Chapter 32: The Third Livestream

Time quickly reached nine o’clock, and Xie Sui started the livestream right on time.

The popularity of his stream this time was even higher than when Zhao Haotian had helped drive traffic to it.

As soon as the broadcast started, the viewer count in the top left corner instantly surged to over five thousand, and it continued to climb.

During the first few minutes when the screen remained black, the chat was flooded with comments denouncing Old Liu. Clearly, most of those waiting for the stream were fans of the [Horror Old Liu] account.

Xie Sui was well-prepared for this livestream. With Liu Wuyong’s help, all the necessary equipment was in place. There were multiple types of studio lights, atmospheric lights in green, yellow, and red, various models of speakers, and machines to stabilize the broadcast quality that Xie Sui didn’t even recognize…

Xiao Wu was playing the victim, so he was hiding in the nearby bushes. Liu Wuyong was busy working in the darkness, adjusting lights and speakers while checking the fog machine. Single-handedly, he created the professional atmosphere of a dozens-strong production team for Xie Sui.

Once everything was ready, Old Liu waved at Xie Sui to get into position. A moment later, the camera lens opened.

The black screen ended, and Xie Sui appeared in the frame.

Perhaps because the surrounding environment was too eerie, combined with the unique lighting Old Liu had set up to create a horror atmosphere, Xie Sui’s sudden appearance on screen made him look like a ghost.

The outskirts at night were pitch black, and the only light source was the studio light above Xie Sui’s head. The deathly pale light shining down from above made Xie Sui’s already bloodless skin look even whiter. His black hair hung somewhat messily beside his face. His eyes were dark, his skin pale, and even his lips lacked color… It was as if only two colors remained on his body: black and white. The extreme contrast between the two gave him an indescribable sense of eeriness.

Wearing a white shirt and standing amidst waist-high weeds, he looked like a cursed doll abandoned in the wilderness. Anyone who met those deep, lightless eyes felt a skin-crawling sensation of being haunted, fearing he might suddenly appear at their front door, in their closet… or under their bed.

The livestream chat froze for a brief moment, startled by Xie Sui’s sudden appearance, before a massive wave of comments began to flood the screen in retaliation.

[Holy crap, starting off this intense? Did he just summon a ghost?]

[My scalp is tingling. Is this the uncanny valley effect? This is the first time I’ve seen a doll made to look so much like a real person.]

[Help help help, am I going to be cursed? Is this stream even safe to watch??]

[I know you guys are anxious, but calm down. Even though the streamer doesn’t look like a living person, he really is alive. I watched his last two streams; the Law Enforcement Team can testify to it.]

[Old Liu, what kind of man are you? If you’ve got the guts, stop hiding behind the scenes and come out to stream! Open the door! I know you’re home!]

The chat refreshed at lightning speed. Even after the viewer count surpassed ten thousand, the growth showed no signs of slowing down. This level of explosive popularity usually only appeared in the rooms of the top streamers on the Blue Sea Livestream platform, proving just how powerful Liu Wuyong’s video promotion had been.

Xie Sui cleared his throat and spoke his familiar opening line: “Welcome to the Appraising Popular Supernatural Entities livestream. I am your host, Xie Sui. Today, we are going to appraise a popular internet urban legend: Yawu-po.”

“Yawu-po is a legend originating from Xiangcheng. It is said to be a monster in the form of a black wild dog that often appears during the twilight Hour of Meeting Demons.”

Without needing Xie Sui to say a word, Liu Wuyong tacitly pulled up screenshots from supernatural forums and pinned them to the stream, displaying them to the audience in perfect sync with Xie Sui’s explanation.

“These are the habits of Yawu-po as summarized by netizens on supernatural forums. It is said to enjoy eating children. At dusk, it will crawl behind a child walking alone on the street. Once night falls, if the child looks back, it will bite off their head in one go.”

“Currently, it is unknown whether this legend is true or false, or if it truly exists. We also don’t know if it only crawls behind children or if it follows adults as well. This is the question we need to verify in today’s livestream.”

[Does this even need verification? It’s definitely fake. It’s obviously a ghost story parents made up to trick kids into coming home early.]

