched the trident tightly in its arms; Red Wedding Dress's words had truly pained it. Especially knowing that He Zhao was not doing well made it even more unhappy. As Red Wedding Dress said, He Zhao shouldn't be treated this way. She had done so much for the Countermeasures Bureau; she should be treated kindly, not imprisoned.

But it had witnessed Qiao Yanyu's affection for He Zhao before, and it firmly believed that Qiao Yanyu would definitely go to great lengths for He Zhao and would never abandon her.

"Think about it carefully, and I'll come back to ask you again in a couple of days."

The red-clad bride left, but the Mud Ghost was getting impatient. It desperately wanted to deliver the message, but finding Qiao Yanyu or He Zhao was a major problem. The Mud Ghost was almost driven mad with worry. It could only wait until nightfall when there were few people on the road, then run to the crossroads and try its luck to see if it could catch Qiao Yanyu.

It was also deeply worried about He Zhao, fearing that she might be mistreated, leading to a poor physical and mental state. Meanwhile, He Zhao, whom the Mud Demon was worried about, was currently sitting on a beanbag chair. Yes, Wang Yu had even gotten her a beanbag chair, and she was sitting on it playing a level-based game on her tablet, the kind where you fight monsters.

He Zhao used all his skills, his fingers flying across the screen, but unfortunately, he still couldn't defeat the boss. The word "defeat" appeared on the screen. He Zhao cursed, threw the tablet aside, and angrily took a sip of his milk tea.

She sneezed halfway through her drink, grabbed a tissue to wipe her mouth, and then started to space out.

Sneezing for no reason means someone is talking badly about you, and without a doubt, that person is Jiu Qing. Besides Li Xia, Wang Yu, and the gatekeeper, Jiu Qing has come the most these past few days. Each time she comes, she tries to persuade He Zhao to repent, return to the right path, and confess his sins.

Jiuqing's diligent attitude moved He Zhao. If he had known that she knew nothing about Tonghuan Society, she would have revealed some information.

He Zhao got a little bored, ate dinner, read a novel for a while, then stretched, followed a video on his tablet to do some exercises, and finally took a hot shower, dried his hair, and lay down on the bed.

In his dream tonight, He Zhao dreamt of his group of guests, something he hadn't done in a long time. But his guests never seemed happy when they appeared in his dreams, and this time was no exception. The familiar faces started chattering away at He Zhao:

"Boss, where have you been? Do you know how many days it's been since I went out to keep watch, and how many days it's been since I've eaten your cooking?"

"You heartless woman, have you gone out to play? How can you disappear for so long? Are you even human?!"

Most of the customers were complaining about her to He Zhao, and He Zhao, unusually, even felt a little guilty in her dream. She stammered an explanation: "It has nothing to do with me. It's not that I don't want to set up my stall, it's just that I really can't." Her explanation was drowned out by the complaints of the customers, and no one paid any attention to He Zhao.

Of course, besides the criticisms and condemnations, there were other voices as well.

Taking advantage of its small size, the little ghost darted through the crowd of guests to stand in front of He Zhao, wailing loudly as if it were a scene from their first meeting: "Why are you like this? Didn't you say you would help me? Now Sister Wang Yu has disappeared without a trace. I'll really have to go to my grave to see her and offer incense to me!"

He Zhao offered a few words of comfort: "Isn't it nice to offer you incense? They haven't forgotten you. Now that things have come up, if I had known it would be delayed, I wouldn't have said something like 'send you over a long time ago'."

The little ghost was stunned for a moment, clearly taken aback by He Zhao's choice of words. Who said anything about "sending"? He was a living, breathing... listless ghost, and such a big one at that!

The child ghost was quickly pushed aside by the old woman. Although He Zhao and the old woman had different views, because they had talked a lot about "whether or not to have children" last time, the old woman still cared about He Zhao. The child ghost's reluctance to reincarnate was also partly due to He Zhao. After all, he was a younger generation who genuinely cared for her, and among that group of treacherous biological children and grandchildren, He Zhao was the one the child ghost cherished more.

"How are you? You said something happened, what happened? How are you? Did something happen to you? Are you sick? Are you in the hospital? Are there any ghosts in the hospital? Give me a straight answer!"

