Cao Fanzhen stomped her foot in frustration, “Ruru, how could you…!”
Seeing that Huang Mao carried no malevolent aura, Shi Pengpeng retracted her spell and lowered her gaze, “I’ll ask, and you answer, understand?”
“Understood, understood,” Huang Mao, being just an ordinary wandering spirit, was no match for Shi Pengpeng and immediately began to explain his origins.
He introduced himself as Zhou Xiao Lu, originally a left-behind child from a rural area in a neighboring city.
His parents had divorced when he was very young, leaving him with his grandmother in the countryside.
But his grandmother was also old and didn’t have the energy to take care of him.
He had dropped out of school early and gone to work in a factory.
However, life in the factory was too dull and boring for a teenage boy who couldn’t stand the loneliness.
Gradually, he started hanging out with some idle people in society and became one of the “spiritual youths” on the streets.
These “spiritual youths” loved to ride modified motorcycles and make noise on the streets.
To fit in, Zhou Xiaolu saved up money and bought a “ghost fire” motorcycle.
But one day, during a turn, he crashed into a stone pillar and died on the spot.
He was not even eighteen years old when he died.
At this point, Zhou Xiao Lu’s face showed a hint of regret as he scratched his head and said, “Actually, I didn’t really like speeding that much, but besides that, there didn’t seem to be anything else to do…”
Because he died unjustly, Zhou Xiao Lu carried a lingering resentment in his heart, becoming a wandering spirit that lingered in the mortal world, accompanied only by the motorcycle his grandmother had given him.
The ghost fire his grandmother burned for him.
Although he died because of this car, it was the only thing his family could give him.
“Sigh, the name of this car is really bad, ‘ghost fire, ghost fire.’ Who would have thought it would really become ghost fire,” Zhou Xiao Lu muttered awkwardly.
Cao Fanzhen:”….”
She remembered the inexplicable ghost fire joke Shi Pengpeng had mentioned on the way here.
Only now did she finally understand it. “How did you and Ruru meet?” Shi Pengpeng continued to ask.
Zhou Xiao Lu glanced at Cao Yinru, “Ruru, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to deceive you at first…”
“I know.”
Cao Yinru bit her lip, hesitated for a moment, and finally mustered the courage to speak, “Sister, don’t blame Xiao Lu anymore. He was just trying to help me. Back at school, there was this annoying boy who kept harassing me and even waited for me outside the school. Luckily, Xiao Lu was there…”
Cao Fanzhen was shocked: “What happened?”
It turned out that Cao Yinru attended a boarding school.
Recently, a boy in her grade had pursued her, but after she rejected him, he became furious and started spreading rumors about her at school.
Since Cao Yinru enjoyed playing otome games, the boy mocked her, saying she wasn’t a proper girl for fantasizing about relationships with fictional characters.
He also insinuated that she must have spent a lot of money on the games, questioning where the money came from.
This made her cry several times.
But at the time, Cao Fanzhen had just returned to the country and was busy looking for a job, and their parents were also occupied.
Cao Yinru, being a thoughtful child, didn’t tell her family about it.
That wasn’t all.
The boy didn’t give up.
Once, when she was returning to school, he cornered her in a small alley outside the school, saying inappropriate things like, “Why not date me instead of those game characters?” and even tried to get physical with her.
It was nighttime, and there was no one else in the alley.
Just as Cao Yinru didn’t know what to do, Zhou Xiao Lu suddenly appeared out of nowhere and beat up the boy.
Afterward, Zhou Xiao Lu kindly escorted Cao Yinru back to the school and told her that if anything happened again, she could come back to the alley to find him.
Cao Yinru was extremely grateful to Zhou Xiao Lu.
Although nothing else happened afterward, she would visit him whenever she was on break.
Over time, the two of them started dating.
Though they called it dating, they were still just kids.
Their daily interactions mostly involved holding hands and walking around, nothing more.
Cao Yinru, being innocent, simply felt that Zhou Xiao Lu was very kind to her.
Ever since she started dating him, the boy no longer dared to approach her, and the rumors at school stopped.
As for Zhou Xiao Lu, he was just too lonely.
When he was alive, he was a neglected left-behind child.
