Starting Out With a “Perfect Wife” Trial Card (Transmigration Into a Novel) - Chapter 4

Of course, Jin Banwei hadn’t forgotten that Ren Qiao was a ghost because of her beauty. Startled by the sudden reminder, she thought Ren Qiao must be upset.

This was reasonable. From Ren Qiao’s perspective, she was a ghost, yet her ‘husband’ immediately declared that she would never keep ghosts. If she were Ren Qiao, she wouldn’t be pleased either.

Jin Banwei, trying to be understanding, rephrased her statement:

 “They aren’t my wife, so of course I wouldn’t keep them.”

(She would be keeping her, though.) The words reached Ren Qiao’s lips, but she didn’t have the courage to say them. She must have been a lonely wandering spirit for too long to believe a child’s words intended to soothe a ghost. She wasn’t Jin Banwei’s wife, either. This was just a brief deception.

Ren Qiao reminded herself, gently lowering her gaze, avoiding the chance of meeting Jin Banwei’s eyes, and clearing her head slightly.

Seeing her bow her head, Jin Banwei instinctively bent over and tilted her head to look at Ren Qiao’s expression. This look caused her to meet Ren Qiao’s slightly red eyes, and her heart skipped a beat, making her hastily pull her head back.

How should a husband comfort a sad wife?

Jin Banwei didn’t know. She didn’t even know why Ren Qiao’s eyes had suddenly turned red.

The room fell silent. As time passed, the sun outside climbed higher, and even the golden sunlight streaming in grew more intense.

Jin Banwei was leaning against the window wall, while Ren Qiao stood in front of her. The golden light fell upon Ren Qiao; her blood-red wedding dress looked sprinkled with gold dust, making her seem less chilly.

Ren Qiao paused, then stepped back, moving into the direct sunlight. A strong, lingering desire crept onto her face.

Jin Banwei saw all of this. It was hard to imagine seeing a ghost display such affection for the sun.

She asked out of curiosity: 

“Ghost sister, do you really like the sun?”

“Yes, this is the first time I’ve ever touched sunlight.”

Faint joy hung on Ren Qiao’s face. Though not obvious, her voice also told Jin Banwei that she liked the sun. But this was wrong.

In the original book, powerful ghosts could condense physical bodies. Like the Nightmare Demon, they didn’t fear sunlight and looked no different from ordinary people. How could Ren Qiao, a powerful Ghost King, not be able to condense a physical body? Yet she said this was the first time she had touched sunlight.

Could the System have lied to her, and the ghost it summoned wasn’t the most powerful?

Indeed, Ren Qiao looked fragile and weak, not like a powerful Ghost King.

This, in turn, made it reasonable. But those ghosts had been silent since Ren Qiao arrived. They must be afraid of Ren Qiao, otherwise, why would there be no sound? Furthermore, the System had no reason to lie to her.

It was only now that Jin Banwei noticed the ceiling and the dolls had returned to normal. The dolls’ eyes looked no different from ordinary dolls, and the bulging ceiling had also returned to its original appearance.

Jin Banwei stared at the ceiling, unable to find any trace of damage. Even if Ren Qiao was incredibly powerful, she couldn’t possess the ability to restore walls.

This is the supernatural world, not the magic world, right?

Jin Banwei’s doubts piled up. She couldn’t help but ask Ren Qiao: “Can’t Ghost Kings condense physical bodies?”

“Most Ghost Kings I’ve seen can, but my soul is incomplete, so I can’t condense a physical body. If it weren’t for this paper figurine’s body, it would be very difficult for me to touch the sun.”

There was a hint of sadness in Ren Qiao’s voice.

She must have once envied those Ghost Kings who could condense a physical body, envied their ability to appear in daylight and feel the sun for a moment, rather than only having the night as their companion.

Jin Banwei hadn’t expected Ren Qiao to have an incomplete soul. She felt a pang of sympathy for the Ghost King she had just met.

Jin Banwei completely ignored the various inconsistencies. She didn’t stop to think that from Ren Qiao’s perspective, they were lovers, yet she was asking such unfamiliar questions.

“Thank… Being able to bask in the sun is wonderful.”

Ren Qiao’s eyes, looking towards the sun, were still gentle and sincere, and even held a hint of longing.

Ren Qiao moved closer to the window, allowing herself to be fully enveloped by the sun. She tilted her head up, facing the light.

