TL: Hua

Chapter 19: Red Thread

Lying in bed, Fu Fan clicked his tongue in amusement after posting his comment: “Little girls these days are so shallow. As long as a guy’s face looks good, that’s all that matters. A little white face like that… who knows, maybe he’s selling himself to men.”

On his phone screen, the comment under ID A Strawberry Flower was gaining more and more likes. Fu Fan nodded with satisfaction: it seemed there were still people out there as clear-headed as him.

As the likes on Fu Fan’s comment surged, it was eventually pushed to the very top of the top comments. Thoroughly satisfied, Fu Fan added even more malicious fuel to the fire with unfounded speculations beneath the thread and then shut off his computer.

Just as Fu Fan lay down, the laptop on his desk suddenly turned itself on.

Fu Fan: ?

He sat bolt upright, feeling a creep of anxiety down his spine.

Fu Fan looked around the bedroom. He was clearly the only person there, so how on earth had the laptop booted up out of nowhere?

Fu Fan got out of bed, intending to turn it off. But the moment he walked up to the desk, the laptop suddenly started playing a horror movie.

A female ghost dressed in white slowly began crawling out of the screen…

Fu Fan: “Holy crap!”

With a trembling hand, Fu Fan frantically held down the power button. Once the laptop finally shut down, he breathed a sigh of relief and scurried back under the covers.

Fu Fan was a stubborn man with a sharp tongue, but his fatal flaw was an extreme fear of ghosts. He had never watched a single horror movie in his life. It was precisely because he was terrified that he scoffed at all tales of demons and spirits.

He was lying in bed, just about to drift off to sleep, when a shriek suddenly rang out from the laptop behind him. Fu Fan whipped his head around. The laptop that he had clearly turned off was powered back on again, and this time, it was playing a completely different horror flick!

A pale-faced boy ghost was crawling out from under a woman’s blanket!

Fu Fan screamed and threw off the blanket. While trembling violently, he took out his phone and quickly searched: Why does my laptop turn on by itself?

The answers below were a mixed bag. Just as Fu Fan decided to believe his laptop was simply infected with a virus, the screen suddenly went pitch black. Crimson, blood-dripping characters flared across the display:

Those who fabricate rumors and gossip shall descend to Tongue-Ripping Hell.

Seeing those blood-drenched words, Fu Fan felt a wave of dizziness hit him. The Tongue-Ripping Hell?! Does that mean pulling out my actual tongue?!

And… he really had just posted an utterly baseless, malice-filled comment. It felt as though an invisible pair of eyes in the void was watching his every action.

Recalling the glance the young man in the video had cast through his lenses, Fu Fan finally realized he had crossed a real, genuine master.

He scrambled up in a panic, smashing his head right into the nightstand. Ignoring the pain, he begged for mercy: “I was wrong! I was wrong! I’ll never do it again! Don’t rip out my tongue!”

The text on the screen instantly changed: Delete the comment. Quick.

Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!

The laptop could actually understand him!

The final line of defense in Fu Fan’s mind collapsed, and he broke down into sobbing tears: “I’ll delete it; I’ll delete it right now.”

Fu Fan pulled out his phone, deleted the comment, and after a moment’s thought, posted a status update: Heaven is watching everything we do. I have realized my mistake, and I would like to offer a distant apology to the master in the video. I hope everyone learns from my lesson. Never talk bad about people behind their backs.

The laptop screen went black and shut off.

A cold sweat drenched Fu Fan’s back. He vaguely remembered a warning his elders used to say: Whispers among mortals sound like thunder to Heaven. Deeds done in the dark flash like lightning before the gods.

This refers to the petty words and actions of those who act behind people’s backs; sooner or later, they will be exposed.

In just a short hour, the comment by A Strawberry Flower had amassed four thousand likes, along with plenty of backlash.

When the comment suddenly disappeared, a lot of hot-tempered netizens looking to pick a fight with A Strawberry Flower couldn’t find the original comment, so they clicked into A Strawberry Flower’s main profile via tags from other users.

Then, those angry netizens stared blankly at A Strawberry Flower’s latest status update, unable to believe their eyes: In just one hour, this person actually recognized their mistake and reformed?

The top comment under A Strawberry Flower’s latest post read:

Bubble Tea Lover: Holy crap, I came here originally to blast him for spreading rumors, but not only did he delete his comment, he even wiped his old posts and called the guy in the video ‘Master.’ Why do I suddenly feel like something supernatural just happened?

At the same time, on Nanbei Street in Yingjiang City—

Having executed a flawless operation, Ultra-Thin returned to its main hardware body thoroughly satisfied after confirming that Fu Fan had deleted the comment. Just as it was about to boot up and resume surfing the web, it suddenly noticed someone standing behind its desk.

“Boss?!”

You Xingyue said eerily, “Not at home in the middle of the night. Where did you go?”

