Flexible Mysophobia

Clearly, it was too late.

Oh well. If the gourd needed washing, so be it. He could outsource the job later.

With a big enough reward, someone brave would step forward. Yep.

The staff and guests watched Qi Gu tuck that enormous head into the tiny gourd at his waist, and instantly felt their entire worldview being crushed. Though no one spoke for a while, they all stared hard at Qi Gu's gourd, as if that would reveal how it worked.

Pubu Gesang had never seen such a convenient magical artifact either, and could not help taking a few extra looks-the Anomalous Affairs Bureau used high-tech boxes with extremely complicated operating procedures to contain ghosts and monsters. The slightest carelessness could suck in a colleague's soul as well. They were not smart at all.

Once, while away on an assignment, he had accidentally mishandled one and sucked Lin Hanzhi into the ghost box too. As rotten luck would have it, the ghost trapped inside was the kind covered in thick, green secretions... When Lin Hanzhi emerged dripping slime from head to toe, Pubu Gesang had apologized in abject terror, but still ended up having his performance bonus docked and being punished with six months of cleaning toilets.

Ever since then, Pubu Gesang had kept a respectful distance from the Great Demon King that was Lin Hanzhi.

If he could borrow this gourd from Qi Gu and have the technical department study it, perhaps they could develop a more stable ghost box.

At that thought, Pubu Gesang's gaze grew fervent as he looked at Qi Gu.

Only Lin Hanzhi's face was snow-white, as though all the moonlight had spilled over his cheeks. He did his utmost to conceal the change in his expression, but still could not control his agitation. His fingertips trembled as he pointed at the gourd. "...If I remember correctly, the medicine you just used on me came out of that gourd."

Startled by how pale he looked, Qi Gu thought the drunkard ghost had frightened him.

Only when he heard the question that followed did he realize that this man probably had mysophobia.

Beside them, Pubu Gesang nearly bristled too when he heard the familiar key words.

Mysophobia! It was because of Lin Hanzhi's damned mysophobia that he had been punished with six months of cleaning toilets!

Qi Gu was in for it now. He had actually dressed the Great Demon King's wound with medicine poured out of that filthy gourd!

Pubu Gesang silently shed a sympathetic tear for him.

Lin Hanzhi seemed utterly aggrieved. He bit his lip hard, tears clinging to his thick, long lashes, poised to fall like crystal dewdrops among tender leaves in the early morning. He simply gazed at Qi Gu with those brimming eyes.

Qi Gu was struck by a fierce pang of guilt. "...Sorry, but I washed the gourd thoroughly before using it to store medicine. You can rest assured."

In other words, it had indeed been used to hold other ghosts before.

Lin Hanzhi went deathly pale. He abruptly crouched down and used a wet wipe to wipe away the pill, only stopping once the pale skin at his ankle had been rubbed red.

Seeing him like this, Qi Gu guessed his mysophobia must be fairly severe... But if it was this severe, why did he always walk pressed up against him?

Was his fear of ghosts a higher priority than his mysophobia?

If so, Lin Hanzhi might also look this awful because he felt that, since ghosts had occupied the gourd, the pill had been tainted with yin energy.

The thought made Qi Gu feel even guiltier. "I really did wash the gourd clean. I washed it several times."

Pubu Gesang: watching.jpg.

Mu Xingchen's eyes shone with crystal-clear stupidity: ?

Just as Pubu Gesang thought Lin Hanzhi was getting up to teach Qi Gu a lesson he would never forget, the man said in a weak voice, his face pale, "There had better not be a next time."

Qi Gu nodded, his expression firm. "Don't worry."

Pubu Gesang: ???

Pubu Gesang: !!!

That sure as hell wasn't what you said last time!

What do you mean, "had better" not be a next time?

So you could still put up with it if there was a next time?

Pubu Gesang felt that, young as he was, his blood pressure now stood a chance of rivaling his seventy-year-old grandfather's.

He could not help recalling the previous occasion, when Qi Gu had publicly refused the Great Demon King's offer to take him home. The Great Demon King had not gotten angry then either, and had even smiled at him good-naturedly.

It was the same this time... Had Qi Gu saved the Great Demon King's life?

Otherwise, he truly could not think of any reason for the Great Demon King to treat Qi Gu this way.

His expression grave, the boy propped his round chin on his short little hand and pondered, trying to reconstruct the truth.

Mu Xingchen was startled by his expression. "What's wrong?"

"I'm considering a major issue that concerns my career prospects. Be quiet for a moment." Eight-year-old Pubu Gesang looked solemn.

Mu Xingchen: ?

Uh, which one of us has delusions of grandeur, exactly?

[LMAO, even the drunkard ghost's teeth got knocked out. Qi Gu, you're seriously wicked.]

[Help, I thought this would be terrifying. I didn't expect it to be so funny...]

[Okay, okay, so bringing Want Want Milk gets you accepted as a disciple? I'll send a truckload to Floating Mist Temple another day.]

[Wait, who the hell uses Want Want Milk as an apprenticeship gift... Besides, Qi Gu clearly only wanted Mu Xingchen as a disciple so he could trick himself into some free labor, hahaha.]

[Mr. Qi, our mysophobic Zihan looks like he's about to shatter. Any idea why?]

[Zihan, my ass...]

[Wait, isn't our non-celebrity guy letting him off way too lightly? He forgave him that easily? I accidentally dripped snot on my mysophobic friend once, and she was so mad she didn't reply to my messages for a month!]

[Kid Bro and Mu Xingchen really are a duo with matching intelligence and matching levels of delusions of grandeur. I'm dying.]

[What Kid Bro said made me picture: "Good heavens, this could affect my career prospects!"]

[What career prospects? Being a school squad leader in first grade? Hahahahaha.]

[Seriously, you commenters... You've turned a perfectly good horror show into a comedy.]

[Actually, I'm just babbling nonsense to cover up my fear, aaah! This drunkard ghost looks so damned terrifying. If they really played this game normally, I can't even imagine how scary it would be without Qi Gu.]

[I'm recommending this variety show to my friend right now. She wanted to watch it but was scared of ghosts. With Qi Gu delivering consistently now, it feels totally safe.]

Weibo's trending searches.

Top 1: Qi Gu drunkard ghost game.

Top 2: Sha Chuan's ex-girlfriend.

Top 3: Kid Bro: Good heavens, this could affect my career prospects!

Top 4: Flexible Mysophobia. So you're the one with mysophobia, huh?

People who knew nothing about what had happened looked in confusion at this string of incomprehensible trending searches, thinking they had only been off Weibo for a few days, so why did it feel as though they had been out of touch with society for ages?

They could not understand a single one of these trending searches.

Then they opened the trending searches and started catching up from the beginning.

The top trending search showed a handsome young man using a gourd to suck a fierce ghost with a distinctive, unusual appearance into it.

A netizen commented: [Nice special effects. Give the art team a bonus. Give me a nudge when the drama airs.]

Then he clicked into the second one: [Huh? What do you mean, seeing his dead ex-girlfriend in the water? Is this from the same TV drama as the trending search above?]

The third: [Hahahahahahaha.]

The fourth: [Honestly, if it were my crush, my mysophobia could be flexible for him too... Wait, why are they both men?]

[Whatever, man on man is even more exciting!]

Having replied to the top four trending searches as though grading homework, Random Bystander A was about to check the political news when he discovered that his replies and likes page had blown up, with plenty of people tagging and replying to him.

Random Bystander A's heart lurched. Oh no. Did I say something wrong? Am I about to get cyberbullied?

With that thought, he opened his messages, trembling with apprehension, his heart pounding.