Jiang Luo and Lu Youyi had stayed up chatting about absolutely nothing of value until midnight. The next morning, they overslept—only opening their bleary eyes when the sun was already shining on their backsides.
The two dragged themselves through brushing their teeth and washing up, and when they made it to the living room, they realized everyone else was already awake.
Cyril was sitting on the sofa, stiff as a statue, eyes vacant and dazed like his brain had shut down. Ye Xun and Zhuo Zhongqiu stood nearby, clicking their tongues in amusement, phones in hand as they kept taking pictures of him.
Jiang Luo picked up a piece of toast from the table, bit into it, and walked over curiously. He bent down in front of Cyril and waved a hand in front of his face. Cyril didn’t react at all, his eyes frozen in place. Jiang Luo was baffled. “What’s wrong with Cyril?”
Zhuo Zhongqiu let out a snort and laughed so hard she slapped Ye Xun’s back. “He froze up first thing this morning after learning he’s Bai Wuchang. Ye Xun thought he was just groggy and forgot, so he reminded him that Brother Hei said last night that even after he dies, he’ll keep working in the underworld. And boom—he turned into this.”
Ye Xun said helplessly, “I didn’t mean to. I didn’t expect him to not even know he was Bai Wuchang.”
Zhuo Zhongqiu’s words seemed to hit a nerve, and Cyril slowly raised his head, looking wronged. “I don’t want to be Bai Wuchang…”
Who in their right mind works a part-time job for free while alive, and then keeps working unpaid even after they’re dead?
Jiang Luo gave him a sympathetic look—but couldn’t hold back a schadenfreude-laced laugh.
Cyril whimpered, “No wonder I always feel so tired, so exhausted… Every time I hear the word ‘work’ I start trembling. So it turns out I’ve been working every night for free! I’m still just a kid!”
Cyril had no conscious memories of being Bai Wuchang, but when Ye Xun told him, he froze up but didn’t doubt it. His subconscious told him it was true—he was Bai Wuchang.
Cyril became even more terrified.
It was already bad enough that he was always so sleepy he could barely open his eyes—but why did he still have to work even after death?!
Just thinking about it made Cyril’s vision go dark and his head spin.
The curly-haired boy looked miserable, on the verge of tears. His expression was so comical that Zhuo Zhongqiu immediately burst out laughing. Jiang Luo couldn’t help but smile too. He returned to the dining table to pour himself a glass of water, just as Ge Zhu and Wenren Lian came walking out from the hallway.
Strangely, both of them had dark circles under their eyes and looked utterly exhausted, as if they hadn’t slept at all.
Jiang Luo asked curiously, “You two didn’t sleep well last night?”
Ge Zhu coughed—he had a slight cold, his complexion pale—and said weakly, “I had a nightmare last night and couldn’t sleep afterward. Wenren stayed up with me.”
Jiang Luo asked with concern, “What kind of nightmare? Do you want me to do a reading for you?”
“No need, it was just a dream.”
Ge Zhu refused quickly. He sat down at the dining table and listlessly picked at his food. After a couple bites, he let out a heavy sigh, looking like he’d lost his appetite entirely.
Jiang Luo, worried, sat next to him and patted him on the shoulder. “What’s going on?”
Ge Zhu forced a smile and shook his head, indicating it was nothing.
Wenren Lian picked up a cup of barley tea and stood, unobtrusively patting Jiang Luo on the back and signaling for him to follow.
Jiang Luo didn’t rush to leave. Instead, he first poured Ge Zhu a cup of hot water and mixed in some cold medicine. Only then did he get up to follow Wenren Lian away from the table.
Ge Zhu looked at the medicine with a touched expression. A flicker of guilt flashed in his eyes. He picked up the cup and downed it in one go, the bitter taste lingering in his mouth.
Sigh.
On one hand, he had his loved ones and the fate of the future to consider. On the other hand, there was his bond with his brother. Ge Zhu and Wenren Lian hadn’t slept a wink all night, caught in the middle. If Chi You had threatened their lives directly, they never would have given in. But threatening the people around them… that was hitting their weakest spot.
They had their own principles and morals. Maybe their goodness seemed naïve or useless, but it was not something they could simply abandon. They couldn’t just stand by and watch the future turn into the nightmare Chi You had shown them, couldn’t bear to see countless people suffer under malicious ghosts and ghosts.
