FCRCG Chapter 9

After leaving the cave, Nan Deng fled all the way here.

The ghosts chasing him seemed to be wary of the presence of a Celestial Master outside, not daring to make too much noise, and failed to catch up to Nan Deng.

At times like this, there was no safe place. Nan Deng couldn’t think too much, relying solely on his instincts.

Fortunately, shortly after he entered the outskirts, the few ghosts behind him stopped chasing.

Nan Deng kept moving, climbed through a window into the familiar house, and found no one inside.

Finally, he hid in the corner of the bedroom closet, curling up inside, still shaken.

He had never heard of a ghost like the fog-shrouded specter. Even though its body had exploded and scattered into smoke, it could still reform.

This didn’t seem like something an ordinary ghost could do. But if it was so strong, why didn’t it go after prey itself?

Nan Deng couldn’t make sense of it. As for the sudden expansion of the fog-shrouded specter’s body, he suspected it was because it had consumed the rabbit head.

The rabbit head was special. Nan Deng had always known it was a soul body but wasn’t quite a ghost. It wasn’t a real rabbit, nor was it just a doll.

Could it be that the rabbit head was actually very powerful and had some special abilities?

Nan Deng straightened up. The rabbit head was lying in his arms, its ears drooping limply, as though it had exhausted a lot of energy in the cave.

It was hungry again, its eyes barely open.

“Forget it…” Nan Deng tightened his hold on it. “I’m just glad you’re alright.”

The rabbit head lightly moved its ears, as if responding to him.

It was very quiet outside the house. Nan Deng had just relaxed a little when he suddenly heard a sound from the living room.

Someone had returned, opened the door, and was walking straight toward the bedroom.

The footsteps were real. Only one person was approaching—it was definitely the homeowner returning.

The ghosts hadn’t come after him for a long time and no Celestial Masters had discovered him, so Nan Deng was still safe. Yet, for some reason, he felt uneasy as the footsteps grew closer and stopped in front of the closet.

Nan Deng thought to himself that even if the closet were opened, they wouldn’t see him. After all, he was a ghost.

However, the person outside knocked on the closet door and said, “Come out.”

For a moment, Nan Deng’s mind went blank, paralyzed with tension, unable to move.

After a while, Lian Yi spoke again. “Come out.”

The second time, his tone was colder and more commanding. He wasn’t suspicious or had discovered anything strange—he knew Nan Deng was inside the closet.

Inside the closet, only a few clothes were hanging and it was spacious. Nan Deng slowly stood up and reached for the closet door.

The homeowner lived alone. Nan Deng hadn’t heard him speak before. He wasn’t sure who was outside. If it were a Celestial Master… they would have acted by now, right?

Nan Deng gathered his courage and pushed the door open a small crack.

He might have been discovered, but as long as it wasn’t a Celestial Master, he’d be fine. If things went wrong, he could escape the moment the door opened.

The person outside didn’t react when the door moved.

The gap widened and Nan Deng cautiously stuck out half of his face.

The bedroom lights were off and the curtains were drawn open. Moonlight illuminated most of the room. Standing in front of the closet was a familiar face—it was the homeowner.

Nan Deng’s eyes were filled with fear and caution as he made eye contact with Lian Yi.

Realizing the other person was looking at him, he panicked and immediately shrank back, closing the closet door, which let out a soft “thud”.

Lian Yi’s patience had run out. He directly pulled open the closet door.

Seeing Nan Deng’s semi-transparent soul body crouching inside, Lian Yi also crouched down and reached out a hand toward him.

The hand didn’t touch Nan Deng, but Nan Deng felt a pulling force that caused his body to move forward involuntarily.

He came out of the closet and slowly approached Lian Yi, his chin gripped by an invisible force that forced his head up, exposing his whole face.

Lian Yi moved his lips, noticing Nan Deng’s panicked expression, almost on the verge of tears. He released his grip.

With the restraint gone, Nan Deng hurriedly backed away, clutching the rabbit head and retreating to the corner of the closet again.

In the cave, the fog-shrouded specter had done the same thing, grabbing him from afar. Nan Deng still felt uneasy, his fingers trembling.

The bedroom was silent. Nan Deng could hear Lian Yi’s breathing rise and fall. He was still crouching in front of the closet, his black-gray eyes watching Nan Deng in the darkness.

