New Times, New Hell

Chapter 76 - Unlimited Hellfire

Shang Que was rendered temporarily speechless. He could only gaze at Yu Zhengdu in exasperation. A moment later, he slowly pulled Yu Zhengdu into his arms and tightly embraced him.

“As long as you’re fine, I won’t collapse.”

Normally, when Shang Que was with Yu Zhengdu, he acted very much like a “person”. But now, perhaps because of his sudden relaxation after a long period of stress, he forgot to maintain his usual pretense.

Yu Zhengdu knew that he was a spirit right now. However, when he rested in Shang Que’s embrace, he could still very clearly feel the coldness emanating off of Shang Que’s body. This was a type of cold that was even more penetrating than the Underworld energy that ghosts had.

Yet, Yu Zhengdu wasn’t scared at all. An indescribable feeling of being moved suddenly arose in his heart. Though Shang Que normally seemed to wear his heart on his sleeve, in actuality, he had never truly opened his heart for others to see.

Maybe this was the reason why his momentary fragility appeared exceptionally touching.

“With you here, nothing will happen to me.” Yu Zhengdu hugged him in return and gently patted his back.

Under Yu Zhengdu’s placation, that frightening cold surrounding Shang Que’s body slowly dissipated. A long time later, he finally lifted his head up from where it was resting against Yu Zhengdu’s hair and slowly turned to look into the distance.

Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost’s sea of fire was still burning. With the aid of the wild wind, the flames started rising higher and higher into the sky. When they reached high enough, they painted the entire forest a terrifying red. Sparks flew everywhere. It appeared as if the Hell of legends had reappeared.

In the endless flames, Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost slowly stood up.

The long fur on his body had been burnt to a crisp by the fire. His skin and flesh were full of blisters, but the smile on his face was as crazed as ever. His huge, grotesque mouth continuously chewed as he swallowed. Half of the ghost child’s body was still hanging out of his lips.

As he ate the ghost child, he glared at Shang Que, gaze venomous. His voice was as rough as sandpaper. “So it’s you. So you’ve come……”

Shang Que expressionlessly looked at Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost. He watched as the other furiously chewed up the ghost child, too lazy to say anything.

His apathy made Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost even angrier. The large monster stumbled forward. “I’m so hungry, so thirsty. I don’t feel full regardless of how much I eat……Every bite I take feels like I’m swallowing flames. Every drink I take turns into lava……”

“But even so, I’m still going to eat all those ghosts one by one. Even if the fires of sin completely burn my flesh and blood, I’m determined to return to the mortal realm and seek you guys out for revenge……”

Needle-Throated Hungry Ghost curled himself up into a blue ball upon witnessing this frightening scene. “Mom, Torch is eating didis again. I’m scared——”

Ghost Mother’s expression was incredibly solemn. She turned to Shang Que and said, “Great Ghost King, the situation isn’t ideal. This is the thousandth ghost he’s eaten. He’s close to becoming a Heinous Ghost and escaping the Hungry Ghost Path.”

As Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost swallowed the ghost child, his body once again expanded. He looked like a movable hill; his mouth was a fire basin, his fangs were steep cliffs. The saliva that dripped out from his mouth was similar to burning lava. It burned all the trees that it touched into ash.

“So what if you’re the Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain? Today, I’m going to fight you to the death. Hahahahaha——”

Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost lifted his arms high into the air. Behind him was a sea of angry flames. Before him were ghostly offspring frantically running away after feeling threatened. His twisted laugh rang out, causing the forest to quake.

Needle-Throated Hungry Ghost’s whimpers became the background music to this horrifying scene. It caused everyone else to feel chills run down their backs.

This was Yu Zhengdu’s first time seeing such a scary evil ghost. His entire heart was tightly strung up. He instinctively grabbed onto Shang Que’s arm and asked, “Xiao Shang, this…… Can you handle it?”

Shang Que temporarily didn’t answer. Yu Zhengdu couldn’t help glancing at him. Only then did he realize that the other’s originally apathetic expression now seemed a bit comical.

After noticing that Yu Zhengdu was looking at him, Shang Que finally scoffed softly. “As expected, it seems like the mortal realm has forgotten about me for a long time. That’s the only reason an evil ghost would dare to make such a hilarious comment.”

Upon realizing that Yu Zhengdu was confused, he explained, “I mean that he’s bluffing.”

