The Beauty with Terrible Luck Falls in Love with a Ghost - Chapter 25

Zuo Lihua stared blankly at the vehicle, her body stiff. Survival instincts made her wrench the steering wheel even while her mind was blank.

But the distance was too short. The tanker truck had broken through the green belt and was heading straight for her, as if it was specifically aiming to hit her. No matter how fast she reacted, it was obviously too late.

Realizing this, a chill ran through Zuo Lihua. The tanker truck grew closer and closer in her vision. In despair, she let go of the steering wheel…

The instant her fingers left the wheel, she heard a furious roar in her ear: “Zuo Lihua!”

A bone-chilling cold instantly swept through the small space inside the car. Zuo Lihua felt as if she were frozen solid. She didn’t know if it was an illusion, but at that moment, she felt the car had become much lighter.

If that’s the case…

In an instant, a decision formed in her mind.

Zuo Lihua tightened her grip with her left hand, took her right hand off the steering wheel, and yanked the handbrake.

“Screech…”

Amidst the ear-piercing screech of tires against the road, one side of the white car lifted. At the very last moment before impact, it executed a smooth, light drift, narrowly scraping past!

“Screeeech!” The tanker finally braked to a halt.

The driver, shaken, slumped in his seat, gasping for air. The scene from just now replayed endlessly in his mind. Despite the extreme danger, the word “beautiful” kept flashing in his thoughts.

“A race car driver? Fucking awesome!” he muttered to himself.

A few breaths later, he rubbed his eyes and glanced at his rearview mirror.

It was empty, of course. There was nothing there. After avoiding the collision, the car hadn’t even stopped; it had driven straight away.

Was that white car just now enveloped in a black mist?

Forget it, whatever! He must have been seeing things.

On the other side, Zuo Lihua, having survived the close call, didn’t let her guard down. She turned the steering wheel, merged into a normal lane, and sped away for some distance. Only when Han Hai’er told her, “We’ve lost them for now,” did she slow down.

Only then did she realize she was drenched in a cold sweat, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.

She suddenly felt parched, but she was on the road and couldn’t just drink water without a care.

Licking her lips, she said, “Just now…”

As she spoke, she glanced at Han Hai’er.

The ghost who had been glowing with health in the morning now looked as if she had been completely drained, slumped weakly in the seat. Her smooth, jade-like face was marred by black patches. The edges of the patches looked like paper scorched by fire, glowing with a metallic red, and in the center of the patches, one could faintly see dark flesh and human bone.

The words on the tip of her tongue changed: “Just now… a drift, did you see that? It was so cool. I never thought I’d be able to pull off a move like that one day. Too bad there were no cameras, it would’ve been great to record it. It’s a good thing you were here, you’re really amazing!”

Zuo Lihua had a habit of making light of difficult situations, only picking out the good things to say or making irrelevant jokes.

Some people would scold her for being clueless, for joking around in such a situation without any sense of crisis. Others thought it was a rare and valuable quality, that being with her kept them from getting nervous. Her fans had even given her a very chuunibyou nickname for it: Atmosphere Assassin.

Clearly, Han Hai’er was not the former type; she wasn’t bothered by this personality trait.

She shot Zuo Lihua a sidelong glance. “Just drive properly. I’m going to rest for a bit. Don’t bother me until we get there.”

Her voice was hoarse when she spoke.

Zuo Lihua nodded, swallowing the rest of her words and no longer disturbing her.

About thirty minutes later, with only seven or eight minutes left to the airport, Han Hai’er opened her eyes while they were waiting at a red light.

Her eyes were clear, and the burn-like black spots on her face had disappeared. A lock of long hair fell from her temple, hiding half her face and obscuring her expression.

“We’re not going to the airport anymore,” she said suddenly.

“Huh?” Zuo Lihua only then realized Han Hai’er was awake.

Without asking any more questions, she immediately turned the steering wheel.

Seeing her obediently do as she was told, Han Hai’er’s tone softened a little as she explained patiently, “The airport is a foul mess. There’s an aura similar to that female ghost’s. They’re probably waiting for you.”

“Someone summoned that ghost to the airport?” Zuo Lihua was a little angry, so angry she wanted to punch the steering wheel. What kind of deep-seated hatred was this, to be so determined to kill her?

“No.” Han Hai’er shook her head. “It’s not the same group. It’s probably ghosts from other provinces who got the news and came over on a plane. I said the auras are similar because their cultivation levels are all very high, so high that I can’t tell them apart.”

She said it very frankly, completely unconcerned about the fact that she was a novice.

Zuo Lihua: “…Ghosts can take planes?”

She received an eye-roll from Han Hai’er. “Ghosts were people before they died. Some ancient ghosts might not have the awareness to take a plane, but modern ghosts definitely do, okay? We all live according to the established common sense from when we were alive.”

