Lan He let out a laugh, and Dou Chunting was watching him again, “…”
So terrifying, so pitiful, and yet he laughs?
“Sorry, I thought of something funny.” Lan He turned his face away, avoiding Song Futan’s expression. He really couldn’t hold it in. These two really were brothers, though Dou Chunting had bad luck. Back when Song Futan first met Lan He, he didn’t even know his name or face before becoming infatuated…
Song Futan, feeling targeted: “…”
Dou Chunting thought he suspected him of making up stories and said to Song Futan, “Cousin, you understand me! I’m not lying, there’s really a ghost in the notebook!”
Unexpectedly, his cousin gave him a very stern look, which made Dou Chunting shudder, though he didn’t know what he had done wrong.
Song Futan stood up, his face like a winter storm, and said, “Stop talking.”
Dou Chunting still mistakenly thought that he was displeased about mentioning ghosts in front of Lan He and said weakly, “I didn’t mean to scare him, he was the one doubting me.”
After another glance from Song Futan, Dou Chunting shut up completely. Song Futan said calmly, “I’ll go check your place with you.”
“Now?” Dou Chunting’s face turned pale, filled with anxiety.
The more scared he was, the weaker he became when facing ghosts. Dou Chunting was clearly already terrified, and since the sun was about to set, he felt even more vulnerable.
“Then rest for the night. I’ll make a call, and you go…” Song Futan started to say but then remembered the construction at Zhenwu Bridge was about to begin, with a monk stationed there chanting sutras. The monks at the temple were also quite busy lately. He reluctantly said, “Stay here tonight, sleep at my place, and I’ll check your notebook tomorrow.”
Dou Chunting obediently nodded, then glanced at the food on the table, “Well, I ran out so quickly earlier that I didn’t even get my delivery…”
Song Futan: “…”
It didn’t seem like Dou Chunting was all that scared, was he? He looked pretty lively now.
Song Futan scooped some food and a bowl of fish soup for his cousin. After eating something warm, sitting next to his cousin, and hearing Lan He’s explanations rooted in science, Dou Chunting calmed down. Seeing a cat villa and a pet cage at Lan He’s house, he asked, “Do you have a cat? Can I pet it?”
“No cat,” Lan He replied. “I haven’t raised anything yet; it’s empty.”
A hedgehog was easy enough to explain, but very few people raised foxes, and raising one openly would easily arouse suspicion, so Lan He never planned to reveal that he had a fox.
Dou Chunting said disappointedly, “You haven’t raised anything yet? What a shame, what a shame.”
Hu 79 shot him a sideways glance and even spat, “What’s so special about a cat?”
Ever since she found out she was living in a cat villa, she had been holding a grudge against cats.
Dou Chunting was completely unaware and looked at the hedgehog next. But whenever he moved to get a better look, the hedgehog would turn its back on him. When he moved to a different spot, the hedgehog would follow, as if it had eyes in the back of its head.
Finally, the hedgehog nonchalantly stretched out its tiny back legs, hooked the curtain made of towels, and slowly pulled it shut…
Dou Chunting: “…”
Dou Chunting burst out laughing, “Hahaha! It’s so clever!”
Bai Wu: “…”
Looking at Dou Chunting now, no one would have guessed that he had been crying hysterically earlier. Song Futan said coldly, “Get ready to go upstairs.”
Dou Chunting: “Oh.”
Lan He wanted to remind Dou Chunting not to hurt Song Futan’s feelings next time, so he quietly asked, “Don’t you think your cousin has been particularly cold to you today?”
Dou Chunting chuckled, “Hahaha, well, he’s never been warm!”
Lan He: “…”
…
Before going home, Dou Chunting saw his cousin go into a room with Lan He, though he didn’t know what they discussed. When they got upstairs, his cousin pulled out a piece of paper, face still cold (or rather, normal), and said, “I’ll draw you a talisman. Go to bed early tonight, and don’t overthink things.”
“Brother, when did you learn to draw talismans?” Dou Chunting found it curious. And when he saw the paper, wasn’t that just regular notebook paper, complete with ruled lines? He couldn’t help but hesitantly let out an “uh.”
Looking again, his cousin used a brush to write four characters on the paper.
Song Futan had always had beautiful calligraphy, something Dou Chunting knew well. But those four characters, written in cursive script, were unmistakably “pure and unstained.”
Song Futan handed the paper to Dou Chunting.
Dou Chunting: “…Is this a talisman??!”
He couldn’t believe it. The more he thought about it, the more it didn’t seem right. Weren’t those four characters from a Buddhist scripture? Since when did Buddhists start drawing talismans? Wasn’t that a Taoist thing? And besides, who had ever seen someone use notebook paper with lined margins to draw a talisman?
