“You… are you… calling… whom…?”

“I’m calling myself, is that any of your business?”

“……” Ying Gou.

In all his countless years, Ying Gou had rarely been so choked up that he felt like vomiting blood;

And most of those rare occasions were thanks to Boss Zhou.

Since his fall, Ying Gou had practically transformed into a “figurine maniac.”

Any current figurine enthusiast, no matter how many collectibles they had, including Madame Tussauds, was just a kid compared to Ying Gou.

Back then, the dense stacks of “people” in the depths of the pool in his soul were enough to make anyone’s hair stand on end at a single glance.

It was a pity that all those years of collecting were crushed by Boss Zhou using Mount Tai back then.

Many similar collectors have had this experience: they spend a lot of money and energy on collections, only to be disliked and misunderstood by their significant other, who throws them all away while they're not home to "wake them up."

Among the watchdogs of each generation, there were indeed many outstanding figures, the most prominent being "Half-Face," a model in the watchdog world.

But most watchdogs didn't know their own identities. Li Xiucheng back then was also a prominent figure of his time, and he would only vaguely sense in his dreams that there was a great being inside him.

However, Ying Gou remained indifferent until the city was breached, he was captured, and finally killed.

And those watchdogs who could "communicate" with Ying Gou and discover his existence were basically trembling with fear and treading on thin ice when facing Ying Gou.

Even Half-Face's final decisiveness represented a deep fear of Ying Gou. He didn't dare to believe Ying Gou's promises, because no matter how excellent he was, he was still too young compared to Ying Gou.

Therefore, Boss Zhou was the most special of all the figurines.

He was lazy, so lazy that even if he had an opportunity like Half-Face, he wouldn't bother to actively separate from Ying Gou.

In Boss Zhou's view, Ying Gou was just a grumpy mastiff; you had to stroke his fur the right way.

But you couldn't always stroke him the same way. Occasionally stroking his fur in the opposite direction wouldn't make the dog angry; it would actually find you interesting.

It was like the game between ancient emperors and their ministers. The emperor felt that he had all his ministers in the palm of his hand, but which of those ministers who had survived the grueling imperial examinations weren't shrewd and outstanding?

While the emperor was playing with them, they had actually figured out the emperor's temper. In the end, they were nominally ruler and subject, but who was really playing whom? Who could say for sure?

Zhou Ze got up. He wanted to go out for a walk. Perhaps because Ying Gou wasn't sleeping, Zhou felt reassured. Without "worries," he suddenly felt that life was still beautiful.

Yingying was cooking in the kitchen. Zhou Ze pushed open the bookstore door and walked out. He didn't plan to go far, just stroll around the pedestrian street.

A year's time.

South Street hadn't changed much.

This most historically rich modern pedestrian street in Tong City still maintained its immense popularity even with the successive opening of numerous shopping malls today.

It was just that the shops here, in the course of a year, closed and opened, and many new faces had appeared.

Business was tough these days.

At this thought,

Boss Zhou suddenly felt how difficult it was for his bookstore to not have closed down yet.

For this, how much effort had he put in…

His face,

Turned slightly red,

Stop.

A little is enough.

The second trip to hell, with a whole year of muddleheadedness beforehand, was a relatively good transition.

Otherwise, if he had really punched Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva three times yesterday,

And then walked in the bustling city today,

His mentality,

Might really not be able to recover.

If he lost his mortal mentality and continued to live in this society, what would be the point?

Life, after all, still needed a bit of worldly air. Boss Zhou didn't want to go find an old forest to cultivate in seclusion.

What he wanted was life.

In fact,

In today's society, most people are just surviving every day, not living.

In front of a bubble tea shop, he ordered a taro-flavored bubble tea. They had already started making it. Zhou Ze touched his pocket, paused, and realized he didn't have his phone.

Yes,

A patient who had been a "vegetable" for a year, waking up on the first day,

Forgetting to bring his phone when going out,

Wasn't this a very normal thing?

Boss Zhou prepared to explain to the other party. After all, they were neighbors, and although they hadn't met, it shouldn't be a problem to be a little accommodating.

Before Zhou Ze could speak,

A young woman in a black dress next to him picked up her phone and scanned the payment QR code, saying:

"I want a matcha latte. Pay together. How much is it?"

The woman was wearing high heels, so she was very tall.

But her body was slightly leaning forward.

This situation usually occurred with women who weren't used to wearing high heels and hadn't adapted to maintaining their balance.

But the woman in front of him, judging by her temperament and clothing, shouldn't belong to this category.

Then,

Another reasonable explanation was that,

She was standing on tiptoes.

Boss Zhou suddenly felt that this kind of encounter was so boring.

Meeting a beautiful female ghost on the street during the day,

Appearing in broad daylight and being able to materialize and communicate with people, and even actively approaching you.

