Jing Jiujiu was so frightened that he nearly lost his ghostly color.
"I... I... I ate a child!" He turned his head, his face full of shock, and stared blankly at Bai Yuhuai.
Bai Yuhuai responded with a simple "Mm."
Then he took out a handkerchief and handed it to Jing Jiujiu. "Wipe your mouth."
Jing Jiujiu instinctively took it and wiped his mouth carefully, but soon he couldn't help repeating, "I ate a child!"
Bai Yuhuai said, "Mm, strictly speaking, it was no longer an infant. It was just a mass of monster filled with Malevolent Yin Energy, completely lacking self-awareness."
Jing Jiujiu: "..."
This description made it even harder to swallow.
Bai Yuhuai looked at his expression and added, "For ghosts and spirits, it's a great tonic."
Jing Jiujiu said quietly, "I don't feel particularly strengthened... How did I even eat it?"
"It's the feeding instinct of a Fierce Ghost."
Jing Jiujiu was dumbfounded.
I didn't even know, so it turns out I'm a Fierce Ghost?
"But aren't Fierce Ghosts... like in the movies, killing people on sight, extremely violent, with terrifying faces?" Like Sadako from the movie that once scared Jing Jiujiu out of his wits.
Bai Yuhuai finally told him what symbols were drawn on the two doors of his bedroom.
Jing Jiujiu was silent for several seconds after hearing this.
After a while, his voice sounded again, drawn out long: "I see..." "So, after being separated from that thing that extracted my yin energy and suppressed me, I'd easily turn into a horrifying Fierce Ghost that only remembers killing and hatred, is that right?"
"No," said Bai Yuhuai.
"Huh? Why not?" Jing Jiujiu carefully went through it again, feeling his logic was sound.
"I'll find a way."
Jing Jiujiu was very touched after hearing this.
Mr. Bai is truly an incredibly good person!
Not only does he have to be ridden by me, be clung to by me, but he also has to find a way for me!
After feeling moved, Jing Jiujiu suddenly remembered something and asked in a daze, "... Is it too late to spit it out now?"
"It's too late." Bai Yuhuai paused, then very seriously asked him, "Did you find it tasty?"
Jing Jiujiu was stunned.
Wuwuwu, if only I had known to spit it out before speaking!
He licked his lips painfully, actually not tasting much... but it felt a lot like eating a shrimp ball, slurping it down in one go, with a slightly sweet taste.
Sweet...?
Wow, I have a sense of taste now?
Jing Jiujiu licked his lips hard again, but couldn't taste anything.
He started sucking on his tongue forcefully, making slurping sounds.
Outside the bushes, Xu Sanyu paused and covered his face. Whoa, how intense!
After quite a while, Jing Jiujiu finally came to a shocking conclusion—
"It was delicious!"
To raise ghosts, it seems you really need to feed them these things.
Raw meat is considered the lowest grade.
But most people can only choose to use raw meat to raise ghosts. After all, catching ghosts to raise your own ghost is not as easy as just saying it.
Bai Yuhuai lowered his eyes. "There's another one here."
Jing Jiujiu hurriedly looked down.
The Lesser Ghost lying motionless with its four limbs in the air, probably to make itself look more convincingly dead, had stiffened its limbs, stretched its neck long, and even retracted its fangs. Its large ghost eyes rolled upwards, showing the whites.
It looked rigidly dead and terrifying.
"No more, no more," Jing Jiujiu quickly said.
Bai Yuhuai bent down and picked up the Lesser Ghost with one hand, saying calmly, "It should be tasty too, though not as rich in Malevolent Yin Energy as the previous one." Like a parent trying to coax a child into eating celery or onions, Bai Yuhuai began to describe the taste of this food item enthusiastically to make it more appealing: "Its sweetness might be a bit milder, probably like freshly squeezed fruit juice..."
The Lesser Ghost stopped playing dead now. It trembled in fear while desperately twisting its head to bare its teeth at Bai Yuhuai.
Jing Jiujiu rubbed his belly. "I don't think it's digested yet."
Bai Yuhuai had to stop talking.
