Chapter 43: Little Ghost 11

Zhong Xian had been missing for three days, without a single word.

Maybe... he was already dead?

At that thought, Ji Yue contacted Kong Youzhuo, whose messages he had muted.

Gorgeous Straight Guy: [What? Your husband died? That's wonderful! (delighted)]

Gorgeous Straight Guy: [I mean, what a conveniently timed death (covering mouth laughing)]

Gorgeous Straight Guy: [Actually what I wanted to say is, my condolences! (heart)]

Ji Yue: [Have you heard anything about him recently?]

Kong Youzhuo called him.

He picked up, and the first thing he heard was a complaint loaded with maximum resentment: "That's enough from you. You only come to me when you need something, and otherwise you just leave me on read like some kind of play?"

"..."

"You're treating me like a dog on a leash, aren't you?"

"Every day—when your husband's involved, you come find me; when nothing's up, you block me. Am I your designated backup? Heh."

"What are you even talking about?"

Ji Yue was getting a little annoyed.

"Exactly what it sounds like. I'm your simp, right? You toy with my body and soul every single day—"

"Let's eat together. We'll talk then."

"Oh, where? I'll book a restaurant. What do you want to eat, baby? Sorry, was I being too loud just now?"

The voice on the other end instantly turned gentle.

?

Ji Yue touched his chin in confusion, and for some reason recalled a dog he'd seen on the street yesterday—dark brown, burly, liked licking hands, its fur color very similar to Kong Youzhuo's.

"Anything's fine."

He said.

So the two agreed to meet at a restaurant.

[You wicked fierce ghost! Using your backup to find your missing husband—anyone who sees this would call you a great wife!] the system cackled.

'I'm just interested in his disappearance.'

The original novel never mentioned where Zhong Xian was during this period.

Led by a waiter, Ji Yue sat down at a window seat in the restaurant.

Half an hour earlier, Kong Youzhuo had already arrived, dressed to the nines, everything carefully selected—even the violin repertoire had been suitably chosen.

"Mm, don't want to upset my girlfriend," he said with a charming smile.

The waiter quickly left after seating the guest.

Kong Youzhuo looked up. Today Ji Yue had tied his hair back, a few loose strands falling along his cheek, eyes lowered as he flipped through the menu. When he wasn't speaking, he looked thoroughly cold, like he'd come to meet a creditor.

The candlelight on the table was dim; in the distance a waiter played the violin, the music soft and delicate.

Outside the window was a summer night sky—the moon hidden, stars dense and numerous.

A nice setting.

Ji Yue thought so.

"You said earlier your boyfriend died?" Kong Youzhuo sat across from him, chin propped on one hand, slowly flipping through the menu with the other.

"I asked whether he's dead."

"Well, probably not yet. Haven't seen his cremation certificate, it wouldn't be that fast." Kong Youzhuo said it lightly, pulling out a stack of tips and handing it to the nearby waiter, lifting his chin. "Tell that violinist to stop. It sounds awful."

The waiter took the money and hurried toward the bar. The music cut off abruptly, and within seconds the restaurant became exceptionally quiet, the only background sound the metallic clink of cutlery.

In the entire restaurant, they were the only two customers; all around was silent.

"I want to know where he is."

Ji Yue looked thoughtful.

Kong Youzhuo sneered—most likely at some coffin shop. He wasn't sure what that place was for, but it was definitely no normal coffin shop.

The beautiful meal turned out tasteless. Ji Yue set his fork aside and drank half a glass of water. After paying the bill, the two headed out. He was busy looking at his phone and didn't notice Kong Youzhuo stop ahead of him—bang, he collided with his back, stars bursting before his eyes.

Kong Youzhuo grabbed his arm and hauled him into the passenger seat, grumbling with great regret: "A perfectly good first date, ruined by this meal!"

Ji Yue didn't care—it wasn't a date anyway. He turned to look out the window and happened to see a waiter-looking young man walking over, a stack of money in hand, chasing after them.

"Sorry, my violin playing just now wasn't good. I'm returning this tip to you." The waiter, face flushed, looked at the long-haired beauty in the car window.

