Chapter 8

Just as its stone tentacles were about to touch the bubble shield, in the next moment, the Stone Spirit precisely sensed that it could not advance a single step further. Its stone mouth was just about to split into a creepy grin, ready to spout wild nonsense at Xia Zhiming, but in the next moment, its expression froze on its face.

Because that peachwood sword plunged straight into its tentacle, severing it. With that, it lost all semblance of order.

It raised its head and saw Xia Zhiming’s smile, even more ferocious than its own.

“Hahaha, you didn’t think you could just run away, did you? I already told you, I’ve been investigating you for a long time.” Xia Zhiming let go of the peachwood sword, spun around, and sat squarely on the Stone Spirit’s body. Casually, she used her toe to nudge Qi Xu on the ground.

Qi Xu seemed to feel the force and the pain, letting out a soft hum.

“The stone you’re possessing has been worshipped by the villagers here for years, so it must have developed something extraordinary. And you, you just happened to discover that and possessed this statue as a little ghost. Local customs here bury the dead in nearby field ridges, under their own altars or in thickets with a tombstone. You, you’re probably just a villager from around here.”

“After all these years, you finally merged with the statue. It would’ve been fine if you’d stayed put and done nothing, but no, you had to stir up trouble.”

Xia Zhiming’s mouth ran nonstop as she spilled all the details. The Stone Spirit listened, trembling, wondering how this woman knew so much. It had just been pondering why Xia Zhiming was telling it all this.

Then Xia Zhiming changed tack: “But I’m still pretty curious. You were originally just an Earthbound Spirit dead stone holed up in the village, never stepping out the door—how did you learn about Qi Xu and pull off all this?”

The Stone Spirit froze, finally understanding why Xia Zhiming had said so much to it.

It felt steady again. It could use this secret to manipulate Xia Zhiming. It knew people had weaknesses, and Xia Zhiming had plenty: worrying about the living person it held captive, wanting info from it… As long as there were weaknesses, negotiation was possible, manipulation was possible.

As a ghost, though it had always shrunk back, it was sharp on human affairs. It was confident it could go toe-to-toe with Xia Zhiming.

But right at that moment, as it confidently lifted its head, it found Xia Zhiming looking down at it. She hung her head upside down, her eyes gleaming with a light the Stone Spirit couldn’t comprehend, her face twisted in a wicked grin: “Oh dear, you don’t think I’d let you manipulate me with that intel, do you? Honestly, whether I know or not doesn’t matter to me. More importantly, I still think you’d be better off dead.”

【！】

The Stone Spirit nearly spat up old blood from its throat. In that instant, it truly felt the woman before it was insane, spouting nonsense with no idea what she was doing! Strangely, Xia Zhiming seemed to read its mood. She narrowed her eyes, swung her legs dangling from its stone body, looking utterly relaxed.

Those fierce ghosts actually wanted to cause trouble for Xia Zhiming, but the golden light of the five elements eight trigrams array kept them all blocked outside.

“I don’t have many hobbies, just like teasing people. No people around? Teasing ghosts works too. And every time you think you can manipulate me, only for your hopes to shatter—it’s just so human, so hilarious.”

‘—No way, is she nuts?!’

The Stone Spirit watched as Xia Zhiming jumped off its body, picked up the peachwood sword, and prepared to smash its head. Before its soul scattered, it hurled its most vicious curse at Xia Zhiming: 【You’ll crash and burn for sure! You will!】

A villain like her would die someday from talking too much!

Xia Zhiming just shrugged indifferently. After dealing with the Stone Spirit, she turned to face that group of little ghosts.

She wouldn’t let a single one of these things go. But playing with little ghosts was no fun—their minds weren’t right, totally boring. After handling the little ghosts, she returned to Qi Xu’s side and prodded her with the peachwood sword. Tilting her head, she revealed a smile on her face: “Aww, you’re still the most fun.”

Qi Xu, in her coma, couldn’t help but shiver.

Qi Xu woke up.

She woke up once more. She always felt that in this short time, she kept passing out and waking, waking and passing out. Strangely, she hadn’t forgotten what she’d done during her blackouts. She remembered perfectly how mad, domineering, cool, and flashy she’d been, even with barely any consciousness left.

After waking, she stared at the unfamiliar ceiling for a moment before realizing she was in a hospital. She sat up in bed and keenly noticed a layer of gauze wrapped around her head. On the bedside table next to her was a bag—the kind hospitals used for X-rays.