As noon arrived, the sunlight outside intensified.

Black smoke rose from her fair skin, showing signs of burning. Ren Qiao frowned and walked to the corner where the dolls were, escaping the sunlight that would injure her.

Soon, the black smoke dissipated, and Ren Qiao’s scorched skin quickly regenerated.

Ghost Kings with a physical body could touch the sun, but they weren’t completely immune to the light.

As Ren Qiao moved into the corner, the dolls, which had been terrorizing Jin Banwei before Ren Qiao’s arrival, trembled in fear. The dolls moved restlessly, and Jin Banwei heard a whimpering sound near her ear.

Jin Banwei uncertainly touched her ear, confirming that she hadn’t misheard.

Those ghosts seemed to be frightened to tears by Ren Qiao’s powerful aura.

The Ren Qiao that Jin Banwei saw was gentle and beautiful. She wondered what terrifying appearance those ghosts saw in Ren Qiao to be so scared.

Ren Qiao hadn’t even done anything yet.

Jin Banwei suddenly felt much more at ease. Although the experience card was only for ten days, within those ten days, she didn’t have to worry about being haunted by ghosts or facing the Nightmare Demon’s retribution.

Ten days wasn’t that short. If Ren Qiao was willing to help, she could even earn some Kindred Spirit Points during this time, allowing her to draw a prize. If she drew enough life-saving prizes, she could survive here even after Ren Qiao left.

She just hoped that when the experience card expired, Ren Qiao, once her consciousness was restored, wouldn’t seek revenge on her.

Although… Jin Banwei secretly glanced at Ren Qiao. Her gentle eyes and soft voice did make her feel a sense of affection and closeness, but she was a Ghost King—capable of scaring the very ghosts that had terrorized Jin Banwei. How much more powerful was she?

Jin Banwei shrank her neck and asked Ren Qiao:

 “Ghost sister, I saw the dolls’ eyes almost falling out just now. Why is there nothing now?”

Ren Qiao gently raised a soft finger and reached towards the plush dolls in the corner. One doll floated into her palm. She grabbed the top of the doll’s head with her left hand, and a shadowy figure was pulled out. It was a man in his thirties. Even after leaving the doll, he didn’t dare to move recklessly. Unlike Ren Qiao, he couldn’t stand on the floor; his feet were faint and floating, and his soul was uncoalesced and somewhat hazy.

He stood in the dark corner, even a small amount of light would cause him discomfort.

He pressed against the wall, staring at Jin Banwei and Ren Qiao with a guarded expression.

Ren Qiao paid no attention to his defensiveness and didn’t attack him. Instead, she pointed at him and said to Jin Banwei: “These ghosts are all trapped here. The power of the thing that confined them is very strong. Without outside help, they can’t escape. They can only use their Yin energy to trick your eyes. So, anything you saw was a hallucination.”

Ren Qiao meant that she had been ‘ghost-tricked’?

Jin Banwei carefully thought back to everything that had just happened. So, there was no ghost smashing the wall, and the dolls hadn’t moved at all. They had only used their ghostly energy to affect her.

That made sense.

She had thought it was strange. The Nightmare Demon was absent during the day. If these ghosts really had a chance to break free, wouldn’t the original owner’s body have been eaten by them long ago, leaving not even a soul?

All these ghosts could do was scare her.

Jin Banwei sighed in relief. Her tense back softened at that moment. She leaned back against the wall by the window, breathing heavily. Even though she knew the recent events were only ghost tricks, they had still given her quite a fright.

Ren Qiao seriously counted the dolls in the room and asked Jin Banwei: “Xiao Jin, do you want to keep them?”

“Of course not!”

What kind of joke is that? These ghosts could easily scare her to death.

“Then should I make them disappear?”

Before Jin Banwei could answer Ren Qiao’s second question, the male ghost yelled first: “You’re a ghost! Why are you helping a human!”

Ren Qiao tightened her fingers and said softly: “She is my Husband. Naturally, I should listen to her.”

The male ghost became even more agitated: “You are a ghost, she is a human. You won’t have a future! You should eat her and increase your cultivation!”

Jin Banwei stared at the male ghost in disbelief. This ghost was actually urging Ren Qiao to eat her right to her face! She wasn’t deaf; this ghost completely disregarded her feelings.

Indeed, compared to them, Ren Qiao was much better.

“Can you, a ghost, please stop being so noisy?”

