The Ghost Husband's Appetite

Once the waiting and preparations were complete, Qi Gu specifically instructed Niu An to tell her son and daughter-in-law not to return home until they received further notice.

Niu An naturally complied. Her son and daughter-in-law were ordinary people and wouldn't foolishly return home to seek death under such circumstances.

Then, she looked at Qi Gu and asked, "In my eyes, you two still look the same as before. But what will Xiao Bao see when he looks at you? Will that thing detect you then?"

Qi Gu said, "I have modified the incantation slightly. This illusion technique also works on humans. You see us as we are because you already know our true identities."

The three of them walked toward Niu An's home together. Going upstairs, Qi Gu grabbed Lin Hanzhi's wrist through his long sleeve, patting it reassuringly. "Don't be afraid. Just act naturally later, the way Aunt Niu's son and daughter-in-law usually behave at home."

Lin Hanzhi lowered his eyes to look at his sleeve, a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "With you here, I'm not that afraid anymore."

Watching the two young men chatting, touching, and patting, Niu An suddenly recalled Qi Gu from his primary school days. Back then, this child wasn't lively like he was now. He was very quiet, possessing a calmness far beyond his years, and thus had never made any friends. Seeing that he was no longer lonely, she felt comforted in her heart.

It was just... she didn't quite understand why friends nowadays were so physically intimate, clinging to each other and touching so much.

Perhaps young people today were just more open-minded.

However, it was fortunate they were this open. After all, her son and daughter-in-law were extremely affectionate; while they were fine at work, at home they were basically glued to each other like conjoined twins.

Niu An said, "Just keeping this state is perfect."

Qi Gu was stunned, only then realizing that Aunt Niu thought they had entered the state of an affectionate couple. But in reality... just now had indeed been their natural behavior.

Well... friendship and love naturally shared similarities, both being forms of affection, so it was normal to mistake one for the other.

Niu An used her key to open the door, bringing the food and the two men inside.

The living room's curtains were still tightly drawn, making the house pitch-black. The Ghost Husband sat in the darkness. Hearing the movement, he turned his head. "You're all back."

Qi Gu, not used to this, immediately switched on the living room light.

The bright light flooded down, illuminating everything. Only then did the three of them see the Ghost Husband holding Xiao Bao in his lap. Whether intentionally or not, its sharp teeth were extremely close to Xiao Bao's throat, as if it wanted to bite down at any second. Yet, Xiao Bao remained completely oblivious to this.

Qi Gu's temple twitched. He immediately and naturally played his role, scooping the child out of the creature's arms. "Good boy, let Daddy hold you~"

This was what Aunt Niu's son would definitely do upon returning home.

Lin Hanzhi also consciously leaned close. Together, they held the child and stood on the balcony to check his condition today, chatting and laughing, looking exactly like a family of three.

In the Ghost Husband's eyes, this was no different from before. Therefore, it only cast a greedy glance at the three of them before returning to its usual state.

Niu An carried the food into the kitchen, and it even followed her inside, just like Niu An's husband would do when he was alive, helping his wife cook.

And during the day, it would also do chores like sweeping, wiping tables, and even its habits of organizing wiped items and folding clothes were identical to before.

This was why Niu An could recognize these habits—because even after many years, she had never forgotten them.

But that thing was a ghost, yet it knew all of this so clearly, which was truly hair-raising.

If Niu An hadn't woken up to use the restroom that night, given the Ghost Husband's behavior, she probably still wouldn't have sensed anything wrong.

Qi Gu and Lin Hanzhi looked intimately close as they coaxed the child on the balcony. In reality, Qi Gu had never held a child before. His movements were extremely clumsy, as if he were squeezing a piglet, causing the child in his arms to struggle constantly. Helpless, Qi Gu had no choice but to toss the child to Lin Hanzhi.

Lin Hanzhi had held children before; he used to frequently hold his young cousin. After a brief daze, he held the child in the correct posture and gently patted his back.

Xiao Bao indeed felt much more comfortable and said, "Mom, how much longer until my illness is cured? I want to go out and play."

Lin Hanzhi smiled gently, fully playing the mother's role. "Once you recover, you have to go to school. If you want to play, you have to wait until the weekend."

Qi Gu: "..."

Hearing such cruel words, Xiao Bao almost burst into tears, feeling that his mother was a bit cunning today.

But being a child, he didn't find anything amiss, only muttering, "Maybe I should stay sick for a few more days," not wanting to go to school.

In the kitchen.

Niu An poured the beef filling, which had been mixed with minced beef blood as Qi Gu instructed, into a basin. Instantly, a strong, thick scent of fresh blood billowed out, filling the entire kitchen.

Niu An said, "Old man, chop some celery to mix with the beef. We'll make celery and beef dumplings to eat."

The Ghost Husband stared intently at the basin of bright red flesh and blood before him. His eyes were completely black, with only a tiny speck of white starting to show bloodshot veins, like a wild wolf that had been starving for a long time suddenly seeing a bowl of meat. His desire to eat was completely impossible to hide.

After saying this, Niu An turned and left the kitchen, walking toward the balcony. "I'm going to pluck some green onions."

Hearing Niu An's words, the Ghost Husband responded without turning his head, his eyes fixed on the basin of fresh meat mixed with blood.

As soon as Niu An left, it impatiently carried the basin of meat filling to a blind spot from the outside view. It reached into the raw meat, grabbed a handful, and greedily stuffed it into its mouth, as if eating the most exquisite delicacy in the world, its face showing a look of pure enjoyment.

Not long after, Niu An returned to the kitchen with the green onions, only to see the Ghost Husband obediently washing the celery. Even its habit of prepping the celery—only discarding the large leaves and keeping the small ones—was exactly the same as before.

Thậm chí, nghe thấy Ngưu An trở về, nó còn nói thêm một câu: “Hành lá này không tốt như trước, mọc không được phóng khoáng.”

After speaking, it lowered its head to continue prepping the celery.

After this completely normal conversation, under the white light, as Niu An turned to chop the green onions, it raised its head and bared its teeth toward her neck, with shreds of raw red meat hanging menacingly between its teeth.

It looked ready to bite down at any moment.