Chapter 27

Perhaps from the pain, Ji Yi suddenly jolted, and his eyes regained clarity.

His previously numb expression suddenly turned to one of intense fear. His eyes were filled with red veins, and his pupils nervously spun around. When he saw Nie Chen, his eyes widened in shock.

He grabbed Nie Chen’s clothes and incoherently shouted, “There’s a ghost! There are ghosts everywhere... Hurry, close the window... Yes, I need to close the window! If we close it, they won’t be able to get in!”

Nie Chen furrowed his brow, his gaze subconsciously sweeping over Zhu Chu’s pocket where Ke Xingzhou was, before he raised his hand and pinched Ji Yi's joint, skillfully pulling his hand away from his collar.

Seeing Ji Yi about to lunge at him again, Nie Chen cast a cold glance behind him. “Hold him down.”

Ke Yuanbai finally snapped out of it and ran in to help restrain Ji Yi.

But as soon as he stepped inside, he felt a chill, causing him to shiver involuntarily.

For some reason, even though the VIP lounge was much larger than the one he had been in downstairs and there were only five of them in the room, when he walked in, it felt like being squeezed into a subway car, making it hard to breathe.

Remembering his earlier experience in the downstairs lounge, he quietly moved closer to Zhu Chu.

He thought that Nie Chen wouldn’t care about Ji Yi's "mad ramblings," and Ke Yuanbai wanted to remind him, but to his surprise, Nie Chen remained calm in the face of the situation. After having Ji Yi restrained, he picked up the glass of red wine on the table.

Nie Chen’s sharp gaze swept over, and there was no hint of surprise in his tone. “You’ve run into ghosts too?”

Ke Yuanbai, who had already mentally prepared a response, was caught off guard. “...Huh?”

Wait... How did he know?!

From Ke Yuanbai’s expression, Nie Chen understood the answer. He stopped looking at him, but for some reason, his expression seemed to show slight displeasure.

His gaze subtly flicked to the phone still in Zhu Chu’s pocket, and Nie Chen’s face darkened. He grabbed Ji Yi by the collar and splashed the red wine onto him.

In the freezing weather, with the cold wind blowing in through the window, the red wine froze into ice shards. The moment it was poured, Ji Yi was jolted awake and stopped his nonsensical rambling.

Ji Yi struggled to open his eyes and looked at Nie Chen. He opened his mouth but before he could speak, the second glass of wine was splashed onto him.

Ji Yi: "........."

He was so cold that he was trembling, using all his strength to block the third glass of wine from being poured onto him. "Enough... enough, I’m awake now. I’m scarily awake."

Only then did Nie Chen stop. He tilted his head back and drank the remaining glass of wine.

Ji Yi looked pale and strongly suspected that Nie Chen was using this as an opportunity to take revenge for him earlier calling him a "little fortune teller" and mocking Wang San's fondness for Ke Xingzhou.

Swallowing, Ji Yi sniffled, breathing heavily. It took him a long time to force himself to calm down.He only then noticed that there were two more people in the room.

Ji Yi recognized one of them: "Is it you?"

Nie Chen glanced at him and Zhu Chu: "Do you know each other?"

Ji Yi nodded and briefly explained his earlier experience.

When he got to the part about almost jumping off the building, his face turned pale: "At that moment, I really didn’t feel like I was about to walk out. I thought I was just standing by the window, but I couldn't reach the window, so I kept stretching my hand out... Luckily, I ran into this young brother, who immediately pulled me back."

Nie Chen noticed something unusual in his tone: "He pulled you down by himself last time?"

Ji Yi nodded blankly: "Yeah, what's wrong? Is there a problem?"

"A big problem." Zhu Chu couldn't help interrupting. "I was with Assistant Liu when we pulled you back. We used all our strength, look at my face all red, and I still haven't caught my breath. But if it weren't for Mr. Nie's help, we wouldn't have been able to move you at all!"

At his reminder, the others in the room reacted, and their expressions changed to varying degrees.

Ji Yi immediately couldn’t hold it in anymore: "Damn! This is an upgrade? Was I in difficulty mode just now?"

Everyone looked at him with complicated expressions, speechless at his lack of awareness.