Zuo Lihua: “…” So explain why you’re so insatiably horny?

“Is that female ghost still at my house?”

“She’s probably not there right now, but I can’t say for sure about tonight. If you can’t find the monk, you can still guard the temple, right?”

“Oh.” Zuo Lihua nodded and used her voice-activated Bluetooth to dial Sun Xiaoyang’s number.

A cheerful voice came from the phone: “Sister Lihua? Where are you? Did something happen? Do you want me to come find you? You turned down the endorsement for the Scent-Retaining Beads. Brother Ning is so mad, he was still fuming during the meeting just now.”

“No need,” Zuo Lihua said. “I’m out of town. I won’t be home for the next few days.”

“Eh? Where are you going?”

“Just wandering around, to clear my head. You know where I live, right?”

“Mhm, I know.”

“I’m not sure if I locked the door. Go check on it right now.”

“Okay, Sister Lihua, I’ll go right away!”

Watching Zuo Lihua hang up, Han Hai’er said with great interest, “Your little assistant is very considerate.”

“Of course,” Zuo Lihua said, proudly lifting her chin. “I interviewed her myself!”

“Where are we going next?” Zuo Lihua asked. She was currently driving around aimlessly like a headless fly, with no destination in mind. The moment she stopped, she felt unsafe.

Han Hai’er pinched the bridge of her nose. A moment later, she slowly uttered a name: “Yinshan Temple.”

“Oh…” Zuo Lihua skillfully turned the steering wheel.

Yinshan Temple was a small, not-so-famous monastery located on Qingcha Mountain in the northern suburbs of S-City. It used to have a thriving stream of worshippers, but during the Republican era, it was invaded by government soldiers. A great fire burned for three days and three nights. It was said that not a single monk escaped; they were all killed and piled inside as firewood. It was only rebuilt on the old site five or six years ago. There were still many ghost stories about Yinshan Temple circulating online, and some people even claimed to have heard the sounds of people wailing and screaming in a fire when passing by at night.

Wouldn’t there be a lot of ghosts there? Or, was it not a temple? Wouldn’t ghosts be exorcised if they went to a temple? Zuo Lihua was puzzled, but Zuo Lihua didn’t say anything.

After speaking, Han Hai’er closed her eyes again and fell silent. Zuo Lihua glanced at her.

She rarely saw Han Hai’er so quiet. With her eyes closed, she was motionless, her skin abnormally pale, her lips colorless, and there were faint dark circles under her eyes. She swayed slightly with the car’s movement, looking as if she were dead.

Zuo Lihua lowered her eyes, thinking: She is dead.

The car could only be parked at the foot of the mountain. The moment Zuo Lihua stopped the car, Han Hai’er opened her eyes.

Her blue eyes were a shade darker, devoid of luster, like a pool of stagnant water.

Without a word, she unbuckled her seatbelt, opened the door, and got out.

Zuo Lihua quickly followed.

“We’re not taking the stairs?” Zuo Lihua asked incredulously, standing before the steep steps.

Qingcha Mountain had a steep slope. Even when taking the stairs, one had to hold onto the railing. If one were to misstep, they would likely roll all the way to the bottom of the mountain.

And now, this ghost looked as if she had no intention of taking the proper path. Was she going to climb up using grass roots and small trees?

Han Hai’er frowned. “Just come on. What’s with all the nonsense?”

Zuo Lihua wanted to say something but held back.

She looked at the stone steps, then at Han Hai’er’s retreating back. Before the distance limit was exceeded, she gritted her teeth and chased after Han Hai’er, plunging headfirst into a thicket of wild grass taller than a person.

Anyway… Han Hai’er couldn’t possibly watch her fall to her death.

At the edge of the parking lot, only the side with the entrance and exit was neat and clean, paved flat with cement and stone. The two sides leaning against the mountain, however, were unkempt. Weeds and shrubs grew tall, even forming a natural fence.

Zuo Lihua had come here with her parents as a child, but this was the first time she had ever gone off the beaten path like this.

As she plunged in, her eyes were met with a mountain full of small pine trees, interspersed with a few scattered emerald bamboos. Upon closer inspection, she could see red strings tied to the pine trees. These strings seemed to be very old; some had grown up with the trees, high and out of reach, while others had faded, their old, woody red color swaying eerily in the wind.

“Wait for me!” After taking a few steps, she found it too strenuous and couldn’t help but call out to Han Hai’er.

Han Hai’er turned at the sound, her expression blank, looking down at her with a silent urging.

“Hah!” Zuo Lihua took a deep breath and took a few difficult steps to catch up.