Qi Xu looked at it for a bit, confirmed it was for her bed, and reached out to grab the bag. Opening it, she found several sheets with her name on them. Flipping through, she saw the diagnosis: mild concussion.

Not surprising. She remembered taking a heavy blow to the head when her friend tackled her to the ground. If that didn’t cause a concussion, what would?

What she didn’t know was that after returning to her body, she’d fully passed out. Otherwise, she’d realize Xia Zhiming was partly to blame. That release which let Qi Xu smash into the ground was enough for a concussion.

Qi Xu was reviewing her medical report when she suddenly heard a toilet flush from the bathroom. Lifting her head, she saw Xia Zhiming walk out, shake the water off her hands, and casually wipe them on her pink Daoist robe.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

Her tone was as if they were old pals.

Qi Xu blinked, then nodded: “Yeah, I’m awake.”

Xia Zhiming ignored her and sat on the chair beside the bed meant for caretakers. She pulled out her phone and said directly: “Since you’re awake, no need to stay in the hospital… It’s May now. When do you guys get summer break?”

She switched topics fast, but Qi Xu had been listening closely and could keep up.

Qi Xu had gone to the temple fair on the ninth day of the fourth lunar month, which was May 16th on the solar calendar.

“I don’t know the exact date, probably late June or early July.”

“Oh…” Xia Zhiming tapped away on her phone, fingers flying. After a moment, she said: “Alright, today’s the 17th, Friday. Check out later and come straight to my place. Move in with me. Go to school on your scooter normally, and don’t go home for summer break—just stay at my house. You’re heading into your junior year next semester anyway, not many classes. Come work with me, and I’ll give you an internship certificate.”

As a soon-to-be junior, the first thing Qi Xu heard was “internship certificate.” Those four words were too tempting. But she quickly reacted, growing even more confused: “Huh? Wait, no—I mean, I’m super grateful you saved me, but… do I really need to move in with you?”

Xia Zhiming glanced at her while typing, still smiling: “People always say you repay a life-saving debt with your body. How come it doesn’t apply to you?”

Qi Xu never expected Xia Zhiming to say that. She hemmed and hawed, finally squeezing out: “For a life-saving debt with no way to repay, I’ll be your ox or horse in the next life and…”

“Hold up.” Xia Zhiming called a halt, and Qi Xu obediently shut her mouth. She was still wearing that fox mask. At the temple fair, it had blended right in, but now it looked a bit odd… making one wonder if she had some unspeakable secret forcing her to wear it.

“Am I so ugly that you’d talk about being an ox or horse in the next life?”

As she spoke, she set down her phone, stood up, and sat on the edge of Qi Xu’s bed, leaning closer. She got so near that the fox mask nearly bumped Qi Xu’s nose. Qi Xu could only lean back, hands raised, not daring to actually push her away.

Qi Xu was a pretty kind person. She thought Xia Zhiming asking this meant she was truly insecure about her looks—not just wearing the fox mask all the time, but saying stuff like that.

She couldn’t find comforting words, so she picked some nice ones: “No, you look great. Your eyes are especially pretty, sparkling like they have stars in them. Your mouth is nice too, perfect shape, full lips— all super good-looking.”

Xia Zhiming leaned in further, and this time the fox mask actually touched her nose. Only then did Xia Zhiming seem to remember something and pull back a bit.

“Oh, right, I’m still wearing the fox mask. Forgot about that.”

“…”

Why would you even forget something like that?! Didn’t you look in the mirror while washing your hands in the bathroom?!

Qi Xu had a ton of retorts, but when Xia Zhiming removed the fox mask, not a word came out. Qi Xu had some idea of her own orientation. Over the past twenty years, she hadn’t been set on anyone, but she vaguely knew women attracted her more than men.

She was a bit timid, though, and hadn’t dared admit it. Never met anyone she liked, so she just muddled through.

But the moment Qi Xu saw half of Xia Zhiming’s side profile, she was certain: I’m totally a lesbian, and I love this face!

Her heart pounded, her head went dizzy. Shamefully, she discovered she had a bit of an M streak. In that instant, she wanted to drop to one knee before Xia Zhiming and beg her to be her master.

Qi Xu’s face went deathly pale— she’d never had tendencies like that before?! Lesbian was one thing she’d suspected, but no M streak!

Seeing Qi Xu’s pale face, Xia Zhiming’s face darkened: “What’s that supposed to mean? You think I look ugly?”