Only Nie Chen remained calm: "You just said there were ghosts outside. What did you see?"

Ji Yi then remembered his earlier experience, and his face turned even worse: "It happened like this. After you left, Assistant Liu stepped away for a bit, and then things went wrong..."

After all, he had almost died once, so Ji Yi wasn’t dumb enough to fall for the same trick twice. When the window was blown open, he desperately told himself not to move, thinking it was just an illusion trying to trick him into dying.

At first, he thought it would be similar to last time. As long as he didn’t get close to the window, he could survive and wait for Nie Chen to come back to save him. But he had underestimated the supernatural event this time.

The more unwilling he was to close the window, the stronger the wind that poured in. In the end, his hands and feet nearly froze.

If that were all, it would have been fine, but those things, seeing that he was standing still, unwilling to move even if he froze to death, actually materialized!

Ji Yi now recalled that scene and still found it terrifying: "I've never encountered so many ghosts at once in my life—at least dozens of them, all female ghosts with black hair and white dresses! They were pressing against the windows, banging their heads against the glass, trying to crawl in through the open windows!"

He dramatically demonstrated while holding onto the couch, accidentally pulling on the wound on his forehead, causing a sharp pain.

After a brief pause, he summed up: "At that point, how could I sit still? If I could sit still, then I’d be the ghost!"

And so, he fell for it again, climbed up to the windowsill, and almost fell down.

Ke Yuanbai empathized deeply.

He too had experienced that kind of terror, so he understood very well. If it had been him in that situation, he surely wouldn’t have thought about whether it was a trap, but would have jumped up and closed the window first.

However, he was very curious: "Since that’s the case, why did you not react at all when they were pulling you back, and still kept falling?"

Ji Yi’s expression grew even more miserable. He silently rolled up his sleeves, revealing several bruises on his arms.

"Was I not reacting? I couldn’t control my own body! Those female ghosts were dragging me out!" He said indignantly. "You were only pulling my legs, my pants almost got torn off, but not a single person thought to help pull my upper body!"

Everyone exchanged looks, their expressions awkward. They were thinking, how could they know about the female ghosts Ji Yi was talking about? They couldn’t see them.

Then, a wave of fear swept over them. Fortunately, Nie Chen reacted in time, tapping Ji Yi on the back of his neck. Otherwise, Zhu Chu and Assistant Liu, who were holding him, might have been pulled down together.Everyone's gaze shifted to Nie Chen, and Ji Yi, looking teary-eyed, moved closer to Nie Chen, hoping to find some sense of security from him.

However, Nie Chen expressionlessly pressed his head down, stopping him at arm's length.

Nie Chen still had no expression: "You encountered a vengeful ghost."

Everyone was stunned.

Assistant Liu was still puzzled by how his boss had suddenly started talking about superstitions, but Ji Yi had already become silent with fear, his face pale as he looked around cautiously, slowly moving toward the area with more people.

Ke Yuanbai subconsciously asked, "How do you know?"

Nie Chen glanced at him, ignored the question, and turned his gaze back to Zhu Chu: "You forgot to take your phone out."

Zhu Chu: "Huh? Oh!"

In his eagerness to save people earlier, he had stuffed Ke Xingzhou into his pocket without thinking, and now only remembered that he had a metaphysical expert on hand. He quickly pulled Ke Xingzhou out of his pocket.

Worried the two might not know each other and feel awkward, he made introductions: "This is Mr. Nie. Mr. Nie, this is one of the contestants from your investment project 'All-round Idol,' Ke Xingzhou. Don’t let his young age fool you, he’s really good at fortune-telling! Have you heard about the security guard who loaned money to someone and got cheated? He predicted it!"

Everyone: "…"

Ke Xingzhou: "…"

Nie Chen: "…"

Nie Chen lowered his gaze, his eyes briefly and controlled resting on Ke Xingzhou’s face, giving a soft "Hmm."

It wasn’t clear if he was acknowledging the matter or just acknowledging Ke Xingzhou himself.

Ke Xingzhou averted his gaze, awkwardly changing the subject: "He’s right. The ghosts you two encountered are vengeful spirits, a type of vengeful ghost."

