"Would you love him, regardless of appearance or physical form..."
These words still drifted through the forest, while Ban Xia's heart began to waver.
When she first met Qin Yue, he was already a ghost, yet his form remained intact.
His slanted brows extended toward his temples, his eyes clear as jade, his laughter carrying a touch of untamed charm. He liked to prop his head with one hand, silently watching you.
Though this male ghost wasn't quite as handsome as Xuan Ye, he was undoubtedly blessed with exceptional features, belonging to the refined and elegant type.
During those never-lonely years at the funeral parlor, with so many ghosts coming and going, why did Ban Xia ultimately fall for this particular one? Wasn't it precisely because of his appearance?
In other words, if as depicted in horror films, Qin Yue were to one day reveal his true form—turning into a zombie or an animated skeleton—would she still sit hugging her knees beside the crematorium, sharing comic stories with him as she once did?
Ban Xia hesitated.
"Hesitation means no." Chi Wangchuan declared decisively from the side, deftly pulling a pair of tweezers from his robe and clamping them onto the nail of Xuan Ye's left pinky finger.
Without pause or hesitation, the tweezers pried open the nail bed, then with one firm motion, pulled the entire nail out by its root.
Xuan Ye bit his lip hard. Though mentally prepared, he still couldn't suppress the pain—his body lurched forward, a cry of agony trapped in his throat, rolling several times before transforming into beads of hot sweat and a barely audible whimper.
Chi Wangchuan narrowed his eyes, then took out a water dish and dropped the nail into it. His expression showed no excitement, but rather a trace of sorrow.
"Second question." He moved the tweezers to Xuan Ye's ring finger, pausing slightly: "Are you ready?"
Xuan Ye nodded.
Chi Wangchuan then looked toward Ban Xia, the tweezers still dripping blood, each drop echoing in the silence.
Ban Xia took a deep breath, awaiting his second question.
"Would you love him, regardless of wealth or poverty?"
When this second question came, Ban Xia finally let out a long sigh.
"Yes."
Her answer was resolute.
Though she loved money, Qin Yue was a male ghost who possessed nothing—not even flesh and blood—so how could he have wealth?
Falling in love with him definitely wasn't because of money.
It was because every morning when she woke up, he would be leaning by her bedside, his eyes clear and full of adoration.
"Yes."
Recalling this, she answered again, with a clear conscience.
"Very good." Chi Wangchuan responded, moving the tweezers to Xuan Ye's middle finger: "Third question."
Ban Xia's heart temporarily settled as she waited.
She passed the third question, and the fourth as well.
A love that began at nineteen, with a male ghost who had existed for over a century—without genuine feeling, how could such love endure?
Back and forth like this, eight questions were asked, yet only two of Xuan Ye's nails had been removed.
The remaining nails had their curses undone—no pain, no itch, everything normal.
This Chi Wangchuan truly kept his word.
Victory was within sight.
Xuan Ye also raised his head. Though his face was pale, his gaze remained steady, signaling Ban Xia not to worry.
"Ninth question..."
Chi Wangchuan's voice drifted ethereally through the forest mist.
"Would you love him, without demanding exclusivity or regard for dignity?"
"This question isn't fair! No woman should abandon her dignity!" Ban Xia suddenly stood up.
Chi Wangchuan lifted his eyes, making a gesture with his right hand. Immediately, smoke gathered into a lion beast that pressed down on Ban Xia's shoulders, slowly forcing her down until she couldn't move an inch."I am the banker of this wager." Chi Wangchuan's voice was cold as he set the tweezers against Xuan Ye's fingernail. "I set the rules. You have no right to question fairness—only to answer yes or no."
"Yes or no!" he added when Ban Xia remained silent.
"No!"
This answer surged from the depths of Ban Xia's heart.
By her nature, she would never share a man with any other woman, nor would she ever surrender her dignity to be trampled, even by a lover.
Not even for Qin Yue—the man she had idolized throughout her girlhood. Absolutely not.
"The answer is no."
Chi Wangchuan confirmed calmly, poised and unhurried. He extended the tweezers, piercing the tip beneath Xuan Ye's nail, slowly prying it away from the flesh.
This was the third nail being removed, yet his movements grew deliberately slower, as if to make Xuan Ye fully savor the agony of having a nail torn out alive.
Blood dripped from the fingertip—not much, but each drop pierced the heart.
Xuan Ye rested his head on his knees. Ban Xia couldn't see his expression, but she heard his breathing—slow, halting, as he struggled to endure.
Her question, yet someone else bore the consequence—the feeling was indescribable.
The third nail was finally removed. Chi Wangchuan dropped it into the water dish with a plink, and Ban Xia's heart shuddered violently.
