Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Forgot Everything

A skinny, dark hand slowly reached up from under the bed. Then, a figure climbed onto the bed and lay down beside Xiao Chen.

Completely unaware, Xiao Chen rolled over in his sleep and ended up embracing the female ghost.

The ghost soul stared intently at him, occasionally caressing his cheek and even kissing his neck. Its movements were gentle, filled with a certain inexpressible devotion.

If he hadn’t installed the security camera himself, he would have assumed someone was playing an elaborate prank on him.

Remembering what Shen Zhiyao had just said about a ghost under his bed, Xiao Chen felt a chill run down his spine. Even now, he couldn’t muster the courage to turn and look at the bed.

“Miss! Help me, miss! What on earth is that thing under my bed? What does she want?”

With that, Xiao Chen dropped to his knees before Shen Zhiyao with a THUD, his voice filled with terror.

Shen Zhiyao said calmly, “That ghost was one of your fans when she was alive. She was obsessed with meeting you. That’s why she messaged you every day, asking for your address…”

Xiao Chen had absolutely no desire to meet these fans, since they were all a bunch of women in their fifties.

He normally just sweet-talked them because he wanted their gifts and donations. It wasn’t like he was after these older women for their looks.

So, he made an excuse, promising an in-person meeting if donations surpassed 510,000 yuan.

The older women took him at his word. To keep donating to Xiao Chen, they even held back the money their own children had given them for medical expenses. They scraped together the full 510,000 yuan, but the promised meeting never happened, and they eventually died in despair.

They died, but their worldly obsessions did not.

Their souls drifted to Xiao Chen’s side and began watching over him every day.

They couldn’t come out during the day, so they hid under the bed, where the yin energy was thickest.

At night, once Xiao Chen turned off the lights, they would silently climb onto his bed. If they couldn’t meet him in life, then they would sleep beside him in death; that alone would bring them satisfaction.

But it wasn’t long before the fan ghost souls discovered that Xiao Chen was, in fact, a playboy. He brought different women home to hook up with every night, sometimes not coming home at all.

All the gifts they had sent and donations they had made while alive were used by Xiao Chen to buy his lovers purses, book hotels, and even purchase luxury necklaces.

The fan ghost was naturally displeased. Especially when he brought a woman to lie on this bed, the fan ghost wanted nothing more than to lunge forward and tear Xiao Chen to shreds.

“So, that’s why you’ve been waking up feeling exhausted and looking so haggard lately. It’s the result of prolonged contact with these spirits. And when you bring those women back and buy them all kinds of designer jewelry, your fan ghosts are filled with resentment. That’s why, after you fall asleep, they take turns hitting you, repeatedly slapping your face, punching and kicking you. Naturally, you’d feel like you’re suffocating.”

Xiao Chen was mortified to have his dirty laundry aired in public. Humiliated and enraged, he shot back, “What the hell are you talking about? I spoil my fans rotten! How could I possibly cheat them out of their money? Besides, all of those were voluntary donations! And as for lovers, let me say it again: I don’t have any! If you keep slandering me, I’ll sue you for defamation!”

“Really?” Shen Zhiyao said with a faint smile. “In that case, why don’t we let them have a little chat with you? It’s exactly midnight, after all.”

The very next second, Xiao Chen felt the temperature in the room plummet. The lights flickered violently before going out with a sharp POP.

All that remained was the eerie green glow of his phone and laptop screens, barely illuminating a corner of the room…

From under the large bed behind Xiao Chen, a withered, blackened hand emerged, its long, sharp nails glinting coldly.

Xiao Chen sensed something. He wanted to turn and see what it was, but he was frozen stiff with terror and couldn’t bring himself to look back.

Suddenly, a dry, pale hand landed on his shoulder.

The palm was so cold it felt like it was filled with piercing shards of ice, sending a shiver through his whole body and making his teeth chatter.

“Xiao Chen… Xiao Chen… I died such a miserable death… Why didn’t you come see me…” an old, hoarse voice whispered by his ear, making his whole body go numb with fear.

“Ghost… A ghost… There’s a ghost…” He tried to bolt, but his legs were trembling too violently. He couldn’t muster the strength to move even a single step. A warm liquid gushed out uncontrollably, soaking his pants.

The fan ghost instantly floated before his eyes. She brushed aside a cascade of long hair, revealing a bloodless, wrinkled face.

Xiao Chen shut his eyes tightly, not daring to meet her gaze.

“You’re afraid of me?” The fan ghost leaned in closer, grabbing his head and forcing it up. “Take a good look at my face. Isn’t it familiar? I showed you my picture, remember? You said I was the most beautiful woman in the world. You said you’d be so happy if you ever met me.”

“It was because of those words that I didn’t even turn on my air conditioning in the summer. I didn’t pay my medical bills. I scraped together 600,000 yuan to give to you…”

“I sent you all those gifts just to make you happy, to make you like me.”

At this, a twisted smile spread across her ancient face, a horrifying sight to behold.

“You promised me. You promised your heart would always be mine. That’s why even after I died, you were all I could think about. Even in death, my ghost soul belongs to you. It traveled from so far away, just to be with you forever.”

“But look at you! One lover after another warming your bed! Do you think you’re worthy of my devotion? Are you worthy of the 600,000 yuan I gave you?”

With that, the fan ghost shoved Xiao Chen to the ground and began beating him senseless, looking for all the world like a wife who had just caught her husband cheating.

Normally, ghost souls can’t make direct physical contact with humans.

Before this, the fan’s ghost soul couldn’t even manifest before Xiao Chen’s eyes.

But now, her rage had caused her spiritual power to surge, allowing her to break through that barrier and manifest.

Just as Xiao Chen was about to be beaten breathless by the fan ghost, Shen Zhiyao suddenly spoke: “Stop!”

Her voice wasn’t loud, but as it traveled through the phone’s screen and into the fan ghost’s ears, it carried an immense pressure that made the ghost soul freeze on the spot.

“Who… are you?”

The ghost soul tossed Xiao Chen aside. Its pitch-black eyes pierced through the screen, “looking” straight at Shen Zhiyao.

Shen Zhiyao replied, “Who I am isn’t important. What’s important is, do you even remember who you are? Do you remember your family?”

The ghost soul was stunned. It opened its mouth to answer but found its mind was a complete blank. It couldn’t remember a thing.

A ghost soul is born of obsession. Her obsession was Xiao Chen.

And so, after she died, she had long forgotten her own name and her family.

Only Xiao Chen’s name remained, burned deep into her mind…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep