Chapter 33

Chapter 33

It made sense; this was essentially the same as a student asking the examiner for the answers during an exam.

Qiao Yu hadn’t really expected her to answer. He leaned against the wall, tilting his body to one side as he struck up a conversation. “What exactly do you like about Hou Yong?”

“The two of you should leave. I’m going to sleep.”

As if a sensitive topic had been broached, Qiao Yu clearly felt the gaze Li Xiaoqin cast upon him grow much colder and more sinister. He couldn’t help but chuckle. “Ghosts need to sleep too?”

“I was human before I died.”

Qiao Yu shrugged. “Don’t be like that. Sleeping is so boring. Why don’t we chat?”

Li Xiaoqin stared at him without blinking, an inexplicable sense of frustration rising in her heart.

She hated him, yet she couldn’t get rid of him.

As the saying goes, humans are thirty percent afraid of ghosts, but ghosts are seventy percent afraid of humans. Before a vengeful spirit kills, they create various terrifying atmospheres to absorb energy. The more afraid a person is, the stronger the ghost’s energy becomes.

If a person isn’t afraid, the Ghost will actually be somewhat wary of them. This was why Li Xiaoqin had been hiding behind the curtains earlier. But things hadn’t gone her way; of these two, one was protected by a Review Card, and the other was full of guts and feared nothing.

Li Xiaoqin lowered her eyes, her fingernails digging hard into her palms.

Tsk, this guy is really annoying.

“Actually… I’m an orphan too.”

Qiao Yu’s voice was very soft now, carrying a certain persuasive quality in the night. Li Xiaoqin’s eyelashes trembled involuntarily. “You’re an orphan too? And then?”

Humans are curious creatures. Qiao Yu was, and so was Li Xiaoqin after becoming a ghost.

“How about this: you tell me your story with Hou Yong, and I’ll trade you for the story of me and my ex-boyfriend?”

Li Xiaoqin’s hand slowly moved toward the cleaver. “I cannot proactively reveal any clues to you before your review. How about I just kill you now? I’ll tell you everything after you’re dead.”

Qiao Yu: “…”

-The streamer is really something else, such a gossip.

-If the streamer successfully completes the review, I’ll livestream myself barking like a dog.

-Sadako: If the streamer successfully completes the review, I’ll livestream the person above me barking like a dog.

-Sister Sadako, nice one~

“Is that really necessary?” Qiao Yu sighed. “I’m just asking why you like Hou Yong. That shouldn’t have anything to do with the Instance, right?”

Li Xiaoqin took the opportunity to put away the cleaver and finally spoke. “Then what do you like about your ex-boyfriend?”

*She’s quite sharp,* Qiao Yu thought.

“Uh… He was ‘multi-billion-talented’ and a very ‘approachable’ billionaire? Plus, he was good-looking.”

“I couldn’t tell, but you’re a real shallow one for looks?” Li Xiaoqin huffed, then added, “But we do have one thing in common. Hou Yong has a good temper too.”

Qiao Yu raised an eyebrow, realizing Li Xiaoqin had misunderstood. “No, no, no, we are not the same. Let’s put it this way: my ex-boyfriend bought me a massive luxury flat in the city center.”

Li Xiaoqin: “…”

*Sigh, I just can’t live there right now.*

Qiao Yu’s expression turned slightly mournful.

“Shallow! Materialistic!”

Li Xiaoqin seemed to be the type who believed in love above all else, even if it meant living in poverty. She utterly looked down on Qiao Yu’s brand of ‘interest-based’ love.

Qiao Yu rolled his eyes at her words. “You aren’t shallow, and you aren’t materialistic, yet in the end, you’re in your thirties and can’t even afford a house.”

“Never mind not being able to buy a house, you were beaten every day, and what little money you earned was gambled away by that ‘good-tempered’ husband of yours. Yuanyuan is such a poor sucker in all of this, she couldn’t even get a bag of jelly…”

*BANG-*

Brother Crocodile tugged on Qiao Yu’s sleeve. Looking at the fringe pendant on the door that was still swaying violently, he whispered a reminder: “Daddy, I think Li Xiaoqin left because she was angry at you.”

