TL: Hua

Chapter 11: Laptop

Shi Wuyan lightly pressed a hand against his chest, his eyes lowering slightly: “Wangfu’s human form is also a body of flesh and blood. My main body can be entangled by threads, but in this form, I cannot touch them. So, I had no choice but to trouble you.”

“While I was asleep, I felt your blood dripping on me…”

It was very hot.

The mist over the River of Forgetfulness was cold and chilly; Shi Wuyan had almost forgotten the warmth of flesh and blood.

Pausing for a moment, Shi Wuyan said softly, “I came over to take a look.”

You Xingyue explained, “This last thread is quite peculiar. It seems to have cultivated into a spirit and was trying to bewitch me into joining it. I reckon it wanted to possess my body.”

Just as Bu Liuke was about to speak, Shi Wuyan spoke up first: “Threads can also develop sentience. Bu Liuke himself is the incarnation of a thread.”

Bu Liuke nodded repeatedly: “Right! That’s why neither humans nor demons can see me. Only you can.”

No wonder, You Xingyue thought. If Bu Liuke were a vessel spirit, he should have been visible to demons and certain humans, yet no one at the Bureau could see him.

You Xingyue pondered thoughtfully: “So that’s how it is.”

The thread had possessed a body in its past life. Once it re-formed its sentience, it was naturally unwilling to exist as a creature that could neither be seen nor heard, so it sought a new vessel.

If You Xingyue had truly been bewitched by the thread just now, he probably would have been completely devoured by it by now.

At the thought of this, You Xingyue said apologetically, “It’s my fault for not asking Bu Liuke beforehand.”

Shi Wuyan replied, “The thread was bound to my main body year after year. Over time, it absorbed the power overflowing from me, which is why it became so formidable.”

As his words fell, Shi Wuyan lightly pointed a finger at his main body.

The pristine jade disc soared into the air, its two interlocking gears turning with a crisp, pleasant sound. The jade disc cast down a wave of cool light, enveloping the thread on the table.

The red thread writhed frantically under the light, seemingly in agonizing pain. Dark, murky blood aura and yin energy evaporated at the same time, as the blood-red thread gradually faded into a warm, gentle white.

With a subtle twitch of Shi Wuyan’s fingertips, the jade disc turned counterclockwise in a full circle before vanishing into thin air.

He said, “I have dispersed the yin energy within the thread. Absorbing it now will no longer harm the human body.”

You Xingyue hooked his finger around the white thread.

Sure enough, the white thread no longer emitted that bone-chilling coldness, wrapping submissively around his fingertip. You Xingyue closed his eyes, and the white thread slowly merged into his body. The power contained in this white thread was several times stronger than any of the threads You Xingyue had obtained before. After completely fusing with it, the spiritual energy in his body actually enhanced by quite a bit.

Wait… The spiritual energy inside the thread was… Shi Wuyan’s!

You Xingyue opened his eyes, but the chair in front of him was already empty.

Startled, You Xingyue tilted his head to look at Bu Liuke: “Did he leave?”

“Mm, he left just a moment ago.” Bu Liuke held up the jade box. “He left the box behind. He must have given it to us, right?”

You Xingyue froze briefly, then took the jade box. A lingering chill still remained inside, along with an almost vanished fragrance, subtle and coyly delicate.

You Xingyue lowered his head to sniff his sleeve. Sure enough, it had caught that same fragrance.

The ghost deity Wangfu is actually fragrant.

You Xingyue couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile.

—

Yingjiang University of Science and Technology — Campus Forum

A post was rising rapidly on the forum. Within just a few minutes, it gained dozens of replies and floated directly to the front page.

This was because the post’s title was extremely sensational: [Shocking! Gu Min is actually a rich second-generation kid.]

Yingjiang Science and Technology was the top key university in the province, producing a few prominent figures every year. Gu Min, currently a junior, was one of them. Handsome and good-tempered, he won the National Scholarship every year and had participated in multiple world-class competitions. He was one of the university’s star students.

