The ring sat on the desk for a day and two nights.

On Monday, Ji Tong brought it to school to return to Takada Shi.

“It accidentally fell at your place.” Takada Shi raised both hands to receive it, smiling as he deliberately asked her, “Did you sleep well last night?”

Not well at all. Not just last night—she hadn’t slept well for two nights, constantly waking up, falling back asleep, then waking again. She had several dreams but couldn’t remember any of them, and both her arms ached. Ji Tong didn’t want to say much to him. She hummed in response and sat down to organize the practice problems and test papers in her bag.

All day, Ji Tong felt uncomfortable—weak all over, her eyelids sore, constantly yawning and wanting to sleep.

In a daze, evening came and she went to bed early.

During the night, she had another nightmare, dreaming she was in a pool of blood, unable to swim out no matter how hard she tried. Her hands groped around wildly and actually grabbed a dead person’s arm.

Ji Tong woke up terrified, frantically feeling for the light switch.

The room suddenly brightened. She stared at the ceiling and called out to He Feng several times.

No response.

So she tried calling for Meng Yuan.

Still no response.

Strange. He Feng had gone on a distant mission, but why had Meng Yuan suddenly disappeared?

Ji Tong thought back—the last time she’d seen her was a week ago.

She felt inexplicably anxious. Looking at the time, it was almost two o’clock. If she kept overthinking, she’d be dozing off in class tomorrow again.

She didn’t turn off the light, pulled the blanket over her head, curled herself into a ball, and continued sleeping.

…

He Feng had been following Xue Dingqing for two full days—not arresting him, not disturbing him, just following.

Xue Dingqing made no moves, spending all day either sleeping or wandering aimlessly, seemingly unrelated to any evil ghost activities. But He Feng was deeply conflicted. He was on Shiyi Dian’s arrest list. Even if he wasn’t captured and punished now, people would keep coming for him in the future. If it were just minor mischief, that would be one thing, but he had blood on his hands—both ghost and human lives. Without several hundred years of punishment, he’d never get out. Right now, this guy was still so stubborn and unrepentant, adding crime upon crime.

“Aren’t you bored?” Xue Dingqing suddenly looked at him. “Following behind me every day—is it interesting?”

“Come with me. I have some connections there that can appropriately reduce your sentence.”

“Connections?” Xue Dingqing laughed until he shook. “What? After being a ghost for decades, you still think you’re human?”

“Don’t you want to see Meng Yuan?”

Xue Dingqing gave a mocking laugh. “See her for what? She’s always looked down on me, with that mouth like a machine gun. Why would I go looking for discomfort?”

“What about Wanzhi?”

The smile on Xue Dingqing’s face instantly froze. He was silent for a while, glancing sideways at He Feng. “You found her?”

“Yes.”

Xue Dingqing turned his head away, scratched his nose with his finger, and asked casually, “How is she?”

“Not bad.”

“Girl or boy?”

“Girl.”

“How old?”

“Seventeen.”

“What about her parents? Is the family wealthy?”

“Her father isn’t around. Ordinary family.”

“At that age, she’s still in school, right? High school?”

“Yes.”

“How are her grades?”

“Pretty good.”

“Is she pretty?”

“Yes.”

“Compared to before?”

He Feng didn’t answer.

Xue Dingqing chuckled softly, lying down comfortably, looking at the sky in silence for a moment before asking again, “What’s her name?”

“Ji Tong.”

“Ji Tong.” Xue Dingqing repeated it softly. “Not as nice-sounding as Wanzhi.” He closed his eyes, recalling Xie Chi’s appearance. “Does she still have that bad temper?”

“Much gentler.”

“Then I should go see for myself. She always had a cold face before—I never saw her smile, like a block of ice.”

“Then come with me.”

“You just tell me this—aren’t you afraid I’ll compete with you for her?”

“You couldn’t take her from me before, and you can’t now either.”

Xue Dingqing snorted lightly. “If my father had gone to propose marriage a few days earlier, it wouldn’t have been your turn. Just a few days short—if he’d gone earlier, she wouldn’t have gone to Shandong, wouldn’t have met you, wouldn’t have had all those heartbreaking events later. How wonderful it would have been if she’d gone abroad with me.”

“Yes, it was I who harmed her.”

Xue Dingqing squinted at him. “Lord He has come to his senses?”

He Feng looked up at him, suddenly changing the subject: “Come back to Shiyi Dian with me.”