Yu Zhengdu: = = “……Oh.”

Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost had already neared. Only the black lake was between them. He opened his mouth and blew; enormous flames rushed across the water.

Those flames seemed solid. They practically flew over the lake. In the areas they passed, the dirt turned into magma, the water evaporated, and the ghostly offspring who had failed to escape turned into ash. They didn’t even get a chance to struggle.

Needle-Throated Hungry Ghost directly laid flat on the ground. “Mom, are we going to get burned to death by didi?”

Ghost Mother shouted in anger, “Shut up!”

Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost’s eyes looked like two stovetops as they reflected the flames. They burned with ill intent and resentment. “From today on, I will become the king of the Hungry Ghost Path——”

The moment he opened his mouth, numerous lightning bolts simultaneously appeared in the night sky. Their blinding flashes interconnected to form an endless net. The deep, black sky looked like shattered glass. The entire Hungry Ghost Path instantly became as bright as day.

Following the lightning, the roll of thunder sounded out. Layer after layer of thick cloud formed. At first glance, it seemed like the sky was about to collapse.

The rain followed. As if being poured out of a bucket, huge raindrops fell from the sky. In the blink of an eye, the world was completely shrouded by a limitless storm.

That rainwater seemed like it had come from an angry ocean: like the tides, flames extinguished where the rain touched. The lava became cold ash.

In only an instant, the towering flames burning around the Hungry Ghost Path had been put out. The world returned to its dark state, only occasionally flashing with lightning. These flashes illuminated Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost’s face.

“No—— I refuse to believe this——”

Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost released a heart wrenching howl. He did his best to blow at Shang Que again. The long tongues of fire expelled out of his mouth, but got extinguished by the rainwater instantly once more.

Immediately thereafter, Yu Zhengdu watched as Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost turned into something akin to a gigantic lighter. Tongues of fire incessantly burst out from his mouth and then became extinguished. They burst out again, then became extinguished again.

Yu Zhengdu: = = Alright, now Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost can’t even garner the last bit of respect anymore.

Needle-Throated Hungry Ghost blankly stared at this sudden development. His entire ghostly being was shocked. A moment later, he crawled over next to Ghost Mother and softly asked, “Mom, what is T-Torch doing?”

For a long time, Ghost Mother gazed at the enormous wild monster under the torrent of water. She said, “He lost.”

Needle-Throated Hungry Ghost didn’t understand. “He’s so powerful. How did he lose?”

Ghost Mother’s eyes were filled with fear. Her voice trembled as well, “The Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain was born with the ability to command all evil ghosts.”

Yu Zhengdu looked at Shang Que too. He recalled what Daoist priest Mu had told him regarding Luofeng Mountain when he had been at Diyang’s Qinglian Temple.

According to legend, a hundred thousand evil ghosts were suppressed under Luofeng Mountain. The mountain was the culmination of the strongest feelings of resentment between the Heavens and earth. The Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain had been born from this resentment. He didn’t have a past life and couldn’t enter the cycles of reincarnation. He was born with unlimited magic, capable of controlling the power of a hundred thousand evil ghosts.

So this wasn’t only a legend.

Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost struggled to blow out more flames. He finally realized that everything was all for naught.

“Impossible&#k2014;&#k2014;impossible&#k2014;&#k2014;” He angrily shouted, refusing to admit defeat. His thick, hard, and large feet stepped forward. Each step he took, the ground shook. “I’m going to eat you guys. I’m going to turn you into the flames in my stomach&#k2014;&#k2014;”

He took a step into the black lake, causing enormous waves.

At this moment, blinding light flashed in the sky once more. The loud “honglong——” of thunder sounded like the sky was collapsing.

During this thunderous storm, thunder fire fell from the heavens, accurately landing on Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost.

Shang Que’s voice seemed to be coming from the distant past: “Then let hellfire, which can’t even be extinguished by rainwater, burn you to ash.”

With a “hong——”, Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost’s body burst into flames.

“Ah——ah——” Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost released yelps of pain. “What is this? This fire, why is it even hotter than the fire in my stomach? It’s more painful——I’m in so much pain——Ah——”

The rain had yet to stop falling, causing the entire Hungry Ghost Path to be covered in rainwater. However, the flames on Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost’s body didn’t get extinguished. They completely surrounded him.

