Chapter 7: A Ghost Knocks at the Door in the Dead of Night

Chapter 7: Ghosts Knocking at the Door in the Dead of Night

The bright moon hung high in the sky as a sudden chill wind swept across the ground.

Screech—

With a gentle application of the brakes, Gu Mo and Xiao Yulou pulled open the car doors.

Thud, thud—

Two heavy sounds of closing doors echoed, accompanied by the whispering breeze.

Li Hetang sat in the front passenger seat and let out a heavy sigh.

"Brother Gu, you had better prepare yourself."

Hearing this, Gu Mo immediately turned around and said with utmost disdain, "Pfft! I haven't done anything on the wrong side of my conscience. Why would I be afraid of ghosts knocking at my door in the middle of the night?"

Yu Kongcheng, who was driving, pulled a long face upon hearing this.

"Big Brother, this is my first love. Can't you cut me some slack?"

Hearing this, Gu Mo instantly turned to stone in the wind.

Xiao Yulou, standing to one side, peacefully assumed the role of an audience member eating melon seeds, opting to remain silent.

Upon hearing this, Gu Mo instinctively took a few steps forward, rested his left hand on the roof of the car, and leaned down, wearing a smile that looked far uglier than crying.

"Erha~ I've told you twice already. I have a wife, and she's the King of Hell from the netherworld. Do you really think I'd dare to have any stray thoughts?"

Hearing Gu Mo's statement, Yu Kongcheng immediately felt a lot more at ease.

At that moment, Li Hetang in the front passenger seat suddenly chimed in.

"Brother Gu, I'm talking about top-tier figures from Xiangxi."

Hearing this, Gu Mo's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Any mention of Xiangxi naturally inseparable from witchcraft, poisons, and corpses.

Moreover, Fourth Master Xiang and Tang Xianshan of the Tang Sect—those two old fellows—had both lost their lives in Bibo Waters.

If people from their side came looking for trouble, it would only be expected.

Just as Gu Mo fell into deep thought, Li Hetang sighed again and said in a deep voice, "I only received the news just now."

With that said, a look of fear crept onto Li Hetang's face.

"There have already been several bizarre murder cases in the provincial capital. The victims died in utterly gruesome ways, and their chins were even refined for corpse oil."

Hearing this, Gu Mo shrugged nonchalantly.

"What the hell does that have to do with me?"

With that, Gu Mo turned around and gave a big wave of farewell.

Unexpectedly, Li Hetang called out to stop him once more.

Growing impatient, Gu Mo immediately let out a sarcastic remark.

"What is it now, Brother Tom Cruise?"

Frowning, Li Hetang deliberately lowered his voice and said, "I've already used my supernatural abilities to meddle with things; those kids won't remember Cat Brother's existence. You'd better keep quiet about it too. No matter what, Cat Brother's affair is in the past, and I don't want him to be disturbed."

Hearing this, Gu Mo flashed an okay sign with his fingers and strode back toward the small courtyard.

Li Hetang watched Gu Mo's retreating figure and heaved a heavy sigh, while Yu Kongcheng started the car and sped off into the distance...

Gazing at the long-missed courtyard, Gu Mo's mood instantly improved significantly.

As the saying goes: A short separation is like a newlywed reunion.

Gu Mo had rushed off on his mission after hastily setting up a table, barely having any time to chat with his silly girl.

Thinking of this, Gu Mo quickened his pace.

Xiao Yulou, standing nearby, muttered under his breath, "Why is Brother Gu in such monkey-like haste?"

Passing through the courtyard, he stepped onto the stone steps.

Yet Gu Mo's raised hand lingered for a long time without knocking on the door.

Xiao Yulou, who had followed closely behind, asked in confusion, "Brother Gu, why the melancholy sorrow?"

Hearing this, Gu Mo offered a bitter smile. "Nothing, I just suddenly thought of my grandfather."

Subsequently, Gu Mo and Xiao Yulou pushed open the door and entered the house, searching three times over without finding the slightest trace of King of Hell Jiang Jingshe.

This was rather strange!

The next second, Gu Mo raised his head with a blank expression.

The house was clean and tidy, with no signs of a struggle whatsoever. Could the silly girl have returned to the netherworld?

