“Hahaha... it’s gotta be a coincidence. How could the Ghost Emperor show up here? That makes no sense!

It’s broad daylight. Ghosts can’t appear in the daytime. That’s common sense, get it?”

Zhong Cheng kept trying to reassure himself. But the instant the young woman turned her head, all that comfort became useless.

It was the Ghost Emperor.

She really was the Ghost Emperor.

That pale yet devastatingly beautiful face. That eerie, teasing curve of a smile. There was no way he could mistake it.

No matter how desperately Zhong Cheng wished something had gone wrong, that this was some kind of bug, that the programmers hadn’t pulled an all-nighter to fix it and had left it for the next day—

So damn unprofessional. They ought to sacrifice the coders to the heavens!

But... was that even possible?

Her looks, her presence, even her voice—every damn bit matched.

Tell me, then. What reason is left to deny that she’s the Ghost Emperor? Tell me already.

She’s not the Ghost Emperor. She’s not the Ghost Emperor. She’s not...

Fake, fake. She’s fake...

I was supposed to escape. I was supposed to make it out alive...

Why not? Why did it all reset back to the start?

It was like playing some brutally hard RGB game. He’d clearly struggled all the way to the final stage, only to get mercilessly crushed by the boss every single time, then grit his teeth and start over. A despairing loop with no end.

Why was the Ghost Emperor here?

This made no sense. Unclean things weren’t supposed to appear in broad daylight. That was basic common sense.

And another thing—how could she dye her hair black, wear modern clothes, and play on her phone? There was nothing ghostly about that at all.

If not for how normal her modern look was, so natural it felt completely unremarkable, Zhong Cheng would’ve recognized her long ago.

Who could’ve guessed the Ghost Emperor had such a modern side?

Take a hike!

“My husband, you’re so naughty. You actually tried to run away? Tell me, how should I punish you?” the Ghost Emperor asked darkly.

Her voice was sweet and pleasant, even a little coquettish. But Zhong Cheng was terrified. More terrified than he had ever been in his life.

Fear, enhanced version.jpg.

His face had already gone deathly pale. His poor little heart was pounding wildly.

So the nightmare hadn’t ended. It had only just begun. And here he’d been, smug with himself before this. Cry.

“Why are you here? It’s daytime. How did you leave the Ancient Shrine and move around under the sun? This makes no sense...” Zhong Cheng stammered, his words all over the place.

“Why doesn’t it make sense? Who told you ghosts can’t move under the sun? It may be difficult for other spirits and monsters, but for me, it poses no difficulty at all.”

The Ghost Emperor’s lips curled slightly. Her expression was alluring, as if she were enjoying the sight of Zhong Cheng being scared.

Zhong Cheng could only curse feudal superstition for harming people. Spreading fake feudal superstition was even worse.

Then he suddenly remembered something and quickly looked at the other passengers on the bus. Before, they had seemed normal enough. But after spotting the Ghost Emperor, the moment he looked at them again, he immediately sensed something off.

They had stayed silent this whole time. And with the dim lighting...

Could they all be...?

As if noticing his suspicious gaze, they all turned their heads toward him at the same time. Even the driver did.

A full one-hundred-eighty-degree turn, completely ignoring what a human neck could endure. No normal person could ever do that.

Every one of them had a pale, ghastly face. Their mouths stretched into savage grins, and green light glowed from their eyes.

Being stared at in silence by a group twisting their necks like that was horrifying.

“Heh heh heh, groom-to-be, didn’t we tell you? You can’t escape.”

I get it, I get it. I won’t run anymore, okay?!

So, Mr. Driver, could you please keep your eyes on the road?

This is a mountain road. It’s way more dangerous than an ordinary highway. If you don’t watch where you’re going, there’ll be a traffic accident any minute. And if we drive off a cliff, there won’t even be a body left.

Just because you ghosts can’t die doesn’t mean you get to ignore traffic safety. Don’t forget, I’m a normal flesh-and-blood human. I can die.

Could you please think about my safety for once?

Zhong Cheng was on the verge of tears.

Thankfully, they soon turned back around and stopped collectively eye-fucking him.

“So, my husband, how do you think I should punish you?”

Zhong Cheng had only just relaxed when he heard the Ghost Emperor ask that. His heart leaped right back into his throat.

What the hell.

“I should be the one asking you. What exactly do you want? Why can’t you just let me go?”

Zhong Cheng decided to go all in. He couldn’t escape her ghostly claws anyway, so he might as well face her head-on.