Ghost Mother revealed a horrified expression. “It’s, it’s unlimited hellfire……”

Unlimited hellfire. It could burn spirits out of existence.

“Am I going to die?” Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost seemed to have finally realized what situation he was in. His voice was filled with endless terror. “This time, is my spirit going to disappear as well?”

The hellfire on his body caused the black lake to boil. Innumerous ghosts howled as they crawled out of the mud. However, not even the enormous lake could extinguish his sins.

He reached both hands out. They seemed to be two burning sticks. He tried to grab Yu Zhengdu. “I don’t want to die……don’t want to disappear……”

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t take another step forward.

Ultimately, he raised his head powerlessly. With reluctance in his eyes, he looked at the sky and slowly fell over, sinking into the black lake.

The hellfire still burned in the water. The black lake boiled continuously, like a pot of oil. It slowly burned Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost into ash.

Needle-Throated Hungry Ghost got scared out of his wits by this scene. He hid behind Ghost Mother and trembled. “Mom, I’m never going to do bad things again!”

When the rain stopped falling, Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost had already been burned into ash. The Hungry Ghost Path returned to peace.

But Ghost Mother hadn’t regained her wits yet. She sat on the ground, paralyzed, and stared at Shang Que in a daze. Then, she turned to look at Yu Zhengdu. In this instant, her mood could be described as conflicted.

She honestly hadn’t expected that this young, innocent looking ghost would be able to summon the Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain so casually.

At this moment, she was only furiously thinking to herself about whether or not she had offended him just now.

After going through all her memories, she finally heaved out a sigh of relief. Things were okay. She had acted fine previously, even treating him to food!

Yu Zhengdu had just returned to his senses as well. He hurriedly clapped for Shang Que, “Boss is really amazing!”

Shang Que looked at him in exasperation. He reached out and gently caressed the top of his head. “Not amazing enough. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have allowed you to get trapped here.”

His voice was full of tenderness. His caress was natural and intimate. This caused Yu Zhengdu to uncontrollably develop a strange feeling……He hadn’t thought this before, but after the conversation in his group chat, he kept feeling like Shang Que’s actions seemed to hold a different meaning. He didn’t know if this was because he had finally started paying attention.

While he was still feeling confused, Ghost Mother had already brought Needle-Throated Hungry Ghost over to greet Shang Que.

Ghost Mother said, “I hadn’t expected……hadn’t expected that there would be a day that I would be able to see the Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain again.”

Shang Que was slightly surprised too. “I hadn’t expected that the Ghost Mother of Xi Mountain would still be here either.”

There were several ghost mothers in the Hungry Ghost Path who could birth ghosts. However, there was only one who had the feet of a tiger and dragon, the eyebrows of a python, and the eyes of a jiao.

Yu Zhengdu asked in surprise, “Yi? So you two know each other?”

Ghost Mother bowed deeply. “A thousand years ago, the one who opened the magical borders of the Hungry Ghost Path and saved those innocent ghosts trapped here was the Great Ghost King.”

Here, she couldn’t help glancing at Yu Zhengdu out of her peripheral vision. Her mood once again became indescribably conflicted.

Upon thinking of the past, she remembered that she had even mocked Yu Zhengdu before, saying that there definitely wouldn’t be another person who could open the borders of the Hungry Ghost Path to save the innocent spirits. She had never expected…… Not only would the borders be opened, but they would be opened by the same person from a thousand years ago.

However, Yu Zhengdu froze in shock. Hadn’t Ghost Mother very clearly stated previously that the person who had opened the borders of the Hungry Ghost Path a thousand years ago no longer existed?

Only to hear Ghost Mother say, “I hadn’t thought that the Great Ghost King would be able to return to the mortal realm. That’s fantastic.”

“Let’s not bring up matters of the past,” Shang Que interrupted her, completely uninterested. He scanned their surroundings, gaze cold. “What’s wrong with the Hungry Ghost Path? Why are there Heinous Ghosts?”

Yu Zhengdu said, “It was Jiang.”

As soon as Yu Zhengdu brought up this name, Shang Que’s eyes became filled with ill intent. “He’s the one who sent you to the Hungry Ghost Path?”

Yu Zhengdu nodded, then carefully relayed what had happened to him after encountering Jiang.

