Chapter 1 Bonfire

The bonfire was slowly lit.

There was no sudden burst of flames reaching the sky, as seen in TV and movies, but a gradual burning.

Old Man Cui held the old woman, who was covered in blood, as they lay on the pile of firewood. The old woman struggled constantly, sensing the fear and knowing the harm the fire would bring her. But Old Man Cui patted her shoulder, comforting her like a boyfriend consoling his little girlfriend, humming songs and whispering soothing words.

The little girl also lay beside them, but she was a ghost and unafraid of the fire. She didn't know why she was lying there, nor why her grandpa and mom were there.

Grandpa told her to lie there, so she did.

Zhou Ze lit the fire. Old Man Cui had kept his promise. After everything was done, he comforted the old woman and together they mounted the "burning stake."

All heterosexuals should be burned to death.

But even as this heterosexual couple lay on the burning firewood, they continued to flaunt their love.

Transcending age.

Even transcending the boundaries of species.

An Eastern version of *Ghost*.

"So, this is love?"

Xu Qinglang sighed.

People always sighed at things that exceeded their expectations.

Like touching love stories.

Because for most people, couples were just birds of a feather, and only a minority could stay together until death.

Most vows of eternal love

only ensured that the man and woman were sincere at the time they were made under the flowers and moon.

As time passed, whether they could truly fulfill those promises and grand aspirations was something that shouldn't be taken too seriously, nor could it be.

"Before she starts screaming from the burning, you still have time to go up and take a selfie with the fire, post it on Weibo or WeChat Moments, with the caption:

'So happy, witnessed true love tonight.'

Or,

'When will I find a man like this for me?'"

Xu Qinglang ignored Zhou Ze's sarcasm, but still replied,

"I'm surprised you actually compromised."

"What else could I do?" Zhou Ze shook his head and continued, "If compromising can bring the best outcome, I'm willing to compromise."

"The best outcome?"

"This is the best outcome. It's an explanation for everyone," Zhou Ze replied.

"An explanation?"

"Sun Kewang killed his own mother, an unforgivable crime, but the old woman also killed many people who didn't deserve to die. If the final result is that they all die, at least no one will feel resentful, right?"

"Your logic..."

"I'm not a judge or a policeman. My job is just to burn this old woman who has turned into a jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire), to get rid of her so she doesn't run outside and cause trouble for me. This outcome is already the most satisfactory."

The fire began to burn more intensely,

gradually engulfing Old Man Cui and the old woman.

Piercing screams came from within, along with struggling figures. It was hard to tell whether it was Old Man Cui or the old woman screaming.

"That wife and that son really didn't deserve to die," Xu Qinglang lamented. "That's probably the biggest regret."

A revenge.

A cycle of cause and effect.

Because it involved strangers,

it didn't feel quite so satisfactory.

Like a stain on a work of art, similar to the self-righteous inscriptions of Emperor Qianlong on many famous paintings passed down through the generations, somewhat spoiling the scenery.

People always expected heroes to be absolutely flawless in terms of personal character and private life, but the reality was often not the case.

Martin Luther King Jr. gave speeches while also hiring prostitutes and even engaging in double-flying,

but it didn't stop his speeches from being included in textbooks.

Zhou Ze knew that Xu Qinglang's mentality was purely that of a spectator, always wanting the performance on stage to be perfect.

"Should I perform a Buddhist rite for the mother and son?" Xu Qinglang asked.

"No need."

"But they died so pitifully."

"Maybe the old woman found out she was pregnant before she died but didn't dare to tell her son, so she told her grandson or daughter-in-law, and they ratted her out."

"Did you ask?"

"No."

"Then why are you saying that?"

"Isn't it because I saw you were feeling uncomfortable?"

The fire began to die down slowly. Zhou Ze stopped wasting words with Xu Qinglang and stepped forward to check. Dust to dust, earth to earth. Old Man Cui spent his entire life with yin-yang eyes, and it was hard not to feel a little emotional about such an ending.

The little girl stood on the ashes, still looking at Zhou Ze with confusion.

"Come, I'll send you to where you need to go, to find your pa... your grandpa and mom."

With that,

Zhou Ze opened the Gates of Hell.

Regardless of right or wrong,

everything should come to an end.

The little girl walked towards the Gates of Hell with some bewilderment, awaiting a new beginning.

People often thought of ghost messengers as the end of everything, but they could also be seen as the prelude to a new song.

"Uncle, Grandpa said there's a diary under the wooden stump beneath the stove. You can take it if you want."

"Okay." Zhou Ze smiled and gestured for her to go in.

"Uncle, Grandpa also said Mom wasn't originally like this. He said it was because of the flute music."

After the little girl said these words, she walked into the Gates of Hell.

Zhou Ze clapped his hands, and the Gates of Hell disappeared. He turned around to look at Xu Qinglang.

"What did she just say, flute music?"

"Thump..."

Xu Qinglang didn't answer.

Instead, he fainted directly on the ground.

"Hey, Old Xu?"

Zhou Ze immediately stepped forward and found that Xu Qinglang's face was turning green and his lips were slowly protruding.