At this moment, she was incredibly grateful she was wearing long pants and sneakers.

As she got closer, a translucent white hand reached out to her.

Zuo Lihua paused for a moment, then quickly took it.

The familiar coolness spread from where their skin touched. Inexplicably, Zuo Lihua’s anxious mood calmed down considerably.

“This should be better, right?” Han Hai’er said, pursing her lips, a hint of reproach in her eyes.

Zuo Lihua: “…”

To her surprise, Han Hai’er didn’t pull her up the mountain but moved along the foot of it. The weeds were thick, making it difficult for Zuo Lihua to walk. About ten minutes later, Zuo Lihua suddenly tripped.

She quickly grabbed onto Han Hai’er, narrowly avoiding a face-plant in the mud.

“What is that?” Looking back, she saw a flat stone with rounded edges sticking out from the withered yellow grass.

“Take a look,” Han Hai’er said, letting her hold on.

Zuo Lihua squatted down, pushed aside the weeds, and was startled by what she saw.

It was a tombstone.

There was no telling when it was erected. After being battered by wind and rain, the words on the tombstone were no longer legible. She could only vaguely make out “Tomb of So-and-so.”

“This…” Zuo Lihua was startled, but not overly so. After all, it wasn’t hard to understand finding a tombstone in the middle of a desolate mountain.

Han Hai’er’s lips curved up. “This should be the place,” she murmured.

She sounded somewhat familiar with it.

Zuo Lihua was taken aback and blurted out, “Do you know this person?”

“How could I? It’s just that when you see a tombstone, you’re not far from seeing a ghost.” Han Hai’er licked her pale lips, her eyes bright with pre-meal anticipation.

“…” Zuo Lihua was speechless.

Han Hai’er took two steps, her shoe tips brushing away the weeds and dead leaves, revealing damp stone steps underneath. The stone slabs were stacked layer upon layer, extending up along the mountain range.

Zuo Lihua was surprised. “It’s a path?” Then, she remembered the story that had been passed down: “It’s the original path from the war era!”

Han Hai’er let out a low laugh, her tone filled with irrepressible excitement. “Stay close to me. I won’t be able to look after you once the fight starts.”

Zuo Lihua silently hugged her bag tighter. “…Alright.”

As time passed, when the first rays of the setting sun shone on Zuo Lihua’s magnificent face, the surrounding air suddenly changed.

Zuo Lihua seemed to sense it and shrank her neck. Fortunately, she had climbed quite a few steps and was now covered in sweat, so she didn’t feel cold.

Han Hai’er stopped and turned her head slightly. “You should take a rest.”

“…Great!” Zuo Lihua casually threw her hundred-thousand-yuan bag on the ground as a cushion and sat on it.

The sound of human voices, as faint as the buzzing of mosquitoes, reached her ears.

It was soft yet continuous, coming from all directions, like an inescapable net.

Zuo Lihua subconsciously looked up at Han Hai’er beside her.

The ghost’s slender, delicate back gave her an immense sense of security.

The sun set in the west.

A cool evening breeze blew.

The patch of grass beside Zuo Lihua was rustled by the wind, revealing a section of something grayish-green.

She examined it, then raised her hand to brush the grass away.

A tombstone, identical to the one at the foot of the mountain, was revealed, appearing abruptly before her eyes.

Zuo Lihua’s hand, which was brushing away the leaves, paused. She looked up.

Along the small path, both sides were lined with tombstones. They were arranged neatly, the inscriptions illegible, stretching upwards into the distance, beyond her line of sight.

Her gaze shifted downwards. As expected, there were still neatly arranged tombstones. Because the mountain was so steep, from her perspective, it looked like two dense, neat, winding rows.

For a moment, Zuo Lihua was bewildered. Her first reaction was: So many people actually died?

Then, on second thought, it wasn’t surprising, given the era.

Soon, she had no time to dwell on it.

A bloody, muddy hand suddenly burst out of the ground from the tombstone nearest to her.

The hand was stained with fresh blood. There was a hole in the palm, from which dark red blood gushed. In the middle of the hole, a Buddhist prayer bead the size of a wenwan walnut was embedded right in the hand.

Zuo Lihua shivered in fright but quickly calmed down, dragging her bag to sit more in the middle.

Because the other side also had an identical tombstone, she couldn’t guarantee that a claw wouldn’t emerge from that one too. Therefore, the middle was the farthest position.

“Wow!” Han Hai’er’s voice was tinged with faint excitement. “Look, it’s all because you’re here that they dare to come out so wantonly. Zuo Lihua, you’re so fragrant under the night sky.”

“I… I am?” Zuo Lihua’s scalp tingled.

“Of course. You’ll never know how delicious you are.”

“…” She would never want to know, thank you!