“Yaya is so bad, hahahaha…”
Qin Shu could hear the cameraman’s nervous breathing and see the staff members wearing slightly unnatural smiles they were forcing onto their faces. It was broad daylight during New Year, and somehow they had run into a ghost while filming a live program.
This could technically count as a live-broadcast accident. But in reality, although Yaya had appeared on camera, as long as no one compared the shot with the actual scene in person, nobody would know that the round little girl was a ghost… except the terrified staff.
To keep viewers from realizing what was happening and avoid frightening the people being interviewed, everyone could only pretend they saw nothing and grit their teeth as they continued filming behind Liang Ming Yue.
Liang Ming Yue, meanwhile, looked completely unbothered. She heard the trembling instructions coming through her earpiece without so much as lifting an eyelid and continued smiling as she interviewed a street vendor selling roast and braised meats.
Her calmness and ability to control the scene reassured everyone present. If Sister Ming Yue was not afraid of ghosts at all, then today’s broadcast was definitely going to make it through.
Of course, no one knew that she herself was the culprit responsible for bringing this whole haunting situation along. A single mother bringing her child to work. Nothing shameful about that.
Even funnier, Qin Shu had originally thought Xu Min was not there. But after staring carefully at Yaya for a while, he realized the man had been there the entire time. Xu Min had actually disguised himself as a white fox-fur scarf, wrapped snugly and warmly around Yaya’s neck without the slightest sense of incongruity.
Even little girl ghosts needed scarves to stay warm during a late cold snap!
“Now this is what truly spoiling a child looks like. We’re still too strict with the little ones at home.” Qin Shu could not help sighing and once again reflected deeply on his parenting. “How about we replace Yuanbao’s ribbons with a few extra-large gold ones?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Why wait until tomorrow?”
Pei Zhao replied gloomily, “I don’t want to wake up tomorrow morning, go downstairs, and find our security door lying in Tang Rui Cheng’s yard.”
“Hahahahaha… You’re right. Sorry, Yuanbao.” Qin Shu poked the little centipede’s head. “How about this? Want to make yourself sparkly? There are a few boxes of glitter in the storage room that I never used in art class. They’re all yours. Go play.”
“Only in the storage room. You’re not allowed to bring any of it outside.” Pei Zhao hurriedly added.
Yuanbao raised its head high and, the moment it heard that, impatiently jumped off the sofa and charged toward the storage room. It was so excited that its dozens of pairs of legs smacked noisily against the floor.
Pei Zhao sighed and curled back into the sofa. “It wasn’t this rowdy when you first picked it up. Its mind wasn’t this simple either.”
“With the two of us here, being a child is enough for it. If possible, I’d rather it never have to think about so many things for the rest of its life.” Qin Shu lazily stole Pei Zhao’s cup, took a sip, and hissed softly at the cold. “Ahem… Mm. Isn’t being happy better?”
“Good thing we don’t have children.” Pei Zhao snatched the cup back. “And stop reflecting. You spoil all of them rotten.”
That woke Qin Shu right up. He instinctively sat straighter and cleared his throat. “Speaking of which, Zhaozhao… is it really impossible for us to have children?”
“…Hm?”
“Didn’t you read all that cross-species smut before? I got curious, so I’ve been looking through old texts these past few days too. Ancient scholars recorded that ghosts can get pregnant and can also get other people pregnant. Usually they’re ghost fetuses or ghost infants… but apparently having children is especially easy for ghosts.”
“…Mm.” Pei Zhao turned his head away and lowered his eyes slightly.
Qin Shu felt embarrassed too. He hesitated for ages, but this was important enough that they had to discuss it. Tomorrow was New Year’s Eve. They had to talk about it.
He forced himself to speak quietly. “So, um… tomorrow, should we… you know, buy condoms? I know you hate children, so shouldn’t we use some kind of protection?”
Pei Zhao stiffened. After a brief silence, the tips of his ears visibly turned pale pink. His voice grew quieter and quieter. “Human protection doesn’t work on me. As long as I don’t want it and you don’t want it, it won’t happen.”
“This… this is so mind-over-matter?”
“Yes, so we can’t think about it.” Pei Zhao immediately added, softly emphasizing the point again. “Qin Shu, you absolutely cannot think about it.”
“Okay, okay, I won’t.” Qin Shu coughed again. “You mean if I do think about it, then you…”
“Mm. I might not be able to stop it. The power of heaven-and-earth creation is inherently… very difficult to restrain.”
