Chapter 118: Walking at Night—Don’t Look Back
Su Keke pointed to the spot where the collision had just happened and explained, “This driver had his accident right here, at this exact time. So the scene will replay itself at the same time and in the same place.”
“Why would it replay? Does that mean every person who dies will…”
As Qin Junchi thought about it, the more terrified he became. Goosebumps rose all over him.
“Of course not. Only people who die suddenly and violently—who can’t accept the fact that they’re dead—will think they’re still alive and cause this kind of scene replay. After it happens two or three times, the dead person gradually accepts it. So before he realizes he’s already dead, outsiders must never remind him—otherwise it can enrage him.
“And if a ghost gets angry, do you think you can beat it?”
Qin Junchi: …
Forget beating it—he’d probably die of fright on the spot.
“A ghost car will keep repeating the stretch of road where it died in the accident, until it ‘dies’ one more time. I can use a road-guiding talisman to break the ghost-walling and make the ghost car reach my destination.”
At that, Su Keke pouted. “If you hadn’t torn off my road-guiding talisman, the driver would’ve already taken me to Taohua Town by now.”
After the fear came guilt. “This is my fault,” Qin Junchi said. “I shouldn’t have touched your stuff. But thank goodness you were here. If I’d run into a ghost car alone, I’d be finished.”
Su Keke smiled faintly. “Since you got into my ghost car, it means I was destined to help you get through this calamity.”
Remembering what she said earlier, Qin Junchi quickly asked, “Keke, when I first got in the car you said my luck was low—bad luck clinging to me, easy to run into ghosts. What’s going on?”
Su Keke stared at his face for a moment. “I think… your luck has been stolen. Or rather, your luck has been swapped.”
Qin Junchi frowned at once. “What do you mean?”
When he got serious sometimes, the tightly furrowed brows finally let Su Keke see a bit of Qin Mochen in him.
“Let’s talk as we walk. The road ahead is still very long.”
“Wait!” Qin Junchi asked. “Where are we going now?”
“To Taohua Town.”
“What?” Qin Junchi was shocked. “We’re walking there like this?”
He would rather die than walk that far. He was wearing leather shoes—if he walked like this, his feet would be ruined.
Luckily it wasn’t too late yet. There were still plenty of private cars heading toward Taohua Town. With his handsome face, Qin Junchi successfully flagged down a ride. The driver was a woman.
When the car slowly stopped, Qin Junchi didn’t go over right away. He first asked Su Keke, “This one isn’t a ghost car, right?”
“It’s not. There aren’t that many ghost cars.”
In the car, Qin Junchi started chatting with the female driver within minutes, and they talked quite happily.
The warm, enthusiastic driver took them all the way to Taohua Village, then turned back to Taohua Town.
Before leaving, she looked at Qin Junchi several times, reluctant. “Handsome guy—see you if fate allows.”
Su Keke sighed, “Even in a situation like this, you can still attract peach blossoms. Looks like your luck isn’t that terrible.”
Qin Junchi sighed too. “Never thought I, Young Master Qin, would fall to the point of hitching a ride by selling my looks.”
He thought they’d reached their destination. Who knew—
“What? We still have to walk a dirt road? And climb a mountain?”
Walking ahead, Su Keke turned back and grinned. “Stay close. If you get snatched by a ghost halfway, I won’t care.”
The moment Qin Junchi heard that, he hurried after her, then turned on his phone flashlight and thoughtfully lit up the small path in front of her.
There were stars at night, starlight spilling onto the ground—more than enough for Su Keke to see the road. Even if she couldn’t see clearly, she’d walked this path since she was little. She could walk it home with her eyes closed.
But for Qin Junchi, who lived in the Imperial Capital year-round and was used to neon brightness, this light was like nothing at all. Everything ahead was pitch-black. Even a random little stone underfoot could trip him.
“Keke, we’ve been walking for half an hour—are we there yet?” Qin Junchi couldn’t help asking.
Su Keke pointed at the dark mountain silhouette in the distance. “See? That mountain up ahead is Taohua Mountain. My home is on it.”
“Keke, do you hear any strange sounds?” Qin Junchi couldn’t help looking around.
Su Keke smiled. “You mean the wind that sounds like someone is calling ‘hey’?”
“If you hear it, don’t turn around.”
Qin Junchi gave a dry laugh. “My courage isn’t small, but I just ran into a ghost tonight—don’t scare me again.”
“I’m not scaring you. A person has three fires of yang: one on each shoulder and one on the head. At night, these three fires waver and can easily be extinguished. So when walking at night, it’s best not to hook arms, not to pat someone’s head, not to look around—and you absolutely can’t look back, because the instant you turn your head, it’s easy to fan out the shoulder’s yang fire.”
Qin Junchi’s scalp went numb.
Su Keke continued, “When the yang fire goes out, your aura weakens. Using Master Yin’s theory, your body’s electromagnetic wave weakens and can resonate with low-level electromagnetic waves. When that happens, your brainwaves get disturbed by resonance, and it’s easy for your mind to go wrong—what people commonly call ‘a ghost luring your soul.’”
Listening to the whooshing wind behind him, sometimes it really did sound like someone was calling him—calling ‘hey, hey.’
“So what does a ghost lure your soul for? To harm people?” Qin Junchi shivered and asked.
Su Keke said, “Probably to lure your soul to keep it company and play.”
Qin Junchi: …
“So in the future, if you go night-walking with someone—an on-foot kind of night stroll—don’t call each other by name. If a ghost remembers your name and calls you when you’re not paying attention, chances are you’ll turn around. Some people can get their soul called back. Some people lose it and can’t get it back.”
Qin Junchi felt that listening to Su Keke talk about these things on such a pitch-black country path—his heart would have to be unbelievably strong not to be scared into a dog.
After finishing her “science lesson,” Su Keke suddenly added with a grin, “But you don’t have to worry. The wandering ghosts within a few miles all fear me. With me here, no ghost dares bully you.”
Qin Junchi felt his expression must look awful. “Why don’t you just collect them all? Letting them scare people so casually isn’t good, is it?”
“Because I don’t meddle in other people’s business. As long as those wandering spirits aren’t deliberately harming lives, I won’t interfere.”
“Ghost-luring isn’t harming people?”
“Unintentional soul-luring doesn’t count.”
The two of them chatted as they finally reached Taohua Mountain. By the time Qin Junchi—still wearing his handmade leather shoes—climbed up, he was so exhausted he collapsed on the ground.
He thought that once they arrived he could finally lie on a sofa or bed and rest. But the thatched hut in front of him shattered his beautiful dream, and his mouth twitched hard.
And that wasn’t even the worst part—Su Keke didn’t even let him into this shabby thatched hut.
“Qin Junchi, sorry. The rouge smell and perfume smell on you are way too strong, and I’m kind of disgusted. So can you suffer a bit and sleep outside tonight?”
Qin Junchi: ……
