Chapter 25: Red-Clothed

“Ah? … It’s not against the law, so go right ahead and look.” Second Master Huang held back for a long moment before muttering under his breath, “Even a big tough guy like you is checking out handsome young studs?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Red Shadow bristled at once, planting his hands on his hips. “Why the hell can’t a big lug like me scope out some handsome guys? None of your damn business! I’m looking, so what’re you gonna do about it?”

“Getting feisty, are we?” Second Master Huang shot back. But just as he finished, he and Red Shadow spoke in perfect unison: “Hey, fellow townsman!”

“I’m from F City.”

“Get outta here, so am I!”

The young police officer watched as Second Master Huang bolted for the door in a flash, a hint of disappointment crossing his face. “Hey?”

Gone just like that? He hadn’t even gotten a single grope in.

Watching the ghost and the yellow weasel outside already slapping each other on the back, calling one another “big bro” and “little bro,” Chen Ji couldn’t help shaking his head in amusement. “It got its fill today. Next time you swing by, give me a heads-up. I won’t feed it, and you can do the honors.”

The young police officer nodded. Without Second Master Huang’s soul-snaring antics distracting him any longer, he suddenly remembered the business at hand. He turned his head and prompted, “Liu Daming, you all good yet?”

Liu Daming flashed a fawning grin. “All good, all good. Can I go now?”

The young police officer and Chen Ji scanned the surroundings. With no traces left behind anywhere, the young police officer was about to say he could leave when Chen Ji suddenly heard the Red-Clothed Ghost outside declare, “Hey, that old coot stuffed a bill in the brick crevice!”

Second Master Huang: “What’s wrong with leaving one?”

Red-Clothed Ghost: “Pfft, what can ya do? By the rules, I gotta spook the handsome stud a bit~ But hey, we’re all family here, so I’ll just go through the motions!”

Second Master Huang: “Deal! Let me tell ya, the Chen family kid’s got killer cooking skills. Have him whip up a feast tonight, and us bros can knock back a few!”

Red-Clothed Ghost: “It’s a plan then!”

Chen Ji’s eye twitched slightly, but he didn’t contradict them. His grandfather’s notes had it written plain as day: Red-Clothed Ghosts—avoid if possible. If avoidance failed, best not to provoke them either. A meal? No big deal. He had plenty of ready-made dishes stocked up.

To keep Liu Daming from stirring up more trouble, the two police officers decided to escort him down the mountain. After going through the formalities with Chen Ji, they bid him farewell. Before leaving, Chen Ji even added them on WeChat. The mountain had been uninhabited before, so patrols were rare. Now that Chen Ji lived here, they’d have to drop by every few days to check in. WeChat made it easier.

As soon as the police left, Chen Ji stepped out to greet his visitors. The closer he got to Red Shadow, the clearer she became. This Red-Clothed Ghost didn’t look like some cheap horror flick prop draped in red cloth. Instead, he wore an elaborate crimson opera costume, embroidered with dragons and phoenixes… or at least, it resembled one. His features were refined, his figure tall and elegant. Without that shroud of dark crimson Sha Qi giving off an eerie chill, Chen Ji might have mistaken him for a lost cosplayer tourist.

As Chen Ji approached, the Red-Clothed Ghost stared at him unblinkingly. Suddenly, he covered his mouth with a laugh and batted his eyes at him seductively. “Handsome, wanna add me on WeChat too?”

Second Master Huang: “Huh? Little bro, you really into this kinda thing?”

“Hee hee.” The Red-Clothed Ghost let out a couple light chuckles. Then he noticed Chen Ji pulling out his WeChat QR code and saying in clear, earnest tones, “Sure. Wanna come in for some tea?”

“Sure~” No sooner had the words left the Red-Clothed Ghost’s mouth than he froze, as if realizing something. His voice shot up in disbelief. “You can see me?! Wait—you can hear me?!”

Chen Ji nodded, a faint smile playing across his features. “Mm-hm.”

Second Master Huang: “He’s got the Yin-Yang Eye open! Of course he can see and hear you! Woo-hoo~ Chen Ji, you heard that, right? Whip us up a feast later!”