[Streamer, hurry up and catch Yawu-po so we can see it. I’ve never seen a ghost before.]

[I know how these streams work. Just wait, in a bit the streamer will pull out a German Shepherd and tell us that’s Yawu-po.]

[I want to know if the things in Old Liu’s videos were special effects or real. Speaking of which, Yawu-po should be that black monster that appeared at the end of Old Liu’s video, right?]

[As everyone knows, videos can’t be faked. So everything Old Liu filmed is real, Yawu-po exists, and the streamer is also a ghost.]

Lin Zixin sat in his sports car, watching the livestream.

He had been scrolling through short videos just now. It was a great way to kill time, so the wait hadn’t felt long before the notification for Xie Sui’s stream popped up.

Since Lin Zixin planned to drive a few laps on the winding mountain road after finishing the stream—his heart was itching to test his sports car’s new modifications—he had stayed in the vicinity without leaving.

Looking at the environment around Xie Sui on the screen, Lin Zixin felt it looked a bit familiar… but perhaps it was just because every suburban area in the world looked the same: desolate, uninhabited, and filled with the same kind of weeds.

Though it felt slightly off, Lin Zixin didn’t pay it much mind. He picked up a bag of potato chips and continued watching while he ate.

Happily watching the stream, Lin Zixin failed to notice a red shadow flashing past in his rearview mirror.

The spot where Xie Sui was streaming was a dried-up ditch. The light from the studio lamps didn’t have much penetrating power and was completely blocked by the overhanging weeds. Due to the terrain, Lin Zixin didn’t realize that Xie Sui was right nearby.

Xie Sui looked at the chat. Feeling that the suspense had been sufficiently built up, he quietly released the restrictions on Yawu-po.

Now it was time for the victim, Xiao Wu, to make his entrance.

For the sake of Old Liu’s video footage, Yawu-po had been beaten by Xie Sui several times. It was now terrified of Xie Sui and certainly wouldn’t dare provoke him. Old Liu was behind Xie Sui, and if it wanted to attack him, it would have to pass through Xie Sui first. Therefore, if it wanted to eat someone, its only choice was Xiao Wu, who was some distance away.

It wasn’t a matter of having a short memory; rather, this kind of monster had almost no capacity for thought. It could not resist its natural instinct to devour humans. Its entire purpose for existing was slaughter.

Normally, a monster like this wouldn’t have the strength to break through the Yin-Yang Gap and enter the living world. It could only huddle within the gap and wait for some unlucky soul to wander in by mistake.

This “waiting for a rabbit under a tree¹” style of hunting meant it was common for a Yawu-po to wait decades for a single meal. Now that it had finally managed to emerge from the Yin-Yang Gap, it was unwilling to stop until it had eaten its fill.

Crouched in the nearby bushes, Xiao Wu took a deep breath, trying to adjust his facial expression. He had just received the flashlight signal from Old Liu. In a moment, the Yawu-po would appear and cling to his back… next would be his time to perform, and he absolutely could not mess it up.

Xiao Wu suddenly felt the grass behind him move, but he felt nothing on his back.

He took a deep breath, preparing to rush out.

When a Yawu-po first latches onto a human’s back, it is weightless. It only grows heavier as time passes.

Xiao Wu remembered Old Liu’s warning: once the Yawu-po was on his back, he must not look back under any circumstances.

The muscles in his calves tensed. Noticing that the talking had stopped over by Xie Sui, he rushed directly to Xie Sui’s side with a face full of terror.

Xiao Wu’s entry point and method had been meticulously designed by Liu Wuyong. Liu Wuyong had rehearsed with him many times, striving to ensure he could carry the Yawu-po all the way into the live stream’s camera view.

For an ordinary camera to capture ghosts and spirits, it usually required an environment heavy with Yin Energy, and even then, success was random. To guarantee a ghost would be filmed, a Yin-Gathering talisman² had to be attached to the camera.

The one thing Xie Sui never lacked was Yin Energy, so the step of sticking a talisman on the live stream camera was skipped.

The bullet chat was still questioning the existence of the Yawu-po.

Many users from paranormal forums had also entered Xie Sui’s stream. The two factions, those who believed in the Yawu-po and those who didn’t, were fighting fiercely in the chat. The stream’s popularity was skyrocketing.

