Chapter 7: Backstab
A huge face filled his entire vision!
His heart skipped a beat in that instant. Yu Fan was so frightened that his hair stood on end, his heart rate soared to its peak, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
He gasped for air, trying to step back, but his legs were completely numb and frozen in place.
Then, just a moment later, he suddenly calmed down.
It was just a girl standing too close to him. She was probably just waiting for the traffic light to change.
Ghosts? Impossible. Everything he had felt earlier was just his imagination messing with him.
Awkwardly suppressing his heavy breathing, he forced himself to smile. A bit embarrassed, but still trying to look bright and cheerful. Quickly, he put away the porcelain bowl and chopsticks, afraid of looking like a fool.
Before he could even explain his over-the-top reaction, the girl suddenly spoke first.
Her voice sounded… familiar. It was exactly like the strange noise he had heard earlier.
Yu Fan's expression froze, he looked as if he had seen a ghost. He stood there, completely stunned, not knowing what to do.
At the same time, Li Mu was approaching from a distance. His face was filled with shock and confusion, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
"Li Mu..."
Yu Fan's smile completely disappeared. The moment he saw Li Mu, he jumped to his feet and ran over to him, pointing at Lin Xi on the safety island.
"That... that really is a ghost, right?"
"You can see her now?"
Li Mu momentarily set aside his fear and let out a relieved sigh. "So now you believe me when I said I was possessed by a ghost, huh?"
Yu Fan had looked like an absolute idiot tapping the bowl earlier, but at least... it worked.
At least it proved his sexual orientation was normal.
And thankfully, since Yu Fan's orientation was fine, Lin Xi couldn’t control his body for too long. Otherwise, by tomorrow, he might’ve had to visit a psychologist.
But... it worked a little too well.
Li Mu glanced at the crosswalk, deep in thought.
That raincoat ghost, where did it go?
It had clearly been drawn to Yu Fan, yet now it was gone. Did it just... disappear after the bowl tapping stopped?
Yu Fan, still clueless, kept sneaking glances at Lin Xi, clearly struggling to understand the situation.
A real ghost?
But aside from her sharp, raspy voice, this so-called "ghost" looked... surprisingly good.
Long legs, big chest, silky black hair, and a goofy lovestruck smile. She looked completely harmless.
He started to doubt if this was just some prank by Li Mu and this girl.
Almost on instinct, he reached out to touch Lin Xi. But the moment his hand pressed against her, he only felt something slippery. And when he pushed a little harder, his hand went straight through her body.
"This…?"
So the "tentacles" that had been grabbing onto him earlier—
They belonged to her.
Li Mu watched as Yu Fan’s expression shifted from confidence, to confusion, to complete disbelief, before finally turning pale with horror. It was exactly the same reaction Li Mu himself had when he first realized the truth.
Adjusting to a new reality took time.
It had taken Li Mu half an hour to fully accept this new world. In the end, what convinced him was Lin Xi’s long, beautiful legs.
If ghosts all looked this good and could actually communicate, then... maybe it wasn’t so bad.
They were just a little... annoying.
But Yu Fan? Maybe because he had grown up being trained as a spiritual medium, he adapted way faster than Li Mu did. After a few minutes, his face gradually returned to normal, and he managed to calm down.
Then, with a bright smile, he said,
"This is the power of reading a lot of books~"
Turns out, if you read enough fantasy novels, accepting something like this isn’t that hard.
Li Mu gave him a weird look.
He never expected this cheerful sunshine boy to have a cringe, anime-protagonist side.
"Oh, right! Earlier, you told me to run?" Yu Fan said, trying to act casual as he pointed at Lin Xi. "You meant... this?"
Honestly, it was hard to be scared of someone like Lin Xi.
If a ghost looked like her, then in a man’s nightmare, she wouldn’t be a nightmare at all. Instead, she’d be turned into a dream of passion, and by the end of it, she’d probably be pregnant.
Li Mu had no choice but to briefly explain what had happened with the raincoat ghost. But as he spoke, Yu Fan’s expression became even stranger.
"Alright, I believe ghosts exist now. But… how come our small town has so many ghosts?"
Yu Fan sighed, rubbing his temples as he stepped off the middle of the road and walked toward the sidewalk.
"What do you mean?"
"For someone to turn into a ghost, they have to die with a deep, powerful regret. Even then, the chances are one in a thousand." He pointed at Lin Xi. "And actually, ghosts like her should be called "lingering regrets" instead. Normally, they fade away in about a week."
