22: Two Ghost and a Man

If they were all ordinary people, Zhou Shurong could’ve just shoved the wailing child into Qin Yan’s arms to calm her down. He could’ve even fed her something. Or if he wanted to be cold, he could’ve simply tossed her outside and shut the door.

If only—if only they weren’t ghosts.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Qin Yan couldn’t see them. He couldn’t even touch them.

And Zhou Shurong couldn’t pick up any of the incense either.

Even if they threw the baby ghost outside and shut the door, she could crawl back in without any regard for walls or terrain—and worse, she’d cry even louder once she was tossed out.

So what were they supposed to do with her?

“There, there, don’t cry. Only good children get yummy food,” Zhou Shurong said, panicked on the inside but keeping a calm front as he tried to coax her.

Partly because the baby ghost’s crying would worsen his condition.

And partly because if she burned through her current energy, she might instinctively start feeding off Qin Yan’s yang energy.

“Uncle will take you to find your mama, okay?”

The baby ghost squirmed and flailed as he held her by the scruff, not paying the strange uncle any mind at all. She just kept drooling over the items on the coffee table.

Zhou Shurong had no choice but to set her back on the table. Since she could cling to the living, maybe she could also hold onto objects. Maybe hugging the incense would keep her from crying.

The bag hadn’t been tied shut. Once set down, it opened, revealing a short, chubby incense stick.

The baby ghost hugged the thick incense stick and happily opened her mouth to chomp down with a loud a-woo. She chewed and chewed—but nothing broke off, not even a tooth mark was left behind.

Surprised, Zhou Shurong pried her mouth open. Just two tiny teeth were barely poking through her gums—and there was no trace of “food” inside.

“What are you eating? Its soul?”

The baby ghost slapped his hand away in annoyance, babbling incoherently.

“How old are you, anyway? Can’t walk, can’t talk properly—you can’t be even a year old.”

The baby ghost ignored him, still happily gnawing away, occasionally giggling from delight.

Zhou Shurong relaxed. Earlier, when he saw her bite into it, he was worried the incense would end up covered in teeth marks and scare Qin Yan.

The room had been quiet for a while, and when Zhou Shurong turned his head, he saw Qin Yan had fallen asleep. He looked exhausted, conked out without even turning on a fan or the AC. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

Zhou Shurong looked at the baby ghost and said, “If only you could understand me… It wouldn’t be a bad idea to use incense to ask you for help.”

He pulled out a handkerchief and saw that the blood had vanished. It was now just a clean, dry piece of cloth.

Thoughtfully, he murmured, “My yin energy turned into visible blood. So if I want to replenish yin, the most direct way would be… eating ghosts?”

“Or maybe not. I wonder if eating incense works?”

He looked at the baby ghost who was eating with such gusto. “And you can absorb the yang energy of the living too. As long as someone’s alive, can you drain them just by touching? But I touched Ah Xing before, and nothing happened…”

“Or maybe… it requires long-term, close contact?”

“You’re a senior ghost—you could’ve taught me. Too bad you’re just a baby who hasn’t even grown all your teeth.”

The baby ghost was now full. Her little belly was round and bloated.

She yawned, sleepy. But when she looked around and didn’t see her mother, her eyes reddened with tears.

“You little rascal, let’s go find your mama!”

Zhou Shurong quickly scooped her up. His holding posture was clumsy, probably uncomfortable for her. She wiggled her butt and adjusted herself, gripping Zhou Shurong’s shoulders with her little hands.

Ghosts moved fast. In the blink of an eye, the big one and the small one arrived outside apartment 801.

He didn’t have a real reason to barge into a single woman’s home, so he felt a little awkward.

Zhou Shurong composed himself and stepped through the door.

The home showed signs of time and neglect. The walls were chipped and discolored in places, and layers of cobwebs had built up in the corners. The woman who lived here clearly wasn’t fond of cleaning—her trash bin was overflowing, drawing a swarm of flies.

She wasn’t in the living room. The baby ghost got restless and, before Zhou Shurong could react, she had already crawled down to the floor.

And she kept crawling—straight into the bedroom.

No way he was going in there.

Zhou Shurong turned and left, but couldn’t help wondering: How had this baby ghost died? What kind of story did she carry with her?

***

When Qin Yan woke up, the sun had already set. The room was dim, lit only by the glow of the TV screen.