Red-Clothed Little Bro’s eyes shifted from their bewitching gleam to a dazed haze. He ducked his head, staring at his shoe tops as if he could dig a Seven Stars Lu King’s Palace out of the ground with his toes right there in front of the Mountain Lord Temple and bury himself in it. No more WeChat adds for him—he shrank into full ostrich mode.

Seeing this, Chen Ji pocketed his phone and tapped Second Master Huang on the head with a fingertip. Second Master Huang clambered right onto his shoulder and, once up there, even rubbed his cheek against Chen Ji’s. Only after the rub did he feel his old face heating up with embarrassment. But since Chen Ji acted like it was nothing new, he played it cool and launched into introductions.

“This here’s your Brother Chen—er, little bro Chen Ji, the one I told ya about. He lives in this temple!”

Red-Clothed Little Bro nodded vigorously and extended a hand to shake Chen Ji’s, only to pull it back upon sudden realization. “Hey, hey! Nice to meet you! Sorry for bothering you today!”

Red-Clothed Ghosts were Malignant Ghosts, heavy with Sha Qi. Touching one could land a living person in the hospital for a good long while, and the frail might even have their soul scared right out of them at the sight.

“No trouble at all.” Chen Ji smiled. “Come on in and chat. I’ll fire up some dishes. We’ve got booze at home too.”

“No, no!” Red-Clothed Little Bro waved it off frantically. “You’ve got a proper god dwelling in your home. I won’t intrude! We’ll just sit out here!”

Chen Ji paused, but Second Master Huang was already eagerly placing his order. “That’s settled then! No beating around the bush—last time’s braised pork elbow, stir-fried greens, curry chicken… oh, and that soup, make a big pot. Throw in some fruit and pastries too—extra egg yolk pastries for me!”

“Got it.” Chen Ji agreed with a soft smile touching the corners of his eyes and brows. Red-Clothed Little Bro glanced up at him, then ducked his head again. Chen Ji added, “I’ll go fetch a table for you guys then.”

“Go for it!” Second Master Huang waved a paw. He hopped off Chen Ji onto Red-Clothed Little Bro. As Chen Ji turned away, he caught Red-Clothed Little Bro yanking Second Master Huang aside. “Damn, bro, why didn’t you tell me he could hear us? I was too embarrassed to even talk straight!”

Chen Ji touched the corner of his eye and hauled the hall’s eight-immortal table outside, pairing it with three plastic stools. Good to go! The System Cat had ducked into Chen Ji’s body the moment it spotted the Red-Clothed Ghost through his eyes. It piped up softly, “Want me to give you a live play-by-play?”

“No need.” Chen Ji replied mildly. “If you’re scared, stay hidden. Don’t peek, and go ride some waves.”

“Okay~ Love you, muah~!”

The System Cat fell silent. Chen Ji headed to the kitchen. Outside, the ghost and the yellow weasel were chatting up a storm, not minding Chen Ji one bit. He could hear every word crystal clear even from the kitchen.

“Little bro, what went down today? Was that old fart your enemy?”

Truth be told, Second Master Huang had shown up because he’d sensed a Red-Clothed Ghost climbing the mountain and heading Chen Ji’s way. He’d been mooching off Chen Ji—food and stuff—so he figured he owed the guy a favor. Little did he expect to arrive and find two golden-glow cops standing at the gate. With nothing much happening right away, he’d parked himself nearby to watch the show.

Red-Clothed Little Bro didn’t mince words either. “Kinda, yeah! Brother Huang, you know our rules. That was my enemy’s old man. Tsk, the son’s a piece of work, and so’s the dad. They bought some shady cursed item off a guy with a bit of mojo to lure me here. If those cops hadn’t shown up quick, I’d have thought Chen Ji was in cahoots with ’em!”

Once he’d become a Red-Clothed Malignant Ghost, the industry standard for revenge was wiping out the whole family.

“Yeah? His son the one who screwed you over?”

The story went like this: Red-Clothed Little Bro had lost his head, got scammed out of money and affection. After they split, the guy straight-up murdered him. Who else was he gonna haunt?

The water in the pot was boiling now. Chen Ji dumped in several bags of ready-made dishes to heat up. He unpacked peanuts and seeds first, plated them with the liquor, and carried them out. Red-Clothed Little Bro clammed up and acted all stiff the moment he emerged. Chen Ji set everything on the table, pulled out an incense burner, and lit three sticks inside it. Red-Clothed Little Bro said sheepishly, “Thanks a ton!”