“Ghost scribbles,” people say when they see incomprehensible writing—because real talismans were supposed to be indecipherable, right?
His cousin told him not to overthink it, but how could he not when holding this piece of paper?
Song Futan: “Just keep it.”
Dou Chunting, in the end, didn’t dare challenge his cousin and weakly accepted the strange talisman.
Before going to sleep, Dou Chunting looked around the room. Song Futan had hastily tidied up the guest room. He had initially planned to sleep in Song Futan’s bed but, upon seeing the sword under his cousin’s pillow, he got scared and obediently went to the guest room.
Dou Chunting placed the paper talisman by his pillow. Even though his cousin had told him not to overthink things and to sleep early, he couldn’t help but start pondering.
What would he do tomorrow? His cousin planned to help him deal with the notebook… but could he, Dou Chunting, avoid going? The very thought filled him with dread. At first, he had liked the other person because of their wit and understanding of him. But now, he strongly suspected the reason for that understanding was because they had been watching him through the screen the whole time!
Just thinking about it sent chills down his spine. What once felt surprising and sweet had all turned into a nightmare. Unable to fall asleep, he tossed and turned, finally pulling out his phone to distract himself.
It seemed absurd. Back when he was engrossed in his online relationship, he barely touched his phone. Now, as someone who was usually glued to it, he found that earlier period to have been like he was possessed.
He kept trying to remind himself not to overthink it, but his imagination ran wild regardless. After dozing off for only a couple of hours, he woke up again, annoyed, and got up to use the bathroom.
Dou Chunting had been fairly brave before, but the recent events had rattled him so much that even stepping out of the bedroom to go to the bathroom in the dark made him uneasy. He turned on the bedroom light, then the hallway light after stepping out, but still felt an eerie chill. The cold air seemed to carry an ominous presence. Despite repeatedly telling himself not to scare himself, he couldn’t stop his toes from gripping his slippers as his feet curled up, turning pale from fear.
He quickly finished in the bathroom. As soon as he stepped out, the living room light flickered twice, nearly making him scream. But nothing happened, and he hurried back to his bed, tears welling in his eyes.
After turning off the bedroom light, Dou Chunting shakily reached for his phone. The screen lit up, showing it was 2 a.m. So, it really had been a fluke earlier, and he had just scared himself. The warmth of the bed gave him some courage, and he resolved to go back to sleep.
“Sigh.” Dou Chunting breathed a sigh of relief and was about to put his phone down when a notification popped up: Bluetooth connected.
He froze for a moment, then, almost involuntarily, opened the notification. The connected device was his laptop…
It was as if a cold breeze rushed from his feet to the top of his head!
His teeth chattered as he wanted to call out for his cousin, but his mouth was so dry and tense that no sound came out. Though the bed was warm, his body felt ice-cold.
A faint blue glow seemed to reflect on his face. Dou Chunting, terrified, slowly turned his head, his eyes wide with fear… On the nightstand, there was a familiar laptop, its screen cracked. The only thing on the screen was the crack and a bland wallpaper, but it scared him to tears.
“Ah—!!”
A face began to form on the screen, ghostly strands seeming to seep through the cracks, reaching out towards Dou Chunting. “Didn’t we agree to meet in person?”
Who wants to meet you in person?! Dou Chunting scrambled backward in terror, but the smoke-like tendrils shaped like arms stretched longer, almost touching him before they suddenly recoiled.
It was then that Dou Chunting realized he was unknowingly gripping the strange talisman his cousin had given him.
The arm waved menacingly from a distance, its fingers long and thin, the nails tinted with an alluring pale pink. As soon as he felt his resolve waver, the paper in his hand started to feel warm, snapping his mind back to clarity.
Dou Chunting gathered his courage and unfolded the paper, holding it up towards the screen. At the same time, the ghostly arm reached out once more.
The inked scripture on the paper began to overlap, forming a talisman. As soon as the arm touched the paper, the text shifted, folding into symbols he couldn’t recognize, faintly glowing with a golden light!
With a sizzle, the hand recoiled as if burned by the golden light, retreating rapidly with a faint shriek, and the glow from the talisman faded.
At that moment, the door swung open, and Song Futan appeared, holding a sword.
“Cousin! Cousin!” Dou Chunting crawled toward him, hiding behind him. “It was here! It…!” But when he looked back at the nightstand, nothing was there anymore. Trembling, he said, “It was just there, the haunted laptop…”
Had it all been a dream?
Dou Chunting remembered something and checked his phone. His blood froze again—the Bluetooth was still connected to the laptop. “She’s still here! Look, she’s still here!”
Frantically, Dou Chunting tried to disconnect the Bluetooth, but his hands were cold and shaking so much that he couldn’t hit the right button.
