The other three people in the dormitory looked at him like he was a ghost.
Thus, Fu Sang rarely realized that his words were probably a bit inappropriate in the current context.
Fu Sang had spent nearly half his life in the deep mountains.
Without question, the Zhuge family was the most prosperous and powerful lineage on the nether path today. It seemed that these ancient, mysterious families all had an obsession with seclusion and avoiding the world. For example, the Zhuge family’s main house was hidden in the Xuangu Mountains on the outskirts of the capital.
Moreover, the main family members of the Zhuge family were very exclusive. Most of the elders disliked interacting with the outside world and would not leave the mountains unless necessary.
Fu Sang had lived in the Xuangu Mountains for as long as he could remember, spending his days surrounded by talisman papers and ritual implements. The number of people he knew could be counted on one hand. If anyone had told him back then that humans were social creatures, he definitely would have thought they were talking nonsense.
That was until he was kicked out of the house at the age of twelve.
Before that, he hadn’t really interacted much with people, because someone had confidently assured him that he would never need to understand those boring life rules that belonged to ordinary people. But later, circumstances forced him to start being an “ordinary person”. He didn’t understand those skills for dealing with people and navigating social situations that others handled with ease, as if born knowing them.
He didn’t understand, and he couldn’t be bothered to learn.
Because he quickly discovered that others would actively avoid him due to his eccentric nature. He was happy to be left alone and saw no need to force himself to become “sociable.”
He had lived this way, hovering at the edges of human society, for over a decade. He managed to live without major issues, but he had to admit that this survival model of his did have flaws in the details.
Like the current situation.
Clearly, his words had made the atmosphere awkward.
But unfortunately, he himself had no idea where the problem lay.
In the end, it was Fang Zehao who awkwardly followed up: “Why…why would you think about her?”
Fu Sang’s gaze swept across the faces of the three people in front of him, who were as stiff as wooden chickens, and then he found an appropriate word himself:
“Curious.”
Noticing that Fang Zehao seemed to let out half a sigh of relief, Fu Sang knew he was on the right track, so he affirmed:
“Wang Feihong made it sound so mystical, so I’m curious.”
“Oh… haha, I see…” Wang Feihong played along, but inside he was rolling his eyes a hundred times.
Who was he trying to fool?
Just a moment ago, when he was refuting him, he sounded so morally upright, but now here he was, fantasizing about someone else’s prospective girlfriend?
He thought this in his mind, but Wang Feihong certainly wouldn’t show his true thoughts on his face.
His expression remained cheerful:
“It’s amazing, even Fu Sang is curious.”
‘Yeah, who knows what has gotten into this person again.’ Fang Zehao also felt it was strange inside but remained polite on the surface:
“Then I’ll work hard and win her over soon. When that happens, I’ll organize a gathering so you can all get to know each other.”
Normally, the topic would have ended around here, and Wang Feihong sensibly didn’t continue. But Fu Sang unexpectedly spoke up:
“How long will that take?”
“What?” Fang Zehao didn’t react for a moment.
“Never mind. Are you going on a date with her today?” Fu Sang looked up at him, changing the way he phrased the question.
Fang Zehao was stunned.
He felt that Jingda should research some kind of “Weird People and Weird Events” list and then put his roommate at the very top.
This guy named Fu Sang rarely stayed in the dorm. He seemed uninterested in everything except academics. If no one spoke to him, he would never initiate conversation. If someone unfortunately started a casual chat with him, they would be met with a deadpan cold face and AI-like speech.
In short, nothing about him seemed like a living person.
Anyway, Fang Zehao didn’t have the strange habit of kissing up to someone who gave him the cold shoulder, and he would never bother with this weirdo unless necessary. After hearing his complaints, a friend said that was right…that people like him were just like that, and that they were commonly known as “landmines.” It meant that they usually seemed calm, but if you accidentally stepped on something they were interested in or cared about, they would explode like a landmine.
So, not engaging was the right move.
Who would have thought that today, this landmine would actually take the initiative to pry into his love life?
This struck Fang Zehao as strange…
No.
Extremely strange.
He looked at Fu Sang’s heterochromatic eyes, which always made him feel unnerved, and when he spoke, he even stuttered a bit: “Y-yeah, I am, what’s wrong?”
Fu Sang stared at him with a blank expression for a while.
Only when the atmosphere in the dormitory had grown cold and stiff again did he look away and say flatly:
“Nothing. I wish you happiness.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a phone rang, solving everyone’s dilemma of not knowing how to respond.
It was Fu Sang’s phone ringing. The caller was Huo Wei, who was still waiting downstairs at the dormitory.
Seeing her name on the phone screen reminded Fu Sang of her existence.
He transferred the call to his earpiece: “Hello?”
“Twenty minutes?! Twenty minutes?! I sent you messages and you didn’t reply. It’s been half an hour now, where are you?! Did your dormitory hide a black hole that sucked you into a parallel universe or something?!”
“I forgot. I’m coming now.” Fu Sang hastily packed the books he had picked out into his bag, then slightly turned his face to the side: “I’m leaving.”
“Uh, goodbye?”
Liu Ji wasn’t sure if Fu Sang was talking to them.
After all, this guy never greeted anyone when he came or went before.
But out of politeness, he still responded.
Fu Sang, however, seemed slightly taken aback. After realizing that Liu Ji was talking to him, he nodded at him as he passed by.
The dormitory door opened and closed. When Fu Sang left, it seemed like he brought a gust of cold, eerie wind with him, giving Wang Feihong goosebumps all over.
He couldn’t hold back any longer: “Who was he just talking to?”
Liu Ji wasn’t sure: “Us, I think?”
