“The more you say, the more amazing it seems…”
Wen Nuan’s eyes sparkled with curiosity, staring at Baili Wuchang. He didn’t need to say anything for Baili Wuchang to understand that Wen Nuan was waiting for him to keep talking.
Baili Wuchang couldn’t resist that look in Wen Nuan’s awaiting eyes, so he continued, “Even though it’s useful, for a living person, this thing is extremely harmful.”
The psychic joss stone could allow one to communicate with ghosts because its yin energy was rich to a level where living people couldn’t handle it. Just touching it would cause them to tremble and catch a cold or some kind of illness. There was no need to imagine what would happen if one used it to raise a ghost.
The yin energy would enter their bones, and every kind of illness would be unavoidable. Once the yang energy in the body was overtaken, the person would die.
Baili Wuchang said lightly, “The psychic joss stone’s yin energy also attracts things that are impure. Whoever possesses this will be easily involved with evil spirits.”
Wen Nuan didn’t know if Zhao Mingchong was aware of the psychic joss stone’s hazards, and he didn’t know why an ordinary person like Zhao Mingchong would have the psychic joss stone in his room. However, he at least understood now that Zhao Mingchong was likely using this to raise a ghost, bringing the dead Tang Qizhuan back to life.
As for Tang Qizhuan, it seemed like he didn’t even realize he was no longer living.
Baili Wuchang scoffed, the sound full of disdain. “For an ordinary person to attempt to use the psychic joss stone to raise a ghost, that’s just an overestimation of ability.”
If Zhao Mingchong continued to use the psychic joss stone, it wouldn’t take long before his yang energy was completely consumed. Whether or not Tang Qizhuan would be able to attain rebirth afterwards was another issue, but Zhao Mingchong would definitely disappear.
Wen Nuan recalled how Zhao Mingchong had gone to the front desk for painkillers. It seemed like Zhao Mingchong had already started facing some of the harmful effects from the psychic joss stone, so his body was suffering from strange ailments.
It seemed like he didn’t want Tang Qizhuan to figure it out, so he wanted to take some painkillers, hoping he would be able to pretend everything was okay.
Wen Nuan couldn’t help asking, “Then what’s the outlook for Mr. Zhao now?”
Baili Wuchang replied, “Two days.”
After tonight, he would only live for two more days. No wonder why Baili Wuchang had said it didn’t matter if Zhao Mingchong took the wrong medicine; he would die anyway.
Wen Nuan widened his eyes in shock. Two days? This was much more sudden than what he imagined.
“I,” Wen Nuan muttered after being dumbstruck for a while, “I think I understand now…”
“Understand what?” Baili Wuchang didn’t understand him.
“Why are you here?!”
Wen Nuan couldn’t respond before someone yelled at them from the door.
Startled, Wen Nuan jumped, turning his head around to look. Oh no…
Someone came into Room 0729 with a face full of fury and annoyance. Who else could it be but the guest of the room, Zhao Mingchong?
This room was his, after all. When he was out, someone had entered without invitation. More awkwardly, Wen Nuan and company had been caught by the master of the room himself.
When Tang Qizhuan called room service earlier, he wanted Wen Nuan to send something up. But after looking left and right, he didn’t see hide nor hair of Wen Nuan. Zhao Mingchong was also waiting in Tang Qizhuan’s room. He said he would come out to take a look, and perhaps personally go fetch the items.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Zhao Mingchong left Room 0728, he saw the door to his own room wide open.
Wen Nuan was embarrassed. He regretted not closing the door after himself when he came in. At first, it had just been Baili Wuchang being sneaky and suspicious on his own, but now Wen Nuan couldn’t explain himself even if he had a hundred mouths to do so.
“Uh, guest, actually, we…” Wen Nuan wanted to explain that he wasn’t a thief.
Zhao Mingchong frowned deeply. “What are you doing in my room? Put that box down!”
Box…
Wen Nuan turned back to look at the box that held the psychic joss stone.
Baili Wuchang casually picked the box up and put the lid back on, holding it in his palm as he said, “This is stolen property from Hell. It does not belong to you. I must take it back.”
“I don’t seem to get it?” Zhao Mingchong blocked his way. “This is mine. It’s very important to me, and I can’t let you take it.”
Wen Nuan could tell that Zhao Mingchong cared a great deal about this box.
Wen Nuan interjected, “This box is Tang Qizhuan’s last hope, as well as the cause of your death.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“What did you say?” Zhao Mingchong’s angry expression seemed to falter. He tried to deny it and said, “I don’t know what you mean.”
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Coafg atf vbbg mibrfv, Itjb Zlcumtbcu mbcogbcafv Qfc Rejc jcv Djlil Qemtjcu bcmf jujlc. “Aera ktb jgf sbe qfbqif, jcv ktja vb sbe xcbk? Dea cb wjaafg ktja xlcv bo qfbqif sbe jgf, sbe mjc’a rabq wf.”
