Nan Deng trusted Lian Yi the most because they had been together for so long. He was innocent and inexperienced, but that didn’t mean he didn’t understand anything.
He let go of Lian Yi, clasping his hands behind his back, waiting for an explanation.
The rabbit head, smelling a hint of food, circled around Lian Yi’s feet, trying to beg for a snack.
Lian Yi had no time to deal with the rabbit head at the moment. After a brief silence, he said, “I have Yin-Yang eyes. I can see ghosts.”
He had considered finding a suitable opportunity to confess and also thought about hiding it forever until he could lift the restrictions on himself, leave the inner court, and no longer be a celestial master.
He still remembered Nan Deng’s timid appearance when he first hid in the wardrobe, trembling with fear.
If Nan Deng knew his true identity, he might no longer want to be close to him, and Lian Yi would be alone again.
“Yin-Yang eyes?” Nan Deng asked in confusion. “Is it because your eyes are different from others?”
Lian Yi’s left eye had been injured and later modified, so Nan Deng naturally thought of this.
“Yes,” Lian Yi answered, following Nan Deng’s line of thought, “that’s the reason.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and his tense nerves slightly relaxed.
But Nan Deng continued, “So you… you’ve been able to see me all along.”
He sounded a bit displeased, his lowered eyelashes trembling. “You even said it was because you accepted my things.”
Especially since he had secretly bitten Lian Yi, though unsuccessfully.
So, Lian Yi had seen him from the beginning yet pretended to know nothing.
Lian Yi fell silent again, this time telling the truth without finding an excuse: “I didn’t want to scare you away.”
If he hadn’t pretended, Nan Deng probably wouldn’t have approached him a second time.
Hearing what Lian Yi said, Nan Deng looked up at him for a while.
Apart from a bit of unhappiness from being deceived, Nan Deng also felt a bit guilty. After all, he had once considered Lian Yi as prey, wanting to devour his living soul.
When he couldn’t bite through and was discovered by Lian Yi, he feared Lian Yi would have celestial masters capture him.
Later on, Lian Yi treated him very well, unlike how ordinary people would treat a ghost, and Nan Deng grew increasingly fond of being close to him.
If what Lian Yi said was true, then hiding this fact didn’t seem like a big deal. The time spent with Lian Yi was the safest and most relaxed period for Nan Deng.
However, this also made him realize that no matter how good Lian Yi seemed, he wasn’t as pure as he appeared. He had his own selfishness and secrets he didn’t want to share.
Living people were indeed the most complex beings, Nan Deng thought. Ghosts didn’t need to consider so much, unlike the rabbit head which only needed to fill its belly.
He stood there and whispered, “Alright…”
Though he was unhappy, Nan Deng wasn’t angry. He could accept Lian Yi’s explanation.
Lian Yi took half a step closer, instinctively reaching out to hold Nan Deng’s hand. However, Nan Deng, being in his ghost form, couldn’t be touched.
At that moment, Nan Deng’s body suddenly flickered between ghost and human forms, stabilizing after a few moments.
Nan Deng transformed back into a human, looking up and breathing rapidly.
He was still wearing the clothes Lian Yi had bought for him. When he turned back into a ghost, the clothes lost their substance, but now they were restored.
Lian Yi didn’t hesitate, immediately grabbing Nan Deng’s arm and pulling him into a tight embrace.
He exhaled deeply, soothing Nan Deng’s back while inhaling the scent of his hair.
Nan Deng came to his senses and noticed that Lian Yi’s body temperature was a bit high.
He had just switched states, so his fingertips were still cold. He touched the side of Lian Yi’s face and asked, “Are you running a fever?”
Before, he hadn’t noticed that Lian Yi’s complexion wasn’t quite right.
Nan Deng asked with concern, “Did those two ghosts touch you?”
Lian Yi suppressed the twisting pain in his heart, “No.”
“Sorry,” he said softly, “It’s my fault.”
Apologizing, Lian Yi’s slight displeasure in Nan Deng’s heart completely disappeared, and he hugged Lian Yi tightly, “It’s okay, as long as you’re okay.”
The physical pain gradually faded away. Lian Yi’s eyes drooped, his warm palms tightly holding onto Nan Deng’s waist.
He wasn’t sure how Zhuo Qing’s prohibition had triggered, but for now, it didn’t seem life-threatening.
