Chapter 91

Chapter 91

Old Ghost reached out a hand. “Give me back my eye!”

Qiao Yu glanced at the House Number Plate for 604 and tilted his head. “Didn’t you say you didn’t want it?”

Leaning on his cane, Old Ghost took two steps forward, his hand still stretched toward Qiao Yu as he demanded, “Give it back! Heh…”

Qiao Yu was rebellious to the bone. The more someone ordered him around, the more energized he got. “You’re the one who said you didn’t want it first, aren’t you?”

“How can a little ghost like you be so awful!”

Oh? So he thought Qiao Yu was a ghost?

Qiao Yu had no intention of explaining. With an innocent face, he said, “I’m not awful. I’m obviously very friendly.”

The instant before he finished speaking, the crying inside 604 inexplicably paused. Then a hiccup sounded from inside the room. “That was… hic… Papa Qiao’s voice?”

At that moment, another unfamiliar voice answered from inside, “What papa?”

That person sounded extremely shocked, their pitch rising sharply. “Your dad came in too?!”

Qiao Yu knew this was bad and immediately took off running.

Luo Ziwei had no idea where he found the strength, but he shoved Chi Shang aside and opened the door. What he saw outside was Old Ghost, leaning on a cane yet sprinting away with astonishing speed.

“Heh… Hurry up and give me back my eye, you wretched little ghost! I’m going to fire you! Fire you!!!”

Luo Ziwei looked disappointed. “Where’s Papa Qiao?”

Where was his papa, who could pick locks at the drop of a hat and toy with fierce ghosts like it was nothing?

His big, whole papa… how had he disappeared!

Chi Shang: ??

Looking at the little guy in front of him, who was filled with disappointment, Chi Shang thought about it more and more and felt something was off.

His dad should be too old to participate in the Live Stream Room, right?

Could it be… his dad had married young and had a kid young too?

-He’s such a brat. The streamer is way too much, hahaha.

-That old man is already so ancient, and even his eyeball still got requisitioned one day.

-The streamer is terrifying. Hugging myself tight.

-The streamer is terrifying. Wrapping my little blanket tighter.

-The streamer is terrifying. I like him so much~

-Get out, that idiot upstairs is here again! Can you not ruin the formation? If you want to thirst, go do it in some looks-based streamer’s room, okay?

-Isn’t the streamer a looks-based streamer??

-Uh… sorry, my bad. I often overlook the streamer’s good looks because of that damn mouth of his.

-Sadako: What do you mean, damn mouth? Explain yourself!

-Sorry, my bad. I often overlook the streamer’s good looks because of that pretty little mouth of his.

The Live Stream Room fell silent, and so did Blind Ghost.

She had been yanked down from a tree by Qiao Yu in the middle of the night, and before she could even get angry, he had shoved an eyeball right onto her face.

Blind Ghost instantly became One-eyed Ghost.

“Can you see now? Do you think this world is beautiful?” Qiao Yu asked, his face full of anticipation.

Blind Ghost forced the corner of her mouth to twitch. “Thanks for asking, but I wasn’t born looking like this. Also…”

Qiao Yu was puzzled. “Also?”

“Also…” Blind Ghost suddenly leaned close to Qiao Yu and said viciously, “Also! I don’t want some stinking man’s used eyeball!”

-You can tell Blind Ghost has a bit of Sister Lin in her.

-I’m dying. Your Sister Lin climbs trees?

-If that’s how you want to think, there’s nothing I can do about it.

-?? Copycat, may lightning strike you…

Qiao Yu had no choice but to help Blind Ghost dig that eyeball back out. Then he headed back in disappointment to find Old Ghost.

On the way back, Qiao Yu thought he would run into him very soon.

But strangely, he had already made it up to the sixth floor and still hadn’t seen any sign of Old Ghost.

Qiao Yu pinched the eyeball in his hand, rather confused. “Where is he… Ah, no, where’s the ghost?”

“The ghost is right here… clack!”

An unfamiliar voice rang out from behind him. At the same time came the sound of bones knocking together. Qiao Yu turned his head and saw a Skull Head descending from the ceiling.

When the skull’s bones opened and closed, they made an awful sound.

Qiao Yu blinked, grabbed the Skull Head hanging behind him, and stuffed the eyeball into the Skeleton Ghost’s eye socket.

