“But,” Jiang Luo sighed, “he really hasn’t killed anyone in the past two hundred years…”
The Fated One, in some ways, was a terrifying person.
A normal person, upon foreseeing that a certain bloodline would one day kill them, would have taken the simplest route: eliminate the threat at the root. But even before he became a false god—back when he was still just a human—the Fated One had already been planning for his apotheosis two hundred years in advance. What did that mean? It meant he had absolute conviction that he would become a god. From the very beginning, he believed in his future.
Everything he did for the Chi family’s main line was carefully distanced from karma. He gave them the ghost mark because they saved him. Then, because the collateral branches pleaded with him, and he believed he’d disrupted their balance, he cursed the main line.
He stood apart from everything—like a pure spectator untouched by the filth of the world, unmoved by the joys and sorrows of the Chi family.
To have maintained that conviction for over two centuries—how could such a person not be terrifying?
Jiang Luo exhaled lightly.
He quickly came back to his senses—and realized his hand was still on the ghost’s belt. While he’d been deep in thought, the ghost had slowly guided him to undo the metal buckle.
Jiang Luo suddenly smiled, his slender fingers moving with teasing ambiguity. “I can do it myself.”
The malicious ghost ghost narrowed his eyes at him, gave Jiang Luo’s hand a squeeze, then withdrew his own.
Jiang Luo’s fingers moved like they were dancing across piano keys as he deftly pulled the malicious ghost’s belt free. He looked up and gave the malicious ghost a bright grin before snapping the belt with a crisp, loud crack right across his thigh, the end of it curling around and slapping his lower back. “Does that feel good, Teacher Chi? You seemed so eager—how about I give you this one for free?”
The malicious ghost had never been whipped with a belt before. He caught the other end, the veins on the back of his pale hand standing out faintly. He gave an ambiguous chuckle. “You’re bold.”
To prove just how bold he could be, Jiang Luo gave the malicious ghost a pat on the butt with his other hand, then whistled. “You’ve got a nice *ss. Want to know what it feels like to have me on top of you?”
The malicious ghost said nothing. He simply stared at Jiang Luo.
That stare sent a chill creeping up Jiang Luo’s spine, but at the same time, he felt a smug thrill of triumph. Leaning back, legs crossed and one hand supporting himself, he waited until the malicious ghost moved to grab him. Then he quickly said, “Don’t you want to know where I came from?”
The malicious ghost froze mid-reach, then, like a gentleman, retracted his hand and smiled faintly. “Go on.”
Jiang Luo said lazily, “There’s the Underworld here, where ghosts reside—no living people can enter. Then there’s the world of metaphysics, where we live. Ordinary people can’t see ghosts, and they don’t belong in the metaphysical world. But the place I come from—” He made a large circular motion with his arms, big enough to encompass himself. “—is somewhere that no one else in this entire world can perceive but me.”
The malicious ghost looked thoughtful.
“You could say it’s another world entirely,” Jiang Luo added deliberately. “Chi You, no matter how powerful you are, once I return to my world, you’ll never find me again.”
He was terrible—he wanted to break up with the malicious ghost, but also wanted to watch him go mad over it.
But the malicious ghost didn’t go mad. Instead, he stayed terrifyingly calm, his expression unreadable. Somehow, this quiet was more frightening than rage. Jiang Luo felt a formless fear wrap around him like a cold shroud—more suffocating than death. Chi You’s gaze froze his blood inch by inch, thinning the air until Jiang Luo’s organs felt like they were being crushed and bursting from within.
“You think you can hide from me?” Chi You finally spoke. His voice was soft, so soft it nearly disappeared as it slipped into Jiang Luo’s ears. “You have three moles on your body left by my ghost mark. Where exactly do you think you can hide?”
He even smiled after he said that. “No matter where you go, I’ll find you.”
Jiang Luo involuntarily shivered. Chi You’s words made him feel like he was already lying cold in a coffin. “Those three moles—they follow my soul too?”
“As long as you don’t have descendants,” the malicious ghost said, leaning down. His cold fingertips brushed over the three moles at Jiang Luo’s waist through the fabric, and his tone grew cheerful, “Then even in death, they’ll stay with you.”
Jiang Luo: “…” This was turning into a horror story.
Still, Jiang Luo didn’t think he would return to his original world. Even if he could, he didn’t plan to.
His only real worry was—after he broke up with Chi You, would this guy use the three moles as an excuse to harass him?
…Thinking about it, it really would be best if Chi You and the Fated One perished together.
That said, Jiang Luo unconsciously ignored the “perish together” part and was already thinking ahead—after defeating the Fated One, how would he get Chi You to stop trying to destroy the metaphysical world? His eyes flicked slyly. “Even if I go back to that world, it’ll take you a long time to find me, right? Three years? Five? Maybe by the time you find me, I’ll already have a new lover.”
The malicious ghost’s aura suddenly dropped to freezing.
Jiang Luo, taking control of the situation, said slowly, “Actually, I don’t really want to go back. I’m quite comfortable here. But if some idiot ruins this world—floods it with ghosts, makes it dangerous just to eat, bathe, or order takeout—I might just consider leaving.”
Chi You’s hand pressed harder against his waist. “You’re threatening me.”
