Ruan Bei didn't recover until he got home.
His chest ached, he felt a tightness in his chest, a feeling of being stuck, unable to breathe, wanting to vent and do something, but he was helpless.
He opened the door and found Qin Gu alone at home. He heard a sound coming from the kitchen, his hands sticking out wet.
Ruan Bei felt a lump in her throat and rushed straight towards him, hugging Qin Gu tightly and not moving.
"Xiao Bei?" Qin Gu wanted to touch and pat him, but his hands were still wet, so he lowered his head and rubbed his cheek against Xiao Bei's forehead: "What's wrong? Are you unhappy?"
"Yeah, I feel bad," Ruan Bei said sullenly, then fell silent. It was Wang Bufan's private matter, and he had promised him he wouldn't tell anyone.
He closed his eyes slightly and buried his face in Qin Gu's neck. The boy, who was being supported, looked down and saw the redness at the corners of his eyes, knowing that he had cried not long ago.
Qin Gu sighed inwardly, guessing that it might be because of Wang Bufan's experience. He had some doubts about whether it was right or wrong to bring Ruan Bei down this path.
Those who become ghosts throughout history are bound to have unresolved obsessions, which they cannot forget even after death.
Such intense obsession stems from either love or hatred; such intense emotions make it difficult for one to find peace even after death.
Xiao Bei, however, is a naturally soft-hearted person. He is too easily moved by the pain of others. With more contact with these ghosts, he is inevitably affected by their intense emotions, which influences his temperament.
Although he didn't know what Ruan Bei had heard today, he didn't tell him, meaning he didn't want to talk about it, so Qin Gu didn't bring it up.
He dragged the boy hanging on him for a couple of steps, grabbed a piece of kitchen paper to wipe his hands, and then lifted him up by his waist and hips.
Ruan Bei was startled and instinctively hugged Qin Gu's neck tightly, wrapping her long legs around his waist. She asked in a panic, "What are you doing?"
Qin Gu used his arm to bounce the boy in his arms around twice, and said with a smile, "Isn't it fun? Don't be sad, okay? Or you can sit on my shoulders and I'll give you a big horse ride."
Ruan Bei: "..."
Ruan Bei was both amused and exasperated, and most of the pent-up frustration in his chest quietly dissipated.
That's not how you coax someone. He's not a little kid anymore. Before he was five, his dad would let him ride a horse to cheer him up when he was unhappy. He stopped riding when he was six!
"Look at our heights, if I sit on your shoulders, do you want to poke a hole in the roof?" Ruan Bei retorted speechlessly.
Qin Gu coaxed him with a grin, "It's okay, the upstairs is my home, even if you find out, I won't ask you for compensation."
This time she really couldn't hold on any longer, and Ruan Bei couldn't help but laugh out loud. After laughing, she felt embarrassed and blushed as she patted his shoulder: "Put me down, aren't you tired?"
The light shone in Qin Gu's eyes, making them look like tiny stars were shining.
"I'm not tired. You're too thin. You need to eat more." I could hug you for a lifetime and I wouldn't feel tired.
Despite saying that, he still let go in the end. Ruan Bei slid off Qin Gu, and when his feet touched the ground, he felt inexplicably uncomfortable and unconsciously took two steps back.
Qin Gu, oblivious to what was happening, pulled Ruan Bei towards the kitchen: "Auntie went shopping and had dinner with Second Aunt and Aunt Ran tonight, leaving us two to fend for ourselves. I cooked some porridge and am planning to make a cucumber salad. Do you see if there's anything else you'd like to eat?"
In the kitchen, the rice porridge was already cooking, emitting the aroma of black rice. Two washed cucumbers were still unprocessed on the cutting board, while a plate of braised beef was already sliced next to it, presumably braised by his father in advance.
“I’m ready,” Ruan Bei said.
It's hot, I have no appetite, and today I heard something unpleasant from the past, so I really don't want to eat.
