Feng Qingqing felt increasingly uneasy, a chill running down her spine. In her twenty-plus years of life, she had never encountered such a bizarre incident.
Lying on the sofa, she thought to herself, "I hope I can sleep soundly tonight, and when I wake up tomorrow, this will all be gone."
Just as she was about to drift off to sleep.
"Beep beep beep!"
Her phone suddenly rang, the piercing ringtone jolting Feng Qingqing awake.
"Ah!"
Feng Qingqing fumbled for her phone. It was an unfamiliar local number. Assuming it was a client from work inquiring about business, she pressed the answer button:
"Hello, this is Feng Qingqing from Fengcheng Camellia Advertising Company."
"Qingqing, I miss you so much!"
A chilling, spectral scream, like that of a vengeful spirit, echoed from the other end of the line.
"Ah!"
Feng Qingqing's face contorted in terror. She screamed and threw her phone away, her face ashen.
"This is fake, how could he possibly call me, how could he..."
"Fake, fake, I must be too tired."
The phone lay on the floor far away. Feng Qingqing dared not pick it up.
However, she reassured herself. Even if her ex-boyfriend had returned as a ghost to haunt her, he couldn't get into her house, right?
She thought this with a trembling heart, knowing sleep would be elusive tonight.
She felt terribly alone and uneasy. With no other acquaintances in Fengcheng, she took out her laptop to make a WeChat voice call to her best friend.
"Ding!"
The voice call connected. Feng Qingqing tried to keep her voice calm: "Xuelian, I'm feeling a bit unwell and scared being home alone. Can you come over tonight and sleep with me?"
"Mmm-hmm~ Mmm-hmm~" came Liu Xuelian's moans from the other end, punctuated by gasps. "Qingqing, my boyfriend and I are busy with something important. You really picked a great time to call."
"..." Feng Qingqing felt a pang of awkwardness. She hadn't expected Liu Xuelian to be engaged in such activities with her boyfriend, and to hear her friend's sounds of pleasure.
Normally, she would have hung up immediately to avoid disturbing her friend's intimate moment.
But tonight, she was truly terrified. She pleaded, "Xuelian, I'm really not feeling well and I'm scared. Please, come over and keep me company."
Hearing Feng Qingqing's desperate plea, Liu Xuelian hesitated for a moment before gasping, "Alright, I'll tell my boyfriend to finish up quickly. I'll get dressed and come find you."
Feng Qingqing felt a surge of relief when her friend agreed. "Okay, Xuelian, I'll be waiting for you."
Just having someone with her would make her feel less frightened. Tomorrow, after waking up, she would go to the hospital for a check-up to see if she had a psychological issue. If her body was fine, she would go to a temple or a Taoist shrine to burn incense, pray, and buy some items to ward off evil.
A short while later, after her best friend had finished, she sent Feng Qingqing a WeChat message. Feng Qingqing logged into WeChat on her computer and continued to chat with her, maintaining contact.
After more than half an hour.
"I'm downstairs, get ready to open the door for me," Liu Xuelian messaged.
"Okay." Feng Qingqing replied, then put down her laptop and slowly rose from the sofa.
A "knock knock" sounded at the door.
She's here so quickly? Feng Qingqing was a little surprised. It took at least seven or eight minutes to get from the community entrance to her floor, yet her best friend Liu Xuelian had arrived in three to five minutes. It seemed that when it mattered, friends were reliable.
"Click!!!"
Feng Qingqing reached out and opened her security door. Liu Xuelian's figure stood outside. "Xuelian, hurry inside, I have something to tell you."
Feng Qingqing turned and took a few steps into the room, but found no movement behind her. She turned back to see Liu Xuelian standing motionlessly at the doorway. "Xuelian, why are you standing there? It's so cold outside, come in quickly."
"Whoosh!"
A chilling gust of wind blew past.
'Liu Xuelian' raised her head, a sinister smile on her face, and a man's voice emerged from her lips: "Qingqing, I've come to find you!"
That man's voice was unmistakably that of Feng Qingqing's deceased ex-boyfriend.
"Ah!"
After a scream, the security door slammed shut, and no further sounds were heard.
The night was chillingly eerie.
...
The next day.
Chen Jiuyang woke up and got out of bed. Yao Zixuan lay beside him, her face flushed with a rosy glow, still fast asleep.
Yao Zixuan had been very tired recently. She handled many of Chen Jiuyang's affairs and dealt with numerous people on his behalf.
Chen Jiuyang quietly walked out into the courtyard. The sky was a hazy gray, and a cold wind blew. It was late November, autumn had passed, and winter was fast approaching.
Yet, Chen Jiuyang was still wearing a short-sleeved shirt, unfazed by the changing weather and the cold. He walked into the courtyard to practice martial arts.
What is a martial move? With a thought, his entire blood, true qi, and muscles condensed into a move.
Chen Jiuyang had already reached the third level of the Earth Realm, opening the "Spleen Divine Treasury," allowing him to absorb the essence of heaven and earth to replenish himself. If there were no essence of heaven and earth, there would be no environment to cultivate medicinal herbs or even precious materials.
"The fourth level of the Earth Realm, the Lung Divine Treasury. I wonder how long it will take to break through, but with my current cultivation at the third level of the Earth Realm, I can at least protect myself, if not roam the world."
Chen Jiuyang practiced and improved some close-combat moves inherited from his previous "Instant Annihilation" martial art during the Yellow Realm, while contemplating.
As time passed, the sun slowly rose. Yao Zixuan also woke up and washed up. Chen Jianmin and Zhang Xiuzhen also got up to cook. The entire Qingzhu Village was soon enveloped in cooking smoke.
Chen Jiuyang also finished his practice and returned to the house to have breakfast with them. At the table, Yao Zixuan said, "Jiuyang, I've prepared everything for you."
As the first wife of Marquis Xuanyang, Yao Zixuan carried herself with grace. Upon learning that Chen Jiuyang was going to visit Ji Lengyue's home to meet her mother, she proactively prepared a gift for him.
"Mmm," Chen Jiuyang nodded.
Yao Zixuan asked, "How will you get to Fengcheng later? Will you take your master's helicopter, or drive?"
Chen Jiuyang replied, "I'll drive. Otherwise, even if I take my master's helicopter to Fengcheng, I'd have to change cars at my master's residence to go to Lengyue's home, which would be an inconvenience to my master."
Now that Xi Bu Tui of Feng Province was dead, the threat above his head was gone. However, the royal decree for Marquis Fenghan had already been submitted. Marquis Fenghan was usually focused on his cultivation, striving to break through to the Heaven Realm.
But Chen Jiuyang couldn't tell Marquis Fenghan that he couldn't break through to the Heaven Realm. The limitations involved were unclear even to Chen Jiuyang. If Chen Jiuyang were to tell Marquis Fenghan this, Marquis Fenghan might not be able to bear the blow.
"Alright." Yao Zixuan's eyes sparkled. "From today onwards, I can invest and develop freely in Ziyang County, making arrangements for my Chen family's businesses."
"You little money grubber," Chen Jiuyang chuckled lightly. Then, after finishing breakfast, he drove Yao Zixuan's Porsche Panamera to Fengcheng.