Chapter 166: The Cannon Fodder Who Can’t Survive Three Chapters (9)
Su Mingxiu didn’t get into bed, only lying beside Bei Xing, her crimson sleeve draped over the side, its style and pattern unclear.
But her beautiful face, framed by the vibrant red, was as captivating as a bride in traditional wedding attire.
Bei Xing, lying beside her, tugged at her pillow, glancing at the alluring figure, feeling a surge of… appreciation.
Her fingers traced Su Mingxiu’s long, cool hair, like a waterfall, too smooth to grasp. “Do all ghosts wear these ancient clothes? Or did you change?” she asked suddenly.
Su Mingxiu, who had been about to stop her, feeling the light touch, like a feather, didn’t bother, only glancing at her casually, then looking away, not answering.
Bei Xing, however, was now curious. “Did you receive the gold ingots I burned for you at the funeral? Can ghosts change clothes? Where do you buy clothes and food?”
Su Mingxiu had been indulging her, but hearing about the rain of gold, she pulled the blanket over Bei Xing’s head. “Go to sleep,” she said coldly.
Bei Xing, plunged into darkness, released Su Mingxiu’s hair and struggled out of the blanket, about to speak, when the lights went out, and a chilling ghostly aura enveloped her as Su Mingxiu leaned closer. “If you don’t want to sleep, I can help you study.”
Bei Xing quickly pulled the blanket back over her head, her voice muffled. “Good night, Susu!”
Su Mingxiu lay beside her, still and silent, even suppressing her ghostly aura, lest the mortal beside her feel the chill.
After a while, sensing that Bei Xing was asleep, she gently pulled down the blanket, her gaze softening as she looked at Bei Xing’s sleeping face.
Then—
Bei Xing, as if disturbed by something, kicked off the blanket.
Su Mingxiu’s soft expression hardened.
She hadn’t noticed the child’s restless sleeping habits before, having been cultivating in her own space. Now, after a moment of silence, she got up and tucked Bei Xing back in, carefully arranging the blanket.
Later that night, Bei Xing, cocooned in the blanket, started wriggling like a caterpillar, her pillow long abandoned, tossing and turning, the large bed seemingly too small for her.
Su Mingxiu, ignoring her, felt Bei Xing’s head nuzzling against her arm, seeking warmth.
Looking at her furrowed brow, she had been about to leave, but after a moment, she let Bei Xing rest her head on her arm.
She wondered if Bei Xing found this “ice pillow” comfortable.
“Achoo!”
Bei Xing sneezed, her head heavy, as if frozen. She opened her eyes, seeing Su Mingxiu still there, and said cheerfully:
“Good morning, Susu.”
Su Mingxiu, looking at her flushed cheeks, checked her wrist for any traces of ghostly aura, then said: “You have a cold, take some medicine.”
“Hmm?”
Bei Xing hadn’t fully woken up yet, feeling exhausted from a restless night filled with dreams of the monster in the living room, its gaze inescapable.
So I’m tired because I have a cold.
She lay there for a moment, then looked at Su Mingxiu, her eyes half-closed, her expression a mix of vulnerability and strength, inspired by Chu Yinxi.
Su Mingxiu raised an eyebrow.
“What do you want?” she asked.
Bei Xing glanced at the door, feigning weakness. “It’s nothing, I’ll get some medicine later, I just need to rest for a bit.”
Su Mingxiu, understanding her performance, played along. “Okay.”
Bei Xing: “?”
Is she blind?
They stared at each other, then Bei Xing, sliding down under the covers, her eyes filling with fake tears, suddenly said, her voice demanding: “Carry me to the door.”
Su Mingxiu, initially ignoring her, then changed her mind and actually carried her. But as they reached the door, and Bei Xing tried to get down, Su Mingxiu’s grip tightened, and she opened the door—
A servant, about to knock, stared, wide-eyed, seeing Bei Xing floating in mid-air.
“Bang.”
Bei Xing slammed the door shut.
Her heart pounding, she locked the door, then, looking at the ghost holding her, she stuck out her tongue and, switching to a more conciliatory tone, said sweetly: “Thank you, Master, you can put me down now.”
But Su Mingxiu’s grip was like iron.
“Susu…”
No response.
Bei Xing sighed. “I was wrong, I won’t do it again.”
But Su Mingxiu seemed determined to make her pay, ignoring her pleas, Bei Xing’s warm body pressed against the ghost’s icy form,
Like an unmelting iceberg.
As the knocking resumed, Bei Xing, her arms around Su Mingxiu’s neck, suddenly pulled her closer and kissed her—
Soft.
Softer than she had imagined.
Their lips lingered, as if the knocking didn’t exist, then Bei Xing pulled away, licking her lips, then touching Su Mingxiu’s, her gaze questioning. “What were you doing just now?” Su Mingxiu asked, her voice amused.
Bei Xing, realizing her impulsive action had backfired, made an excuse. “I thought your lipstick was… transfer-proof.”