“No problem. Dig in for now—the rest is still cooking.” Chen Ji nodded and headed back inside. The moment he was gone, Red-Clothed Little Bro snatched up the liquor bottle and chugged half of it. Social anxiety? Vanished. He slammed a foot on the stool, pounded the table, and unleashed a tirade—cursing the deadbeat, calling himself a lovestruck idiot. It was pure catharsis.

By the time Chen Ji brought out the finished dishes, Red-Clothed Little Bro had polished off a full bottle of baijiu. A flush colored his originally pallid cheeks, and in the sunset glow, he almost looked alive. He didn’t bother pulling his foot off the stool when Chen Ji appeared, just beckoned him over. “C’mere! Sit!”

Chen Ji took a seat, playing the perfect drinking buddy. That’s how he pieced together Red-Clothed Little Bro’s tale. Turns out, Red-Clothed Little Bro was gay. Some guy sweet-talked him into everything—promising to come out and marry him, but needed cash for a house and car to save face with the family. He gaslit Red-Clothed Little Bro into scraping together every penny.

Once the car and house were bought, the guy cheated behind his back with a woman, got her pregnant. Red-Clothed Little Bro found out and blew up. The guy pretended to cave, tricked him into a wedding photoshoot, drugged him to stage cheating pics. But he overdosed the guy to death.

Enter the kicker: figuring the deed was done, the man got a feng shui master to bury Red-Clothed Little Bro in front of his ancestral home—a prime yin spot. With folks trampling over it day in and day out, the resentment built until he turned Malignant Ghost. The guy sensed trouble, found a real expert, and fled overseas for safety. So Red-Clothed Little Bro started with the family instead.

Chen Ji pondered for a moment before asking, “Anything I can do to help?”

“Help my ass!” Red-Clothed Little Bro slapped the table. “If I don’t tear that bastard limb from limb with my own hands, call me a coward! This spread you put out already goes above and beyond… Back home, that dumbfuck family is still getting played—don’t even know I’m dead yet! Waaah!”

Second Master Huang was about to chime in when a beam of light hit them. All three whipped around toward the source. Three young folks were roaring up on motorcycles—the light came from the headlight.

“Brother Chen!” Xiao Wang spotted Chen Ji sitting alone at the temple gate and waved enthusiastically. “Brother Chen, we’re here!”

Chen Ji rose in mild surprise to meet them. “What brings you guys up here?”

Xiao Wang hopped off his bike and patted the back seat piled high with packages. “Saw your deliveries stacking up, and I had nothing going on today. Figured I’d ride up and drop ’em off!”

Xiao Wang was Auntie Wang’s nephew. His folks ran the village’s only shop-cum-express depot.

Chen Ji thanked him profusely. “You guys are lifesavers! I’ve been slammed these past couple days and was stressing about it!”

Xiao Wang and the others had spotted Chen Ji sitting alone earlier, with three chairs arranged before him and sticks of incense burning on the table. It looked like he was paying respects to some ancestors or the like—though the whole setup felt rather eerie, giving Xiao Wang a bit of a chill. Not wanting to disturb him, Xiao Wang called out, “No need for thanks—we’re all from the same village! You still owe me for helping out with my aunt’s family troubles! Carry on with what you’re doing; we’ll get out of your hair.”

With that, he ignored Chen Ji’s attempts to stop him and turned to leave. Chen Ji could only make a mental note to bring it up next time.

Red-Clothed Little Bro eyed the hefty stack of packages and asked, 【Chen Ji, what’d you buy?】

Chen Ji hadn’t intended to check, but at the question, he glanced down. The shipping label read “Maoshan Taoist Goods Specialty Store, Purple Micro Taboo—3 pieces.” A touch embarrassed, he explained, “Just some little trinkets. Things have been restless up in the mountains lately, so I figured I’d pick up a few things for protection.”

That only got Red-Clothed Little Bro more enthusiastic. 【Protection? Excellent! Pull ’em out and let’s take a look! Perfect timing—Brother Huang and I are both right here! Just point them at the two of us! We’ll know quick if they work!】

Chen Ji: “……?”

Wasn’t this the sort of thing you weren’t supposed to test so casually?