The feeling of being a ghost was actually quite wonderful. Qi Xu lay in midair, holding her phone as she thought this.
The Vice Bureau Chief told Qi Xu not to worry. Her body had been rescued and was now in the ICU, still in a coma. As long as Qi Xu returned to her body, she could recover normally.
It was just… she had a bit of a concussion again.
Qi Xu had originally planned to return to her body directly, but Xia Zhiming had not come back yet, so she felt a little worried. She kept her ghost form, at least so that if any emergencies arose, she could help Xia Zhiming or protect herself.
Although Xia Zhiming was quite strong and did not seem to need her help.
The Vice Bureau Chief simply pulled her into a temporary group chat titled “Ghost Taxi Incident Discussion Group.” It was a complete mess inside, with a bunch of people reporting information—one moment it was ghost taxis on this road, the next it was victims of ghost taxis found on that avenue.
The lucky ones got into car accidents and were taken away by ambulances; the unlucky ones were killed horribly on the streets by the ghosts.
Her colleagues were rushing everywhere because of the ghost taxis, doing their best to keep things under control. It was through her colleagues’ messages that Qi Xu learned about Xia Zhiming, who had been busy dealing with those ghosts.
Ghost taxis were hard to deal with because they were very fast, each one hitting 140 km/h, which made things extremely difficult for the investigators.
They could not catch up to the ghost taxis, even if they drove at 140 km/h themselves, because those were ghost taxis—they would suddenly vanish into the Ghost Domain the next moment, leaving nothing to see. The Vice Bureau Chief had already deduced some intelligence: the reason these ghost taxis’ Ghost Domains were mobile was that… their Ghost Domains were right on the vehicles.
The cars could drive and move, so the Ghost Domains could too. It made perfect sense.
But Xia Zhiming could stop them.
Because she did not care about her life.
Qi Xu heard one investigator roaring in a voice message. She tapped it, and it said: “That lunatic Xia Zhiming! She drove straight into it! While crashing, she was yelling, ‘So you think you can ram this old lady, huh?! This old lady will show you—your taxi is no match for my SUV! Cackle cackle cackle, go die!’ She has no regard for her life! Crashing like that! She almost hit me too!”
It was exactly the kind of thing Xia Zhiming would do. And that investigator’s imitation of “cackle cackle cackle” really captured her vibe.
Qi Xu listened, and her little heart pounded. She always felt that this would not do! Xia Zhiming was just a mortal body of flesh and blood, after all. Driving like that to crash into ghosts was truly suicidal!
Moreover, Xia Zhiming was just one person, but there were many ghost taxis—at least ten being reported in the group at the same time. They appeared randomly on roads all over Xintan City, ready to take lives at any moment.
One person like Xia Zhiming could not handle it all!
Qi Xu knew this clearly. Everyone in the group was helping, but the results were minimal. Someone had even suggested ramming the ghost taxis like Xia Zhiming, but the Vice Bureau Chief stopped them.
【Nonsense! Do you think you’re Xia Zhiming? You gonna go crash? Do you want to live?! If you die, you’re really gone. Alive, you can save more people! Don’t pull that suicide squad crap!】
【If this doesn’t work and that doesn’t work, then what do we do?!】
Qi Xu pursed her lips. She thought she could handle a few herself. Her flight speed was faster than the ghost taxis, and she seemed to have a natural restraint against ghosts. When those ghosts touched her, the yin energy on their bodies would be absorbed by her.
She was practically their natural predator.
Xia Zhiming had told her to stay put obediently at home, but she was a college student, and Xia Zhiming was the one acting crazy—why should she stay obediently? Qi Xu thought it over and still did not follow Xia Zhiming’s instructions to stay honestly in the apartment.
She prepared to head out. After hesitating between flying out the window arrogantly or taking the elevator like a normal person, she chose the latter.
She could not really treat herself as a full ghost! When she needed to act human, she should act human.
Once she reached the first floor, Qi Xu had planned to fly off directly. But then she saw a taxi stop right in front of her. She tilted her head and glanced at the driver. In her current state, the driver’s true form was obvious to Qi Xu—it was a ghost.
Without hesitation, Qi Xu opened the rear door and got in.
“Go to…” Qi Xu gave an address. The Taxi Driver Ghost responded, and soon its speed shot up to 140 km/h. Not long after, the car stereo started playing 1149 Late Night Radio. It was still that same story about the female passenger in the back seat of the taxi who was actually a ghost.
The Taxi Driver Ghost spoke casually, as if offhand: “Little girl, where are you headed so late at night in cosplay clothes? The convention’s over, right? You wouldn’t be off to blow some guys, would you…” Qi Xu realized one thing—these Taxi Driver Ghosts really loved saying disgusting things.
