Chapter Eighty-One: The Horse Ghost King Reveals Himself

The games were winding down, and one by one, the male students said their goodbyes and headed home. These girls, each radiant and delicate, would be in real danger if they ran into trouble on the way, so I volunteered to be their escort and protector. After tidying up the room, tearing off all the name tags, and locking up Uncle Ma’s house, we set off into the night.

Truth be told, the city wasn’t all that dark; streetlights illuminated most of the roads, leaving only a few alleys in shadow. There were eight girls in total, each one a rare beauty, each with her own unique charm, slender figures and captivating curves. Walking with them, I felt like a madam leading her girls out to attract business, drawing the gaze of every passerby. But anyone who dared stare got a fierce retort from these bold, post-nineties girls.

Most of them were locals, though a few lived at school. We wandered through the night until I’d seen each of them safely home; in the end, only one girl remained by my side. It was only now, alone with her, that I realized the awkwardness that comes with a man and woman together in silence. Gone was the laughter and banter of the group; she seemed so pure and innocent now that her earlier boldness felt like nothing more than a mask.

I’d spent half the night with these girls, and yet still didn’t know their names. Now, as I walked with this last girl along the roadside, neither of us could find a word to say. The silence was thick with embarrassment. But as a man, it fell on me to break it. Glancing at her, I said, “You don’t seem like someone who’s good with words. Or maybe you just feel awkward being alone with me. Oh, by the way, my name is Hu Xiaodong. Uncle Ma introduced me earlier. May I ask your name?”

I smiled at her, feeling as if I’d just delivered a line straight out of a Korean drama, speaking flawless Mandarin and feeling on top of the world.

I could see her cheeks flush at my words. It’s rare to meet a girl like this these days—so obviously inexperienced and shy. She brushed aside the strands of her bangs the wind had blown across her face, her expression a mixture of innocence and charm.

She glanced at me, saw I was looking back, and lowered her head shyly, covering her mouth with her hands as she whispered, “Um, my name is Shangguan Yiran. You can call me Yiran.” Her voice was soft, magnetic, and utterly enchanting; girls like her are hard to come by these days.

But what surprised me was her surname—Shangguan. Wasn’t my own rogue past life tied to the Shangguan family?

I gave her a casual smile, and with a tone of understated elegance, asked, “Do you have a boyfriend?” I wondered if my question was too abrupt, coming out of nowhere like that.

Yiran’s body visibly tensed, clearly startled. She stammered, “No, not yet. Um, I’m home now. Thank you for walking me back!” With that, she turned and hurried away, leaving me twenty meters behind in the blink of an eye.

It was obvious she was just making an excuse to escape. The area was all office buildings—she couldn’t possibly live here. She must have misunderstood my intentions. Just as I was about to catch up to her and explain, I saw her surrounded by a group of men. They clamped a hand over her mouth and dragged the struggling Yiran into a dark alley.

Damn it, these punks had the nerve to act up right in front of me—were they courting death? I quickened my pace and charged in.

It was pitch black inside, much darker than I’d expected. Activating my spectral sight, I could see clearly now that this wasn’t just any ordinary alley, nor was it a usual haunt for the city’s hoodlums; it was something else entirely.

Thirty meters of dead-end alley stretched before me, a single dim bulb hanging from a wooden pole. Beneath its feeble glow stood several impeccably dressed Westerners. Yiran had been shoved into a corner, trembling and wide-eyed with terror as she gazed at the foreigners. I guessed this was an instinctive reaction—any girl dragged into a dark alley like this would know immediately what kind of danger she was in.

Yet, these Westerners made no move. Instead, more of them suddenly appeared, gliding down from the night sky. My anger flared. These were those damned vampires! I’d been searching for them to get my revenge, and here they were, delivered right to me. I was just about to leap out when a ghostly voice drifted down from above: “Ghost King Ma, what do you think of this body?” As the words faded, two figures appeared out of thin air—one of them barely even human in shape, more like a cloud of vapor.

Instantly, I suppressed all traces of my aura and hid behind a discarded trash bin, scrutinizing the vampires for any familiar faces.

But I didn’t recognize the one who had descended from the sky, though from his presence, he was clearly a duke. The one he called Ghost King Ma circled above Yiran’s head, then transformed into the vague outline of a middle-aged man, back turned to me, and replied, “A girl? You know I prefer boys. But time is short—she’ll do.” With that, he glanced toward the mouth of the alley.

Then he sniffed the air. “Strange, I smell a corpse’s aura!”

Damn, this Ghost King Ma was terrifying. Even as a vaporous form, his head was a skeletal skull, hissing with jets of mist.

Yiran was paralyzed with shock at the surreal scene before her. I imagined her thoughts: “Are they filming a TV drama? Why are these people flying? Where are the wires?” But when she saw the talking vapor, she must have forced herself to accept that she was really seeing a ghost, her body quivering in the corner in terror.

I was surprised Ghost King Ma could sense my presence, but fortunately he paid it no mind, turning instead to gaze at the pure, adorable, and alluring Yiran, his face twisted with greed.

Finally, Ghost King Ma began to approach her, step by step, saying, “Don’t be afraid, little sister. Let me grant you immortality. Remember, don’t struggle—it’ll hurt much more if you do.”

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(Oh, oh, I’m still here! I hope everyone supports the official release and supports fellow fans!)