“Xiaoxi!” Dou Chunting called to the AI assistant on his phone.
“How can I assist you?” came the sweet, slightly mechanical voice of the AI.
“Turn off Bluetooth!” Dou Chunting ordered.
“Why? Don’t you want me anymore?” That slightly stiff female voice asked.
“Sh*t!” Dou Chunting threw his phone to the ground and then kicked it frantically, “Damn it, damn it!”
“Calm down.” Song Futan reached back and grabbed his wrist.
His cousin’s words brought some calm to Dou Chunting, who was on the verge of breaking down.
Song Futan pointed the tip of his sword at the phone, and the screen displayed that the Bluetooth had disconnected. Still holding the sword, he said, “Don’t get worked up. The more scared you are, the more likely it’ll take advantage of you.”
Saying this, Song Futan walked over to the window and pushed it open.
Dou Chunting naturally followed closely behind, feeling much more at ease with his cousin around, especially now that the Bluetooth was disconnected. Seeing Song Futan open the window, he leaned his face out slightly, struggling to breathe from the tension, in need of some fresh air—
Suddenly, a ghost slowly floated up from below, inch by inch, like riding an elevator.
Dou Chunting: “………….”
The ghost had bangs almost covering its eyes, exuding a mysterious and eerie aura. Dressed in white, it appeared gradually. Dou Chunting, who had just relaxed, was suddenly overwhelmed by fear. Clutching his chest, he rolled his eyes and slid down the wall, fainting.
Today had been like riding a roller coaster, and the appearance of this ghost wasn’t just the last straw—it was the final crushing weight. It was too terrifying.
Lan He slipped in, “What’s happening? Is there a ghost?” He looked around and didn’t see a ghost but noticed Dou Chunting had fainted. “How scary could it be? The kid passed out!”
Song Futan hesitated, “…”
He hadn’t passed out earlier…
Even though they had agreed to deal with the laptop tomorrow, Song Futan and Lan He hadn’t let their guard down tonight. As soon as Lan He received the signal, he rushed up, chains wrapped around his hands—more efficient than a phone call.
Lan He picked up the piece of paper from the floor, examining the twisted symbols on it. “Is this the talisman made from fractured characters your grandma gave you?”
This was indeed the “fractured character talisman,” a Taoist technique that used phrases or scriptures as the foundation. The ink would fracture and reform into talismanic symbols, usually selecting 2, 4, or 8 characters for use. Song Futan had chosen a Buddhist verse, which still had its effects.
Song Futan nodded, acknowledging it was his first time using it.
Lan He asked, “Was the paper useful?”
The paper wasn’t ordinary talisman paper; it was the kind Lan He often used, which he had gotten from Officer Wang Lili.
Seeing Song Futan’s confirmation, Lan He handed him more paper. “I’ll ask Wang Lili for more later… I’m practically stealing his paper to take care of you.”
Song Futan: “…”
Song Futan: “Hmm, looks like your little ghost bride ran off.”
“Who?” Lan He was momentarily confused before bursting into laughter. Song Futan’s sarcasm was deadlier than anything.
“Hmm… I can still smell something. Your brother’s online girlfriend probably hasn’t gone far. Let’s go check.”
Song Futan quickly scribbled some words and then left with Lan He.
Lan He floated down the stairs, calling out, “Hey, pretty lady, where’d you go? Come out and chat, I’ll top up your internet bill—”
Lan He was always cheeky in the presence of ghosts. Song Futan couldn’t sense the ghost’s presence, but he picked up Dou Chunting’s phone. The screen remained unconnected until suddenly, in the dark hallway, it lit up, displaying “Bluetooth connected.”
A robotic female voice from the phone echoed, “What do you want? We’re in love.”
Though she recognized Song Futan as Dou Chunting’s cousin, she disliked him for drawing talismans, disapproving of their relationship, and bringing another ghost to capture her. This made her particularly hostile.
Lan He paused, sniffing the air, sensing she was nearby.
Song Futan said calmly, “A relationship that starts with deception isn’t love. You didn’t even reveal basic truths to him.”
Lan He glanced back at Song Futan, “Huh?”
Song Futan: “…I’m not saying the behavior is entirely wrong.”
Ghost: “Huh??”
Song Futan: “………”
“No worries,” Lan He stifled his laughter, “Basically, what he means is, we have to assess the situation. But you, you’re just using the excuse of love to try and kill him, aren’t you? Trying to find a scapegoat?”
The ghost, using the voice again, stubbornly replied, “No, I love him, and he loves me. From the moment he bought my laptop, our fate was sealed.”
Lan He: “…Your laptop?”
