Possessed by a Ghost?

Xing Ying kept his eyes on the road as he warned, "Let me tell you in advance: don't mention Bai Ruan in front of Old Su. If you disgust him, you and I will be the ones suffering."

Thinking of Bai Ruan's relentless pestering gave Huo Heng goosebumps too. He repeatedly swore, "I definitely won't mention a single word!"

"You'd better not."

Xing Ying did not trust Huo Heng's mouth very much.

The car drove along the mountain road. When they reached an unpaved fork, Xing Ying knew they had arrived. "Hold tight. This stretch is a little steep."

Without another word, Huo Heng grabbed the seat belt. Sure enough, once they entered the dirt road, the car began to jostle, though it was not terribly bumpy.

Xing Ying often dragged Huo Heng here on weekends to visit. This was not their first time, so they knew where people camped. The lake and this place were the spots they visited most often.

This scenic spot had been discovered by chance. The mountain folk had long grown used to the sight, and even the villagers could not understand why city people liked drilling into such remote mountains. They saw these places every day while gathering firewood and had long since grown tired of them.

As a result, few people came to this spot. Back when Su Tingbai and the others did not often camp here, the road had been even rougher. The weeds had sometimes grown taller than a person, leaving only a narrow path wide enough for one person to pass.

It was only after Su Tingbai took a liking to the place and hired someone to clear the road that it became easier to travel.

After he had the road opened up, villagers who went into the mountains to herd cattle or gather firewood began using it as well. Over time, the road became much smoother.

The stretch was not long. Before long, the view suddenly opened up, and they could see a sunshade canopy erected on the broad lawn in the distance, with an RV and an off-road vehicle beside it.

Xing Ying parked beside the off-road vehicle. After getting out, he passed the custom RV and raised an eyebrow at Huo Heng. "Tsk, true love indeed. He even hauled out this big thing. Last time we wanted to use it, he refused. What did he say then?"

Huo Heng recalled how they had wanted to camp on the mountaintop and planned to drive the RV up, only for Su Tingbai to refuse. What had he said? The moment Huo Heng thought about it, he remembered. "Do we need an RV for such a short distance? It's not like we'll freeze to death. What's the point of camping if we bring an RV? No."

After saying that, Huo Heng clicked his tongue several times. "If I remember right, isn't the mountaintop farther than this place that isn't even halfway up the mountain? So why did he bring the RV here? It really is different, huh. Different indeed."

Huo Heng smiled teasingly. "I'm really curious how Shen Xiaoyao managed to get Su Tingbai to bring the RV. Are they planning to sleep in it tonight?"

"Hard to say." Xing Ying felt that Su Tingbai really was capable of doing such a thing. But because of that, he became even more curious about Shen Rui'an.

Their circle had heard Shen Rui'an's name before, but the descriptions had always been that he was frail and sickly, delicate and aloof. He rarely appeared in public. His older brother, on the other hand, often met with them. Everyone knew Shen Jing'an was obsessed with his younger brother, and that the Shen Household treasured Shen Rui'an like the apple of their eye, giving him anything he wanted.

He had also heard that Shen Rui'an's condition meant he likely would not live to adulthood. Other than that, Xing Ying had no impression of him.

He had heard the elders at home mention that Shen Rui'an looked sweet and well-behaved, but it was a pity he was too weak.

Xing Ying did not believe Su Tingbai had fallen in love with Shen Rui'an at first sight. That sounded too absurd.

Su Tingbai had been built like a bull since childhood. Even in the army, he had been a thorn in everyone's side. It was only after becoming a cook in the military and tempering his disposition that he improved somewhat.

He did not have a particularly good temper with others. He ignored strangers, showed no courtesy to people he did not know well, and was only a little better with acquaintances. Getting him to nod in greeting was already pretty good.

Only Xing Ying, Huo Heng, and the few others who had grown up running around with him had a better relationship with him and got a few pleasant expressions from him. As for everyone else?

Heh.