Xue Dingqing rolled his eyes at him. “You’re as annoying as ever. We were friends once—must you take me in?”

“I’m afraid you’ll go further astray.”

“Then catch me first.” Taking advantage of He Feng’s inattention, Xue Dingqing slipped away again, leaving behind words: “You go. Just tell them that this young master will wander the human world for a few more days, then naturally report for duty.”

…

He Feng returned while she was sleeping.

Ji Tong was covered with thick blankets, sweating from the heat. He opened the window to let cool air in, but afraid she’d catch cold, closed it again after a while.

The wooden window was somewhat old and creaked, waking her up.

The moment Ji Tong saw him, she sat up straight, still clutching the blanket, excitedly losing her voice: “You’re back!”

He Feng put his finger to his lips, making a “shh” gesture.

Ji Tong nodded and lowered her voice: “When did you get back?”

“Just now.”

“Did it go smoothly? You were gone so long this time—must have been hard to catch, right?”

“It wasn’t easy to deal with.” He Feng saw ghostly energy permeating her forehead and moved closer. “Have you encountered anything recently?”

“Yes!” Ji Tong pouted. “There’s a ghost that keeps suddenly appearing but won’t show its true face. It’s been following me for several days without doing anything—feels like it just wants to scare me.”

“I’ll go teach it a lesson.”

Ji Tong smiled with smug satisfaction: “Now that you’re back, it won’t dare come.”

“Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

“No, just haven’t had much energy lately, always wanting to sleep.”

“Did you finish the tasks I gave you before I left? Have you had any exams?”

“Last Friday. The results aren’t out yet.” Ji Tong sighed. “You just got back and you’re talking about this—can’t we just chat nicely?”

“What do you want to talk about?” He Feng moved closer to her, almost touching her face.

Ji Tong felt a bit shy and shrank into the blankets, pulling the covers to hide half her face. Her two fingers twisted together under the blanket. “Just chat about what you’ve seen and heard these days—like what ghosts you caught, what crimes they committed, and the scenery there, or anything else… we can talk about anything.”

He Feng saw her hiding her face: “Aren’t you hot?”

Ji Tong shook her head. “You were gone so long—must be tired, right?”

“Not tired.”

“Did you get injured?”

“Yes.”

“Ah?” Ji Tong became nervous. “Where are you hurt?”

“My arm, stomach, leg—it all hurts.” He Feng said deliberately. “Everything hurts.”

“What should we do? Do you have ghost doctors or something in the underworld? Or will you heal automatically?”

He Feng saw her serious expression and smiled: “If you comfort me, it won’t hurt anymore.”

“You’re teasing me.” Ji Tong clutched the blanket, showing only her eyes. “You’re so strange today—not like yourself at all.”

“How am I not like myself?”

“You never used to say things like that.” Ji Tong looked into his eyes and suddenly smiled. “It feels like we’re back in our youth.”

He Feng took the opportunity to ask: “Do you prefer me as a youth or me now?”

Ji Tong was silent for a moment. “You now.”

“Why?”

“That one is just in memories—I can’t see or touch him. You exist for real.”

“But I’m a ghost. To you, I don’t really exist.”

“It doesn’t matter. I can see you and chat with you like this—that makes me very happy.” Ji Tong was a bit slow to feel embarrassed about her sudden confession. Fortunately, the blanket hid her red cheeks. She quickly changed the subject: “What kind of evil ghosts did you catch?”

“Many, and not all of them were extremely vicious. There was a starved ghost who, just before leaving, passed by someone’s grave and stretched his neck to smell food one more time. There was a long-tongued ghost whose tongue lashed around like a water hose. And there was an infatuated ghost who would cling to any woman with long black hair and call her wife.”

“That shouldn’t be called an infatuated ghost—it should be called a perverted ghost. You’re the infatuated ghost type.”

The room suddenly fell silent like a broken film.

His silence made Ji Tong vaguely feel she’d said something wrong.

“Why aren’t you talking?”

“Don’t know what to say.”

“Am I boring?” Ji Tong’s gaze dimmed. “In my memories, you and A’Zhi had lots to talk about, happy every day.”

“Are you jealous of yourself?”

Ji Tong refused to admit it: “I am not.”

He Feng said solemnly: “It’s not that you’re boring—it’s that I’ve become boring.”

“Yes, you’ve gotten old.”

“Yes, I’ve gotten old.”

They both laughed at the same time.

Ji Tong looked at his curved eyes: “Can you take off your eyepatch so I can see? I want to see your complete face.”