They had indeed been successfully threatened by Chi You—but they didn’t want to trick their good friend either. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, they were stressed to the point of losing hair. Fortunately, Wenren Lian suggested that maybe Jiang Luo still had feelings for Chi You. The two decided they would try to sound Jiang Luo out today, see if he still liked Chi You.
If he did, they could breathe a sigh of relief and matchmake him and Chi You with a clear conscience. If he didn’t… they’d still have to try their best to make him fall for Chi You again.
What a headache.
Thinking of how good a friend Jiang Luo was, and then of the malicious nature of that malicious ghost, Ge Zhu was nearly moved to tears by anxiety.
He was afraid of pushing Jiang Luo into a pit of fire.
On the balcony, Wenren Lian and Jiang Luo were talking about Ge Zhu’s “nightmare.”
Wenren Lian’s acting was flawless—if he wanted to pretend, no one would notice. His brows furrowed in genuine-looking worry as he said softly, “He was woken up by the nightmare at two in the morning. It felt too real, and after waking, he didn’t dare sleep again. He doesn’t want to tell you what the dream was about because… it involved you.”
Jiang Luo grew curious. “What kind of dream?”
Wenren Lian sighed and vaguely described part of it: “There was a scene where you and Chi You got married.”
Jiang Luo was stunned for a moment, then pretended not to care and asked, “I married Chi You?”
“Probably because yesterday in the car we were talking about your relationship with him, and it ended up influencing the dream,” Wenren Lian took a sip of barley tea, his tone full of helplessness, “After being startled awake, he told me the dream felt real—as if it was a premonition. You know how dreams sometimes turn out that way. Later, you experience something and it all feels familiar. Dreams are mysterious like that. Ge Zhu was scared… scared that he’d had a prophetic dream.”
Wenren Lian watched Jiang Luo’s reaction closely out of the corner of his eye.
Jiang Luo appeared nonchalant, but his ears had perked up, and there was no sign of rejection on his face.
Wenren Lian quietly exhaled and inwardly rejoiced—there was hope!
Seeing Jiang Luo still silent, Wenren Lian waited, but Jiang Luo couldn’t hold back his curiosity. “So? You two stayed up all night just because of a dream?”
“Well, isn’t it because you want to break up with Chi You?” Wenren Lian gave a bitter smile, “Ge Zhu thought, since you clearly don’t like Chi You anymore in real life, but he dreamed of you two together, he couldn’t bear to keep dreaming. If it really was a premonition and caused you to end up with him, wouldn’t that be harming you?”
As he spoke, he subtly observed Jiang Luo’s expression.
Jiang Luo paused. He felt this might be a good opportunity to lay his cards on the table. He smiled faintly, his words suggesting a shift in attitude: “So what? Whether or not the dream is real, it’s not his responsibility. My relationship with Chi You has always been rocky—breaking up and getting back together over and over again. Anything could happen. Even if I really do marry him like in the dream… it wouldn’t be Ge Zhu’s fault.”
A glint flashed through Wenren Lian’s eyes.
From those words alone, Wenren Lian would bet his life—Jiang Luo definitely still had feelings for Chi You.
Back when they talked on the phone, Jiang Luo had firmly said he wanted to break up. Wenren Lian, unable to see his expression and only hearing his voice, had believed him.
That preconceived notion was why he hadn’t noticed anything wrong in the car yesterday.
But now, seeing Jiang Luo up close, with his own sharp instincts, Wenren Lian immediately picked up on Jiang Luo’s shift in attitude toward Chi You.
Plus, thinking back on what Chi You said last night — “Make him willingly admit he likes me” — Wenren Lian mulled it over carefully and felt his guess was probably right.
Jiang Luo had fallen for Chi You, but hadn’t realized it himself yet, and now he even wanted to break up?
The more Wenren Lian thought about it, the more it made sense. He probed, “You marrying him was just one part of Ge Zhu’s dream — I haven’t even told you the rest yet… Ge Zhu didn’t just dream about you and Chi You being together. He also dreamed about you breaking up, and after that, Chi You plunged the whole world into chaos.”
Jiang Luo suddenly understood, “So that’s what really scared him into staying up all night.”