Qiao Yu curled his lips upward, his eyes full of smugness. “Isn’t it good that she’s gone? I was just worrying about having no place to stay tonight.”
Man-Eating Crocodile: ……??

– The streamer really has eight hundred hidden agendas~

– He was being so gossipy that I thought he was a regular Zha, but it turns out this was his real goal all along.

– Your calculations are so loud I can hear them from the basement.

– The person above has a way with words~

Qiao Yu had long been exhausted. If it weren’t for this “Dutiful Son,” Brother Crocodile, would he still be awake at midnight?

“Let’s go!” Qiao Yu grabbed the dazed Brother Crocodile and walked into the bedroom. He locked the door, effectively seizing the room for himself in one smooth motion.

“Are we really going to sleep?”

This was Li Xiaoqin’s house. How could he possibly fall asleep here??

Man-Eating Crocodile truly couldn’t understand the big shot’s train of thought!

While he was agonizing over what to do, Qiao Yu had already sprawled across the wooden bed in a star shape, acting as if it were only natural. “I’m sleeping on the bed, you’re sleeping on the floor. Because I’m gay.”

“……”

“If you don’t want to sleep, feel free to rummage around and see if you can find any useful clues. Anyway, you have that ’24-Hour Immunity Card’ right now.”

Man-Eating Crocodile looked around the cramped bedroom. His gaze swept over the desk, the wardrobe, the dressing table… but he didn’t dare reach out to search anything.

He couldn’t help it; when he had pulled back the curtains earlier, Li Xiaoqin’s shadow was still right there.

The small lamp by the bedside emitted a dim glow. The young man on the bed had his eyes tightly shut, his face appearing even paler under the white light. His breathing was shallow, and his chest didn’t even seem to rise or fall.

For some reason, Man-Eating Crocodile felt an inexplicable sense of dread.

This panic stemmed from the person on the bed. He pursed his lips and couldn’t help but break the silence. “Dad, putting your phone under the pillow causes radiation.”

Qiao Yu’s eyelashes flickered, and he let out an impatient click of his tongue. “Fine, then I won’t use the pillow.”

With that, he yanked the pillow out and hugged it to his chest.

Man-Eating Crocodile: “……”

He was definitely overthinking things.

Relaxing slightly, he stopped being so tense and worked up the courage to start searching the bedroom.

Since his life was on the line, Brother Crocodile searched very carefully. He pulled the drawers open one by one; the items inside were cluttered and messy, as if someone had already rummaged through them. The clothes in the wardrobe were neatly arranged, covered by a thin layer of dust protectors.

He reached his hand inside, feeling around in the gaps.

*Rustle, rustle.*

He touched something, and the sound made him instinctively pull his arm back.

Then, he thought of the diary from earlier. Could these be the torn-out pages?

Man-Eating Crocodile felt a surge of energy. He gathered his courage and quickly reached back in, pulling out several scraps of paper.

The moment they were in his hand, he felt something was off. The paper seemed a bit small.

He took the scraps to the bedside lamp to inspect them under the light.

HELL BANK NOTES!!!

This… these were actually joss paper!

“Heh heh heh heh heh~” A low, raspy laugh sounded from outside the door, sounding as if someone’s face was pressed right against the wood.

Man-Eating Crocodile instantly broke out in goosebumps, his back drenched in a cold sweat.

Li Xiaoqin was right outside the door!

Hadn’t she left?!

Man-Eating Crocodile hurriedly threw down the joss paper and scrambled to the side of the bed. He tightly gripped the sleeve of Qiao Yu’s arm, which was hanging off the edge of the bed, and held his breath.

Hearing the commotion inside the bedroom, Li Xiaoqin nodded with satisfaction. The frustration in her heart instantly vanished.