A vessel spirit that had fully materialized could temporarily leave its physical form. If its cultivation were deep enough, it could run outside to play for long periods just like the Pixiu and the golden toad.

Ultra-Thin lied: “I was just sleeping.”

As soon as it said that, its monitor flickered, giving away its guilty conscience completely.

Ultra-Thin: “…”

Having a display screen really sucked. For items like them, emotions couldn’t be written on their faces, but they could be displayed right on the screen.

Unboxing a parcel in his hands with methodical composure, You Xingyue said, “Did you think I wouldn’t notice if the vessel spirit wasn’t home?”

Ultra-Thin huffed, “Boss, you went to the ribbon-cutting ceremony today, and a local media outlet put you in a video with a clickbait title just to farm engagement. Some idiot called you a little white face, and the comment got a ton of likes! So I hacked into his computer and played some horror movies to give him a scare.”

How dare he insult their boss?! As a 5G netizen who surfed the web 24/7, could it just let that slide? Of course not.

Unwrapping a pair of sleek, shimmering desktop speakers, You Xingyue shook his head: “You don’t get it. Calling me a ‘little white face’ is just a compliment that I’m good-looking.”

Ultra-Thin’s camera couldn’t help but track the movement of the mini speakers: “He was just jealous of how good-looking you are, Boss!”

It’s the new model speaker set in Boss’s hands!

So cool!

I want them!

You Xingyue inspected the speakers inside and out, asking curiously, “You can even remotely control other people’s computers?”

Ultra-Thin: “No, but I can follow the network signal and crawl right into his computer.”

You Xingyue: “…”

Literally coming for someone through the internet cable.

Under Ultra-Thin’s darting camera lens, You Xingyue smiled and plugged the speakers into the interface: “I saw you and Zitan browsing online shops together a couple of days ago, and these speakers were in the shopping cart. Do you like them?”

Ultra-Thin immediately popped up an emoji of a kneeling figure crying tears of joy: “Thank you, Boss! This child will be devoted to you for the rest of my life!”

…

You Xingyue knew that he had been filmed by many people on the day the mall opened, but he didn’t expect that he would actually become a minor internet sensation.

Moreover, because the video was posted by a local news outlet in Yingjiang City, many of the people who came across it were locals.

You Xingyue could distinctly feel that the foot traffic at Not Keeping Guests had increased over the past few days.

Opening the shop door a little after eight and hanging up the “Open” sign, You Xingyue saw several girls at the entrance staring at him with bright, shining eyes.

Amused, You Xingyue stepped aside to hold the door: “Would you like to come in?”

A girl in a short skirt waved at You Xingyue: “Senior! I’m also a student at Yingjiang University. Is there a discount with a student ID?”

Having graduated from Yingjiang University, You Xingyue truly was her senior. He picked up where she left off, saying, “How about this: I’ll give you a 95% discount for every SCI paper you’ve published.”

The girl in the short skirt was dressed in designer brands. She had only been joking, but seeing You Xingyue willing to play along with her bantering, she immediately broke into giggles with her best friend, and they walked into the antique shop hand in hand.

Because of the viral video, quite a few students from Yingjiang University came by You Xingyue’s shop wanting to “pay respects” to this senior who had suddenly turned into an internet celebrity.

The moment the girl stepped inside, her desire to take photos for social media faded away. She was an art major with a personal love for traditional style, having done some research on ancient historical attire.

As a result, a single glance around the shop made her realize that there were likely a vast number of genuine artifacts here.

Good lord! The girl marveled in her head: This really is a hidden gem of a shop!

What she failed to notice was that from the moment she entered, a gaze had been locked firmly onto her, filled with intense longing.

You Xing walked up to Zitan and coughed lightly.

Withdrawing its gaze, Zitan yelled out at the top of its voice: “Boss! I covet her! Sell me to her, hurry!”

What a pretty girl!

You Xingyue picked up his teacup, using it to cover his mouth as he whispered, “Keep it down. What if she hears you? Besides, how many pretty girls have you fallen for by now? Can’t you be a bit more devoted to just one?”

Zitan wriggled inside its physical form: “Oh my~ don’t be like that.”

The girl in the short skirt asked, “Boss, may I take a few photos?”

Lowering his cup, You Xingyue offered a gentle smile: “Of course.”

The girl took a few photos and spent a couple of minutes texting on her phone. Within moments, two young men, one tall, one short, appeared outside the shop.

The shorter one wore a hat and a face mask, his exposed skin sickly pale and devoid of blood flow.

The taller guy stood even taller than You Xingyue, dressed in athletic wear that couldn’t hide his well-trained physique. Slightly out of place, however, was his long hair tied up into a man bun.

The taller guy carefully supported the shorter one as they entered, only to be hit with a light punch by the latter, who didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

The guy in the hat said helplessly, “I’m not made of paper.”

Around the wrists of both young men was a bright red thread, binding the two tightly together.

You Xingyue withdrew his gaze and walked forward to greet them: “Welcome.”

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