Chapter Twenty-Three: Will It Ever End?

"I didn't mean to!" I immediately raised my hands and shouted, not daring to look again, and quickly darted to the side. Han Xue didn't say a word. After a while, she opened the door. Though her cheeks were flushed, she feigned composure and crooked her finger at me. "Come here, why are you standing so far away?"

I knew what was waiting for me—the ultimate pinch. To be honest, I was a little afraid of Han Xue’s infamous claw, but since I was in the wrong, I had no choice. I walked over, closed my eyes, and said, "Be gentle."

But instead of pain on my arm, Han Xue stood on tiptoe and flicked me on the forehead. She burst out laughing, "Look at how scared you are!"

I was already standing quite close to her now, close enough to catch the scent of floral cologne from her skin. She was wearing a silk nightdress, and with the scene I had just witnessed, not to mention the fact that I’d accidentally spied on her bathing and she wasn’t angry, my courage swelled without me realizing. I stepped forward and, without warning, scooped her up by the waist, giving her a playful smack on the behind. "You little minx, who are you calling a coward?"

Han Xue was clearly startled. She shrieked and slapped at my head. "You scoundrel, put me down!"

Truthfully, I was nervous as hell, but I remembered advice from the self-proclaimed playboy in my college dorm: when it comes to matters between men and women, never be too reserved. The bolder you are, the more you get. I used laughter to mask my nerves. "I won’t put you down."

So I held her like that. She struggled a few times, then stopped, gently wrapped her arms around my neck, and rested her chin on my head. We stood there, embracing in silence. The stillness slowly washed away the chaos in my mind, leaving me utterly at peace. In that moment, I wished I could hold her like this forever, even for a lifetime.

After about five minutes, Han Xue whispered, "Yezi, let me down."

I gently set her down. When our eyes met, I felt my face burning, and her cheeks were flushed, too—irresistibly so. Unable to contain myself, I lowered my head and pecked her lightly on the cheek. In an instant, she turned crimson from head to toe, casting me a shy but furious glare as she scolded, "You rascal, will you never stop?"

With that, she turned and hurried into the room, but didn’t shut the door. If it were my playboy roommate, he probably would’ve charged in after her, but I wasn’t him, and Han Xue wasn’t the kind of girl to be won over by sweet talk. I’d already gained enough tonight; I didn’t want to push my luck and ruin everything.

I entered the room. Han Xue was already inside the mosquito net. When I glanced at the floor, my heart warmed instantly: my bedding was already neatly laid out. It felt just like having a wife at home, preparing my bed for me. I pinched my nose and asked, "Didn’t I tell you to wait for me at my house? Why did you come back?"

"Nobody was home. The door was locked. Since I wanted to take a shower anyway, I came back," Han Xue replied.

"No one was home?" I was taken aback. I’d told my mom to go to the riverbank to watch Fatty perform the ritual, but she prefers peace and quiet, so she hadn’t gone. My grandpa, always puffing on his pipe, rarely moves much at his age. It was already dark when Han Xue left—where could they have gone?

"Yeah, no one was there. Maybe they went visiting next door. I didn’t want to ask around," Han Xue said.

I nodded, thinking that might be it. I considered calling to check, but it was so late already; I could ask in the morning.

"How did things go over there?" Han Xue asked.

I recounted what had happened by the riverbank. By the end, Han Xue’s eyes were shining. "Your brother is really that amazing?!"

"Of course! The Twelve Ghost Caves—growing up, I only ever heard that my brother could enter them," I said.

"Then why didn’t you tell him about the fool coming to find me? Wouldn’t he have handled it? Or was this all on purpose?" Han Xue glared at me.

I raised my hand. "Come on, you’re wronging me. I wanted to, but I was worried you’d be frightened. I did tell my brother, but he’s got a strange temper. He said someone else was already handling it and it wasn’t his place to intervene. At first, I thought he meant that fake Taoist from the Tai Chi Temple, but then I realized it wasn’t him. Maybe it’s Fatty. Who knows? My brother is a mystery."

"Did you tell Fatty?" Han Xue asked.

"Not yet. At first, I didn’t really trust him, but after tonight, he seems like a decent guy. I’ll tell him tomorrow," I said.

Han Xue nodded. "Deal with it quickly. Don’t forget, your beautiful online friend is still stuck in the thieves’ den!"

If she hadn’t mentioned it, I really might have forgotten, with so many things happening lately. By now it was late, and we each went to sleep. After these past two years, we both knew that the fool only came at midnight. Technically, I shouldn’t have slept before twelve, but whether it was exhaustion or feeling safe with Fatty and my brother around, I ended up chatting with Han Xue until I drifted off.

I was sleeping soundly when the tinkle of wind chimes suddenly woke me. I jolted upright from the floor, just as Han Xue rubbed her eyes and woke up too. We were both instantly alert. Almost instinctively, after checking on Han Xue, I looked at the window. There, clear as ever, stood that unmistakable shadow—a long-haired woman. Who else could it be but the fool?

"Is this really never going to end?" I stood up, grabbed my stick, and kicked open the door.

With ghosts, the first time you’re scared, the second time you’re scared, the third time you just get annoyed. I was annoyed now. She just stood outside, doing nothing, saying nothing. Would it ever end?

I stepped outside. "Fool, what do you want? Haven’t you had enough?"

The fool only smiled at me, just like the night before. She calmly unfastened the buttons of her burial clothes, showing me the massive bloody hole in her abdomen.

"That night, it was Chen Stone who took me there. You should know this had nothing to do with me. If you want revenge, go find him! Fool, I feel sorry for you, but please stop haunting Han Xue. There are experts in the village now. If you keep causing trouble, you’ll risk your soul being destroyed," I told her. My fear had lessened a lot tonight; standing before her, I only felt an icy chill.

Just as I finished speaking, I suddenly heard the sounds of a scuffle outside the school. The fight was brief, and then Fatty walked into the schoolyard. The moment he saw the fool, he said, "So this is why the air feels thick with ghostly energy. You must be the fool who turned into a revenant, right?"

With that, Fatty rushed straight at her.

Seeing the fool and knowing what Fatty was capable of, I realized that if he made a move, she’d be utterly destroyed. I don’t know what came over me, but I suddenly stepped in front of her and stopped Fatty. "Fatty, wait, don’t do it!"

"Fool, run!" I called back to her.

She looked at me, her smile unchanged from the one she wore in death.

Fatty shoved me aside. "Brother Thief King, what’s the meaning of this? Didn’t you bring me here to handle this business?"

"I’ll explain in a moment, just don’t do anything yet, please?" I said.

Fatty shot me a strange look. By then, the fool’s figure had vanished. Han Xue, having heard the commotion, came out of the room, blinking at Fatty and me.

"Well, well, Brother Thief King, your girlfriend is beautiful! But wait, your pure yang energy is still intact—you should still be a virgin. Did Fatty misjudge you?" Fatty wondered aloud.

"Don’t talk nonsense. She’s just my girlfriend, not my wife yet," I replied.

I didn’t invite Fatty into Han Xue’s dorm; I didn’t want another man setting foot in there. Instead, we fetched two stools and sat outside, and I explained why I’d stopped him from attacking the fool. In truth, I felt she was a good person, a pitiful one. If she were destroyed, it would only compound her tragedy.

"That’s how it is. Back when I was a kid, if the fool had grabbed that branch and pulled me into the river with her,