The Ghost Insists on Giving Me a Beautiful and Powerful Wife! - Chapter 1

A thick fog rose over Chong City at night; a sliver of moonlight lucked through the haze and fell on her skin, thin as a needle.

Yu Ruoyin gripped her phone tightly and walked forward by that faint light.

The weak glow couldn’t tear apart the fog that wrapped around her; she couldn’t tell where she was.

Her phone made a faint sound — it was the important-date reminder she had set. She glanced at it; the words “eighteenth birthday” stabbed at her eyes.

Again.

Last year on her birthday she had been this unlucky too.

To be precise, every year on her birthday she was especially unlucky, and it always felt strange.

She had clearly gone out this morning for an interview, but she had only stayed in that shop a short while — and when she came out it was already dark.

Not long after leaving, a fog thick enough to blot out all sight had suddenly appeared, trapping her on this road. She wanted to turn back but couldn’t see any landmarks.

What was strange was that this street was very famous in Chong City: it was lined with many century-old shops, it was always crowded with people checking it out, and it usually only quieted down in the early hours.

When she arrived today the street had also been packed; the bustle had caused some traffic.

But now it was only eight in the evening and she couldn’t see a single person.

Even the streetlights and shop lights had vanished. Even if the fog blocked her vision, she should still hear some sound.

But there wasn’t a sound at all — the surroundings were so quiet she could only hear her own breathing. Yu Ruoyin could even hear her heart pounding wildly.

Her phone battery was almost dead.

She hurriedly checked the signal icon in the upper right corner of the screen.

Maybe the fog was so dense her phone had lost signal; calling for help would be very difficult.

She reached out to tap the emergency call, but before her fingertip touched the screen a hairline crack flashed across it; then a second, then a third… Yu Ruoyin watched with wide eyes as her phone shattered into pieces in an instant. Her bright eyes briefly lost focus; she stood there frozen and somewhat bewildered.

Whoosh—

A gust of cold wind suddenly blew, making Yu Ruoyin shiver and snap back to herself.

It was summer; it was supposed to be hot. Even with diurnal temperature differences, it couldn’t suddenly become so cold. Besides, Chong City was a place that stayed warm year-round.

A smashed phone, a chill wind.

It was starting to feel like a horror film.

Yu Ruoyin rubbed her arms and peered into the dense fog, squinting to try to find the right direction.

“Clack!” The sound of heels striking the pavement came from behind her; her legs suddenly went weak and she nearly fell.

She swallowed her fear and quickly glanced back.

There was no person — only a pair of blood-red eyes.

No whites, only crimson. Yu Ruoyin’s heart tightened.

It couldn’t be human — absolutely not!

She turned her head forward and bolted.

She didn’t care about direction; all that mattered was getting away from those inhuman eyes.

The cold, the eerily silent air — it could be ripped straight from a dozen horror films.

She regretted having taken Zhuang Ciyue’s encouragement to watch so many scary movies. Sometimes too much exposure to films was a bad thing, especially horror.

Yu Ruoyin was an orphan: her father had died in an accident on her eighth birthday; her mother, grief-stricken, had taken her own life on her tenth birthday; the grandmother who had raised her vanished on her fifteenth birthday. Only the dilapidated house was left, and Yu Ruoyin lived there alone.

She had learned to make money young to help her grandmother. Her first job had been tutoring Zhuang Ciyue.

Zhuang Ciyue was a warm-hearted young lady. When they were in elementary school, Zhuang heard of Yu Ruoyin’s family troubles and sought her out, even waving around zero-score test papers. From then on they were best friends. Although Zhuang left Chong City after middle school — they hadn’t seen each other in three years — she was still Yu Ruoyin’s closest friend.

Zhuang was generous, outgoing, and helpful. Her only flaw: she loved horror movies.

Yu Ruoyin was timid by nature.

She had no interest in horror films herself, but she couldn’t resist Zhuang’s coaxing. Zhuang watched mostly Chinese-style horror films, many disturbingly close to real life, leaving Yu Ruoyin with more than a few aftereffects.

Clearly she had never actually seen a ghost, but she was especially afraid of them.

Come to think of it, today’s job had been introduced to her by Zhuang — she never expected to run into something so strange while out.

Logic told her she shouldn’t keep running.

There were no ghosts in the world.

But her legs didn’t listen.

She ran too fast; the dense fog hid the path and her foot caught on some hard object. She fell face-first to the ground.

She didn’t even have time to react before her body slammed into the pavement; the pain from the impact made Yu Ruoyin feel that her luck had hit rock bottom. Her arm scraped along the ground and a hot pain spread. She knew without looking that she was bleeding.