After death, he became a wandering, rootless ghost, even worse off than when he was alive.
At least when he was alive, he had his grandmother and the thrill-seeking friends he rode with.
Though it was empty, it at least seemed lively.
He appeared near Cao Yinru’s school because he envied the lives of his peers.
Until that day when he saw Cao Yinru being bullied, in his desperation, he somehow learned how to manifest himself in front of the living.
Zhou Xiao Lu knew that humans and ghosts were on different paths.
From the beginning, he knew his relationship with Cao Yinru couldn’t last.
But Cao Yinru was so adorable, and having a companion of the same age was rare.
He couldn’t bear to part with her.
Later, he heard that a big shot in the motorcycle community had organized a gathering in Xiluo, and any ghost with a bike could join.
Zhou Xiaolu was tempted…
Actually, motorcycle enthusiasts don’t think much of the so-called “ghost fire” kids, but ghosts still prefer to hang out with ghosts.
Unexpectedly, after Cao Yinru found out, she followed him to Xiluo as well.
Besides not wanting to be separated from her boyfriend, her main concern was that without Zhou Xiao Lu around, that guy might harass her again.
So when Zhou Xiaolu kept postponing their return, Cao Yinru felt anxious but still stayed with him.
“This is outrageous!” Cao Fanzhen was both heartbroken and furious, hugging Cao Yinru and patting her back.
“Ruru, if something like this happens again, you should tell us immediately. We’ll definitely handle it…”
“I know,” Cao Yinru rubbed her eyes.
Cao Fanzhen then asked for the name of the guy who had harassed her, determined to visit his school and settle the score once they returned.
“Big sister, don’t be too angry. I’ve already avenged Ruru,” Zhou Xiao Lu chuckled foolishly, explaining that after he and Cao Yinru got together, he specifically learned the art of sending nightmares.
He had sent some terrifying nightmares to that guy and a few others who spread rumors, so they didn’t dare to talk nonsense anymore.
Cao Fanzhen’s mood calmed a bit, and she looked at Zhou Xiao Lu somewhat sheepishly.
“Thank you… and sorry about earlier.”
“It’s fine, it was my fault in the first place,” Zhou Xiao Lu turned to Cao Yinru.
“Ruru, I won’t be able to stay with you anymore. Take good care of yourself.”
Cao Yinru’s eyes filled with tears as she nodded firmly. “Mm.”
Shi Pengpeng, who had been watching with mixed feelings, spoke up.
“Later, I’ll perform a ritual to help you pass on.”
“R-Really?” Zhou Xiao Lu was delighted.
“Thank you, Master.”
“But you need to be careful too,” Shi Pengpeng warned.
“Don’t hang out with those ghosts anymore, or you might end up in trouble with them. Especially that Brother Shan. I noticed he carries a sinister aura, and I’m not sure how he died.”
“Ah, I know about that. Brother Shan was a motorcycle blogger before he died, with millions of followers on Cat Paw,” Zhou Xiao Lu pointed to the big curve they had passed earlier.
“He was trying to record a video of himself jumping over a viaduct, but the road suddenly collapsed into a huge pit. He couldn’t react in time and was thrown off, hitting a pillar under the bridge. His skull shattered, and he died on the spot. It’s said his face scraped along the ground for quite a distance…”
Cao Fanzhen gasped. “Does that count as being struck by the ‘reverse bow’ curse?”
“It does, and it doesn’t,” Shi Pengpeng shook his head.
“With the way they drive, even without encountering a cursed spot, they’d still manage to get themselves killed.”
At this point, Yan Jing, who had been silently observing, finally spoke up.
“You said Brother Shan was a Cat Paw influencer? What was his account name?”
“What, are you going to ban his account?” Shi Pengpeng asked.
“Am I that kind of person? Besides, Cat Paw doesn’t just ban accounts randomly,” Yan Jing said with a righteous air.
“I’m going to have the platform push his content.”
Shi Pengpeng: “That generous?”
“Mm,” Yan Jing snorted.
“Best to make his death news go viral across the entire internet.”
The scene fell silent.
“Typical of you,” Shi Pengpeng gave a thumbs-up.
With that kind of push, Brother Shan would be socially dead in both the physical and spiritual sense.