Not long after starting the broadcast, Xie Sui, an obscure little streamer, had actually reached the popularity levels required to make it onto the homepage recommendation list, a spot usually reserved for the platform’s top-tier streamers.

The arguers found emotional release, the onlookers enjoyed the drama, and Xie Sui received a massive surge of traffic. Everyone had a bright future.

In the midst of this excitement, Xiao Wu rushed in front of the camera with a textbook expression of panic.

His face was deathly pale, his breathing was rapid, his jaw was clenched, and his lips trembled unnaturally. Under the light of the lamps, the beads of cold sweat on his forehead were clearly visible. At a glance, he looked utterly terrified.

“Help… help me…” As he spoke, tears instantly rolled down from Xiao Wu’s eyes. “Save me, I think I’ve been haunted by a Yawu-po.” His voice was trembling and weak.

Following Liu Wuyong’s choreography, Xiao Wu’s back was clearly displayed before the camera.

Xiao Wu was still working hard to show off his expression of despair and terror. It was as if his acting potential had been fully unlocked; his performance was seamless, as if he were possessed by the spirit of a movie star.

But Xie Sui didn’t follow the script.

He looked at Xiao Wu’s back with a hint of confusion.

Not only was Xie Sui stunned, but Liu Wuyong and the live stream audience were also completely bewildered.

(Huh?? I thought we were identifying a Yawu-po? Why did some guy jump out?)

(He said he’s haunted by a Yawu-po… Uh, I remember this monster is supposed to cling to the back, right? But there’s nothing on his back.)

(I get it, it’s probably a scripted scene. This guy with the great acting is in on it with the streamer. When he was running with the dog, the dog must have run away.)

(I knew the Yawu-po was fake. This is basically a broadcast accident.)

Looking at the bewildered expression on Xie Sui’s face through his phone screen, Lin Zixin was amused.

He knew Xie Sui was a master with genuine skills, but he hadn’t expected this master to be so clumsy and prone to blunders while streaming. This contrast was quite entertaining.

(‘Ganfan Huahua Shijie’ gifted Space Battleship x5)

After casually gifting five 1,888-yuan items, Lin Zixin was about to follow the trend and send a bullet chat message to tease Xie Sui when he suddenly felt a weight on his back.

Lin Zixin was confused.

He was currently sitting in the driver’s seat. What could possibly press down on him through the back of the chair? Had the headrest of his seat fallen off?

Lin Zixin didn’t turn around. Instead, he instinctively looked up at the rearview mirror.

People who drive frequently are used to looking at the rearview mirror when they want to see behind them, and it was this habit that saved Lin Zixin’s life.

Through the rearview mirror, Lin Zixin was horrified to find a pitch-black dog head resting on his shoulder.

The monster seemed to realize he had noticed its presence. It flashed a savage grin toward the mirror.

A human smile appearing on a dog’s face was beyond eerie.

However, what terrified Lin Zixin even more were the rows of fangs it revealed.

The two rows of jagged teeth were like layers of daggers thrust together, shimmering with a sharp, cold light. It looked like they could easily pierce flesh and crush bone.

Lin Zixin’s hand holding the phone trembled slightly, his face turning pale.

He tried to open his mouth, but his throat felt as if it were stuffed with cotton. No matter what, he couldn’t make a sound.

Holy crap… it’s actually a Yawu-po… this ghostly thing actually exists…

Dammit, why could this monster crawl through the screen to get to him???

Don’t panic, stay calm.

Mr. Xie said that when encountering this monster, as long as you don’t look back, you’ll be fine.

Lin Zixin’s hand shook as he switched from the live stream to the call interface. He was going to call Xie Sui for help.

Just as he was about to press the call button, a hand suddenly snatched his phone away.

The hand was slender and long, with rounded nails and smooth, delicate skin that had a healthy rosy glow. Even the creases at the knuckles were perfectly placed, looking as if they were carved from jade. Just looking at this hand would make anyone wonder what kind of peerless beauty could possess such perfection.

However, Lin Zixin was in no mood to admire it.

He felt like he was about to go into convulsions.

