Fang Zehao was restless all day.
Whenever he was still, Fu Sang’s face would flash through his mind.
That person’s eyes were dark and gloomy as he slowly approached him, saying in a voice so soft it was unsettling:
“I suspect… she’s not human.”
From the moment they met, this roommate of his had always been eccentric…he liked playing with copper coins that may or may not be real, and would occasionally pull out bells and wooden swords, like those Daoist priests and charlatans he saw on social media.
Fang Zehao didn’t believe in ghosts or gods. He was a staunch materialist. But even so, it was hard to ignore someone whispering such ominous words right in front of him and pressing a talisman that looked real into his hand.
Fang Zehao originally planned to just crumple up the scary yellow paper and toss it in the trash.
How could Yuanyuan not be human? If she was not human, then what was she? He figured that Fu Sang was just making up all sorts of nonsense to drive a wedge between him and Yuanyuan so he could snatch her away!
But somehow, even after he’d crushed the talisman into a ball and was about to throw it away, he found himself smoothing it out again and putting it into his coat pocket.
That’s just how people were. When people know nothing, everything seems normal and calm. But once someone pokes a hole in that certainty and presents a new possibility, they can’t help but start connecting all the details they’d previously ignored to the worst-case scenarios.
Thinking about it carefully, Yuanyuan did seem a bit strange.
All their dates were at night, by the lake. Fang Zehao had asked why before, and Wei Luyuan’s answer was that she was busy during the day and only had free time at night, plus she liked water, and that the damp air by the lake made her feel at ease.
Fang Zehao had held her hand once. The hand was ice-cold, which made him shiver.
Moreover, he once overheard someone say that a few years ago, a student from the Humanities College had died in the nameless lake…apparently, she was a very beautiful and outstanding girl, and she had fallen in the lake and drowned in the middle of the night during winter.
Fang Zehao’s heart pounded with unease. He couldn’t stop thinking about all sorts of things until after dinner, when he received a WeChat message from Wei Luyuan.
Yuanyuan: [Are you coming tonight?]
Fang Zehao hesitated for a long time before replying.
Square: [I want to see you, but weren’t you feeling unwell today? It’s too cold by the lake. How about we don’t go there tonight?]
Yuanyuan: [I was a bit dizzy this morning, but I’m fine now~]
Fang Zehao really did hesitate.
He fished the talisman paper out of his coat pocket, thought for a moment, and still sent back a “See you tonight”.
Fang Zehao couldn’t quite describe his feelings for Wei Luyuan. It was something he’d never felt before…it was as if the moment he laid eyes on her, his soul had been branded with her shadow. Ever since then, she had been all he could think about, even while eating or sleeping.
If, if what Fu Sang said was true, if Wei Luyuan really wasn’t human…
Then what was she?
Wei Luyuan didn’t talk much. When they were together, Fang Zehao was always the one chattering away while she listened quietly.
But today, Fang Zehao was preoccupied, his mind full of the talisman clenched in his pocket. He had no mood to come up with topics or provide emotional value.
So the two of them walked quietly by the lake, with only the rustling of wind through the branches and leaves breaking the silence.
It was cold in winter, and the path was slippery. Just as Fang Zehao was lost in thought, Wei Luyuan suddenly stumbled with a startled cry.
Almost instinctively, Fang Zehao reached out to steady her.
He held Wei Luyuan’s arm, with the folded talisman still pressed against his palm.
Realizing this, his heart gave a jolt. Realizing this, his heart gave a jolt. Feeling guilty, he immediately tried to withdraw his hand after making sure she was steady.
But at that moment, Wei Luyuan suddenly reached out and grasped his wrist.
“Zehao.”
Wei Luyuan looked down at the yellow paper corner peeking out from his palm, frowning slightly. Then she looked up at him, her eyes deep and dark:
“…What is this?”
…
In an old residential area near the university town, the walls were faded and peeling, and the security bars on the first-floor windows were rusted and stained.
Huo Wei stood beneath this six-story building, tilted her head up to look at the top-floor window, and let out a deep sigh.
After mentally preparing herself, she lifted her foot, stepped forward in her patent leather stiletto boots, and entered this residential building she swore she’d never set foot in again every time she left it.
There was no elevator in this complex. Getting to the sixth floor relied entirely on her legs. By the time Huo Wei climbed all the way to the top, she was panting heavily. But the walls and stair railings were too dirty for her to lean on, so she could only support herself on her knees and gasp for breath.
After recovering for a while, she walked to the only door on the sixth floor and reached into the mailbox by the wall to pull out a key.