"Okay, that's settled then." Qin Gu let go of him, went to wash his hands, and quickly smashed the cucumbers and made a cold salad. He also poured some of the chili oil that Ruan's father had prepared onto the braised beef. A meat dish, a vegetable dish, and a pot of porridge made up their dinner.
Because of their father's profession, Ruan Bei and Qin Gu were exposed to cooking from a young age. While they may not be particularly skilled in cooking, these simple dishes were no challenge for them.
Qin Gu, in particular, lived with his maternal grandfather. The old man was getting on in years and his health was not good. He didn't want to trouble the Ruan family with everything, so he learned to cook, do laundry, and take care of the old man from a very young age.
The black rice porridge was cooked rather thin, as Ruan Bei didn't like porridge that was too thick, and he always added sugar to his porridge unless it was savory.
Qin Gu knew his tastes well, so after finishing a bowl of porridge, Ruan Bei ate a lot of crisp cucumber salad and spicy braised beef. Ruan Bei had a great appetite and he and Qin Gu finished most of the porridge, as well as the two side dishes.
Qin Gu cooked the meal, and Ruan Bei took the initiative to wash the dishes. Qin Gu went to take a shower, and by the time Ruan Bei finished washing the dishes, Qin Gu had already finished, so it was Ruan Bei's turn to wash them.
Having washed away the sweat and feeling refreshed, Qin Gu walked out and was writing and drawing at his desk.
Ruan Bei sat down, rubbing his hair, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.
Qin Gu put down his pen and looked at him: "What's wrong? Is there something you want to tell me?"
Ruan Bei gripped the towel tightly, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Kunkun, if someone uses the talisman you drew to harm others, will it harm you?"
Qin Gu raised an eyebrow in surprise: "Did someone bully you?"
Ruan Bei shook his head: "No, I was just asking."
"Of course not," Qin Gu said. "Think about it, if a knife factory produces a kitchen knife, and someone buys it to kill someone, how can the crime be attributed to the manufacturer, right?"
Therefore, he wouldn't be implicated, and the blame would fall on the person who actually did it, which put Ruan Bei at ease.
"I...I want..."
"I won't give you anything you want."
Ruan Bei stared wide-eyed in disbelief, while Qin Gu crossed his arms and sneered, "Unless you tell me what you want to do, I won't help you."
Ruan Bei glared at him: "That's not what you said before." You clearly said you'd give him whatever he wanted!
"That statement doesn't count today," Qin Gu said calmly. "Is it because of Wang Bufan? You want to avenge him? What do you plan to do?"
Ruan Bei gritted his teeth and said dejectedly, "What can I do? I feel like I can't do anything, but if I do nothing, I get angry."
He couldn't kill Wang Bufan's scumbag parents, and beating them up didn't seem to be enough to vent his anger.
“I remember you mentioned before that there are talismans for bad luck, so I thought I’d put a few on them, lots of them, so that they’d be unlucky every day.”
Ruan Bei slumped into a ball, hugging his knees in dejection: "Actually, it would be better to beat them up, but it's no use just me venting my anger. My senior has become a bound spirit, trapped in one place, unable to leave forever..."
It's too cruel to have to relive the pain of suicide every year on the anniversary of one's death.
"Silly boy, I told you I would help you, couldn't you have asked me first?" Qin Gu ruffled his hair and pulled him up: "Come on, let's go upstairs."
"What?" Ruan Bei asked while putting on his shoes.
"I'll teach you a good lesson."
Three minutes later, in Qin Gu's room, looking at the pile of talismans spread out in front of him, Ruan Bei asked curiously and confusedly, "What are these for?"
"Here are the bad luck charms you wanted." Qin Gu picked out a few and pushed them in front of Ruan Bei.
"A person's fortune is not constant. Don't underestimate this bad luck charm. Although it only brings bad luck, if you are at a low point in your fortune at the time, it is not impossible for you to die from bad luck."
The slender fingers pulled out a few more: "Gathering Yin Talismans, stick them on the door of the family you hate, and I guarantee their house will become a haunted house, where they'll experience the pleasure of sleep paralysis every day."