So that was it. The special nature of creation power made “creating new life” something extremely easy to happen. Combined with the fact that dragon reproduction was already not constrained by many ordinary physiological limits, becoming a ghost only gave Pei Zhao even more freedom…
If they did not actively avoid it, wouldn’t their house really turn into a zoo?!
Besides, what normal thing could the two of them possibly create? Neither of them was exactly wholesome. If they accidentally produced some demon king that nobody could beat, that joke would become enormous.
The more Qin Shu thought about it, the more alarmed he became. He sucked in a breath. “I promise I won’t think about anything. Yuanbao is my one and only baby!”
“Mm.” Seeing that Qin Shu understood the seriousness of the issue, Pei Zhao relaxed slightly and lifted his cup as if nothing had happened, continuing to drink water in an attempt to cool himself down.
Coalball, however, had strong objections to Qin Shu’s declaration. It shot out of his pocket, attacked Qin Shu’s face first, then attacked Pei Zhao’s neck, flying back and forth between them in a state of extreme indignation.
Back when Qin Shu first picked it up, the little black puffball had still been a trembling, timid infant.
Ever since the white dragon started taking it out to mingle with society at every opportunity, and it had even built up a whole following at No. 2 High School, the little fellow had grown bolder and bolder. Qin Shu, of course, loved indulging it. He wanted all the little ones at home to be a little arrogant and domineering.
“Ahem, I was wrong, I was wrong. You’re my baby too… No, wait. None of you are my baby.”
This time, halfway through frantically coaxing it, Qin Shu suddenly realized something was off and decided to revise his declaration.
He reached out, pinched Coalball, and pointed the little thing toward Pei Zhao’s face with great seriousness. “Coalball, see him? This is my baby.”
Coalball froze. It met Pei Zhao’s speechless eyes and seemed to understand something. Its aggressive aura gradually vanished, and then it voluntarily burrowed into Pei Zhao’s collar and rubbed its wings against the side of his face.
“Exactly. That’s how it should be. Everyone needs to live together in harmony.”
Satisfied, Qin Shu pulled Pei Zhao into his arms and, imitating Coalball, buried his own face against the side of Pei Zhao’s neck. “Zhaozhao, you’re my…”
“Don’t say sappy things at a time like this.” Pei Zhao did not struggle, but without hesitation he pinched the soft flesh at Qin Shu’s waist and urgently cut him off.
“Why?!”
“Because tomorrow is New Year’s Eve.” Pei Zhao paused. “I don’t trust my self-control very much.”
“Your self-control is stronger than mine, seriously.” Qin Shu muttered, “Then I’ll say it tomorrow?”
“Mm.”
“I can say anything tomorrow?”
“…Mm.”
Qin Shu took a deep breath. “What am I supposed to do? You agreed way too easily… Do you think I’m going to be able to sleep tonight?”
“I definitely won’t be able to.” Pei Zhao’s voice was still calm, but the redness at the tips of his ears refused to fade. “We need to find something to do.”
“You’re right… Come on, come on, let’s play games!”
Qin Shu instantly perked up, scooped Pei Zhao up with one arm, and charged toward the second floor. Although the gaming room he had redesigned had sat unused for a long time, Qin Shu had known from the very beginning that the day would inevitably come when it proved useful.
Heavy automatic blackout curtains, magnetic neon LED signs on the walls, a mini fridge full of drinks and ice cream, a drawer packed with snacks, two sets of keyboards, controllers, and monitors… Besides the two ordinary chairs, there was also a huge sofa chair that unfolded into a bed.
The blanket on the sofa had just come back from the dryer, its fluffy fibers still carrying a faint warm fragrance. And the sofa’s single most important function was that it let Qin Shu force Pei Zhao to sit in his lap while they watched movies. They could sit together while gaming too.
If Pei Zhao failed to think of that possibility himself, Qin Shu would simply hide every other chair and leave him no choice. The method was extremely simple.
Fortunately, when it came to enjoying life, Pei Zhao and Qin Shu were very much in sync.
Pei Zhao set his iced drink on the table, picked up a controller, naturally curled into Qin Shu’s arms, quickly found the most comfortable reclining position, and tilted his head. “Start?”
“Start!”
…
Several hours later, when Qin Shu finally remembered to open the curtains, the sky was already completely dark. Hazy moonlight flowed through the night while overlapping dragon shadows swayed across it.
When the Dragon Palace changed masters, heaven produced omens. When Dragon Kings gathered, heaven produced omens too. Jiangcheng’s fortune was slowly changing, and the change was not subtle in the slightest.
If anyone else had yin-yang eyes like Qin Shu and looked up at the sky right then, they would probably be badly frightened.
