Was there really something wrong with Bronze Mask’s perceptiveness, that he found this place comfortable and picked a spot like this?
He Yu began to seriously ponder this.
He couldn’t report it to the Paranormal Affairs Bureau anymore. This place was too close to his shop. If someone from the Paranormal Affairs Bureau wanted to come conduct a site visit and investigation, entered his shop, and then accidentally discovered he wasn’t an ordinary person, that would be troublesome.
He Yu stood by the roadside, deep in thought. He could sense there was something beneath the road surface — the yin-baleful qi was coming from underneath. But the thing below wasn’t actively manifesting, so there wasn’t much he could do about it either; he couldn’t very well pry up the road.
However, from what he could tell so far, aside from producing yin-baleful qi that could sprain someone’s ankle, this thing had no other effects.
Forget it, he’d pretend he hadn’t seen it.
He Yu waved his hand and went into the shop. Behind him, the color on the road surface gradually deepened, as if a patch of shadow had seeped out, and it took a long while before it dispersed.
The residence had already been renovated to his taste, and the shop’s renovation and stocking had also been taken care of.
The storefront had a huge display window. He’d had people install flower boxes beneath the window and on either side of the glass door, which were currently still empty. He Yu planned to go buy some flowers and plants to put in them.
The inside of the display window had been personally designed by He Yu — huge plant models, mushrooms, and insect models formed the backdrop, toy soldiers patrolled in front of a castle, little fairy dolls hid beneath leaves… it was like a miniature Alice’s wonderland, very eye-catching. The inside of the shop had also been tidied up — spacious and bright, with plush toys big and small arranged on the shelves, looking very cozy and warm.
He Yu placed the transplanted amaryllis on the bay window sill. The amaryllis had already sprouted new leaf buds, small and tender green. He smiled, a little dimple showing on his left cheek.
From now on, this would be his home.
Chen Shi huddled in a corner without sunlight, watching He Yu with anticipation.
These past few days he’d discovered that the Big Boss seemed to genuinely want to open a plush toy shop — otherwise there’d be no need to put in so much care.
But… if the Big Boss was serious about this, did that mean he’d latched onto a golden thigh?
He Yu looked around and was very satisfied with Chen Shi’s work. Seeing him cowering away from the sunlight like that, He Yu lowered the curtains, turned on the lights, and waved Chen Shi over. “Come here, go pick a plush toy you like.”
Chen Shi didn’t understand why, but he pointed at a dinosaur plush toy.
He Yu nodded. “Go on in, then.”
Chen Shi was a bit dazed. Was the Big Boss picking him a vessel to inhabit?
Ordinary ghosts and spirits all fear sunlight — manifesting and being exposed to sun is almost equivalent to torture, and weaker ones can easily be reduced to ash and smoke. Even when relying on an object as a host, they’re still afraid of direct sun exposure. But if one had a proper vessel to inhabit, things would be much better — being exposed to sunlight wouldn’t be a big deal.
A vessel to inhabit is different from an object a ghost merely relies on. Ghosts have no physical body, so they can hide and rely on just about any object; but a vessel to inhabit is something that has a deeper connection to them.
But a suitable vessel to inhabit isn’t easy to find.
There are two types of objects suitable as vessels to inhabit. One type has extremely strict requirements for the object itself — it must be a naturally spirit-imbued jade or gemstone, an old tree with age to it, and so on. If the material itself isn’t sufficient, then it needs to have been refined and consecrated by a skilled exorcist — for instance, having a spirit-script master inscribe the corresponding spirit-script patterns onto it.
The other type has no requirements for the object itself; what matters is the matter of “fate” or “affinity.” Compared to the former, “affinity” is even more intangible and elusive. Simply put, it must be an object upon which the ghost’s lingering obsession is fixed. But obsession isn’t something that can be controlled. Living beings become ghosts after death because of their lingering obsessions, but that obsession isn’t necessarily tied to any particular object.
Chen Shi didn’t have a vessel to inhabit.
He looked at the dinosaur plush toy on the shelf — this thing wasn’t made of any special material either. He didn’t dare defy the Big Boss, so he had no choice but to stuff himself into it.
He Yu picked up the dinosaur plush toy with Chen Shi inside, found the needle and thread he’d used before to sew eyes onto the small rag doll, and stitched the two characters “Chen Shi” (陈石) onto the dinosaur plush toy.