No matter how much he knew about ghosts and spirits, he wasn't a ghost after all, unlike Jing Jiujiu's firsthand experience. Bai Yuhuai knew that humans get stomachaches when they overeat, and ghosts presumably would have some negative effects too if they ate too much.
Bai Yuhuai gave the Lesser Ghost a cold look. "Then let's take it back and save it for tomorrow."
Jing Jiujiu nodded, but then paused his movement.
He felt something wasn't quite right.
When Bai Yuhuai tied up the Lesser Ghost with a thin golden thread and led it behind him like walking a dog, Jing Jiujiu had a sudden realization.
... Mr. Bai seemed to have become a bit more... brutal?
Although the Lesser Ghost couldn't speak, it should still understand human nature.
It had completely lost its previous arrogance and just crawled along behind them, puffing and panting. As they walked, Jing Jiujiu remembered something else.
"It's Guan Yan's ghost," Jing Jiujiu spoke up.
"Mm."
"If Guan Yan sees it..."
"Can he rush over and ask us for it?"
Jing Jiujiu thought for a moment. "He can't. He wouldn't. Raising Lesser Ghosts is a secretive matter."
"Yes."
And so they brazenly walked back to the hotel, leading the Lesser Ghost.
Guan Yan wasn't at the film set, so he didn't see it.
That night passed.
More people lost their ghosts.
Guan Yan's phone was nearly blown up with calls.
At four in the morning, Guan Yan woke up startled from his sleep. He washed his face with cold water, scowling. When he turned back, he stared at the caller ID on the screen, feeling a hint of annoyance in his heart. If he had known it would be like this, he should have gone to buy ghosts by himself. It's just that he was unfamiliar with the place at the time and needed someone to guide him, fearing that instead of successfully buying ghosts, he might attract evil spirits... Now with Master Zhou, it's different.
Guan Yan irritably switched to Weibo and scrolled through the trending topics one by one.
The crew had just started filming, and logically, the news of him joining as the male lead should have made it to the trending topics, but it was completely overshadowed by the news about Bai Yuhuai's bracelet. It was already the second day, and people online were still discussing it with great enthusiasm.
Guan Yan felt more and more displeased as he read, so he simply closed it and called back the number on the screen.
"Hello." The other end picked up quickly, as if they hadn't slept all night waiting for his call.
"Guan Yan, do you know?" On the other end, the female celebrity's voice was icy cold. "Last night, several people's Lesser Ghosts disappeared. I don't even dare to sleep now. Every time I close my eyes, I feel like that statue is staring at me. What should I do? Guan Yan, tell me what to do?"
Guan Yan couldn't be bothered to deal with her and casually said, "Have you contacted the person who sold the ghosts?"
So other people's Lesser Ghosts disappeared too?
It seems this thing just isn't reliable!
Guan Yan felt the pressure in his heart lighten considerably. At least it wasn't just his problem that caused the Lesser Ghost to disappear.
"I tried, but I couldn't reach them. The number I called was disconnected..." The female celebrity started cursing as she spoke.
Guan Yan was also stunned upon hearing this.
Thinking of the money he had spent, Guan Yan's heart ached, and he also cursed, "Fuck, isn't this just a scam?"
"I don't want that statue anymore, but I don't know where to throw it away. I heard people say you can't just discard statues carelessly..." The other party was still hysterically complaining on the phone.
Guan Yan's mind stirred.
This statue was much more valuable; he didn't know if it was a scam or not. But since the woman received it, she had already snagged an endorsement deal with an international luxury brand.
Guan Yan finally smiled, "Sister, if you trust me, I can help you deal with it, how about that?"
The female celebrity cursed silently, who the fuck is your sister, I look ten years younger than you with my maintenance.
But she still exclaimed happily, "Thank you, Guan Yan, thank you."
That afternoon, Guan Yan received the statue, and then heard that the production assistant whose face was half-eaten had survived, though he would likely live a life worse than death afterward.
Guan Yan couldn't help but shudder upon hearing this, but then thought that Lesser Ghosts wouldn't eat their keepers, which reassured him a bit.
