This Also Counts as Cohabitation

"Listen properly when someone's talking."

Liu Haoyu hadn't expected Qin Liu to flee in panic either.

Could it be that his method of recommending it had been too aggressive?

But thinking about it carefully, that did seem to be what had happened.

Commenting on someone else's clothes—especially those of the opposite sex—had indeed been rather presumptuous.

More importantly, people were people, and ghosts were ghosts.

The stockings in his hand wouldn't fit Qin Liu even if he wanted to give them to her.

After figuring that out, Liu Haoyu went over to the shrine.

He lit the incense again and bowed devoutly before setting the white stockings in his hand alight and placing them before the shrine.

"Hmm... She should be able to wear them now."

According to folk beliefs, this was basically an offering.

Qin Liu ought to be able to feel his sincerity now, right?

After all, it was pretty miserable for this ghost to have stayed in this house for so long.

Not only was she all alone, she only had one set of clothes.

How pitiful.

He would burn her a sailor uniform next time.

Ignoring what the Fierce Ghost in the well was feeling at the moment, Liu Haoyu shook Deng Xiaolin, who was trembling in the corner, and said,

"Is it really that scary?"

After being shaken for quite a while, Deng Xiaolin let out a strange cry, stood bolt upright, and shouted,

"Demons and ghosts, go away! Demons and ghosts, go away!"

She really had been scared senseless.

"It's me, not a ghost."

Seeing that Deng Xiaolin looked terrified out of her wits, Liu Haoyu was actually somewhat relieved. She probably wouldn't clamor to go looking for ghosts next time.

"Really?"

Deng Xiaolin looked left and right. Only after seeing Liu Haoyu's shadow beneath his feet did she finally relax.

At that moment, the girl seemed to have found someone to rely on and recounted everything she had experienced.

Liu Haoyu looked rather surprised after hearing it.

"You mean you also dreamed of yourself being hanged?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Deng Xiaolin said miserably. "It scared me to death..."

However, Liu Haoyu's thoughts differed from Deng Xiaolin's by more than a little. They were practically worlds apart.

The man asked, baffled,

"Weren't you curious? Shouldn't you have gone up and touched it to see whether it was realistic?"

"...?"

Deng Xiaolin couldn't follow Liu Haoyu's train of thought for a moment. Once she understood, a blush spread across her face, and she said angrily,

"Brother Hao, didn't you also dream of yourself being hanged? Then why didn't you go touch it?"

"Because I'm not gay. Thank you."

Liu Haoyu answered Deng Xiaolin's question with a perfectly serious expression.

His words left her speechless.

"Let's put that aside for now." Before the room could fall silent, Liu Haoyu continued, "It's about time. Let's get ready to move."

"Mm-hmm!"

With someone to rely on, Deng Xiaolin held the Peach Wood Sword and spoke with borrowed confidence.

"I'm definitely going to teach that Fierce Ghost a lesson!"

Looking at Deng Xiaolin, who was brimming with fighting spirit, Liu Haoyu couldn't bear to dampen her enthusiasm.

She had no idea how terrifying Qin Liu's strength was.

An ordinary Fierce Ghost could at most use resentment to alter the environment and create a few illusions.

Qin Liu, however, could directly invade dreams and create illusions indistinguishable from reality. If she wished, Deng Xiaolin could spend the rest of her life trapped in an endlessly terrifying dream.

It was somewhat similar to Tsukuyomi from Naruto.

Qin Liu's ability to influence reality was also extremely powerful. Thinking back to how she had controlled Deng Xiaolin earlier, that was not something an ordinary Fierce Ghost could do.

Liu Haoyu spoke as though he were fooling a child.

"That Fierce Ghost is incredibly powerful. Even your Brother Hao might not be able to beat her."

"Huh!?"

Deng Xiaolin, who had been full of fighting spirit a moment ago, instantly deflated like a punctured balloon and said somewhat fearfully,

"Then... then maybe we should forget it?"

"Weren't you fond of thrills and ghosts? Come on."

"No, no, no! I don't like them! I don't like them!"

