Double Happiness (II)

"Dachang City? Isn't that Little Yang's turf?"

After the three S-rank ghost outbreaks in Dajing City, Ye Zhen had been left with a deep impression of Yang Jian. If Yang Jian hadn't been there, he and the captains might all have been wiped out inside the Ghost Painting.

As Ye Zhen approached, he saw a young man being handcuffed by two police officers. Two gleaming golden handguns on the hood of the police car were particularly eye-catching.

The young man was still shouting:

"I am Yang Jian, the top dog of Dachang City! Who dares touch me? Who can touch me?!"

"Quiet! You're suspected of illegally possessing firearms and ammunition! You're coming back to the station with us!"

Just then, the phone in the pocket of Ye Zhen's trousers rang as he watched from the side.

He took out his phone, its ornate case printed with a selfie of himself.

"Mr. Ye, headquarters called. They said they need to speak to you urgently."

"Headquarters wants me?"

Ye Zhen had wanted to hang up immediately, but after glancing at the young man who was still shouting, he said, "Put them through. I've got something to ask them too."

"Hello, Old Cao. Yang Jian's shadow clone has come running to my Dahai City. Also, when did he get plastic surgery? Even I can't recognize him."

"...No, that's Yang Jian's classmate..."

Two minutes later.

"So you're A Wei, Dachang City's double red-flowered enforcer, known as the Dual-Wielding Golden Gunslinger?"

Zhang Wei cupped his hands and put on an air of gravitas.

"Indeed, that is I. You know Brother Leg too? May I ask who you are?"

Ye Zhen turned around, clasped his hands behind his back, and gazed into the distance as he slowly spoke.

"I am Ye Zhen, the man in charge of Dahai City, known as the strongest alive, without a single equal. Ah... such loneliness."

"Oh~? A pleasure, a pleasure. My humble cultivation is at the peak of senior year, half a step into junior college."

While the two were chatting enthusiastically, a woman ran over from a distance and interrupted them.

"Zhang Wei! You're causing trouble everywhere again! I told you not to come, but you insisted on tagging along!"

Jiang Yan clutched her chest, panting from her run. The moment she had seen Zhang Wei showing off those two golden handguns in the crowd, she had known things were going badly and immediately called Yang Jian.

Ye Zhen looked at Jiang Yan, still holding his show-off pose.

"May I ask who this is?"

Zhang Wei took a sip of milk and muttered:

"Brother Leg's number-one girlfriend."

"Little Yang really gets around..."

Listening to their conversation, Jiang Yan bristled like a cat. She jumped up and smacked Zhang Wei on the head.

"Zhang Wei! Drop the 'number one'! I'm Yang Jian's only girlfriend!"

"Mr. Ye, I'm really sorry for the trouble. That's just how Zhang Wei is. Please bear with him."

The three of them sat at an open-air milk tea shop beside the plaza.

"It is hardly worth mentioning. I, Ye Zhen, am a man of supreme strength, unconcerned with trifles. Besides, Brother Wei and I hit it off at first sight. How could this be any trouble?"

Ye Zhen spoke with stiff formality, as though deliberately imitating some anime character.

Jiang Yan gave an awkward smile.

We're done for. That was Jiang Yan's first thought. Zhang Wei alone was enough to give her a headache, and now there was a Ye Zhen too. Who could have known that the man in charge of all of Dahai City would be a young man with eighth-grader syndrome?

Ye Zhen deliberately lowered his voice and said:

"Then, Brother Wei, what brings you to Dahai City? There is nothing in Dahai City that I, Ye Zhen, cannot accomplish. If you have any difficulties, feel free to tell me."

Zhang Wei cupped his hands.

"To tell you the truth, I have come here to meet an online romantic partner of mine."

"An online romance?!"

Jiang Yan immediately exclaimed in surprise.

"When did this happen? In this day and age, you still believe in that stuff? It could be some burly guy picking his feet!"

According to Zhang Wei, he had picked up a little red cloth pouch by the roadside a week ago, with a phone number left on it.

That night, Zhang Wei had called the number on it. To his surprise, a woman answered. Her voice was especially lovely; one listen was enough to tell that she was a girl in a JK uniform with twin tails.

After some back-and-forth, Zhang Wei and the woman had made their relationship official. He had come to Dahai City today to get engaged to her.

"Wait, wait, wait. What? Engaged?! Zhang Wei, you've known each other for less than a week, and you don't even know what she looks like. Now you're getting engaged?"

Jiang Yan wished she could tie Zhang Wei up and drag him back right now. However much of a goofball he was, he was still Yang Jian's classmate. Besides, Zhang Wei wasn't bad at heart; he just had a somewhat goofy personality. Deep down, Jiang Yan actually quite liked having him as a friend.

"What do you know? That voice belongs to a girl in a JK uniform with twin tails. I've listened to those voices under my covers on countless nights growing up. How could I get it wrong? Ours is a platonic love. Don't spout nonsense when you don't understand."

Ye Zhen kept nodding as he listened beside them, seemingly very much in agreement with Zhang Wei.

"Besides, who said I don't know what she looks like?"

As he spoke, Zhang Wei took out his phone. His lock screen showed a photograph of a woman. Her features were delicate, with a hint of aloofness. With just a little light makeup, she would definitely qualify as a beauty.

Seeing that there was a photograph, Ye Zhen and Jiang Yan both leaned in. Their two curious heads squeezed Zhang Wei's face out of shape.

"This photo... why does it give me a feeling I can't describe... has it been photoshopped too much...?"

"She's dead."

At some point, Ye Zhen's gaze had sharpened.

"Dead?!"

Jiang Yan and Zhang Wei spoke in unison.

Ye Zhen nodded.

"That's right. I've seen more dead people than you've eaten meals. This is a dead person."

Jiang Yan wished she could return to Guanjiang Residential Complex immediately. Who knew that even an ordinary business trip to negotiate a deal could lead to a supernatural incident?

Zhang Wei didn't hesitate for even a second.

"Brother Ye, I bid you farewell. May fate bring us together again!" With that, he started to rise and leave.

Ye Zhen covered half his face with one hand and spoke in a low voice.

"You might die if you leave, but here, I guarantee your safety. Within Dahai City, ghosts are forbidden to roam. Wherever I am is a safe zone."

"Um, Mr. Ye... can't we just not go?"

By now, Jiang Yan was so frightened that cold sweat had soaked her back.

"The killing pattern. Brother Wei, you've already triggered the killing pattern. The reason this ghost hasn't killed you yet is that its killing pattern is still in progress."

He raised one finger and continued, "If you don't go, you'll immediately terminate the pattern currently in progress, and the ghost will kill you."

Although Ye Zhen had eighth-grader syndrome, he wasn't stupid. Through handling supernatural incidents time and again, he had long since become a professional with a keen sensitivity to them.

Ye Zhen's achievements today were not entirely thanks to the Substitute Ghost inside him.

In other words, it wasn't the Substitute Ghost itself that was powerful, but Ye Zhen with the Substitute Ghost.

The Substitute Ghost's characteristics were certainly important, but Ye Zhen's strength was built upon his approach to developing supernatural powers. Even if he had controlled a different type of ghost, his achievements today would not have been much less impressive.

Hearing how logically Ye Zhen explained everything, Zhang Wei immediately clung to his thigh and cried:

"Big Brother Ye! Save me!"

"Heh... a mere female ghost. Watch how I suppress her!"

"Brother Ye, you're fucking awesome!..."

Watching the two men get up, Jiang Yan hurriedly grabbed her bag and followed.

"What about me? I wasn't dating a ghost online. Can I leave?"