The Qi family, thoroughly investigated inside and out, still didn’t realize that they had let the real thief who stole the Yuan Tian Bead walk right out the door.
Back in his dorm, the first thing Jiang Luo did was remove the Yuan Tian Bead from beneath his skin.
He wiped away the blood with a towel, bit down on one end of the gauze, and began bandaging the wound. Halfway through, the pain returned. Sweat beaded on the young man’s forehead, dampening his black hair, and his white undershirt was half-soaked through.
The second round of pain was even worse than the first. The wound had been cut open again, and once everything was done, Jiang Luo’s face had turned slightly pale.
The wound wasn’t large, but it was deep. Jiang Luo figured this scar would end up looking pretty vicious—but a few scars on a man didn’t matter at all. He turned and sat on the bathroom counter, leaned against the mirror, and lit a cigarette to numb the dull throb of pain in his nerves.
The Yuan Tian Bead was set aside. He carefully cleaned the blood from it and lifted it under the light for a closer look.
Such a beautiful bead—yet it was the soul of that wicked ghost.
Jiang Luo clicked his tongue and flicked the ash off his cigarette. By the time he’d smoked halfway through, his mind had become even more clear-headed. He picked up his phone, the bluish glow casting eerie shadows over his face.
He was browsing the internal forum of the metaphysics world.
News about the Yuan Tian Bead being stolen from the Qi family had already spread. A number of onlookers were gossiping about it, marveling at how bold the thief must have been. If they were caught, the consequences would be unbearable.
Jiang Luo let out a faint, mocking smile, exhaled a puff of smoke, and glanced up at the ceiling.
The moment he hid the Yuan Tian Bead had been seen—by Chi You.
Even though he hadn’t seen the full form of that ghostly eye, he was certain: it had to be Chi You.
That eerily familiar gaze, like a wild beast’s—or the cloying dread of a monster from the abyss—it was a presence that sent chills from the soul outward. No one but Chi You had eyes like that.
Chi You surely knew by now that Jiang Luo possessed not only two Yuan Tian Beads, but also one of Chi You’s hearts. The malicious ghost wouldn’t be able to sit still. Jiang Luo was almost certain Chi You would come to retrieve it.
If he were Chi You, he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing part of his soul was in an enemy’s hands.
Normally, the school’s feng shui formation—strong with auspicious energy—would block out all malicious ghosts and such. But now that Chi You was using a divine statue as a vessel, that body was neither truly a malicious ghost nor human. The feng shui barrier wouldn’t work effectively on him. If he were still a ghost, however, he’d be kept out.
Unfortunately, a malicious ghost like Chi You had countless methods. A feng shui formation couldn’t stop puppets controlled by a ghost.
In theory, the Qi family shouldn’t have been breached so easily either. But their current villa wasn’t their ancestral home. The mountains were filled with wandering ghosts, and while the Qi family prioritized formations, they cared less about feng shui itself. That had given Chi You an opening.
Jiang Luo stubbed out his cigarette. This time, he was the one holding the upper hand—he had leverage over Chi You. It was a rare advantage, and wasting it would be foolish. Jiang Luo intended to make thorough preparations, so that when Chi You came, he could deal him a proper lesson.
With that decision made, Jiang Luo got some rest. But over the next two days, to his surprise, Chi You never showed up to take the Yuan Tian Bead.
That wasn’t right.
Back when Chi You had been after the bead, he’d gone to great lengths—he’d even manipulated Bai Yefeng like a puppet to enter the tournament and fight for first place. Unless he’d given up entirely on the bead, there was no reason he’d just sit still now.
Things were straying too far from plan. Jiang Luo began to grow suspicious. The malicious ghost was never an easy opponent. He was unpredictable. And while Jiang Luo might have been used to unexpected twists in his own life, after crossing paths with Chi You so many times, this silence felt wrong.
He waited another full day. With nothing better to do, he even accompanied Ye Xun on a shopping trip—nearly driven mad by Ye Xun’s indecisiveness.
But even after that, Chi You still hadn’t appeared.
Now Jiang Luo was convinced something was up.
It was like a Damocles’ sword hanging overhead, threatening to fall at any moment but never quite dropping. The uncertainty irritated Jiang Luo immensely. The stifling tension, the sense of being played with—he could almost taste it.
That night, he stood under the moonlight, smoking two cigarettes in silence before finally making up his mind—he would strike first and lure Chi You out.
He had plenty of experience provoking the malicious ghost.
He remembered clearly the time he’d been dragged into Chi You’s nightmare realm and killed eighteen times. Back then, he’d been inside Chi You’s room, using his belongings, mouthing off with all kinds of provocations—that’s what finally drew the malicious ghost out.
So, provoke Chi You in his own territory?
