Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio

  I was startled by his sudden loud voice, patted my chest and said irritably: "What's the point of suddenly being so loud, you scared me to death!"

  Xiao Fangzi's big eyes stared at me intently: "It's really exactly the same..."

  Ge Fei glanced at me sideways and then shifted his gaze to Xiaofang, frowning: "What woman?"

  Xiao Fangzi seemed to be looking through me at someone else: "Thirty years ago, there was a woman with very strong spiritual power, no, it was a woman with very strong magical power."

  Damn it! Is this a performance of Investiture of the Gods or Journey to the West?

  She paused for a moment, then continued: "That woman was icy cold, wearing a wide-sleeved green shirt, and seemed to be called... Xiangxiang. She said she was a female official in the underworld, working under Yanluo. I don't know why she wanted to save Fang Zhongwen, but she promised me that if I helped her deliver the elixir to Fang Zhongwen, she would help me reincarnate. But... after I helped her, she disappeared. And I... was trapped in the Fang mansion for thirty years, until this morning, when suddenly I could leave."

  I stared at Ge Fei, and it was clear that he was also very confused. I believe in ghosts and all that, but I really don't think there's any underworld or heavenly palace. Little Fangzi looked at me hesitantly and stammered: "I think... this might have something to do with you."

  After finishing, he carefully glanced at Ge Fei again, probably afraid that Ge Fei would take action against him and destroy his soul or something. It seems that Ge Fei is not a simple person after all, even a ghost who has been wandering for over a hundred years can scare him like this.

  I felt inexplicably annoyed and said in a bad tone, "What does it have to do with me? I'm just an ordinary person, only 25 years old this year. Thirty years ago, I hadn't even been born yet!"

  Xiao Fangzi was about to say something, but before he could open his mouth, Ge Fei spoke in a cold and eerie tone: "Xiao Fangzi, whether that matter has anything to do with her or not, you don't need to worry about it. You just need to be responsible for luring the snake out of its hole. After the task is accomplished, I will definitely help you reincarnate as a human."

  "What can I do?" Xiaofangzi was also helpless, looking at the situation, and could only follow Ge Fei's advice. I couldn't help but secretly sigh in my heart, being a ghost to this extent is really embarrassing for both humans and ghosts.

  Ge Fei revealed a sly smile: "All you need to do is spread rumors that are unfavorable to the other party in front of the ghosts and monsters."

  Xiao Fangzi's face was full of surprise: "Is it just that simple?"

  Ge Fei nodded and said, "It's that simple." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a copper ring, handing it to Xiao Fangzi: "Take this, wear it on you. If there's any news about Fang Zhiyan, get in touch with me."

  "What is this?" I and Xiaofangzi exclaimed in unison, staring at the ring inlaid with green jade.

  "Ling Kong Ring." Ge Fei glanced at me and Xiao Fangzi, answering casually. Seeing that we still didn't seem to understand, he explained further: "Ling Kong Ring, as the name suggests, is a ring that can communicate with spirits and traverse the space between yin and yang. As long as you have spiritual power, you can use the Ling Kong Ring to contact each other."

  Ge Fei must have thought that Xiao Fangzi was too stupid to use it, and he took out a ring from his pocket. I couldn't help but wonder, his pocket looked empty, where did he take it out from?

  I was puzzled, and Ge Fei had already explained the usage of the Lingkong Ring in a vivid way. He pointed to the middle piece of jade carved like a plum blossom and said: "Those who possess spiritual power, whether they are demons, monsters or humans, can activate it by touching the center of this plum blossom ring. Through the Lingkong Ring, you can find the demon or monster you need to contact. My information is already inside, no need to inquire, just start it up and you can contact me directly."

  When Ge Fei said this, the Ling Kong ring seemed to be very advanced, and I was so excited that I really wanted to play with it. To tell you the truth, I'm not a good person, others just think about it, but when I get excited, I touch the plum blossom with my hand. Then a green light flashed... A big white wolf suddenly appeared in front of me, and then the wolf spoke, it was a very familiar male voice: "Hey Ge Fei, what do you want from me?"