But you saw through her identity at a glance.

To make his gaming experience more interesting,

She even found a reason for standing on tiptoes. In fact, Zhou Ze had sensed the ghostly aura on her when she approached.

Boring, boring.

What man hadn't dreamed of being Ning Caichen or encountering Nie Xiaoqian?

It wasn't just young girls who yearned for love.

Of course, it was very uncomfortable if you knew beforehand that she was a female ghost or a monster. This was more psychologically challenging than facing a manufactured beauty.

"Thank you."

Even though the other party was a ghost,

Boss Zhou still expressed his gratitude,

And secretly noted to have Yingying bring over the money for the two bubble teas after returning to the bookstore.

It wasn't easy for people to run a small business, and there was no need to watch them be tricked out of two bubble teas by a ghost's illusion.

"Sir, you look very similar to my ex-husband. When I saw your back from afar just now, I thought he had come to Tong City too."

Was she hitting on me?

Hey,

Have to say,

If a man opened his mouth and said, "You look a lot like my ex-girlfriend," the woman would probably roll her eyes and leave. What era was it? Still using such a clumsy pick-up line?

But if a woman used this excuse,

Men basically wouldn't be disgusted,

Instead, they would expect that since he looked so similar, could he also do the things her ex could do?

The reason was,

Before the age of sixteen, men only had one brain, in their head;

After the age of sixteen, men had two brains, and the other one had patterns similar to the brain.

Boss Zhou sighed.

Although Lawyer An had told him that there were more fierce ghosts in society recently, and that the ghost hunters in various places had been very busy this year.

Great changes had occurred in Hell, the Yin and Yang worlds were separated, and news was not communicated. This had instead made the ghost hunters in the Yang world dare not be as lazy as before. Everyone knew that once the Yin officials in Hell had sorted themselves out, it would be their turn next, so they were all seizing the time to perform well.

But what Zhou Ze didn't expect was that,

He had just gone out to buy a bubble tea,

And he could actually run into a ghost.

Zhou Ze had heard this saying before: the probability of a ghost hunter encountering a ghost was countless times higher than that of ordinary people. This was not only because ghost hunters could see ghosts, but also because the Yin court had considered this in the design of the ghost hunter certificate.

Ghosts would actively be attracted to you, even chasing after you.

Of course,

Because of this, the attrition rate of ghost hunter captains in the Yang world was quite high, equivalent to the American army in Afghanistan not carrying guns but wearing uniforms and swaggering around on bicycles every day.

"Miss."

"Hmm?"

"Be a human."

"..." The woman.

Zhou Ze turned around, intending to return to the bookstore.

There were so many ghosts and monsters in the world, especially this year;

His name was Zhou Ze, not Zhou Celestial Master.

Moreover,

She had just bought him bubble tea.

Boss Zhou had never been a very principled person. So what if she was a ghost? Judging from the resentment on her body, it wasn't very strong. It was probably just the kind of routine where she seduced a man for a night of passion and then sucked away some of his essence.

One was willing to hit, and the other was willing to be hit.

You couldn't blame anyone for not being able to control your belt buckle.

In addition,

There were too many guys who liked to shout, "Three years of blood earning is worth a death sentence," these days.

However,

Things were often so wonderful.

When you didn't want to pay attention to her and had a little compassion and let her go,

She would actively cling to you.

She took Zhou Ze's hand proactively and warmly,

"I really miss him, really. I'm here in Tong City for tourism. Sir, do you have time to be his substitute and talk to me? I can pay you, I'll pay you now."

As she spoke,

The woman opened her handbag,

And took out a stack of RMB.

Of course,

In the eyes of outsiders,

This was indeed RMB,

But in Zhou Ze's eyes,

These,

Were actually ghost money.

Boss Zhou immediately reached out and pressed down on the woman's hand holding the money,

And said:

"Absolutely not, absolutely not."

"Not enough?"

"It's not that."

Are you sick? You're forcing me to kill you?

Zhou Ze guessed that it might be because he had just woken up after being in a coma for a year, and his body was still too weak, too depleted, so the woman thought he was easy to handle.

Why were there so many supernatural events in hospitals?

Because there were many people there who were "suitable" to see ghosts. The reasoning was that simple.

Zhou Ze felt that he should be the most suitable "prey" in the eyes of this female ghost right now.

"I know my request is definitely very difficult, but I, but I really miss him, that kind of missing him very, very much."

As the woman spoke, she opened her handbag again,

And took out a stack of money (ghost money) that was several times thicker than the previous one,

"These, these, are all for you. If it's not enough, I have more, I have a lot, I have a lot."

The hand of Boss Zhou holding the other party's wrist,

Trembled slightly,

His lips subconsciously felt a little dry,

He pursed them,

And sighed:

"Alas, who told me to always be kind to others?"