Kong Youzhuo laughed coldly: "What are you looking at my wife for?"

The waiter just hummed in response, but couldn't help stealing a few more glances at Ji Yue.

Even while serving dishes earlier he couldn't resist looking—the coldly elegant long-haired beauty, face pale, his whole demeanor seeming to keep people a thousand miles away. By rights someone like this should be unapproachable, but because his looks drew far too much attention, that flaw was nicely compensated. There must be swarms of admirers buzzing after him, right? Like the man driving this car.

"Did you want to say something?"

Ji Yue noticed his hesitant expression.

"These past few days, someone was going around with your photo, asking if anyone had seen you," the waiter stammered. "A white-haired person wearing sunglasses—dressed like that in the middle of the night, really strange, didn't look like a good person. Is he some admirer of yours?"

From that description, it was obviously Fei He—the one who had kidnapped him before.

"Thank you, I understand."

He nodded.

Before the waiter could say anything more, the sports car whipped past him and sped off, the annoyed profile of the brown-haired young man in the driver's seat flashing by—looking very much like jealousy.

"You talked so much with that waiter. What's that supposed to mean?"

"..."

Ji Yue didn't want to engage with him.

[Kong Youzhuo is totally giving off that meme right now, "From now on, I forbid you to talk to other boys!"]

[Speaking of which, where on earth did the male lead gooo! Today's plot needs him to show up!]

The system scratched itself anxiously.

Today's plot was: one of the male lead's good brothers, Chen Zheqin, comes to the door to catch the ghost, and gets into a fight with Zhong Xian, who's madly infatuated with the ghost, while the ghost trembles pitifully to the side—"please don't fight over meee."

A very simple plot, requiring both men present at the same time.

The sports car sped along, getting farther and farther from Ji Yue's neighborhood. He drove the same way he behaved—no rules at all, sharp turns and sudden brakes the whole way. Ji Yue was shaken around expressionlessly, his brains nearly scrambled into a uniform paste.

"Where are we going?"

He asked.

"To my place, obviously," Kong Youzhuo said as if it were self-evident.

[Heh heh heh, this straight guy isn't planning to do something to you, is he?!] The system had far less patience for characters outside the plot. [I think he's courting death!]

"Why are you taking me to your home?"

"Just to hang out at home."

"..."

[He means he wants to "hang out" with YOU!]

When they arrived, before Ji Yue even got out, a gloved servant had already pulled open the car door.

He looked up. Before him stood a magnificent manor.

Kong Youzhuo led him upstairs, and the moment they sat down, someone brought tea.

Ji Yue sipped the tea, then stood up again. He was in the habit of examining and patrolling every new place he arrived at—only this time, as soon as he stood, the master of the house personally led him on a tour.

"Let me show you something."

Kong Youzhuo brought out a huge stack of stuff and poured it out—all kinds of photographs and documents, piled on the table like a small mountain.

Ji Yue opened one page and found they were all records of Zhong Xian in the transit world. In the photos, Zhong Xian stood with a real estate agent at the foot of an apartment building, looking up at the units—it must have been not long after the two of them started dating.

"Why are you showing me this?"

"Aren't you looking for Zhong Xian?" Kong Youzhuo countered.

[What? He's being this nice, actually handing all this material over to you!]

Ji Yue didn't know what was going on, but he sat down and flipped through page after page. In the beginning, since Zhong Xian came from another world, he had no relationships in the transit world apart from a few friends. Kong Youzhuo's records of Zhong Xian's movements were extensive. Recently, Zhong Xian had been going to the coffin shop almost constantly.

"What is that place for?"

He poked at the photo of the coffin shop.

"That shop isn't open to the public. I couldn't get in. Reporting them for fire safety hazards didn't work either."

There was actually a place in this world Kong Youzhuo couldn't get into?

Ji Yue looked at him doubtfully: "You investigated him because of a grudge?"

"Yeah. I'd love nothing more than to chop him up." Kong Youzhuo grinned, revealing two tiger teeth. "He screwed me over twice in the instances."

Ever since learning Zhong Xian was also in the transit world, Kong Youzhuo had set aside his instance progress and followed him here, investigating Zhong Xian's situation on the side.