  Ge Fei's face was ashen as he stared at me, his eyes complex. Not hearing Ge Fei respond, Lang became a bit anxious: "Did you get into trouble again?" He then muttered to himself: "No, that can't be right... if something big really happened to you, how could you contact me with the Ling Kong ring..."

  "It's nothing, I pressed the wrong button..." The big wolf hadn't finished speaking when Ge Fei rudely interrupted him and instantly put away the ring. His icy gaze swept over Xiao Fangzi: "Don't worry, your ring will automatically contact me when you're in danger, go back now."

  After finishing, he picked up Xiaofang and directly threw her out the door. In my heart, I secretly scolded him for not knowing how to respect the elderly and care for the young. After picking up Xiaofang, he came in and picked me up. Before I could even react, I was carried into the bedroom by him. He tossed me onto the bed with a thud and said viciously: "Why can you activate the Lingkong Ring? Do you have spiritual power?"

  Ge Fei's ferocious gaze made me inexplicably afraid, and deep down, I also felt a little heartache. As for why, I couldn't say either.

  His eyes are completely different from usual. He... he won't turn into that green-eyed person from that day, will he? He won't kill me, will he?!

  "I...I don't know!" I was so scared that my words got tangled, damn it, what kind of people have I been running into lately? First, I saw a ghost and was scared out of my wits, and then I finally met an old acquaintance who I thought could help me, but this old acquaintance wasn't even human!

  Ge Fei's eyes turned green, his hand grasped my neck, and he let out a hysterical roar: "You... you actually have spiritual power! Tell me, was it you who wronged me back then? Was it you?"

  Ge Fei's sudden move caught me off guard, and I was choked to the point where I couldn't breathe or shout. It felt like I would suffocate to death at any moment, so I could only weakly slap his hand. His grip got tighter and tighter, my eyes turned black, and my whole body went limp. Just when I thought I was going to die, Ge Fei suddenly let me go.

  I panted heavily and slowly opened my eyes to see him standing woodenly, his gaze fixed on the necklace around my neck, the faint green in his eyes gradually fading away.

  I was so scared by him that I feared he would hit me again. Trembling, I pulled off the willow leaf pendant necklace from my neck and handed it to him: "You gave this to me... here, take it back..."

  I quickly threw the necklace at him and took off running, in case he went crazy again and tried to strangle me.

  "Si Jia, Si Jia, I'm sorry, it wasn't on purpose...I didn't want it to be like this either..." Ge Fei's sorrowful voice sounded behind me.

  I'm just an ordinary person, even if I love him, but I love my own life more. At this moment, I should put my own safety first. Without caring about Ge Fei's shouting, she hastily escaped from Ge Fei's house.

  I wandered aimlessly on the streets for a long time, until night fell, before I realized that after leaving Ge Fei's house, I had nowhere to go. It was impossible for me to return to Cui Ming Garden again, and besides, I hadn't brought anything with me when I left.

  Under the yellow streetlights, the passing vehicles are no less than during the day. The peddlers' calls and the aroma of roasted skewers tempt me to swallow my saliva. Perhaps I should be grateful that it's August now; if it were December or something, I'm afraid I would have become a little girl selling matches, cold and hungry, which would truly be a human tragedy.

  I don't know how I got there, but I ended up near the Fusan River. Which section of the river it was, I'm not quite sure. Probably from walking for too long, my whole body ached and my stomach growled with hunger. Seeing some chairs by the riverbank, I didn't care if they were clean or not and plopped myself down on one. Thinking that I'd just make do with spending the night here, tomorrow I'll go find a public phone to call Yao Le or maybe those two girlfriends of mine who are out of town, having no other choice but to rely on them.

  But then how do I explain it? Do I say that I've seen a ghost? That my ex-boyfriend is not human, and now I'm being haunted by a ghost... It seems like no one will believe me, they'll just think I've written too much and gone crazy. Uh... let me call my brother-in-law, he's an IT guy, he won't believe it either...

  Thinking of this, I burst into tears. What have I done to deserve such bad luck?!

  Ah! Why does my ankle feel all wet and teary? Are tears flowing down to my ankles? I'm not a faucet, am I?! I wiped away my tears, looked down, and what I saw made me jump with fright. Suddenly, I let out a blood-curdling scream.