While speaking reasonably with Ren Qiao, the male ghost scoffed at Jin Banwei: “Hmph, a human daring to marry a ghost! Aren’t you afraid she’ll strip your skin while you sleep?”

Jin Banwei subconsciously touched her neck.

Stripping skin!

In that instant, Jin Banwei recalled every scene of a ghost stripping a person’s skin she had ever seen, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Will Ren Qiao strip my skin for revenge after ten days?

The hand that touched her neck moved to her cheek. The skin under her fingertip was smooth and delicate; it certainly looked like it could be stripped. Her palms began to sweat, and she forced a stiff smile: “Ghost sister is already so beautiful, she definitely wouldn’t covet this ordinary skin of mine, right?”

Though she was arguing with the male ghost, her voice lacked conviction.

“Hmm?” Ren Qiao blinked in confusion. She seemed to realize something and gave a soft chuckle. She slowly raised her hand, this time placing it on Jin Banwei’s cheek. Her slender, white fingertip lightly brushed against it. Ren Qiao’s body leaned towards Jin Banwei along the path of her arm. Her beautiful features magnified before Jin Banwei’s eyes. Upon closer inspection, she was as white as paper, yet her gentle silhouette settled right on Jin Banwei’s heart.

Although Ren Qiao’s fingers were no longer cold, they also didn’t have a burning temperature. Yet, under her touch, a slight blush still surfaced on Jin Banwei’s face. Her slow heartbeat showed signs of accelerating, and her teeth had already bitten down on her tongue through her tightly closed lips.

For a moment, Jin Banwei couldn’t tell if this was due to fear or something else.

“Xiao Jin is actually very good-looking. I…”

Before Ren Qiao could finish the word don’t, Jin Banwei, lost in that gentle moment, suddenly snapped back to reality. She covered her face and cried out: “It hurts!”

She retreated several steps, looking wronged and pitifully at Ren Qiao, though her eyes held more shyness than fear.

Ren Qiao’s smile became a little helpless: “I don’t want your face. Shouldn’t a couple trust each other without suspicion? How can Husband listen to a ghost’s words and doubt me?”

She called her Husband again.

Jin Banwei followed Ren Qiao’s gesture and looked at the dolls. She was wary of them. Compared to them, the gentle Ren Qiao was clearly more reliable.

At least, at least Ren Qiao wouldn’t harm her right now.

Jin Banwei patted her face, which was stiff from nervousness, and finally lowered her hands. There was no blood on her palm. Ren Qiao hadn’t tried to strip her skin; she had only been touching her lightly, but her fear had caused her to imagine the pain.

Jin Banwei felt a little embarrassed: “I’m sorry.”

Ren Qiao looked at her: “It’s alright.”

The doll where the male ghost had been suddenly flew up. The doll’s fluffy hand, as if controlled by an invisible thread, slapped the male ghost across the face. Ren Qiao still smiled:

 “It’s all his fault. He shouldn’t have been misleading my Husband.”

It was easy to guess that Ren Qiao was the one who did it.

Jin Banwei’s expression was slightly stunned. She didn’t feel sorry for the male ghost; he had scared her quite a bit just now. Ren Qiao was essentially venting her frustration for her.

She just didn’t understand why someone could say Husband so beautifully. It was soft, gentle, and utterly sweet. What if she got used to it?

Jin Banwei awkwardly touched her burning earlobe: “Ghost sister, please just call me Xiao Jin.”

Jin Banwei’s request hit the male ghost’s weak spot. He yelled at Ren Qiao: “Ghost King, listen to her! Even though she married you, she secretly despises you for being a cradle robber! She won’t even let you call her Husband! You should just eat a person like this quickly!”

Ren Qiao frowned. With a flick of her long sleeve, the male ghost was trapped back inside the doll.

Jin Banwei cautiously asked her: “Ghost sister, are you angry?”

She wasn’t angry. She just found the male ghost a bit noisy. And he wasn’t wrong: compared to her, Jin Banwei was very “tender.” She had at least lingered in the mortal world for a century, while Jin Banwei looked only about twenty.

An undeniable piece of “tender meat.”

Ren Qiao gently shook her head, but Jin Banwei frowned and said: “But I’m angry! I shouldn’t be a piece of grass; at least I should be a flower.”

Ren Qiao smiled: “Then I’ll release him again and make him change his tune.”

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