Nightmare

As soon as I returned to my room, I lay down on the bamboo bed in the Daoist temple. Although it was made of bamboo, the design was incredibly comfortable.

I rolled around on the bed a few times before finally drifting off to sleep.

In my hazy state, I saw a woman wearing a bridal gown, but her figure was like mist, making it impossible to see her clearly. She slowly approached me from within the fog.

Instinctively, I took a few steps back and looked at her with suspicion. "Is it you?"

The girl in front of me flicked her sleeves and smiled at me. "Indeed it is I, your future wife. Once the Corpse Poison in your body seeps into your organs, you will completely become a Ghostly Soul. The two of us will become a pair of lovebirds in the Netherworld, haha!"

I was startled by her laughter. "What on earth do you want?"

She smiled, revealing two sharp fangs in her mouth, her hands constantly caressing me up and down. "All I want is you."

I was filled with doubt. I wasn't exceptionally handsome, just decent-looking. Surely I wasn't attractive enough to be haunted by ghosts like this? Do ghosts nowadays even lust after men? Wasn't it always about eating flesh or absorbing yang energy? The more I looked at her words and actions, the more she seemed like a perverted ghost.

I grabbed her sleeve, awkwardly smiling. "Ghost Sister, look, everyone is the same after they die. If you want handsome guys, I can burn one for you! No, ten of them, so you can have them on your left and right. How about that?"

I looked at the female ghost, my voice growing softer and softer.

Her gaze pierced straight through me as if she wanted to kill me. I could only swallow hard and continue, "If you want to eat flesh, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. My skin is thick and my bones are tough; I don't taste good."

Unexpectedly, the female ghost flew into a rage. Her eyes seemed to overflow with fire, making her already unnatural eyes look even more terrifying. She glared at me, gritting her teeth as she spoke each word: "Zhou Yao, are you playing games with me?"

Me! Damn it, it was that name Zhou Yao again! How many Ghostly Souls did I have to explain to that I wasn't him?

Terrified by her attitude, I panicked. "I am not Zhou Yao! My name is Zhong Chu Ling. Big Sister, you and I have no grievances. Why don't you let me go?"

The female ghost stepped closer, lifting my chin. Her eyes held a trace of cunning. "Even if you turned to ash, I would still recognize you."

I clicked my tongue and sighed. "But I haven't turned to ash, and I'm really not him. If you mistake me for him and marry me, wouldn't that ruin your life as a girl—uh, I mean, as a ghost?"

Provoked to the limit by my words, she bared her fangs and brandished her claws. "Zhou Yao, if you say another word, do you believe I will kill you right now without waiting for the fifteenth day of the seventh month?"

Only now did I realize the gravity of the situation, and I awkwardly retreated. "I... every word I say is from the bottom of my heart."

She let out a cold, disdainful snort. "From the bottom of your heart? If you were sincere, you wouldn't have been running away until now."

I tried my best to explain, but nothing went my way. The female ghost was unexpectedly strong, lifting me high into the air by my throat with just one hand.

Unable to breathe, I flailed my hands to beg for mercy, but she was like a madwoman—the more distressed I looked, the happier she became. Having been choked for so long, I was on the verge of passing out when a flash of black light suddenly shot through the air, piercing her hand and forcing her to release me in pain.

I fell from her grasp onto the ground, clutching my neck and coughing violently.

The female ghost turned around and shouted angrily into the empty air, "Who dares to ruin my good plans?"

Countless wisps of malevolent energy gathered in the air, and a woman's voice echoed: "Your good plans? You want to go against the master's orders, don't you?"

Upon hearing this, the female ghost trembled with fear, but she still forced herself to speak: "I am doing the master's bidding. What is there to fear?"

The mysterious woman in the air let out a strange, eerie laugh. "The master ordered you to bewitch his divine soul so that the Corpse Poison would invade him sooner. Yet, for your own selfish desires, you almost choked him to death. If the master finds out about this, what do you think your end will be?"

The female ghost looked terrified, but at this moment, she shamelessly shifted the blame to me. "I was just playing with him. Why are you so heartbroken?"

Before the mysterious woman could reply, I couldn't help but speak up in anger, "Thank you for your kindness, Big Sister, but I dare not accept this kind of play. If you keep playing with me like this, even nine lives wouldn't be enough."

The female ghost glared at me. "You!"

The voice in the air spoke again: "I am not heartbroken for anyone. I am only loyal, heart and soul, to seeking vengeance."

The female ghost wore a sinister smile. "I hope you will still remember those words in the future."

"That is enough for today. Now is not the time to take his life."

With that, the two women vanished like dust before my astonished eyes. I woke up with a start.

It was still dark outside. I lay on the bed, unable to shake off the terror, my entire body drenched in sweat.

I pulled the blanket over my head, my mind racing.

Was this Zhou Yao guy some kind of playboy or what? Why did everyone want to kill him, dragging me into their grudges?

But thinking about it carefully, did they come for this face of mine? Could it be that my looks were so devastating that even ghosts wanted to get close to me?

Or did those two female ghosts actually fancy my face and use these encounters as an excuse to get my attention?

At this thought, I shuddered. They definitely didn't come to make friends. That female ghost even mentioned turning me into a Ghostly Soul on the fifteenth day of the seventh month.

I trembled with fear under the blanket.

In the end, I decided to grab my blanket and head over to my grandfather's room.

Hearing my knock, he shouted from inside, "It's the middle of the night! What do you want?"

I looked around to make sure no one was there, then whispered, "Grandfather, it's me."

Hearing that I was standing outside, he cursed without hesitation, "You brat, do you know what watch of the night it is? Let others sleep!"

Indeed, the bond between grandfather and grandson was vast; he had to scold me affectionately before opening the door to let me in.

I tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep, and my grandfather ended up staying awake with me.