Wen Nuan pointed to the box in Baili Wuchang’s hands. He said, “Mr. Tang is already dead. Mr. Zhao, you’re using the psychic joss stone to keep Mr. Tang alive, hoping to bring him back to life.”
This time, Zhao Mingchong didn’t have time to refute. Baili Wuchang snapped his fingers, and with a flick of his wrist, something that looked like an account book appeared in his hands.
Baili Wuchang flipped through the pages and said, “As far as I know, recently, there was an evil ghost across the street making mischief, causing a series of car accidents. A total of two people consequently lost their lives.”
Zhao Mingchong said nothing. Both his hands were curled tightly into fists.
Baili Wuchang continued, “Among the two people that died, one was a thirty year old woman, and the other was a man in his fifties. Strangely enough, while I was surveying the scene of the crime, resentful energy from the car crashes was extremely strong. According to this observation, there couldn’t have only been two people who died. There had to be at least three.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Mingchong’s breathing seemed to become rougher. He said darkly, “Xiao Zhuan didn’t die. He only had some injuries.”
Baili Wuchang’s conjecture was correct. Because the evil ghost caused a series of car accidents, in total, three people died, and one of them…
Was Tang Qizhuan.
Right now, Tang Qizhuan was fine and dandy, not at all like a dead person. Even Tang Qizhuan himself didn’t suspect whether he was dead or alive.
Zhao Mingchong stopped trying to struggle, defeated by Wen Nuan and Baili Wuchang.
It was only earlier when Wen Nuan had finally put it all together, understanding what had happened…
Wen Nuan said calmly and slowly, “It was you who used the psychic joss stone on Tang Qizhuan.”
Zhao Mingchong still wanted to make excuses, but when he opened his mouth, he couldn’t get a sound out. In the end, he just pressed a hand against his temple, saying softly, “Don’t…don’t tell Xiao Zhuan about this…”
Though Zhao Mingchong didn’t admit anything directly, with this line, he verified Wen Nuan’s suspicions.
Tang Qizhuan was indeed already dead, and it was Zhao Mingchong who “brought him back to life”.
Things had to be retold from the start. Zhao Mingchong was a businessman with a good family background. He was extremely rich, and many people wanted to curry favor with him. They would always give Zhao Mingchong weird gadgets and things that would attract his attention.
Zhao Mingchong looked fatigued to the extreme. He slowly sat down on the sofa and sighed, “I received a gift from a business partner, and it was that box with the psychic joss stone inside.”
Baili Wuchang knit his brows as Zhao Mingchong continued.
Many people didn’t believe in the supernatural, but in the entertainment circle, people who believed in the supernatural were everywhere. Many celebrities supported ghosts at home in private, hoping that they could help with their own business success, or curse their rivals with bad luck.
Zhao Mingchong also had investments in TV shows and movies, so he didn’t think these things were out of the ordinary. It was just that he didn’t believe in them very much.
When someone sent him the psychic joss stone, Zhao Mingchong didn’t take it seriously at first, completely forgetting it in the backseat of his car.
After a few days, it was Tang Qizhuan’s birthday…
Zhao Mingchong said dejectedly, “I helped Xiao Zhuan plan out his birthday celebration, wanting us two to spend it romantically…”
After Tang Qizhuan got drunk that one time, he had ranted to Wen Nuan, saying that Zhao Mingchong stood him up. The day of his birthday, he’d worked overtime without coming home the whole night. There were spending records from a hotel, so he’d been suspected of spending the night with a stranger.
This situation mattered a lot to Tang Qizhuan. When he asked Zhao Mingchong about it, Zhao Mingchong either didn’t elaborate or didn’t explain, not giving Tang Qizhuan a satisfactory response.
Zhao Mingchong laughed bitterly. “How could I…how could I tell him?”
Wen Nuan questioned, “Was it that day that Mr. Tang passed away?”
Zhao Mingchong nodded slowly and replied, “Yeah…”
That day, Zhao Mingchong took Tang Qizhuan out for a drive. He’d made a romantic dinner reservation for two. They arrived at the Hell Chain Hotel, and after dinner, the plan was to go see a movie, then stay overnight at the hotel.
But unfortunately, during the perfectly fine day, an accident happened.
The two finished dinner and had started to drive out when it started to pour. On a street not far from the hotel’s entrance, there was a car accident.
Zhao Mingchong the entire process of development, shuddering slightly as he spoke. “Xiao Zhuan, he…At that time, he was covered in blood. There was no reaction from him.”
That day’s events were vivid in his mind. Zhao Mingchong felt great agony upon remembering them, finding it difficult to breathe.
