Qin Yue wanted a hole to swallow him up and end everything right at that moment.
Hanguang Zhe couldn’t stop laughing which only added to his annoyance.
He hastened his footsteps, catching sight of a commotion in front.
It was suspiciously close to the charlatans store.
Upon getting closer, Qin Yue realized it wasn’t a matter of being close but that it was happening right there.
Grabbing an onlooker, he found out that this man was a repeat offender who specialised in scamming people and had changed locations several times but his luck happened to run out this time.
Qin Yue watched from afar, feeling like there was something fishy about the whole situation.
The ‘officers’ for one did not look like regular law enforcement.
And there was no need to make such a huge fuss over a mere scammer.
Qin Yue watched for a while and decided to leave.
Slipping through the crowd, he didn’t notice the line of sight that fell on him and then glanced lightly at the empty space beside him.
Qin Yue went home without achieving anything and slumped on the sofa with a sigh.
The whole situation was annoying.
Not hearing Hanguang Zhe’s voice as usual made him even more annoyed.
He got up sharply and walked towards his room, the searing pain made him clutch his chest.
“What are you doing?”
The quiet voice suddenly spoke up at this time
Qin Yue’s lashes trembled slightly as he bit his lip to keep from crying out.
His forehead was covered with sweat and his breath came out in soft rasps.
Hanguang Zhe’s panicked voice came from beside him.
“Are you crazy? You might have a death wish but I don’t!”
Qin Yue took a few breaths and then moved away from the source of the voice.
“Hey!”
After several trials, Qin Yue found out they could only be at most ten feet apart.
Any more than that and it felt like his heart was being picked with needles.
This trial run left Qin Yue completely drained.
He casually tossed out a sentence.
“Keep up.”
He had his bath while Hanguang Zhe stood outside the shower curtain.
It was a bit uncomfortable at first, but he quickly got used to it.
When it was time to sleep, Qin Yue pointed at a sofa beside the bed.
“You can stay there. Don’t come any closer. And don’t come breathing down my neck. Also, could you stop messing with the temperature? I just MIGHT die of hypothermia before we figure out how to get rid of each other.”
After saying that, he turned off the light and settled into bed musing at the fact that he had just been scolding air.
He couldn’t help but mutter under his breath
“I’ll go crazy sooner or later”
The room fell into silence.
Qin Yue lay still under the covers, eyes closed, listening.
He found it unusual that Hanguang Zhe would stay quiet for so long.
Now that he thought about it, this only started after they got back.
Qin Yue frowned slightly but didn’t open his eyes.
“What, did you finally realize how annoying you are?”
A beat passed.
“I was thinking.”
Qin Yue restrained himself from rolling his eyes..
“You?” he said flatly.
“That’s new.”
Hanguang Zhe ignored the jab.
“That place earlier… those people weren’t ordinary.”
Qin Yue opened his eyes.
Darkness filled the room, broken only by the faint light slipping in through the curtains.
“I figured as much. They didn’t look like regular officers.”
“They weren’t.”
Qin Yue turned his head slightly toward the sofa, even though he couldn’t see anything.
“What are they then?”
There was a pause.
For a moment, Qin Yue thought Hanguang Zhe wouldn’t answer.
“People who deal with things like me.”
Qin Yue’s expression stilled.
“…Ghost hunters?”
Hanguang Zhe let out a soft scoff.
“Don’t reduce it to something so crude. They deal with spirits, anomalies, cultivators… anything that doesn’t fit into your ‘normal’ world.”
Qin Yue stared at the ceiling.
“So you’re saying there’s an entire group of people out there who know about this and deal with it regularly.”
“Yes.”
“And none of the temples I went to mentioned it.”
“They wouldn’t,” Hanguang Zhe said lightly.
“Most of them don’t know anything. The ones that do don’t involve themselves openly.”
Qin Yue fell silent.
His mind replayed the scene from earlier.
“Can they see you?”
“Mm”
“Do you mind elaborating?”
“Calm down, you’re overreacting. I’m a ghost, most humans can’t see me. Cultivators might be able to sense me but it’s only because I’ve been growing weak recently. How do you think I’ve managed to evade them for so long? But some people are born with the ability to see. Although people like those are so rare they could almost be nonexistent.”
Qin Yue ran a hand through his hair.
“And you didn’t think to mention that earlier?”
“You didn’t ask,” Hanguang Zhe replied lazily.
Qin Yue let out a slow breath.
Annoying.
Everything about this situation was annoying.
He had thought his biggest problem was being tied to a ghost.
Now it seemed there were people out there who might also be interested in him.
Or more accurately, in them.
“Are they dangerous?” Qin Yue asked.
Another pause.
Then in a more serious tone..
“Yes.”
Qin Yue didn’t move.
“In what way?”
“They don’t like things they can’t control,” Hanguang Zhe said.
“And right now, you’re connected to something they definitely wouldn’t ignore.”
Qin Yue’s lips pressed into a thin line.
“So if they find out about this?”
“They’ll either try to separate us,” Hanguang Zhe said.
“And?”
“…Or get rid of the problem entirely.”
The room fell silent again.
Qin Yue stared at the ceiling, his thoughts turning slowly.
“You mean kill me.”
“If they deem it necessary,” Hanguang Zhe said without hesitation.
Qin Yue let out a quiet laugh.
“Great. Just perfect”
Hanguang Zhe was quiet for a while
“I could protect you, if only I still had a bit of cultivation left”
Qin Yue paused.
“Are you..dry begging?”
Got cracked last nighttt.
Not as bad as I thought I’d be ngl :^)