Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 190: Date (Part Four)

When they returned to the formation near Xushan, Gao Shan was still in shock.

Fang Xiu cheerfully carried him by the collar all the way back to the small courtyard’s second floor. Once the door opened, they were back in the human world. Shards of porcelain lay in the abandoned formation, thick yin energy swirling at the edges.

The four black Taoists had failed to complete their spell and were now gone.

Thinking about how easily those so-called masters had been dealt with, Gao Shan was drenched in sweat, both front and back.

“You couldn’t exorcise the spirits on me because I am the spirit. So they transferred themselves to me without charge. Remember to refund the deposit,” Fang Xiu said brightly as he picked up the porcelain shards, completely ignoring the heavy yin energy around them.

Gao Shan wiped the blood at the corner of his mouth, fumbling to transfer money. He wouldn’t dare say a single word of protest.

Even if the laws of the living world didn’t apply here, these two were clearly not ordinary humans. Gao Shan might not be a true master, but he at least understood one basic rule of the trade: never sign a contract with a spirit. The consequences of breaking it were beyond terrifying.

The problem was, he’d pictured a moonless night in the wilderness, accidentally bumping into a wild ghost—not two evil spirits sweetly shopping for rings in broad daylight, in the middle of the city!

Fang Xiu placed two porcelain fragments in his palm and gently rubbed them. “Judging by how that group of black Taoists reacted, you’re a black-market middleman, specializing in connecting rich clients with shady masters.”

“And that jewelry store isn’t your regular job, right?”

This guy’s eyes were too sharp. He’d seen through Gao Shan’s entire act at a glance. Gao Shan was on the verge of tears. “Yes, yes, sir.”

He’d mistaken Fang Xiu for a young-faced old ghost.

Fang Xiu couldn’t help but laugh and didn’t bother to correct him. “You’ve indirectly harmed many people, but there aren’t many blood debts on your hands. You’re used to skirting legal loopholes, and the victims probably can’t easily hold you accountable… hmm.”

There was a lot of gray area in the antique business, and connecting clients with “Masters” was even harder to regulate. It would be difficult to prosecute him under human law. On the other hand, his crimes weren’t severe enough for the Disaster Relief Tower either. He was a classic case of a slippery criminal.

Normally, Fang Xiu would’ve had Bai Shuangying erase his memories of the Tower, but…

“It’s rare to find a living person. You’ll work for me to atone,” Fang Xiu decided decisively.

Bai Shuangying glanced disinterestedly at Gao Shan and said frankly, “He’s too weak. He’ll just cause trouble.”

In front of Bai Shuangying, Fang Xiu gently played with the porcelain shards between his fingers, as if he was caressing a lover’s skin.

“He’s at least a novice cultivator that can see ghosts. All of my subordinates in the living world are ghosts. Some tasks are inconvenient for them, so a living human is useful.”

Gao Shan hated that he understood these words. Somehow, hearing them strung together was terrifying.

But this also meant he’d have a chance to move freely. He’d saved quite a bit over the years, enough to escape to a small country down south.

Yes, all he needed was a chance…

Suddenly, his back turned cold, and his body went numb. His legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground.

He raised his head, trembling, and saw the man in white twirling a few strands of red thread around his fingers.

They hung down softly, tangled together. The ends were connected to Gao Shan’s back, though he couldn’t tell where they had come from.

What kind of spell was this? He didn’t know. He had never even heard of it.

“You’re sure you want this one to work off his debt?” Bai Shuangying asked carefully.

“I am.” Fang Xiu pressed the porcelain to his lips. “Because of him, I found this lovely thing. He deserves a little courtesy.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Bai Shuangying gave a flick of his fingers.

The red threads sprang to life, racing to coil around Gao Shan’s neck. His face turned red and bulging, veins popping as he clawed at the grass, gasping and choking.

Bai Shuangying was unmoved. He turned his hand and passed the knotted ends of the thread to Fang Xiu.

The moment they touched Fang Xiu’s palm; the threads vanished without a trace.

