Chapter 12: The Lovers’ Inn

No wonder Old Ye dumped this task on him.

When the song ended, Gou Liang had asked almost everything he wanted to know, and Shi Linlin had nothing more to say. True to his word, Gou Liang allowed Shi Linlin to absorb a mouthful of pure yang energy as she wished. The moment she did, she looked as if she were drunk, her eyes wide with terror.

“Oh my god, you’ve doomed me! Not only are you pure yang, but you’re also a virgin! This pure yang energy will make me explode! How are you such a disaster? Already graduated and still a virgin?!”

Seeing Shi Linlin collapse to the ground as if poisoned, her face turning green, Gou Liang panicked. He couldn’t harm people, nor could he harm spirits.

“What should I do?” he asked in alarm.

“Take me to a bar outside, just dump me beside the bar and let someone pick me up,” Shi Linlin replied.

Gou Liang hoisted her up and carried her toward the nearest bar. It was quite a distance before he spotted a small establishment. Through the glass windows, he could see a few lonely young men inside, clutching their glasses and drinking away their dull, meaningless lives—no, their ghostly existences.

He placed Shi Linlin on a bench beside the greenery outside. After more than ten minutes, a scruffy, middle-aged man staggered out, reeking of alcohol. His eyes lit up the moment he saw the drunken Shi Linlin. Excitedly hiccuping, he wobbled his way toward her, putting on a look of concern as he greeted her. Seeing how intoxicated she was, he looked around furtively, then reached out his large hand toward her shapely chest.

“What are you trying to do? Get lost!” Gou Liang leapt out from the shadows, brandishing a stick.

The middle-aged man flinched, staring at Gou Liang in fear, muttering with a knowing look, “Oh, so you’re fishing for trouble.” With that, he gave Gou Liang a wobbly salute and stumbled away.

Next, a cocky young man swaggered out, wearing a black tank top that showed off his tattoos. His eyes blazed as he strode toward Shi Linlin, intending to carry her off right then and there.

“Put her down. Get lost!” Gou Liang roared, charging forward with the stick, glaring fiercely.

“No one dares mess with me around here. You must be tired of living,” the tattooed man sneered, reeking of alcohol, and whipped out a folding knife.

In the past, Gou Liang might have avoided trouble, but now, having inherited the Healer’s legacy, he was not one to be bullied. Without another word, he swung the stick and laid into the man.

The tattooed thug was beaten until he fled, swearing and stumbling. At that moment, a message flashed in Gou Liang’s mind: he had to return before sunrise, or he would never be able to go back.

Gou Liang’s veins bulged in panic—time was running out.

After driving off two more men, finally, a decent-looking guy appeared. He looked like a high schooler, round-faced, harmless, wearing thick glasses. He seemed heartbroken, burdened by overwhelming loneliness and emptiness, as though he might collapse under the weight. He was clearly drunk, staggering as he walked.

He paused when he saw Shi Linlin, then walked past her. Gou Liang nearly rushed out to call him back. After a few steps, the chubby youth stopped, glanced back at Shi Linlin, hesitated, then mustered his courage and returned to her side, emboldened by drink.

“Why are you sitting out here? Do you need me to call a cab for you?”

Shi Linlin looked up at him and bluntly spat out a single word, “Scram!”

The boy flinched and hurried away. “Come back,” Shi Linlin called after him, perhaps moved by his obedience.

The boy stopped again, turned around, and dutifully returned. “Help me to a hotel,” Shi Linlin commanded.

Gou Liang was so delighted he nearly jumped for joy, more excited than if he’d scored a hookup himself.

The pair went to a small love hotel, the kind that rents rooms by the hour. Gou Liang, still worried, followed them and, after seeing them enter a room, crept up and pressed his ear to the door.

They chatted for a while, exchanging names. Shi Linlin, seemingly more sober but still slurring slightly, asked, “Out drinking alone so late—got dumped, didn’t you?”

The boy replied, “Yeah, she left me for some rich guy.”

“If I asked you to give me all your money, would you?” Shi Linlin asked.

“I would,” he answered immediately.

There was the sound of money being counted.

Shi Linlin said, “Put it away. I was just testing you.”

“Anything for you, sis. I just… I can’t hold out any longer. I’m really about to fall apart.”

Shi Linlin replied, “Too bad, my period just started.”

The boy asked, “Then could you…”

“My throat’s inflamed these days.”

“Then we could…”

“That’s even worse, you’ll get hemorrhoids.”

The boy broke down in tears.

Shi Linlin burst into laughter. “Silly, I’m just teasing you.”

Then, from inside, came the unmistakable sounds of passion.

Gou Liang finally breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he turned to leave, strange noises came from within the room. He immediately pressed his ear to the door, growing more uneasy as he listened. He was about to knock when he noticed a small hole in the old wooden door, covered with a loose bandage. He peeled it off and peered inside.

What he saw made him gasp in horror.

Inside, there was only a blonde girl in hot pants, with no sign of Shi Linlin or the boy. The girl stood with her back to the door, seemingly talking to someone invisible. Her arms twisted and gestured in bizarre ways, her movements disturbingly unnatural. The sight gave Gou Liang goosebumps all over.

Suddenly, her body jerked as if she were being embraced by something unseen. Her toes pointed, her head arched back again and again. This went on for more than ten minutes.

Then, something even more terrifying happened.

The girl’s toes rose higher and higher, until it seemed she might float off the ground. Suddenly, she was flung backward onto the sofa, her whole body undulating like a wave.