Ghosts who die unnatural deaths are generally called vengeful spirits, and among these ghosts, some don’t have strong attachments and gradually forget the grudges from their past lives over time, becoming benign spirits like the male ghost that lingered around Ke Yuanbai at the filming location.

Benign spirits aren’t afraid of the sun, nor do they fear the grim reapers from the underworld. They wander the human realm but are eventually taken down when it's time for reincarnation.

However, some ghosts die with deep attachments, unable to reincarnate, and they develop a strong aggressiveness toward the living.

Vengeful spirits are one of them.

"But usually, vengeful ghosts only seek revenge on those who caused their deaths. It’s rare for them to target innocent people, and even rarer for them to come in groups," Ke Xingzhou paused, "The ones you encountered this time are likely to have much stronger attachments than you imagined."

He glanced at Ji Yi and the others, noticing the deathly pallor still on their faces, and felt his own mood darken.

"Perhaps it’s because you all share certain characteristics with the people they want to seek revenge on, that’s why they’ve targeted you," Ke Xingzhou continued. "The priority now is to find out who the vengeful spirits are really after and dispel their resentment."

The people in the room were all stunned.

Ke Yuanbai was already trembling with fear—dozens of ghosts!

Last time, a single female ghost almost killed him. He was lucky Ke Xingzhou had protected them, allowing him to escape with his life. But now, Ke Xingzhou was just video-calling them.

He suddenly regretted coming along and stammered, "How... how do we find them?"Today’s banquet had at least a hundred people invited, and there were even more people responsible for security and reception. They, being newcomers, had no idea what common characteristics they might share with the person who was targeted by the vengeful ghost.

His gaze slowly shifted to Nie Chen and Assistant Liu.

These two people had their own VIP lounge, so their status clearly wasn’t ordinary. If they asked them to find the person...

Just as he thought this, Nie Chen interrupted.

Nie Chen spoke in a deep voice: "Why not directly ask the ghost?"

As he spoke, his eyes swept over to them, and Ke Yuanbai immediately felt a chill down his spine: "...Who’s going to ask?"

Nie Chen’s expression remained calm: "Didn't you just encounter a ghost? We’ll all go out in a bit. You stay behind."

Ke Yuanbai: "…"

Ke Yuanbai tried to argue, but in the end, he managed to stay behind with Ji Yi.

"..." Ji Yi had a face full of helplessness.

Ke Yuanbai also felt awkward, but when compared to his own life, offending someone who had also encountered a ghost like him didn’t seem like a big deal.

Ke Xingzhou taught them both protective incantations, and after confirming that they had learned it, Nie Chen took the others and left.

Watching Nie Chen, Assistant Liu, and Zhu Chu close the door behind them, Ke Yuanbai and Ji Yi felt even more insecure. It took them a long while to exchange a glance and then slowly turn around.

The moment the door to the lounge closed, both of them shuddered, feeling an unprecedented chill.

Their eyes uncontrollably darted to the windows on either side. The windows, which had clearly been tightly closed just moments ago, were now mysteriously open again. The old-fashioned casement windows creaked open and closed in the night breeze, making an excruciatingly eerie screeching sound.

A thudding sound that seemed like flesh hitting the windows came from outside, and at the same time, the lights above them began to flicker.

The atmosphere was truly bone-chilling. Though the two of them had still been awkward strangers a moment ago, they now unconsciously drew closer together, fear plastered across their faces as they huddled.

The vengeful ghost was here!

They wanted to knock on the door to alert Nie Chen and the others outside, but they were horrified to find that their eyes could not leave the dark window. At the same time, they realized their feet were no longer under their control.

Each of them moved stiffly forward, the faint warmth that had belonged to living humans rapidly dissipating with the cold wind howling behind them.

It seemed that Ji Yi’s rescue earlier had angered the ghosts, and this time, the situation was clearly more bizarre than before—

Ke Yuanbai and Ji Yi felt as though the moisture from the surface of their eyeballs was quickly swept away by the cold wind, and their eyes began to dry and hurt, but they couldn’t, and didn’t dare, to close their eyes. They could only keep them wide open, watching everything unfold, as their tear glands produced involuntary tears.