Damn it! What the hell had appeared out of thin air now?! That hand had materialized out of nowhere! What was going on?!

With tears in his eyes, Lin Zixin struggled to adjust the angle of his neck, using his peripheral vision to look at the passenger seat.

First to enter his sight were two long legs crossed over each other, then a short red skirt, a slender waist, and…

A fox’s head.

Atop that fair, slender neck sat a furry red fox head.

The pointed-muzzle red fox pulled back its lips, revealing a similarly terrifying smile.

Saliva dripped from between its sharp teeth, but the voice that came from the red fox’s mouth was melodious and soft.

The voice was saturated with deep affection, like a romantic whisper shared in a lover’s ear: “Big brother… do I look good? Do I look like a person to you… or like a god?”

“Holy shit!!!!!”

Xie Sui was still wondering where the Yawu-po had run off to when he heard a world-shaking scream suddenly erupt nearby.

The sound was so shrill and the emotion so desperate that it would have brought tears to the eyes of any listener.

The scream echoed through the empty wilderness, traveling far into the distance and startling a flock of birds nesting in the woods.

Not only did Xie Sui hear it clearly, but the audience in the livestream heard it too.

– Well, look at that. One employee messed up, so they sent another one out? –

– The streamer’s efficiency is incredible. I’m just waiting to see what kind of monster he can pull out next. I hope the streamer respects the audience; at least make the dog the size of a Tibetan Mastiff. I won’t accept a Chihuahua as a Yawu-po. –

– Just here for the drama. It’s amazing what kind of low-budget trash can make it to the front page nowadays. –

Xie Sui’s face was grim. He was in no mood to pay attention to the livestream comments now. He immediately ran toward the source of the sound.

This was bad. A civilian must have encountered the Yawu-po. He hoped with all his heart that the person wouldn’t look back before he arrived.

But it was strange. There were no buildings for miles around, only mountains in the distance. It took over an hour to drive from here to the city. Why would a civilian be passing through such a remote place in the middle of the night?

Seeing Xie Sui leave, Liu Wuyong rushed to the camera, hoisted it up, and dutifully followed with the phone and audio receiver. On the other side, Xiao Wu was also quick-witted, grabbing the lighting equipment and jogging to Xie Sui’s side.

Xie Sui reached the source of the sound at top speed.

Pushing aside the tall grass, Xie Sui immediately spotted a red sports car parked there.

The car doors lifted slowly like the wings of a bird, opening in an extremely flashy manner. Immediately after, a red-haired man came tumbling out of the car on all fours, collapsing in a prostrate position right in front of Xie Sui.

Crouched on the red-haired man’s back was the black monster that had now grown to the height of a human. When a Yawu-po clings to an adult’s back, its body stretches to match the person’s height.

Sensing Xie Sui’s presence, the fur on the Yawu-po’s back stood on end in terror.

It let out a low whimper, propped itself up on its hind legs, and returned to a standing posture, leaving the red-haired man’s back.

The pitch-black monster looked like a hyena but was massive, standing as tall as an adult. On its inverted-triangle head, two rows of dense fangs occupied half of its beastly face.

Yet this non-human monster wore a very human-like expression of fear. Anyone looking at that monstrous face could tell it was terrified, like a child about to be beaten. Combined with its narrow, watery beast eyes, it actually looked eerily pitiful.

This black creature was neither human nor beast. The only certainty was that no known creature on earth matched the black monster in front of the lens.

– Holy shit!! –

– Holy shit!!! A Yawu-po is real! –

– Is that a person or a dog?! Streamer, I’m begging you, tell me this is special effects. –

– I was wrong! I shouldn’t have doubted the streamer or called it a script. What the hell is that! It’s so scary and disgusting. –

– There’s another one!! Look at the other car door! A woman with a fox head is getting out of the car!! –

After Xie Sui helped the red-haired man up, he was surprised to find that it was Lin Zixin, the top donor who had just gifted him five Space Battleships.

The moment Lin Zixin saw Xie Sui, tears instantly began to fall.

He finally understood why the beauties in TV dramas cried and begged to marry the hero who saved them… Damn it, if he were a woman, he’d marry Xie Sui too.