She didn’t rush to stand; she considered lying there for a while. From eighteen years of experience, getting up quickly usually led to falling again — worse the second time.

Maybe she should never have gone out today. But even staying home wouldn’t spare her from misfortune.

She was just that kind of unlucky person.

She tripped for no reason, pots fell on her, dogs bit her; loved ones left one by one; friends suddenly transferred schools; teachers who once treated her kindly grew to dislike her over misunderstandings. Only Zhuang Ciyue had stuck with her, though they’d only been able to keep in touch by phone these last three years.

The more Yu Ruoyin thought, the sadder she grew.

Suddenly, something heavy pressed down on her back.

She jerked her head around; in the blackness she could see nothing — only feel a force that pressed her down, forcing her bent torso to collapse and her arms to press flat against the ground.

She felt as if a rock had pinned her; the weight grew heavier and heavier, about to crush her to pulp.

“No…” a cry escaped Yu Ruoyin’s throat.

As soon as she spoke, a cold wind flooded into her open mouth, carrying shards of ice that clogged her airway.

The ice melted in her mouth and, when swallowed, flowed through her body.

Her limbs went icy; her body temperature dropped; her tongue froze to her teeth.

Her chest tightened; she inhaled frantically through her nose but couldn’t pull a single saving breath; it felt as if someone had strangled off her air.

She managed to wiggle her fingers, inching them toward her chest.

She didn’t want to die.

She struggled as hard as she could; suddenly a hand clamped her shoulder and hauled her upright.

As she was lifted, the crushing force inexplicably vanished.

Before she had time to react, a woman’s voice said, “Hey, you ran the wrong way.”

Following the sound, Yu Ruoyin saw those same red eyes she had seen earlier — exactly the same, without whites, crimson as ever.

The woman’s face was deathly pale. Her hair was greasy and matted with thick blood that stuck to her face and obscured much of her features. Her lips were black-blue and cracked, with bits of flesh peeling like small tumors; dark yellow fluid hung at her jaw like some kind of fat.

Strangely, the woman’s feet didn’t touch the ground: she hovered, heels suspended in the air.

Perhaps that was why she didn’t need to lift Yu Ruoyin for her feet to be off the ground.

Wait.

Yu Ruoyin finally noticed the most unusual thing: it was already dark and the fog was everywhere — she shouldn’t be able to see the woman clearly. Yet she could, because the woman herself glowed with a faint red light.

“You…” Yu Ruoyin swallowed nervously. “Are you a ghost?”

The woman, seeing her fright, chuckled sinisterly. “Of course I’m a ghost!”

A ghost — ghosts really existed!

Yu Ruoyin’s eyes widened; she nearly fainted.

The female ghost, seeing how timid Yu Ruoyin was, smiled even more oddly. “You’re scared of me.”

Obviously.

Who wouldn’t be afraid the first time they saw a ghost?

Yu Ruoyin took a deep breath and forced herself to stay calm.

She feared that if she closed her eyes now she might never wake up, and she’d die without ever knowing when the ghost got her.

Images from films she’d watched flashed through her mind. She recalled that Taoist priests dispatched ghosts with talismans, peach-wood swords, and black dog’s blood — none of which she had now.

Wait — there was also tongue-tip blood!

Gathering her courage, she bit the tip of her tongue and spat a mouthful.

The ghost let out a shriek and clapped her hands over her face — it worked; she loosened her grip.

Yu Ruoyin steadied herself and bolted.

She owed Zhuang Ciyue thanks — if not for Zhuang’s dragging her to ghost movies, she wouldn’t have known that trick.

Hiss—

Not right.

There was no metallic taste of blood in her mouth.

Her bite had not broken the tip of her tongue at all.

Then what had the ghost just screamed about?

Confusion filled Yu Ruoyin’s mind, but she had no time to dwell. She ran as fast as she could.

Faster, faster.

Suddenly the ghost blocked her path. “Run to your right!”

The ghost’s red face looked even more ghastly as she pushed back some hair, revealing that she had also been a beauty in life.

Yu Ruoyin didn’t dare follow the ghost’s instruction; she turned and ran the other way.

The ghost immediately reappeared in front of her and said coldly, “You can only run to the right.”

Yu Ruoyin turned left anyway.

Before she could get her footing, a gust of wind swept her whole body to the right.

From within the fog the ghost’s voice floated: “What an obstinate little ghost.”

Yu Ruoyin was thrown to the ground and panted wildly. Before she could recover, the ghost reappeared behind her. “Run!”

The ghost seemed to take some perverse pleasure in watching a trapped beast struggle to no avail.