Tang Qizhuan died on the spot. When he was sent to the hospital, the doctors and nurses told Zhao Mingchong that nothing could be done. No matter what they did, he was already beyond saving.
A dry laugh came from Zhao Mingchong’s throat. He gritted out, “They only told me to accept my fate! That’s all they said…”
But that was easier said than done when it came to something so excruciating.
Zhao Mingchong felt like he was going insane. He was filled with regret and self-reproach, like thorns were stabbing all around his heart, poking holes and bleeding him out.
“I kept thinking, if only I had chosen a different restaurant…”
“If I had driven a little slower…”
“If I had…”
No; the questions going through Zhao Mingchong’s head weren’t actually all these. What he really wanted to know was, why wasn’t he the one who had died instead, and why did it have to be the man he loved?
If he could, Zhao Mingchong wanted to exchange his own life for Tang Qizhuan’s.
It was during his despair and suffering that Zhao Mingchong suddenly remembered the psychic joss stone. The thing he had previously regarded as a farce suddenly became his saving grace.
Zhao Mingchong said, “I was desperate, so…I placed all my hopes onto the psychic joss stone. I didn’t think it would really bring Xiao Zhuan back to life.”
There was no need to doubt the psychic joss stone’s saving powers. At the same time, its destruction was equally powerful, especially towards a normal person.
Zhao Mingchong had brought Tang Qizhuan back for the time being, but while he was wild with joy, he realized his body didn’t feel quite right. But like he said, as long as Tang Qizhuan was alive, Zhao Mingchong wouldn’t mind if his life was taken instead.
Zhao Mingchong’s stifled face finally let out a smile. He said, “Before that day, I’d never despaired so much, nor had I ever been so happy. Xiao Zhuan really came back to life…”
The “revived” Tang Qizhuan woke up after a while, as if he had just been asleep. He dazedly leaned against Zhao Mingchong’s chest. He didn’t remember what had happened, having a bit of amnesia.
That being said, Zhao Mingchong was a bit relieved. If he could, he’d rather Tang Qizhuan not remember those details ever.
Even now, Zhao Mingchong would sometimes dream about what had happened during that time. He never wished for Tang Qizhuan to know, lest he also be frightened.
Wen Nuan had a pretty clear understanding of the ordeal. “Mr. Tang didn’t remember going to the hotel with you on the day of his birthday. You didn’t tell him the truth, so you two had a misunderstanding before, right?”
Zhao Mingchong nodded. “More or less. At first, I thought it was just a small misunderstanding…I didn’t think…”
At first, it was just a small misunderstanding, but misunderstandings were like lies: one or two weren’t much, but the more there were, the greater effect they had. At some point, there would be a point of no return.
The day of Tang Qizhuan’s birthday, Zhao Mingchong was with him. The person who had stayed the night at a hotel with Zhao Mingchong was Tang Qizhuan himself, which was where the card history came from.
Tang Qizhuan didn’t remember this. He didn’t remember that he had actually celebrated his birthday with Zhao Mingchong; the day of his birthday was a complete blank.
Zhao Mingchong only told him that that day, he had worked overtime, and he would make it up to him in the future.
Zhao Mingchong sighed. He shook his head and said, “It was just a misunderstanding; I didn’t think anything of it. I didn’t expect that other things would arise from it.”
Raising a ghost wasn’t a smooth process. Tang Qizhuan’s body was unstable.
Baili Wuchang crossed his arms as he stood next to Wen Nuan. He said, “Of course. You’re just an ordinary person; it’s difficult to control the psychic joss stone.”
Raising a ghost was harder than Zhao Mingchong imagined. The first few days, Tang Qizhuan’s body was fine; everything was normal. But all of a sudden, Tang Qizhuan would often faint, or his entire body would become transparent.
Zhao Mingchong was flustered. He researched more about the psychic joss stone, all the while still fearing that Tang Qizhuan would discover “the truth”.
Tang Qizhuan had an outgoing personality, and he was very optimistic. Zhao Mingchong didn’t want Tang Qizhuan to find out he was already dead; he didn’t want Tang Qizhuan to be scared.
“I wanted to conceal it…” Zhao Mingchong said.
Once, Zhao Mingchong got off work and called Tang Qizhuan on the way home. Tang Qizhuan had been in high spirits with ample stamina, saying that he was going to personally cook, wanting to feed Zhao Mingchong something nice.
Zhao Mingchong was very happy. He said that he would be home soon, and then he ended the call.
After about a half hour on the road, Zhao Mingchong returned to his villa with a heart full of expectation. But nobody was at the door to greet him. He rang the doorbell for a long time, starting to have a bad feeling about this…
Zhao Mingchong opened the door using his PIN number. He entered his villa to see Tang Qizhuan sprawled over the kitchen table, the table laden with a myriad of his homemade delicacies.
