Xu Yang and the female ghost stared at each other through the dim light - or rather, he stared at the curtain of black hair obscuring her face. The ghost floated closer, prodding Ma Long's unconscious form with a pale foot protruding from her crimson dress. Bloody characters materialized in the air: *"Did I kill him?"*
"Just fainted from shock." Xu Yang hoisted his friend's plump body. "Strange... He couldn't see you before. How now?"
The ghost's hair rippled as she shook her head, writing: *"I remain veiled. Only celestial warriors or divine cultivators should perceive me thus. Curious..."*
As Xu Yang recounted Ma Long's underwater wrestling match with the river ghost, spectral fingers traced glowing yin patterns over the unconscious man. *"Ah! Primordial Yin Constitution!"* she scrawled excitedly. *"Rare among mortals! Suppresses weak spirits but attracts powerful ones like moths to flame!"*
"Yin Constitution?" Xu Yang deposited Ma Long on his bed, suddenly grinning. "Perfect! He'll attract ghosts, I'll capture them! Teamwork!"
Crimson letters flared angrily: *"Fool! This body breeds yin energy that consumes essence and vitality! Three years at most before he becomes a city-destroying wraith!"*
Xu Yang's smile died. "There must be a cure!"
*"Netherworld cultivation methods could harness this,"* the ghost wrote. *"But those arts vanished when the underworld sealed six centuries ago. Unless..."* Her ethereal fingers paused dramatically. *"We find surviving ghost officials or Yin Gatewalkers who traverse realms."*
"Ghost officials? Like underworld bureaucrats?" Xu Yang's eyes narrowed. "And where exactly—"
Tires screeched outside. The ghost phased through the wall, returning moments later scribbling furiously: *"The grave robber! His stench lingers near western suburbs!"*
Xu Yang grabbed his peachwood sword. "Time to collect Grandpa's bones." He paused, noticing the ghost vibrating excitedly in the driver's seat of Ma Long's BMW. *"I've always wanted to drive!"* her blood-writing confessed.
As the engine roared to life, spectral laughter echoed through the funeral shop. On the bed, Ma Long twitched - his unconscious mind registering the horror of being chauffeured by a hair-obscured ghost in a luxury sedan.