He unexpectedly discovered that Zhong Xian seemed to have a girlfriend—his purchase records included quite a few couple gifts, women's jewelry, and so on.

Oh? Trash like that can get a girlfriend?

After that, Kong Youzhuo captured his first photo of Ji Yue.

At the foot of the apartment building, Ji Yue in a white slip dress, crouching down, carefully petting the orange cat downstairs—skin like moonlight, coolly pale, delicate and beautiful, lashes long and fine.

In that moment, Kong Youzhuo felt as if he'd put on Zhong Xian's skin suit.

He began to slip into the role of the boyfriend.

He stopped going into infinite instances, his family trauma stopped hurting, he stopped following the Middle East situation, he stopped flaming people in Honor of Kings, his bipolar disorder was cured, he went into heat, forgot his hatred—his eyes held only his enemy's wife.

Only, Zhong Xian seemed to have sensed his existence, and protected Ji Yue so tightly that Kong Youzhuo searched heaven and earth without finding a single piece of personal information about him.

Of course, there was another possibility—Ji Yue wasn't from this time and space. Perhaps he came from somewhere else.

My wife is a bit mysterious.

[Why is this person looking you up and down?? So creepy—someone like this would be taken for a perverted serial killer on the street!]

'Probably mental illness.'

Ji Yue wasn't bothered.

He flipped through some material on the coffin shop for half an hour and formed some conjectures.

"Thanks for the information. I'm going home."

Ji Yue expressed his thanks with a cold expression, and as he spoke he stuffed the investigation files on Zhong Xian into his own backpack, slung the bulging bag over his shoulder, and got up to leave—at first glance like he was carrying a turtle shell.

"Leaving so soon?"

"Mm."

[This kid is definitely planning to threaten you! Pester you!]

"Sure, I'll drive you back."

Kong Youzhuo smiled faintly.

[Hmm??? Why is this different from what my program calculated?]

'Maybe the illness got better.'

Kong Youzhuo's garage held many sports cars. He picked one at random, and seeing Ji Yue tilting his head up to examine a modified off-road vehicle, he asked: "You want this one? I'll give it to you."

Ji Yue refused: "No need, I don't have a license."

Kong Youzhuo smiled: "That's fine. Find some time and I'll teach you to drive?"

The sports car sped on and soon reached the neighborhood. The old ladies were practicing their dance, sword shadows flying, morning-exercise fans clattering.

"Thanks for driving me back."

"My honor."

Ji Yue perfunctorily hummed "mm, mm" and turned to get out of the car. Kong Youzhuo casually jammed the sports car into a parking space and got out too, catching up to call after him: "Right—if you need anything, you can contact me."

He assumed Kong Youzhuo meant the driving lessons and nodded without thinking much of it.

The parking spot was some distance from the apartment building. At this hour, apart from the dancing old ladies, there was hardly anyone in the neighborhood. All around was quiet, only the buzzing of some insects.

Kong Youzhuo followed behind him, hands in pockets, as if strolling aimlessly.

Today Ji Yue wore a shirt dress, its hem covering his thighs, fluttering up softly as he walked.

His tied-up black hair hung down his back, swaying as he walked, like a lively tail.

The sun had long since set, but the ground was still like a steam furnace.

So hot.

Ji Yue feared the heat and couldn't help walking faster. He took a shortcut through a path in the shrubbery, and the person behind followed.

"You're bleeding."

Kong Youzhuo abruptly grabbed him.

Bleeding?

Ji Yue himself hadn't noticed.

Right after he said it, Kong Youzhuo crouched down and pinched his calf.

That spot had been scraped by branches and leaves, a thread of blood seeping out, barely noticeable. Ji Yue hadn't felt any pain either, but now, with Kong Youzhuo's hand squeezing it, he suddenly felt hot, the heat climbing all the way up from his leg.

Today's weather forecast was a high-temperature warning. It really was hot.

The humid hot wind brushed over his dress hem and calves. He could faintly feel the breath of the crouching man grazing his leg.

?

Ji Yue grew somewhat wary and took a step back.