He carefully wrapped the statue in cloth and sent his assistant to buy some items for worshipping deities.
Guan Yan turned his head and saw Jing Jiujiu.
The beautiful youth was still sitting there properly, staring intently in Bai Yuhuai's direction, like Bai Yuhuai's devoted fan. Guan Yan felt a twinge of jealousy in his heart. How does Bai Yuhuai always manage to have the best things in this world?
Honor, money, and a vast fan base.
Guan Yan lowered his head to look at the thing tightly wrapped in his hand.
If this thing really had a spirit... then it would be best to start with the people around Bai Yuhuai.
Meanwhile, Xu Sanyu walked over and asked, "Are you having stomach troubles?"
Jing Jiujiu lowered the hand pressed against his belly. "No."
He just didn't know how that thing was being digested, or if it could be digested at all. He felt like there was a ball of air in his stomach, emanating a cold yet comfortably cool temperature. Was this indigestion?
After worrying about these things, Jing Jiujiu started to worry again. What if he couldn't digest it properly and suddenly vomited out a small child? What if the child was only half-digested? Wouldn't that be even more terrifying?
"Please wait a moment." Fearing he might be sick, Xu Sanyu quickly called for someone to bring hot water for Jing Jiujiu.
Jing Jiujiu cupped the glass in his hands, unable to resist touching his belly again.
Watching his actions, Xu Sanyu was stunned. He thought to himself, "No way, are you guys trying to follow some global trend and have a male pregnancy?"
Surely the results of planting a seed couldn't come this quickly?
Jing Jiujiu sat there for a while and actually started feeling nauseous.
He became a bit scared and hurriedly covered his mouth.
If he really threw up now, wouldn't everyone be scared to death?
Xu Sanyu looked at him, clearly wanting to say something but holding back.
"Is there... something in your stomach?" he finally asked.
Jing Jiujiu mumbled an unclear response: "Mmm."
Xu Sanyu's entire body suddenly tensed up, but before he could ask anything else, Bai Yuhuai noticed that something was off with Jing Jiujiu. He immediately paused the filming and walked over.
Seeing Bai Yuhuai approach, Xu Sanyu naturally fell silent, afraid of offending him by asking too many questions.
"What's wrong?" Bai Yuhuai asked.
Jing Jiujiu looked up pitifully: "I feel sick, I want to throw up."
The young man's face seemed to have grown even paler.
But this thing was ultimately a great tonic, something good for him.
So Bai Yuhuai insisted, "Swallow it back down." At the same time, he began to ponder in his mind how to make these ghosts, which looked so miserable and disgusting, appear more appetizing. Relying solely on describing the taste was no longer enough to persuade Jing Jiujiu.
Xu Sanyu, however, was even more shocked upon hearing this.
That's your child in his belly! Isn't morning sickness normal during pregnancy? How can you tell him to swallow it back down, Bai-ge?
Thinking this, Xu Sanyu hurried to support Jing Jiujiu. "Why don't we go to the bathroom so you can throw up some acid?"
Jing Jiujiu: ?
I'm not throwing up acid.
I'm throwing up ghosts.
I'm afraid I'll scare you to death.
Jing Jiujiu thought for a moment, preparing to politely decline.
Suddenly, Xu Sanyu angrily exclaimed, "Who's so heartless? Slapping such a big handprint on the young master!"
Bai Yuhuai walked around behind Jing Jiujiu.
On the young man's white sweatshirt was imprinted a huge handprint, black with a hint of red. It looked like thick blood that had dried and congealed into a black color.
Bai Yuhuai's expression darkened. "...You've been touched by an evil god."
Xu Sanyu: ??
What the hell?
Why don't I understand what's going on?
"Nobody touched me," Jing Jiujiu said, also startled.
Evil... evil evil god? Just the name sounds evil!
Jing Jiujiu hurriedly tugged at his sweatshirt, trying to see what his back looked like.
Seeing him struggle to look, Xu Sanyu quickly called for an assistant to bring two mirrors for him.
Jing Jiujiu looked at his reflection in the mirrors for a few seconds. "...This evil god has quite big feet."