Chapter One: Love What You Do

###第一章:热爱你的工作

At 9 PM.

Wucheng, Yumin Street.

As usual, Xu Yang pulled down the rolling shutter of his funeral supplies shop and turned to head up the cluttered staircase to the second floor.

From start to finish, a "girl" had been following him.

This "girl" had long, jet-black hair and wore a red dress, her figure strikingly alluring.

However, her hair completely covered her face, making it impossible to see her features.

Moreover, she moved without a sound, her footsteps eerily absent.

If one looked closely, they would notice...

She wasn't walking at all—she was floating.

Under the dim light, she cast no shadow.

Xu Yang was unfazed by all of this.

Because he knew... this "girl" wasn't human. She was a... female ghost!

This all started half a month ago.

.........

Xu Yang had a high school classmate named Ma Long, who currently worked as a shepherd in their hometown.

Of course, herding sheep was just a cover. What he really did was "treasure hunting."

Half a month ago, Xu Yang had accepted Ma Long's invitation to perform a "ritual" in the mountains.

Ma Long claimed that during one of his "treasure hunts," he had encountered something strange. Remembering that Xu Yang had once boasted about learning Taoist rituals from his grandfather and performing ceremonies in rural areas, Ma Long thought Xu Yang might have some "skills" and invited him over.

Xu Yang had never believed in the supernatural.

But out of respect for their friendship, Xu Yang went along, treating it as a mere formality.

In his eyes...

These so-called "rituals" were just for peace of mind.

That very night, after finishing the "ritual," Xu Yang was on his way home when a woman flagged him down.

In the dead of night, with no convenient transportation in the mountains, and given that the woman looked pure, cute, and had a stunning figure—hardly resembling a threat—Xu Yang, out of kindness, let her into his car...

However, as soon as she got in, things took a dark turn.

Her white dress turned into a blood-red gown, her hair disheveled and dripping with blood. She proceeded to remove her own head and toss it between her hands like a ball.

Xu Yang was terrified, thinking he had encountered a "ghost hitchhiker." Trembling, he drove back to the city, but the female ghost didn't leave. Instead, she latched onto Xu Yang!

For the past half month, Xu Yang had tried everything to shake her off, but without fail, she would always reappear before him when he returned home.

Xu Yang was on the verge of a breakdown!

Although he had grown up helping his grandfather with the "business of the dead" and had even witnessed him performing rituals...

Xu Yang, raised under the red flag and nurtured by modern education, had always believed in science and dismissed superstitions.

As a child, whenever Xu Yang refused to sleep at night, his grandfather would tell him ghost stories.

But Xu Yang had never believed them.

Now, he had actually encountered a ghost?

At first, he sought help from friends, called the police, visited temples to pray to Bodhisattvas, and even went to Taoist temples to offer respects to the Taoist deities. He posted online for help...

He even consulted a rural "blind spirit medium" and a Hui ethnic "Imam"...

Yet, without exception, no one could see the female ghost who constantly followed Xu Yang.

From initial terror and worry to eventual numbness...

Now, Xu Yang had simply given up!

Damn it!

It's just a female ghost!

What's there to fear?

When you're dead, you're dead!

.........

Xu Yang was an orphan.

For as long as he could remember, he had never known his parents. He grew up with his grandfather, relying on the "funeral supplies shop" to make ends meet.

A little over three years ago, the old man suddenly fell ill and passed away.

Before his death, he handed the shop over to Xu Yang.

Fortunately, although the business was somewhat morbid, it was quite profitable. Moreover, the shop held countless memories of Xu Yang's life with his grandfather, so he continued to run it.

The funeral shop wasn't large, but it wasn't small either.

It had two floors: the first floor had a front counter and a small storage room at the back.

The second floor had a bedroom, a small living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom.

After going upstairs.

Xu Yang turned on the light, went to the kitchen to boil water, and then headed into the bathroom.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh...