Gao Shan took a ragged breath. Though he felt nothing on his neck, the suffocating pressure remained.

“Those are karmic threads formed by your blood-debt. I only hid them.” Bai Shuangying explained calmly. “Fang Xiu can control their tightness at will. Even if you fled to the ends of the earth, you couldn’t escape.”

Gao Shan: “…”

A full-blown evil spirit, 200% confirmed!

Was this even legal under the Underworld’s rules? Who were these two?!

“All right, your first task.”

Fang Xiu clapped his hands. “Make a list of the most well-known ‘Masters’ in your network. Then arrange a meeting between me and one of them. Sounds easy enough?”

“But if they disappear, no one in the business will trust me again…” Gao Shan’s eyes welled with tears. This would ruin him.

“Relax.”

Fang Xiu flicked a finger, and Gao Shan’s neck tightened a bit. “If they’re truly ‘qualified’, no one will remember them.”

“Do you still remember what those four guys who were with you earlier looked like?”

The words caught in Gao Shan’s throat.

He glanced at the formation used to “bless” the porcelain fragments. It definitely required four Taoists to activate.

Logically, he must have brought Fang Xiu and the others here to meet those Taoists. After that… after that… he remembered going to the villa to drink tea, he remembered that terrifying dimensional space, all quite clearly.

But he couldn’t recall the appearance of the Taoists. Not their features, not their gender or age. Not even the exact number. He just vaguely knew there had been a few “roles”.

When had he forgotten?

In horror, Gao Shan looked at the red-and-white pair who had brought all this on him.

At that moment, he gave up entirely on running away.

……

The sun set, dyeing the sky a fiery red.

Xushan in the distance was swallowed by shadows, becoming a winding and majestic silhouette. Gao Shan turned his back on the beautiful mountains and fled the scene like a man escaping death, heading for his new job.

Fang Xiu was quite pleased. “Even recyclable trash can be useful.”

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. The remaining Guishan cultists hiding in the country must have ties to scum like this.

If you’re going to pull weeds, you remove the roots. He wasn’t about to rely on ghosts or the authorities to investigate. If there was revenge to be had, he wanted to take it personally.

“What are you planning to do with that porcelain piece?”

Compared to dealing with mortals, Bai Shuangying was more interested in Fang Xiu’s little shards.

What was Fang Xiu preparing to give him?

Just thinking about it filled Bai Shuangying’s chest with a warm fullness.

“This… I might need your help.”

Fang Xiu turned toward him. The setting sun sank slowly behind him, casting his face into soft shadows.

“You know I’m still not great at controlling power.”

He picked up the beautiful white porcelain shards. The fading sunlight reflected red light off them.

Fang Xiu slowly opened his mouth and gently placed them inside, as if swallowing two glowing flames.

Bai Shuangying: “?”

He stepped forward in concern, watching Fang Xiu’s lips.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Faint chewing sounds emerged from Fang Xiu’s mouth. The yin energy of the Immortal E surged wildly, like a whirlpool.

After the crunching stopped came the gentle sounds of something swirling, like a tongue playing with candy.

A dozen seconds passed, and even the faint sounds of moisture faded. Fang Xiu curved his lips into a smile and suddenly leaned in to pull his ghost into a warm embrace.

Bai Shuangying: “???”

These days, he had thought he was improving at understanding humans. But at this moment, he still had no idea what his own human was doing.

Yet Bai Shuangying remembered the most basic of signals.

For example, when Fang Xiu leaned close, breathing warmly on his face, it meant he wanted a kiss.

Bai Shuangying cupped the back of Fang Xiu’s neck and bent down.

He would see whether Fang Xiu’s mouth was hurt.

But when his tongue entered that warm space, instead of the taste of blood, it bumped into something small and hard—like a pearl hidden between tongue and lips.

…It was the porcelain shard.

As the All Phenomena E, Fang Xiu had clumsily fused it into his body. He’d done quite well.

But this kind of traditional surprise didn’t quite match Fang Xiu’s usual style. Bai Shuangying softened his kiss and stroked Fang Xiu’s soft black hair.