The scene before them instantly became blurry.

Their hearts were pounding wildly, but they couldn’t do anything. All they could do was desperately suppress the fear inside them, continuously chanting the incantations that Ke Xingzhou had just taught them:

Tai Shang Tai Xing, changes without end. Drive away evil, bind the demons, protect life and body. Wisdom bright and pure, mind and spirit at peace. The three souls eternal, the soul never lost or strayed...

The three souls eternal, the soul never lost or strayed...

A faint warmth rose from their dantian, and their stiff, cold limbs seemed to feel warmth as their movements gradually slowed.Just as the two of them walked to the windows on either side, their eyes suddenly stung, and something flashed across their field of vision.

Their chanting was abruptly interrupted, but thankfully their stiff throats finally regained some strength, and they were finally able to scream: "Ahhh! A ghost!! Ahhh! Ke Xingzhou, help!!"

"Old Nie, save me!!"

The three outside heard the screams and immediately broke down the door. Nie Chen, having the ability to see ghosts, immediately understood the situation inside. His face darkened.

The other two, under Ke Xingzhou’s guidance, placed their fingers on both sides of their temples and silently chanted the opening eye incantation. They too could see what was happening inside the room—

The windows, which they had carefully shut before leaving, were now all wide open. At every window, there was a semi-transparent ghostly figure crowding in.

These ghostly figures varied in height and build, but they were all women, and they all appeared to be young. Their eyes, bloodshot, were fixed on the two people by the window, their hands reaching out to push Ke Yuanbai and Ji Yi down!

The number of ghosts far exceeded their expectations. Even Nie Chen, who had already sensed something was off, now wore a grave expression.

"Save them!" he said in a deep voice.

Zhu Chu, snapping out of his daze, quickly dodged the ghostly figures and rushed forward to grab Ke Yuanbai’s arm, pulling him back.

On the other side, Ji Yi was pulled by Nie Chen, and all his strength suddenly returned in that instant, allowing him to regain control of his body.

Terrified, his legs gave way, and he plopped down onto the ground, pointing at the ghosts, his voice shaking: "Ghosts... They're all ghosts!"

The lights continued to flicker, and it seemed that no one in the banquet hall had noticed anything wrong. The voices of lively conversation filtered in from outside, as if separated by a lifetime.

Ke Yuanbai and Ji Yi were so scared they nearly fainted, and the others were equally terrified.

Only Nie Chen remained calm, pulling Ji Yi by the collar as he retreated, joining the other three.

"Give me your phone," he said to Zhu Chu.

Zhu Chu, startled, was about to say it was Ke Yuanbai’s phone, but when he glanced at the pale and terrified Ke Yuanbai, he quickly dismissed the thought.

"I’m giving you to Mr. Nie," he said, speaking into the phone.

Ke Xingzhou: "…"

Nie Chen casually glanced at the screen, then pointed the phone at the ghostly figures: "What should we do now?"

Ke Xingzhou looked at the screen, his handsome face, which had remained unchanged for three years, still falling within his aesthetic tastes: "…"

"First, turn the camera to the back."

Zhu Chu and Assistant Liu dragged Ke Yuanbai and Ji Yi to the corner. Everyone was on edge, especially with the flickering lights inside, and Nie Chen’s silhouette occasionally appearing, which made them uneasy.

At that moment, they heard Ke Xingzhou’s voice, calm yet reassuring: "Tai Shang Lao Jun, teach me to kill ghosts, with my divine method…"

At the same time, Nie Chen followed with the same words: "Tai Shang Lao Jun, teach me to kill ghosts, with my divine method…"

He didn’t know when he had bitten his fingertip, but he was now writing in the air.In the fluctuating light, the blood on his fingertips seemed to carry a faint glow, leaving a cryptic and hard-to-understand symbol in the others' vision.

Ke Xingzhou’s voice was calm, and amidst the flickering lights, he appeared on the phone screen, his eyes slightly lowered, his expression solemn like a deity, sacred and untouchable.

Nie Chen, with his back to them, could only see his tense back and the increasingly smooth motion of his drawing symbols.

