8 PM, at the hot pot restaurant.
Everyone inside stared in shock at the ghost standing at the entrance.
The impeccably dressed ghost stepped forward, each click of his leather shoes against the tile floor echoing with oppressive intensity.
He moved closer and closer, his pitch-black eyes locked onto Jiang Luo. Despite being surrounded by professional ghost hunters, he appeared completely at ease. “So everyone is here,” he said casually.
Chi You reached the table and said politely, “Mind if I join you?”
He looked exactly like he had in life. There wasn’t a hint of ghostly aura about him—no loss of sanity, no terrifying visage. He still had the kind, gentle appearance that could deceive anyone, easily reminding the students of Baihua University of their past memories with him.
Everyone who had once cursed him countless times now found themselves flooded with complicated emotions, their eyes fixed on Chi You as if seeing a ghost—literally—from another lifetime.
Ge Zhu got up and brought over a chair from outside the curtain, placing it at the head of the table.
Right beside Jiang Luo.
The moment Jiang Luo saw Chi You, his hand holding the chopsticks froze. A fish ball slipped from his grip. He withdrew his hand, heart blaring in alarm.
He had considered countless possibilities—but never imagined Chi You would dare to show up so openly in front of everyone.
Chi You had come for him. And there was only one reason he would do that: to sleep with Jiang Luo.
What made it even worse—Jiang Luo now had to keep pretending to be the devoted lover in front of his friends.
His temple throbbed. Even if he had a hundred times his usual confidence, he would never have expected that the ghost would actually take his bluff seriously.
Chi You was going this far just to bed him?
Now it was Jiang Luo’s turn to be internally exasperated—and deeply unsettled. Pretending not to know what was going on, he forced a cheerful tone and said, “What brings you here?”
The ghost thanked Ge Zhu politely and sat down with proper manners. At Jiang Luo’s words, he looked at him with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. For some reason, Chi You’s pupils were unusually dark tonight—so black they looked almost supernatural. Under that gaze, goosebumps erupted across Jiang Luo’s skin. He felt like a piece of juicy, tender meat being eyed by a predator.
“I came because of what we talked about yesterday,” Chi You said.
From the moment he stepped into the room, with every step closer to Jiang Luo, his former indifference transformed into growing excitement.
It was as if some dormant nerve had finally awakened—trembling uncontrollably. The surge of long-buried thrill was so intense that Chi You almost couldn’t keep up the mask he usually wore.
All day long, Chi You was recovering from his injuries.
His period of weakness was not yet over, and his strength was far from his usual level. Logically speaking, Chi You should have been hiding somewhere no one could find him, waiting to fully recover.
But the undercurrent of restless agitation pushed him to show up as promised.
The black-haired youth he had threatened, however, didn’t seem interested in obediently following through on his words.
Chi You thought: What a pity.
But the thought only made his nerves jump with more excitement.
Suddenly, the table for ten was intruded on by the presence of a ghost. The already narrow space beneath the table became even more cramped, and the tip of the ghost’s leather shoe touched the tip of Jiang Luo’s.
It was just a touch, nothing more, but Jiang Luo didn’t hesitate—he lifted his foot and stomped down hard on the ghost’s shoe, leaving a dusty gray footprint.
“What did you say yesterday?” Jiang Luo stomped again, smiling brightly. “I don’t remember.”
Wenren Lian had been silent for a long time. He finally opened his mouth: “Chi You, we want to talk to you about you and Jiang Luo.”
“We?” The ghost showed no concern over his soiled shoes. His hands folded before him, even while seated, he looked as dignified as a noble, completely out of place in the humble hotpot restaurant. “What could we possibly need to talk about?”
“Chi You?” Qi Ye couldn’t hold back anymore and frowned, his tone tinged with hostility. “What’s your relationship with Jiang Luo?”
He had never seen Chi You, but he had heard the name. His father never took him along to the Chi family estate. Qi Ye was actually unfamiliar with the Chi family—but hadn’t Chi You died?
From the moment this man stepped into the room, Qi Ye felt an overwhelming sense of danger. The temperature in the room seemed to drop sharply, chilling his entire body with an instinctive fear.
It was like a reflex: with just one glance, Qi Ye felt a deep hostility toward this man.
Especially because their styles of dress were so similar.
But the man didn’t seem as green as him. Sitting next to each other, Qi Ye looked like he was trying to imitate the other—awkward, like a cheap knockoff sitting beside the real thing.
Qi Ye was deeply irritated. His tone was nearly accusatory.
Jiang Luo’s smile faltered—he sensed trouble. Just then, Wenren Lian deftly pulled a white cigarette box from the table, drew one out, and handed it to Chi You.
The box was pure white, with only a black dot in the center. It wasn’t ordinary tobacco—it was ghost smoke, similar to incense, meant as an offering to spirits.
As the ghost smoke lit, wisps of blue-green fog curled upward. Wenren Lian subtly held Qi Ye back and shook his head.
Chi You, even in death, was unlike an ordinary ghost. In life, he had been an exceptional talent in the occult world. If they could avoid a fight, it would be best not to start one.
“This is our newly transferred student, Qi Ye from the Qi family,” Wenren Lian said cheerfully. “Did Teacher Chi ever meet him before?”
Behind the smoke, the ghost’s handsome face became indistinct, distant and unreadable. He said lightly, “I’ve seen him.”
Qi Ye froze—he had no memory of that.
But it didn’t matter now. Qi Ye pressed his lips together and asked again, “What exactly is your relationship with Jiang Luo?”
Jiang Luo was just about to speak when the ghost chuckled and said, “Naturally, it’s a very special relationship.”