Qi Xu blinked. Unlike when she was alive and felt offended, now she found it somewhat amusing. When the power gap reached a certain level, the weak one’s attacks just became a joke.
“Yeah, didn’t I call for a blowjob?” As she spoke, her voice carried a eerie ghostly chill. The radio broadcast continued: 【Little did he know, the passenger sitting behind the taxi driver was actually a female ghost! Her face was deathly pale, without a trace of blood color, only a pair of pitch-black eyes emitting a eerie green glow in the night…】
“Is this blowjob to your liking?”
Qi Xu leaned forward a bit, and her palm directly pressed onto the Taxi Driver Ghost’s shoulder. It stiffly turned its face and saw a face as white as paper. Those eyes were exceptionally black, darker than the night outside, empty inside—only its own reflection visible.
Most terrifyingly, the Taxi Driver Ghost clearly felt its yin energy leaking out wildly through the hand she had placed on its shoulder. It wanted to escape, but it was too late. Even before Qi Xu could react, the Taxi Driver Ghost turned into a mass of black gas and surged directly into her body.
After the Taxi Driver Ghost was gone, the taxi reverted to its original battered scrap state. Qi Xu got out of the taxi, her steps a little unsteady. It was not that her body felt uncomfortable; rather, after absorbing the yin energy, she felt like she had been drinking—now she was in a tipsy state.
Yin energy was actually pretty tasty.
“Burp.”
Yin energy was delicious to consume, and yang energy was too. But Xia Zhiming always rationed the yang energy, not letting her have more; yin energy was different. She did not even need to actively absorb it—as long as she maintained her ghost body and stood there, the scattered yin energy in the world would flow into her. But that amount was sparse and hard to notice.
Meeting a ghost was different. Sucking one dry felt like chugging a bottle of beer or cracking open an ice-cold cola on a summer day—pure refreshment.
The only problem was that Qi Xu’s tolerance and demeanor when “drunk” were both poor. She shook her head, feeling her consciousness blurring. She barely stayed clear-headed, but her right hand shot up: “Today, this old lady is going for revenge! Let Xia Zhiming see how awesome this old lady is!”
Yeah, she was drunk.
If she were sober, Qi Xu definitely would not say such things—she was too refined for that. But now, in her dizzy state, her speech had become unrestrained.
In this not-quite-sober state, however, she seemed better able to use her powers. Black Fog roiled and enveloped her. When her figure reemerged, she was already seated in the black sedan that had once appeared before the Stone Spirit. With no ready evil ghosts to carry it, the surging black gas around her simply formed a group of sedan bearers itself.
They had no proper form, just clumps of fog barely holding a humanoid shape. Their shoulders wedged under the sedan poles, they huffed and puffed like old oxen and lifted the sedan up.
Black Fog spread, evil ghosts wailed lowly, and under the eerie ghostly aura, with Qi Xu’s command of “Lift the sedan,” it slowly rose.
Qi Xu was delighted, slouching crookedly inside as she set off to settle scores with the ghost taxis. But the investigator in their apartment area suddenly widened her eyes, unsure what to do. Anyone seeing this scene would feel overwhelmed.
It was July weather—even late at night, it was sweltering. But suddenly, the temperature around them dropped by over ten degrees, and even their breath was faintly visible. Such a drastic chill was unnatural and bound to herald something demonic. Before the investigator could figure it out, nearby ordinary people started commenting on the oddity.
“Why’s it suddenly so cold? The forecast didn’t say anything about a cooldown.”
“Achoo, this hot-cold fluctuation won’t give me a cold, will it?”
The investigator whipped her head around, realizing something was gravely wrong. Ghosts, without deploying their Ghost Domain, could hardly affect ordinary people. As someone who dealt with ghosts often, the investigator was more sensitive to them, and her body reacted faster. But now, without even a Ghost Domain deployed, ordinary people had noticed—imagine how powerful this ghost must be!
What worried the investigator most was that she was right in a busy downtown area, on duty specifically to prevent ghost taxis from appearing here and harming civilians. This suddenly appearing ghost was completely different from the previous ghost taxis—it was one she had never seen before! With everyone busy dealing with the ghost taxis, the sudden emergence of such an unknown powerful entity could cause massive casualties!
The investigator was just about to send a voice message in the group when she froze. The hairs on her back stood on end, goosebumps erupting all over. Her body was screaming at her, “Danger, run!” The signal was so clear she could not ignore it.
“Run!…” The investigator instinctively wanted to shout for those around her to leave quickly, but the immense pressure from behind sealed her words. Black Fog hugged low to the ground, creeping sinuously from behind. Then, bit by bit, the fog enveloped the entire area.
“Huh? Fog’s rolling in?” The surrounding ordinary people even seemed a bit pleased about the fog.
So exciting