After he finished speaking, Ghost Mother added, “Actually, starting from a few years ago, the Hungry Ghost Path started becoming strange. The ghostly offspring in the Hungry Ghost Path continuously disappeared. At first, I didn’t realize what was going on. Until I gave birth to Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost a few months ago. Only then did I discover that he actually consumed ghosts……”

But Ghost Mother didn’t know why Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost ate ghosts. She had only presumed that he had gone crazy because of his intense hunger. As the mother of all hungry ghosts, she had a natural sense of maternal love towards the ghostly offspring she gave birth to. Thus, she couldn’t bear to kill Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost. She only kicked him out and hid all her other ghostly offspring away. This way, he wouldn’t be able to find them.

If not for the fact that Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost had almost accomplished his goal, consequently becoming cocky enough to reveal the truth, she wouldn’t have suspected at all that he had kept the memories of his previous life. She also wouldn’t have thought that he knew becoming a Heinous Ghost would allow him to escape the bonds of the Hungry Ghost Path.

Even more unexpectedly, after she hid her ghostly offspring away, someone actually secretly threw other spirits here, continuing to raise these evil ghosts.

“How fortunate that the Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain could appear again to prevent this calamity……” Ghost Mother said.

As she finished speaking, Needle-Throated Hungry Ghost’s large eyes suddenly widened. He tugged at her arm and pointed into the distance. “Mom, look……”

All the ghosts turned to look. Only to see that in the endless forest, blue ghostly fires lit up one by one. More and more ghostly fires appeared, like the stars lighting up a night sky.

The fires got closer and closer. Slowly, their forms became discernable. Only to see crowds upon crowds of hungry ghosts emerging from the darkness, walking towards them.

The noise was incredible, carrying their frail voices of regret. The sound echoed throughout the Hungry Ghost Path.

“It’s the Ghost King——Ghost King——”

“Great Ghost King—— Please forgive us——”

Yu Zhengdu was shocked. He was so scared he reflexively grasped onto Shang Que’s shoulders. He whisper-shouted, “How come so many ghosts suddenly appeared?!”

But Ghost Mother reached an epiphany. “Seems like I wasn’t the only ghost mother who hid her children.”

No wonder the number of hungry ghosts had suddenly decreased in the Hungry Ghost Path. It turned out that not all of them had been eaten. Other ghost mothers had probably discovered this strange phenomenon earlier and hidden their ghostly offspring away first.

This was also why after so long, the only Heinous Ghost that had appeared was Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost. The other areas had long since run out of ghosts to eat.

And now, the Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain had opened the borders of the Hungry Ghost Path and lowered unlimited hellfire, burning Torch-Throated Hungry Ghost to death. These ghostly offspring that had been in hiding finally dared to reveal themselves now.

Only to see swarms of ghostly fire floating in the air. Countless hungry ghosts knelt and bowed together: “Greeting the Great Ghost King——”

At this time, Yu Zhengdu could finally clearly see their appearances. All of them were skin and bone, covered in scraps of clothing. Their shoulders and mouths were covered with ghostly fire, causing them endless suffering and torment.

Yu Zhengdu couldn’t help lamenting, “Too pitiful.”

But Shang Que wasn’t touched at all. He coldly said, “That’s because of all the sins they committed in their past lives.”

Yu Zhengdu thought about it. “You’re right.”

As a programmer who had single handedly developed the Life and Death Accounts system, he knew better than anyone the relationship between cause and effect.

Shang Que coldly waved his hand at the crowd of ghosts. “Leave. I’m unable to forgive your sins.”

Following his words, the forest rang out with cries of “wuwu”. A myriad of hungry ghosts lowly wailed, “Please forgive us——”

Though Needle-Throated Hungry Ghost’s mind was muddled, the sound of all the other ghosts caused him to empathize. He knelt too and whimpered out, “Please forgive me——”

Only Ghost Mother remained motionless. All she did was heave out a long sigh and say, “What use is there in you begging the Ghost King? Your bad karma is boundless. The only option to slowly wash away your sins is to repent day and night. It’s a pity that……”

Yu Zhengdu gazed at her. “What’s a pity?”

Ghost Mother’s eyes were filled with sympathy. “It’s a pity that they don’t understand.”

The beings of the Hungry Ghost Path led muddled lives. Their IQ’s were only slightly higher than those of beasts. They could see their pasts, but not very clearly. They only knew that they had sinned and were now suffering for these sins. However, they didn’t know how to change for the better and could only live through this endless, daily torment. They passively awaited the day their sins could be offset.

