Incident

A few dozen minutes later, the two arrived at the entrance of a residential complex.

The complex was called Xishan Fenglin. It wasn't a high-end place, but due to its proximity to the university town, the housing prices were quite steep. Li Sanli's father had spent his entire fortune to buy this place, and it had since quadrupled in value. However, he had no intention of selling it, planning to give it to Li Sanli to live in once he became independent.

Then, Li Sanli immediately used it as a place to hide his lover.

Now, at the entrance, Li Sanli kept rubbing his hands, his face full of hesitation and fear.

"I say, Old Zhou, let's not go in there..."

"Brother Zhou, can we wait a bit longer? I recently heard that a Qigong master named Ma is about to visit our city. I'll spend my last cent to invite him to take a look..."

"Grandpa Zhou, Ancestor Zhou... Damn it, Zhou You, you bastard, stop right there!"

Seeing that he couldn't persuade him, Li Sanli was furious and reached out to grab Zhou You. However, he stumbled and almost fell to the ground.

—Strange, did this guy have this much strength before?

At this moment, Zhou You turned his head and said with a smile.

"Come on, don't be so angry. You just want someone to take a look at that thing, right? What's wrong with me going?"

Li Sanli took a deep breath and then, leaning close to Zhou You's ear, roared in a low voice.

"That thing is a fierce ghost, a ghost that kills without batting an eye!"

"Even so, did it kill you?"

"...No."

"Did you and your... friend get hurt?"

"--Girlfriend!"

"Okay, did you and your girlfriend get hurt?"

"...No."

"That's all there is to it," Zhou You spread his hands. "You guys didn't get hurt at all. The only 'master' who ended up in the hospital was scared by himself. It's clear that this ghost isn't very dangerous. It's also broad daylight now. If we're just going to take a look, it should be fine, right?"

"Uh... what do you mean?"

While Li Sanli was hesitating, Zhou You added.

"And to be honest, I learned a thing or two from my grandfather. Maybe I can actually help you?"

Finally, this became the last straw that broke the camel's back. Li Sanli gritted his teeth and said directly.

"Fine, I'll listen to you this time. But let's be clear, if anything happens, we run immediately. I can die with my girlfriend, but I absolutely don't want to be buried with a virgin."

...Did a virgin eat your rice or something?

Zhou You rolled his eyes forcefully but quickly let it go. Instead, he gently rubbed his chin.

He had seen plenty of demons and monsters in scripts, but in reality... could there really be ghosts?

—Forget it, let's go take a look first. Anyway, according to Li Sanli's description, this ghost isn't harmful. It just lingers and scares people. And it's broad daylight now. Even if there's danger, at worst, I can use Guyu Qing to drag him and run away.

Li Sanli led Zhou You to a building. He first sneakily entered the elevator and pressed the floor button. He looked around nervously as if he were a thief. Seeing nothing unusual, he chuckled and said.

"Old Zhou, you've been hiding this from us for so long. We've known each other for so many years, and I never knew you could exorcise ghosts and demons. If I had known, I would have..."

However, at this moment, whether it was a power outage or something else, the elevator suddenly stopped, and the lights went out.

His words immediately stopped.

A few seconds later, a tragic scream immediately came.

It felt like a young girl discovering a cockroach while eating, or a frail scholar finding a burly man pressed against him in the shower. It was filled with pain and deep despair from the inside out.

Under the impact of this ear-piercing sound, even with Zhou You's composure, he immediately frowned and covered his ears forcefully.

After a while, the lights came back on.

There were no sudden female ghosts or monsters around. There was only a skinny, emaciated man curled up in the corner of the elevator, still singing a sharp, piercing soprano.

"Um..."

"Ahhhhhh!!!!"

"Excuse me..."

"Ahhhhhh!!!!"

"Hey..."

"Ahhhhhh!!!!"

Zhou You finally couldn't stand it anymore and delivered a big chop to the back of Li Sanli's head.

Finally, the screaming stopped.

Zhou You pressed his throbbing temple and said, "No, brother, what was wrong with you just now? It was just an elevator malfunction. Do you have to scream so tragically?"

"...It was just an elevator malfunction?"

Li Sanli stared with silent eyes, looking at Zhou You for a few seconds before he realized what he had done, hurriedly standing up in embarrassment.

"So it was just an elevator malfunction, I thought I'd run into a ghost..."

Following Li Sanli's awkward voice, the malfunctioning elevator started up once again, and after a dozen seconds, it reached the designated floor.

However, the fat man seemed to have been scared out of his wits by now; he cautiously poked his head out, looked around, and only after seeing nothing unusual did he heave a sigh of relief and greet Zhou You.

"Old Zhou, my place is at the very end. Xuanxuan and I have recently moved out to stay in a hotel, and apart from those few masters, no one has been inside the house lately..."

Listening to the trembling words, Zhou You poked his head out to look and discovered that the area was situated in a shadowy corner where the lighting wasn't very bright. Even though it was currently high noon, it still felt dim and indistinct, as if something were lurking in the corners.

He swept his gaze to the side and suddenly spotted a piece of rough paper tucked in the corner.

--It was a yellow talisman.

Li Sanli saw that thing too and gave an awkward laugh.

"Old Zhou, don't mind that. It was left behind by some master who claimed to be a direct descendant of the Shangqing Sect. He ended up running out less than ten minutes after entering the house, leaving his gear scattered all over the floor... Since he was like that, I reckon that thing is useless, just throw it away."

Zhou You didn't do that, however; instead, he carefully examined the yellow paper, folded it up with care, tucked it into his pocket, and then smiled.

"Alright then, lead the way and let me take a look at your house."

Li Sanli seemed a bit puzzled, but he didn't say anything more.

He led Zhou You all the way to the end, arrived in front of that door, took out his key, inserted it into the keyhole, and was just about to turn it--

But at that moment, a string of bell chimes suddenly rang out.

Li Sanli's movements stopped immediately.

As if he had sensed something terrifying, he trembled as he raised his head to look at the source of the ringing--

It was Zhou You's wrist.

And so, the man let out another sigh of relief.

"What, it's just a handbell... Old Zhou, don't scare me like that. You know I've been a coward since I was a kid; you almost scared me into fainting just now..."

Li Sanli rambled on, picked up the key that had slipped from his hand, and bent down to insert it again.

Consequently, he did not see that Zhou You was also staring at the handbell that was chiming ever so slightly.

And his expression was even stranger than the other man's.