In the materials Jiang Xian had given him, it was mentioned that this was the simplest method of crafting a spirit-vessel — imbuing an object with the name of the possessing ghost. He Yu didn’t know any more advanced methods, and Jiang Xian hadn’t mentioned any. This basic method was something Jiang Xian had told He Yu about casually as an interesting fact — it was the simplest, but that also meant an extremely low success rate. Let alone ordinary people, even exorcists who specialized in this field might not necessarily succeed.
When He Yu had heard about this, he’d really wanted to try it out. Unfortunately, he hadn’t had the chance until now — and now was the perfect opportunity!
After finishing sewing Chen Shi’s name on, He Yu looked it over. Pretty sturdy — just a little ugly.
But no big deal! It wasn’t like it was his own name being stitched on anyway!
“Try manifesting.”
Chen Shi’s form manifested, and he felt somewhat heavy. He pinched his own arm and let out a startled cry.
He had a physical body!
He looked down at the ground again — he had a shadow too!
He hadn’t just manifested — even the dinosaur plush toy itself had changed form along with him.
It worked! He Yu’s eyes lit up, and he pulled back a section of the curtain. Jiang Xian had said that a successfully crafted spirit-vessel could let a ghost be unafraid of sunlight — just like the Psyduck hanging on Jiang Yan’s shoulder.
Chen Shi instinctively tried to dodge, but wasn’t fast enough, and the sunlight hit the tip of his foot.
Chen Shi flinched in terror.
It’s over, it’s over, he was going to— eh? It didn’t hurt?
Chen Shi stood there, dazed.
He reached out a hand and tentatively touched the sunlight.
Not only was there no pain, he could even feel warmth.
It was just like the warmth he used to feel every day back when he was still alive.
It had been so long since he’d last basked in sunlight.
Chen Shi couldn’t help himself and walked into the sunlight.
He’d heard that only top-tier vessels could give the ghost inhabiting them senses as real as a living person’s.
He turned his head to look at He Yu.
An utterly ordinary plush toy, able to achieve the effect of a top-tier vessel.
This had to be the kind of spirit-vessel only a master exorcist could craft, right?
He really had latched onto a golden thigh!
From now on, the boss was his big brother!
“No different from a living person now.” He Yu looked him over. After transforming, the dinosaur plush toy’s clothing was also a matching one-piece dinosaur costume — though it could change into other appearances too, He Yu felt this one suited him quite well. “This’ll be your work uniform from now on.”
The dinosaur costume was adorable, and once Chen Shi — with his fierce face that might make small children cry — put it on, it created an extremely charming contrast.
Chen Shi: …
He had no objections to being a shop clerk. As for the work uniform… Chen Shi glanced at the smiling He Yu, gritted his teeth, and decided he had no objections to that either!
The boss was always right! Dinosaurs were great!
He Yu was very satisfied.
Over the past few days, he’d also gotten a clear picture of Chen Shi’s situation.
Chen Shi, thirty-two years old at time of death, couldn’t remember how long he’d been dead, had been a small-time hoodlum in life, skilled at glib talk, petty theft, and sneak attacks with a cudgel. After death he’d gained a special ability called “Unknown to All,” which let him lower his sense of presence to an extremely low degree.
That counted as a kind of special talent too — no problem at all being a shop clerk.
If he’d hired an ordinary person as a clerk, He Yu would have worried that the clerk might accidentally see something and get scared out of their wits. Chen Shi was just right for the job.
He Yu cheered Chen Shi on. “Work hard, there’s commission in it for you!”
Chen Shi had no interest in money. Now that he’d turned into a ghost, even if there was delicious food, he couldn’t taste it — food smelled fragrant, but the moment it entered his mouth it was like eating a candle, pure torture for a ghost.
Seeing him still looking a bit dejected, He Yu thought for a moment, then tempted him. “The shop’s already got WiFi installed. You could buy a phone. Later on I could even set you up with a computer to play games.”
Chen Shi’s eyes lit up.
The shop was tidied up, the clerk was in place — ready to open for business!
On a bright sunny morning, Chen Shi dressed himself up sharp and spirited, and opened the doors for business!