He Feng didn’t refuse and readily untied the eyepatch.

Ji Tong sat up again, carefully examining him. As Meng Yuan had said, this eye’s pupil was indeed deep green, like wearing colored contacts—an extraordinarily beautiful color.

It suddenly flashed with green light.

Ji Tong snapped back to attention: “It lit up again.”

“Yes.”

“Can you feel it?”

“Yes.”

“What does it feel like?”

Flesh tearing and grinding, heart-piercing bone-crushing pain.

“Hard to describe.”

Ji Tong looked at a scar at the end of his eyebrow: “Was this injured before death?”

“Yes.”

“By the Japanese?”

“Yes.”

“By the way, a Japanese person transferred to our class and sits right behind me.”

“Mm.”

Ji Tong carefully studied his expression: “Does that upset you?”

“No.”

“I was afraid you’d be upset, so I was thinking of asking the homeroom teacher to change seats.”

“No need.”

“Can ghosts freely travel abroad? Travel all over the world?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“The human world has national borders, and the underworld has boundary rivers.”

“Are there also ghost officers guarding the boundary rivers?”

“Some, but not very strict supervision. Still, it’s very difficult to cross. Even if you’re lucky enough to cross the boundary river, with thousands of miles of ocean, lone souls can hardly make the crossing. Some ghosts with deep obsessions manage to cross the sea with great difficulty, but they’ll still be captured and sent back when they get there. Those who can truly cross over are no ordinary ghosts.”

Ji Tong hesitated to speak. He Feng understood what she wanted to ask: “After I died, I wandered at sea for several days and encountered two Japanese fleets. At that time, controlled by hatred, I capsized the ships—thirteen people, none survived.” His gaze became more somber as he said flatly, “That was the most regrettable thing I’ve done in over a hundred years. They were just a group of powerless ordinary people, as innocent as the Chinese people who died under Japanese swords and guns.”

“Then what?”

“The yang world has diplomacy, and so does the yin world. Because too many people died in the war and couldn’t reincarnate in time, most ghosts remained in the underworld or wandered the human world. Some never managed to report for duty and remained as wandering spirits forever. Many accounts regarding human lives couldn’t be settled clearly. By then I had already become a malevolent ghost, but I was still handed over to our underworld administration for punishment. They sent many people to capture me. It happened that Shiyi Dian had just been established not long before, so I was among the earlier batch sent in for punishment.”

“What punishment did you receive?”

“It’s all in the past—no need to mention those things again.” He Feng put on his eyepatch. “Alright, let’s not talk about it anymore. It’s not dawn yet—sleep a bit more.”

“I’m not sleepy.”

“Even if you’re not sleepy, you must sleep, or you’ll doze off in class during the day. I’ll talk with you properly tonight.” He Feng said gently, “Be good.”

Whenever he spoke so tenderly, Ji Tong found it hard to resist. She smiled with pursed lips: “Then don’t leave.”

“When you open your eyes, I’ll definitely be here.”

…

In the latter half of the night, Ji Tong slept soundly. Perhaps having him by her side gave her subconscious mind much more sense of security.

The room was filled with thick ghostly energy. He wanted to summon Meng Yuan to ask her something. Usually she would appear quickly, but today, for some reason, she was slow to come.

He also wanted to tell her about encountering Xue Dingqing.

…

At dawn, He Feng walked Ji Tong to the school gate, then went to look for Meng Yuan.

She stayed by his side year-round. As long as she wasn’t too far away, He Feng could always sense her. He asked several roadside ghosts, and they all said they hadn’t seen her recently.

He Feng didn’t think too much about it. Meng Yuan was playful—perhaps while he was away, she’d wandered off far to have fun again.

All morning, more than ten ghosts came to him, all reporting that relatives had mysteriously disappeared, asking the Patrol Envoy to investigate. In fact, He Feng had felt something unusual about this area as soon as he returned—like it was shrouded by some powerful ghostly energy. But he couldn’t detect any trace of evil ghost aura at all.

He Feng was worried about Ji Tong and went to look at her school.

Afraid of distracting Ji Tong, he didn’t appear, watching from outside the window for quite a while.

He didn’t see the Japanese person Ji Tong had mentioned.

Takada Shi’s desk was empty—he hadn’t come to school since yesterday afternoon.

…

In the evening, Ji Tong was called to the office building by her homeroom teacher.

Usually this path was brightly lit, but today, whether the lights were broken or there was a problem with this circuit, the entire road was pitch black.

