Chapter Twenty-Nine: Huang De Seeks Marriage, Ferocious Ghost Devours Humans

At the same time, from Murong Xingyao, Lin Yi also found out why Murong Yueyao broke up with him.

According to Murong Xingyao, in prominent families like the Murongs, choosing a son-in-law or daughter-in-law always comes down to matching families of equal status. Previously, some trouble had occurred in the Murong family: a cousin of his fell for a poor young man. The elders in the family disapproved, insisting they break up, but his cousin refused to listen.

In the third year of their relationship, just as they were about to discuss marriage, the poor young man suddenly vanished—disappearing as if he had never existed.

Of course, from what Murong Xingyao said, that young man was definitely still alive, but certainly not in the country anymore—no one knew which foreign land he had ended up in.

The family elders had been insidious, giving the poor young man both sweet nothings and temptations—money, beautiful women—corrupting his heart and thoroughly shattering Murong Xingyao’s cousin’s resolve.

Murong Xingyao didn’t elaborate on the young man’s final fate, but Lin Yi could easily guess it was nothing good.

This idle conversation struck Lin Yi with a profound shock.

He now understood that Murong Yueyao had probably broken up with him to protect him.

“Could it be that I’ve wrongly blamed Murong Yueyao? Still… I can’t just take this at face value… Murong Xingyao is quite the chatterbox, so I’ll have to keep watching… But these medicinal porridges really are something. No wonder they’re so expensive; this table of herbal dishes must cost at least twenty or thirty thousand…”

Three bowls and six side dishes.

And that was only the price for the herbal-enhanced cuisine. The medicinal porridges were even pricier.

On average, each bowl of porridge cost at least six hundred sixty-six yuan and sixty-six cents.

After downing several bowls, Lin Yi felt it was all a bit too extravagant, but Murong Xingyao seemed genuinely generous toward him, showing no concern for the money spent.

Afterward, the two went on to finish off two large bottles of Moutai. Murong Xingyao’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.

He noticed that after a normal person ate these medicinal dishes and drank this much liquor, the effects would at least leave them a little dazed, overwhelmed by the herbal potency.

Yet Lin Yi showed no sign of discomfort.

Especially with the Moutai—each of them drank an entire bottle. Lin Yi handled his as if it were water, while Murong Xingyao, after one bottle, had to secretly use his internal energy to dispel some of the alcohol; otherwise, he wouldn’t have managed it at all.

It’s said that sharing a drink forges strong bonds; after drinking together, their relationship truly advanced a step.

At the very least, while Lin Yi still kept his guard up, he felt Murong Xingyao was pretty straightforward—he spoke his mind. The only question was whether the stories he told about his family were true.

If everything he said was genuine, then Murong Yueyao must care about him, a thought that left Lin Yi feeling weak in the knees.

As they chatted about everything under the sun, Lin Yi browsed online for a house on his phone. He found a villa in the Zhengda Garden neighborhood—it wasn’t overly expensive, about ten thousand yuan a month.

Once, Lin Yi could never have afforded such a place, but now, it didn’t matter.

Murong Xingyao shamelessly leaned over, saw Lin Yi searching for a rental, and immediately waved his hand, insisting Lin Yi put away his phone.

“Brother Lin Yi, now that we’re calling each other brothers, I have to give you a meeting gift—especially since you just saved me, taking care of that Daoist! Brother, I have a small villa here in Shengjing City, sitting vacant. You should just live there…”

Lin Yi was momentarily speechless.

He felt as if Murong Xingyao had come to deliver benefits right to his door.

But Lin Yi didn’t want to accept such a thing for nothing.

Murong Xingyao grew anxious at his refusal, making it clear that if Lin Yi didn’t accept the villa, he’d donate it to Shengjing Academy and have the principal award it to Lin Yi as a reward—one way or another, the villa would end up with him.

What’s most troublesome is someone who insists on being stubborn—Murong Xingyao was determined to give it to him.

After some thought, Lin Yi finally accepted, though only on the condition that he would reside there temporarily, not take ownership for free.

Even this made Murong Xingyao exceedingly happy.

“I’ll transfer the deed to you anyway, so just relax and live there. Come on, let’s go take a look at the villa right now…”

Murong Xingyao, having recognized Lin Yi’s true ability, couldn’t help but recall the embarrassing scene at the antique market, where that Daoist from Mount Longhu, Zhang Ruofeng, tried shamelessly to chat up Murong Yueyao. The memory still made his liver ache with anger.