Suddenly, he felt a trace of spell energy leak from the porcelain bead.

He immediately realized Fang Xiu was trying to mimic what he had done to Gao Shan—trying to extract karma. But with no experience in magic, the attempt had failed completely.

“Help me.”

In the moment they paused to breathe, Fang Xiu bit Bai Shuangying’s lip and spoke unsteadily.

Ah. That explained it.

Bai Shuangying decided to raise his opinion of himself. In certain warm and special moments, he didn’t need to think. He just knew what his clever little human wanted.

Fang Xiu had said it from the beginning. He wanted to return the gesture with a ring of his own.

Bai Shuangying tightened his embrace and kissed him harder.

This time, it wasn’t to find wounds or taste energy essence; it was to…

Around that little porcelain bead, delicate red threads began to form, curling at the tip of Fang Xiu’s tongue.

The statue hadn’t been him, and the porcelain shards only carried the misplaced devotion of mortals. Yet Bai Shuangying remembered clearly that his first step into the world of the living had come from curiosity about a little porcelain figure from a human.

White and beautiful, a tiny porcelain statue. It was used as a sacrifice by a lost child wanting to go home.

It had drawn him into the world and sparked endless conflict.

White and beautiful, a tiny porcelain statue. It was as a sacrifice by Zhuang Guiqu to seal him away.

Centuries later, when he met Fang Qiongyu, a man simply hoping his wife and child would return safely, Bai Shuangying had stepped in and cut off the last karmic thread to the mortal world.

White and beautiful, a tiny porcelain statue. Now the child who had made it had returned, appearing in front of him, and turned it into a gift.

No longer was it a sacrifice, but a gift that belonged to him.

Their unique karma took form in the red thread, endlessly twining together. When they first met, Bai Shuangying had forged a ring from strands of hair. Now, he used karmic threads to shape an identical ring.

The kiss finally ended. Fang Xiu stepped back with a smile and opened his mouth.

He stuck out that wicked little tongue, balancing a delicate ring on the tip.

Red band, white pearl. The design was simple, even plain. The karmic thread had fused into a red-jade-like material, and the inlaid “pearl” glowed with a soft white light.

Aside from the color of the band, it matched the hair-ring Fang Xiu had once worn exactly.

Fang Xiu lowered his head slightly. The ring fell gently into his palm. Not even a drop of saliva clung to it.

“Give me your left hand.” Fang Xiu examined the ring and expressed his satisfaction.

Bai Shuangying happily held out his hand, palm up.

Fang Xiu smiled and gently turned over the familiar pale ghost-hand.

He carefully slid the ring onto Bai Shuangying’s left ring finger, just as he had once tied that fine red thread from a T-shirt onto it.

Then he held out his own left hand, interlacing his fingers with Bai Shuangying’s.

One ring red, one ring black. In the setting sun, the colors shimmered like a dream.

“I recall this is a mortal custom,” Bai Shuangying whispered. “The modern version of wedding vows.”

“Do you like it?” Fang Xiu kissed their joined fingers before letting go. 

“This is my favorite object in the world.” Bai Shuangying smiled, admiring his new treasure. “But now that I think of it, you were wrong about one thing.”

“Oh?”

“You said once we exchanged rings, we had completed the mortal custom. But as far as I know, mortals getting married must bow to their elders.”

He looked toward the distant Xushan.

“I was born of the earth and sky, with no one to bow to. You’re different. We’ll go retrieve your father’s remains and bury him beside your mother.”

“Then we’ll properly inform them of our happy union. Shall we?”

Fang Xiu froze for a moment, then smiled even brighter. “Of course. They’ll be happy.”

Bai Shuangying took a few light steps forward and reached back for Fang Xiu’s hand—intentionally offering his left hand to show off the wedding ring. That once-empty ghostly hand now shimmered with a touch of life.

“Come with me,” he said.

“I’ll lead the way for you.”

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The author has something to say:

The two have finally exchanged rings! Applause!

I now pronounce you married!!!

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