Ghost Mother said, “All these years, I’ve been dedicated to learning the culinary arts in the hopes that I could allow my ghostly offspring to understand the beauty of food. This way, they might be able to feel a sense of guidance in their muddled lives and escape from this path sooner to head onto the next life. What a pity that my ghostly offspring are too disappointing!”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

He almost blurted out, this really can’t be blamed on your ghostly offspring!

Her culinary skills had almost caused him to give up on leaving the Hungry Ghost Path. Not to mention what it would do to her ghostly offspring!

Yu Zhengdu gazed at her disappointed form, then glanced at the teary-eyed Needle-Throated Hungry Ghost. He thought about it, then patted Shang Que. He said, “Xiao Shang, I have an idea!”

Shang Que looked at him. “Un?

Yu Zhengdu said, “It seems to me that the Hungry Ghost Path is like a large-scale prison. It won’t do to allow it to continue being this way. Who knows if someone else will take advantage of it again one day?”

Every time Shang Que thought of how Yu Zhengdu had almost died in the Hungry Ghost Path, he couldn’t help the lingering fear from consuming him. Thus, he nodded, “Un.”

Yu Zhengdu rubbed his hands together. “We need to reform the Hungry Ghost Path.”

Though the Hungry Ghost Path also belonged to the Six Paths of Reincarnation, because it had a border created by karma, it wasn’t connected to the other paths. Additionally, those in this path had all been extremely evil individuals in their past lives. The situation was murky. Consequently, the three realms had always ignored this path. Since historical times, regardless of if it was the Heavenly Court or Hell, they had always decided to let the Hungry Ghost Path emerge of itself and perish of itself.

However, currently, the Heavens and Hell had both collapsed. There was also someone who was using the Hungry Ghost Path to do wrong. If they didn’t start focusing on the Hungry Ghost Path, as soon as something happened, the sole power of the mortal realm probably wouldn’t be enough to face the millions of hungry ghosts in the Hungry Ghost Path.

Yu Zhengdu’s plan was to mimic the prisons of the mortal realm. He wanted to give these “hungry convicts” lessons on morality and reform to help them change themselves sooner. This way, they would be able to leave this path.

Shang Que was naturally willing to follow his suggestion. “Okay.”

However, hungry ghosts barely had any intelligence. It probably wouldn’t be easy to educate them.

Shang Que thought about it, “Let’s beat them up a few times……”

Yu Zhengdu: “……They’re already pitiful enough.”

He thought of Needle-Throated Hungry Ghost’s previous reaction to seeing the recipes for delicacies and said, “How about we provide cuisine education for them?”

Shang Que gazed at him. A long time later, he meaningfully nodded. “Poison-in-the-middle-of-the-night education. Sounds good.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……” That’s not what he meant.

Ghost Mother had already become overjoyed. “Great Ghost King, I request to join the team that educates the hungry ghosts.”

Yu Zhengdu hurriedly waved his hands around. “No no no. Educating the hungry ghosts is a top priority. You can’t participate.”

Ghost Mother: “……”

A while later, Yu Zhengdu reached his hand out again. “Oh right, give my phone back.”

Ghost Mother: “……”

Shang Que turned around. With furrowed brows, he asked, “You took his phone?”

“No, no.” Ghost Mother hurriedly pulled the phone out and politely handed it over. “I was just using it to look at recipes.”

Yu Zhengdu received the phone and smiled. “Don’t be unhappy. I’ll burn you another one later.”

Ghost Mother was ecstatic. “Okay, okay. Thank you so much.”

Reforming the Hungry Ghost Path was a difficult task that would take a lot of time. It couldn’t be sorted out immediately. The most important thing now was to quickly return Yu Zhengdu’s spirit to the mortal realm so that he could come back to life. Otherwise, as soon as twenty four hours passed, he would really have to die, whether he wanted to or not.

Because of this, Shang Que took Yu Zhengdu back to the mortal realm after giving Ghost Mother a few orders.

Needle-Throated Hungry Ghost couldn’t bear to part with him. “Milk Tea Didi, you must remember to visit me soon——”

Yu Zhengdu waved, “I will.”

