A cold, light hand touched Tao Yi's neck, sending a chill down his spine. Sweat instantly formed on his back, and although he tried to stay calm, everything changed when he glanced at the trees along the street—they had transformed into the ghostly, lifeless faces of Ling Qing!
The faces were greenish-blue, twisted, and eerie. In his panic, Tao Yi remained composed, relying on his experience. Quickly, he pulled out three coins from his pocket, swiftly sticking them to his forehead and temples. In an instant, the hallucinations vanished, but the trouble wasn't over.
"Stop…" The haunting voice echoed again, sending shivers down his spine. Seizing the opportunity, Tao Yi sprinted towards his home as fast as he could. The moment he crossed the threshold, the three coins slipped off his head, and with a thud, he collapsed at the door.
In his mind, Tao Yi cursed: "It's been years, and yet my life is back to being a horror movie!"
Zi Yue lay lazily on the floor, completely unbothered by Tao Yi's dramatic entrance. As he lay there, too weak to move, Tao Yi called out weakly, "Sister Yue, don't just stand by and watch me die…"
Zi Yue finally turned her head, glanced at him, and casually replied, "Hmm, it's just a wandering spirit…"
"Sister Yue…" Tao Yi's voice faded as his vision blurred. Ling Qing's twisted face filled his mind, her eerie smile and ghostly movements becoming all he could see.
Noticing that Tao Yi was genuinely slipping into a semi-conscious state, Zi Yue frowned. "Why don't I feel anything?" she wondered aloud. Normally, their connection would cause her to share Tao Yi's pain, but now, despite his suffering, she felt nothing. "Maybe spiritual attacks don't affect me?"
Stretching lazily, she strolled over to Tao Yi and gave him a light kick. "Hmm, still nothing," she mused with a mischievous grin.
BANG!
"Ow!" The sudden noise was Tao Yi crashing into the wall after Zi Yue had kicked him hard enough to send him flying. His scream followed immediately after—Zi Yue had felt the blow, too.
"Ouch! That stupid connection is still there!" Zi Yue winced, rubbing her aching backside.
Tao Yi, half-dazed, asked groggily, "Why did you kick me? And why are you screaming?"
"I'm scared of ghosts, okay?" Zi Yue huffed, unimpressed by his reaction.
"Okay, whatever…" Tao Yi muttered, slowly dragging himself to the kitchen. Despite the pain and the lingering presence of Ling Qing's spirit, his stomach growled—he was starving. As he fumbled through the fridge, grabbing a sausage to eat, he glanced at Zi Yue lounging on the floor.
"Sister Yue, can you please help me out? You killed him, after all. You can't just leave me to deal with this spirit," Tao Yi pleaded, his voice still weak.
Zi Yue scoffed. "I killed him? No way. I don't make mistakes like that. Besides, if he wants to haunt someone, he should come after me, not you. Not my problem."
Tao Yi rolled his eyes. "You're the one who said you didn't kill him… You know what, forget it. I'll just call my mom."
Just as Tao Yi slumped into a chair, an overwhelming wave of nausea hit him. "Dammit, Ling Qing, you're really torturing me here…" he muttered before dashing to the bathroom to vomit.
Meanwhile, Zi Yue was still sprawled out, unbothered. She watched TV casually, her face betraying no concern. "I guess these aren't serious injuries since I'm not feeling anything," she thought, somewhat amused by Tao Yi's predicament. It was the perfect situation: Tao Yi was being tormented, but she remained unharmed.
"Sister Yue… I don't think I can wait for my mom. Please help me, for the sake of those clothes I bought you…" Tao Yi's voice wavered as he stumbled out of the bathroom, barely keeping himself upright.
"Hmm, the clothes… Fine, I'll help you. Come, sister will protect you!" Zi Yue responded playfully, as though she'd been persuaded. But just as she was about to get up, a sudden realization hit her, and she narrowed her eyes. "Wait, where's my phone?"
"My… phone?" Tao Yi's face paled as he realized he had completely forgotten.
Seeing his expression, Zi Yue glared at him. "You forgot, didn't you?"
"…Yeah," Tao Yi admitted, nodding slowly.
"Well, in that case, you're on your own!" she snapped, throwing herself back onto her floor mattress and continuing to watch TV, her expression icy.
Tao Yi groaned, collapsing to the floor in defeat as Ling Qing's spirit continued to hover ominously nearby.
…
Half an hour passed, and Tao Yi was drooling on the floor, his expression vacant, his body trembling uncontrollably. Zi Yue, still lying on the ground, started to feel uncomfortable herself, but she could bear it. However, the stench from Tao Yi's vomiting was unbearable.
Pinching her nose, Zi Yue shot Tao Yi a venomous glare. "Why hasn't it tortured you to death yet?!"