Wenren Lian sighed. “Exactly.”
It was like someone handed him a perfect excuse — Jiang Luo’s expression turned serious on purpose. He rubbed his chin, paused in thought, and said seriously, “That’s not impossible. Chi You is crazy about me. If I were to leave him, it’s not out of the question that he’d do something like that out of spite.”
Wenren Lian was startled. “Then what do we do?”
“At worst, I just won’t break up with him,” Jiang Luo declared with righteous solemnity. “For your sakes, and for everyone else’s. From a certain perspective, me and Chi You dragging each other down together isn’t so bad.”
Wenren Lian was moved. “Jiang Luo…”
Jiang Luo gave him a slight smile and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. This is just what I should do.”
The two chatted a bit more, then returned to the living room. During a lull, Wenren Lian met Ge Zhu’s eyes and gave a subtle nod.
That was the signal: go ahead and matchmake Jiang Luo and Chi You.
Ge Zhu was overjoyed, grinning from ear to ear.
As long as Jiang Luo still had feelings for Chi You, they could act freely! All they had to do now was help Jiang Luo realize within fifteen days that he liked Chi You, and push him to confess.
If they could pull this off, the calamity threatening the metaphysical world would be completely avoided. Thinking of this filled Ge Zhu with renewed energy — he was ready to make Jiang Luo realize his feelings immediately.
But others didn’t know about the fifteen-day deadline. Right now, their main priority was still obtaining Teng Bi’s birth details and time of death. Once everyone was gathered, Lu Youyi urged Ge Zhu to call Ge Wuchen for information on Teng Bi.
Ge Zhu complied and called. The line was quickly picked up. After hearing that they wanted to revive Teng Bi and needed his birth and death information, Ge Wuchen was silent for a moment, then said coolly, “Understood. I’ll try to find his birth details and time of death. I might be able to find his birth date, but his time of death… that’s another matter. Only Master may know it — after all, Teng Bi was brought back by him.”
No one present dared to ask Chi You directly. Lu Youyi looked awkwardly at Jiang Luo, who cleared his throat and beckoned Ge Zhu over.
Ge Zhu obediently handed him the phone.
Jiang Luo put the phone to his ear. “Ge Wuchen, give the phone to Chi You.”
Ge Wuchen replied, “Benefactor Jiang, Master is not with me.”
Jiang Luo paused, and his expression darkened. “Then where is he?”
“You don’t know?” Ge Wuchen’s question sounded casual, but to Jiang Luo, it felt like a veiled jab, subtly mocking. “Master went alone to a place with thick ghost energy. He’s not with us. Every time he devours spirits, he disappears for a while. During that time, no one knows where he goes. I’m sorry, but even I don’t know his current whereabouts.”
Jiang Luo smiled gently. “That’s fine.”
The next second, he hung up and tossed the phone back to Ge Zhu.
Ge Zhu scrambled to catch it, shivering slightly at Jiang Luo’s smile. He stiffly changed the subject: “Let’s wait for Ge Wuchen’s news over the next few days. Last night, Hei Wuchang also said that the Dragon Spring can preserve a corpse. So Teng Bi’s body being inside the Dragon’s Eye might not be a bad thing — there’s no need to rush.”
He looked at Lu Youyi and said word by word, “Now that there’s hope, let’s take this step by step. No need to rush.”
Lu Youyi nodded obediently. “I know.”
He hugged the large saber Teng Bi left him and said seriously, “It’s not just Teng Bi we need to worry about. We can’t let our guard down about the Fated One either. The Fated One indirectly caused Teng Bi’s death. I’ll avenge him.”
In just a few short days, Lu Youyi seemed to have matured by years. He’d become far more thoughtful. Whether this was a good or bad change was unclear — but if Teng Bi were here, he’d probably stammer out an apology again, saying “I’m sorry.”
Jiang Luo dragged his thoughts back from Chi You and suddenly remembered something. He said coldly, “Wenren, I asked you before to look into Ji Yaozi’s background. Do you have any results?”
Wenren Lian nodded, got up, and pulled a folder from his bag, handing it to him. “Too many things happened this month, I forgot all about it. This is everything I found. Also — Ji Yaozi returned to the funeral parlor a week ago.”
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