The size was admittedly a little off, but there was nothing Qiao Yu could do about that. He could only smile and say, “Please help me return this eyeball to the Old Ghost holding the dragon-head cane. Thanks a bunch~”
Skull Head: “…”

A hospital really was the place in the mortal world that witnessed the most partings of life and death.

In this one night alone, Qiao Yu saw countless Ghost. One shadow after another wandered aimlessly through the hospital.

Some were full of grievances, wreathed in baleful energy. Some were blurred and muddleheaded, drifting in a daze.

Lonely were the affairs of life; pitiful was the name left after death.

Return, return-but the soul had nowhere to go.

Likewise, Qiao Yu had no idea how he had gotten through those three years. His memories of being a ghost were jumbled and chaotic, and as time passed, they had somehow grown increasingly hazy…

When the first ray of sunlight shone into the hospital, those wandering souls seemed to evaporate. Their forms gradually turned transparent, until they vanished altogether.

Qiao Yu watched for a while, then stretched.

Just as he was about to head back to the dorm and sleep, his phone suddenly rang.

He opened V-Chat, and to his surprise, the message was from that bastard Shang Yan.

SY: Do you want some matcha-flavored cookies?

Qiao Yu was still angry and had no intention of responding to him so soon.

He had just pressed the screen dark when another message popped up.

SY: Ah, I forgot you’re still mad at me. Oh, right, they actually sell matcha-flavored buns here too. I bought some of those as well.

SY: Tsk, tsk, tsk. Too bad I just took my medicine, so I can’t eat any of this. What should I do?

SY: How about you do me a favor and eat them? They’ll go bad if nobody eats them soon.

Message after message came in one after another, making Shang Yan seem like a shameless, bootlicking simp.

The constant notification sounds annoyed Qiao Yu to no end. Unable to hold back, he pressed record and sent a voice message cursing him out. “Are you freaking sick or what? Don’t you have a Spatial Grid? Put them in there and they won’t go bad!!!”

An instant reply. It was truly instant.

Judging by Shang Yan’s typing speed, this bastard must have gotten plenty of practice flaming people in games.

SY: The Spatial Grid won’t open. Did you forget that being a Stowaway seals the Live Stream Room for forty-eight hours?

Qiao Yu sneered and didn’t want to bother with him. A few seconds later, ding-dong, another message came in.

SY: Fine, I’ll tell the truth. Qiao Xiaoyu… I miss you so much. Stop being mad, okay?

Qiao Yu was speechless. He wasn’t about to compete with him in typing speed, so he sent another voice message. “It’s only been three hours since we last saw each other. What the hell is there to miss?!”

SY: It’s already been three whole hours since we last saw each other! Just consider it helping me out, all right? Come have breakfast with me. Please, please~

Qiao Yu: “…”

Forget it.

When it came to someone like Shang Yan, he just… couldn’t stay mad.

What else could he do? Go eat, of course!

Free food was free food, after all~

Qiao Yu opened his mouth and stuffed the remaining half of the bun in with an “ah-woo,” then, cheeks puffed out, claimed the sofa in the luxury ward as if it were only natural.

Lying there, he stretched comfortably. “Gotta say, your money really wasn’t wasted. This is nice~”

Before he could even finish speaking, Qiao Yu fell asleep. The silent ward filled with the sound of his even, steady breathing.

Gradually, even that breathing became almost inaudible…

Sunlight outside the window spilled in patches over the person on the sofa, as though draping a layer of golden, translucent brocade over his face, making it impossible to look away.

Shang Yan got up, took the long trench coat from the coat rack, and walked over without making a sound.

Qiao Yu’s sleeping posture could hardly be called elegant. He was twisted every which way, as if determined to contort himself into a pretzel. One long leg was hooked over the back of the sofa, while the other dangled down, the tip of his foot touching the floor.

Being stared at while asleep could trigger a person’s vigilance. Qiao Yu seemed to sense it too; he abruptly turned his head to the other side, revealing the fluffy back of his head.

Shang Yan first picked up the nurse’s cap that had fallen to the floor, then bent down, intending to cover him with the coat.

Abruptly, his gaze fixed on Qiao Yu’s neck. The collar that had been neat just moments ago had been rubbed open by all his shifting around, leaving one button undone. Through the gap, the delicate rise of his collarbone could faintly be seen.

But Shang Yan was not in the mood to admire the beautiful view right now. His eyes were locked on one spot, staring as if he meant to bore straight through it.

Because at the deepest part of that collarbone… there was a faint little red mole.

Its size, its position-there was not the slightest difference.

Exactly as it had been in the past…