Chapter 20: The Recording

It was already past midnight when I checked the time. I opened my computer to look up and research some information about ghost nurturing, as I still didn’t have a clear understanding of its history.

I typed “ghost nurturing” into the search engine and was met with countless web pages, but none contained what I was looking for. Most of the results revolved around an old story about a boy in red mysteriously dying.

I skimmed through the story of the red-clothed boy and noticed a curious detail. After the child, who was said to be extremely yin, was found hanged, he was not only dressed in red but also had items like pinholes and counterweights left on his body. Some online analyses suggested that this boy had been nurtured into a little ghost.

They claimed that dressing him in red was meant to capture the soul, and tying on the soul-weight was to lock and preserve the soul’s integrity.

I was startled, sensing that the methods resembled those of the Maoshan branch, a sect within Taoism. Recalling my own childhood experiences, I suddenly wondered if the culprit was the very person who once plotted against me. Because of my grandmother’s interference, he might have lost one opportunity only to gain another, with the little ghost serving as my substitute.

The truth remains unknown, especially since I truly don’t understand much about Taoist lineage. I should ask Zhao Qian another day; perhaps she can shed some light.

After watching the investigative video about the boy in red, I was ready to go to bed. But just as I was about to shut down my computer, a chat window that had automatically logged in suddenly popped up. A woman had sent me a message.

I wasn’t inclined to look, but the message was right there in the pop-up. It read:

“Xixi, check out this video. It seems something really happened to the eldest son of the He family, and you’re going to have to handle it.”

Then, a video was sent through the chat window. Curious and assuming it was work-related, I accepted it and saved it to my desktop.

Thinking it might be urgent, I opened the video immediately.

It was a surveillance recording. In it, a man was sound asleep in bed, snoring softly. The room was very quiet except for a high-end lamp casting light.

I half-expected some romantic scene to follow, but I was stunned instead. A pale white figure suddenly appeared from the camera’s blind spot, seemingly entering through the window. It slowly walked over to the sleeping man and stopped, staring blankly.

After a long moment, the figure seemed to notice the recording camera was monitoring and turned to face it. I was fixated on the screen when suddenly the ghost’s head came right up to the camera lens, nearly scaring me to tears.

It was no human—it was a female ghost.

She was dripping wet, her face terrifyingly pale, with strands of water plants hanging from her hair, as if she had just crawled out of the water.

Then, the video emitted a strange rustling sound before the image tore apart into fragments and went completely blank.

“Did you see that? Did you? Terrifying, right?!” The woman in the chat window popped up again. Her avatar was a big-faced cheeky cat, though her profile confirmed she was a girl.

I didn’t dare reply. After a moment, she sent another message: “Scared you, didn’t I, my beautiful one? Haha, besides the main video, I cleverly tapped into a wireless signal too. The main line probably fried the memory card, but the wireless one is encrypted and received at my place! See how thoughtful I am, sending it to you before it even warmed up.”

Hearing that, I feared she might be in trouble for meddling with the wireless connection. I quickly messaged back: “Are you still at home? Come to my place immediately.”

“What? I’m about to get undressed and sleep! Besides, didn’t you say my place was safe? Did you arrange any feng shui protection for me?” the cheeky cat replied.

“Then don’t leave. Zhao Qian and I are coming right over.” I felt there was no point arguing. Even if she left, she might not escape the ghost’s grasp. The fact that the ghost’s form appeared on the video meant it was extremely vicious. The man wasn’t dead because the ghost had known him before dying and wasn’t ready to take his life. But this fool was still joking around.

I went upstairs and knocked on Zhao Qian’s door.

To my surprise, Yu Xiaoxue, still bleary-eyed, opened the door wearing Zhao Qian’s pink lace nightdress. The sheer fabric clung to her, making her look incredibly seductive. I instinctively glanced down and was shocked to see the faint outline of her budding chest. I immediately pushed her back inside, closing the door. “Not your business. Go back to sleep. Wrong room.”

I heard a thud as she fell back onto the bed, probably going back to sleep.

I took a deep breath and felt a heavy oppressive energy behind me—my wife’s sister seemed about to explode. I quickly explained, “I didn’t mean it! I’m trying to save someone!”

Without waiting for her reaction, I hurried to knock on another door, hoping this time I wouldn’t knock on the wrong one.

After a while, the light in Zhao Qian’s room flicked on. She had thrown a jacket over her pajamas, but her long, slender legs were still on full display—hard to look away from.

“Brother Tian, what’s wrong?” she seemed half asleep.

“Your friend—the one called Cat—sent a message about seeing a ghost. It popped up on my screen, so I took the liberty of accepting it. We need to get to her quickly; your feng shui tricks won’t hold it back.” I said hurriedly.

“What cat and dog nonsense! Brother Tian, I’m so tired. There are tons of scary ghost videos at night.” Zhao Qian mumbled drowsily, pushing me away, ready to go back to sleep.

