Now, Qi Xu felt that she already understood Xia Zhiming’s personality quite well. As for Xia Zhiming’s actual situation, she knew nothing at all. Xia Zhiming had always been a fun-loving troublemaker, and Qi Xu figured that even if she asked directly, Xia Zhiming would just make her guess.
Getting information on Xia Zhiming from the Vice Bureau Chief would seem impolite, so Qi Xu had always been stuck in this awkward outsider position.
But now, Xia Zhiming hadn’t avoided her at all and directly mentioned a certain someone. This person was making their first appearance to Qi Xu, but the other two present showed no surprise whatsoever.
There was no need to mention the Stinky Fortune-Teller; he didn’t even say a single “How did you know?” and directly acknowledged that it was Xia Zhiming’s master’s doing. As for the Vice Bureau Chief, she showed no disagreement either. Clearly, she knew of Xia Zhiming’s master as well.
“That old coot spends all day stirring up mischief. If this lady runs into him, the first thing she’ll do is kill him off and send him straight to the Western Paradise.”
Xia Zhiming unreservedly vented her malice toward her master. This wasn’t the kind of joking “Just die already” one might say to a friend; she genuinely wanted him dead, and by her own hand at that.
Qi Xu instinctively felt this was off. As someone raised under the red flag, her first reaction was: Killing is wrong. But now Xia Zhiming was trash-talking the Stinky Fortune-Teller across from her. If Qi Xu jumped in at this point with nagging objections, wouldn’t that ruin Xia Zhiming’s face? So Qi Xu chose to stay quiet and let Xia Zhiming do her thing.
Qi Xu thought killing was wrong, while the Stinky Fortune-Teller opposite her thought Xia Zhiming killing her master was wrong. He frowned and tried to persuade her: “Hey now, don’t say that. He’s still your master, after all. If you do that, it’d be a grave sin of filial impiety.”
Xia Zhiming flipped off the Stinky Fortune-Teller: “Mind your own business.”
Then she laughed again: “You’re a useless piece of trash too, getting played around by that old fart without him even lifting a finger. You jumped out and started things yourself? You’re truly the world’s biggest idiot.”
The Stinky Fortune-Teller had no comeback to Xia Zhiming’s scolding. He glanced at Qi Xu and said, “I didn’t know the guy was that strong either. If I’d known earlier, I definitely would’ve prepared some backup plans.”
“Go regret it all you want. With the things you’ve done, the authorities won’t just let you off without feeding you peanuts.”
Xia Zhiming’s words plunged the Stinky Fortune-Teller into silence. After a long while, he sighed: “Can’t I really apply to atone for my crimes with merits? This old Daoist has some skills, especially at catching ghosts—it’s a piece of cake. Your line of work has such high casualty rates; you must be short on talent. Letting this old Daoist join would be like gaining a great general, right?”
“Hahaha, as if we’d ever let you join. Don’t think just because the Third Bureau is full of the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled—plus one half-dead—not that the Vice Bureau Chief and Bureau Chief are stubborn as hell. They’d die before letting scum like you into the bureau.”
Old: Granny Li outside was indeed advanced in age, with snow-white hair. Weak: Zhang Ziyue didn’t look strong at all, so weak fit. Sick and disabled: Qi Xu wasn’t sure who that referred to specifically, but the Vice Bureau Chief might count. And the half-dead one was herself.
Qi Xu sighed to herself; the Third Bureau really was done for.
Xia Zhiming seemed to have come just to throw harsh words. After saying her piece, she prepared to leave, but Qi Xu grabbed her: “I still have things to ask!”
Xia Zhiming sat back down impatiently and glared at Qi Xu, signaling her to hurry up and ask. Qi Xu knew Xia Zhiming wouldn’t give her much time or let her ask too many questions, so she went straight to what she saw as the core issue.
“Why do you all want me to kneel?”
This was the conclusion Qi Xu had reached after thinking it over. Tiger Granny and the Inverted Hanging Ghost from the Vivid Red Hotel aside—they were just greedy for her. But looking back now, the Stone Spirit and Ghost Bride had both obsessively wanted her to kneel to them.
Back in the Ghost Bride’s Ghost Domain, Qi Xu hadn’t figured out why she had to bow as a couple with her, but then she realized it wasn’t about bowing to her—it was fundamentally about making her kneel. And at the temple fair, that Stone Spirit had mentioned kneeling once or twice as well.
It wasn’t surprising Qi Xu thought so deeply about it, because her own ghost body had been weird too, inexplicably making ghosts kneel to her left and right. To repeat: Qi Xu was a fine youth of the new era raised under the red flag. She absolutely had no feudal superstitious ideas and didn’t find pleasure in others kneeling before her.
But with this clue, tracing back to the source revealed that both the Ghost Bride and Stone Spirit had wanted her to kneel.
This point was utterly baffling.
Why? Did she have gold under her knees or something? Why insist on her kowtowing?
Truth be told, kneeling wasn’t something Qi Xu couldn’t accept. At least kneeling properly in front of Xia Zhiming held no resistance for her. It might have to do with her masochistic tendencies, but more accurately, Qi Xu didn’t mind playing something different with Xia Zhiming.
