The roses the little ghost was selling were definitely not ordinary. The color was dark red, deep and dripping, and in the dim light, they gave off a somewhat shocking bloody atmosphere. Xia Xianning pushed his hand away, saying, “No.”
The little ghost, probably desperate to make a sale, tried to persuade them: “These aren’t ordinary flowers. These are wife-catching roses. If a brother buys a flower and gives it to that brother, even if he doesn’t like you, he’ll become your wife.”
Xia Xianning thought for a moment, then suddenly pulled out some money from his pocket and said, “I’ll buy one.”
Luo Yingbai: “… Don’t go too far.”
The child didn’t want the money, instead saying, “Brother, I don’t want money. I just want three of your hairs. Just three from so many.”
Luo Yingbai suddenly understood why their stall was so popular. Ghosts ask for hair to borrow the weak yang energy to extend their time in the human world. If they collect enough, they can even come out during the day, as long as it’s not too excessive and won’t affect the original owner.
This way, even if people have doubts about such a bizarre transaction, when they see others are fine, they’ll start to get envious and join the buying crowd.
Xia Xianning gave the child some hair and took a bouquet of roses. The ghost market was quite large, and he needed to arrange personnel to handle things. Before sending the ghosts back to their places, letting the child be happy was no harm.
Luo Yingbai saw Xia Xianning was about to hand the rose to him and crossed his arms, half-smiling: “I don’t want it. If accepting this flower could make me your wife, it means the rose has a gender-changing function.”
Xia Xianning was just joking and laughed, withdrawing his hand. Between them, they knew each other very well, and neither would treat the other like a woman.
The rose in Xia Xianning’s hand turned into a pile of red powder. Xia Xianning said, “Not a peach blossom spell, but the function is similar. This place really needs to be sealed. I’ll work overtime to contact people tonight.”
Luo Yingbai looked at a porridge stall nearby. There was even one called “Manly Rejuvenation Porridge.”
Luo Yingbai’s lips curved up when he saw a man sitting at the edge of the porridge stall, gulping down porridge as if placing all his hopes on it.
His hair was almost half-bald.
They discussed and decided to pause the matter of Zhu Linya and handle this situation first.
Luo Yingbai stepped back into an empty shadow, drawing two silver arch-shaped symbols in the air with his fingers, snapped his fingers, and softly said: “Living person’s qi overwhelms dead person’s evil, yang emerges, yin retreats, borrowing heaven’s qi, temporarily sealing the mysterious gate, swift as the decree, seal!”
The silver symbols hung in the air like two sparkling little stars. After Luo Yingbai finished the incantation and snapped his fingers, they flew to both ends of the alley, instantly expanding and transparent, blocking the exits.
Luo Yingbai changed his gesture, his right index finger sliding across his left palm, then crossed his hands, chanting: “Spirit rises to heaven, earth emerges from the dark, by my command, all forms move!”
As his command fell, Luo Yingbai slapped the wall beside him heavily. A tremor spread from his palm, quickly spreading throughout the entire alley. The bustling crowd suddenly stopped moving. After a moment, someone panicked and shouted, “Earthquake! Earthquake!”
Of course, only ordinary people could be scared. Ghosts can’t be crushed. They watched in shock as more and more people realized the danger and quickly ran out of the alley.
“Are you stupid? Run for what? It has nothing to do with us!”
But why have these walls been shaking for so long without collapsing!” “What about my business! Several people just ran away without paying for their hair!” “They’ll probably come back soon…” But they waited for a long time, and no one returned. The ghosts didn’t know that after those humans panicked and ran out of the alley, they discovered everything outside was calm, with absolutely no sign of an earthquake. They discussed it in confusion, but when they wanted to return to the alley, they suddenly found that the entrance had disappeared! With limited manpower, Luo Yingbai and Xia Xianning didn’t bother with the ordinary people’s reactions. Anyway, no matter how they discussed it, they couldn’t possibly know the truth. When Luo Yingbai made her move, Xia Xianning coldly observed from the side. He noticed that when all the ghosts didn’t know what to do, they looked back at the noodle stall owner. This owner had a diagonal scar from a knife cut across his face, was thin and tall. Xia Xianning felt he was the leader of this ghost escape. He walked over and patted the owner’s shoulder: “Hello.” The stall owner never expected that as a fierce ghost, he could be tapped on the shoulder from behind without a sound. He turned around, sizing up Xia Xianning and gruffly asking: “What do you want?
” Xia Xianning said nothing, took out his credentials, and showed the back side to the other party. The Special Investigation Department, also known as the Underworld Jurisdiction in the ghost world, had credentials with the department’s proof on the front and underworld identity on the back. The stall owner was shocked upon seeing it, and without caring about anything else, took a deep breath and shouted: “Everyone run! City management is here!” Luo Yingbai let out a “Ha” of laughter. The ghosts heard their leader’s warning and frantically pushed their small carts to escape. Luo Yingbai suddenly felt he was cruel—the ghosts ran to the alley entrance only to find both sides sealed by a barrier. This barrier blocked ghosts but not humans. A group of ghosts scratched the walls in panic. The big boss city management walked over, choking their leader’s neck, and made a phone call to the Special Investigation Department’s subordinate right in front of everyone. The ghosts were rounded up. Due to the large number of offenders, the Special Investigation Department was chaotic and crowded. These ghosts were noisy, some blaming each other for being too conspicuous, nearly making their old customers bald before attracting attention. Some wailed, hugging the police’s legs, saying they hadn’t stayed in the human world long enough. “
The few police maintaining order could barely find a place to stand, dodging female ghosts’ harassment, their throats almost hoarse from shouting.
She passed away from heart disease at the age of nineteen, leaving behind a father and a brother and sister. When the female ghost returned home on her seventh day after death to visit her family, she saw her father choking her little sister. Her brother tried to stop him and was kicked away. In a moment of impulse, the female ghost killed her father.
She had no evil deeds in her lifetime and was originally meant to be reincarnated into a wealthy family. However, after this incident, she became a vengeful ghost stained with blood and could go nowhere. The King of Hell, considering the circumstances, sentenced her to six hundred years of imprisonment, after which she could be reincarnated.
“My brother is only sixteen years old and has already dropped out of school to support my sister. He was originally a good student. My little sister has never even worn a new piece of clothing. I returned to the human world because I couldn’t let go of them… Please help me deliver this money to them!”
Her story was indeed touching, but Luo Yingbai showed no sign of being moved.
He did not accept the check and instead asked, “If your family was so poor, why did you have a watch that could be exchanged for a check buried with you?”