Easy.
The next afternoon after class, Jiang Luo returned to his dorm to gather some things, then headed straight for Chi You’s room. He still had the key.
As soon as he opened the door, the sharp scent of something charred hit him in the face.
It was the lingering odor from when he’d once set fire to the place.
The room had since been restored. The scorched floorboards were replaced, the blackened walls freshly painted, and anything destroyed had been discarded. Apart from the faint lingering smell, the room now looked exactly as it had when Jiang Luo first stepped into it.
Jiang Luo tossed his things onto the floor without ceremony. He looked around the room, his expression laced with disgust.
This room was the origin of his nightmares.
Now that he was back, Jiang Luo could see traces of each of his past deaths in every corner. The nail embedded in the wall that once held an easel reminded him of the searing pain when a nail had pierced his skull. The bed reminded him of being chained and burned alive.
He calmly surveyed the room and thought coldly: I’m going to kill Chi You in here—eighteen times.
The dean had a good relationship with Chi You, so even after his death, someone still came by to clean. That worked to Jiang Luo’s advantage. He gave the room a basic cleaning, then, sweaty and reeking, went to shower.
He wrapped the injured area with cling film, and then deliberately used every single thing of Chi You’s that he could.
Chi You’s body wash. Chi You’s shampoo. As the foam rinsed off under the stream of water, Jiang Luo even had a strange feeling that Chi You was right there beside him.
He frowned. He really didn’t like that feeling.
Wrapped in a towel, Jiang Luo stepped back into the room. He set up talismans, then pulled out the divine statue’s heart he had hidden away.
Only then did a hint of interest show on his face. Jiang Luo held the dagger formed from the secret incantation of the Yin-Yang hoop in his hand and sat on the sofa. The golden tip of the dagger lightly, almost teasingly, touched the heart.
This object—Chi You had once chased him down to retrieve it, even luring him into Fengdu Ghost City for it.
Jiang Luo smiled and said, “What should I do to you to make your master appear?”
Under the threat of the dagger, the heart of the statue began to beat slowly—thump, thump.
Jiang Luo tilted his head. “How about… carving my name into you?”
“To show that you belong to me.”
The more he thought about it, the more brilliant the idea seemed. Full of enthusiasm, Jiang Luo began carving his name into the stone heart. With each stroke, the heart would twitch.
By the time he finished carving the character Jiang, night had already fallen outside.
Jiang Luo didn’t mind. He kept carving, and soon the characters Jiang Luo were neatly etched into the center of the stone heart.
Satisfied, Jiang Luo nodded and got up to wash the stone dust from the heart. The room lights hadn’t been turned on. As the last rays of dusk faded, darkness swallowed the space.
Just as Jiang Luo walked over to turn on the lights, a mocking voice came from behind him: “Such a fine evening—why bother turning the lights on?”
His hand froze on the switch. He turned around and saw Chi You sitting on the single-seat sofa.
Chi You had one leg crossed over the other, his left elbow resting lazily on the sofa arm, head propped on his hand. Moonlight poured in from the floor-to-ceiling window behind him, casting cold, pale streaks across his body.
The tips of his leather shoes glinted in the moonlight. His chin was sharply defined, his features flawless and deep. A faint smile curled his lips—but his lips were pale, perhaps due to the moonlight, to the point of looking almost sickly.
Jiang Luo paused, narrowing his eyes at him. “So it’s our dear Teacher Chi.”
“Weren’t you the one who wanted me to come?” Chi You replied indifferently. “So, I came.”
Jiang Luo lowered his hand and walked toward Chi You, step by step. Chi You remained seated, but let out a low chuckle. “Ah… looks like tonight’s going to be a dangerous date.”
“Date? No, this doesn’t count as a date.” Jiang Luo stopped in front of him, bent down with his arms braced on either side of the sofa. His black hair spilled down onto Chi You’s suit. The smile on his face deepened as he exaggerated, “Chi You, something seems a little off about you.”
In the darkness, he leaned in toward the malicious ghost sitting on the sofa. His warm breath brushed across Chi You’s face like a breeze. A thrill on the verge of erupting lit up Jiang Luo’s angelic features. When he finally saw the deep black of the malicious ghost’s eyes, he chuckled softly and said, “Ah. You really are off.”
Jiang Luo straightened and let his fingers trail along the back of the sofa as he slowly walked around behind Chi You.
The familiar scent of his post-shower body lingered in the air around them.
The malicious ghost, head still propped on his hand, said lazily, “Hmm?”
His tone was still calm and laced with amusement.
Jiang Luo paused behind him, bent down, and whispered into his ear, “My, my. Our dear Mr. malicious ghost.”
He couldn’t hold back a laugh. “How come you’re suddenly so weak?”