Wang Feihong rubbed the back of his neck: “Why do I feel like it doesn’t seem like it?”
Fang Zehao snorted and sat back down in his chair: “Who cares.”
Huo Wei had been waiting in the cold wind at the base of the boy’s dormitory building for nearly forty minutes and was ready to kill Fu Sang.
When she saw him come out of the dormitory building, she was about to rush over and demand an explanation when Fu Sang struck first, slapping something into her hand.
Huo Wei was startled. She looked down and saw that it was Fu Sang’s student ID card.
“Go swipe it.” Fu Sang only gave her three cold words.
Huo Wei couldn’t help but look up at the sky.
That’s right, the sun had risen in the east and was setting in the west today.
So what was going on? Fu Sang was treating her to a meal?!
Even though it was just a cafeteria stall, even though it was just a campus card, still…Fu Sang? Treating her? To a meal??
Before, whenever they ate together, they’d pay separately, or Huo Wei would treat. Getting this penny-pincher Fu Sang to pay? That was simply impossible!
“Do you know, that sounded very manly of you!”
When something out of the ordinary happens, there has to be a trick. So Huo Wei complimented him first, then waited a moment. Sure enough, someone soon revealed their true intentions:
“Do you have any plans tonight?”
“No, what’s up? Does Master San You have a mission to issue?” Huo Wei curled her lips.
Then she saw Fu Sang raise an eyebrow slightly:
“Yes, go on a stake out.”
Huo Wei felt she must have lost her mind, letting herself be bought off by a lousy bowl of spicy hotpot, not going home, and sitting in the car with Fu Sang like spies from afternoon until night.
“You mean, your roommate has yin energy on him. And recently, he’s suddenly turned over a new leaf and been completely captivated by some girl, so you suspect he’s run into a seductive ghost?” Huo Wei sorted through and summarized the information she’d heard from Fu Sang.
“Mm.”
“And the girl he’s infatuated with is someone from the school?”
“Seems like it.”
“Then I don’t think that’s very likely.”
Huo Wei counted on her fingers:
“Gray Despair, Cyan Resentment, Black Malevolence, Violet Erosion, Red Wrath, Vermilion Nightmare, and Crimson Evil, that’s seven ranks in total. A spirit has to reach at least Cyan Resentment to have the ability to cause trouble, and at least Violet Erosion to leave the place it died while retaining its power. If that seductive ghost were a Gray Despair, she wouldn’t be sensed by anyone. If it were a Cyan Resentment or Black Malevolence, that means she died right there at Jingda. But has there been any tragic case at your school in recent years that could force a soul to turn into a ghost? I don’t recall any.
Besides, anything above Violet Erosion is even less likely. Aggressive Violet Erosion types make a lot of noise. If one were causing trouble, the family would definitely have received word and come to deal with it by now.”
“It doesn’t matter what it is.”
Fu Sang had music playing in his earbuds, his eyes fixed straight ahead on the world beyond the windshield, as if lost in thought.
In the eyes of a nether spirit master, the world was indeed infinitely spectacular.
Most underworld spirits were just a wisp of emotion left behind in the human world by a departed soul. They weren’t even aware they were dead, so they would wander repeatedly through the places they cherished most, doing the same things they did in life, like tossing ingredients at a food stall, like walking down the road, like crouching under a tree to avoid a rain that didn’t exist, or waiting somewhere for someone who would never come for them again.
Their skin was pale, verging on gray, and their bodies were translucent and ethereal, making them easy to distinguish even among a crowd.
They existed outside the human realm, living in their own worlds, not caring about others, and not being perceived by them.
Fu Sang often felt that, compared to being human, he was better suited to being a ghost.
But unfortunately, before meeting Qi Changying, he couldn’t even see ghosts.
“Ding-aling!”
Just as Fu Sang was lost in thought, the Ghost-blood Binding Ring hanging at his waist suddenly made a sound.
He immediately snapped out of his daze, opened the door and got out of the car:
“Fang Zehao has left.”
Fang Zehao rode a shared bike out of the dormitory building and all the way to the nameless Lake.
It was past nine in the evening now, and there were few people on the road. Only Fu Sang and Huo Wei followed from far behind on their bikes.
“Tsk, if a seductive ghost dared to target me someday… it definitely wouldn’t be able to latch onto me!” Huo Wei rode her bike in the cold wind, feeling like her snot was about to drip into her mouth.
“Ghosts are into this romantic stuff too…I can’t handle running out in the middle of the night in winter. I’d definitely turn them down and say sorry, we’re not compatible… The bar for dating a seductive ghost is way too high!”
Fu Sang told a joke colder than the wind: “Love can conquer all difficulties.”
“?” Huo Wei gave a dry, forced laugh: “Ha. Ha.”
Just as she finished, her eyes lit up:
“Hey, your roommate stopped!”
Fang Zehao parked his bike by the side of the path and jogged toward the lake.
Huo Wei quickly stopped her bike too, ducked behind a bush, then opened her phone’s camera and aimed it at Fang Zehao, zooming in more and more.
She stared at the phone screen, moving it slowly to keep Fang Zehao in the viewfinder.
Then, she saw him reach the bench by the lake.
There were no streetlights around, only a few dim ground lights meant to create ambience.
But even with the faint lighting…
Huo Wei swallowed hard.
She looked at the girl waiting for Fang Zehao on the screen.
The girl had long hair flowing loose, and was wearing a long white wool coat, with the hem of a knitted dress showing beneath it. Below that was a pair of apricot-colored flat boots.
And further down…
Huo Wei pursed her lips together, then turned to look at Fu Sang beside her:
“San You, she’s human, right?”
Beneath the girl’s apricot-colored flat boots, a shadow was clearly visible.