The sense of security was overwhelming. In a situation where he thought he was certain to die, the person he wanted to call for help had suddenly dropped from the sky. This feeling of divine intervention instantly steadied Lin Zixin’s frantic, racing heart.

“Big brother… why are you running? Am I not beautiful?”

Hearing that voice, Lin Zixin, who had just been helped up by Xie Sui, felt his legs go weak and collapsed to the ground again.

Lin Zixin clung to Xie Sui’s leg, his face covered in tears and snot. Having some basic knowledge of the supernatural, he knew that the fox woman was Seeking a Title from him.

If he said the fox looked like a person, his status as a human would be stripped away by it. If he said it looked like a fox, he would be eaten. If he said it looked like a god, it would become a Fox Immortal and haunt him for the rest of his life, and perhaps his children and grandchildren would have to continue making offerings to it.

Right now, no matter how wronged he felt, he couldn’t complain to Xie Sui. He couldn’t say a single unnecessary word, or he might interfere with Xie Sui’s handling of the fox woman.

Xie Sui looked at the fox-headed woman with some surprise.

Speaking of this fox woman, one would have to look back at what happened a few hours before the livestream began.

In the afternoon, Xie Sui and Old Liu had just finished renting a van. As they were preparing to drive to the outskirts to set up the live broadcast site, they ran into Zhao Haotian, who had just returned from Xiangcheng.

Zhao Haotian stood at the entrance of the urban village, carrying two bags of snacks in one hand and his phone in the other. Upon seeing Xie Sui moving live broadcast equipment into the vehicle by the side of the street, his eyes lit up, and he walked over.

He had come looking for Xie Sui this time because he had seen the video posted by Horror Old Liu. Through Xie Sui’s previous inquiries about Liu Wuyong, Zhao Haotian guessed that the two of them must be in a collaborative state now.

Zhao Haotian came to congratulate Xie Sui on the opening of their small studio. Life needed a bit of ritual, and besides, he was happy to see his brother’s career getting on the right track.

He didn’t know the exact location of the house Xie Sui was renting. He had originally planned to give Xie Sui a call, but he hadn’t expected to run into him just as he arrived at the urban village.

“What a coincidence, I was just looking for you,” Zhao Haotian greeted him. “Hahaha, I didn’t expect you to actually collaborate with Horror Old Liu. When you first asked me about him, I was worried you two might end up fighting.”

He gave Xie Sui’s shoulder a firm pat. “Brother, the video’s popularity is looking good. Good luck with the broadcast tonight. These two bags of snacks are a little something from me to celebrate the opening of your studio. Take them, I won’t bother you much longer.” Knowing Xie Sui had a broadcast tonight, Zhao Haotian didn’t plan to stay long and intended to leave after handing over the snacks.

Instead, it was Xie Sui who took the initiative to stop him.

“Since you’re already here, come up to my place and sit for a while. There are still several hours before my broadcast, no rush.” Seeing Zhao Haotian this time, Xie Sui felt like something was off about him. “Old Liu, you guys head over first to set up the scene. I’ll take a taxi there myself in a bit.”

To verify his suspicions, Xie Sui didn’t join Liu Wuyong and Xiao Wu in the van to the outskirts.

Since his own home was filled with ash urns and spirit tablets, Xie Sui took him to the house Liu Wuyong was renting, fearing he might scare Zhao Haotian. Old Liu had given Xie Sui a spare key when he changed the locks on the house.

The two sat down on the sofa. Zhao Haotian pulled two bags of potato chips from the snack bags and tossed one to Xie Sui. “You have something to talk to me about, right? Suddenly being so polite and inviting me up makes me feel a bit awkward.”

Xie Sui didn’t reply. He set the chips aside, leaned closer to Zhao Haotian, and lightly sniffed the scent on him.

Though it was very faint, he could still smell a rank, musky odor unique to wild beasts…

Seeing Xie Sui suddenly lean in, Zhao Haotian reflexively protected the bag of chips he had already opened. “What are you doing? Don’t you have a bag in your hand?”

Xie Sui ignored this food-guarding behavior, sat back on the sofa, and asked, “Have you met any strangers lately?” After a pause, he added, “Specifically, a very beautiful stranger who clearly expressed interest in you.”