Xing Ying grumbled inwardly as he thought of Su Tingbai's admirers. There had been countless attractive ones, both men and women. Fair, rich beauties and tall, rich handsome men alike had flirted with Su Tingbai, and Su Tingbai had only thought there was something wrong with their eyes.

Only the one surnamed Bai had been full of himself, believing that since they had grown up in the same compound and their families had dealings with one another, he was different from all those flashy sluts. So, at Old Master Su's birthday banquet, he pretended to trip and tried to fall into Su Tingbai's arms. Su Tingbai reacted instinctively and threw him over his shoulder on the spot. He nearly broke a bone and ended up lying in the hospital for several days.

The White Household had held a grudge over that ever since. Su Tingbai had been annoyed to death and moved out of the compound early, coming to this deep mountain forest to become an internet celebrity.

The White Household was not bad, either. At the very least, they belonged to the same circle and were not inferior by much. To be honest, Xing Ying thought Bai Ruan was fairly good-looking, but he had still been defeated.

Xing Ying had thought Su Tingbai was destined to die alone. He had never seen Su Tingbai tempted by beauty!

Xing Ying felt that Su Tingbai probably had not fallen in love with Shen Rui'an at first sight. It was more likely that he had accepted the Shen Household's request out of obligation.

After all, the Shen Household was owed a substantial debt of gratitude. Back then, the Shen family's old madam had saved the life of Old Master Su's mother, and the two families had maintained a fairly good relationship afterward.

The two sides were evenly matched in wealth and influence, which made that favor all the harder to repay. It had been dragged out until now, and since the Shen Household had rarely asked for anything, the Su Household could not possibly refuse.

Su Tingbai had been raised under Old Master Su's watch and was closer to him. Su Tingbai could not refuse his request. Even if he had been unwilling, he would have had to accept it while pinching his nose.

"He's probably just honoring old ties," Xing Ying said with certainty.

Huo Heng thought so too, so he nodded.

The two opened the trunk and carried a box together toward the canopy.

Because the canopy was triangular, it blocked their view, and they did not see Shen Rui'an and Su Tingbai inside.

They did see Little Zhu and the others from behind, seated on small stools and skewering food.

"Hey! Old Su, we're here! The King Crab you asked for!"

There were other seafood products in the car, and they had brought some of those as well. But they had brought only two King Crabs. Each one was especially large, and since they were still alive and had water in the box, it was quite heavy.

Fortunately, both of them worked out regularly, so they could manage carrying something like this.

Su Tingbai, who was livestreaming, heard his friends and poked his head out. "You're here? Put the stuff there, then come have some water and rest. I'm grilling sausages."

"Then we won't stand on ceremony!"

Xing Ying and Huo Heng set the box in the shade. Upon entering the canopy, they greeted Little Zhu and the others. Their eyes swept around, but when they did not see Shen Rui'an, they froze for a moment.

"Didn't you say Shen Rui'an was coming too? Where is he?"

As Xing Ying spoke, he caught the aroma of grilled sausage. He rubbed his growling stomach, lowered his head, and saw two cooked meat sausages. He reached for them. "Old Su, you're too kind. I get food the moment I arrive. Why didn't you add any chili? I like spicy food!"

"Exactly. We don't like them so plain," Huo Heng added, quickly grabbing a sausage.

Su Tingbai placed the rest of the cooked sausages on the grill tray, then slapped away Xing Ying and Huo Heng's hands reaching for those sausages. "These aren't for you. Take whatever you like yourselves. Add chili if you want it spicy."

Xing Ying: "?"

Huo Heng: "?"

They watched Su Tingbai take the two sausages and walk around them to the other side. The wind lifted one edge of the canopy, finally revealing a stretch of snow-white calf. Su Tingbai's tall figure blocked its owner from view, and they only heard him bend down and say gently, "Xiao Rui, your sausage."

Su Tingbai handed the sausage to Shen Rui'an.

Xing Ying and Huo Heng looked horrified. No, had Su Tingbai been possessed by a ghost?