Su Mingxiu narrowed her eyes, her gaze piercing. “It is,” she said slowly.
Bei Xing: “?”
Then, the ghost leaned closer to her neck, a sudden sharp pain, making her gasp, her voice lost, then she heard Su Mingxiu continue, “It’s blood-proof, want to try?”
Bei Xing thought her neck would be pierced, but when Su Mingxiu released her and vanished, she touched her neck, finding no mark, realizing she had overreacted.
She breathed a sigh of relief, opened the door, and said to the servant: “I think I have a cold, can you get me a thermometer—”
“Miss!” The servant stared at her, as if wanting to ask what had just happened, then, remembering Bei Xing’s words last night, her expression turning to horror, she stammered: “A-are you also sick? Madam and Miss also have colds this morning, they can’t even get out of bed.”
Eh?
Bei Xing’s first thought: Damn, I need a COVID test, I have to quarantine.
Then, remembering that this wasn’t her world, she still couldn’t help but wonder: “Is it contagious? The flu?”
She couldn’t figure it out.
The strange kiss with Su Mingxiu had sobered her up. While she still had some energy, she decided to check on her mother and sister.
Passing the living room, she saw the black monster by the TV, the black aura surrounding it even thicker now, the entire first floor shrouded in a dark mist.
She had a bad feeling. Entering her mother and sister’s rooms, finding the same black aura, she realized her earlier explanation had been too scientific.
Their illness… was definitely related to that monster.
She went downstairs, looking at the creature, her expression grim. Will I really die before Su Mingxiu’s seventh day?
“It’s a Pixiu,” Su Mingxiu suddenly appeared beside her, as if having forgotten their earlier encounter, her voice calm, “but not entirely.”
“A Pixiu?”
The one her father had bought?
But…
Hadn’t it been destroyed in the accident?
“So, is it or isn’t it?” she asked, turning to Su Mingxiu.
“It looks like one, but… there’s something else inside, your family has been cursed.”
Su Mingxiu, having been in Bei Xing’s shadow, had also seen the black aura in her family’s rooms.
Bei Xing looked at her, then asked: “Can you tell me what to do?”
She had realized why Su Mingxiu had appeared in her room last night. If the ghost had a solution, it would have told her, but it hadn’t.
So she guessed… perhaps Su Mingxiu didn’t know either.
She just wanted to do something, anything, to improve the situation… After all, she couldn’t just wait passively for death.
“Try thunder magic,” Su Mingxiu finally said.
She could protect Bei Xing, by forming a contract and transferring the curse onto herself—but that was a last resort.
She thought about the snake demon who looked like her…
If she could absorb its power, she might be able to fight the Pixiu.
Thunder magic involved spells, talismans, and other methods to summon lightning, its pure yang energy destroying evil spirits.
But Su Mingxiu couldn’t demonstrate, a ghost’s yin energy couldn’t touch lightning, and summoning it would be dangerous, she might be struck herself.
She could only teach Bei Xing the steps and the incantations.
Under pressure, Bei Xing memorized everything after just one explanation. After showering, washing her hands, and lighting incense, she chanted the purification mantras.
Using cinnabar as ink, she closed her eyes, visualizing the thunder talisman.
Strangely, the seemingly random strokes and patterns now formed a coherent structure in her mind.
Her hand traced the invisible lines in the air.
The head, the deity, the body, the foot, the core—
A single stroke, and the world trembled.
Su Mingxiu, sensing the darkening sky outside, retreated into the shadows.
As the talisman was completed, a thunderclap, and purple and white lightning flashed through the clouds.
The servants outside hurried to take in the laundry.
Bei Xing opened her eyes, seeing the golden glow of the talisman, about to boast to Su Mingxiu about her success, then realized the ghost was gone.
And the talisman, formed from thin air, its golden light fading with the receding thunder, dissipated.
She didn’t bother asking, her instincts telling her that this was how it should be. She hurried to the desk, picked up her brush, focused her energy, and started drawing.
No one had told her about the power of a talisman drawn with a single stroke, no one had mentioned her innate talent.
As she drew, her mind blank, a bolt of lightning struck the talisman, leaving a small lightning symbol, and she realized that one talisman might not be enough.
She continued drawing, dozens of talismans,
Forgetting about her fever and her cold.
After carefully putting them away, she looked around, calling out “Susu,” then, showing her the stack of talismans, her face flushed, her eyes sparkling, she asked: “Shall we go now?”
Let’s unleash a thunderstorm and destroy that Pixiu!
Su Mingxiu looked at her, then sighed. As Bei Xing was about to leave, she stopped her. “Take your temperature, take your medicine, it’s not going anywhere.”
It would be a blessing if it did.
Bei Xing, feeling exhausted, whether from her cold or from drawing the talismans, stood there.
A servant brought her medicine and a thermometer. She waited for five minutes, then checked her temperature—
37.8 degrees Celsius.
Not high enough for fever reducers.
