Lin Youwei

"To tell you the truth, Chen, I know ghosts exist now too. Having an exorcist as powerful as you living across the hall makes me sleep a lot easier at night."

"If I weren't afraid you'd think poorly of me, I'd want to move straight into your place~" As she spoke, Sister Hong's cheeks flushed pink, making her look just like a ripe peach.

"So you have to accept this apartment..."

This time, Jiang Chen didn't refuse. After all, rent here wasn't cheap-over five thousand a month. Even with his current wealth, that was a considerable expense.

"Wonderful! You eat first. I'll help tidy up and take your clothes over to wash. Come pick them up tonight!" Having given him the apartment, Sister Hong grew so excited that she looked like a girl in her twenties.

At nine, the gates of Jiangbei University of Finance and Economics bustled with youthful figures. It was summer, and all those long, creamy-white legs were so alluring that the male students hardly knew where to look.

Walking among them, Jiang Chen felt young again, though he had only been twenty-six when he died in his previous life.

"Too bad Old Zhang isn't here. His eyes would practically pop out."

Old Zhang was the old man who had adopted Jiang Chen. He was utterly irresponsible and always liked taking Jiang Chen to peep at widows bathing, or backstage at the town theater to watch the actresses change.

Whenever they got caught, he was always the first to make a getaway, leaving the seven- or eight-year-old Jiang Chen behind to take the blame.

After passing through the gates and walking for another ten minutes or so, he reached the School of Economics and Management building.

The large lecture room, Room 415 on the fourth floor. Monday roll call.

As soon as Jiang Chen entered, he saw a room full of noisy young men and women. He found a seat near the back, opened his insulated flask and poured himself a cup of water, then pulled up the news on his phone: the Tianfu Road murders.

"One victim was a passerby whose body was dumped in a flower bed after being killed. The other two lived in an old residential complex beside the road. One body was dumped at the foot of a staircase, while the other was found inside the victim's own home."

"Rather than dumping the bodies, it's more like the killer never intended to clean up the crime scenes at all. That's bizarre behavior, nothing like an ordinary criminal."

Criminals weren't idiots. If they wanted to avoid getting caught, they would at least do something to cover their tracks after a murder.

"There are only two possibilities: someone mentally ill, or... those things."

"And every victim was disfigured, as if the killer had some kind of obsession. The Knocking Ghost was obsessed with knocking on doors and getting them opened before killing people, even though she could clearly climb twelve stories with her bare hands..."

Jiang Chen analyzed the details one by one, feeling that this was very likely a supernatural incident.

As he pondered, a sudden commotion broke out by the door. Then several students from his department started shouting toward the back.

"Jiang Chen! Jiang Chen, someone's here for you!"

"It's Lin Youwei! Since when did you know Goddess Lin?"

"Goddess Yang's here too! This is insane! Jiang Chen's so unremarkable, yet he's got two goddesses coming to find him! I'm envious! Jealous! Bitter!"

"Come out already!"

The male students were all worked up.

People throughout the classroom rose from their seats, craning their necks toward the door.

Jiang Chen paused, then looked up. Amid the crowd at the entrance stood two women with completely different demeanors.

One wore a slightly snug white blouse and a long skirt. Everything about her exuded gentleness and grace, but her polite smile also held a distance that kept others at arm's length. One glance made it clear that she came from an exceptional background.

The other wore sportswear. Her pretty face was icy, and she was every bit as beautiful.

"Lin Youwei?" Jiang Chen knew the first woman. They had been classmates in elementary school, but her whole family had moved away when she was in fifth grade. He hadn't expected to run into her again at university.

That encounter had taken place in the library. Each had thought the other looked familiar, and after exchanging a few words, they realized they had lived in the same town and attended elementary school together.

But they hadn't had any contact since then.

He stood and went over to them. Having lived two lives, he wasn't overly excited even in front of beauties like these. He asked calmly, "Lin Youwei, did you need something?"

She glanced at the surrounding crowd, smiled, and pointed toward the hallway outside. "Shall we talk over there?"

Jiang Chen nodded, and the two walked off to one side.

Yang Chan, the girl in sportswear, frowned almost imperceptibly.

"Jiang Chen, this is for you." Lin Youwei held out a yellow paper talisman folded into a triangle. "My mother got this at a Daoist temple last time. It can ward off evil and protect you. Find something to hang it from and keep it close to your body. It's best not to take it off."

"Also..." She hesitated. "Things haven't been peaceful lately. There have been a lot of murders. Try to stay home, and whatever you do, don't go out at night."

Then, without giving Jiang Chen a chance to speak, Lin Youwei smiled politely and left with Yang Chan.

Once they had walked some distance away, Yang Chan's delicate brows drew together slightly. "Youwei, there are things ordinary people aren't allowed to know. You'll be violating the ironclad rules issued by the Dao Alliance and the Netherworld!"

"I didn't say much. I only gave him a talisman."

"That's fine, then. But let me remind you: he's only an ordinary person, after all. You're worlds apart. Even setting aside your status in the world of extraordinary practitioners, your family background alone is something he could never reach, no matter how hard he worked his entire life," Yang Chan said.

Hearing this, Lin Youwei fell silent for a moment. Then she gave Yang Chan a reproachful swat. "What nonsense are you talking about? I only see him as a friend. I never said I wanted anything more!"

"Heh. Would you give an ordinary friend a graded Evil-Repelling Talisman? That thing could sell for two million on the black market, and even then, money wouldn't guarantee you could buy one." Yang Chan gave a cold laugh.

"Have you forgotten what I told you? When my dad fell on hard times and went back to our hometown to take refuge, he and I were classmates. Once, he fell and split his head open trying to save me from human traffickers."

"What's one talisman compared to saving my life? Besides, there's been another outbreak of yin energy recently. I'm afraid he might run into those things," Lin Youwei said.

"You know it too. He's just an ordinary person who could die from a single encounter with a ghost. The two of you live in completely different worlds." Yang Chan grew serious as she looked at her best friend.

"Youwei, I'm warning you: don't mistake gratitude for love. You're in the prime of your youth, and you're talented. How many outstanding young men in the world of extraordinary practitioners are pursuing you?"

"An ordinary person could spend his whole life trying and still fall far short of being worthy of you!"

Lin Youwei said nothing more, her eyes filled with conflicting emotions.

What she hadn't told her best friend was that she could naturally distinguish between repaying a debt and romantic affection. It was just that, back in her youth, that boy's image had already become etched into her heart.

"Sigh..."