If he really couldn’t undo it, even after death, he would keep Nan Deng by his side.
Shortly after, Nan Deng walked out of the bedroom, carefully surveying his surroundings.
The evil energy in the house had dissipated. A few branches had fallen off the potted plant and the floor lamp was knocked askew. But apart from that, nothing else seemed amiss.
It seemed the celestial master’s abilities were quite good; they had resolved the situation so quickly.
Nan Deng picked up the floor lamp and inexplicably remembered the formidable celestial master he had encountered in the amusement park.
He thought it was fortunate that he had hidden in time and not come face-to-face with tonight’s celestial master; otherwise, he might have been exposed as not being a living person…
Feeling a bit frightened, Nan Deng ran to lock the front door tightly and draw the curtains.
Meanwhile, Lian Yi remained in the bedroom, examining the damaged talisman formations.
He had set up two talisman formations in total—one outside the bedroom and another protecting the wardrobe where Nan Deng had been.
Tonight, the target of those resentful spirits was clearly Nan Deng, for reasons as yet unclear. The talisman outside the bedroom hadn’t been broken, indicating that the one on the wardrobe was likely accidentally broken by Nan Deng.
Lian Yi walked up to the wardrobe, his right hand slightly raised, and tiny specks of light rose from the ground.
The talisman he had personally set up using spiritual arts had been shattered like this.
Nan Deng was very special and his identity is uncertain. This is something Lian Yi had long been aware of.
Now, it seemed he wasn’t as weak as he appeared.
Regarding Nan Deng’s past, Lian Yi had requested the archives from the Inner Court’s Yezhang Tower.
But Nan Deng claimed he had chosen his own name and had no memories from before, so the archives contained no information about him whatsoever.
As for the ghost king supposedly imprisoned in the tower, no one knew about it, and it seemed no one had ever seen it either.
The rabbit head quietly hopped closer, opening its mouth and swallowing all the floating specks of light.
Lian Yi didn’t stop it. Once it finished eating, Nan Deng came in holding a bottle of talisman water.
“This should be left by the celestial master,” Nan Deng placed the talisman water in Lian Yi’s hand, “you should drink it quickly.”
Lian Yi responded with an “Mm” and opened the lid of the talisman water, but didn’t drink it. When Nan Deng wasn’t looking, he poured it into the potted plant by the window.
Being naturally possessed by evil energy, talisman water had no effect on him.
Nan Deng also didn’t want to drink the talisman water and stored away the remaining bottle.
He then noticed another issue and mused to himself, “Why were there two bottles?”
Did the celestial master know there were two people in the house? Or was it just a coincidence?
Upon hearing these words, a slight frown appeared between Lian Yi’s brows.
Lin Jiu’s arrival was indeed timely, almost coinciding with the appearance of the resentful spirits. However, judging by his various reactions, it didn’t seem like he had foreseen it in advance.
Lian Yi turned and entered the study, opening a drawer to retrieve a communicator.
Inside the communicator were indeed several missed calls and a few text messages.
Weng Ping Ran had also arrived in this area. Lin Jiu had attempted to contact him that evening, likely coming over when he couldn’t reach him.
Looking at the missed calls, a faint hint of hostility flashed in Lian Yi’s eyes.
He trusted no one, not even the celestial masters of the Inner Court. If Lin Jiu had discovered Nan Deng’s presence and showed any unusual behavior, Lian Yi wouldn’t hesitate to kill him outright.
At that moment, a new text message arrived on the communicator, from Lin Jiu himself.
“Chief Lian, should tonight’s capture of the resentful spirits be documented in the report?”
Every day, each team documented significant events and the number of spirits captured, which were then compiled and submitted to the Inner Court.
Lin Jiu seemed to be reaching out, ostensibly to make amends.
Lian Yi’s icy expression remained unchanged as he immediately dialed Lin Jiu’s communication number.
After a moment, Lin Jiu’s voice came through, “Chief Lian?”
“About tonight,” Lian Yi cut to the chase, “how much do you know?”
Lin Jiu wasn’t quite sure about Lian Yi’s attitude and felt a chill in his tone.
Carefully choosing his words, he responded, “I haven’t been able to reach you these past few days. I was planning to come find you and coincidentally encountered the resentful spirits.”
