97

It was another seven days before the gates between the two realms opened once again. Frankly speaking, to take away the master of Ghost City just like that made Gu Yan feel a little apologetic towards the ghost called 'Xu Qiu' just as he stepped into the passageway.

He heard his family's Qiuqiu had tossed all the administrative work to this ghost, and he wondered how his life was…

Especially since he had a feeling that they wouldn't return to Ghost City for a long time once they left. They would have to trouble this subordinate.

"Is this really alright?" Inside the passageway, Gu Yan asked the question to the expressionless ghost walking beside him.

Even as an author, there were many things he wasn't clear on in this world, such as the power distribution within the ghost city.

"Mn, there's no problem." His original voice was too icy, so Xie Lan would soften his tone when speaking to this youth. His words, when responding to the youth, was also unlike the stoic silence paired with a frown or single syllable replies that he usually gave.

All the residents of Ghost City were those who had died once and most of them didn't have the desire to 'die' a second time. Xie Lan wouldn't mind if another ghost took an interest in the throne of Ghost City during the time he was away. At most, he would clean up the ghost city once again when he returned, something he had done thousands of years ago.

Compared to thinking that his family's Qiuqiu would do something he wasn't confident of, Gu Yan would rather believe that Qiuqiu wouldn't lie to him. Thus, he nodded.

The gate between the two realms was situated amid the bustling central district. It was in the middle of the day when they reached the entrance. Peering outside, Gu Yan wasn't surprised to see a sea of people.

It wasn't as though Gu Yan had been slacking away the entire month he'd spent in Ghost City. Speaking of cultivation, Xie Lan had helped him awaken his divine eye permanently before imparting the most suitable cultivation method for a divination master.

However, it must be said that being a divination master wasn't easy. He had to learn everything such as curses, divinations, runes, and physiognomy. He also needed to know feng shui and how to ward off evil spirits… It was truly a holistic career.

On a more positive note, the biggest advantage Gu Yan had as the author who wrote all these nonsensical settings was that he didn't have to walk a particularly long and winding route. After all, these were things he had written and with his superb memory, it only took him around half the efforts others required to learn these complicated things.

[The 'rules' are biased towards the host. The power floating in this world will take the initiative to find you.] The moment its family host decided to become a true divination master, 037 had spoken these words.

The power mentioned was something known as 'spiritual force' by other divination masters. All living beings had spiritual force and divination masters could absorb this power floating in the world and convert it into their own strength through cultivation. Of course, there were other channels like the sun and the moon's essence. However, it wasn't something all divination masters could use.

If the divination masters who toiled bitterly everyday to gather spiritual force were to see this person, who had just stepped into the cultivation world, gather spiritual force like a walking magnet, attracting spiritual energy wherever he went, who knew what they would feel. Moreover, this spiritual force was like a sentient being who had seen their master, rushing up to him…

When he saw the youth hand him a star-shaped talisman, Xie Lan shook his head slightly, "Ah Yan forgot that I'm a ghost. People who haven't woken their divine eyes can't see me."

Ah, he had forgotten. With this reminder, Gu Yan remembered the matter of the Yin and Yang imbalance. Since he didn't care about what sort of existence his lover was, Gu Yan would constantly forget the fact that this person wasn't human.

Letting out a low cough to conceal his abrupt slip of mind, Gu Yan tore the talisman he had prepared earlier. Then, he took his lover's hand and headed towards the gate that separated the two realms, "Let's go. We'll talk about it when we get home."

The concealment talisman wasn't to turn them invisible but its general purpose was quite similar. It would cause the normal people to overlook the user's existence.

Using such a talisman was because the gate was located in a busy district and if Gu Yan were to simply appear, it would definitely cause a commotion and scare other people with his sudden appearance.

When they walked to a less conspicuous place, he removed the effects of the talisman. However, he didn't let his lover recall his fake body. Although holding hands with a ghost would appear strange to those who didn't awaken their divine eye, Gu Yan still allowed his cold and icy-faced lover to hold his hand and play with it.

A living person's body was really warm. Xie Lang caressed the dark-haired youth's long and slender fingers, feeling the tender skin that was as smooth as jade.

Originally, apart from simply touching, Xie Lan had wanted to kiss his palms all the way to the tip of each and every finger. In his hazy and fragmented memories, he seemed to have done so…

Selecting a less crowded path, Gu Yan called for a taxi. It was impossible to squeeze into public transport with his lover and moreover, they were currently quite a distance away from his residence.