She took her medicine, then, before it took effect, grabbed Su Mingxiu’s sleeve, wanting to go downstairs. Su Mingxiu, glancing at her, let her pull, following her.
They stood before the TV cabinet.
The housekeeper, seeing them, was confused. Bei Xing told him to have all the servants on the first and second floors return to their rooms, except for the kitchen staff, for the next half hour.
“I have something important to do.”
The housekeeper, used to Bei Xing’s eccentricities, agreed.
The black Pixiu, as if sensing her intentions, its eyes, now glowing with an eerie light, fixed on her, its dragon-like head emanating a dark, malevolent aura.
It bared its teeth, as if mocking her.
Bei Xing, standing her ground, threw a Five Thunders Talisman at it. The talisman, even before making contact, made the Pixiu recoil, as if facing a thunderstorm, the black aura around it condensing, then shooting towards the talisman!
The talisman, provoked, glowed with a golden light, attracting a bolt of lightning from the sky. A loud crackle, the chandelier shattering, the TV cabinet exploding, and Bei Xing’s vision turned white.
The lightning, too powerful, had temporarily blinded her!
She felt a sudden chill, then she was pulled backwards, the rumbling thunder echoing in her ears. She closed her eyes, instinctively reaching for the ghost that had been protecting her, but it was gone.
When she opened her eyes, she saw a smear of red on her palm.
She didn’t know whose blood it was.
The living room was a mess, smoke rising from the destroyed TV, shattered glass everywhere, even the sofa’s stuffing scattered across the floor…
But as the smoke cleared, she saw the Pixiu, still standing there, its black surface seemingly unscathed.
She was about to take out more talismans when she heard a voice from outside: “What happened? Did something explode? Was that lightning?”
Her father.
She put away the talismans, wondering how to explain the destruction, when she saw a familiar face.
But its arrogant expression made her realize it was the snake demon, Su Jin, not Su Mingxiu.
“Welcome, Master Su, Housekeeper—Xingxing, why aren’t you at school?” Her father, in a rumpled suit, his hair messy, entered, followed by his assistant.
“No classes today,” she said, then hurried towards him. “Dad, what happened to you?”
Her father looked distraught, saying he had almost had an accident, losing a major deal, but thankfully, he had met Master Su, who had saved him, and he had invited her back to cleanse their house of bad luck.
Bei Xing: “…”
She rolled her eyes. “Dad, she’s a snake—”
As soon as she uttered the word “snake,” her throat tightened, her voice lost, she could only glare at Su Jin.
Su Jin walked towards her and said to Bei Xing’s father: “Indeed, your daughter has been possessed by an evil spirit, her sudden loss of voice is a sign, if we don’t stop it, she’ll lose control soon.”
Bei Xing: “!”
Damn it!
She could only glare, her face reddening, unable to speak.
Just then, Su Jin leaned closer, as if examining her, her voice a low whisper: “You summoned that lightning? Well done, you even injured that ghost, this is my chance.”
Bei Xing’s eyes widened in alarm.
Her father, oblivious, still worried, asked Su Jin for a remedy. Bei Xing could only listen as Su Jin continued her deception: “It’s simple, prepare a room for me, no one else is allowed to approach, I’ll exorcise the evil spirit.”
The chosen room was Bei Xing’s bedroom.
She was still in shock, Su Mingxiu injured by her thunder talisman.
As she and Su Jin were alone in the room, the shadow by her feet deepened, a vibrant red emerging, until Su Mingxiu appeared.
“I haven’t even come looking for you, and you’ve come to me,” she said, then, with a flick of her sleeve, she released Bei Xing from the snake demon’s spell.
Bei Xing immediately went to her side. “Are… are you okay?”
Su Mingxiu, still her usual casual self, pushed her back slightly. “Don’t listen to her nonsense.”
The lightning had indeed struck her,
But she had vanished quickly, unharmed.
Su Jin, looking at them, surprised that Bei Xing had recovered from the lust poison so quickly,
Said to Su Mingxiu, her voice laced with sarcasm: “You seem to care about her quite a bit.”
Su Mingxiu didn’t reply, a grey mist emanating from her, a sign that she wasn’t interested in talking, only fighting.
Su Jin scoffed. “You had this burden with you last time, and now again, do you think the outcome will be any different?”
But this time…
She chose to take a hostage first.
She grabbed Bei Xing’s neck, holding her tightly. Su Mingxiu’s expression didn’t change, and even Bei Xing, after hearing Su Mingxiu’s earlier words, relaxed.
She seemed unusually calm for a hostage, letting Su Jin examine her.
“She’s nothing special, what’s so attractive about her?” Su Jin’s fingertip traced Bei Xing’s cheek, like a cold snake’s tongue, leaving a trail of goosebumps.
Bei Xing shivered, then lowered her eyes.
Just then, Su Jin stopped, lifting Bei Xing’s chin, feeling the warmth of her skin, and said suddenly: “I’ve changed my mind, I’ll let you live.”
She chuckled softly. “A feverish human… has a unique flavor.”