Lian Yi remained silent for a moment. Lin Jiu continued, “If you handle those resentful spirits yourself, we don’t need to document it. Master didn’t inquire further.”
“As for the rest…” he added, “I didn’t see anything unusual and I’m not clear about it.”
He had accidentally stumbled upon Lian Yi’s private affairs, which was not his intention. Lin Jiu wanted to pretend he knew nothing and certainly wouldn’t tell anyone else.
There was a brief silence from the other end of the communication. Lian Yi asked again, “Where is your master now?”
Lin Jiu’s master was Weng Ping Ran. He quickly replied, “There have been several areas suspected of the same illness recently. Master is currently at the hospital.”
No wonder Weng Ping Ran didn’t inquire much about tonight’s events; Lin Jiu guessed he was too busy to bother with Lian Yi.
As the Chief Celestial Master, Lian Yi was probably the least burdened among them, and few dared to assign him tasks.
“No need to document the resentful spirits,” Lian Yi concluded, “if there’s anything, I’ll contact you. No need to come looking for me again.”
With that said, he cut off the communication.
Lin Jiu put down the communicator, visibly relieved.
He was more certain now that Lian Yi had a deep connection with that young man.
However, even if Lian Yi wasn’t harmed by the restrictions, unions between celestial masters and ordinary people were rare.
Celestial masters had to capture ghosts, often putting themselves in danger and potentially drawing retaliation from escaped resentful spirits against those around them.
Perhaps tonight’s situation fell into that category? But how did the resentful spirits know there was someone by Lian Yi’s side?
Lin Jiu started to get a headache and rubbed his forehead.
Meanwhile, Lian Yi locked the communicator back into the drawer, along with a jar full of resentful spirits.
Nan Deng happened to come looking for him just as he stood outside, knocking on the door while yawning, “I’m sleepy and want to take a bath.”
Turning around, Lian Yi softened his expression as soon as he saw Nan Deng, replying, “Alright.”
He led Nan Deng to the bathroom, adjusted the temperature of the hot water for him, and reminded him not to stay in too long.
Nan Deng nodded and finished bathing shortly, then asked Lian Yi to help him dry his hair.
“In a couple of days,” Lian Yi suddenly said, “I’ll take you away from here.”
Nan Deng asked curiously, “Where are we going?”
He didn’t ask why they were leaving; it seemed he was willing to follow Lian Yi wherever he went.
Lian Yi ran his hand through Nan Deng’s black hair. “We’ll discuss it later.”
If they were really leaving, Nan Deng’s first thought was of the little black cat.
The cat hadn’t visited him in days, and he wondered where it might be and if it was busy.
Nan Deng hoped to say goodbye to it.
He nodded again, reaching out to catch the warm water from the showerhead, then heard a noise outside that sounded like it came from the rabbit head.
Calling out, “Xiao Tu?”
“I’ll go check,” Lian Yi said.
He urged Nan Deng to finish quickly, then got up and left the bathroom, following the sound to just outside the study.
Pushing open the partially closed door, he saw that the previously locked drawer was now open, and the rabbit head was buried inside, fiercely gnawing at a clay jar.
“Xiao Tu!”
Lian Yi shouted sharply, moving forward to intervene. But he was too late.
The ghost in the clay jar had been completely consumed by the rabbit head.
The rabbit head looked at Lian Yi innocently with its pitch-black eyes, and couldn’t help but let out a couple of burps in succession.
Meanwhile, deep underground in a distant place, a ghost shrouded in fog lurked in a deep hole, sensing that all the marks it had spread had completely disappeared.
The fog-shrouded specter roared in anger, grabbing a trembling resentful spirit beside him, tearing it apart, and swallowing it.
There were more resentful spirits piled up beside the fog-shrouded specter, densely packed together.
“Did you find him?”
Above his head was a hovering circular magic tool, emitting a faint glow and a deep, hoarse voice: “Where the rabbit head is, he is there.”
—
After taking a bath, Nan Deng wrapped himself in a thick towel and came out.
He opened the bathroom door and saw Lian Yi and the rabbit head standing at the door, vaguely sensing that the atmosphere was a bit different.
The rabbit head faced against the wall, glanced at Lian Yi’s back, and then looked at Nan Deng.
Nan Deng guessed a bit, his expression serious: “Has the Xiao Tu been eating something again?”
Lian Yi calmly replied, “It’s fine, don’t worry.”