While waiting for their ride, his fingers were being continuously stroked, and his fingertips would also be teased from time to time. Gu Yan turned to look at his family's lover with a helpless yet affectionate gaze.

It was an instinctive reaction in him. When Xie Lan met his gaze, his eyes lowered as he stared at the dark-haired youth's eyes from under his lashes. Then, he let out a low purr.

When such a low and deep voice uttered such a sound, it was particularly heart-throbbing. At the very least, Gu Yan swiftly looked away, his expression somewhat unnatural.

When he made that sound, a distorted and muddled scene seemed to abruptly appear in his mind. He seemed to have… turned into a cat-like beast in the past to act cute after the first time he did that sort of thing with the youth…

"Meow."

It was a clear meow, causing Gu Yan to freeze in his tracks. He reached out a hand, an action that had grown from a habit to instinct for the cat that treated him as a human-shaped climbing pole. Embracing the big cat that had crawled from his lap into his arms, Gu Yan finally came back to his senses.

"…Qiuqiu." The furry sensation and weight on his hands brought Gu Yan out of his daze, especially when the large cat very naturally hooked its tail around his wrist.

Gu Yan picked a less crowded road and was the only person standing at the spot he had designated to meet his driver.

Therefore, when a white car pulled up along the road, the middle-aged driver used a strange expression to look at the dark-haired youth who had called him.

Did all the kids nowadays do such strange things-? He really didn't understand what was going on in their minds.

Noticing that the ride he had called for had arrived with its windows half winded down, Gu Yan realised that the driver was looking at him strangely. Feeling a twitch in his eye, he patted the cat's back lightly, "Qiuqiu, be good. Stay on my shoulders."

If he continued holding it, Gu Yan suspected the driver would think he was a performer of sorts…

The large cat let out a low purr from his chest and the weight in his arms soon disappeared, moving onto his shoulders.

Throughout the entire ride, the silver tabby cat was extremely obedient and didn't climb all over the youth. At most, it would jump from his shoulders to his lap to lie down for a while until the taxi came to a stop before going back across the youth's shoulder.

Although Gu Yan hadn't appeared in the neighbourhood for over a month, his neighbour from the same floor waved and greeted him the moment he walked into the elevator, "Xiao1 Gu, where did you go off to for an entire month? The landlord came to find you for this month's rent but couldn't find you anywhere. Luckily, your relatives helped you settle this month's rent. Otherwise, you know how the landlord is, he'd probably rent your unit out to someone else."

This neighbour was a grandmother-type NPC. Once she began speaking, she couldn't help but nag, "An affordable place with a good location like this isn't easy to find. Xiao Gu, you need to be more careful."

Pressing the '9' button, Gu Yan agreed to everything this old person said with an amiable attitude before she finally stopped. Then, she began to nag Gu Yan for paying more attention to his body after seeing how thin he was.

"Alright. Yep, I will." Understanding that it was better to agree and go along with the old woman's goodwill, Gu Han continued to dish out sounds of agreement as the elevator rose. He didn't display a single hint of rejection.

The original host was a quack divination master who made his fortune through swindling others with spirits and ghosts. Such people were often very apt at dealing with others and therefore, the host had good relationships with all his neighbours.

When the elevator stopped at the ninth floor, Gu Yan walked out and finally lifted the big and obedient cat who had been crouching on his shoulders into his arms.

Earlier on, the old woman had said his relatives had paid this month's rent for him. However, he shouldn't have any relatives in this world.

The 'rules' had already put many things into place before he transmigrated over. Apart from his name, appearance and some background, it would mostly adapt to his original situation. That's why there shouldn't be any relatives.

In the end, who was this kind-hearted person who'd paid his rent?

As he pondered over this matter, Gu Yan was already pulling out the keys from his pocket to unlock the door.

The lock opened with a click and he placed the keys back inside his pocket. Holding his cat, he planted a kiss on its forehead, "Qiuqiu, we're home."

Forget it, in any case, this 'kind-hearted' person would probably come find him in the future.

At the same time, a drowsy worker who was in charge of watching the surveillance CCTV was startled awake, "H-He's back!"

He had believed this was a pointless job. How could a person who'd stayed in Ghost City for a month come back alive… But now, it happened.

Pressing a button to alert his superior, he quickly informed them about everything. Once again, the spiritual organisation was thrown into chaos.

However, the person who'd caused such a commotion was at this moment, sitting in his living room and holding his cat. He was still wondering whether he should clean the house up or prepare dinner first.