He looked straight at Jiang Luo, brushing his fingers against Jiang Luo’s hand. “I’ve had a crush on you for a long time, and you like me too. Isn’t that right, Jiang Luo?”
Jiang Luo glared at him in annoyance and slapped his hand away hard. “Don’t mess around.”
The slap was sharp and loud—so loud that Lu Youyi jumped. He turned and whispered to Dead Ghost next to him, “Jiang Luo really slapped hard. Is this what people mean by lovers’ quarrels?”
Dead Ghost: “…”
He didn’t dare move, didn’t dare speak.
Everyone here knew about Jiang Luo and Chi You, and none of their expressions changed—but Qi Ye’s face turned pale. “That’s impossible…”
He looked around at the others’ calm faces, slowly shut his mouth, and sat down in a daze.
Chi You’s tone lifted slightly. “Seems like you don’t quite believe it.”
He rubbed his fingers together, then suddenly reached out and grabbed the back of Jiang Luo’s neck, pulling him close.
Jiang Luo was caught off guard and met a pair of cold lips tinged with the taste of tobacco.
Ghost smoke carried not just tobacco, but also a long, lingering scent of ash.
For a brief moment, Jiang Luo’s mind went blank before the ghost overwhelmed him. The fierce back-and-forth they shared in private was one thing, but kissing in front of friends was something else entirely.
Chi You’s kiss was still that same brutal, suffocating kind. It carried punishment and madness. Jiang Luo’s forehead veins popped, but he grabbed the ghost’s collar with both hands, hair swaying, practically pressed against him.
He kissed back with extreme passion.
The hotpot boiled red on one side, milky on the other.
On the surface, this kiss looked full of love and longing. In reality, it was just another tug-of-war between Jiang Luo and Chi You. One full of malice, the other full of barely restrained rage. The air was thick with gunpowder. The ghost was greedy and vicious—Jiang Luo couldn’t help biting down on his lip.
This time, he controlled his strength—just enough to vent without hurting his own teeth.
It was a silent warning: Don’t you f*cking push it.
At this point, Jiang Luo had come to fully regard kissing as a new form of battle between him and Chi You.
There was no lust, no affection. Only confrontation—like a dry firestorm, brute force against brute force.
Jiang Luo wasn’t even focused.
He responded mechanically, mind already working out how to flip the fake story he and Chi You had made up.
That lie had brought him many benefits—cleared suspicion, gave him an excuse for his personality change, and won him sympathy and goodwill.
But now that Chi You was twisting the lie to mess with him in return, Jiang Luo realized—it was time for this story to evolve.
The brief clash between Chi You and Jiang Luo, though enough to make everyone blush, didn’t actually last very long.
It had happened so suddenly that by the time everyone came back to their senses, the malicious ghost had already let go of Jiang Luo.
Chi You’s lips curled into a smile, his mood visibly pleased.
He leaned close, their lips still brushing. “You’d better be prepared.”
Jiang Luo smiled brightly, dazzlingly, and said in a voice only he could hear, “Go f*ck yourself.”
The malicious ghost raised an eyebrow, released Jiang Luo, and with a deep smile even started humming as he opened a new pair of chopsticks. He casually played with the raw, still-bloody meat freshly taken from the fridge.
When the malicious ghost was happy, the oppressive atmosphere in the room instantly lifted. Several people who had been about to rush forward hesitated, then slowly sat back down.
Jiang Luo and Chi You were, nominally, a couple. They had been lovey-dovey so many times. It felt wrong to interrupt now—they were still hoping to talk him out of it.
Wenren Lian smiled as if he hadn’t seen the kiss just now. Cheerfully, he tried to reason, “Chi You, you’re already dead. Since you care about Jiang Luo, shouldn’t you stay away for his sake?”
Ge Zhu added, “Don’t you know this is hurting him?”
Zhuo Zhongqiu and the others perked up their ears.
They were all eager to hear Chi You’s response.
The malicious ghost leaned back comfortably in his chair. The kiss had left his hair slightly tousled. Black strands hung down over his brow, adding a chilling and eerie beauty to his features.
He smiled, letting the flame on the ghost-smoke lick the tip of the cigarette. “You’re meddling too much.”
The atmosphere froze.
Behind the malicious ghost, black mist surged and writhed, like monstrous tendrils rising from behind Jiang Luo, bringing a suffocating dread. It looked like it could engulf the black-haired youth at any moment.
Sensing danger, Jiang Luo turned around—and almost lost his composure in front of everyone.
He stood abruptly and moved closer to Qi Ye. “Chi You, what are you doing?”
The malicious ghost raised his brows, as if confused by the question. “Are you planning to deal with me here?”
Jiang Luo felt he was being utterly unreasonable—mad, even. He took a deep breath, nearly pressing himself against Qi Ye. The malicious ghost’s smile slowly faded. He stubbed out the cigarette with an emotionless face.
In the next second, black mist coiled around Jiang Luo’s wrist and ankle and yanked him forcefully away from Qi Ye, almost throwing him into Chi You’s arms.
The joy and excitement in Chi You’s tone suddenly turned cold and menacing. “Don’t get close to filth.”
A light flickered in Jiang Luo’s eyes.
Opportunity had arrived.
A sharp slap rang out.
Chi You tilted his head slightly. After a few seconds, he reached up and touched the side of his face, eyes lifting to meet Jiang Luo’s.
The black-haired youth who had just slapped him looked heartbroken, eyes full of disbelief, fingers trembling, disappointment plain to see. “Chi You, how could you say something like that?”
He couldn’t help but admit what his companions had said: “You really have changed…”
“So much that I barely recognize you.”