Shang Que’s palm passed over his eyes. Yu Zhengdu only felt that a bright light had been turned on. When he opened his eyes again, he discovered that he was already standing at the Minan Reincarnation Point. The sunlight was scorching outside the room, forming a completely different image as compared to the Hungry Ghost Path.

“So it turns out that the Hungry Ghost Path really does overlap with the mortal realm,” Yu Zhengdu exclaimed.

Shang Que nodded, then tugged him over to a little bed inside the breakroom of the reincarnation point. They saw that Yu Zhengdu’s physical body was peacefully lying on the bed.

“It’s a good thing that Jiang only took your spirit away and didn’t do anything to your physical body,” Shang Que said with lingering fear.

Or maybe it wasn’t that Jiang hadn’t had intentions to do anything to Yu Zhengdu’s physical body. Only, there were too many people at the walking street, so he had been scared of drawing attention. Regardless, though, Shang Que had at least been able to bring Yu Zhengdu’s physical body back in one piece.

This was the one lucky thing in a series of bad luck.

Yu Zhengdu observed his own physical body. He couldn’t help but quote Fan Li: “I look so at peace.”

Shang Que: “……”

Shang Que’s expression was solemn. He stared into the other’s eyes and very seriously stated, “Don’t say such things.”

Yu Zhengdu gazed at his serious appearance – which was rare. He once again thought of the almost overflowing worry and tenderness he had seen in Shang Que’s eyes in the Hungry Ghost Path. That strange feeling bubbled to the top of his heart once again.

Could it be that Shang Que was really interested in him?

But previously, Shang Que clearly hadn’t expressed any intent to court him?

Yu Zhengdu was extremely confused. Shang Que pushed him. “Hurry and return to your physical body.”

Yu Zhengdu nodded. Just as he was about to lie down into his body again, he suddenly had a thought. He burst into loud laughter and grabbed his phone to say, “Wait a minute. I’m a spirit right now. Doesn’t that mean I can check our app’s client server?”

Shang Que was extremely exasperated. “How come you’re still in the mood to look at these things?”

“Of course I am!” Yu Zhengdu said while downloading and registering for the app. “Did you forget? Our app calculates fortunes using big data. Living spirits that have yet to die can see the future!”

Previously, Fan Li had seen his marriage situation in advance on the app. In the end, he truly did end up with Jin Yue.

As one of the developers of the app, Yu Zhengdu naturally wanted to experience this function for himself too.

He very quickly finished registering and excitedly opened the【Good and Evil Scores】function to check his important life events. As expected, the page displayed a portion of what was going to happen to him in the future. However, for some unknown reason, his list wasn’t as long as Fan Li’s. It only showed his experiences for the next few months. Additionally, these experiences were very limited. His list was only a few short pages.

Yet, Yu Zhengdu could understand this situation. This function that allowed calculations of fate based on big data was ultimately constantly changing based on each person’s individual circumstances. The length of time that it could calculate in advance was naturally different between individuals.

But it was already great that he could see these few pages. After all, these were predictions!

Yu Zhengdu hurriedly looked down. And then his eyes widened. With a shocked expression, he blurted out, “What is going on?!”

Shang Que had originally been standing off to the side with his arms crossed, supervising Yu Zhengdu to make sure that he would immediately return to his physical body after he finished playing around. Upon noticing how startled the other was, his heart clenched. He hurriedly scooted close, worried that something bad would happen in the future, “What’s wrong?”

“Don’t——” Yu Zhengdu finally remembered that Shang Que was next to him. He wanted to move out of the way, but it was already too late.

His big data fortune calculations had only been a few pages in the first place. Shang Que instantly noticed the focal point.

Only to see Shang Que’s eyes widen as well. He blankly read out loud, “……A certain day of a certain month, officially confirmed relationship with Shang Que.”

Yu Zhengdu looked over. Great, he had already seen it. Thus, he decided that he had nothing to lose and wondered if he should just use this opportunity to ask if Shang Que was actually crushing on him.

Yu Zhengdu had just turned around and was planning to ask when he saw Shang Que slightly purse his lips. With a poised expression, he said, “So you’re planning on confessing to me on this day. I know now. I’ll consider it well.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

Yu Zhengdu: “???”

The author has something to say:

Actually, some records indicate that when water reaches hungry ghosts, it becomes urine. However…… Anyways, so I changed it to lava _(:3∠)_

Shang Que: So that’s his plan!

Zhengdu: It’s not, I didn’t!