Naturally, such a figure generated high discussion on campus. The moment the post went up, it caught the attention of alumni.

1st Floor: Which Gu family? Why am I completely out of the loop? Are we writing a Mary Sue novel here or what?

2nd Floor: Replying to the upstairs, the chairman of Huatang Technology is surnamed Gu… A lot of the electronic components you use are made by his company. If the title is true, he really is a Mary Sue male lead.

3rd Floor: No way, I can’t tell. Didn’t they say Senior Gu started his own company from scratch? No picture, no proof. OP is just spreading rumors here. Let me tell you, spreading rumors is illegal!

5th Floor: [Video]

6th Floor: See for yourselves.

Curious students clicked on the video while having dinner.

It was likely recorded on a smartphone. The camera shook slightly, but the resolution was decent. Because it was shot up close under good lighting, everything in the video was crystal clear.

The lens was pointed directly at a large window. Two strikingly handsome young men sat on opposite sides of a table, on which sat a fist-sized jade carving.

The young man on the right was Gu Min, whom the students recognized well. Dressed in a simple hoodie and trousers, he sat bathed in sunlight, his long, slender fingers occasionally tapping at the jade carving.

Spread out on the table was a check written for five hundred thousand yuan.

Sitting opposite Gu Min was an unfamiliar young man. He had a handsome face, thin-framed glasses resting on the bridge of his nose, and wore a shirt with trousers. The cuffs of his shirt were dyed a subtle gradient of cyan-blue.

Many men wore button-down shirts, but very few could pull off such a gradient-dyed one.

In the video, Gu Min answered a phone call, and his usually calm and steady expression shifted.

After the young man opposite him asked a question, Gu Min answered with a surprised look: “My assistant just called to say that a major project at the company went through…”

As Gu Min spoke, the young man leaned his cheek on his hand, his eyes curving into a smile that trickled out unhurriedly from behind his lenses.

Compared to Gu Min’s steady warmth, this young man’s aura was gentle yet lively. His leisure demeanor made hearts flutter like a soft spring breeze.

The young man said, “Mr. Gu’s fate is destined for wealth and nobility… The Gu family donates to the Yingjiang City Orphanage every year…”

The video cut off abruptly right there.

Exiting the video, the students couldn’t snap out of it for a while. There were way too many focal points in this video!

42nd Floor: Three minutes. I want ALL the information on that shop owner! That’s the feeling of a fluttering heart! I am seriously craving a man of this type; I’d go bottom for him!

43rd Floor: My God, the title is actually real! Huatang Technology donates massive amounts to orphanages every year! Holy crap, he really is male lead tier!

…

45th Floor: I heard rich people are pretty superstitious, but I didn’t expect Gu Min to be so superstitious too. Buying a little monster and immediately claiming his project deal succeeded? Way too fake. Could Gu Min and that shop owner be working together to hype up sales?

46th Floor: The above floor didn’t even watch the full video before talking nonsense. That’s called a Pixiu! It’s a traditional mythical beast in our country for attracting wealth and warding off evil, not a ‘little monster.’ The Literature Department next door is going to beat you science majors to death for not knowing your own mythology! Though it does seem a bit fake. My family’s Pixiu is gold-inlaid jade, and it’s completely useless.

47th Floor: Above floor, don’t discriminate against science majors, okay? I’m a science major too. You can’t see it clearly in the video, but for Hetian jade of this quality, it doesn’t even deserve to be priced by the gram. Its only merit is that it’s fairly large. Spending 500k on it was a huge loss.

…

54th Floor: Lost big time. Total rip-off. Hetian jade of this quality selling for 200k to 300k is already pushing it. It’s not mutton-fat jade; it’s not worth that much. Gu Min has been ripped off this time.