Yu Ruoyin didn’t want to provide that amusement.

But running was all she could do.

She kept a mouthful of saliva and steeled herself to bite her tongue again so she could spit blood at the ghost — but for some reason the ghost drivers her to exactly this corridor and didn’t immediately pursue. She kept just a short distance behind, not close enough for Yu Ruoyin to strike.

She was about to swallow the saliva when she saw a glimmer of light ahead — a tea shop with its lights on.

The shop was huge, its interior sparkling and refined, a waste for selling bubble tea.

Although large, the shop didn’t seem busy. There wasn’t a single customer inside; only a silhouette swayed in front of the door.

Yu Ruoyin stopped.

She thought of running again and luring the ghost into the shop.

She wanted someone to help her, but facing a ghost she didn’t want to endanger anyone else.

So she steeled herself and turned back.

At that instant the ghost that had been trailing far behind shot forward, hovering by her side. “Backwards.”

Yu Ruoyin seized the moment and spat blood.

Sizzle!

Blood sprayed across the ghost’s face and burst into flame — a dark red blaze that made Yu Ruoyin’s heart drop.

She tried to slip away while the ghost was distracted.

Just as she took a step, someone grabbed the collar of her coat and yanked her back.

The flames on the ghost’s face died down to a charred patch. She looked ugly, but she still had control over Yu Ruoyin’s fate. However, the ghost clearly didn’t want Yu Ruoyin dead; she wanted her to run into the bubble-tea shop.

Yu Ruoyin’s mind flickered with movie plots — she remembered one where a ghost who couldn’t get close to the heroine because the heroine had a protective talisman instead forced a living person to destroy the talisman for her. Maybe this ghost’s target wasn’t Yu Ruoyin at all but the person inside the shop. The ghost wanted Yu Ruoyin to go in and ruin a talisman there.

A plot stank in the air.

She shrank back in fear but wouldn’t run into the shop.

The ghost grew impatient. “Run.”

“I—I won’t help you hurt others,” Yu Ruoyin stammered.

The ghost paused, then laughed twice. “So cowardly, yet you care about others’ lives.”

Yu Ruoyin straightened her chest, her words slurred from the bitten tongue, but her resolve was clear. “I—I won’t help you hurt people.”

The ghost, seemingly annoyed that her lies were being dissected, began to stammer, “Wai…wait, she’ll fall in love with you at first sight.”

“You mean if I run in, she’ll rescue me and then fall in love with me?”

Yu Ruoyin now thought the ghost was even stranger.

Then the ghost suddenly lowered her voice: “I don’t care! Today you’re getting this wife whether you want her or not!”

Before Yu Ruoyin could respond, the ghost slapped her cheeks, forcing her to stop biting her tongue. A chill ran through her mouth and, miraculously, the bitten tip healed.

Yu Ruoyin stared in astonishment. She had injured the ghost with tongue-tip blood, and the ghost had repaired the wound.

Then she realized something was wrong.

She found she couldn’t make a sound; some force had locked her lips.

“Lu Qingzhen.”

A woman’s voice came from behind. The ghost hurriedly let go of Yu Ruoyin and forcibly turned her body around.

A wash of lake-blue filled Yu Ruoyin’s vision.

There, standing by the bubble-tea shop, was a woman. Even from a distance Yu Ruoyin could tell she was beautiful.

Her black hair fell to her waist; a lake-blue, fitted dress accentuated her slender figure. She stood in the night like a perfect painting.

She seemed to be looking in their direction.

Yu Ruoyin, thinking of the ghost beside her, called out anxiously, “Go back — go into the shop!”

She wasn’t sure if the woman heard, and she didn’t have time to see the woman’s reaction because the ghost grabbed her tight.

Up close the ghost looked at Yu Ruoyin with bemusement. “Are you scared of me, or not? If you weren’t scared, you wouldn’t run so fast. If you are scared, how dare you try to save someone in front of me!”

Yu Ruoyin didn’t answer.

She was terrified, but she didn’t want to harm anyone.

She opened her mouth to bite her tongue again, but the ghost clamped her cheeks and forced a smile: “Actually, I’m a good ghost. I don’t want to eat you. I only want to give you a wife.”

One moment it had been trying to kill her; the next it promised to give her a wife.

If she believed that, she’d be a fool.

Besides, the ghost’s smile was fake and sly.

Yu Ruoyin’s suspicion showed. The ghost grew frantic and pulled at her hair, then unexpectedly let her go and coaxed in a friendly voice: “I’m serious. If you rush into that shop now, I’ll pretend to chase you. The shopkeeper will save you, you’ll make a sacrifice, and then you’ll get a wife.”