The ghost spoke in a haunting tone, “Yes, the computer is a refurbished one. It was originally my laptop when I was alive. I used it for work, playing games, watching movies, and shopping online… until I died from an electric shock. I became attached to it and never left. I continued surfing the internet and even fell in love with him online. But I was in the screen, and he was outside of it. Sometimes, he would walk away from the laptop…”
“So you wanted him to become like you, trapped inside forever,” Song Futan said coldly. “Based on lies.”
Because of her accidental death, she became linked to the computer, a lingering soul of the web. What she called “meeting in person” was really a meeting in death.
“But our connection is real! And besides, he loves online games. We could share unlimited broadband, endless memory,” the ghost whimpered. “He confessed to me! That’s a vow, and he can’t break it!”
Promises made by the living hold power, like verbal oaths. Especially in the underworld, these vows have weight. Even though their relationship began with deception, Dou Chunting did confess, which meant the ghost could track him no matter where he went.
In that instant, her emotions flared again, and blue light illuminated some clutter in the hallway, revealing her location as a pair of hands emerged from it.
Song Futan flicked a piece of paper, the ink splitting into talismanic symbols. The ghost screamed, her hands recoiling. Before she could retreat into the screen, Lan He’s chains wrapped around her, binding her.
This ghost couldn’t detach from the computer, likely due to the electricity from her death. To prevent her from escaping back into it, Lan He locked her hands outside the screen, “What are you doing? Let me go!”
“Take it to Juehui Temple tomorrow for exorcism, and burn the laptop,” Lan He suggested.
The ghost wailed and shrieked, “I won’t leave Chunting!! We are in love!! Cousin! Cousin, tell him to stop! Chunting, say something!!”
Song Futan: “He fainted from fright.”
Ghost: “…”
“I never made Chunting faint!” the ghost screeched wildly.
Lan He, speechless, remarked, “Lady, you’re not much better. He’s more scared of you. At least I’m not trying to harm him.”
The ghost ignored him and cried, “Then I’ll report this to the underworld! He promised me!”
She clung to the idea of that promise, even suggesting she would take the matter to court, possibly even forcing Dou Chunting to confront her.
Though Lan He hadn’t been an underworld agent for long, his grandfather had taught him enough about such cases. To avoid further complications, he resorted to a familiar solution, “I… can have someone fold a paper figure of Dou Chunting for you, to fulfill his promise.”
The ghost hesitated, “A paper figure?”
She paused, realizing this was a traditional way to resolve such things—burning a substitute.
After thinking it over for a while, the ghost seemed willing to compromise. After all, she wasn’t just seeking a substitute. She said, “How long would it take to make this paper figure? Will it be like the figurines I order online, where I have to wait a year?”
Lan He: “…”
Lan He: “No, it’ll take about a week. Once it’s burned, you won’t be able to tell the difference.”
He wasn’t talking about the cheaply made paper figures sold today, some of which were just printed and looked quite basic.
Lan He’s grandfather used to make incredibly detailed paper figures, combining sculpting, stitching, and painting techniques. When crafting animals, they would even glue on tiny pieces of fur, making the paper figures lifelike and three-dimensional. There was a reason people said paper figures shouldn’t have their eyes painted before burning, for fear that spirits would inhabit them. With Dou Chunting’s birthdate written on it, the paper figure would be able to fulfill the promise.
“Oh…” The ghost said hesitantly, “Alright then, I suppose. After all, I do love him…”
She sighed about her love in the darkness.
“By the way, I have one more request. Could you make me another paper figure?”
Lan He: “Your family didn’t burn you one when you passed? Want a servant?”
The ghost bashfully replied, “No, I mean… could you fold me a paper figure of Lan He…?”
Song Futan: “…”
Lan He: “…Sis, what happened to your undying love character arc?!”
Ghost: “…”
The ghost became flustered, “Oh no, you’ve got it wrong! I do love Chunting! But I’ve been watching *Chase* online, and Zhang Xunchun is sooo handsome!”
Song Futan: “No.”
Song Futan could barely suppress a smirk. How could she call that love? He was right in front of her, and she didn’t even recognize his face.
Lan He: “Exactly, that’s not going to happen!”
The ghost began to sob again, “Why not? Liking Chunting doesn’t mean I can’t admire Lan He too…”
“Uh…” Lan He thought quickly, “*Chase* hasn’t even finished airing. You’re watching a pirated version online, and you dare say you’re a fan? You can’t even contribute to the view count, you don’t deserve it!”
Ghost: “???”
Author’s Note:
Ghost: Well, I can’t spend money! It feels like you’re all just making things difficult for me!
Song Futan: And you call this online romance?
Damn not blaming piracy to say she’s a fake fan XD Damn my piratey ass is sorry Lan He, I guess I will stop supporting you my dear actor /j.