Chapter 97

Chapter 97: Now That It Really Came Out, You’re Not Happy

Hearing the buzz-cut young man praise him, Great Immortal Huang puffed his chest out even more.

He raised his chin and said smugly, “Naturally. This great immortal has traveled the world for many years. Dealing with this tiny evil spirit is nothing. Hmph, the moment it saw me, it was scared out of its wits and got taken down on the spot.”

Su Qian frowned, looking at Great Immortal Huang with clear disdain.

She knew it well – with ?five-element ghost-exorcising art?, she hadn’t sensed any sign that an evil spirit had truly been captured.

This Great Immortal Huang was obviously just bragging to keep up his “great immortal” image.

Creak-

An old wooden door slowly opened. In the eerie silence, it sounded even more sinister.

Just as Great Immortal Huang was still boasting, chest puffed out, acting like he ruled the world…

Suddenly, in the dark corner ahead, a pair of embroidered shoes slowly appeared.

They were strange and unsettling.

The tips curled slightly upward, facing the group, faintly giving off a chill.

“E-embroidered shoes?” Great Immortal Huang’s smug expression instantly froze.

Gulp. He swallowed hard.

His mouth fell open. “Th-there’s… there’s a ghost!”

“Ahhh!” The buzz-cut young man let out a shrill scream.

His legs went weak, and he fainted on the spot, collapsing to the floor.

Great Immortal Huang panicked and bolted backward.

But everything around them was pitch-black, and he couldn’t see the way.

In his panic, he slammed headfirst into the door.

The impact made him topple backward, landing on the floor. He muttered, “It’s over, it’s over. This is really over.”

Then his eyes rolled back, and he fainted completely.

The peachwood sword in his hand fell to the side with a clang.

Su Qian watched it all, speechless.

He had just been shouting for the evil spirit to come out. Now that it really showed up, he wasn’t happy anymore.

“Holy crap!!!”

“Embroidered shoes!!!”

Zhou Ran’s face turned white from the sudden change. “It’s over, Su Qian – this time we really saw a ghost!”

Western horror wasn’t scary. Vampires and chainsaws were at most just bloody.

Chinese horror was what really killed you.

Zhou Ran panicked and tried to run back, nearly crashing into Su Qian.

“So clumsy,” Lu Yao said calmly.

With quick reflexes, he pulled Su Qian to his side.

In the dimness, Su Qian stumbled from the pull.

Before she could steady herself, Zhou Ran’s panicked voice came from behind.

Zhou Ran staggered into Lu Yao.

Without thinking, he grabbed him in a tight hug, his voice shaking. “Holy crap, I’m so scared!”

When Su Qian finally reacted, she took a look under the dim, eerie green light.

Zhou Ran was hugging Lu Yao tightly.

He looked as pathetic as it got, and as ridiculous as it got.

[Why does this feel kind of shippable? This is hard to judge.]

Zhou Ran wasn’t short either – about 1.8 meters – but in front of Lu Yao, he somehow looked small and clingy.

A moment later, Zhou Ran finally came back to his senses. “Huh? Su Qian, why did you get taller?”

“What do you think?” Lu Yao lowered his eyes and looked down at Zhou Ran.

“You two – that posture is kind of… intimate,” Su Qian said with a soft laugh.

“S-sorry, Brother Lu Yao. I got too worked up and hugged the wrong person.” Zhou Ran hurriedly let go.

Lu Yao narrowed his eyes. “So the person you meant to hug just now was Su Qian?”

For some reason, that tone sounded slightly displeased.

Zhou Ran jumped and waved his hands in a rush. “No, no, no! That’s not what I meant!”

“I-I really didn’t do it on purpose. I was seriously scared by those embroidered shoes. My brain went blank. I didn’t even react.”

“I didn’t want to hug anyone, really!!!”

Zhou Ran looked like he was about to cry.

“Oh,” Lu Yao replied flatly, and said nothing more.

That only made Zhou Ran feel even less sure.

In the surveillance room, Xiao Zhang and the others kept staring at the screen.

“Xiao Yuan, how many times have I told you? Throw out that stupid embroidered-shoes prop already. Customers have complained so many times, and you still don’t learn?” Xiao Zhang frowned, annoyed.

“Did you forget last time you scared a customer so badly he beat you up? Still not learning?”

“Sorry, I forgot. I’ll throw it out tomorrow.” Xiao Yuan looked awkward.

Back inside the haunted house, Lu Yao only gave Zhou Ran a calm “oh,” but his presence made Zhou Ran feel even more uneasy.

Su Qian couldn’t take it anymore.

She gently poked Lu Yao’s arm. “He’s a grown man. Being hugged once is fine. Why are you being so petty?”

Lu Yao was speechless.

He sighed softly.

He didn’t even know why. Just now, he hadn’t been annoyed because Zhou Ran hugged him. He had been annoyed because Zhou Ran almost hugged Su Qian.

Then Su Qian suddenly felt something icy appear in her palm.

She looked down instinctively.

A small jade token, glowing with a cold, eerie sheen, had appeared in her hand at some point.

In the Chat Group, Li Yi sent a message.

Li Yi (UnderworldYama King): “Su Qian girl, last time you said you wanted something to avoid bad luck. I sent it over.”

Su Qian felt a surge of joy. [Perfect timing – I was just thinking about this.]

She replied in her mind, “Brother Li, thank you so much. This jade token came at exactly the right time. This haunted house is seriously weird right now, and I didn’t know how to deal with it.”

Li Yi (UnderworldYama King): “Do you want me to have Black and White Impermanence, Ox-Head and Horse-Face make a trip in person?”

“No need, Brother Li.”

With the jade token on her, evil spirits couldn’t even get close.

And with Lu Yao beside her, Su Qian felt even more steady.

“Let’s find the clues, open the door, and get out first,” Su Qian said.

She had calmed down.

Zhou Ran swallowed hard. He was still scared, but seeing Su Qian and Lu Yao so calm, he forced himself to brace up and follow along. “Okay. Let’s hurry and look.”

In the dim room, several lingering souls hiding in the corners noticed someone had come in.

They all got excited.

“Same old rules – want to suck some of their yang energy? It’s been ages since we got prey this interesting, hehehe.”

One lingering soul drifted out, its body flickering in and out, releasing thin strands of yin energy.

“I know that guy. I’ve been clinging to him for days.”

“And he even hired some Great Immortal Huang to catch ghosts. Tch. We didn’t even make a move. He got scared unconscious by haunted house props. Boring.”

“Something’s off. I feel an aura that doesn’t belong to this plane.”

“An aura from another plane?”

“Not just that. I also feel the aura of Yama Kinglord.”

The ghosts all jumped in fear.

Su Qian, Lu Yao, and Zhou Ran were fully focused on searching for the clue to open the door.

Su Qian rummaged through drawers, then looked up.

She happened to see those lingering souls in the corner.

The world went silent.

You looked at me. I looked at you.

“Hi.” One lingering soul bared its teeth and greeted her as if possessed.

“A ghost!” Su Qian couldn’t help shrieking.