"Three nails removed." Chi Wangchuan lifted the tweezers, blew away the blood, and looked at Xuan Ye. "One last question remains. If you lose, you lose everything. Do you wish to continue?"
"Continue."
Xuan Ye raised his head, his tone gentle yet unshakably firm.
"Tenth question. Would you love him, regardless of stance or right or wrong?"
After a brief pause, Chi Wangchuan finally posed his final question.
Ban Xia's heart leaped to her throat; her mind went blank for a moment.
As expected—this deadlock, the one that could truly trap her. Chi Wangchuan must have seen right through her heart, saving this impasse for last.
Would you love him, regardless of stance or right or wrong?
This very question had tormented her for three full years—from the night everything changed at age nineteen, haunting her through over a thousand days and nights.
Then, fragments of memory flashed—her heart pursued by this question—and she was plunged back into that night.
Wang Xiaodan's words.
The entire funeral parlor—living and dead—vanished.
This forced out her latent potential. Meditating in the deserted funeral home, she finally glimpsed some images.
To the north, not far from the funeral parlor—a dirt pit, and Qin Yue's usual robe, soaked in blood…
She had been to that pit before, often crawling in and out as a child, so she didn't need to search.
She sprinted there, her slippers falling off, stepping on stones all the way, yet feeling no pain at all.
The pit soon came into view. In the hazy night, before she could clearly see inside, she caught an overwhelming scent of blood.
The situation left no room for fear. Without a second thought, she leaped into the roughly two-meter-deep pit.
What she witnessed next, she would absolutely never forget.
Qin Yue—the gentle male ghost who often watched her sleep by her bedside, the male ghost who listened to her stories by the incinerator, the male ghost who pointed to the sky and promised to stay with her until old age—was holding her father, gnawing on his thigh!Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, soaking his already crimson-drenched robe, spreading down to his heels and dyeing nearly the entire pit floor red.
The pit was littered with skeletons, some still recognizable as skulls.
The gatekeeper Da Li's...
The boiler room Uncle Qi's...
The plump cleaning auntie's...
They were everywhere.
Ban Xia dug her fingers into her hair, let out a frantic scream, rushed over to snatch her father away, her vision filled entirely with crimson.
Her father had already lost both legs to being eaten, and there was no breath left in his nose.
Meanwhile, Qin Yue was awakened by her scream, as if suddenly jolted from a dream, actually walking toward her step by step with both hands dripping fresh blood.
"Ah Xia, what's wrong Ah Xia, what happened Ah Xia..."
Dragging a trail of blood, his stomach filled with her own father's flesh and blood, he still called her like this, with the same tender affection as always.
Ah Xia!
Ah Xia!!!!
What followed was rather simple and fantastical, something that could be summarized in just a few sentences.
The 21st-century great mage Qi Ming, drawn by the evil aura at this critical moment, arrived carrying a peach wood sword. With little effort, he severed Qin Yue's three souls and six spirits.
Because Qin Yue didn't resist.
After understanding everything, he just covered his face, retreating step by step, treading on the bones he had once discarded with his own hands.
"I am a starved ghost from the Republican era. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"The sorrow of a starved ghost who cannot reincarnate is that no matter what I eat, I'm always hungry. Only eating humans can temporarily satisfy me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"But Ban Xia, that time when I saw you fall into this pit, then pulled you up, you looked at me like that - neither afraid nor curious, just gazing at me with those sparkling eyes, saying thank you. From that moment on, I swore I would never eat humans again."
"Seven years. I kept my vow. Every time I was starving, I would go see you. As long as you opened your eyes and looked at me with those same sparkling eyes, I felt I could endure it."
"Seven years, already seven years have passed, but what happened today..."
"I was mad with hunger, stupid with hunger, possessed by hunger, so hungry I completely lost awareness of what I was doing..."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
.........
He spoke like this, covering his face, not daring to look at Ban Xia. Until he was extinguished by Mage Qi, he said "I'm sorry" nineteen times in total, but never dared to speak Ban Xia's name again.
Seven years. He kept his vow for her, watching over her bedside through countless nights, waiting for her to wake, accompanying her through her entire girlhood.
On this final night, he was still guarding outside Ban Xia's door, mad with hunger, stupid with hunger, completely out of control, yet he never laid a finger on Ban Xia who was so close at hand.
He loved her.
Even with this final outcome, that love still burns brightly visible.
But so what!
Nine lives lost in the funeral home, the father who gave her life, raised her, and depended on her for survival - torn apart and devoured by him.
Such hatred cannot be erased by something as light as the word "love"!
"Could you love him, regardless of circumstances or right and wrong?"
Chi Wangchuan's question still echoed in her ears.
Ban Xia didn't answer, just took a deep breath.
She couldn't answer yes.
At this moment, she clearly understood - in this wager... she had lost.
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