He’d been dead so long that back then, the top-of-the-line phones still had slide covers. He’d been trapped in the house, watching helplessly as technology outside advanced by leaps and bounds. In a flash, flip phones and slide phones went out of style, and everyone started using touchscreen phones; in another flash, you didn’t even need to go to an internet café to get online anymore — computers could just be carried around; in yet another flash, people’s hands started holding things with even bigger screens called whatchamacallit-i-Pads or something.
Across the street there was a café, also with a big glass window. Chen Shi poked his face through the door of the haunted house, watching with a look of wistful envy as people sat inside playing games on their laptops and phones. Back in his day, he’d been a gaming champion at the internet café! But now, he couldn’t even figure out the game mechanics anymore.
For the sake of getting online, for the sake of gaming, for the sake of the former online-gaming god making his comeback to the scene!
He had to work hard!
Charge ahead!
Chen Shi stayed spirited for one morning, one midday… and by afternoon, not a single customer had come.
Chen Shi’s spirits deflated.
He watched helplessly as a little kid was drawn in by the shop’s display window and wanted to get closer, only to be hastily dragged away by their parent.
People in the area all knew this was a haunted house — even though the storefront was so nicely renovated, no one was willing to go near it.
And the haunted house’s terrifying reputation was something Chen Shi himself had caused.
He slumped dejectedly over the counter, as if watching the phone and computer drifting further and further away from him.
“It’s fine, you get a base salary. One month and you’ll be able to afford a phone.” He Yu comforted him.
Chen Shi nodded glumly.
As the sun was about to set, the shop finally welcomed its first customer.
“Welcome!” Chen Shi said enthusiastically.
He Yu looked up. “Auntie Sun, what brings you here?”
“Little Boss He, congratulations on the opening! My legs are better now, and I heard you were opening today, so I came to take a look.” Granny Sun smiled, gentle and kind. She had no children of her own, and treated He Yu like one of her own nephews.
“You’ve got the fridge and stove and everything installed now, right? I brought you some dumplings.”
Besides frozen dumplings, there were also some freshly cooked ones. Granny Sun was worried he hadn’t eaten. Young people these days didn’t know how to take care of themselves, often just getting by on snacks and takeout.
Granny Sun’s dumplings were as delicious as ever. This time it was a shiitake mushroom and pork filling — the mushrooms had been stir-fried in lard and soy sauce, and the mushrooms’ distinctive fragrance blended perfectly with the meaty aroma.
He Yu gave a thumbs up.
Chen Shi looked on enviously, dying of hunger off to the side.
Granny Sun smiled warmly. “Young man, come on, you have some too!”
Chen Shi swallowed his tears and saliva together. “No, no, I already ate too much earlier, my stomach’s still bloated.”
Before leaving, Granny Sun picked out a little puppy plush toy. He Yu wanted to give it to her for free, but Granny Sun stuffed the money into his hand. “No, no, you have to charge me. First day of the shop opening, you need a good omen.”
He Yu carefully recorded this first sale of the day into his books.
Clouds in the sky covered the sun, and Granny Sun got ready to head back. He Yu walked her to the door, then suddenly caught sight of a patch in the middle of the road outside where the color was gradually deepening like spreading water stain. He paused, then smiled. “Auntie Sun, let me walk you across the street.”
Granny Sun assumed he was worried her legs hadn’t fully healed yet, and agreed with a smile.
While crossing the street, He Yu stayed tense the whole time, deliberately walking on the side closer to the shadow on the road.
He was worried this thing might suddenly cause some commotion — if he had to act and Granny Sun noticed something was off, it would be hard to keep up the disguise of being an ordinary person.
By the time they reached the middle of the road, the outline of the shadow on the road had grown increasingly clear, gradually taking on a human shape — but even by the time the two of them reached the other side, the shadow still hadn’t shown any sign of movement.
He Yu let out a breath of relief.
After seeing Granny Sun off, He Yu turned back toward the shop. The shadow on the road had already vanished — a slanting ray of the setting sun fell across the spot, and the thing seemed to have shrunk back down.
With the sunset and the evening breeze, He Yu walked toward the shop, when he suddenly sensed something was off behind him.
In the shop ahead of him, Chen Shi was pressed against the glass window, pointing behind He Yu with a face full of terror.
He Yu turned around.
A bloated, twisted ghost, dripping with blood all over, was pressed tightly right behind him.
F*ck!