Of course, being inexplicably forced to kneel to others? She wasn’t having it.
This was a new society of equality; Qi Xu really didn’t want to kneel to anyone else. Yet those ghosts seemed obsessed with making her kneel to them.
It couldn’t be that she was some strange treasure where kneeling to her would boost their power or extend their lifespan.
Precisely because she couldn’t figure it out, Qi Xu asked about it. At her question, the Stinky Fortune-Teller across from her was instantly dumbfounded. He glanced at Xia Zhiming, and Qi Xu followed his gaze. Xia Zhiming showed no reaction, sitting calmly. Even as the Stinky Fortune-Teller looked over, she said:
“Why are you looking at me? If you wanna say it, say it.”
The Stinky Fortune-Teller chuckled a few times, but Qi Xu heard the strain in it. He probably wasn’t planning to tell her.
As Qi Xu expected, the Stinky Fortune-Teller rubbed his hands and smiled at her: “This matter… it’s hard to say, hard to say. If I spill it, I’m as good as dead.”
“You’re not far from death anyway.” This came from Xia Zhiming. The Stinky Fortune-Teller choked at her words but still didn’t give Qi Xu an answer.
Qi Xu got it—this bunch were all riddlemen. Seeing that the Stinky Fortune-Teller had no intention of answering, she switched questions: “Then do you know any way for a ghost to turn back into a human?”
The Stinky Fortune-Teller’s eyes widened: “How could there be? ‘The dead can’t come back to life’—haven’t you heard that? A ghost is what a person becomes after death. Once dead, how could it turn back into a human?!”
Qi Xu grew even more displeased; after all, she wasn’t actually dead—just a living person sort of dead. Why couldn’t she turn back? After blurting it out, the Stinky Fortune-Teller realized why Qi Xu was asking. He sized her up and down, then said only: “You’re different.”
Qi Xu had no idea in what way she was different.
In the end, she got nothing out of the Stinky Fortune-Teller. She and Xia Zhiming left one after the other. Before going, the Stinky Fortune-Teller reminded Qi Xu: “Today is the Hungry Ghost Festival. Don’t wander out at night, or watch out for other ghosts dragging you off!”
Qi Xu didn’t understand why he cared so much about her, but she agreed anyway.
By the time they got in the car, it was already bright outside. At the apartment building, they didn’t rush upstairs. Instead, they grabbed some breakfast at a nearby stall to tide them over. Xia Zhiming ate fast and a lot, but her appetite couldn’t compare to Qi Xu’s no matter what.
That morning, Qi Xu downed four big steamed buns, two big bowls of porridge, plus two tea eggs and two youtiao. A little girl eating so much made the stall owner gawk: “Little miss, you sure can pack it away…”
The key was, Qi Xu wasn’t even fat.
The owner had no idea; Qi Xu had only eaten to about sixty or seventy percent full. Eating too much wasn’t good for the body either.
Back in the apartment, Xia Zhiming headed upstairs to catch up on sleep. She’d been tossed around plenty by Qi Xu last night and early this morning. After waiting for her to go up, Qi Xu gave the place a quick tidy.
Yesterday, Xia Zhiming had plopped right on the sofa in her filthy Daoist robe and even specially reminded her to clean up, so Qi Xu hadn’t dared forget. She grabbed the mite remover and went to town on the sofa. But the machine was so loud that Xia Zhiming upstairs poked her head out.
“Can’t you wait until afternoon to clean?! Are you blind or deaf? Can’t you see I’m sleeping?!”
Qi Xu hadn’t thought of that and could only sincerely apologize. With her good attitude, Xia Zhiming grumbled a bit but didn’t keep scolding. Just before Xia Zhiming turned to go back in, Qi Xu suddenly asked:
“Xia Zhiming, when you said you’d help me find a way to turn back human, were you serious? Have you been looking?”
Silence fell between them.
The atmosphere between the two turned a bit strange. If you ignored their expressions and just looked at their body language right then, it was like a slice-of-life painting. Qi Xu stood downstairs holding the mite remover, head tilted up gazing at Xia Zhiming. Xia Zhiming leaned over the second-floor railing, looking down at Qi Xu.
If they’d chatted about some household trivialities just then, it would’ve had a real homey family vibe.
But in reality, the question Qi Xu asked had nothing to do with that atmosphere.
Xia Zhiming looked down imperiously at Qi Xu for a good while, her gaze full of scrutiny. After a moment, she asked: “Are you doubting me?”
“Because that Daoist said there’s no way to bring the dead back to life.”
And so many days had passed without Qi Xu feeling like Xia Zhiming had been working hard to help her turn human. But her words seemed to upset Xia Zhiming. She wanted to beat Qi Xu so badly that she didn’t even bother with the stairs—Xia Zhiming just climbed onto the railing.
Seeing that, Qi Xu guessed Xia Zhiming meant to jump right down. Her scalp tingled. She tossed the mite remover aside, shouting “Xia Zhiming, don’t!” while bracing to catch her.
How willful was Xia Zhiming? She really jumped from the second floor. But with her skills, she landed without a scratch and even pinned Qi Xu right onto the sofa.
