Getting off the plane, Jiang Luo was in genuinely high spirits.
Due to the time difference, the city they landed in was already deep into night. After exiting the airport, Jiang Luo looked at the completely unfamiliar surroundings and felt a wave of unprecedented ease.
Especially since this trip carried the goal of “throwing the Fated One into disarray,” Jiang Luo was even more carefree. Just imagining the panic and regret on the Fated One’s face when they realized he was gone made him feel all the more delighted.
The hotel Chi You had booked was a luxury one—top floor suite, premium facilities, with a private rooftop swimming pool.
Jiang Luo dropped his luggage by the bed and quickly opened the floor-to-ceiling windows to walk to the poolside. The humid air hit him instantly. Under the warm lights, the shimmering blue water sparkled beautifully. He spread his arms wide in joy. “This is just… too—” Too beautiful.
Before he could finish, he was suddenly shoved into the pool.
Splash. Jiang Luo surfaced in a mess, wiped the water off his face fiercely, and glared at the culprit.
Chi You stood at the pool’s edge, his pant legs splashed with water droplets. He looked down at Jiang Luo, a dangerous glint curling at the corner of his mouth.
Jiang Luo planted his hands on the edge of the pool, trying to climb out. He gritted his teeth and “politely” said, “Are you sick?”
“If you are, go get treated. Don’t go around being a menace to society, okay?”
Chi You chuckled and lightly pressed a hand to Jiang Luo’s head, pushing him right back into the pool.
Jiang Luo was thoroughly pissed. “F**k—”
“The very first day out, and you’re already chatting so happily with someone else.” Chi You slowly undid the buttons on his sleeves, taking off his coat. “Maybe I should just lock you in the hotel for the rest of the trip.”
He tossed his coat aside and lazily began to unfasten his tie. But before he could finish, a hand suddenly reached out from the pool—Jiang Luo grabbed his ankle and yanked him in.
Another big splash. Jiang Luo laughed out loud, mocking the ghost who got dragged in like he did. “Are you made of vinegar or what?”
Soaked, the ghost didn’t get angry—instead, he smiled. He suddenly swam toward Jiang Luo and dunked him underwater with force.
Jiang Luo cursed under his breath and decided he’d get his revenge. But of course, the ghost wasn’t going to go easy on him just because Jiang Luo was his lover.
The surface of the pool churned violently. Jiang Luo always forgot that he was already half-dead—he still needed to surface for air after holding his breath for about a minute, putting him at a disadvantage early on and leaving him scrambling under the ghost’s relentless pressure.
But he soon realized something: his breath-holding ability was far beyond what it had been as a human.
What a surprising benefit!
Instantly invigorated, Jiang Luo tangled with the ghost underwater. In the end, the ghost pinned him against the pool wall and kissed him deeply.
Having long since Mastered the art of taming a furious ghost, Jiang Luo knew exactly how to handle him. First, a fight. Midway, the ghost’s fury would often ignite into another kind of fire. And if that still didn’t work, Jiang Luo would just offer up a bit of seduction—and the ghost’s focus would shift perfectly.
So far, there had been no exceptions.
Thinking of this, a bit of smugness appeared in Jiang Luo’s eyes.
Tsk tsk tsk tsk.
Really easy to brush off.
The malicious ghost saw the expression on his face, narrowed his eyes, and demanded even more.
Jiang Luo almost felt like he was suffocating.
His body was unstable in the water, the surface reflecting rippling light.
The bright lights by the poolside turned into flickering stars.
Jiang Luo’s mischievous thoughts flared up at the wrong time—his hands reached behind Chi You, but before he could do anything, Chi You noticed. The malicious ghost grabbed both his hands, gave him a meaningful smile, and dragged Jiang Luo back up to the surface.
Though his hand was clutching Jiang Luo’s throat tightly, the malicious ghost pressed him against the pool’s edge with surprising tenderness. “Student Jiang, you’re so naughty.”
“Cough, cough…”
Jiang Luo deliberately coughed weakly, then provocatively said, “Why is it always you who gets to take the lead?”
It’s not like he couldn’t beat Chi You now.
The malicious ghost let out a half-smile, as if Jiang Luo had just asked the stupidest question in the world. “You tell me—why?”
Jiang Luo mercilessly mocked, “Because you’re a one-seco—”
Before he could finish, the furious malicious ghost dragged him back underwater again.
By midnight, the moon was high in the sky, and the clock hand pointed to twelve.
Jiang Luo laid lazily by the pool, wrapped in a bath towel, eyes closed, half-reclining with his knees still submerged in the water.