I curled my finger and called over the little fierce ghost. It cooperated immediately, baring its sinister teeth and standing guard in the direction she was turning away from.

Zhao Qian’s half-open eyes widened in terror. She screamed instinctively, then jumped into my arms.

Before I could even register the soft pressure against my chest, I nearly dropped her down the stairs. It took me a moment to steady myself. Then my wife’s sister finally lost her cool. A chilling wind seemed to blow from nowhere, rattling doors and windows.

Zhao Qian was terrified. When she saw the little fierce ghost return to my side, her face flushed bright red. She slammed the door shut and quickly changed her clothes.

Soon, the stunning Zhao Qian was sitting next to me at the computer. We both glanced at the chat window in unison. A cold chill swept over us in the dead of night. The screen was filled with exclamation marks and a chaotic array of strange symbols.

Our first thought was trouble. The feng shui in that person’s house was probably disrupted by the fierce ghost, and now it was chasing them.

We rushed out the door. I opened the garage to get the car.

“Don’t drive. She lives right across the street!” Zhao Qian said anxiously. It seemed the person on the computer was important to her.

I patted my forehead. Why didn’t you say so earlier!

We ran across the street. Just as Zhao Qian was about to knock, I kicked the door open and asked which room it was.

She pointed to the second-floor room, and I charged in immediately.

Inside, a young woman’s eyes were rolled back, her face flushed red from strands of hair wrapped tightly around her. Her tongue was hanging out long—she was close to death.

“Go save her!” I ordered the little fierce ghost.

It seemed reluctant, probably thinking I was always entangled with women, but it pounced and grabbed the strands of hair. Somehow, it had the strength to pull the ghost woman in white off!

The white-clad female ghost was no match for the little fierce ghost. Before she could struggle, the ghost was devoured entirely.

The little fierce ghost licked its lips, clearly savoring the taste.

I knew this act of “devouring” was a form of absorption, allowing the little fierce ghost to grow rapidly.

But I had no time to worry about that. The female police officer was dead, her tongue out, eyes rolled back, saliva dripping.

Yes, a police officer—because I saw her still wearing her uniform, buttons half undone, and close-fitting clothes underneath.

“Shan Shan! Shan Shan, wake up! Don’t scare me!” Zhao Qian rushed over and scooped her up.

“What are you standing there for? She’s not breathing! Do artificial respiration! You want her to die?” I pushed Zhao Qian aside, laid the police officer flat, and carefully repositioned her dry tongue.

“Do you know how to do artificial respiration?” I asked.

Zhao Qian, frightened to tears, shook her head.

I sighed inwardly. Well, she was a pretty policewoman. I just hoped my wife’s sister wouldn’t lose her temper now.

“Sis, don’t be mad. I’m trying to save her, you know.” I muttered, clasped my hands, and pressed down hard on her chest, performing CPR.

Each time I pressed, the soft, elastic chest bounced, making my heart race. Honestly, it was my first time touching a woman’s chest, and a well-endowed policewoman at that—even if it was for saving her life.

My wife’s sister seemed to understand and didn’t make it harder for me. But just as I was about to give the policewoman mouth-to-mouth, a cold breeze brushed my ear, tickling unpleasantly. The proud Ninth Princess seemed intent on denying me my first kiss.

“I remember now! This—I can do this! They taught it in school,” Zhao Qian wiped her tears and noticed my hesitation.

She took over my hands and gave the police officer artificial respiration.

After a bout of coughing, the policewoman finally came back to life.

I had already called the little fierce ghost back to its soul urn and sat on the bed waiting for her to wake.

The policewoman’s face was pale, still shaken, staring at Zhao Qian and then me, but she didn’t cry.

After a moment, she even smiled: “Qian, I saw a ghost!”

Was she crazy? No, she seemed quite calm. I was troubled by this tough female cop.

“Yeah, Shan Shan, I’m glad you’re okay!” Zhao Qian hugged her tightly and burst into tears again.

“I almost died. I must have looked terrible—tongue sticking out like that.” The policewoman hesitated, then looked at me bluntly. “Who are you?”

“I’m Zhao Qian’s friend.” I thought, you don’t even recognize me after all that? I just pressed on your chest—no, I mean I saved your life!

“She’s Brother Tian. He was chatting with you online and insisted I bring him here to save you,” Zhao Qian explained.

“What? You’re living together?!” The policewoman exclaimed, eyeing me up and down as if wondering what I had done to deserve this.

I was speechless. This cop’s imagination was probably wilder than Yu Xiaoxue’s. I couldn’t handle it. I said, “Haha, now that the ghost is dealt with, I’ll head home to sleep. You two chat.”

With that, I left the room and went back to my study to sleep. It was already past two in the morning, and Zhao Qian and I had to visit her grandfather’s house tomorrow.

I never expected just turning on my computer would bring such chaos—something was seriously wrong.