Ji Tong felt a bit apprehensive, always feeling like something was following her.

Her feeling was correct—this perverted ghost had been following her since the crossroads.

Just as it was about to act, He Feng suddenly appeared from nowhere, caught it around the neck with soul chains, and flung the ghost far away.

Ji Tong turned back and saw He Feng fighting a ghost, momentarily confused.

He Feng tightened the soul chains and lifted the perverted ghost up: “Didn’t I tell you not to approach this school?”

Soul chains were He Feng’s other weapon. Most ghosts didn’t require the white whip—often soul chains could handle them. Whether soul chains or white whip, both could sense what the subdued ghost had been up to recently. This perverted ghost had been pestering a young maiden just days ago, entering her dreams to force sexual acts upon her.

The perverted ghost was strangled almost to unconsciousness, unable to make a sound.

He Feng released him. The perverted ghost crawled on the ground, trembling with fear: “Great Ghost, spare my life! I died recently and don’t know the rules. I absolutely won’t do it again. Please spare me—I promise to stay far away from here. No, I’ll leave this city, leave this province. How about that?”

“Quiet.” He Feng scolded, making the ghost’s face even more pale with fright.

Ji Tong saw He Feng leading a ghost over and originally didn’t plan to speak—after all, there was an outsider ghost present. Unexpectedly, He Feng spoke first: “Where are you going?”

“The teacher called me to the office.”

“Don’t wander around at night.”

“But the teacher called for me—I can’t not go.” Ji Tong looked at the trembling ghost behind He Feng. “What did he do wrong?”

“Some things unsuitable for children.”

Ji Tong: “…”

Perverted ghost: “…”

Just then, a ghost officer passed by, and He Feng called out to him.

The ghost officer hurried over to greet him: “Lord He.”

Ji Tong didn’t want to attract more ghosts’ attention. She was always afraid of these impermanence-dressed ghost officers, always feeling like they were coming to chain souls. She pretended not to see them and headed toward the office building.

He Feng asked the ghost officer: “Unfamiliar face—newly appointed?”

“Yes, Lord He. Just finished training last week.”

“Where are you headed?”

“Collecting souls up ahead, taking a shortcut through here.”

He Feng retracted the soul chains and handed the perverted ghost to him: “Help me take this to Shiyi Dian on your way.”

What kind of shortcut was this? It was a hundred and eight thousand li out of the way.

The ghost officer didn’t dare refuse, smiling obsequiously: “I’ll definitely deliver it for you.”

When Ji Tong came out of the office building, He Feng was waiting alone under the dark lights. Seeing him at that moment, her heart felt incredibly warm, and she ran toward him with joy: “Let’s go.”

“What did the teacher want with you?”

“Just academic matters.”

“Did the exam results from last time come out?”

“Yes, first in class, ninth in grade.”

“Not bad, keep working hard.”

“Is there no reward?”

He Feng glanced at her: “Studying is your own business.”

“Oh.”

“What do you want?”

Ji Tong walked backward happily: “Accompany me to the zoo on Sunday.”

“Just that?”

“Yes.”

“No questions or anything?”

“No.”

He Feng found it a bit strange, then heard her say: “No matter what happened in past lives, it’s all in the past. Good things will make me happy for a few days, but even one small bad thing will make me sad for a very long time.”

“Don’t walk backward—be careful not to fall.”

Ji Tong turned around properly and suddenly sighed: “I really want to skip class and go out to play right now.”

He Feng raised an eyebrow at her: “Mm? Skip class?”

Ji Tong slapped her mouth: “I was just talking randomly.”

“I haven’t seen Meng Yuan since I got back. Have you seen her recently?”

“No, I’ve called for her several times, but she never appeared. The last time I saw her was Thursday before last. She came to chat with me, and before leaving, she asked me to burn some paper money for her.”

“Don’t burn any for her in the future. If she needs money, I’ll give it to her.”

“Oh, okay.”

He Feng saw her taking small steps forward: “Why are you walking so slowly?”

“Want to spend more time chatting with you.”

“We can chat when we get home. Right now is study hall time—everyone else is studying while you’re here wasting precious time. There are less than three months until the college entrance exam.”

“…” Ji Tong said nothing and walked away quickly.

“Slower.”

Hearing his words, Ji Tong directly started running: “Going to study!”

…

Zhou Xin had her birthday today. Ji Tong came home for lunch at noon and bought her a cake with saved-up pocket money.