The entire city seemed to have fallen asleep, slowly quieting down.
Chi You picked up the fallen wine glass, poured two glasses of red wine, and handed one to Jiang Luo.
Jiang Luo gave him a glare before reluctantly accepting it. He took a small sip, and the sweet taste instantly won him over. He squinted his eyes in contentment. “I’m kind of hungry.”
He shot the malicious ghost a few side glances, hinting again and again.
Chi You lit a cigarette, took a drag, and said flatly, “You’re a living corpse. You don’t need to eat.”
Jiang Luo immediately showed his displeasure. “So what if I’m a living corpse? Can’t a dead man be hungry?”
Chi You smoked leisurely. Only when he was with Jiang Luo did he feel like he was truly “alive.” He had never told anyone, but truth be told, he actually enjoyed doing these petty, trivial things for Jiang Luo.
But Jiang Luo would never know.
Seeing Chi You unmoved, Jiang Luo sighed dramatically and said in an aggrieved tone like a wronged lover, “Some people don’t even know that eating is the prerequisite for exercise. Their heads must be full of water—shake them a bit and their brain would turn into tofu paste.”
Chi You, still with the sultry air of someone who had just conquered a city, took a drag of his cigarette and asked gently, “Student Jiang, who are you talking about?”
Jiang Luo snorted, “Whoever I am talking about knows who.”
Chi You paused for a moment, gave him a deep look, then stubbed out the cigarette and returned to the room.
As soon as his figure disappeared, Jiang Luo covered his stomach and stifled several laughs. He quickly grabbed the robe next to him, put it on, and not long after returning to the room, room service arrived.
Jiang Luo turned on the TV, found a talk show, and luckily his English was good enough to follow along with the subtitles. He ate while watching and laughed several times throughout the show. Chi You sat quietly on the couch beside him, just watching. Jiang Luo, after a few bites, felt uncomfortable under his gaze and turned to glare at him. “If you keep staring, I’ll gouge your eyes out.”
Chi You replied dryly, “And serve them as a side dish?”
Jiang Luo: “…I’m begging you to stop talking. I suddenly lost my appetite.”
Chi You chuckled silently.
The malicious ghost rarely stayed to watch an entire talk show with his lover. Though the people on TV didn’t make him laugh, he experienced a rare sense of calm.
Watching Jiang Luo laugh so freely and wholeheartedly, Chi You suddenly thought—maybe the world wasn’t so bad after all.
When the show ended, Jiang Luo flipped through channels and casually said, “We’ll hang around for a few days first, then I’ll take you somewhere.”
The malicious ghost asked, “Where?”
“Cemeteries, skyscrapers, and a few haunted castle towns,” Jiang Luo said. “Even though we’re out traveling, I can’t just ignore your serious injuries. I asked Cyril about some haunted spots. Ghosts in our country are protected by grim reapers and ghost cities, so you can’t absorb them on a large scale—but abroad, those ghosts don’t have those restrictions, right?”
Chi You hadn’t expected Jiang Luo to say that. Something inside him seemed to crash softly, suddenly making him feel a bit tender. He wasn’t used to this kind of tenderness. He averted his gaze and said stiffly, “You’re right.”
The next day, Jiang Luo and Chi You strolled through the city. Carnival was approaching, and more performance groups filled the streets, creating a festive atmosphere.
The only downside was—Jiang Luo’s looks were quite popular abroad. Regardless of gender, everyone gave him curious, lingering looks.
He even heard someone point at him and exclaim, “Oriental doll,” which made his lips twitch in secondhand embarrassment. After walking a few streets, quite a few people ignored the cold aura around Chi You and boldly came up to flirt.
With a cold gaze, the malicious ghost dragged Jiang Luo to a shooting club.
No man can resist the charm of shooting. Jiang Luo eagerly rolled up his sleeves, and with his excellent physique, achieved impressive results in just his first lesson. And then, “by accident,” he and Chi You broke the club’s record—leaving the coach completely dumbfounded.
Still unsatisfied, Jiang Luo signed up for a boxing club that night.
The club was packed, the air thick with smoke, sweat, and testosterone. This was a gathering place for strong men to blow off steam.
Jiang Luo was led to the ring. His first opponent was a Black man over two meters tall, all bulging muscle. Standing next to him, Jiang Luo’s slender and well-proportioned frame looked downright delicate. The man took one look at Jiang Luo, then burst into exaggerated laughter. “I don’t fight kids who haven’t even grown up yet.”
