I gasped heavily, glaring at her.
She merely chuckled lightly. "Oh, little brother, so much anger? Care to make a bet? If you win, I’ll do whatever you want..." She shifted slightly, revealing a bare shoulder. Honestly, if this ghost became a risqué streamer, she’d make a fortune.
Seeing her fearless demeanor, I started wondering what Master would do in this situation—only to realize I wasn’t as tough as him. He could dismantle ghosts barehanded, but as I watched Wu Tian about to throw himself onto the mahjong table again, a sudden suspicion crossed my mind.
I raised my fist, yanked Wu Tian aside, and slammed my punch onto the mahjong table.
The woman’s body twisted unnaturally, as if her bones had snapped, her face twisting into something horrifying.
"You’ve got a death wish, kid?" Her voice was no longer sweet.
Master once said that when dealing with spirits, once you strike, you must beat them into submission. Save the taunting for after you’ve won.
I raised my fist and struck again—this time, the mahjong table split clean in half!
The woman shrieked, clutching her face. As her screams echoed, shadowy figures began emerging from the thick fog around us, closing in.
"You must die!"
Our teacher said humans unleash incredible power in desperate situations, but my mind was completely blank—even amused, though I didn’t know why.
I wondered if Master would avenge me, summon my spirit back, and let me drift around aimlessly like that one guy in the shop.
A piercing noise snapped me back to reality. The surroundings gradually sharpened into focus.
"If you want to help others, you need the strength first. Otherwise, you’re just delivering yourself to death." A familiar voice. I turned and saw Master standing there, with the panicked Wu family behind him—and that fool Wu Tian.
The female ghost had completely abandoned her beautiful facade now. Her flesh rotted away, pus dripping from her face. The sight was downright nauseating.
The fat ghost and the faceless one, both previously beaten, were now cowering beside Master, trembling. I didn’t know what they’d been through, but one thing was clear: I was alive again.
The female ghost still hadn’t grasped the power gap. She lunged with a screech—but Master was faster. A talisman flew past me and stuck to my chest. Then, a blur dashed past, muttering something about bad aim.
Next thing I knew, Master had kicked the ghost to the ground and proceeded to pummel her mercilessly.
Master must’ve been a gangster in his past life—a big one. The way he beat that ghost reminded me of a movie thug shaking down a street vendor for protection money.
Soon, the ghost was crouching with her hands over her head. Master yanked Wu Tian’s spirit and roughly stuffed it back into his body. Wu Tian collapsed unconscious, and Master led me away without even mentioning payment. The Wu family showered us with gratitude, but Master just quietly reminded me to hold onto the chicken—lest they remember they were supposed to give us one.
Back at the incense shop, Jing Tian was waiting eagerly. Honestly, if she weren’t a ghost, she’d make a great girlfriend—way better than my ex.
Over the next few days, Master taught me a lot. I studied hard, and after this ordeal, I felt an odd certainty—this was the path I was meant to follow. It was strange, like... fate.
A few days later, Master had to leave town. He tossed me the shop keys, told me to clean up occasionally, and walked off without looking back. The way he rubbed his hands made me suspect someone—or something—was about to have a very bad day.
I returned to school and rested for a few days. Master’s training had left me jumpy. Then, my roommate and best friend, Zhou Wen, suddenly told me he was dropping out.
"Ever since that day, I keep seeing... things." Zhou Wen forced a bitter smile—the first time he’d spoken about it since our ghost encounter. He tapped his head. "My family thinks I’m losing it. And maybe I am. Yesterday after class, I saw a girl about to jump from the West Building. I couldn’t stop her—but when she landed, there was nothing."
Before I could respond, Zhou Wen gave me an apologetic look. "I didn’t dare tell you earlier. I kept seeing black smoke around you, and I just... wanted to stay away. But I’ve accepted it—I must have schizophrenia. So I’m taking a break."
He went back to packing.
I glanced down at myself. No wonder. Spending so much time around ghosts would coat anyone in eerie energy. After hesitating, I decided to tell him the truth—how I met Master after the hospital incident, how I learned to see spirits, how I became his apprentice, and how I helped Wu Lei’s brother recover (though I might’ve exaggerated a little).
Zhou Wen’s eyes widened. Feeling smug, I was unprepared when he reached out and touched my forehead. "Chen Yang, maybe you should come with me. There’s a great psychiatrist back in my hometown."
I’d forgotten—Zhou Wen was a staunch atheist. That’s why he’d dared to explore haunted mountains and even slept in temples.
Even after seeing ghosts, he still believed it was all in his head.
It made me feel guilty.
So I stopped him and asked him to take me to the West Building that night—the abandoned one.
This time, I wasn’t reckless. I skipped afternoon classes and went back to the shop. Lifting the shutter, I saw several ghosts gathered under red lights, playing mahjong.
The pretty ghost grinned when I walked in. "No class today, little brother? Wanna play a round?"
Nearby, the fat ghost grumbled about Jing Tian being hopeless at mahjong despite days of teaching.
The one with the wrapped head stayed silent.
I cautiously made my request. Jing Tian hesitated. The wrapped-head ghost just stared. The fat ghost kept gnawing on a candle while fondling the mahjong tiles. Finally, the pretty ghost stood. "Fine, I’ll help you this once."
"Sister Hong, if Master Fang finds out..." Jing Tian whispered nervously, glancing between me and Sister Hong.
Sister Hong paled, remembering my disaster-magnet Master. She forced a laugh, thought for a moment, then nodded.
"A ghost’s gotta have some honor. Can’t take back my word now." She sighed. "Besides, I’m helping his apprentice. He can’t blame me for that, right?"
Yeah. She was definitely trying to convince herself.
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