“I’m so hungry…”
Curled under the blanket with the controller tucked into his arms, Pei Zhao looked almost swallowed by the sofa as he replied lazily, “Go out to eat?”
“Forget it. Let’s have instant noodles. I still have tons stocked up.” Qin Shu opened the bottom cabinet drawer, picked the spiciest flavor, then popped open two cans of ice-cold cola and pushed everything toward Pei Zhao. “Fashionable spell cultivator, could you boil me some water and bring in two slices of cheese?”
Pei Zhao accepted the cola and raised an eyebrow, playing along. “For the sake of these acceptable offerings, this venerable one shall grant the wish of a common mortal such as yourself.”
Two minutes later, steaming bowls of instant noodles appeared on the small table. Even the melted cheese had already been mixed in. Pei Zhao had barely needed to lift a finger. Truly fashionable.
Qin Shu demolished the food at top speed, closed the curtains again in satisfaction, and squeezed back beside Pei Zhao.
“So good… If tomorrow weren’t New Year, I’d definitely eat this again.” He sighed contentedly. “But eating instant noodles on New Year’s Eve sounds too pathetic if anyone hears about it. Forget it. I’ll wait another two days.”
Pei Zhao tilted his head. “Start?”
Qin Shu immediately perked up and grabbed his controller. “Start!”
Playing games for a while was to avoid letting sparks catch fire. Playing games nonstop meant they were genuinely having an amazing time.
They only played co-op games on the highest difficulty and never looked at guides. Playing alone was prison. Playing with two people was the perfect date night.
Best of all, Qin Shu could see real competitiveness on Pei Zhao’s face… There it was, that feeling of being alive!
This was the life he had now, Qin Shu told himself.
No matter what he saw tomorrow, he had to remember that Pei Zhao was currently curled up perfectly fine on the sofa.
Wrapped in a blanket, leaning against a soft cushion, one leg casually draped over Qin Shu’s, occasionally slipping an icy hand under Qin Shu’s clothes and making him jolt for no reason at all, as if this were the most normal thing in the world.
No matter what he saw tomorrow, it could not change that fact. Pei Zhao was not in hell, and he was not in the void. He was living in the world he most wanted.
＊
Even so, on the morning of New Year’s Eve, Qin Shu still had a bad dream.
By the time he struggled awake, he had instantly forgotten what he dreamed about. Only the uncontrollable shiver remained at the tip of his heart, cold sweat covering the back of his neck while his heartbeat rumbled in his ears.
Then Pei Zhao chilled him again. Cool lips pressed against his cheek and moved lazily, carrying a faint trace of irritation at having been awakened. “Your heartbeat is so noisy.”
Qin Shu’s breath caught. He reached out and pulled Pei Zhao into his arms, using the simplest method to calm himself down. Only after a long while did he notice that Pei Zhao was actually bleary with sleep and looked ridiculously cute.
The forgotten dream was instantly thrown out of Qin Shu’s mind. He laughed. “Zhaozhao, did you sleep last night?”
“Mm.” Pei Zhao still had not opened his eyes. He burrowed his head into Qin Shu’s neck. “I was nervous. I figured I might as well knock myself unconscious. Time passes faster that way.”
What a simple and brutally direct solution! Qin Shu laughed helplessly and did not know what to say for a moment.
After all, the word nervous did not fit Pei Zhao anywhere. Pei Zhao was never nervous. Not when Qin Shu was covered in blood, not even when Qin Shu first told him he liked him.
And now he was nervous… which proved one thing. That matter really ranked extremely high in Pei Zhao’s priorities.
Thinking about it carefully, that made sense too. Pei Zhao was a dragon to begin with. If he had no interest whatsoever, that would be the thing that actually seemed wrong.
But right now Pei Zhao’s nervousness had been blurred by sleep, which instead started affecting Qin Shu. The nightmare had only just passed, yet his mind nearly started playing a waking daydream.
Qin Shu hurriedly hauled himself out of bed, took a shower, got dressed, and quickly went downstairs.
When his mind was full of nonsense, physical activity was best. He watered the flowers and plants in the yard, groomed Great General as it strolled around at leisure, then hauled the glitter-covered Yuanbao out of the storage room and opened its clay jar to feed it a few bites.
Xu Qian and Coalball were both quiet inside the white little nest on the front porch. But halfway through Qin Shu’s chores, as he was wiping venom and glitter off his hands, he suddenly heard the sound of blood sloshing behind him…
He turned around and saw a line of thick, bright-red bloody words appear on the beautiful white wall of his house.