The bus moved slowly along. Ji Tong held the cake, happily looking at the scenery outside the window.

The bus suddenly shook violently. Ji Tong pitched forward, her forehead hitting the seat in front of her. She quickly checked the cake—fortunately it wasn’t ruined. Just as she sat steady, the bus suddenly swerved hard to the right.

The bus filled with cries of alarm as several elderly people who hadn’t sat firmly fell in the aisle. She clutched the cake and looked toward the driver. Before her gaze could reach him, the bus suddenly turned hard left.

The cake fell to the ground and was sat on by a fat woman. Ji Tong couldn’t care about such things now—she was thrown from left to right, then tumbled to the back, landing dizzy and disoriented.

Outside were honking sounds, inside were screaming sounds.

The driver seemed possessed, driving straight toward a large truck.

He Feng couldn’t be by Ji Tong’s side twenty-four hours a day without interruption, especially recently with so many strange incidents keeping him quite busy. Coincidentally, when the accident occurred, he happened to be patrolling nearby.

At He Feng’s speed, possessing the driver to control the steering wheel and brake should have been able to reverse the situation, but just as he approached the driver, a sudden force bounced him several meters away.

He Feng got up and tried to approach again, only to be repelled once more.

That driver clearly showed signs of being possessed. To be able to repel him twice—this was definitely no ordinary evil spirit.

Seeing the two vehicles about to collide, with such large vehicles, none of them could possibly escape, and it might even affect surrounding vehicles.

In desperation, He Feng instead rushed toward the truck driver, possessed his body, rapidly turned the steering wheel, and narrowly missed the bus. But because he couldn’t brake in time, he crashed into the roadside iron railing.

At that moment, he also felt the human body’s pain.

The severe pain didn’t last long before he was forcibly stripped from the driver’s body. Only then did he see the driver’s upper body pressed straight against the seat, an iron rod piercing diagonally through his abdomen straight to his heart.

He Feng was stunned, staring blankly at the blood-soaked body before him.

Suddenly, the driver’s soul stood beside him, also staring blankly at himself. After realizing what had happened, he went from whimpering to wailing.

He Feng watched the man crying with his head in his hands, helpless, his hands trembling. Then remembering something, he turned to check on the bus.

The bus had stopped safely, and the driver had fainted.

Fortunately, everyone in the bus was relatively unharmed.

Unfortunately, he had personally ended an innocent life.

…

According to underworld law, causing death was a grave crime.

Seventy-four years ago, the underworld established Shiyi Dian specifically for criminal ghosts. As a Patrol Envoy, he was more than familiar with every rule and regulation of underworld law. Officials should be self-disciplined and set examples. Although this act saved dozens of lives, and though it was death caused in the line of duty, it ultimately harmed the innocent. Merits and faults balanced out—major punishment could be avoided, but minor crimes couldn’t be forgiven. He was finally sentenced to seventeen days of whipping punishment in the minor hell.

Before receiving punishment, He Feng requested to return to the yang world once more. Everyone at Shiyi Dian were his colleagues, so naturally they were accommodating, but proper procedures had to be followed—two ghost officers were assigned to supervise and accompany him.

In the human world, the sun had already set.

Ji Tong stared at the blackboard, listening attentively to the lecture.

He Feng couldn’t bear to disturb her and watched her from a distance for a long time.

The supervising ghost officer calculated the time and said to the other ghost officer: “Isn’t it time?”

“Have some tact. Wait a bit.”

“Lord He’s entanglement with humans—if this gets reported, I’m afraid it’ll add another degree to his crime.”

That ghost officer smacked the other’s head: “Human nature. Don’t you have someone you care about?”

“We’re ghosts.”

“Ghosts also have feelings. Which of the big bosses hasn’t committed some transgression? We’re all colleagues—no need to be too calculating. If we settled every account clearly, hell would have been packed long ago.”

“That’s true.”

“Actually, Lord He didn’t need to enter hell for punishment this time. I think he just feels guilty.”

“Can you imagine how he used to kill without blinking? Lord Jiang is still powerful—even the fiercest malevolent ghost becomes docile after a few years of soul cauldron and soul-calming nails.”

“I heard this time it’s quite a formidable character, especially good at hiding. Lord Wang and Lord Li have both been transferred here, and they still haven’t caught him.”

The two ghost officers chattered on endlessly. He Feng heard every word but had no time to pay attention to them. His eyes were full of the girl in the classroom.

Finally, the class bell rang.