The female ghost floated in after him.

Xu Yang, expressionless, ignored her, unzipped his pants, and began to relieve himself.

The female ghost floated silently beside him. Though her face was completely obscured by her hair... at that moment, Xu Yang had a feeling she was probably staring at his manhood.

"What are you looking at?"

"Never seen one this big before?"

The frustrations of the past half month had built up inside Xu Yang, and now even taking a leak was being watched. He couldn't help but snap!

The female ghost: "..."

She tilted her head slightly but said nothing.

In the past half month, she had never spoken a word, as if she were a mute ghost!

"Damn it!"

"Can't I even live in peace?"

Xu Yang cursed, not even bothering to pull up his pants. With red eyes, he swung a fist at the female ghost, shouting, "Come on, kill me if you dare!"

Swish!

The female ghost's figure flickered, shifting to another spot. With a delicate finger, she pointed into the void...

Hum!

Xu Yang immediately felt a strange force take hold of his body, rendering him completely immobile, unable to even move a finger.

The surge of anger in his heart was doused like a flame hit by cold water. Xu Yang instantly calmed down and said, "Ghost sister, don't be mad. I was just joking..."

The female ghost turned and floated out of the bathroom.

Xu Yang panicked: "Ghost sister, I was wrong. Can you let me go?"

"Damn it!"

"At least let me pull up my pants!"

Hum.

The force dissipated.

Xu Yang's body went limp, his back drenched in cold sweat. Trembling, he pulled up his pants, washed his hands, and thought to himself: "As the saying goes, a bad life is better than a good death... I don't know where this female ghost came from or why she's attached to me, but at least she hasn't harmed me... for now."

He went to the kitchen.

The water had boiled.

Xu Yang took out two cups of instant noodles, expertly sprinkled in the seasoning packets, and poured in the hot water.

Soon.

The noodles were ready.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh...

The female ghost floated over, opened one of the cups, and leaned down to take a deep sniff.

Visible to the naked eye, two streams of "white vapor" rose from the cup, passed through her silky black hair, and then vanished.

The female ghost patted her stomach contentedly and floated over to the living room couch to turn on the TV.

Xu Yang was used to this scene. Over the past half month, every time the female ghost "ate," she would take a deep sniff, and a steaming hot meal would instantly turn cold and then moldy.

Xu Yang quickly finished his noodles.

Seeing the female ghost still sitting on the couch watching TV, he quietly opened his computer and typed four words into Baidu:

"How to catch a ghost?"

Temples didn't work, shrines didn't work, and spirit mediums were useless. So, Xu Yang decided to handle it himself!

Sure, a bad life was better than a good death, but no one wanted to live with a female ghost every day.

He hit Enter.

A flood of results appeared.

"Old Wang's Ghost Catching Method?"

"At exactly 0:00 midnight, remember, it must be 0:00..."

"Prepare a candle and a rope."

Xu Yang's eyes lit up. Such precise instructions, down to the second, seemed very reliable.

He continued reading—

Light the candle and place it in the center of the living room.

Tie one end of the rope to your left ankle.

Tie the other end to the leg of the coffee table (to prevent the ghost from taking you away).

Hold your breath, focus your mind, close your eyes, and meditate for 10 seconds. Then, with all your might, shout:

"Come out, get the hell out here!"

After that...

"Your mom will come out and hit you, your dad will come out and hit you, your neighbors will curse your parents, and then your parents will hit you again."

Xu Yang: "..."

Before he could curse, a strand of black hair drifted down from above, slowly landing in front of his eyes.

Drip!

Drip!

The ends of the hair were dripping with blood.

"Hahaha..."

Xu Yang quickly closed the browser with a shortcut key and awkwardly said, "Ghost sister, don't misunderstand. You know I'm in the business of the dead. As they say, love what you do. I was just looking this up to deepen my professional knowledge. I didn't have any other intentions."