His back bumped into a tree trunk, and a fallen leaf dropped onto his head like a brown, playful hairpin.

The trunk was rough, setting his whole person off as a kind of soft, lustrous white, his thighs like lychee flesh freshly peeled from its shell.

Kong Youzhuo was still crouched in front of him, not lifting his head.

He even leaned in a little closer.

The tip of his nose nearly touched his thigh.

From the air came the square-dancing aunties' voices: "One, two, three—sisters, one more time..."

Then, Kong Youzhuo very abruptly asked a question:

"Does your boyfriend lick you?"

For a moment Ji Yue couldn't comprehend what the other was saying.

Where?

The system's electronic voice shrieked: [What is he saying?! Our baby and the male lead are platonic! So that's what he meant by "teach you to drive" just now!]

Ji Yue hadn't processed what it meant, but he was certain it was definitely nothing good.

He instinctively stepped back, but there was nowhere left to retreat; his back pressed tight against the tree trunk. The expression on his face was still cold, yet his lashes fluttered twice in confusion, like a cat forcibly woken from its nap.

What was Kong Youzhuo talking about?

The system wouldn't explain either.

[Uh...]

'You're useless like this.'

Ji Yue criticized the system.

The system hemmed and hawed, not knowing how to translate: [It's that... you know, that.]

Kong Youzhuo suddenly laughed out loud: "Ha, so that's a no?"

"?"

"Then do you want to try?"

Kong Youzhuo's gaze slowly slid upward, examining the thighs beneath the dress hem, the space beneath the skirt.

"With fingers, or tongue?"

He continued to ask.

A hand settled on his leg.

Only at this moment did Ji Yue realize what Kong Youzhuo wanted to lick.

His face instantly flushed red.

The air was stifling and sticky, waves of heat blowing over again and again.

A hot breath seeped through beneath his dress hem.

[Not only has Zhong Xian never seen that, Kong Youzhuo will never get to see it either! Because you don't have one at all!] the system panicked.

[Not good, he's probably really going to do it! There's no one around here, only hard-of-hearing grannies square dancing—no one would hear you scream, and passersby won't notice this corner! Actually quite suitable—hm? What is my program saying?]

Ji Yue's face hardened and he turned to leave.

Bang.

He ran into a wall.

A man's hand steadied his shoulder; on the left wrist was a watch with a black band and scattered diamonds, the veins on the back of the hand prominent.

He looked up. It was Chen Zheqin.

Chen Zheqin was also looking at him.

Ji Yue's outfit today easily reminded him of that day's dream.

Wearing a man's shirt, lying on a bed, long hair spilled across the entire mattress.

And that voice call—"You're disgusting."

Right now Ji Yue had that same cold expression; he merely swept a glance at him from the corner of his eye and turned to leave.

Chen Zheqin gripped his hand and didn't let him go, saying: "I have business with you."

Before Ji Yue could answer, he heard Kong Youzhuo's sneering laugh behind him.

"Big bro, you're so old already—stop pestering the young ones, ok?"

Chen Zheqin paid him no mind, completely ignoring him, instead leaning in closer to say in Ji Yue's ear: "I know where Zhong Xian is."

[Huh, the male lead's good brother actually knows? Don't tell me he's at his place?]

Ji Yue finally lifted his eyelids to look at him: "Where is he?"

Tonight the plot was supposed to happen—Chen Zheqin coming to the door to catch the ghost—yet now Zhong Xian wasn't around.

The two of them traded words back and forth, looking quite in tune, and Kong Youzhuo's expression grew uglier and uglier. He didn't want to see Ji Yue talking with other people.

You just need to be with me.

"Get lost."

With that, Kong Youzhuo swung a fierce punch!

[His fun got ruined—he almost got a lick in! Now Kong Youzhuo is truly furious!]

Chen Zheqin didn't let it land, dodging straight away, frowning as he undid his cuff buttons.

[Don't fight! What if you wreck our plot!]

The two men stood two steps apart, like two fighting dogs.

Ji Yue was sandwiched between them. He didn't care whether they fought—he was just caught in a pincer attack from both sides, dying of heat.