The two voices collided in the air, unintentionally syncing in a subtle way: "Summon the Jade Maiden, collect the inauspicious, the mountain cracks... first kill the evil ghost, then cut through the night light, which god does not bow, which ghost dares to confront, urgent as the law dictates."

Nie Chen: "…Urgent as the law dictates."

When the last phrase was spoken, a scorching warm wind suddenly swept through the room. It expanded rapidly from where Nie Chen stood, sweeping through them and dispelling the cold, eerie feeling that had been lingering on their bodies.

In contrast, the ghostly figures opposite them were swept by this warm wind, but it seemed to cause them immense pain. They all twisted and screamed in madness, their cries echoing unbearably.

The terrifying ghostly figures, at this moment, were like smoke, easily torn into fragments by the mysterious hot wind, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

When the lights returned to normal, the room had mostly returned to its usual state.

Except for the windows, which remained wide open.

The group stood frozen, unable to react for a long time, especially Ke Yuanbai and Ji Yi, whose faces were still in a daze.

Ji Yi listened to the laughter and conversation outside the door, glanced around the now warm and bright VIP lounge, then looked at the crimson streaks on Nie Chen’s fingers and the phone in his hand with Ke Xingzhou’s face. His worldview had been greatly shaken.

"So... it's over?"

What about all the suffering they had endured earlier?!

Nie Chen didn’t know why his expression seemed complicated. Only after hearing Ji Yi’s question did he snap out of it, glancing at him, then raising his free hand to pull someone out from behind the couch.

It was only then that everyone noticed another person in the room.

Ji Yi, still terrified, screamed in shock: "Ahhh!! Why is there still a ghost!! Filthy thing! Nie Chen, let go of him!!"

To their surprise, the person held by Nie Chen was also screaming loudly: "Spare me! Boss! Master! I’m just doing my job, I don’t know anything, spare me!!"

It was the voice of a high-pitched man.

Ji Yi’s scream stopped abruptly. For some reason, his thoughts took a turn: "Weren’t those supposed to be female ghosts? Do male ghosts count as female ghosts when they die?"

Everyone: "…"

Is this the time to be concerned about gender?!

Who would have thought that Ji Yi, in such a situation, would focus on this, seemingly forgetting his fear, eyeing the figure with suspicion.

Nie Chen interrupted his gaze: "…This is a human."

A human?

Everyone was stunned, exchanging looks with each other, unsure of how to interpret his words.

If what had just happened had been some kind of human-made illusion, it might have made sense, but the lingering fear in their minds and the chill in their bones made it feel like a draft was blowing through them.The most crucial thing was that both Ke Yuanbai and Ji Yi, the victims, still had fresh black handprints on their bodies.

All of this proved that everything they had experienced was real. But if it wasn’t an illusion, where did this man in front of them come from?

Nie Chen’s face was grim, and he didn’t say much. With a casual push, he threw the figure on the ground.

Only then did the group clearly see the true appearance of the figure.

The man had messy long hair, his body so thin he resembled a bamboo pole, and he was wearing a white dress. At first glance, he did indeed look no different from the female ghosts.

But humans and ghosts, they could at least tell the difference.

Surrounded by a few people, and with the tall, handsome guy holding a phone capable of capturing ghosts from afar, the man immediately cowered, trembling as he spoke: "I’ll tell you everything! I’ll tell you all!"

The man, who had managed to sneak in, naturally knew the value of this banquet and was well aware that the people in front of him were definitely individuals he could not afford to offend.

Fearful that the others might truly hold him accountable, he quickly began speaking, as if pouring beans from a bamboo tube: "I was really hired to come here and cause trouble, but please, the big boss, I’m just a paid worker! I had no idea they were trying to harm anyone!"

The others didn’t believe him at all.

People were about to jump off a building, and there was more than one victim. They had all been tricked by the illusion of a death-seeking ghost, climbing onto the windowsills themselves. After all this, even a fool would realize something was wrong.

This man had been hiding in the dark, clearly holding onto a slim hope, thinking that causing a few deaths didn’t matter, especially if the promised rewards from the mastermind behind the scenes were worth more than the lives lost.

