The middle-aged Toad male ghost had probably never experienced such pure love in its previous life. In its life, there might not have even been love, only exchanges of benefits, so it found it hard to understand Qi Xu’s mindset.
Qi Xu’s views on romance were ridiculously healthy and positive, the kind of words only a college student who had never been beaten down by society could utter. Once one entered society and thought more deeply, they could no longer be limited to things like love and affection; they had to consider more.
Was there enough money for rent? Was there enough for food?
Qi Xu did not need to think about these things. She could purely fall in love. But then again, with Qi Xu’s personality, even if faced with financial hardships, she would definitely face them with a smile. Even if squeezed into a ten-or-so-square-meter rental with her lover, she could happily spend every day.
It was precisely this clean and pure Qi Xu who could remain unmoved no matter how the middle-aged Toad male ghost tempted her, never giving the glib-tongued middle-aged Toad male ghost any opportunity.
The middle-aged Toad male ghost was clearly somewhat broken. It could not gain anything from Qi Xu because she had not budged even a little. For every deal or choice it proposed, she chose rejection.
Since the soft approach failed, the middle-aged Toad male ghost wanted to go hard. It eyed the Trading Tea Tray on the table, the six ancient coins and white paper in the cup. The middle-aged Toad male ghost perked up again. It said to Qi Xu, “What about what you owed me before? You already took my Borrow-Life Red Envelope. The ancient coins are yours! Are you trying to welch on the debt?”
The middle-aged Toad male ghost grew more agitated as it spoke, even standing up entirely. Its massive belly pressed against the table, shoving it forward a bit. When it stood, the belly landed directly on the table—a thick, flabby slab, so fat.
Qi Xu’s gaze naturally fell on the middle-aged Toad male ghost’s belly. It wore a shirt that was already quite large, but its belly still burst it open. The shirt’s hem failed to cover the belly, leaving the whole thing exposed.
Its belly was very pale, but the skin tone was not enviable—it was a grayish white, the kind after a person had been dead for ten days. The belly was particularly round but not filled out with flesh. Its skin sagged like liquid onto the table, making it feel like a slippery, disgusting pile had landed there.
The middle-aged Toad male ghost felt no shame, though; it took pride in it.
It tried to straighten its body, and the belly jiggled along.
It was so disgusting that Qi Xu looked away, shifting her gaze to the middle-aged Toad male ghost’s face instead. For someone of this tonnage, baring such a ferocious expression was actually quite scary. Its eyes narrowed into slits, struggling to widen but still tiny, yet vicious glares leaked from those slits, making it look savage.
Qi Xu watched for a moment without fear and replied very seriously, “I have never borrowed money without repaying or welched on a debt. I hardly even use buy-now-pay-later services. My views on money are also well-formed.”
“…Then! Return the yin energy to me!”
“Wait until I turn back into my ghost body, and I’ll return it.”
Its tiny eyes darted around, clearly scheming something nefarious. The middle-aged Toad male ghost’s body was so corpulent that even as a ghost, it could not stand for long. It huffed twice, making pig-like snorts, and squeezed back into its seat.
“Then kneel to my human form first to show loyalty.”
“No.”
Qi Xu rejected it again. Though she did not know why these ghosts all wanted her to kneel, she definitely would not oblige them.
“You still owe me yin energy!”
“One debt at a time. I’ll repay the yin energy you lent with my ghost body. My human form doesn’t owe you anything. I’ve clearly rejected every single thing you proposed just now.” If not for the fact that this middle-aged Toad male ghost could reduce her yin energy a bit, Qi Xu would not have agreed to even one thing with it.
Of course, this was also her way of keeping the middle-aged Toad male ghost stable.
Deep down, she was still a bit anxious. She had been chatting with the middle-aged Toad male ghost here for quite a while, but Xia Zhiming still had not arrived. She worried the middle-aged Toad male ghost had some backup plan to control Xia Zhiming.
Qi Xu knew all too well how obvious Xia Zhiming’s weaknesses were.
Xia Zhiming was out early and back late every day handling matters. Though Qi Xu did not know what, it must have been important to her. If the middle-aged Toad male ghost used those matters to tempt Xia Zhiming, she might fall for it.
Beyond that, during the Ghost Bride incident last time, what the Stinky Fortune-Teller had said afterward about Xia Zhiming’s master also concerned Qi Xu greatly. Xia Zhiming clearly felt differently about her master; she truly wanted to kill him. If the middle-aged Toad male ghost used that now… Xia Zhiming would take the bait.
Qi Xu was no fool, but the middle-aged Toad male ghost across from her clearly was not either. Qi Xu’s acting had improved, sure, but the middle-aged Toad male ghost had been an old fox in life, filling its bowl to the brim. Its grasp of human hearts was not to be underestimated.
