Tricked!

Perhaps Deng Xiaolin really did possess the ability to sense ghosts, but this was her first time encountering something so terrifying and bizarre.

So she immediately let out a shriek exceeding a hundred decibels.

"Eek!!"

Without bothering about anything else, she ran toward the exit at almost the fastest speed of her life.

But when she gripped the doorknob, she discovered that it was tightly wrapped in layer upon layer of black hair. No matter how hard Deng Xiaolin pulled, she could not turn it.

She was already so frightened that tears welled in her eyes, and her heart felt as though it were about to leap out of her chest.

Seeing that escape was impossible, Deng Xiaolin could only clutch the Peach Wood Sword in her hand, her teeth chattering as she stiffly turned around bit by bit.

She was afraid—afraid that when she turned her head, she would find the hanged corpse rushing straight into her face.

Fortunately, the corpse was still hanging in its original spot. It was merely staring back at her.

Looking at her own corpse, Deng Xiaolin felt a chill crawling over her skin. After secretly swallowing, she mustered her courage and spoke.

"I... I don't have much meat! D-Don't eat me."

The hanged corpse showed no reaction. Instead, the corners of its mouth slowly split open until they reached its cheeks, forming a smile that made her scalp tingle.

Then it opened its bloody maw and lunged forward in an instant.

At that moment, Deng Xiaolin woke up.

She immediately sat up in bed and touched her neck again and again.

Her head hadn't been eaten... Thank goodness, thank goodness...

Still shaken, Deng Xiaolin had not yet had time to breathe a sigh of relief when she felt something tickling her forehead.

It was probably hair?

So Deng Xiaolin brushed it aside. But the moment she did, she could clearly feel that... this was absolutely not her own hair!

There was something on top of her head, and she was holding its hair.

What should she do? What should she do?

Deng Xiaolin's little face had gone completely pale, without a trace of color.

Cold liquid fell onto her head and slid down her face.

With trembling hands, she wiped it away. Then she saw that her hand was covered in dark-red liquid.

Blood...

It was blood.

After being subjected to multiple shocks, Deng Xiaolin fainted straight away.

After she passed out, a red figure appeared beside the bed.

"Oh dear... I hope I didn't scare her into having some kind of problem?"

Qin Liu had still been sighing, "That's more like it. That's the reaction a normal person should have upon seeing a ghost."

But when she turned around, she saw that the person had fainted.

To prevent her from being frightened into developing some kind of disorder, Qin Liu naturally hurried over to check on her.

"Her breathing is normal, and her heartbeat is normal. Looks like she merely fainted."

Qin Liu had not originally wanted to make it this terrifying, but unfortunately, she had encountered someone who was completely unafraid of ghosts.

She had even begun to wonder whether her ability to frighten people had weakened, so she had used just a tiny bit more force.

And then she had gone too far.

But this was how normal people should react when they saw a ghost. Why had things gone wrong when it came to this man named Liu Haoyu?

Thinking back to when she had just entered his dream, she had appeared as a corpse hanging above the bed. Yet the man's expression had remained calm. After sticking three incense sticks into the floor, he had spoken to his own corpse.

"Miss Qin Liu, I think we should discuss how much rent should be paid... Oh, right. I don't accept ghost money."

Just look at that! Could a normal person say something like that?

That was her house in the first place!

Whenever Qin Liu thought of what Liu Haoyu had said, she almost became so angry that she fainted.

But when she thought about it, Qin Liu could not help feeling sorrow well up inside her.

Everyone knew there were plenty of oddballs in this world, but she had evidently encountered the oddest one of all.

She had originally planned to ask Liu Haoyu for help, but after thinking it over carefully, something seemed off.

Without a doubt, Liu Haoyu had brought along this girl who could see her because he wanted to find her.

A ghost hunter looking for a ghost—it certainly seemed like he had come with bad intentions.

As a ghost wandering outside, she guessed he was probably like the Taoists in certain television dramas, planning to help her pass on to the next life, right?

He was definitely not here to catch Pokémon.

But if she wanted to leave this place, she had to have a living person take the Red Jade to Jiangliu City, the place where she had lived while alive.

This ill-intentioned Liu Haoyu naturally required careful consideration, so her priority target was instead the girl she had frightened unconscious.

Her name seemed to be Deng Xiaolin?

With that thought, Qin Liu placed her hand on Deng Xiaolin's head, helping to calm the nightmare in her heart and soothe her nerves. Then, in a suggestive tone, she said,

"Take Liu Haoyu's Red Jade and leave this place..."

Under Qin Liu's suggestion, Deng Xiaolin swayed as she rose from the bed.

Her eyes were empty and her gaze dull. She looked as though her mind had been controlled.

This was also one of Qin Liu's skills, but this kind of control could only be used on people who had fallen into extreme terror.

Such people's mental worlds were exceptionally easy to invade. That was why most people controlled by Fierce Ghosts had probably already fallen into fear and despair.

Although mental control sounded evil, Qin Liu would not do anything improper to Deng Xiaolin.

Besides, as an ordinary wandering ghost, even if she wanted to, she had no physical body.

"Take Liu Haoyu's Red Jade and leave this place..."

Qin Liu continued her suggestion, while Deng Xiaolin began searching through Liu Haoyu's backpack.

After a while, she finally found the blackened Red Jade.

But before Qin Liu could rejoice, she took a closer look and discovered that the Red Jade she had originally occupied was now completely filled with blackness. It had also cracked, and no matter how Qin Liu tried, she could no longer enter it.

"How strange." Qin Liu rubbed her chin. "Could this thing be a limited-time item?"

Qin Liu did not know the true function of the Ghost Jade. She merely thought it was something capable of storing souls or the like.

So when she saw that the thing was broken, she did not find it particularly strange.

Qin Liu entered another Red Jade and once again gave Deng Xiaolin a suggestion.

"Take it and go to Jiangliu City."

After this suggestion was issued, Deng Xiaolin began moving like a zombie.

Although it looked somewhat eerie, this was merely mental control and would not harm her personally.

Once Qin Liu returned to Jiangliu City and saw her younger sister, as long as she confirmed that her sister could live well, she would have no regrets even in death...

Why did that sound like she was about to be reincarnated after receiving salvation?

Qin Liu muttered to herself, then motioned for Deng Xiaolin to open the door.

But when Deng Xiaolin placed her hand on the door, a powerful repulsive force blew her directly to the ground, and she also broke free of Qin Liu's control.

Deng Xiaolin looked around blankly, then hid behind Liu Haoyu like a startled rabbit.

Qin Liu surveyed the surroundings and only then noticed that, at some point, the room had been covered in talismans.

Wait a minute—had she been tricked?!

She turned around and saw Liu Haoyu, who should have been asleep, now standing behind her.

"Good evening, Miss Qin Liu."