Chapter 58: Suspicion — Who Covered Me with the Blanket
Nan Xun said nothing more. In her mind, she asked Little Eight, “If the Child of Fortune goes up against the villain big boss, will the boss be killed by her?”
The Void Beast replied calmly, “Relax. Because of your intervention, the fierce ghost big boss is several times stronger than Fu Yu was on the original trajectory. Even if Master Wuchen shows up, he won’t be afraid.”
Hearing this, Nan Xun let out a small sigh of relief, but she quickly remembered something and her face darkened. “Little Eight, you’ve hidden things from me way too well.” After a brief pause, her voice shot up. “You damn thing— you sent me to reform a ghost?!”
Nan Xun was on the verge of tears. “You even made a ghost fall in love with me? Wow, thanks so much— hell no, I really don’t need that!”
The Void Beast played dead for a while before finally speaking. “Why can’t you understand my good intentions? Do you know how hard it was for me to find a world that met your requirements? Sure, he’s a ghost, but this ghost likes you—like, really, really likes you~ And he’s good-looking, long-legged, and can cook. Isn’t that exactly your type~”
No matter how it explained, Nan Xun still wanted to slap it to death.
Early the next morning, Su Han left. Nan Xun yawned and went to the bathroom to wash up.
“Holy shit—what is this?!” Nan Xun stared at her neck in the mirror and discovered a red hickey.
She was extremely familiar with marks like this. In the previous world, she’d been flipped over and over every day by the Demon King, getting branded and covered in hickeys—she’d seen far too many of them.
“Little Eight, did something happen last night?” Nan Xun asked in a trembling voice.
The Void Beast said, “Nope. Don’t overthink it.”
“But my arms are sore too. I wasn’t… ghost-pressed in my sleep, was I? Little Eight, tell me honestly—did the fierce ghost big boss come in?”
The Void Beast paused before replying, “…No.”
“Why did you hesitate?”
“I was thinking about something else.”
“Really?”
“…Really.”
Even though Little Eight said so, Nan Xun still wasn’t at ease and inspected everything carefully. The glutinous rice in the door cracks and on the windowsills hadn’t been disturbed, and there were no strange footprints in the incense ash on the floor. Only then did she finally relax.
Now that she knew the big boss would be fine, and with the house empty again, Nan Xun began to let herself go.
The white piano was still in its old spot in the living room. Nan Xun really liked the piece Fu Mo—no, rather, Fu Yu—had taught her. Her fingers had been itching to play it all the way through, but with Su Han around, she’d held back to avoid breaking character.
Now she sat down on the piano bench, her fair, slender fingers moving nimbly over the black-and-white keys, not the slightest bit clumsy like when Fu Yu had first taught her. The melodious piano music and Nan Xun’s singing leapt and danced through the room, light and joyful.
Void Beast: “You… ah, forget it.”
“There’s no one else here. If my persona collapses, it collapses,” Nan Xun said indifferently.
Void Beast: …
There may be no people, but there’s a freaking fierce ghost here. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to scare you.
What the Void Beast didn’t expect, however, was that when Nan Xun showed this kind of “true nature,” the ghost beside her actually had his malice value dropping rapidly.
After playing until she was tired, Nan Xun lay down on the sofa to rest and soon fell asleep without realizing it.
When she woke up, it was already dinnertime. She yawned, then stared at the blanket covering her, feeling a bit dazed.
“Little Eight, when I was about to fall asleep, did I cover myself with the blanket?”
The Void Beast answered, “You felt a bit cold while half-asleep, so you got up and covered yourself.”
Nan Xun was suspicious. “Really?”
The Void Beast said decisively, “Really.”
Nan Xun said “Oh,” got up, and went to make dinner.
She hadn’t gone out all day and hadn’t restocked the fridge, so she planned to go to the supermarket tomorrow.
After dinner, Nan Xun lounged on the sofa watching TV for a while, then went to the bathroom to shower.
She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but when she entered the bathroom, she felt a gust of cold wind blow in.
“Little Eight, why was there a burst of yin wind just now?”
“It’s because the weather’s about to change. Go on and wash up—I’ll block the five senses in a moment.”
As Nan Xun undressed, the feeling of being surrounded by cold air became even clearer.
Was she really just imagining things?
Feeling chilly, Nan Xun turned the water heater up two notches.
While washing her hair, she suddenly realized she’d forgotten to bring a towel. The shampoo foam stung her eyes, so she quickly reached toward the rack for a towel.
Getting the towel was easier than she’d expected. As soon as her hand reached the rack, she touched the towel—as if someone had deliberately handed it to her.
That night, Nan Xun had a dream.
It should have been during her sophomore year of high school. Her face was still youthful. After school, she slung her backpack over her shoulder and planned to go straight to the hospital to visit Bai Mo’s hospitalized mother.
“Brat, hand over all your money and show some filial piety to us big brothers!”
Nan Xun looked over and saw a few street punks blocking a small boy and demanding money.
She was in a hurry to get to the hospital and didn’t want to meddle, but she noticed the school uniform he was wearing—it was from her school. And his signature long bangs immediately made her think of that “invisible person” in her class.
The boy lowered his head and took out the money from his pockets.
One of the punks laughed loudly. “What a good little grandson—this is how it should be. But I’ve hated the sight of you for a long time. With that cowardly look, what gives you the right to be born into a rich family? Beat him—beat him to death!”
After just a few blows, the boy was beaten miserably.
Nan Xun’s anger flared. She rolled up her sleeves and charged in.
The punks were dumbfounded. They hadn’t expected this pretty girl to be fiercer than any boy when it came to fighting. Her long legs swept and chopped; one punch sent the gang leader crashing to the ground.
“Fuck!” The leader spat on the ground. Forgetting any notion of showing mercy to a beauty, he waved his brothers forward to surround her.
Nan Xun only took a punch to the face and a kick to the butt, but the three punks ended up bruised and battered.
“I’ve already recorded you robbing him just now. If you don’t want to go to jail, you’d better take a detour whenever you see me from now on!” Nan Xun glared viciously at them.
Of course, that was just a bluff. Back then, Bai Mo was so poor she couldn’t even afford a phone.
But the punks believed her. They scrambled up and ran off.
Nan Xun touched her face and hissed in pain. She glanced back at the boy, walked over, patted him on the shoulder, and said, “Don’t be afraid. From now on, big sis has your back.”
…
Back then, she’d said she’d protect him only to calm him down. Nan Xun never took it to heart. But what about that boy—had he remembered it all this time?
When she woke up, Nan Xun still felt sore in her waist and arms. She looked in the mirror and saw several red-purple hickeys on her neck.
Nan Xun paused, then calmly continued brushing her teeth and washing her face.
The Void Beast, which had just finished coming up with excuses to fool her: …
Did she know? Or… did she not know?
The Void Beast was a little panicked. This—this was way too calm.