"Enough."

Ji Yue said coldly, glancing at them both.

His razor-sharp look scraped across their faces, and in an instant both hot-tempered men quieted down somewhat.

With that, he walked off with a cold face.

Angry.

[If these people want to fight they can go fight outside, honestly!]

The old ladies in the neighborhood all knew Ji Yue. Seeing him return, they greeted him in a babble, asking whether he'd eaten yet. He nodded.

Back home, Zhong Xian still wasn't there.

[Looks like tonight's plot—Chen Zheqin catching the ghost, the male lead fighting his good brother—is gone!]

Ji Yue hummed in acknowledgment.

After a shower, towel-drying his hair, he flopped onto the bed, planning to play some zombie games.

There was a knock at the door.

He looked through the peephole: black T-shirt, hair cut very short, nearly a buzz cut, very tall.

Chen Zheqin again.

Ji Yue opened the door and asked: "You know where Zhong Xian is?"

Chen Zheqin glanced at him and walked straight in, just like before, uninvited, heading to the bedroom doorway.

"This is the room I stay in. Zhong Xian's is next door."

Ji Yue tugged at the corner of Chen Zheqin's shirt.

Chen Zheqin gazed at that room for a long time without speaking.

Following his line of sight, Ji Yue looked over too, his gaze landing on the bed in the bedroom.

[Chen Zheqin actually doesn't know where the male lead is! He's actually suspecting you drained the male lead's vital essence dry? Gathering evidence...]

Only a bedside lamp was lit inside. Ji Yue had just been rolling around on the bed; the sheets were visibly wrinkled, marked with damp rings from his wet hair, the blanket heaped messily at the foot of the bed.

What was there to be suspicious about?

Ji Yue was puzzled.

[Though he might also be savoring the memory!]

'?'

[In the dream, you were forced on the bed by a man! He saw all of it from the side!]

'...'

Ji Yue ignored it, turned around, sat on the sofa, and picked up an unfinished horror novel.

"Break up with Zhong Xian."

Chen Zheqin suddenly said to him.

Without waiting for an answer, he continued: "If you like men, you can be with me."

[Hmm??? He really came all this way just to poach his brother's partner! This time it's not a dream!]

[My program says Chen Zheqin wants to use this method to trick the fierce ghost into going with him, to lock you up somewhere else! Because the place you live has such heavy yin energy that many spells can't be cast.]

Chen Zheqin lowered his head, brow slightly furrowed: "I don't want Zhong Xian to be killed by you."

As he spoke, he stepped forward two paces.

They were very close now.

Chen Zheqin gazed at this ghost.

Damp, thick black long hair draped over the shoulders, dripping water strand by strand; the face pale, cheeks still moist, as if water could be wrung from them. The eyes were very cold, as if staring at a dead object.

"If I break up with Zhong Xian and get together with you, aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"

Ji Yue asked him.

"Mm."

"You're very confident."

A fearless ghost.

Chen Zheqin once again recalled that day's scene—the messy bedsheets, the figure pinned to the bed by Gu Chiming.

Downstairs just now, he had seen and heard the玩法 that brown-haired man proposed.

Ji Yue's private life was chaotic—more than one man involved.

Clearly, Zhong Xian actually knew nothing of it.

Chen Zheqin had advised him to break up, but the other was too deep in it to see clearly.

Just as he was thinking this, the sound of the door opening came from the entrance.

The door was shoved open heavily, banging against the wall, the wall itself trembling.

Zhong Xian walked in from outside. The hallway light shone from behind him; his face half-lit, half-dark, the shadow of his brow bone pressing down, gloomy and dark.

There was no expression on his face at all, his gaze like a knife.

Ji Yue had never seen Zhong Xian like this. In his impression, this person had a very gentle temperament—at least in front of him.

"I treated you as a brother, and here you are trying to sleep with my wife. No wonder you kept telling me to break up."

Zhong Xian laughed coldly, set down the things in his hands, and walked over.

He asked one more question: "Did you sleep with him?"

As he spoke, he grabbed a vase from the side and smashed it down toward Chen Zheqin.