He turned off the TV and sat there zoning out for a while.

Great. I took two naps this afternoon. How am I supposed to sleep tonight?

He tucked the incense and spirit money into the TV cabinet, then took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts. Zhou Shurong silently watched as he dialed Zhou Langxing.

It was dinnertime. What was this about? A dinner invitation?

Zhou Shurong could smell a sourness in the air.

The call connected immediately.

“Hey, Langxing—no, I haven’t eaten yet. Don’t feel like cooking. Let’s order in—yeah, I have something I wanted to ask. Uh, do you know how to get that menthol cigarette brand?—What do you mean, ‘don’t be shy’? Wait, you’re coming over now?”

Qin Yan looked at the call that had just ended, his expression complicated—part touched, part helpless.

He muttered, “It’s not like I need it right now. What’s the rush?”

He shook his head and started ordering food. Since there was a guest coming, the meal should be a bit more generous.

“Menthol cigarettes…”

Zhou Shurong pushed up his glasses, the lenses flashing with a cold glint. His tone was calm, but laced with mocking coldness as he said, “You two were all wrapped up together that night—what kind of show are you putting on tonight? Maybe I’ll be an unqualified audience member.”

Qin Yan stared at rows and rows of food delivery options, looking a bit troubled. He didn’t know what Zhou Langxing liked or disliked—he had no idea where to start.

Forget it. No point obsessing over it.

Who cared what Langxing liked? He’d just order what he liked.

Qin Yan had come back sweaty from his afternoon errands, and now that he had a guest coming over, he decided to go shower. As he was about to walk straight through Zhou Shurong’s body, Zhou Shurong barely managed to dodge.

“Close one! What if I accidentally absorbed your yang energy?”

Qin Yan finished showering in record time. No one else was home, so he didn’t even bring a change of clothes—just came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.

Zhou Shurong pushed up his glasses and followed Qin Yan into the bedroom.

Three minutes later, Zhou Shurong came back out like nothing happened.

Shortly after, Qin Yan came out too.

His hair was still wet, and he didn’t feel like using a dryer, so he just rubbed at it with a towel. Once it was halfway dry, he pulled out a short, stubby incense stick from the cabinet.

“Wait! That’s—”

Zhou Shurong’s heart sank as he saw the all-too-familiar chunky incense stick.

Qin Yan set up the incense burner. “New flavor today. Happy?”

Not happy at all.

Zhou Shurong’s gut feeling had been right. That stick of incense, which the baby ghost had “eaten,” had lost all effectiveness. Where it used to fill him up, now it was like eating air.

He had pinned all his hopes on this “dinner,” hoping it would help restore his damaged body.

Now he just felt wronged. A little kid had stolen his food.

“Come on, light another one. Please?”

But Qin Yan couldn’t hear him. And just then, someone knocked on the door. The food delivery guy and Zhou Langxing had arrived at the same time.

Qin Yan opened the door, greeted by a smiling face.

Zhou Shurong floated over, full of gloomy resentment, his translucent body flickering in and out. He glanced at Zhou Langxing’s face—with just a tiny bit of disgust.

“You always have that cold face, and girls say you’re cool. So what’s with this goofy smile now?”

Today, Zhou Langxing was dressed simply—no flashy accessories, just a sleeveless T-shirt and loose black jeans, flip-flops on his feet.

Now this was what Qin Yan remembered a college student looking like.

But…

“Huh? You brought food? And your cast’s off?”

Zhou Langxing smiled as soon as he saw Qin Yan. He had a habit of lifting the left corner of his mouth first, so his smile was a bit crooked. Some girls had called it a devilish smile—Zhou Shurong had laughed at that for days.

Langxing had once called him a fake fairy, so Zhou Shurong clapped back, calling him the “Crooked Mouth Dragon King.”

Between “Fake Fairy” and “Crooked Mouth Dragon King,” it was obvious the second one sounded worse!

The day he got that nickname, Zhou Langxing was so pissed he skipped dinner.

“My cast’s off, yeah. How else would I climb over the wall to escape?” Zhou Langxing motioned toward the takeout box in his hand. “But this is your order. It got here at the same time as me, so I grabbed it for you.”

Qin Yan took the box. “Come in. Have you eaten?”

Of course Zhou Langxing hadn’t.

This was part of his little scheme. Since he had the chance to come over, of course he wanted to stick around as long as possible!