“You could say that,” Jiang Luo admitted with a nod. “Either I beat some sense into you, or you give up on your own. Of course, I know how strong you are—so strong I might not be able to stop you. But if you do destroy the metaphysical world and turn society into a chaotic mess where I can’t enjoy a normal life… Teacher Chi, I will leave for another world.”
The joints in the malicious ghost’s fingers cracked one by one, like brittle wood breaking. He gave a chilling smile. “If you dare leave, I’ll kill you.”
So you’d rather kill me than give up destroying the metaphysical world?
Jiang Luo’s breath caught. It felt like a shadow had suddenly fallen over him. He said coldly, “If you turn this world into your dreamland, then I’ll go.”
The atmosphere in the room grew heavier and heavier—neither Jiang Luo nor Chi You willing to back down. Thankfully, before the tension snapped completely, someone knocked on the door.
Liao Si’s weak voice came through. “Master?”
The terrifying malicious ghost mask on Chi You’s face disappeared. He turned his head slightly to listen, then abruptly stood up. He yanked the belt from Jiang Luo’s hand and fastened his pants in one swift, harsh motion.
Once dressed, he grabbed his suit jacket and headed for the door. Jiang Luo suddenly rose from the bed, his face dark with fury. “Chi You, you haven’t answered me yet. Try walking out that door and see what happens.”
Chi You didn’t even pause. He opened the door and walked out.
The moment the door clicked shut behind him, the crash of porcelain shattering rang out from inside—the projectile had missed him by a hair. One second later, and it would’ve hit him squarely.
Chi You’s expression turned pitch-black. His lips flattened, completely devoid of even a hint of a smile. Liao Si saw this and paled with dread, inwardly crying out, We’re doomed.
But Liao Si also found it strange—he had already conveyed the reason he was looking for his Master through telepathy. It wasn’t anything urgent and could’ve waited until the next day. So why had Master come out?
After a moment, Chi You turned and walked in another direction.
Inside the room, hearing the footsteps gradually fade away, Jiang Luo’s expression suddenly changed. A wave of searing anger surged up from within, scorching his remaining rationality in an instant. He shot up from where he stood and stormed to the door, slamming his foot against it.
The door shook violently from the kick. The flames in Jiang Luo’s chest burned even fiercer. He yanked the door open and shouted in the direction Chi You had walked off to, “Don’t you f*cking come through this door again!”
Then he slammed the door shut with a heavy bang.
Jiang Luo braced his hand against the door, his face devoid of expression.
In that moment, he felt everything he had done was utterly laughable.
From the beginning of the plan with Wenren Lian, Chi You had confronted the Heavenly Master Residence for him. He had held back his fury and walked away from the sect for his sake. Chi You feared Jiang Luo getting hurt, so he had faced the Fated One in advance. He captured the entire Lian family to threaten them—for Jiang Luo—and even refrained from killing them, again, for Jiang Luo.
Pale knuckles gripping tight. Writhing, rage-laced ghost markings. The hand that had caught Jiang Luo just as he vomited blood. That long snowy path they’d walked together.
Even when the Lian family turned Chi You’s soul into a Yuan Tian Bead, he endured it. But for Jiang Luo’s sake, he acted. Even so—even with all of that…
Jiang Luo punched the door. His head hung low, his expression dark and unreadable.
Even with all that, Chi You would rather kill him than let him go—he would never give up on destroying the metaphysics world just to keep him.
To Chi You, Jiang Luo’s survival wasn’t more important than wrecking the metaphysical world.
And that, to Chi You—to this terrifying, malicious ghost—was the rational choice.
Anyone would think it reasonable. Chi You was being rational. His decision was rational.
Jiang Luo was supposed to be one of those people who thought it was rational too.
Was this outcome surprising?
It shouldn’t be. Jiang Luo had already thought as much back when he saw Ge Wuchen at Dazhao Temple.
He had always known how important Chi You’s goal was to him. Though Chi You liked him, how could Jiang Luo possibly compare to that goal?
But now, a month later—
Jiang Luo was furious. Beyond furious, he even felt a strange, prickling sense of betrayal, like being covered in porcupine quills.
His heart felt sore. He leaned his forehead against the door, staring at the gap between the panels, the fire of anger scorching him from the inside out.
“F*ck…”
At the end of the corridor, Chi You stopped in his tracks. His face was blank. After a pause, he resumed walking.
Liao Si did his best to make himself invisible.
He could feel his Master’s mood taking an even darker turn. Liao Si shrank inward in fear. He had never seen his Master’s emotions fluctuate so violently.
That night, Jiang Luo shut his door tightly, and Chi You did not return.
In the days that followed, Jiang Luo’s face remained cold and distant. Whether eating or cooperating with Daoist Elder Wei He’s treatments, even when he saw Chi You, he acted as if he hadn’t. The ghost’s expression was equally frigid. The oppressive silence between them quickly spread to everyone else.
But as Jiang Luo continued to ignore him day after day, Chi You’s face gradually grew uglier. Over time, the tension in the underground labyrinth reached a level where everyone was walking on eggshells.
Five days later, Ge Wuchen finally returned, worn and dusty, bearing a piece of good news that broke the oppressive silence.
“Master, we’ve found a usable dragon vein.”
