"He's possessed by a ghost—run!"
Ye Cha had saved me twice before, so I instinctively chose to trust her words. Grabbing a wooden stick nearby, I swung it with all my might at the back of his head.
I didn't know what happened to the ghost possessing him, but I saw him roll his eyes back before collapsing to the ground.
"Lu—"
After all, he had been dragged into this mess while trying to protect me. Now he was possessed by a ghost, and I couldn't help but feel guilty. Just as I was about to check on him, I saw a puff of green smoke emerge from his body. My advancing steps halted abruptly, and I took a few steps back instead.
Since Lu Zhiqiu was unconscious now, those ghosts probably wouldn't harm him.
Without waiting to see the ghost's true form, I turned and randomly picked a direction to run. My speed was so fast it would've put my school's track records to shame.
I didn't know how far I ran or which direction I went. By the time I came to my senses, I found myself in a forest.
After sprinting so hard, I felt completely drained, my throat dry and sore. I stopped only when I couldn't run anymore, and that's when I noticed something was off about my surroundings.
"Where is this? Wasn't I just in the hospital? How did I end up in a forest?"
Ye Cha hadn't said a word for a while, which only made me more anxious. At this moment, I wasn't asking for much—just someone to talk to, even if that someone was a ghost.
"Ye Cha? Ye Cha?" I called out, panicked.
"I heard you! Are you summoning spirits now?"
Her irritated voice rang in my mind. Even though she was scolding me, it was comforting to know I wasn't completely alone.
"Why did you go silent all of a sudden? Do you know what's going on here?"
The hospital I stayed in was located in the city center, surrounded by tall buildings. Even the nearest park was a thirty-minute walk away, so there was no way a forest like this could exist nearby. How did I end up here?
"I didn't expect such an elaborate setup. Kid, your luck is truly something else. Some people never encounter this in their lifetime, and you've stumbled upon it as soon as you entered this world."
Did I just hear excitement in her tone?
Was this really the time for that? Judging by her reaction, this must be a tough opponent.
"What do we do now?"
"This is the work of a 'Di Gui'—a ground ghost. Only a Di Gui possesses the ability to silently transport people hundreds of kilometers away in an instant."
You've got to be kidding me.
I had read about Di Gui before. Not only did its name appear on the first page of Yin-Yang Chronicles, but its powers were described as godlike. It could transport people miles away in a blink and was a fully-fledged vengeful ghost, which required at least a century to form.
I never expected that the mastermind behind everything was a Di Gui. The mother-son duo and the corpse ghost were all part of its scheme. And now, I'd been dumped in the middle of nowhere.
I could already imagine tomorrow's headlines: "Man Found Dead in Remote Wilderness."
"What am I supposed to do now? I could still resist the corpse ghost before, but against a Di Gui…" This world wasn't kind to me. I just wanted to go home.
As soon as I finished speaking, a flash of red light appeared, and Ye Cha stood before me. This time, I saw her face clearly. Honestly, I'd never seen a woman more beautiful than Ning Manwan. Dressed in ancient robes, her oval face was so striking that it was impossible to look away.
She cast a sharp glare at me, and I quickly averted my eyes, scolding myself internally. Staring at a ghost—how foolish could I be?
Perhaps it was because I knew she wouldn't kill me for now, but seeing her appear before me didn't scare me as much as it used to.
"Why are you here?" I asked.
"You're not qualified to work with me yet, but the jade pendant doesn't want you dead, so I won't kill you. I'll lead you out of here."
With that, she turned and started walking ahead.
Hearing her say she'd guide me out, I followed without hesitation.
Her steps were methodical, alternating between the eight cardinal directions—sometimes left, sometimes right—leaving me dizzy and disoriented.
"It should be daylight by now, but there's no light here. That means the Yin energy here far surpasses the Yang energy, creating ghost mist. This mist directly obscures the daylight, turning it into eternal night. You can't see it, but this place is filled with ghost mist and moisture. One wrong step, and you'll lose your way and never get out."
Ye Cha suddenly started explaining.
"How do you know all this?" I asked. The forest stretched endlessly in all directions, and I couldn't see the ghost mist she mentioned. She said it should be daylight now, but when I checked my watch, the hands had stopped moving. I had lost all sense of time.
"If you rely solely on modern technology to gauge time, you'll die from your ignorance one day. Once you apprentice under that teacher of yours, he'll explain everything."
After that, Ye Cha fell silent again. I continued following her for an unknown length of time. Suddenly, the path ahead brightened, and as the first ray of sunlight hit me, I felt dizzy, my skin burning painfully. I quickly retreated behind a tree.
I tentatively reached my hand into the sunlight, only for searing pain to shoot through every part of my body.
"Ye Cha, what's happening to me?"
I wasn't dead, so why was I afraid of sunlight?
No matter how much I asked, Ye Cha didn't answer. Muttering complaints about her unreliability, I leaned against the tree to wait for sunset.
After a night of exhausting turmoil, I was already worn out. It didn't take long before I fell asleep against the tree.
In my drowsy state, I caught a faint whiff of tuberose. I tried to open my eyes, but my body was too tired. Despite multiple attempts, I couldn't wake up, and the last thing I remembered before falling into a deep sleep was the scent of tuberose.
Ring ring ring—
I woke to the sound of an annoying ringing. Still groggy, I grabbed my phone.
"Hello?"
"Thank goodness you finally answered! Where have you been?" came Lin Zhao's relieved voice.
Hearing his voice jolted me awake. Looking around, I realized I was in an unfamiliar room, though the smell was familiar. I was back in the hospital. But I distinctly remembered falling asleep in the wilderness, miles away from any sign of life.
How did I end up back in the hospital?
Wait—the tuberose scent!
Half-asleep, I had indeed smelled it.