“San You, I’m begging you. Let me pay for you to move to a place with an elevator, okay?! If not, don’t call me…”
As she pushed the door open, Huo Wei’s complaints came to an abrupt halt, her eyes widening in disbelief.
Fu Sang’s place was small, so you could see the whole thing at a glance. So the moment she stepped in, she saw the scene between one human and one ghost.
Fu Sang was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, looking at his beat-up laptop, while Qi Changying was practically pressed against him from behind, as if giving him a hug from behind, burying his face in Fu Sang’s neck and sniffing his scent.
“Holy… shit??”
The sound was so loud it almost pierced through the ceiling and shot into outer space.
Huo Wei stepped back warily: “What are you two doing?”
“You’re here?”
Fu Sang didn’t even glance at her, only greeted her flatly:
“Sit.”
Invited, Huo Wei slowly crept inside, but she kept her eyes fixed on the pair: “San You, what’s he doing?”
“I don’t know, I don’t understand,” Fu Sang scrolled his mouse and said: “Maybe I’m a ghost mint that’s become a spirit.”
“What’s ghost mint?” Qi Changying lifted his head slightly from his busy sniffing to ask.
Fu Sang said mercilessly: “Don’t worry about it.”
Huo Wei watched from the side and found the scene extremely bizarre.
Others might not know what kind of person Fu Sang was, but didn’t she?
For over twenty years, this guy had an equal aversion to all humans getting close to him. When had he ever allowed anyone to get this near?
Oh, but then again, Qi Changying wasn’t exactly human either.
Maybe he had different tolerance levels for ghosts and people…?
That didn’t make sense either.
…It had to be because Qi Changying was his favorite character!!!
“What did you call me over for, exactly?”
Huo Wei crossed her arms and stopped dwelling on the issue.
“A female philosophy student died in the nameless lake at Jingda a few years ago. They said she accidentally fell in during a winter night and drowned.”
Fu Sang didn’t answer her question, instead bringing up another matter.
Huo Wei quickly understood what he meant: “What, are you suspecting that the yin energy on your roommate is related to that girl? Or are you suspecting that girl is Wei Luyuan?”
“Both.” Fu Sang said concisely, then added:
“Also, that man surnamed Yu who came to the shop the day before yesterday…don’t you think the corpse he is looking for is suspicious too?”
“What do you mean?” Huo Wei came over and sat beside him:
“The one looking for his brother, right? But that has nothing to do with underworld spirits, right? Didn’t you say the corpse was hidden in a freezer? Even if a ghost could kill someone without being detected by spirit masters, how would it hide the body?”
“I’m not sure. Let’s not think about that for now. That man’s death is connected to the dead girl…connected, not necessarily caused by her. At the time, did I say the corpse was to the northwest of a certain shop? The old town is indeed northwest of the university town, and that man ran a bar in the university town. I searched using his name, and that bar is near Jingda.”
“Wow, you’re like Sherlock Holmes, huh!”
Huo Wei exclaimed in admiration, then leaned in to look at Fu Sang’s laptop screen. The first thing she saw was the glaring faulty light bars on the display, and her temper flared up again:
“Can’t you just get a better computer?! This second-hand antique has been with you for almost six years now, can you stop torturing the elderly?!”
“An old horse knows the way.”
“?”
Huo Wei was truly done with him.
She tried hard to ignore the broken screen and focused on the content.
It was the location and photos of the bar. It was indeed near Jingda University, less than two blocks away.
“So… you suspect that the bar owner’s death, the yin energy on your roommate, and his mysterious crush who’s neither human nor ghost are all connected, and they’re all related to the philosophy girl who drowned in the lake a few years ago?”
Huo Wei summarized in one breath. Seeing Fu Sang nod, she asked again: “Since you already have your own ideas, what role am I supposed to play here?”
Maybe because she’d hit the nail on the head, Fu Sang snapped his fingers, “You have a mission.”
“Go on.”
“When an accident happens at school, they try very hard to suppress the news. Right now, you can’t find anything about this incident or this girl on any platform. It has to be done through word of mouth.”
“?” Huo Wei laughed in exasperation, “So you want me to do the digging for you, right?”
Fu Sang nodded shamelessly,”You have more connections. I trust you, Miss Huo.”
Upon hearing this praise, which wasn’t exactly flattering, Huo Wei suddenly sat up straight and fanned herself with her hand: “And what does Miss Huo get in return?”
Fu Sang had clearly come with a price already in mind. Without hesitation, he said: “Next time your family has an internal assessment, I’ll help you.”
“Deal!”