Thinking of this, Gu Mo cast a look of appeal toward Xiao Yulou.

Seeing this, the lecherous Taoist priest wasted no time; he immediately formed a Taoist seal and closed his eyes to divine.

After a long while, Xiao Yulou's words left Gu Mo dumbfounded.

"Brother Gu, an omen of great fortune! You are about to become immensely wealthy!"

Hearing this, Gu Mo's head was already churning with a stormy sea of confusion.

"What the heck? My wife is missing, what good is money?!"

Hearing this, the immortal-looking Xiao Yulou flicked the embroidered sleeve of his Taoist robe, shook his head, and said, "Not so, not so! Brother Gu's wealth position is right at the incense and candle shop. If you want to know why, just go see for yourself."

Hearing this, Gu Mo sighed and stood up.

But after taking barely two steps, Gu Mo turned back around. "Brother Xiao, aren't you coming?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yulou spread the sleeves of his Taoist robe and said in a deep voice, "This poor Taoist has pressing matters to attend to."

Hearing this, Gu Mo let out another scoff and strode toward the incense and candle shop...

Tap, tap—

Shifting the scene, after a walk of more than ten minutes, Gu Mo caught sight of the doors of the incense and candle shop.

He could hear a lively, bustling commotion of human voices coming from inside the shop.

Gu Mo instantly raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What's going on here?"

With that, Gu Mo fished out the fast asleep furball gluttonous ghost from his pocket.

Retrieving his phone from its abyss-like mouth, he checked the time on the screen and was instantly startled.

"Holy shit—it's already three in the morning! Who on earth is still buying offerings?!"

As the words left his mouth, Gu Mo couldn't help but shiver involuntarily.

Could someone buying offerings in the middle of the night be...

Thinking of this, Gu Mo swallowed hard and walked toward the incense and candle shop with a palpitating heart.

As his footsteps drew closer, that sweet, cappuccino-like shouted voice drifted over.

"Come, come, come... line up properly. This shop runs on small capital and does not offer credit. Make any more noise and this old lady will throw you all out!"

Hearing this, Gu Mo was completely baffled.

"What the hell—is my wife tending the shop?"

Countless questions plagued Gu Mo's mind.

With a single bound, Gu Mo stood right at the entrance of the incense and candle shop.

Coming into view, the silly King of Hell was busy bustling about facing empty air, while the counter was already piled high with all sorts of items.

At a glance, there were potato chips, cola, milk tea, and even several packs of pickled pepper chicken feet and snail rice noodles.

Yet in the spacious shop, apart from the silly King of Hell, there wasn't even a ghost in sight.

Was this silly girl playing house?

Wait...

A wonderful idea suddenly sprouted in Gu Mo's mind. He immediately stopped in his tracks, lowered his stance, and half-closed his eyes.

The bone-chilling cold that permeated his entire body suddenly concentrated within his eyes.

When Gu Mo opened his eyes once more, the tiny incense and candle shop was packed with over thirty hazy wandering souls.

Seeing this eerie scene, Gu Mo's muscles clenched and his body trembled.

"Holy shit—this bunch of wandering souls is actually buying their own offerings!"

With that, Gu Mo strode into the incense and candle shop.

However, amidst the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd and the hubbub of ghostly voices, Gu Mo simply couldn't squeeze his way in.

At that moment, an old, hunchbacked ghost holding a Dove chocolate bar shot Gu Mo a fierce, disdainful glare.

"Young man, did you escape from a psychiatric hospital?"

Hearing this, Gu Mo lowered his head in bewilderment.

It turned out that he had been in too much of a rush when leaving and hadn't even changed his clothes.

Embarrassed, Gu Mo smiled awkwardly. "No."

The wrinkle-faced, hunchbacked ghost looked Gu Mo up and down, then asked with a puzzled expression, "Then are you a VIP?"

Hearing this, Gu Mo shook his head faintly. "No."

Upon receiving a definitive answer, the ghost in front of him immediately put on a menacing expression.

"If you're not a VIP, what the hell are you doing not waiting in line?"

Rebuked and cursed at, Gu Mo clenched his teeth as green ghost fire instantly ignited all over his body.

His features, which had previously looked quite refined, now twisted into a ferocious scowl.

"You old bastard, this shop belongs to me!"