Tang Qizhuan’s favorite creamy mushroom soup was still piping hot, wispy vapors of steam hovering over it. But the Tang Qizhuan laying on the table was ice cold, without a shred of color to his face…
No matter how many times Zhao Mingchong called Tang Qizhuan’s name, he didn’t respond. His body kept getting colder and colder, and he even started to grow stiff.
Zhao Mingchong panicked as if the sky was going to fall again…
Zhao Mingchong said, “After a long time, Xiao Zhuan finally woke up.”
Zhao Mingchong had been busy the whole night before Tang Qizhuan opened his eyes once more, his skin finally regaining a bit of warmth.
The creamy mushroom soup on the table had long since gone cold.
Zhao Mingchong scoffed and said, “I didn’t dare tell Xiao Zhuan. I told him he fainted. I was afraid he would start getting suspicious and try to get to the bottom of things.”
Zhao Mingchong was still afraid of telling Tang Qizhuan what had really happened.
After Tang Qizhuan awoke, he found the dishes on the table had gone cold, and it was already daytime.
Zhao Mingchong was wearing a suit, standing in front of him. With a sheepish smile, he said…
—Sorry, Xiao Zhuan.
—I just came back. There was a dinner party, so I went to that. I couldn’t eat with you.
—I didn’t think you would be waiting for me. You should go back to the bedroom to rest. After laying on the table the whole night, you must be tired.
Tang Qizhuan had another bout of amnesia. He only remembered cooking dinner and calling Zhao Mingchong, telling him to quickly come home to eat. At that time, Zhao Mingchong had agreed, but he ended up missing out…
Just like his birthday.
Zhao Mingchong wanted to use the pretense of a dinner party as an excuse.
Tang Qizhuan didn’t have any suspicions about his own body, but he did start to suspect Zhao Mingchong.
Zhao Mingchong had suddenly gone to a dinner party, staying out all night. Moreover, Tang Qizhuan noticed that on Zhao Mingchong’s body, there was a peculiar perfume scent.
He didn’t know what kind of scent it was, but it definitely wasn’t anything like the cologne Zhao Mingchong usually used.
Wen Nuan listened, sniffing a few times. He said, “It’s the psychic joss stone’s smell.”
“Right,” Zhao Mingchong said with a bitter laugh. “It was exactly the psychic joss stone’s smell. Xiao Zhuan thought it was the smell of perfume left on me by a woman.”
The misunderstanding became bigger after this, but Zhao Mingchong still chose not to explain.
He just really didn’t know how to tell Tang Qizhuan the truth.
Zhao Mingchong looked like he didn’t care, smiling. “That’s fine. Actually, before meeting Xiao Zhuan, I wasn’t really a good person. I was always…not really a good person.”
Zhao Mingchong seemed to think of some distant event. His family was well-off, so he had always made swift and decisive reactions. Whatever he wanted, he would always get.
Including Tang Qizhuan…
Tang Qizhuan was such a case. He couldn’t escape past the palm of Zhao Mingchong’s hand.
When Zhao Mingchong saw Tang Qizhuan for the first time, he thought that whether it was Tang Qizhuan’s temperament or profile, all of Tang Qizhuan suited his tastes. So, he bluntly approached Tang Qizhuan’s manager and told him he wanted to keep Tang Qizhuan. As long as Tang Qizhuan was his, he would steadily fund him. He would absolutely be able to make Tang Qizhuan famous.
Tang Qizhuan had “thrown himself into Zhao Mingchong’s arms” in a muddle-headed manner. The two quickly slept together. Zhao Mingchong tasted that essence and didn’t feel satisfied at all, so he found Tang Qizhuan’s manager again, putting forward plans and ideas.
Zhao Mingchong pretended to be Tang Qizhuan’s childhood playmate. He didn’t think that progress would be so smooth. Tang Qizhuan had good feelings towards him, and he even was the first to confess.
At that time, Zhao Mingchong felt that it was interesting. He thought Tang Qizhuan really was too naive to the point of being foolish.
In Tang Qizhuan’s eyes, they had started dating as they were each other’s sunshine. But in Zhao Mingchong’s eyes, Tang Qizhuan was just a little sweetheart he started providing for on a sudden impulse.
Zhao Mingchong thought, I’ll wait; it won’t be long until I’m tired of playing with him. I’ll just give him some money and part without hard feelings.
Man what is with all these tragedies 😭 If I were Wen Nuan I’d be texting my best friend non-stop!
Tragedy after tragedy fr
Man why are all these side couples so tragic 🥹
Damn this is really sad 😭 in the end zhao mingcong probably fell for tang qizhuan so hard he could no longer live without him… Pls let them be together in the afterlife 😭🙏