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Wei Qi pondered for a moment before speaking. “Sister Yun, I remember telling you last time—this house can’t be lived in anymore. You should sell it.”

Shang Xiaoyun’s face was filled with terror. “Even if I do sell it, at least give me some time! Besides, with a ghost coming in and out every day, who would buy it? And if someone unknowingly buys it, wouldn’t I be harming them?” She was, at heart, a kind woman.

“Sister Yun, every night you go out and come back very late. What keeps you busy?” My question wasn’t meant to pry into her private life, but rather to figure out where the ghost had started following her—was it living in her house, attached to her, or did it intercept her on the way?

“I own a gold shop over by People’s Square. Even though I have staff, I still go over to check up on things. I usually don’t come home until closing time. After all, there’s nothing much for me at home. The parking lot’s over there—I always park my car there.” Shang Xiaoyun pointed to the right side of the flowerbed.

Wei Qi sat there, his eyes focused, smacking his lips out of habit. “Da Chuan, what do we do?”

“What else? Since Yufang hasn’t given us any news yet, let’s just catch that ghost.” Even if Yufang had sent word, today we would still have to help Wei Qi catch this ghost. Wei Qi liked Shang Xiaoyun, so this had to be done.

Wei Qi nodded. “Alright, let’s arrange things today and catch that ghost.” I understood Wei Qi’s intentions—he was willing to do anything for Shang Xiaoyun, just like I was for Wang Ying.

Since it was daytime, there wouldn’t be any ghosts. Perhaps wanting to be considerate to Wei Qi, I suggested going for a walk. My meaning was clear—I wanted to create some time and space for the two of them. After all, a true friend helps others find happiness. Wei Qi had always treated me well, so I had to find ways to help him.

As I stepped outside, I got a call from Yufang. She said there was a cold storage behind the county hospital, basically a morgue, filled with unclaimed corpses. She asked if I had time to scout the place out so that we could come back at night and haul out a few bodies.

Having nothing better to do, I agreed. Not long after, Yufang arrived in her car to pick me up. She had changed into plain clothes—delicate yet valiant, a real beauty.

We drove to the county hospital, but didn’t go inside—instead, we headed behind the hospital, where there was a pine grove dotted with many burial mounds. Perhaps those graves were the reason the area hadn’t been developed; otherwise, there would probably already be buildings here.

Entering the pine grove, we looked at the not-very-high wall. Yufang pointed to a concrete building inside. “That’s the morgue. It’s full of corpses, all unclaimed. If you carry one out, the hospital would probably thank you in secret.”

I laughed and said one wouldn’t be enough. Yufang asked what I wanted with so many corpses, so I told her everything from start to finish. She had helped me so much; I couldn’t keep it from her.

After hearing my story, Yufang’s eyes widened. “Brother Wang, are you saying you’ve fallen in love with a female ghost?”

My face flushed. I nodded deeply. “Yes. I made a mistake once, and my second uncle married that female ghost to me.” As I spoke, a sour feeling welled up inside me. Though I had never imagined anything would happen between Yufang and me, laying out everything about Wang Ying probably meant nothing ever could.

“Brother Wang, you’re really unique. I trust your choices and wish you happiness.” Yufang grinned mischievously, then added, “At first, I didn’t believe in ghosts, but now I do… thanks to you.”

I was speechless. The girl rambled on, and I couldn’t make sense of half of it. We chatted for a while longer, surveyed the area, and mapped out ways in and out before heading back.

When we parted, Yufang asked if I needed help—she was willing to help me sneak in and steal the corpses. Another pair of hands would be useful, and since she was a police officer, she might even help cover for us if we were caught. But I couldn’t let her come. The corpses emanated too much yin energy, which would be bad for her. I declined, asking only that she help me look into the relationship between my second uncle and my mother.

Mentioning my second uncle and mother, Yufang told me something: recently, there had been a spate of incidents in Anzhuang Town—three spirit walkers had died, and four or five others were frightened to varying degrees. Her words shocked me; thinking of Zhao Dongsheng’s situation, it seemed trouble was truly brewing.