At least if he died, he could die with a little dignity. Not like some complete coward.

Charge, charge, charge. I’m going for one more reckless push!

“So you dislike me that much?” The Ghost Emperor’s alluring expression vanished at once, and her gaze turned cold.

“I wouldn’t dare. How would I dare dislike you? I just think I’m not worthy of you.” He was putting himself down, but the dissatisfaction in his tone was obvious.

“It seems my husband still has plenty of yang energy left. You’re quite spirited. Then let me take another sip first.”

“Yamete...”

“Suuuck~”

She started sucking the moment they disagreed. Even a savage girlfriend wouldn’t be this savage.

I want a broken engagement. I want a divorce. Who wants a wife like this? She’s unreasonable, and then somehow even more unreasonable.

Divorce, divorce, divorce. I have to divorce her.

You’re impossible to satisfy every single day. Don’t call yourself the Ghost Emperor anymore. Call yourself the Glutton Emperor instead. Hmph!

“Suuuck~”

Zhong Cheng was already rolling his eyes, slumped in his seat, limp and weak, his hands and feet twitching slightly.

He had no opinions left. He wanted to cry, but his eyes were too dry for tears.

Couldn’t charge anymore.

Mom... I just want to go home and be a good boy.

Seeing Zhong Cheng half-dead, looking drugged and too weak to resist, like she could do whatever she wanted to him, the Ghost Emperor seemed very satisfied.

She put down her phone and stopped playing Fruit Ninja. Then she reached out with her slender jade-like finger and poked Zhong Cheng’s shriveled cheek. Poke, poke, poke.

It seemed fun to her. She just kept poking.

Poke poke poke poke...

The force was very light, but being poked over and over like this was seriously annoying, okay?

Why was the Ghost Emperor so childish? She was probably over a thousand years old. Shameless old thing. She couldn’t vent her Fruit Ninja energy there, so she was taking it out on him.

Zhong Cheng was baffled. He was already in this miserable state, a complete salted fish, and she still wouldn’t let him rest or let him off. She just kept poking. Poking your damn—

“My husband, don’t you like poking cheeks very much? You secretly poked mine while I was sleeping,” the Ghost Emperor said with amusement.

“...” Zhong Cheng.

So back then, damn it, you weren’t asleep at all. You were just pretending!

“It seems my husband doesn’t know. Ghosts don’t actually need sleep. Even if we do sleep, it’s only a light sleep. We wake very easily,” the Ghost Emperor said.

“Then why didn’t you wake up back then? Were you messing with me?” Zhong Cheng asked angrily.

“Because it was interesting. I wanted to see what you were planning,” the Ghost Emperor said with a smile.

So from beginning to end, he had been played like a fiddle?

He was the only one who didn’t know. He’d even gotten hyped on his own, trembling for his life, thinking he still had a chance to save himself.

And in the end, the whole damn thing had been a setup from start to finish. Under her auntie smile, all he’d done was struggle on the verge of death.

There was no greater failure in life than this.

“Just kill me already! Stop torturing me. Give me a quick death!”

Zhong Cheng had fallen into despair.

A ghost that could walk in broad daylight—there was no way he could shake her off. Rather than spend the rest of his days being drained dry by her, ruled by fear, living in constant dread, he’d rather just get it over with.

Eighteen years later, he’d be a good man again.

“My husband is so delicious... no, so interesting and cute. How could I kill you so easily?” the Ghost Emperor said.

“So I’m supposed to thank you for sparing my life? When you clearly just see me as food.” Zhong Cheng’s voice turned cold.

The mask was off now. Screw it.

If life was just a game with no ending, full of bugs, where all you could do was fail over and over and suffer through endless loops—

Then a life like that wasn’t worth having.

Since he wasn’t even afraid of death anymore, there was even less reason to fear the Ghost Emperor. At worst, she’d kill him, he’d become a ghost, and they could continue this husband-and-wife bond.

Maybe that would be better.

If he became one of them too, then he wouldn’t have to be afraid anymore.

And the Ghost Emperor wouldn’t be able to suck him dry either. He could even, heh heh heh...

Now that he thought about it, why the hell was he actually starting to look forward to it?

If you can’t beat them, join them. Truly, that was the truth.

So kill me already. Hurry up and kill me. I’m not afraid of dying.

I’ll resist to the end. Even if I die here today, I will never beg for mercy.

Revolution demands blood.

Success rests with heaven.

The body may rot like grass and wood,

but the soul turns with sun and moon.

This steadfast will in my heart

still looks up toward the white clouds.”