After a while, Lian Yi parted his lips, “Why are you hiding here?”

He had let Nan Deng off several times, ignoring his presence, but that didn’t mean he would continue to pretend Nan Deng wasn’t there.

Everything that had happened outside, Lin Jiu had told Lian Yi in detail; it was almost impossible for him not to know.

Nan Deng hadn’t shown up on time tonight and there had been more abnormalities in the city. Adding to that the communication from Lin Jiu, Nan Deng must have known something.

He was likely the ghost who fled to the outskirts in the transmission and he may have encountered the Ghost King.

Following the Ghost King was a natural instinct for almost all ghosts. Nan Deng might be no different.

The simplest, most straightforward way to get answers was, of course, to capture him and ask directly.

Even if Nan Deng hadn’t seen the Ghost King, he still had to explain why he hadn’t shown up on time tonight.

Nan Deng curled up in the corner of the closet and answered with a non sequitur, “…Can you see me?”

“Yes.”

Not only could Lian Yi see him, but he could also hear his voice. Nan Deng’s eyelashes trembled, his anxiety at its peak, “You… are you a Celestial Master?”

Lian Yi furrowed his brow, pausing for a moment before replying.

He never showed mercy to any ghost, but with Nan Deng, he was constantly making exceptions. Seeing how terrified Nan Deng was now, he felt an inexplicable irritation rise inside him.

After a brief silence, he answered, “No.”

Lian Yi rarely wore the badge and he hadn’t specifically put on his Celestial Master uniform when he went out tonight.

Nan Deng looked at him, uncertain whether to believe him. He hesitated and asked cautiously, “Then, will you let the Celestial Masters come to capture me?”

Lian Yi replied, “No.”

Once Nan Deng received answers to these two questions, it seemed like he wasn’t as afraid anymore.

He finally came out, inching slowly from the closet. His beautiful, clear eyes nervously looked at Lian Yi, “Really?”

Lian Yi showed no expression on his face, pausing for a few seconds before saying, “Really.”

He patiently repeated his previous question, “Why are you hiding here?”

Nan Deng hadn’t fully calmed down yet. He answered slowly and incoherently, “I… I ran into a really strong ghost. It wanted to eat me.”

“Xiao Tu was also eaten by it. Later, I managed to escape… but there were still several other ghosts trying to catch me…”

Lian Yi’s gaze lowered and he saw the rabbit head sleeping with its head buried in Nan Deng’s arms.

He asked again, “Was it the Ghost King?”

Nan Deng lifted his confused eyes, “I don’t know…”

Was the fog-shrouded specter the Ghost King? He thought he heard other ghosts in the cave saying it wasn’t.

Lian Yi observed Nan Deng’s reaction and stood up.

So Nan Deng had truly fled, encountering danger outside and getting scared. He hadn’t seen the Ghost King and might not even know what the Ghost King was.

Ghosts sometimes harmed each other, fighting for territory and other reasons.

However, since Nan Deng had chosen to hide beside him, he was absolutely safe.

Having mostly asked the questions he wanted, Lian Yi didn’t say more and turned to leave the bedroom.

Nan Deng was left behind, looking even more helpless and confused.

…What now? Was Lian Yi not going to chase him away? Was he just going to ask why Nan Deng was hiding there?

Also, Nan Deng still wanted to know—since Lian Yi wasn’t a Celestial Master, how could he see him?

Lian Yi left the room, apparently heading to the bathroom next door. The sound of running water was constant.

Nan Deng looked around, confirming that it seemed like the whole thing was just a false alarm.

He quickly stood up, sneaking out of the bedroom, intending to leave through the window, but hesitated and turned back.

The bathroom door was closed, but suddenly, a semi-transparent shadow slipped in through the frosted glass below.

Lian Yi, with his eyes closed, said, “Go out.”

“…Oh.”

Nan Deng silently passed through the glass and left.

The hot water soaked into Lian Yi’s body, slightly alleviating the chill that seemed to seep from his bones. When he finished changing and came out, Nan Deng was still waiting at the door.

Lian Yi took a step forward. Nan Deng stepped back, unwilling to simply run away.

He paused in the hallway, his hair tips dripping water. His voice was low and soft, “Are you afraid of me?”

