After Swapping Identities With My Archenemy - Chapter 81

Chapter 81: The Firecrackers You Had Them Light

The figures in front of them walked on long wooden stilts that looked like high-clogs, passing steadily before their eyes.

Jiang Huaiyi could even see the intricate details on their ragged clothes. The deep, furrowed textures looked like the rings of an ancient tree, identical to those worn by the denizens of the “Little Underworld.”

They held umbrellas above and wore wooden shoes below, though they lacked the crimson robes and the bridal sedan chair of a ghost wedding.

Are they Yin Soldiers or Impermanences?

Huaiyi didn’t dare think further. She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed herself tightly against Shen Wensi’s arm, refusing to look. A ghostly blue mist swirled through the narrow path, thick as midnight clouds. It gathered around them in clumps, obscuring their vision. The ghosts were right beside them.

Huaiyi felt that panicky sensation one gets when washing hair in the shower with eyes closed terrified to open them, yet terrified of what might be there if she didn’t. She felt like if she opened her eyes, a ghostly face would be inches from her own.

The sound of the stilts was light, lacking the heavy strain of a mortal walking on them. Her mind raced—this area wasn’t known for being a “Yin Path.” Why are they passing through here tonight?

Shen Wensi held the tattered umbrella in front of them. Suddenly, one of the figures in the procession tilted their bamboo hat back, revealing a deathly pale face.

If the person hadn’t been frantically winking and making faces at her, the scene would have been purely horrific. Du Xiaoxin was grimacing and gesturing wildly, wondering if her Boss had noticed her. She had been patrolling nearby when her supervisor, annoyed by her “leisurely” work pace, pressed her into service to fill the numbers for this march.

Shen Wensi’s expression turned peculiar. Du Xiaoxin, thinking she had finally caught her Boss’s attention, intensified her facial contortions.

However, the “Supervisor” at the head of the line a figure with long, blue fingernails suddenly looked down at a slip of paper that had appeared in their hand.

The note read: Disappear immediately. All of Du Xiaoxin’s vacation days are canceled.

Du Xiaoxin: “…?!”

In an instant, the Yin Soldiers vanished. The mist dissipated, the damp chill evaporated, and the strange smells vanished. Huaiyi felt a pat on her arm.

“It’s okay,” Shen Wensi’s voice was calm. “They’re gone. Let’s go home.”

Huaiyi opened her eyes. Her vision was slightly blurry from squeezing them shut so hard. The path was empty. The umbrella was already closed.

“What’s with that umbrella?” Huaiyi asked breathlessly. “Can they really not see us when it’s open? Where did you get it? Are there more?”

“It’s an heirloom,” Shen Wensi replied simply as they quickened their pace. “There aren’t any others.”

Huaiyi felt a pang of envy. To someone as deathly afraid of ghosts as she was, an umbrella that made you invisible to the dead was a legendary weapon. Suddenly, Shen Wensi thrust the umbrella toward her.

“I’m giving it to you.”

Huaiyi gasped. “I… I couldn’t! This is too much.”

When she touched it, the umbrella was icy. Even in the winter chill, its coldness was unique—a bone-deep, spiritual frost. Her heart wanted to accept it, but her hands felt heavy with the weight of the gift.

“Don’t worry,” Shen Wensi said. “It’s not a big deal. If you feel bad, you can just work like a horse to repay me later.”

Huaiyi gripped the umbrella tight, a surge of gratitude washing away her guilt. She would gladly “work like a horse” for such a treasure.

New Year and the Missing Cat

They reached the house just as snow began to fall. Real flakes drifted down, crystalline under the streetlights. A brilliant firework erupted in the distance, followed by the muffled boom of the New Year’s celebration beginning in earnest.

“Happy New Year,” Huaiyi said, her mood lifting.

Shen Wensi looked at her bright, smiling face and softened. “Happy New Year.”

Inside, the house was uncharacteristically quiet. Usually, Xiao Die would be meowing at the door, demanding food. Huaiyi searched the cat’s favorite spots but found nothing.

“Where’s Xiao Die? Did she go out?”

“She was quite lazy today,” Wensi said, hanging up her coat. “She’s probably just out on patrol. She’ll be back tomorrow.”

Xiao Die was a semi-outdoor cat, a twenty-pound Maine Coon-like beast who patrolled her “territory” and ate expensive tuna by the pound. Huaiyi looked around one more time before heading to the kitchen to put away the leftovers.

While Huaiyi was in the kitchen, Shen Wensi turned toward the floor-to-ceiling window. Outside, in the dense, meter-high evergreen bushes, a pair of wet, glowing eyes stared back.

The eyes held an unmasked chill, blending into the darkness. Shen Wensi stared back, her gaze cold and piercing. After a moment, she silently mouthed a single word:

“Leave.”

The eyes vanished. The bushes rustled briefly, then went still.

Huaiyi walked back into the room. “Why are you just standing there?”

“Just wondering where the cat went,” Wensi lied smoothly.

“I’m going to bed,” Huaiyi stretched. “I’m exhausted. You should sleep soon too.”

The Nian Beast

At 2:00 AM, after ensuring Huaiyi was sound asleep, Shen Wensi put her coat back on. She stepped out and walked into the dark alleyway behind the street. There were no streetlights here.

As she moved deeper into the shadows, a massive form revealed itself. Hidden against a two-meter-high wall was a Nian Beast, standing three meters tall when upright. Its colorful fur was dusty, and its eyes—large as copper bells were wide and round. It looked more like a confused, overgrown creature than a terrifying legend.

Its voice was a coarse, freezing rumble.

“The firecrackers… you had the humans light them on purpose, didn’t you?”

Shen Wensi: “…”

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