Now, speaking these words was just an attempt to shirk responsibility.

Seeing that no one believed him, the man became even more panicked, also realizing that he had been betrayed by his employer. With a mournful expression, he pointed to the open window and swore to the sky: "Really! I didn’t know anything before I came in! Those female ghosts were all given to me by that person! I was just letting them out! When I saw them go after you, I was scared too, but they’re ghosts! I’m scared too, okay? Who knows if they would suddenly turn around and kill me too? And, and who would have thought that ghosts would target the wrong person…"

"The wrong person?" Assistant Liu keenly seized the flaw in his words, "Who hired you? Who were they originally planning to harm?"

The man’s face turned ashen, and with nothing left to hide, he confessed everything: "I don’t know... I met him at an internet cafe. At first, I just listened to him brag about how a rich woman sent him things every day, so I became friends with him. Who knew I didn’t get any benefits, and now I’m stuck with this mess…"

"Big bro, boss, senior! I’m telling the truth! I don’t even know him well! I only know he got lucky and found a rich second-generation girlfriend, but her family didn’t approve, so he came to me!" The more he spoke, the more sorrowful he became, noticing that Nie Chen and the others remained indifferent, and he grew increasingly resentful of the person who made him do this. "Wuwu… I even spent a lot of money buying him cigarettes and cola, I only make a little over two thousand a month, and I spent more on him than on my girlfriend…"

The others were left speechless.

Zhu Chu looked him up and down in disbelief: "You still have a girlfriend?"

"No, but what’s wrong with that? I save a little every month, and when I find a girlfriend, I’ll spend it on her, what’s wrong with that?"

Everyone: "…"

Zhu Chu thought to himself, this man didn’t make much money but was willing to spend on his girlfriend. Looking at it this way, the employer seemed worse—both scummy and stingy.

He almost felt sympathy for the guy: "He’s like this, and you’re still doing things for him? Are you stupid?"

"How was I supposed to know he was so stingy? Besides, I’ve already spent my girlfriend fund, so if I fell out with him now, wouldn’t that be a huge loss!"

The group fell silent once more.

It could only be said that luck was a deadly thing. If this man had understood the principle of "sunk costs should not influence major decisions," he wouldn’t have been conned so badly.

However, when it came down to it, for a bit of small profit, he was willing to put innocent lives at risk, which meant he wasn’t a good person to begin with.In fact, aside from Zhu Chu and Ke Yuanbai, the rest of the group remained unfazed, not at all moved by the man's pleas.

Nie Chen's expression even showed a hint of impatience: "Get to the point."

He was the most dominant in terms of presence among the group, and when the man met his cold gaze, he shuddered, realizing he had drifted too far. He quickly shifted back: "That’s it! Everything I know, I’ve already told you! The rest, I really don’t know! I don’t even know his full name. I only know his girlfriend calls him Xiao Ge… and, well, he didn’t tell me the details about this, just gave me these few ghosts and told me to collect them once the job was done."

He quickly finished speaking, then couldn't help but start crying again: "Wuwu, I was just temporarily confused by the ghosts! Usually, all I do is go to the internet cafe to play games, I’ve never done anything bad. Please, great ones, I beg you, just pretend I’m nothing and let me go..."

He cried, his voice full of sorrow, as if he truly regretted his actions.

Unfortunately, aside from Zhu Chu and Ke Yuanbai, no one in the room was listening to his words anymore.

Ji Yi finally came to his senses, mainly because he now knew the person before him was human, not a ghost. His confidence immediately returned, and his frozen brain began to function again.

After hearing everything, he exchanged a glance with Nie Chen, both realizing that there was more to this situation than met the eye.

The employer the man mentioned, Ji Yi found it increasingly familiar, especially the term "Xiao Ge" and the girlfriend who was hardworking and obedient.

The more he thought about it, the more it seemed to match the description of the gangster boyfriend of the third daughter of the Wang family, the organizers of today’s banquet.

But that gangster was rumored to be rather useless, nearly thirty and still accomplishing nothing, spending his days living off a rich woman and hanging out in internet cafes. Who would have thought he had such methods?

If it was really him, then today’s situation would be difficult to resolve quietly.

Ji Yi glanced at Nie Chen, who remained unmoved, clearly not wanting to get involved with the Wang family’s affairs.

He was furious but didn’t dare offend Nie Chen, so he put on a polite smile and turned to Ke Yuanbai and Zhu Chu.

"Sorry for all the trouble today. And to this... Master," Ji Yi paused, looking at Ke Xingzhou with an expression that others wouldn’t quite understand, "I am deeply grateful, and I’ll definitely come personally with friends to thank you later."

When he said "friends," he purposely dragged out the tone, and sure enough, he saw Nie Chen’s expression darken, casting a cold glance at him.

"No need to repay me, just pay up," Nie Chen said with a grim face, "Pay him according to the market price."

Ji Yi’s smug expression froze, and he warily asked, "Your market price, or someone else’s?"

"Which one do you think?"

Ji Yi: "…"

Damn, petty man!

No wonder they broke up!

Ji Yi cursed inwardly, but he also knew that Ke Xingzhou's skill level was at least equal to, if not higher than, the defensive skills of Nie Chen. By Nie Chen’s standards, he was actually making a profit.

So without hesitation, he agreed to prepare the cash and deliver it to Ke Xingzhou’s designated address.

After dealing with the death-seeking ghosts, Ke Xingzhou had been in a daze, pretending to be invisible. But when the conversation shifted to cash, he suddenly came to his senses and, for the first time, looked directly at Nie Chen.

Cash, and it had to be delivered.

How much was Nie Chen’s "market price" after all?!

Ke Xingzhou’s gaze was complex, full of envy, jealousy, and hatred towards the capitalists, but it was much more expressive than his previous emotionless, cold demeanor.Nie Chen sensed that familiar yet unfamiliar gaze. His body stiffened imperceptibly, and his heart suddenly began to race.

The top heir of a major financial group, known for always being decisive and unyielding, now found himself holding his breath, as if fireworks had exploded in his vision, and every nerve was pulsing with joy.

At the same time, he struggled to control his movements, not responding to Ke Xingzhou's gaze.

It was as if he feared that any sudden action on his part would make the other person retract the hard-won favor.

The others did not notice his subtle change.

Turning away from Ke Xingzhou, Ji Yi looked at Ke Yuanbai and Zhu Chu, still smiling, but his tone had softened considerably: "We have some other matters to attend to with this friend, so it's not convenient for now. We’ll meet again when we have time. How does that sound?"

It must be said that although Ji Yi was a weakling when facing the vengeful ghosts, he was someone who could be friends with a top heir like Nie Chen. When he was acting normally, his presence suddenly expanded, and it was enough to make anyone feel unsettled.

Ke Yuanbai: "…"

There was no room for refusal.

Clearly, today’s events involved other people, and the Ke family’s involvement in this banquet was purely by chance. As a newly acknowledged second-generation heir, he had no say in the matter.

The fact that the other party was willing to speak to him in a tone of negotiation was already a courtesy, considering they had encountered ghosts together.

Thus, despite the lingering resentment in his heart, he didn’t persist and simply nodded: "Then we’ll take our leave for now."

As soon as he finished speaking, however, he stood still, not moving.

Ji Yi: "?"

Just as he wondered what else Ke Yuanbai had to say, he saw him glance at Nie Chen, his gaze dropping to his palm.

— His phone was still in the other person’s hand.

Ke Xingzhou had remained silent the entire time, and Nie Chen’s pose of holding the phone had seemed so natural that, aside from Ke Yuanbai, the owner of the phone, no one else in the room had thought it might belong to someone else.

Nie Chen’s gaze casually swept over Ke Yuanbai.

Ke Yuanbai forced himself to meet his eyes, and that sense of reproach and rejection resurfaced, making him feel utterly uncomfortable.

But if Nie Chen had any issue with him, his expression showed no sign of it. After a brief pause, he handed the phone to Ke Yuanbai.

Nie Chen even apologized with a good-natured tone: "Sorry."

"Thank you."

After Ke Yuanbai said this, he also felt his thoughts were rather strange—this was his phone to begin with, why was he feeling guilty?