Nan Deng, still fixated, asked again, “Are you really not a Celestial Master?”

“No.”

“Then why can you see me…?”

Lian Yi fell silent. He had never thought that one day he would need to lie to deceive a ghost.

“The things you left at the door,” he answered, taking a step closer to Nan Deng, “I’ve taken them all.”

Nan Deng’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, his expression showing clear astonishment. He was no longer as cautious or afraid.

Lian Yi had used the word “all”, indicating that he had picked up more than once.

“By taking my things, can you see me?”

This was a blind spot in Nan Deng’s understanding. When he thought about it carefully, it seemed to make sense.

Moreover, if Lian Yi were a Celestial Master, he would have captured him immediately.

Nan Deng suddenly remembered something and began to feel around in his pocket.

“Looking for this?” Lian Yi took a step forward, holding a black feather in his hand.

Nan Deng saw the feather and nodded.

He had intended to leave it at the door, but he had likely been too hurried when climbing through the window and dropped it on the ground, where Lian Yi had picked it up.

Now, Nan Deng felt a bit more at ease and believed Lian Yi’s words.

“I… I won’t eat you,” Nan Deng said somewhat awkwardly, feeling guilty since he had indeed thought about biting Lian Yi, even attempting it more than once. “Just… don’t let the Celestial Master come after me…”

Lian Yi didn’t expose him and simply said, “I won’t,” then turned and went back into the bedroom.

Nan Deng quickly followed behind him. “There’s one more thing I want to tell you…”

Lian Yi sat down at the edge of the bed. Nan Deng pulled out the rabbit head from his pocket. “This is my pet. His name is Xiao Tu. I don’t know if you can see him.”

He said, embarrassed, “A few days ago, he accidentally ate some paper dolls here. Were those yours?”

Lian Yi’s willingness to prevent the Celestial Master from coming after him and the fact that he wasn’t scared or disgusted by Nan Deng, immediately made Nan Deng feel a great sense of trust.

He felt even more guilty about the paper dolls being eaten by the rabbit head and wanted to apologize.

Lian Yi didn’t lift his head. “It’s fine.”

Those two words sounded cold, but Nan Deng couldn’t see his expression, so he squatted beside him and said softly, “Please don’t be angry.”

He held the rabbit head in his hands, anxiously looking at Lian Yi.

The rabbit head was sound asleep, eyes closed, completely still.

Lian Yi raised his eyes slightly to look at Nan Deng, then suddenly asked, “Do you want to stay?”

Nan Deng opened his mouth, hesitant. “Is that okay?”

He had this thought in his mind, his eyes full of hope.

Lian Yi bent down, leaning closer. “Why?”

“I’m too scared to go out,” Nan Deng said, looking at him with pleading eyes. “I’ll only stay one night. I won’t disturb you.”

He wasn’t sure if the ghosts chasing him were still outside. If they found him, he wasn’t confident that he could escape again. It was better to hide for now.

Nan Deng thought for a moment and then added, “If you don’t want to sleep tonight, I can keep you company… we could watch TV together.”

Lian Yi seemed to smile, the curve of his lips so faint that it was almost unnoticeable.

He spoke in a low voice, “What’s your name?”

“My name is Nan Deng, it means ‘lamp of the south’.”

Nan Deng sensed that Lian Yi’s attitude was softening. He moved closer, his fingertips brushing against the sleeve of Lian Yi’s clothing.

He looked very obedient, beautiful, and with an innocent, harmless appearance.

Lian Yi agreed, “Alright.”

Nan Deng immediately became happy, a soft smile spreading across his face, his eyes shining brightly.

“By the way,” he asked curiously, “When did you first start seeing me?”

After he first sent the rabbit doll, he had been able to enter the house. But the first few times, Lian Yi had shown no reaction at all.

“Tonight.”

Nan Deng responded with a simple “Oh,” without a hint of doubt in his eyes.

He was not only innocent but also rather easy to deceive.

This wasn’t Lian Yi’s intention, but he always acted according to his own whims, without being bound by too many rules. For example, right now, having a ghost stay by his side is something a Celestial Master should never do.

Lian Yi lowered his gaze and noticed a new tear on the side of Nan Deng’s clothes.

His eyes moved upward, landing on Nan Deng’s pale face. “What did the ghost that wanted to eat you look like?”