"Nightmare Talisman: Once applied, it will inevitably cause nightmares, and you will dream of whatever you are afraid of. It works exceptionally well when used in conjunction with the Yin Gathering Talisman."
Qin Gu rummaged through his pile of talismans but couldn't find any suitable ones. He frowned and said, "I can draw other talismans too."
Ruan Bei clutched a handful of food, looked at the pile in front of him, and swallowed hard: "Then, what about these?"
Qin Gu glanced at them casually, then with a flick of his hand, he pushed about a hundred talismans together: "These are all thunder talismans. You can't use them now, but after I take you to your master's apprenticeship, I'll give you these to carry for self-defense. They're very convenient, just like setting off firecrackers. You just need to use your spiritual energy to light them and throw them out."
Ruan Bei: "..."
He vaguely remembered that Kunkun had said that a single thunder talisman could blast away a ghost like Ma Chunhua.
He looked at the hundreds of thunder talismans, then at the bamboo horse in front of him, and it was as if he had seen someone who had hidden a warehouse full of explosives... He didn't know how to describe it!
"These are fire talismans, ice talismans, and some other offensive talismans. They're not as useful as thunder talismans, so there's not much to say about them. Once you've mastered the basics, you can take them and play with them if you're interested."
Qin Gu roughly gathered the pile of "useless" talismans together and stuffed them into the box, too lazy to tidy them up, just leaving them scattered around.
Then he clapped his hands and looked at Ruan Bei: "Tell me, who do you want to mess with? I'll help you get revenge!"
Ruan Bei looked on with alarm: "Won't it be okay to leave it like this?"
Qin Gu said nonchalantly, "It's alright, they're all activation-type talismans. They won't work without being infused with spiritual energy."
Ruan Bei hesitated, turning his head away from the terrifying box, and frowned as he held the talisman in his hand: "Are these talismans only usable by you?"
Qin Gu said, "Once you begin your cultivation, you'll be able to use it very soon."
Ruan Bei lowered his head: "Oh, then let's wait a bit longer."
Qin Gu couldn't help but chuckle: "Silly Xiao Bei, what are you thinking? You don't think I'll be punished for using these talismans, do you? If that's the case, I'm really guilty."
Ruan Bei panicked: "No, this time it's a person! I want to harm someone!"
Previously, Kunkun was a ghost hunter and a law enforcer, so he doesn't count.
"What kind of harming people is this?" Qin Gu laughed, propping his chin up. "If you really have the courage to harm people, I'll catch a vengeful ghost for you, stuff it into that house, and I guarantee they'll be collecting their corpses in less than three days."
However, doing so would truly constitute committing murder and bring karmic burdens upon oneself.
Ruan Bei knew immediately that he was being teased, and puffed out his cheeks indignantly, "I'm serious, I'm not joking. Actually, they have no grudge against me, but I just want to make them suffer and have a hard time."
"These talismans will suffice."
Qin Gu patted his head, like coaxing a child: "Don't worry, as long as it doesn't directly cause their deaths, even if I used a bad luck talisman and he died of bad luck, it won't be my fault."
A bad luck charm doesn't actually change a person's fortune; rather, it transfers it, bringing forward future bad luck to this moment, essentially making one unlucky in advance.
Correspondingly, lucky charms also involve drawing up one's good fortune in advance, while the other draws up one's bad fortune.
If they die because of bad luck, then it can only be said that it was their fate and they couldn't escape it.
"You can do that?" Ruan Bei was astonished.
"Consider it a small perk for the Celestial Masters," Qin Gu said lazily. "After all, we're working for the Underworld for free. As you said, we're temporary workers, and temporary workers don't get paid. So, King Yama turns a blind eye to these little tricks."
Besides, his ancestor was a person of great stature, having become an immortal. The underworld wouldn't bother to find fault with them over such trivial matters.
Ruan Bei realized that if they weren't paid, they were allowed to skirt the rules.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
