Chapter 6: A Woman's Heart Is as Deep as the Ocean

Li Xuan was at a loss for words. Her mouth opened and closed several times, yet she could not utter a single name.

Though she couldn’t think of one, she still refused to acknowledge what I’d said.

Still forcing herself to be strong, she insisted, “My child… of course my child has a father…”

I took a deep breath, picked up my wrung-out shirt from the floor, and wiped myself down.

Shaking the rainwater from my hair, droplets scattered across the ground, forming an almost artistic pattern.

After running my hand through my hair, neither long nor short, I looked calmly at Li Xuan.

“Li Xuan, it takes ten months to carry a child. Was your belly ever big?”

“And besides, you’re already dead.”

“You’re already dead…”

Those words imprinted themselves in Li Xuan’s mind like a curse.

Her pupils widened abruptly; clutching her temples, she shook her head desperately.

After a moment, all movement ceased. She crouched down, hugging her knees, and began to sob uncontrollably.

I knew that what had happened to her would always be an unhealed wound.

But she had to face this pain directly—otherwise, her suffering would become an obsession.

If her obsession remained unresolved, once the seventh day passed, it would turn into resentment and malice, making her a vengeful spirit. She would lose her chance at reincarnation, condemned to wander as a lost ghost through cold, endless nights.

“I discovered that the dead child—the ghost infant—had set its sights on you, wanting to use your body as its mother to be born into this world.”

“I followed you all the way, wanting to help. I admit, I was too focused and forgot you were in the women’s restroom, which led to some misunderstandings between us.”

I squatted beside Li Xuan, watching her helpless sobs, then turned my head toward the rain still pouring outside.

“I was expelled. I thought the ghost infant wouldn’t act against you so soon—at least not until I’d handled my own affairs. I underestimated its resolve to be born into this world.”

“I also underestimated its ignorance. If it had entered the body of a truly pregnant woman, it might have succeeded.”

“But you weren’t pregnant. It forced itself into your body, using ghostly energy to swell your belly. Though you gave birth to it, without the ten months of gestation, its birth defied the laws of nature and it died instantly. As for you…”

I spat on the ground. “When it emerged, it drained all your vital energy, causing you to die on the spot as well.”

Turning back to the crouched figure beside me, I said, “As much as I wish this weren’t true, I have to tell you clearly: you’re already dead.”

My voice echoed across the empty restroom.

“Li Xuan, I can help you…”

“Help me? How can you help me now? Can you bring me back to life?”

She looked up at me, her face an overwhelming display of emotion—enough to frighten the living to death.

But what concerned me more was the chill rising from her body, the aura of death thickening!

This was the sign—her obsession was turning into malice, the first step toward becoming a vengeful spirit!

“Li Xuan, calm down! Please, don’t be impulsive.”

I quickly stood in front of her, hands outstretched. “I’m here to help you, truly! I can fulfill any of your wishes—”

“Any wish? I want to live! I want to be alive again!”

Awkwardly, I scratched my head. “Anything but that…”

She exhaled sharply, as if breathing out her anger. “You’re playing with me!”

“I’m not! I mean it!”

My sincerity was real, but I’d underestimated the intensity of Li Xuan’s anger.

A thin layer of frost formed on my skin. Li Xuan’s face began to transform.

What had been merely deathly pale was now streaked with veins like a spiderweb.

Dark red liquid oozed from the corners of her eyes, dripping from her chin to the floor. Her whole body began to rise slowly into the air!

Damn!

In that instant, I realized how naive I’d been. How could a few words from me resolve Li Xuan’s obsession? What right did I have to expect that?

If I were in her place, I’d be furious too! Alive and well, only to be killed by a ghost child.

“Dead… dead… we’re all dead…”

Li Xuan was now wholly overtaken by rage. I had only one option left.

If I wanted to reason with her, to talk things through, first I’d have to subdue her.

I glanced at my backpack still outside in the rain. Even if I went to retrieve it, everything inside was soaked and useless.

No choice—it was time to use that technique.

Though I never imagined my first time would be in a restroom, with a female ghost.

If I used the Thunder Curse, she’d be destroyed completely, her soul scattered to the winds.

The gentler talismans would do nothing against her in this state, teetering on the brink of becoming a vengeful spirit.

I raised my head, shouting seriously, “Li Xuan! This is your last chance. If you don’t come back to yourself, I’ll have to break you apart!”

Without hesitation, I used my own tongue’s blood to draw a spirit talisman on my chest.

This charm would let me touch a ghost like Li Xuan.

“By order of the law, manifest!”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I dashed forward, using the sink to launch myself up to where Li Xuan floated in the air.

I wrapped my arms tightly around her. Her face, veined with blood and dripping dark liquid, jerked back and forth before my eyes.

Matching her movements, I waited for the right moment—then kissed her ghostly lips!

Don’t misunderstand—I wasn’t taking advantage. I used my living energy to draw out the resentment from her body, to stop her from turning into a vengeful spirit.

Eighteen years old, midnight, outside the ladies’ restroom, first kiss, female ghost.

I never imagined these words would be strung together in my life.

But that was the reality. When I landed, every part of me trembled, coated in a sheen of ice.

Li Xuan’s resentment was overwhelming. If I didn’t have innate yang energy, I would never have survived it.

Once on the ground, I quickly wiped the talisman from my chest, letting my vital energy dissolve the last of her lingering resentment.

“Li Xuan…”

“My first kiss—you took it from me?”

Before I could speak, Li Xuan beat me to it.

I looked at her. She’d returned to her normal appearance, the aura of resentment gone entirely.

She stood there, head bowed shyly, fiddling with her fingers.

It seemed she’d made a huge decision. She looked up at me, mustering her courage.

“You have to take responsibility! From now on, you’re my boyfriend! This is so embarrassing—I’ve never dated anyone, and now my first kiss is gone!”

She looked every bit the bashful young woman. They say a woman’s heart is a needle at the bottom of the sea; female ghosts, it seems, are no different.

One moment, hating the world; the next, ready for romance?

To keep her calm, I nodded without hesitation. “Then you have to listen to your boyfriend!”

“Mhm, I’ll be good!”

I glanced at Li Xuan, and she was looking back at me.

I coughed to break the awkwardness. “Li Xuan, do me a favor—wake up Principal Liu. There are some things I need to ask him.”

“Huh? Principal Liu’s here too? Oh no, the principal’s found out about our early relationship!”

I forced a smile. “What’s there to be afraid of? You’re a ghost, I’ve been expelled—he can’t control us anymore.”

“Wake him up. I want to know why the ghost infant tried to kill him.”