Unfortunately, Deng Xiaolin's resistance was useless. Liu Haoyu needed to make use of her extraordinary spiritual vision.

For now, he had confirmed that Qin Liu's threat level wasn't particularly high. The most important thing was to investigate the source of the dense resentment in this haunted house.

Only then could the danger here be completely eliminated.

At present, his only clue was the basement entrance inside the haunted house—one that could never be seen.

If they could find that basement entrance, they might make a major breakthrough.

It was already midnight, the time when yin energy was at its strongest.

Under normal circumstances, people would already be asleep or preparing to sleep at this hour.

Once people fell asleep, the wandering souls lying in wait would emerge. If someone was still in a gloomy, terrifying place at that time, they would be very likely to encounter supernatural phenomena.

According to Liu Haoyu's guess, the biggest reason he couldn't find the basement door was that it had already become supernaturalized. In that case, only someone like Deng Xiaolin could locate it.

"Xiao Lin." Liu Haoyu switched on his flashlight and spoke to the girl beside him. "I brought you here tonight not only to find that Red-clothed Fierce Ghost. There's something more important to do. Once it's done, I'll take you home."

"Ugh... All right."

Liu Haoyu said solemnly,

"I'll take you around and search the house. If you see a blood-red, rusted iron door, be sure to tell me."

"A blood-red iron door?"

Deng Xiaolin had no idea what kind of door he meant, but since it was Liu Haoyu's request, she still summoned her courage, patted her chest, and declared,

"Don't worry. I'm someone who can see souls with my naked eyes. Finding a door will be a piece of cake... probably."

Liu Haoyu and Deng Xiaolin began patrolling along the first-floor corridor.

After walking for a while, Deng Xiaolin looked out the window and suddenly said,

"Brother Hao! There's a red shadow by the dry well outside... Wait, she's running away!"

"Chase her."

With that, Liu Haoyu led Deng Xiaolin after her.

"We mean no harm! Miss Qin Liu! Can we sit down and talk?"

When the red shadow heard Liu Haoyu, she fled even faster.

There was nothing they could do but chase her all the way.

Although Liu Haoyu had stayed in this haunted house for so long, it still felt extremely unfamiliar once night fell.

In plain terms, it was as though they had entered another space entirely.

The things they saw and their arrangement were clearly identical, yet the atmosphere felt gloomy and oppressive.

The darkness was so deep that they couldn't see their hands, and it made them feel somewhat suffocated.

The darkness was so intense that even the flashlight couldn't disperse it.

In fact, if Liu Haoyu hadn't been there, Deng Xiaolin would already have been scrambling out on all fours.

"Phew... I think we lost her." Deng Xiaolin panted heavily. "By the way, Brother Hao... aren't you afraid living in a place like this at night?"

"What's there to be afraid of?" Liu Haoyu looked around indifferently. "Look on the bright side. Cohabiting with a female ghost still counts as cohabiting with a member of the opposite sex, doesn't it?"

Faced with Liu Haoyu's frivolous attitude, Deng Xiaolin rolled her eyes at him.

"Who thinks of cohabiting with a female ghost as living with someone of the opposite sex?"

"There's a saying: As long as you're bold enough..."

Before Liu Haoyu could finish, he suddenly noticed that the atmosphere around them had become somewhat unusual.

Although everything before them was still so dim that even the flashlight couldn't illuminate the corridor, why...

did the air smell of damp earth?

Moreover, the air around them was beginning to grow murky, yet the candle flame wasn't burning.

However, for Deng Xiaolin's safety, he pulled a Thunder Shock Talisman from his pocket and said,

"If we encounter any ghosts or monsters, remember to hide. I can't take care of that many things at once."

"It's fine... Brother Hao, I can fight too."

Deng Xiaolin raised the Peach Wood Sword in her hand.

The two of them followed the eerie, dark passage for some distance before their vision suddenly opened up.

Only then did Liu Haoyu realize that, for some unknown reason, he had arrived in a strange, desolate wilderness.

When he turned around, he discovered that behind him... was the exit of a tomb.

What was going on?