Reaching out and prying open Xu Qinglang's lips,

Zhou Ze saw two small fangs, just beginning to emerge!

"Fuck."

Boss Zhou started to panic.

He immediately unwrapped the tightly bandaged gauze around Xu Qinglang's neck.

The flesh on his neck had almost rotted into a lump.

...

Xu Qinglang didn't know how long he had been unconscious. He only knew that in his dream, he seemed to still hear the flute music from that night, distant yet near, making it difficult to grasp.

He had thought that the living corpses were created by the old woman and that she had reawakened him.

But later, he thought of a doubtful point, which was that the old woman was with Zhou Ze at Sun Kewang's house, so it was impossible for her to reach all the way over here. Moreover, the old woman was just a jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire) with very low intelligence, who could only be slightly controlled by Old Man Cui and didn't have that kind of ability.

He thought for a long time,

and had many dreams.

Xu Qinglang dreamed of his childhood,

dreamed of when he was a street thug,

dreamed of meeting the old bureau chief and then being sent to the noodle shop to learn a craft.

This dream

was very, very long,

constantly looping, repeatedly torturing his nerves.

Finally,

he dreamed that he was being put into a large pot.

"What are you doing?"

Xu Qinglang asked.

The pot started to get hotter and hotter,

and the water also started to get hotter and hotter.

Xu Qinglang desperately wanted to climb out of the pot, but he couldn't.

At this moment,

the old Taoist priest ran out from a dark corner,

holding his phone and taking pictures of him frantically:

"Guys,

this time we're live-streaming 'Stewing Yourself in an Iron Pot'!"

"Huff... huff..."

Xu Qinglang suddenly raised his head and found that he was sitting naked in a bathtub, with hot water constantly swirling around him, creating mist.

Across from him, Zhou Ze sat there, manicuring his nails, manicuring them with great care.

"Boss, do you need more water?"

The old Taoist priest asked from not far away.

"Add more, keep adding."

"Okay!"

The old Taoist priest carried a bucket and went to heat more water.

After a while, Bai Yingying walked over, holding a bag of dark stuff. Bai Yingying didn't notice that Xu Qinglang in the bathtub had already woken up, and she directly untied the bag and poured it into the bathtub.

"What is this!"

Looking at this dark, thick, mud-like stuff being poured in,

Xu Qinglang, who had no less of a cleanliness obsession than Zhou Ze, immediately shouted.

"Ah!"

Bai Yingying opened her mouth wide and said in surprise, "Esteemed Consort Xu, you're awake?"

"What?" Xu Qinglang was a little confused. "How long have I been unconscious?"

"Three days and three nights."

As she said this, Bai Yingying covered her mouth and giggled.

"I was so scared. When the boss brought you back to the bookstore, I thought you were planning to deliberately turn yourself into a jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire) and compete with me for his affection.

*Ying ying ying* (sound of crying)."

"..." Xu Qinglang.

If he weren't naked at this moment,

Xu Qinglang really wanted to take a hammer and pry open Bai Yingying's head to see what was inside.

Of course,

if Yingying really went berserk,

he would also be afraid.

"You're awake."

Zhou Ze put down the nail clippers and walked over, then reached out and touched Xu Qinglang's chin.

Xu Qinglang immediately backed away,

but the bathtub was so small,

where could he retreat to?

"What's wrong with me?"

"What's wrong? You were bitten by a jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire). Why didn't you tell me earlier? Did you think being a jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire) was fun? Let me tell you, most jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire)s are like the downstairs death servants."

"You weren't in a good state then, I didn't want to add to your..."

"Alright, stop, stop."

Zhou Ze rubbed his forehead.

"Old Xu, we already have enough jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire)s in the shop. I don't want to rename the bookstore 'Jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire) Bookstore' later.

It's all gloomy stuff, completely saving on the air conditioning bill."

"Then me, now?" Xu Qinglang pointed at himself.

"I don't know, and Yingying doesn't know how to solve the problem of corpse poisoning. We can only guess blindly. We originally wanted the old Taoist priest to suck out the poison for you, but he refused no matter what.

It's impossible for Yingying and me to suck out the poison for you, I'm afraid you'd become even more poisoned.

I've been burning the midnight oil these days, flipping through some materials,

looking for some folk remedies and methods, and first used them on you. What we just poured in was monkey urine mixed with mud. Regardless of which one is useful, we'll use them all on you first.

There's also aged glutinous rice, old Taoist priest's talismans, toads, and water snakes in this bathtub. Oh right, I was afraid it wouldn't taste good, so I added some sour plum juice."

Only then did Xu Qinglang feel an itch below him. He immediately reached down and grabbed something, pulling out a snake.

"Where exactly did you guys find these folk remedies?"

Xu Qinglang asked through gritted teeth.

This,

there was really a snake in there!

"Hong Kong jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire) movies.

Thanks to you, I've watched the Lam Ching-ying series again recently. I used to just watch it for fun, but now it's really relatable. Yingying likes it so much too."

"..." Xu Qinglang.