[I’m going back to Phoenix Village for dinner tonight.]
Qin Shu silently looked upward and met the gaze of the elegant, quiet-looking crystal eyeball wrapped in its bright red sweater. For a moment, he suddenly wanted to laugh very badly.
“…Ahem. Mm, okay, Sister Xu Qian. I’ll pack you some New Year goods, so don’t leave too early.” Qin Shu fought to hold it in and tried to look serious. “Zhaozhao and I are going shopping in a bit. We’ll buy you some Jiangcheng specialties to take back, plus milk and fruit. You can’t go home for New Year empty-handed.”
The bloody writing surged again. The newly appearing characters became enormous, while several drops of blood slid down the tile grout and disappeared into the lawn beneath the porch.
Several lines of flamboyantly written auspicious phrases gradually filled the wall, packed closely together, every one of them a vivid festive red.
[Thank you. Happy New Year’s Eve. May you prosper. May all your wishes come true. May your studies improve. May you live together in harmony.]
Qin Shu stared at his blood-covered exterior wall in silence for a long moment. He held it in and held it in, but finally broke into laughter. “Okay, okay, Happy New Year’s Eve. This color really is festive, hahahahaha… Wait, I need a photo!”
He posted the picture of the wall covered in bloody writing to his Moments with the caption: Sister Xu Qian’s wonderful blessings. May everything be red and prosperous~
Of course, Qin Shu had not gone insane. He specifically hid the post from Ms. Qin, his teachers, and his classmates, showing it only to people in his contacts who knew enough to understand.
Likes poured in like a flood. Aside from Qin You Wei, whom he had forgotten to hide the post from and who commented with a single “?”, everyone reacted perfectly normally, and the comments quickly filled with properly worded auspicious phrases.
The little yao cultivators who were not very good at such things even learned to copy other people’s comments. The snake yao from Fengqi Mountain in particular all independently copied Chang Liu Yi’s message, leaving an entire row of identical pasted blessings. The effect was extremely comedic.
From a certain angle, the fact that every cultivator in his Moments commented only these incredibly normal auspicious phrases and New Year wishes… was itself an abnormal phenomenon.
After all, nobody dared gamble. Especially anyone who had actually met Xu Qian.
What if the eyeball lady who created this wall of blood could also browse Qin Shu’s Moments? If someone posted something thoughtlessly and she saw something they should not have said… what if they mysteriously dropped dead on New Year?
Qin Shu went back inside, cooking noodles while scrolling through the comments and laughing to himself.
Because this was exactly the effect he wanted. There was no reason he should be the only one subjected to such a powerful visual impact. Everyone deserved a taste of the delightful local customs of his household.
Before long, Pei Zhao liked the post too and left an exceptionally cute “Thank you OvO” in the comments. Five minutes later, he came downstairs fully dressed.
Naturally, he had heard Qin Shu and Xu Qian’s conversation earlier. He had even stayed in bed a little longer, waiting until Qin Shu finished breakfast before coming down at an unhurried pace.
No matter how good the soundproofing in this house was, it might as well not exist to Pei Zhao. Very convenient.
Qin Shu checked the weather forecast. Clear skies in the morning, light rain in the afternoon, then clearing again after nightfall… It always rained a little on New Year’s Eve. This year’s forecast was actually pretty good.
“Let’s go. The stores just opened, so there shouldn’t be too many people yet. We’ll hit the supermarket first, and we still need a New Year gift for Aunt Su.” Qin Shu took Pei Zhao’s hand and smoothly tucked it into his own coat pocket, planning out the day as they walked. “I’ve already got a necklace and a sandalwood bead bracelet. We’ll add some food and drinks. The two of us can just count as one household giving a gift.”
“Mm.” Pei Zhao obediently let Qin Shu lead him and said nothing else.
“Do you think it’s a hassle?” Qin Shu suddenly asked. “There’s a lot to do during New Year… Paying visits around Jiangcheng is easy enough. Hosting everyone who comes to visit is what gets annoying. Ah, I hope those weird relatives don’t show up this year.”
Pei Zhao gently shook his head, then just as suddenly asked in return, “They won’t come anymore. Did you forget?”
“…Hm?”
Qin Shu froze. Looking at Pei Zhao’s faintly amused expression, fragments of memories from New Year’s Day suddenly returned to him.
After drinking a little hot mulled wine and getting tipsy, he seemed to have grumbled to Pei Zhao for quite a while… about things like relatives who failed to get any advantage from his family and then went around gossiping about them.
What had Pei Zhao said back then?
Right. They would never say those things again.