The teacher left the classroom. Students came out one after another to eat.

Gan Ting and Zhao Shen left, and Ji Tong was alone again today.

She didn’t go to the cafeteria but sat in the classroom. After finishing a problem, she took out a piece of bread from her bag.

She had just taken a bite when He Feng appeared beside her: “Why are you just eating this?”

Ji Tong looked around in all directions, seeing no one around before daring to speak with him: “Too lazy to go to the cafeteria.”

“You need to eat proper meals.”

“It’s already opened, just this one meal. This bread is delicious—I’ll burn some for you to try when I get home.” Seeing He Feng not speaking, she asked: “Where did you go? I didn’t see you all day. My mom had her birthday today, and I almost got in a car accident taking the bus home at noon. I heard a truck driver died—I didn’t dare look, it was too frightening.”

“Were you hurt anywhere?”

“I just got knocked around a few times, nothing serious.”

He Feng saw her forehead permeated with ghostly energy and moved closer: “Have you encountered anything recently?”

Ji Tong saw her dry swallowing of bread and smiled: “Do you have anything to drink?”

“You should eat more—you’re still growing.”

Ji Tong nodded repeatedly.

He Feng raised his hand, wanting to pat her head, but stopped with his hand suspended in mid-air and withdrew it: “A’Zhi.”

“Mm?” Ji Tong looked up at him while eating.

“I can’t take you to the zoo anymore. There’s a sudden assignment—I have to leave for a while.”

Ji Tong looked up at him and swallowed the bread: “You just got back, and now you’re leaving again for how long?”

“Seventeen days.”

Ji Tong lost all interest in eating. She pouted: “Then go do your work.”

“Unhappy?”

“No.” She viciously bit off a large chunk of bread, stuffing her mouth full.

“I’ll take you when I get back.”

Ji Tong looked up and smiled: “Alright, I’ll wait for you.”

“Good.”

“What are you muttering about by yourself?” Gan Ting suddenly ran in from the door, startling Ji Tong into choking. “Why aren’t you going to eat?”

“Don’t feel like moving.” She opened the yogurt and took a sip. “Weren’t you going outside? Why did you come back?”

“I forgot my phone.” Gan Ting found her phone and ran out quickly. “Wait for me to bring you something delicious!”

Just as Gan Ting left, someone else entered the classroom.

Some classmates had bought food and returned.

It was getting late—time to go. He looked at her reluctantly: “Study hard, no slacking off.”

Ji Tong quietly hummed in response.

“Be safe. Have your mother pick you up and drop you off at school. Keep those beads and talismans on properly. I’ll find trustworthy ghost officers to secretly protect you, but you must also be careful about everything.”

Ji Tong nodded. When she looked again, he was already gone. She slumped her shoulders and listlessly gnawed at the bread.

Sigh, it had lost all flavor.

…

The neighbor’s little boy had died.

In the middle of the night, he jumped from upstairs. His family cried all night. Zhou Xin went over to help handle the funeral arrangements and didn’t return all night.

Ji Tong was most afraid of dead people. Whenever she saw the anguished appearance of the deceased’s relatives, her heart would ache along with them.

At dawn, she sat forlornly on the bedside. Her head hurt a bit, her eyelids hung heavily, and she was very drowsy. But she couldn’t fall asleep.

Outside, a strong wind was blowing. The whooshing sounds, combined with the intermittent wailing from next door, penetrated through layers of walls and fell clearly into her ears. Perhaps from lack of rest, she felt like there was a breath stuck in her chest, slowly expanding, about to burst her body.

The injuries from the bus accident yesterday began to hurt overnight. She had several bruises on her body, and her arms were hard to lift.

It was really uncomfortable—not a single place felt good.

The doors and windows were tightly closed, but inexplicably a cool breeze came down from above her head. She shivered, and suddenly her whole person became alert.

Ji Tong felt the room was eerily cold. Perhaps the temperature had dropped. Listen to that wind howling—more mournful than crying. She was about to get a piece of clothing to put on when suddenly a pair of feet appeared below her line of sight, wearing what looked like Japanese wooden clogs.

She looked up and saw the ghost’s appearance clearly. He wasn’t frightening-looking—in fact, he seemed kindly. Ji Tong saw him standing silently, smiling at her with a benevolent expression, which made her head hurt even more.

“Grandpa, what do you want?”

A deep, weathered voice lingered by her ear like intoxicating smoke, disturbing her consciousness: “Don’t call me that, my Wanzhi.”

…