"Usually, ghosts appear in big cities where a lot of people die. But in our small town, only a few people die each day. So the chance of ghosts appearing here is even lower."
So for two ghosts to appear in this tiny town at the same time, wasn’t that incredibly rare?
Li Mu nodded in understanding.
Yu Fan shrugged. "That’s just what my grandpa told me."
In other words, if his explanation was wrong, don’t blame him.
"Also, ghosts don’t just vanish into thin air. I think that raincoat ghost must’ve left through some other method. There’s no way it just suddenly completed its regret and disappeared, right?"
Yu Fan believed that Li Mu was telling the truth, but what he said contradicted what his grandpa had taught him.
Ghosts weren’t all-powerful, they couldn’t just teleport away.
"So that ghost might have disappeared because of your bowl—"
"It’s called a spirit-summoning ritual! Or a spiritual ceremony!"
Yu Fan desperately tried to make his stupid bowl-tapping stunt sound fancy and mystical.
But just as he finished speaking—
CRUNCH—!
His foot stepped on something.
A loud metal scraping sound rang out. His foot slipped, and the next thing he knew, he was flat on his butt.
"F*ck! This is exactly why I said we shouldn’t mess with this stuff!"
Cursing, he scrambled back to his feet, glancing at a black object that had been kicked into the bushes. He couldn’t be bothered to check what it was. Instead, he turned to Li Mu and forced a bitter smile.
"Great. Now that I’ve seen a ghost, I’ll have bad luck for at least three days."
Originally, he had just been bored on a weekend.
These so-called "paranormal games" were just made up by people looking for excitement. If it could help cure Li Mu of his superstitions, then it would have been worth it.
Yu Fan was a helpful guy by nature. Even though he and Li Mu weren’t that close, he still wanted to help.
But who the hell knew ghosts were actually real?!
And those stupid paranormal games actually worked?!
With a complicated expression, Yu Fan turned to look at Lin Xi, who was standing a bit farther away, looking nervous and hesitant.
"So… this is the ghost that possessed you?"
Before, Lin Xi had looked like a crazy fangirl.
But now that Yu Fan could see her, she suddenly changed. She now looked shy and innocent, with her hands clasped together, twisting her waist slightly. She didn’t look scary at all.
"Yeah, I wasn't paying attention this afternoon and got possessed by her."
Li Mu nodded helplessly.
Honestly, if Lin Xi possessed a girl instead and made her confess, she probably would’ve succeeded by now. But for some reason, she refused to leave him alone.
His luck was already bad, but who would’ve thought it was bad enough to meet TWO ghosts in one day?
And that raincoat ghost…
That one was different. It had an oppressive, terrifying aura. Just thinking about it sent chills down his spine.
Li Mu usually kept his emotions hidden, but now, even he looked a little shaken.
"It’s fine," Yu Fan said, his tone more serious now. "When I get home, I’ll sort through my grandfather’s old things. Maybe I’ll find something that can help your situation."
Then, his gaze landed on Lin Xi again.
"What’s her regret?"
"She wants to confess to you, and you have to nod and agree."
Li Mu took a step back with a blank expression, a slightly embarrassed blush appearing on his face.
Thankfully, it was late at night, so Yu Fan didn’t notice his flushed face.
Last time, when Lin Xi possessed him, Yu Fan rejected her so fiercely that her regret wasn’t fulfilled.
Yu Fan glanced at Lin Xi, deep in thought.
Then, with a completely serious face, he nodded and said,
"Alright. I’ll be your boyfriend."
But Lin Xi immediately turned away, looking at him with utter disdain.
...Apparently, it wasn’t that easy.
Maybe just agreeing wasn’t enough.
Maybe he also had to go on a date with her. At least do something that genuinely made her believe he was her boyfriend.
After a moment of silence, Yu Fan’s confident smile returned.
He grinned wide, showing off his bright white teeth.
"Don't worry! Next time, you wear women's clothes and let her confess to me! I’ll definitely say yes!"
"You’ve got a pretty face. I bet you’d look good in a dress."
Li Mu narrowed his eyes involuntarily, looking at the man who was grinning like an idiot in front of him with disgust.
Turns out he wasn’t a helpful friend. He was a complete pervert.
I asked you for help, and you f*king stab me in the back like this?