Jiang Luo was having someone help him put on boxing gloves. His black hair hung over his shoulders, and he curiously looked around. In the eyes of others, he looked like a delicate porcelain doll.
Upon hearing that dismissive remark, Jiang Luo glanced sideways at the Black man. “You don’t need to worry about that.”
He tested the fit of the gloves, then smiled at his opponent and said, “Because not only am I an adult—I’m going to beat you so bad your teeth’ll be scattered all over the floor.”
The spectators burst into raucous laughter. Whistles rang out one after another, and the atmosphere heated up.
“Hahaha, cutie, I’m rooting for you! Knock his head off and kick it like a soccer ball!”
“D*mn, baby, you’re spicy! Hit him in the chest with those little fists of yours, he’ll go weak in the knees for sure.”
No one believed this slender Asian man could defeat such a muscular boxer. Someone even shouted enviously, “Big guy, I’m jealous! You get to box with such a pretty Eastern doll!”
“But be careful, don’t hurt him!”
Jiang Luo’s expression didn’t change. A man in a leather jacket jeered, “If someone beats you, would you dare go on a date with them?”
The black-haired youth standing in the ring was like a dazzling, radiant gem—fair-skinned, with vividly red lips, black eyes and long hair that carried a mysterious, striking beauty. He was like a graceful, aloof leopard on the grasslands.
He easily awakened the primitive urge to conquer in these muscle-brained, violence-loving men.
Jiang Luo said slowly, “Sure.”
He flashed a brilliant white smile at the Black man and drawled, “Whoever beats me, I’ll go on a date with him.”
The Black man’s expression grew serious. His arm muscles bulged. “Alright then, pretty boy. I won’t hold back.”
As soon as the referee blew the whistle, the Black man threw a punch without mercy. Jiang Luo swiftly ducked and bent at the waist, dodging the strike. He delivered an uppercut that smashed hard into the man’s abdomen, his fist slicing through the air. The man let out a wail and dropped to his knees, clutching his stomach in pain.
The crowd fell silent.
A few seconds later, the place erupted with wild cheers and applause. The spectators stared at Jiang Luo in disbelief, clapping like mad and shouting about “mysterious Eastern kung fu.”
Jiang Luo curled his lips in a smirk and said with mock modesty, “What luck. Who’s next?”
Just as he spoke, a loud “bang” came from the other side of the ring. Jiang Luo looked over—Chi You had already finished off his second opponent. He flicked the blood off his gloves and smiled at Jiang Luo.
The nearly unconscious fighter was being dragged off by others.
Jiang Luo raised an eyebrow.
That night, he and Chi You knocked down one opponent after another, almost like a competition. Eventually, it was down to just the two of them in the finals. They couldn’t use any superhuman strength, so the fight was evenly matched, back and forth.
The boxing club split into two cheering camps. The atmosphere became more and more intense. Caught up in it, Jiang Luo’s strikes grew fiercer and faster. In the end, he won.
The spectators jumped up, roaring in excitement.
“He won! We won!”
“So bad*ss! Oh my god, that was so cool!”
Jiang Luo slammed Chi You onto the mat, his starry eyes glittering with light.
“I won.” Amid the deafening cheers and whistles, Jiang Luo grinned and shouted to Chi You, “So? Admit defeat?”
Chi You undid his gloves and chuckled. “Too bad. I’m not really convinced.”
Jiang Luo clicked his tongue and yanked Chi You to his feet. “Doesn’t matter. I still won.”
He turned to celebrate with the crowd, but Chi You grabbed him by the collar and pulled the overly excited Jiang Luo into his arms. Their bodies were covered in sweat and blood, but at that moment, the scent became strangely intoxicating.
The overhead lights were blinding. Jiang Luo leaned his head back and saw Chi You silhouetted against the glow, getting closer and closer.
The malicious ghost’s hands were still cold—but Jiang Luo no longer found the cold unpleasant. He smiled and welcomed Chi You’s kiss. The kiss was brief, just a brush of lips, but it stamped a silent warning: Off-limits.
Chi You glanced coldly at the men eyeing Jiang Luo from below the ring. Then he pinched the back of Jiang Luo’s neck with a smirk. “Let’s go.”
In the days that followed, they had even more fun. Once they’d had enough, they quietly resumed the illegal consumption of foreign malicious ghosts. Time slipped by quickly, like sand through fingers.
But back at Dazhao Temple, the Fated One—who had finally received the True God’s guidance and glimpsed the hope of ascension—could no longer maintain the calm he’d held for two centuries. After the sudden disappearance of the True God, he grew more and more anxious by the day.