Zhao Haotian suddenly looked at Xie Sui with a strange expression. “Little Xie, do you really know that metaphysical stuff? Can you read faces now too?”

Xie Sui didn’t answer his question but asked instead, “Since you say that, you really did meet someone?”

Seeing that Xie Sui didn’t answer, Zhao Haotian didn’t push further. Whether Xie Sui knew metaphysics or not, he was still his brother; their relationship wouldn’t change because of external things.

Besides, meeting a beautiful woman wasn’t something that needed to be kept secret, so Zhao Haotian replied quite naturally, “I did. It was that netizen I met up with when I went to Xiangcheng last time. A super big beauty.”

Last time Xie Sui went back to Xiangcheng, Zhao Haotian happened to be there as well. Xie Sui remembered that when he asked Zhao Haotian out for dinner, Zhao Haotian had indeed mentioned he was in Xiangcheng to meet a netizen in person.

But during that dinner, Xie Sui hadn’t sensed anything unusual about Zhao Haotian.

“Old Zhao, what was your first reaction when you saw her?” Xie Sui wasn’t entirely sure if what Zhao Haotian encountered was the thing he was thinking of.

“She was gorgeous!” Zhao Haotian answered emphatically. “She looked incredible. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen such a beautiful girl. And she was extremely enthusiastic. Right when we met, she invited me to a hotel.”

“So,” Xie Sui’s voice was a bit hesitant, “on the very first day you met, it invited you to a hotel… and then you went to an e-sports hotel to get a room and played games with it all night long?”

“Yeah.” Zhao Haotian scratched his head. “Meeting such a good-looking netizen, of course I had to take her out to show off to my brothers in the game! With such a beautiful, sweet-voiced support player, I won all night long, hehehe. Pretty cool, right?” Zhao Haotian grinned, revealing eight neat, white teeth.

Xie Sui was silent for a moment. “That is… very impressive.” Impressive in every sense of the word.

“And then? Did it continue to ask you out?” Xie Sui continued to probe.

“Yeah. After I had dinner with you the next day, she told me that night she wanted me to go shopping with her.”

“Then, while we were walking, I don’t know how it happened, but we ended up at a lingerie store. She even said she wanted me to go in and help her choose.” Zhao Haotian rubbed his chin in confusion. “I thought to myself, I don’t even know which ones look good. Besides, lingerie stores are full of women; it wouldn’t be right for a big guy like me to go in.”

“So…”

Zhao Haotian shrugged. “So I just left her there and told her to take her time choosing, as long as she wanted. I just went to the internet cafe on the top floor of the mall to play games while I waited for her.”

“Did it ask you out again after that?”

“It did.” Speaking of this, Zhao Haotian’s expression suddenly turned a bit helpless. “That girl has a slim waist, long legs, and she’s beautiful with a sweet voice. Her looks are beyond reproach, but I always feel like she’s a bit weird.”

Xie Sui paused. Could it be that Zhao Haotian had realized his netizen friend was a fox on his own?

Zhao Haotian’s expression was quite indignant. “That girl is too strange! Even though we bought the same flavor of ice cream, she insisted on taking a bite of mine. If she didn’t have enough, she could just buy another one; it’s not like we can’t afford something that costs a few yuan. And when I was buying milk tea, she said she wasn’t thirsty and didn’t want anything. But as soon as my milk tea was ready, she insisted on leaning in to take the first sip… Tsk, she drank all the milk foam!”

“Not only that, when we watched a movie, she kept fighting me for the popcorn bucket. She wouldn’t even buy her own Coke, she insisted on drinking mine. I was speechless. Don’t you think she’s just a cheapskate? What’s wrong with her? Does she really enjoy stealing other people’s food that much?”

As he spoke, Zhao Haotian seemed to get angrier, his tone darkening. “The things I hate most in life are people stealing my kills in games and people stealing my food without permission. I only endured it because it was the first time I’d met that girl. If those bastards in my gaming guild dared to snatch my food, I’d knock their heads off.”

“After wandering around Xiangcheng with her for a few days, your father called me asking for news about you. He said you’d been missing for three days and your phone was off. So, I reassured your uncle, told him you were with me, and then canceled my date with that girl to go look for you.”