As soon as the old woman finished speaking, a ghost in the hospital raised his hand: "I'm in the hospital, and I haven't seen the boss. She must not be sick or hit by a car, otherwise she would definitely be in the hospital."

"Which hospital are you from? Just say it over there... I'm from the Second Hospital, anyway, I've never seen them before."

"None from the Third Hospital either."

Hearing the ghosts chatting, He Zhao was somewhat impressed: this dream was quite intelligent, actually simulating ghost conversations, and each ghost's personality even matched up perfectly. He Zhao comforted the old woman, then looked into the crowd of guests and found that he didn't see the red wedding dress.

Perhaps knowing that the Red Wedding Dress was a wicked ghost from the Tonghuan Society, and that He Zhao didn't like it, he didn't even dream about it.

At this moment, the Mud Demon arrived, panting, and poked He Zhao with his trident. When He Zhao turned around, the Mud Demon suddenly opened his mouth and rattled off the story of how the Red Wedding Dress had found him. He Zhao was completely bewildered. What kind of dream was this? How could things have progressed like this?

The Mud Demon was still babbling on and on, giving orders: "You absolutely have to get Qiao Yanyu to come to me! You absolutely have to get her to come to me! I can't explain it to you, but Qiao Yanyu must have caught Red Wedding Dress by the tail, otherwise she wouldn't be coming out to find me like this. She must have discovered something! We need to team up so that Red Wedding Dress won't get caught! He Zhao, how are you doing? Has the Countermeasures Bureau been giving you a hard time?"

As it spoke, it became somewhat indignant: "How could the people in the Countermeasures Bureau do this? You've helped them so much, how could they lock you up?! It's outrageous!"

As the mud ghost continued talking, He Zhao woke up, still dazed. She remembered everything that happened in her dream clearly. This made her very uncomfortable; she even began to doubt whether it was a dream at all, because it all felt so real that He Zhao could no longer consider it a dream.

If it's true and not just my imagination, then I should find a way to get the information to Qiao Yanyu so she can go and meet with the Mud Demon. Unfortunately, Qiao Yanyu can't visit He Zhao. But the good news is, she still has Wang Yu and Li Xia to pass on messages.

As for Jiu Qing, she was afraid that if she told Jiu Qing, Jiu Qing would look at her with suspicion again and ask: Where did you get the information that you were locked up here?

On one hand, He Zhao thought that her dream was real, and if so, she could help Qiao Yanyu a lot; but if the dream was real... He Zhao blushed instantly. She remembered that when Qiao Yanyu was hospitalized before, she visited her once, and when she came back that night, she had a dream that she wanted to kiss Qiao Yanyu.

In the dream, he was interrupted by his regular customers who questioned him about why he hadn't set up his stall yet.

If that's true, then...didn't all the regular customers see He Zhao trying to kiss Qiao Yanyu?! That's so embarrassing! Even though several regular customers have already left—the guy with the stitches, the tall guy, and some little devils have all been sent away—there are still some familiar customers left!

He Zhao didn't mind coming out in front of the guests, but coming out was one thing, and showing affection in public was another! Holding hands with Qiao Yanyu was one thing, but how could he do something like kissing in front of others?!

He Zhao sighed for a long time, and when she checked her phone, it was only a little past three o'clock. She lingered until 4:30 before finally falling asleep. When she woke up the next morning, she looked at the mirror function on her tablet and discovered that she didn't have any dark circles under her eyes.

These days, when you're well-fed and watered, this is what happens—even dark circles under your eyes don't easily appear. The treatment he received while imprisoned by the Countermeasures Bureau was far too good; he was well-fed and watered every day. If He Zhao hadn't had some self-control and been able to exercise by following the videos, he probably would have gained weight long ago.

He Zhao waited for a long time, and even bothered the gatekeeper for a while, before finally getting to see the person she wanted to see. She had heard Li Xia's voice outside while she was inside. She chatted with the person at the door for a few words, and then the door was opened.

The thought of soon being able to deliver the message brought a smile to He Zhao's face. He raised his hand and greeted Li Xia, "Li Xia!"

"Hello, boss."

But the moment He Zhao saw Li Xia's face clearly, her smile froze. He Zhao clearly noticed that Li Xia in front of him... was acting strangely.