Thank goodness for the mysterious and formidable Lin Yi.

In Murong Xingyao’s eyes, cultivating a good relationship with Lin Yi would be immensely beneficial.

He even entertained the thought that Lin Yi might be a good match for his cousin.

Shaking his head, Murong Xingyao quickly remembered the temper and ruthless methods of the family’s elders and shrank back inwardly.

Originally, Lin Yi thought that by agreeing for now, Murong Xingyao would lose interest in a few days and forget the whole villa matter.

But after paying the bill, Murong Xingyao insisted on dragging Lin Yi to the villa district right away.

He even showed Lin Yi a forum post that had been deleted by the infamous “Harmony Beast.”

After reading the post, Lin Yi found his curiosity piqued.

“I’m a taxi driver. To earn more, I usually work the night shift—there’s more money at night. Today was another night on the job.”

“Anyone know Shili Po? Does anyone? I’m risking my life to share my experience from tonight. I figure it won’t be long before someone invites me for tea. On this forum, I’m sincerely looking for a girlfriend—I swear, everything I’m about to say is true! If you want to hear more stories, hang out with me and let’s chat! My name is Huang De, I’m thirty-five…”

…

“Upstairs, aren’t you just posting a personal ad? My back’s gone out from this—turned out to be a matchmaking post, I thought it was a ghost story!”

“Exactly, who doesn’t think so? Huang De, right? You’re thirty-five and worried about not being married? Bro, I’m over forty and still single—what’s the big deal? At least I have a mistress and a son! Heh heh heh…”

…

The forum crowd joked that they’d thrown their backs out and that Huang De was just looking for a wife.

But soon, fewer people made such comments.

“No, no, guys, I am looking for someone… Okay, yes, it’s a personal ad… but what I’m saying is true! I swear, if I’m lying, may I never marry in this life. That’s a pretty harsh curse, right?”

“That night, I parked at Caizi Jiayuan. A young, beautiful girl got in and said she wanted to go to Shili Po. She was really pretty—you should have seen her, wearing a black mini-skirt, showing off her fair, delicate legs, sandals on her feet, with her toenails painted a bright red. I won’t lie, I was staring, practically drooling… Ahem… But, I’m not that kind of guy…”

“Anyway, I was a bit blinded by beauty. Normally, I’d never go to Shili Po at night—it’s too creepy—but that night, I went. After the girl got out, she insisted on paying cash. She handed me a hundred-yuan bill. I was still thinking how rare it was for a young lady these days not to use QR codes… Before I could think more, an old lady got in and asked to go to Caizi Jiayuan.”

“You know, I’d just come from Caizi Jiayuan, and here this old lady wanted to go there from Shili Po. I was stunned, wondering at the coincidence, but work is work, so I took her back to Caizi Jiayuan.”

“This old lady didn’t use QR codes either—she handed me a hundred-yuan bill and told me to keep the change. That’s when I started getting scared.”

“Guys, I’m serious—sweat was beading on my bald head. I was really scared. Knock, knock, knock… Suddenly, someone tapped on the window. I opened my eyes and nearly died of fright!”

“There was that beautiful girl, not far from my car window, smiling at me! Before I could react, she opened the back door, got in, and with a smile, said she wanted to go to Shili Po… She wanted to go to Shili Po again!”

“This time, I took a closer look at her lips, at her bright red lipstick—it didn’t look like lipstick. It looked like… like… blood! There was blood on her lips!”

“‘To Shili Po…’ she said again. I was so scared I was numb. Her eyes were fixed on me. Instinctively, I drove her back to Shili Po, terrified the whole way. But that wasn’t the end. The beauty got out without doing anything to me, just really got out!”

“I was so scared I curled up in a ball—I didn’t even want the money, but she reached from behind and pressed a hundred-yuan bill into my hand. Her hand looked flawless and white, but it was freezing cold. I’ve never felt anything so cold in my life. And the more I looked at that hundred-yuan note, the stranger the color seemed!”

“Finally, she left. I was about to drive off when the window rattled again—knock, knock, knock. This time I looked… and it was the same old lady I’d just dropped at Caizi Jiayuan! She smiled at me. This time, I saw clearly—her teeth were stained with blood. She said… she wanted to go to Caizi Jiayuan again…”