“Do you know what she said when I told her I was leaving?” Zhao Haotian couldn’t help but laugh. “She actually asked me to choose between her and you. She asked who was more important to me. She even said it was a binary choice, and if I chose you, she’d never talk to me again.”

“Are you kidding? That’s not even a choice! One is my best friend of many years who suddenly went missing with his life on the line, and the other is a stranger I met online a few days ago who has a pretty face but likes to steal my food. Is there even a contest? Of course I chose my brother.”

“And then… then you just left?”

Zhao Haotian gave Xie Sui a confused ‘what else would I do’ look.

He stuffed a handful of potato chips into his mouth and said gloomily, “Before I left, her face looked like it was twisted with rage. Anyway, because of that woman, I don’t want to meet any more online friends for a while. I don’t want to run into another weirdo like her.”

Xie Sui didn’t say anything else, simply giving Zhao Haotian a firm pat on the shoulder. “Good brother.”

So this was a man that even a Fox Immortal couldn’t seduce. Old Zhao’s charm resistance must be completely maxed out.

Maintaining one’s true heart in front of a Fox Immortal was indeed a way to prevent being harmed. Xie Sui truly admired his friend’s iron will.

Aside from that lingering trace of aura, Xie Sui hadn’t found anything wrong with Zhao Haotian. Presumably, the Fox Immortal realized that Zhao Haotian was filled with such righteous energy that there were no openings to exploit, so she gave up on tormenting him.

After figuring out the sequence of events, Xie Sui felt relieved. However, to prevent the Fox Immortal from seeking revenge on Zhao Haotian, Xie Sui took advantage of a moment when his friend wasn’t looking to secretly mark him with a drop of blood as a warning sigil. This way, if anything happened to Zhao Haotian, he would be able to sense it.

Ending his trip down memory lane, Xie Sui looked at the Fox Immortal before him with a look of realization.

Seeing the Fox Immortal’s current state with a beast’s head on a human body, it was clear that her illusory form had been shattered by Zhao Haotian’s iron will.

Failing to charm a mere mortal was a heavy blow to her confidence. This Fox Immortal couldn’t even maintain her human form anymore and needed to go through the process of Seeking a Title again.

Because Zhao Haotian had met with him, the Fox Immortal had sensed his existence through the trace of aura left on Zhao Haotian, which was why she had tracked him down.

In a sense, his existence had indeed ruined the Fox Immortal’s attempts to continue seducing Zhao Haotian. Xie Sui wasn’t surprised at all that she held a grudge against him.

But…

Xie Sui looked down at Lin Zixin, who was shivering and clutching his leg in terror, and sighed helplessly.

Since the Fox Immortal knew of his existence and had followed him here, why didn’t she come for him? Why did she go after Lin Zixin instead?

Was it because Lin Zixin looked so harmless, like a soft target, that every passing Fox Immortal or Yawu-po wanted to take a shot at him?

There was one more thing Xie Sui couldn’t figure out.

What on earth was this rich second generation heir doing out in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night?

He had imagined the life of a rich heir involved staying up late at bars, surrounded by girls and luxury, but this one spent his nights wandering into the wilderness… What kind of hobby was this? Could he be haunted by a female ghost and lured to this remote place for a date?

Wait, that was actually possible.

Xie Sui’s expression suddenly became serious.

Lin Zixin couldn’t really be here for a date with a ghost, could he?

Good grief. First a ghost, then a Fox Immortal, then a Yawu-po. This top donor of his was far too unlucky. Was he the reincarnation of Tang Sanzang or something?

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Translator’s Notes

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1. waiting for a rabbit under a tree: An English translation of the Chinese idiom ‘Shou Zhu Dai Tu’ (守株待兔). It refers to a foolish person who waits for luck or rewards without putting in effort, based on a fable about a farmer who stopped working to wait for another rabbit to accidentally run into a tree stump. ↩
2. Yin-Gathering talisman: A Taoist-style paper charm (Fu) inscribed with spiritual calligraphy designed to attract or concentrate ghostly energy. In this context, it is used as a ‘bridge’ to allow mundane technology like cameras to capture supernatural phenomena. ↩