Huo Wei was satisfied, but a thought crossed her mind and she asked about something else, “But the way you put it, it does sound plausible. Some of the pieces are indeed a bit suspicious, but they’re just that, suspicious. What evidence do you have to actually connect them?”
“None.” Fu Sang said calmly, “Just instinct.”
“Instinct my ass!!” Huo Wei wanted to strangle him:
“We haven’t even figured out whether Wei Luyuan is human or ghost yet, and now there’s a girl who died in the lake. What could their connection be? What if we dig around and it all turns out to be a waste of time?”
“Then it’s a waste of time.” Fu Sang raised an eyebrow slightly, “But it won’t be a waste of time for me.”
Huo Wei rolled her eyes: “Prove it to me. Show me how you’re going to connect all these unrelated, unapproachable threads.”
Accepting Huo Wei’s challenge, Fu Sang looked at her, then picked up a slip of paper between two fingers.
Huo Wei looked closely and saw that it was actually a phone number.
“What’s this?”
“A phone number.”
“Like I don’t know it’s a phone number? I’m asking whose number it is.”
“I forgot the name.”
Fu Sang was a man of action. He immediately pulled out his phone, punched in the number, and dialed. After a few rings, the call was picked up: “Hello? Who’s this?”
“Hello, I’m Fu Sang. Are you Zhuge…?” Fu Sang asked, then fell into a long silence.
The person on the other end was clearly waiting for him to finish, and when it seemed like he wouldn’t, they responded with a baffled: “Huh?”
“Zhuge what? I forgot.” Fu Sang admitted honestly.
“Zhuge Buhuo!!” Zhuge Buhuo practically shouted into the phone, then asked irritably, “What do you want?”
Fu Sang put the call on speaker, deliberately paused for a moment, then said, “Oh, about Hei Mountain Pass. I remembered something you might be interested in.”
Hearing “Hei Mountain Pass,” Huo Wei immediately widened her eyes at him, but Fu Sang ignored her.
A moment later, as he’d expected, Zhuge Buhuo’s voice immediately turned serious, “What do you remember? Tell me.”
“Before that, I need to confirm something with you first.”
Fu Sang’s tone was flat, neither rushed nor agitated: “Yin energy can’t be transmitted, right? If a living person has yin energy on them, it must be because they’ve had direct contact with that spirit.”
“Isn’t that obvious. Did you not learn the basics? What’s that got to do with Hei Mountain Pass?” Zhuge Buhuo was losing patience and his tone wasn’t very pleasant.
“It’s related.” Fu Sang stated his request:
“I need to know, aside from being exposed to ghost fire, under what circumstances can a ghost have a shadow, and at the same time have human scent and even human traits, with human and yin energy mixed together and indistinguishable.”
“…How is that possible? There’s no way, right?”
“Am I asking you or are you asking me?”
“Tsk… you’re talking about possession?”
“Did I not learn the basics? Can’t I tell whether a person is possessed by a ghost or not?”
“Damn?! You brat, is this how you ask people for help?!” Zhuge Buhuo exploded instantly.
“I’m asking you for help?” Fu Sang sneered, “You’re the one who came out of nowhere asking about Hei Mountain Pass. Now that I’ve remembered something and am generously willing to share it with you, I just need to confirm a few things before sharing. You think I’m asking you for help? Get it straight…you are the one asking me. Get your attitude right, present what I need on a silver platter, and then I’ll consider letting you have what you want, Zhuge Buhuo. So, if you don’t know, go find out. If you can’t find out, don’t come asking again. It’s that simple, understand?”
“…” Zhuge Buhuo was actually a bit intimidated by him.
Fu Sang pressed his advantage, “Three days. If you can’t give me the answer by then, I’ll forget what I wanted to let you know. Remember, I want a definitive answer, not ‘should be’ or ‘maybe.'”
With that, Fu Sang was about to hang up when Zhuge Buhuo suddenly said: “Wait?!”
“Speak.”
“Tsk… I feel like you’re scamming me here, kid. Are you sure this question you’re asking is related to Hei Mountain Pass?” Zhuge Buhuo felt something was off, or maybe he was just naturally suspicious.
“Why would I lie to you?”
“I don’t have a good impression of you, kid. You need to give me a reason to trust you.”
“Tch.”
Fu Sang was very impatient, “If I’m lying to you…”
“Yeah, if you’re lying, then what?”
Fu Sang glanced at Qi Changying, looked away, and with an unchanged expression, said, “May my favorite character die a horrible death, become a vengeful ghost, and be sealed away for a thousand years.”
After saying that, he hung up without hesitation.