Everything sounded fine in theory. In reality, everything was a problem.

Yu Ruoyin was tired from running; lacking the energy to do more, she asked weakly, “If I propose, will she accept?”

“Of course!”

“Why?”

“Because she’ll like you.”

That was pure nonsense, but the ghost would say any lie to trick her.

Yu Ruoyin, wincing from her bitten tongue, said, “I’ve never seen her. She hasn’t seen me either.”

The ghost fumbled, clearly aware of flaws in her story: “Jus…just wait, she’ll fall in love at first sight.”

“You mean I run in, she rescues me, and she’ll love me?”

This ghost was utterly abnormal.

Suddenly the ghost’s face went urgent. “I don’t care — today you’ll have her whether you want her or not!”

Yu Ruoyin tried to speak, but the ghost slapped her throat. A chill suffused her tongue, and her bitten tip instantly healed.

She was stunned: the ghost, burned by her tongue-tip blood, had healed her.

Then Yu Ruoyin noticed she couldn’t make a sound — some power had sealed her lips.

A woman’s voice came from behind: “Lu Qingzhen.”

The ghost hurriedly stepped back, forcibly turning Yu Ruoyin toward the woman.

A field of lake-blue filled her sight.

It was the bubble-tea shopwoman. Yu Ruoyin looked up and, at the sight of her face, her heart tightened.

It wasn’t a terrifying sight — it was an extremely beautiful face, especially the eyes.

They were darker than ink, the watery sheen within them gleaming like black glass beads soaked in light: monochrome yet radiant.

Her skin was like white jade. Near the outer corner of her left eye a few small patches of skin were flush with faint crimson — very light, only visible up close — but attractive, arranged like petals, resembling a flower. At the center of that flower-like patch sat a small red beauty mark; the lovely coloring lent the dignified, elegant face a bit of allure.

She didn’t look very young — perhaps ten years older than Yu Ruoyin.

Yu Ruoyin stared at the woman without blinking.

She knew it was a bit rude, and strange — after all, she was standing next to a ghost.

Yes — a ghost!

She hurried to warn the woman, but when she opened her mouth the words that came out were completely different from what she meant to say: “Lovely wife, nice to meet you.”

?

What?

Yu Ruoyin was terrified of herself and touched her lips in disbelief.

It was hard to imagine that voice had come from her. The chill at her throat reminded her of the ghost’s earlier interference; she realized the ghost had been controlling her.

Before she could figure out what the ghost intended, the ghost shoved her forward.

She didn’t fall; instead, she tumbled into a warm, fragrant embrace.

She knew without looking it was the woman’s arms.

The moment the woman caught her, the ghost said, “Boss Jiang, I’ve brought you a wife. I’ll take that thing away now.”

“That thing”? What thing?

Yu Ruoyin tried to ask but was denied the chance.

By the time she struggled out of the woman’s arms, the ghost had already turned into wisps of black smoke and vanished.

Yu Ruoyin felt dazed.

Bad news: she had seen a ghost today.

Good news: the ghost hadn’t harmed her and even claimed it wanted to give her to a great beauty as a wife.

Something had to be wrong somewhere.

Could it be that the beautiful woman was problematic?

Before Yu Ruoyin could finish the thought, the woman asked, “Are you all right?”

Her voice was soft and gentle, easily ensnaring the ear.

Yu Ruoyin’s gaze drifted toward the voice. Up close, the woman looked ethereal, like a moonlit veil lightly draped over her face.

Her skin glowed; only that red beauty mark stood out bright and vivid, adding a hint of seduction that felt oddly fitting on such a graceful face.

She could not be a ghost.

She must not be.

Yu Ruoyin rubbed her spinning head, trying to clear her thoughts.

Seeing her gesture, the woman reached out and pressed Yu Ruoyin’s head down with the same gentle hand.

Her hand was beautiful, with distinct bone structure and soft, fair skin. However, the tip of her index finger bore a faint red — like rouge deliberately applied, or like dried blood.

Her fingertip was soft and warm, carrying the same faint fragrance Yu Ruoyin could detect on herself; it brushed across Yu Ruoyin’s forehead and left a trace of scent.

Yu Ruoyin stiffened. “No—no, it’s fine. I can manage.”

The woman smiled and said, “No need to be polite. After all, I’m your wife.”

“No… that’s not—” Yu Ruoyin tried to explain, but the more flustered she became, the more garbled her words were.

She found she was having trouble making herself understood.

The woman didn’t give her time to clarify. She reached out her hand and said, “Come home, my — little wife.”