Chapter 23

But several even more remote and impoverished villages had always engaged in this practice. The villagers of Peach Blossom Village all knew about it too. But no one chose to report it to the police. They were afraid of offending the traffickers and suffering retaliation, and they also feared angering people from the other villages. Now that the police had arrested people on Peach Blossom Mountain, the villagers of Peach Blossom Village worried that the authorities would hold them accountable for knowing about it and failing to report it. They did not know whether they would be sentenced. Besides that, they felt ashamed. Everyone knew that human trafficking was illegal.

So when Tao Xiaotao and the other two streamers held up their phones to interview the villagers, the villagers were extremely hostile. The milder ones merely shook their heads, sighed, then returned home and locked their doors. The more forceful ones even shoved them away and refused to let them film. Tao Xiaotao and the others had no choice but to head toward the peach grove in the east and ask the people working in the orchards.

It was under these circumstances that Yin Li saw Feng Yang.

Beneath peach trees heavy with fruit, Tao Xiaotao and the other two streamers held up their phones to interview the villagers. Feng Yang stood not far from the crowd, carefully yet somewhat absentmindedly observing the interactions between the streamers and the villagers.

It was the height of July, blazing hot as fire. His tall, slender figure stood against the light, making his features difficult to discern, yet his entire body seemed to glow.

So handsome!

Yin Li praised him instinctively. Then, in a moment of brainlessness, he blurted out with an itch in his heart, "I can never repay you for saving my sister's life. How about I offer myself to you in her place?"

Feng Yang was slightly taken aback. Since being reborn, he had imagined countless times what his first meeting with Yin Li would be like. But he had never imagined this.

Even Tao Xiaotao and the others, who had been speaking nearby, turned to look at them in shock.

Noticing everyone's astonishment, Yin Li's old face flushed red. His brain finally came back online.

"What I meant was, I didn't expect my sister's savior to be so handsome." At this point, Yin Li added with complete sincerity, "You're so handsome that you glow. I recognized you at a glance."

Your soul glows like the setting sun. It is especially obvious at night. I can see you at a glance.

"You're a good person, and you saved my sister. If you need anything in the future, come find me. I'll definitely help you." Yin Li felt there was nothing wrong with what he had said. He immediately flashed Feng Yang a brilliant smile, revealing a mouthful of dazzling white teeth.

Make a contract with me and take me as your master. I will not let those wandering ghosts harm you.

Feng Yang was momentarily distracted.

Yin Li had extremely handsome brows and eyes. His close-cropped buzz cut stood up stubbornly, revealing a smooth, full forehead and a small widow's peak. At a full one meter ninety-two, he stood a head taller than everyone around him. His white T-shirt outlined the smooth contours of his muscles, and his entire body resembled an American cheetah poised to strike, beautiful in an aggressively striking way.

So this was how vivid and dazzling the living Vengeful Ghost was. He was utterly unlike the Vengeful Ghost in Feng Yang's memories—gloomy, domineering, unreasonable, suspicious, yet obsessively gentle.

Feng Yang unconsciously squeezed his palm. The Vengeful Ghost Talisman was so quiet that it barely seemed to exist.

Was this really the Vengeful Ghost he had spent nearly twenty years with?

"Feng Yang, what's wrong?" Seemingly sensing Feng Yang's distraction, Yin Li became somewhat uneasy. "Don't misunderstand. I really like you too. Even if it weren't for my sister, I'd still be willing to help you."

After a pause, Yin Li felt that what he had said earlier did not adequately describe his feelings, so he added, "I liked you the moment I saw you. The two of us will definitely become the best of friends."

Not everyone is qualified to remain by my side. I have chosen you, so it is you.

The Vengeful Ghost Talisman in his palm suddenly flared with scorching heat. Feng Yang came back to himself and smiled gently. "Me too."

Me too what? Yin Li froze for a moment, then immediately understood and grinned foolishly. "Hehe."

Feng Yang: "..."

The living Yin Li really was different from the dead Vengeful Ghost.

Yin Li suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right. Your parents came too. They're chatting with my parents at the village chief's house. I came to find you. Let's go back together."

Feng Yang asked calmly, "You've already met my parents?"

Yin Li nodded. "We ran into each other at the police station outside A City Railway Station. Uncle and Auntie were also asking around for news of you, so we came here together. And there was also the production crew my dad had asked to find."

At this point, Yin Li could not help adding, "I think I'm pretty fated with your family."

Feng Yang nodded. "I think so too."

"Right?" Yin Li chuckled. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have saved my sister, and I wouldn't have run into Uncle and Auntie, or your brother."

Feng Yang merely smiled without speaking.

Yin Li looked at Feng Yang, then suddenly said, "I'm two years older than you. You should call me Brother Li."

Feng Yang chuckled. He remembered that when he had first met the Vengeful Ghost in his previous life, the Vengeful Ghost had forced him to sign a contract and demanded that Feng Yang take him as his master. Now Yin Li only wanted Feng Yang to call him brother. That was practically polite, wasn't it?

"What are you laughing at?" Yin Li raised an eyebrow, looking a little embarrassed. He immediately argued in exasperation, "Don't laugh. It's not like I let just anyone call me brother."

"Mm." Feng Yang answered, which barely counted as soothing Yin Li.

Yin Li, who had been placated, was still somewhat unhappy. Instinctively, he wanted to bristle. But when his gaze fell upon Feng Yang's gentle brows and eyes, he hesitated at once.

He looks like such a gentle person. If I lose my temper, will I scare him away?

Thinking of this, Yin Li took a deep breath. He knew that his temper had not been very good these past two years.

Yin Li was the eldest grandson of the Yin family's main branch. When he was little, his parents were busy with work, so they left him in the care of his grandparents. Thus, Yin Li had grown up by his grandparents' side. Elders raising their grandchildren were generally indulgent and doting, and coupled with the Yin family's distinguished background, Yin Li had grown accustomed to the flattery and fawning of those around him from a young age. As a result, his personality became exceptionally domineering. What he hated most was being lied to, brushed off, looked down upon, or treated as though he did not matter.

If someone rejected the olive branch he had proactively extended and still dared to brush him off like this, Yin Li would never have given them a second glance under normal circumstances.