As soon as she cursed him, Tao Yi's body suddenly stood up with a swift motion! Zi Yue raised an eyebrow, her attention fully drawn to this strange behavior.
"What kind of power does this spirit have? What's happening to Tao Yi's body?" she thought, recalling that spirits like Ling Qing could only harm people using enchanted objects imbued with special powers. Physical possession wasn't supposed to be this easy!
While Zi Yue wasn't sure exactly how Tao Yi's pain was affecting her, she knew she could only feel it if he was in extreme agony. At first, Ling Qing's spirit had only attacked Tao Yi mentally, but now it had escalated to a physical assault—something stronger had to be nearby amplifying the spirit's power.
"Could it be his body?" Zi Yue stared hard at Tao Yi. Since their first encounter, she had noticed something strange about him. His body exuded an aura that attracted malevolent spirits, turning them into vengeful entities. In simple terms, Tao Yi was a magnet for supernatural trouble. But even so, she never expected the effect to be this strong.
"Hey! Don't!" Zi Yue screamed as Tao Yi suddenly dashed towards the window.
"Get back here!" Zi Yue shot forward like an arrow, reaching Tao Yi in an instant. In her panic, she kicked him—hard.
"AHH!"
The scream wasn't from Tao Yi, but from Zi Yue herself.
Zi Yue was speechless. Hanging her head, she swore silently to herself: *I must break this stupid connection before I die!*
Tao Yi regained some clarity. Even though getting kicked didn't physically hurt him, it oddly snapped him back to his senses.
"Sister Yue, I'm the one getting kicked. Why are you the one screaming?" Tao Yi groaned weakly.
"Huh?... Oh no. Sister Yue, please help me! I swear I'll bring you a new phone tomorrow. If I don't, you can toss me out of the window! Please, I'm begging you…" Tao Yi begged, feeling his body moving against his will as he stood up again.
"I'm done… I'm about to pass out…" Tao Yi muttered before collapsing, standing stiffly like a zombie.
Seeing Tao Yi's strange posture, Zi Yue's eyes flashed with cold determination. "You're still not done causing trouble? Do you really want me to smash you into dust?"
Tao Yi stopped moving, a twisted grin creeping across his face as his features contorted. His eyes flipped back, turning completely white.
"Heh heh… No matter how strong you are, you can't hurt me. I'm not human," Tao Yi said, his voice distorted and eerie.
Zi Yue sneered. "Wanna bet?"
She began walking towards Tao Yi, the sneer on her face fading, replaced by a deadly calm. With a swift movement, she grabbed his neck. The grotesque smile disappeared from Tao Yi's face, replaced with a trembling, twisted expression of fear.
"How… how can you touch me?" the spirit within Tao Yi stammered.
With a quick tug, Zi Yue pulled a pale green, blurry figure out of Tao Yi's body. Tao Yi crumpled to the floor, his vacant eyes regaining their clarity.
The ghostly figure was none other than Ling Qing, her greenish-blue face filled with terror.
"You're not human, and neither am I." As Zi Yue spoke, her grip tightened.
Ling Qing's ghostly form dissipated, breaking apart into a smoky mist that gradually faded away until it vanished completely.
Zi Yue lightly kicked the motionless Tao Yi on the ground. "Stop pretending to be dead! And don't forget about the phone. If you forget again, I'll toss you out the window!"
Without another word, she went back to her floor mattress as if nothing had happened.
Tao Yi groggily sat up, rubbing his head. "Thanks, Sister Yue. I'll definitely bring you a phone tomorrow."
Zi Yue gave him a slight nod, barely acknowledging him.
Tao Yi lay on the ground for a while, slowly regaining his strength. Oddly enough, despite the pain of being possessed by a ghost, the aftereffects disappeared quickly, and he felt fine.
"Oh, by the way, Sister Yue, aren't you from another world? Why do you need a phone? Can you even make calls to another dimension?" Tao Yi asked, more out of curiosity than anything.
"To call you," Zi Yue replied with a flirtatious glance in Tao Yi's direction.
Tao Yi shivered, every hair on his body standing on end. Something was definitely off with Zi Yue today. That look she gave him just now—no way…
Tao Yi unconsciously took half a step back. *This isn't some lucky romance,* he thought. *This is a disaster! A curse disguised as romance!*
Zi Yue caught the movement out of the corner of her eye, and as Tao Yi backed away, a mischievous smile crossed her face. She turned back to him, her expression now one of deep affection.
Slowly, she stood up, taking a deep breath, her gaze locked onto Tao Yi.
At that moment, the air seemed to freeze, and time itself stopped.
"I told you this morning, I'd give you an answer when you came back tonight. So now's the time…"
"W-wait! Sister Yue, don't mess around! I'm still really weak!"
Zi Yue continued to approach him, inch by inch. Tao Yi trembled, backing up slowly. The scene was anything but harmonious…