With just one glance, it saw through Qi Xu’s thoughts.
It chuckled gleefully, but vicious light and scheming burst from its sesame-seed-sized eyes. “You like that female Daoist, right? You wouldn’t want her to die, would you? But right now, she’s facing a pitiful twenty-something male college student completely under my control. She’s a Daoist, an investigator—surely full of compassion. Facing a living person like that, could she strike?”
At this point, Qi Xu actually felt okay. Because Xia Zhiming was not the type to be bound by morals; she had none.
But the next words made Qi Xu not want to listen.
“Then, I’ll go over and join that college student for a pincer attack on her. That Daoist won’t have a chance to live.”
Qi Xu was not the only one stalling for time; in truth, the middle-aged Toad male ghost was too. Its intent to delay was not obvious until now. According to what it had said, it should have instantly ditched Qi Xu to find Xia Zhiming, link up with the male college student, and kill Xia Zhiming.
Yet it sat there calmly, chatting useless nonsense with Qi Xu. So… it actually believed that male college student could handle Xia Zhiming and then rendezvous with it.
Qi Xu did not know why this middle-aged Toad male ghost was so confident in an ordinary male college student handling Xia Zhiming, but she panicked.
Right now, she was truly worried about Xia Zhiming.
So much so that after the middle-aged Toad male ghost said this, Qi Xu’s expression changed. Her originally bright, vibrant eyes clouded over with thick black fog, and she blurted out, “You dare.”
After saying this, the middle-aged Toad male ghost’s face also twisted oddly. Qi Xu paused, then realized her line of sight was off. She had been sitting face-to-face with the middle-aged Toad male ghost at eye level, but now her gaze was far higher, looking down imperiously, even seeing its sparsely haired bald scalp.
Qi Xu glanced down and understood: she had turned into her ghost body.
Huh? She had transformed into her ghost body so easily?
In that instant, Qi Xu suddenly gained enlightenment. Transforming into the ghost body was actually simple—as long as she absorbed enough yin energy, or—when massive negative thoughts surged in her heart.
What she had just heard from the middle-aged Toad male ghost was uncontrollable; dark ideas crawled through her mind, erupting huge malice. She wanted to tear the middle-aged Toad male ghost before her to shreds. That must have been why she transformed.
She had grasped the secret of transformation, but Qi Xu felt no joy. She was usually quite positive and upward, with little malice. Even online arguments were rare for her. For such a person to harbor heavy malice and negative thoughts was actually very hard.
Moreover, Qi Xu did not like being dominated by negative emotions.
Beside Qi Xu’s human form, another chair appeared. Qi Xu’s expression was poor, but she still sat down. Because she remembered she owed that ghost a total of thirty jin of yin energy. Qi Xu settled into the chair and stared straight at the middle-aged Toad male ghost.
From the middle-aged Toad male ghost’s perspective now, the scene was quite bizarre.
At this moment, two identical chairs across from it held one person and one ghost. The human had her hands folded in her lap, body leaning back in the chair, head slightly tilted, eyes closed tight. She looked asleep.
Even so, one could see the serene tranquility on her face. Just the atmosphere showed a girl with a very good personality who loved to smile.
Beside her sat a ghost identical in face, height, and build—like a one-to-one copy. Her hands folded in her lap, she sat ramrod straight, chin slightly raised, a pair of pitch-black eyes gazing calmly and impassively at the middle-aged Toad male ghost.
That slightly raised chin and indifferent gaze alone revealed her arrogance.
Black fog roiled densely around her, thick enough to drip like water, weighing down the atmosphere even more.
She wore a black ceremonial robe, a white-and-green jade pendant set hanging at her waist. She looked like she belonged to another world.
The middle-aged Toad male ghost felt sweat beading on its forehead. The scene before it exerted huge psychological pressure, but to steady Qi Xu, it composed itself and said, “You still owe me thirty jin of yin energy! Don’t think you can welch!”
The ghost body Qi Xu looked at it for a moment and nodded expressionlessly.
On the Trading Tea Tray on the table, an ancient-patterned black cup suddenly appeared. Then Qi Xu’s black fog crept up the table like tiny tentacles, one tip dipping into the cup’s mouth. Soon, black fog filled the cup, turning into black liquid.
It was just a small cup, but somehow held an enormous amount.
It took a good while before Qi Xu stopped. The black fog tentacle retracted to her side. The cup held only black water now, with a layer of white mist drifting on top.
The middle-aged Toad male ghost’s eyes went wide. The black water and mist had turned white, proving it had left Qi Xu’s control and become ownerless yin energy. It was impossible for the middle-aged Toad male ghost not to crave such yin energy.
It eagerly picked it up and drained it in one gulp.
But Qi Xu’s expression was far from good, because even after handing over thirty jin, the yin energy around her had not diminished in the slightest.