…

The thread grew higher and higher, until someone who actually knew their stuff came out to defend it:

370th Floor: Please, if you only half-understand, stop spouting nonsense! It’s an antique! An antique! The stand is made of yellow rosewood; it has historical value, okay?! And didn’t you hear? Right after he bought it home, his business deal went through!

371st Floor: Lmao, I don’t buy it. Absolute collab hype train. Gu Min makes video games. Doesn’t he know how to run internet marketing campaigns like a pro? What’s this shop called again? Not Keeping Guests, right?

…

392nd Floor: Rewatched it. The shop name is indeed Not Keeping Guests, located at No. 137 Nanbei Street. Just wait, I’ll go check it out when I have time.

—

9:45 PM

The thread, which had already sunk, was suddenly kicked back up to the top.

599th Floor: Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! Gu Min’s company just announced the closed beta date for their AAA game!!! They’ve been ghosting us for months after the official announcement, and today they suddenly confirmed the closed beta news!

…

609th Floor: So the call Gu Min picked up in the video was about this?! My god, is it really that miraculous?! I take back what I said earlier.

—

At the same time, in a corner of Yingjiang City—

The screen of a battered old laptop was lit up, playing the video from the forum on a low-resolution display.

“Not Keeping Guests… Is it the ‘Not Keeping Guests’ that I know?”

Beside the laptop, a dust-covered hairpin shouted excitedly, “Quick, quick, quick, Ultra-Thin, play the video again!”

The laptop screen suddenly went black for a few seconds. Moments later, the mouse began moving on its own, and a voice issued from the speakers: “I know, I know! Don’t rush me!”

The mouse clicked the video. When it played to the 2-minute and 16-second mark, the hairpin cried out loudly, “I saw it! A vessel spirit popped out of that guy’s pocket! Ultra-Thin, we found it! Wuwuwuwu.”

The laptop joined in with a sniffling sound: “It’s been so hard. Power to this rundown residential complex gets cut tomorrow. I thought the two of us were going to die here. No electricity, no internet—I would literally die.”

As it spoke, the laptop opened a web browser and typed a line into the search box: How to send a laptop to No. 137 Nanbei Street?

A bunch of search results popped up beneath the box. The mouse clicked through them frantically. Before long, a voice of sudden realization came from the beat-up speakers: “Oh~ So that’s how it works. Let me place an order!”

—

One Hour Later

A courier from Feiniao Express stood before a crumbling residential building.

The word “demolished” was painted in bright red on the side of the building.

In this completely deserted complex, a row of stubbornly lit streetlights glowed faintly.

The courier shivered in the warm summer wind. Is this haunted? This is definitely haunted, right?!

—

Two Days Later

You Xingyue received a call from a delivery driver.

“Hello, is this Mr. You Xingyue? We have a package for you here. Please come out to pick it up.”

You Xingyue: “A package for me? But I haven’t bought anything recently.”

The delivery driver’s voice sounded a bit awkward: “Could you step outside to take a look? I’m right in front of your shop.”

You Xingyue frowned slightly. His first instinct was that it might be a scam, and he was just about to refuse when Bu Liuke tugged at his sleeve: “Xingyue, there’s a vessel spirit outside.”

You Xingyue froze: “Alright, I’ll be right out.”

With that, You Xingyue hung up the phone and walked out of the shop.

The delivery driver, dressed in a blue uniform, had a huge cardboard box resting at his feet. He was drenched in sweat: “Hello, here is your package.”

Bu Liuke: “It’s inside the box!”

Since it was a vessel spirit, You Xingyue naturally had to sign for it.

Just then, the courier offered a timid smile: “Cash on delivery, the fee is 62 yuan.”

You Xingyue: “…”

Which wicked kid sent a package cash-on-delivery to me?

The Author Has Something to Say:

Mini Theater:

Q: How did you find You Xingyue’s phone number?

Laptop Ultra-Thin: Thanks to the algorithm!!!

This novel is also known as “On What the Heck Kind of Things Become Spirits.”

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