To avoid hindering the two, you three simply went downstairs and chatted over tea and melon seeds in the living room.
This villa didn’t look like a ghost house at all. What kind of ghost house has a kitchen cabinet filled with all kinds of snacks, coffee, tea, and juice drinks?
About half an hour later, you heard footsteps coming from upstairs.
"Oh man, those footsteps sound kind of flimsy. Looks kid will need to eat some tonic pills after he gets back," Wei Shuxian joked.
"It’s already a stroke of luck if he wasn’t drained dry." Taking a sip of tea, you grabbed a phoenix roll from the delicate ceramic plate on the coffee table and started chewing it heartily.
"Little Kai, are you okay?"
Liao Yong’s words drew your and Wei Shuxian’s attention to the stairs, where Yang Kai was yawning, his complexion a bit paler than before, but his eyes were clear, so it seemed he had regained his senses.
"Me? What can be wrong with me? I just took a nap upstairs," Yang Kai said, apparently still unaware of what had happened to him; he yawned again, "Hey, why are you guys having tea here? Oh right, how did I get upstairs? I think I had a dream just now."
"Dreams of spring leave no trace," Wei Shuxian commented wistfully.
With that remark from Wei Shuxian, even Yang Kai, who always boasted that he had thicker skin than a city wall, blushed for the first time. He didn’t retort, because he did indeed have a beautiful dream—a very pleasant one.
"Cough, seeing you guys so relaxed, I take it the female ghost in this villa has been subdued by Old Shu?"
At these words, you three exchanged glances; you remained silent with a smile, while Wei Shuxian pointed to Yang Kai, laughing and saying, "It looks like she’s been subdued, but not by Old Shu, by you."
"Me?" Yang Kai scratched his head, "I didn’t do anything, I—"
Just as Yang Kai started speaking, he felt a chill breeze behind him. He instinctively shrank back and instinctively walked quickly towards you guys.
"Husband, why are you hiding from me?"
A woman’s chilly voice echoed, causing Yang Kai to shiver all over.
He suddenly realized something and looked at you guys for answers, and all three of you nodded simultaneously, an ambiguous smile on each face.
Yang Kai was already aware of the severity of the situation but was still hesitant to turn around. He asked you, "Old Shu, how does she look?"
You touched your nose and said with a smile, "Not bad, a bit better than the one who ran away before."
"Phew, that’s good, at least... she’s not ’Cuihua’ material—hey! Ouch!"
Before he could finish his sentence, someone pinched his ear, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Oh, so you’ve been keeping a woman a secret from me, tell me! Who is this Cuihua?"
In his struggle, Yang Kai finally got a clear look at the person behind him. Just like you said, she wasn’t bad-looking: a small melon-faced girl about 1.6 meters tall, but since she was floating, she twirled him around by the ear.
After a short commotion, the female ghost finally settled down quietly beside Yang Kai.
Once she quieted down, she seemed like a different person entirely, a stark contrast to her earlier aggressive demeanor, sitting quietly beside Yang Kai, occasionally stealing glances at him.
"Well, why don’t we introduce ourselves first?" Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit weird, you smiled and said, "I’m Li Muyun, a student from the Jiangzhe University Culture and History Department. The one on my left is Wei Shuxian, and the one on my right is Liao Yong; we’re all university roommates. As for the person next to you, let him introduce himself."
It was somewhat surprising to see Yang Kai, who usually loved to joke and jest, suddenly at a loss for words.
Wei Shuxian looked at Yang Kai and said, "Come on, Little Kai, you usually have such a slick tongue, how come you can’t even utter a complete sentence now?"
"My lord, don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you." The female ghost patted Yang Kai’s hand, causing him to shudder.
However, Yang Kai’s state had improved compared to before; at least, he hadn’t backed down.
Afterward, the female ghost introduced herself to you all. Her name was Nie Ying, and she was a female ghost with three hundred years of spiritual cultivation.
According to Nie Ying, she was originally the daughter of a wealthy family who fell in love with her family’s Young Servant, who was Yang Kai. Like in most stories, their love was doomed to be unblest by others. Nie Ying’s father, looking to climb the social ladder, prepared to match his daughter with the son of a local governor.
Naturally, Nie Ying refused, and in order to sever her feelings, her parents went so far as to kill the Young Servant.
Upon hearing the tragic news, Nie Ying eventually threw herself into the river and died for love.
Strictly speaking, she should be considered a drowned ghost; after her death, her soul followed the river until it reached The place where Yin gathers. As the saying goes, "a day in the cave, a century in the Mortal World," and Nie Ying practiced her cultivation there for nearly three hundred years in a daze.
Two years ago, humans disrupted the place where Nie Ying had been cultivating as they wanted to develop a villa resort there.
Nie Ying naturally refused to leave, so she began to resist, scaring the workers by various means. Later, the developer hired an old Taoist to exorcise her.
Nie Ying couldn’t defeat the old Taoist, but the Taoist didn’t make things difficult for her either, only asking her to leave. Since then, Nie Ying drifted to this villa and slowly began to treat it as her home.
You touched the tip of your nose and looked at Yang Kai, "Little Kai, there’s a problem before you now that you need to decide on."
Yang Kai nodded, "Go ahead."
"Humans and ghosts have different paths, I believe everyone understands that. So now, you need to make a decision on how you want to face this situation."
With that, everyone’s gaze shifted onto Yang Kai.
"I..." Yang Kai hung his head low, "actually, I’m not scared but worried. Just now Old Shu also mentioned that humans and ghosts have different paths, and I’m just afraid that once I really invest my feelings, what should I do if it doesn’t end well?"
"Is that your answer?"
Yang Kai’s words felt unsatisfactory to the three of you.
"If my lord despises me, then I shall simply leave."
"No!" Yang Kai quickly grabbed Nie Ying’s hand and looked straight at her, "That’s not what I meant. I want Old Shu to help me find a perfect solution."
You rolled your eyes, "Damn it, as crooked as your intestines are!"
"Hehe, we’re good brothers, right? When a brother’s in trouble, you’ve got to help."
There it was again, that cheap expression of Yang Kai’s.
"There is a way, just not right now."
"What is it?" Eager to know, Yang Kai immediately leaned in closer.