Seeing Gu Mo looking so terrifying, the many wandering souls lined up ahead hurriedly cleared a path for him.

With the scene falling into a dead silence, Gu Mo strode toward the counter.

At that very moment, the silly King of Hell—dressed in a traditional embroidered Xiushan gown and wearing a phoenix coronet—was happily bustling about and hadn't noticed Gu Mo's presence at all.

"Come, come, come, next one. As long as it's snacks, they can be exchanged for gold ingots and candles."

Hearing this, Gu Mo was left torn between laughter and tears.

This silly girl looked nothing like the ruler of the netherworld; she was clearly just a hopeless foodie!

Feeling thoroughly awkward, Gu Mo watched the busy silly King of Hell and spoke up, "Shopkeeper, how much for incense and gold ingots?"

Hearing that business had arrived, the silly King of Hell didn't even raise her head. She put down the snacks, reached out to grab into empty air, and a measuring scale from the snack pile flew directly into her palm.

Then, a sweet voice rang out.

"Gold ingots and paper money are exchanged for snacks at worldly equivalent values, and incense and candles are traded by weight! I wonder what your lordship desires?"

As her voice trailed off, the silly King of Hell raised her head, two lips stained with red already glistening with a flood of crystal-clear saliva.

When the silly King of Hell caught sight of Gu Mo, she slowly reached out to rub her clear eyes.

The next second, the red-clad silly King of Hell flew straight into Gu Mo's arms, showering him with kisses and gentle bites.

"Wuwuwu... Husband, you're finally back... Wuwuwu... For the past few days, this concubine could only eat gold ingots and candles, I was dying of craving... Wuwuwu!"

Not only Gu Mo, but even the thirty-odd wandering souls lined up in neat rows were dumbfounded.

In an instant, Gu Mo's face turned beet red as he sheepishly turned his head away in shyness.

"Wife—there are still many wandering souls here!"

As soon as these words were uttered, the aggrieved silly King of Hell bared her teeth fiercely, putting on a terrifying expression capable of frightening ghosts to death, and glared at the gathered wandering souls.

Instantly, the fidgety wandering souls jolted in fright, almost scaring their souls right out of their bodies. They all obediently turned around and trembled in place.

Following that, a wave of aggrieved sobs echoed through the room.

Helpless against the silly King of Hell's antics, Gu Mo simply let her continue kissing and biting him...

After an unknown period of time, the gradually calming silly King of Hell finally stood obediently in place.

Gu Mo pulled her back behind the counter, cleared his throat as he looked at the multitude of wandering souls before them, and said, "Ahem~ Next."

With that, the two lines of wandering souls simultaneously turned around.

A young wandering soul drifted forward slowly, placed some fresh fruit onto the counter, and said softly, "Shopkeeper, how much underworld money can these fruits buy?"

Hearing this, Gu Mo felt a surreal, floating sensation in his heart.

The wandering souls waiting in line before him genuinely gave off the impression of foreign vassals offering tribute.

With a faint smile, Gu Mo raised his eyes to look at the young wandering soul before him.

Taking a closer look, the young wandering soul was soaking wet, his face as pale as wax—he was unmistakably someone who had drowned.

Every time this wandering soul spoke, a mouthful of river water would involuntarily spill out. Even the patch of ground beneath his feet was surrounded by a ring of water stains.

Yet strangely, there was a patch of scorched, blackened char on this wandering soul's chin.

Seeing this, Gu Mo furrowed his brows slightly. The wandering soul in front of him, assuming the shopkeeper looked down upon these fruits, quietly let out a sigh.

To his surprise, Gu Mo suddenly spoke up and asked, "Brother, the underworld money can be easily settled. Do you still remember how you died?"

Hearing this, the drowned young wandering soul frowned and thought for a moment. "It seems I was kicked into the water by someone by the riverside under the bridge."

Hearing this, Gu Mo was immediately plagued by numerous questions.

"Then what's wrong with your chin?"

The young wandering soul merely shook his head blankly. "I only remember that when my accident happened, it was the seventh of last month."

Last month?

Thinking of this, Gu Mo turned his head to look at the wandering souls waiting in line.

Sure enough, the striking similarities made Gu Mo inwardly cry out that something major was wrong...