What could it be? Was someone targeting spirit walkers? Who and why?

But what worried me most was my second uncle and my mother. Since they had both left together, I hoped it wasn’t too bad. If they’d met with harm, my mother would likely be alright—she never got involved in spirit walking, only helped us by keeping the fire going. At this point, I almost wished they had eloped for love.

Yufang again urged Wei Qi and me to be careful before she left.

Lost in thought, I returned to Shang Xiaoyun’s house. The two of them were chatting over tea. I quietly pulled Wei Qi aside and told him what had happened in our hometown. He nodded. “The world’s getting chaotic—someone’s going after spirit walkers. Let’s hope it’s a ghost and not a person.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re spirit walkers—especially me. I have the right to catch evil ghosts, but if it’s a person, there’s nothing I can do.” It sounded odd, but thinking about it, it was painfully true. When people turn vicious, they’re more frightening than ghosts.

I nodded in agreement and asked what our next step was. Wei Qi said the first thing was to catch the ghost that had been following Shang Xiaoyun.

As he spoke, Wei Qi exchanged a look with Shang Xiaoyun and grinned slyly. “Da Chuan, upstairs.”

“Why upstairs?” I had no idea what he was planning.

“Just come upstairs and you’ll see!” Shang Xiaoyun was straightforward—she grabbed my sleeve and pulled me up to the second floor. Luckily, Wei Qi was there; otherwise, her boldness would have made me nervous.

“Come on, I’m not going to sell you.” With Shang Xiaoyun pulling from the front and Wei Qi pushing from behind, the three of us tumbled upstairs and straight into her bedroom. The room was exquisitely decorated, filled with a sweet, feminine scent. No wonder Wei Qi was smitten—seeing a woman in such surroundings was a unique experience.

Shang Xiaoyun sat me down at her dressing table. “Little brother, let me do your makeup today!”

“Makeup? What for?” What were these two up to? What kind of plot was this?

“To scare you, obviously! What else? We’re baiting the snake out of its hole!” Wei Qi stood to the side, arms crossed, grinning.

Bait the snake out of its hole? What snake, what hole?

“Don’t you get it? Cross-dressing. We’ll lure the ghost out—and your sister Yun is scared!” Wei Qi chuckled.

I could only give a wry smile. “Uncle Qi, you don’t treat your own brothers like brothers! Making me cross-dress to lure out a ghost—why don’t you do it?” Of course, I was just teasing. With his build, Wei Qi in a dress would look like a pregnant woman.

“What’s wrong, you don’t want to? Give your uncle a hand, will you?” Wei Qi grinned sheepishly.

“Enough! I’m helping Sister Yun, not you. Say, what’s going on between you two?” I joked with Shang Xiaoyun as she dusted powder on my face.

Shang Xiaoyun pursed her lips. “Da Chuan, you’ve been corrupted by Wei Qi.”

So there we were, the three of us giggling as she did my makeup. To be fair, Shang Xiaoyun was quite skilled—soon, my face was glowing with a delicate, youthful blush. She found a wig for me, and with just my face and neck showing, even my own mother would have thought she’d raised the wrong child.

In short, I looked nothing like myself—anyone would have taken me for a woman.

Once she finished, Shang Xiaoyun pulled a light purple dress from the rack. “Little brother, try this on.” She handed it to me and left the room.

Staring at the silk dress, I was exasperated. All this for Uncle Qi’s happiness? Wasn’t this a bit perverse?

“Be good! This isn’t for your sister Yun, it’s for your uncle! Pull this off cleanly, and I’ll cook for you every day,” Wei Qi said with a triumphant grin.

So, I had no choice but to strip down to my underwear and put on Shang Xiaoyun’s dress. I had to admit, wearing a dress felt pretty good—just a bit tight.

Shang Xiaoyun came back in and paused when she saw me. “Da Chuan, it’s a pity you weren’t born a woman. But something’s missing. Oh! That’s right—here, put this on and you’ll really look the part.” She took a black bra from her wardrobe and handed it to me.