Chapter 78 The Ghost Who Longed to Be Human

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“I saw him and thought he looked suspicious, so I couldn’t help but approach and test him,” Chu Ning said this as if it were the most natural thing in the world, entirely unaware that his actions might seem odd to others.

He had a clear conscience—why should he skulk around like a petty thief, afraid to face those who represented justice?

Tanya felt that Chu Ning’s reasoning was unassailable. To be honest, she could never do what he did, especially after having been involved with him in several shocking cases. It made her all the more cautious, since she still retained her human instincts from her previous life.

“Suspicious? What was so suspicious about that policeman just now? He’s probably just a new recruit, lacking experience in dealing with the public, a little nervous, that’s all!”

Tanya actually thought the handsome young officer had behaved perfectly normally. In this world, good looks were a real advantage, and he was certainly above average in that regard.

“So naïve.”

Chu Ning, on the other hand, dismissed the young policeman with a sneer—he couldn’t care less about the man’s appearance. If it were…—no, there was no if. Chu Ning shook off the unrealistic thought, blaming Tanya for infecting him with her shallow obsession with appearances. It was a terrifying change!

You become like those you spend time with, the ancients were right.

“You didn’t notice his posture, the way he spoke—it was off. As someone with plenty of experience dealing with the authorities, I can tell you with certainty: that man was pretending to be a policeman with ulterior motives!”

Chu Ning lectured Tanya, convinced she was too innocent for this world, too pure and guileless, and would be swallowed whole by those with sharper teeth.

In time, anyone could learn through experience. After enduring countless interrogations, Chu Ning had mastered the art of police questioning. In the past, he could even deduce which division they belonged to.

Still, he admired the daring of the young man—unlike Tanya, who avoided talking to the police as much as possible and might as well have had “suspicious” written across her face, begging to be interrogated.

“Fake? That can’t be!” Tanya was floored by these antics—this was outrageous, completely beyond anything she’d expected. Their boldness was unbelievable. Chu Ning had shown her a world she’d never known, one she was far from ready to enter.

Chu Ning leaned in, his voice low and chilling. “You’ve forgotten you’re a ghost again. Do you understand what’s going on?” He yawned, bored.

As long as no one provoked him, Chu Ning didn’t care whether they were human or ghost.

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“Oh, right!” Tanya smacked her forehead in frustration. How could she forget such a simple method of distinguishing truth from deception? Anyone she could see with her own eyes was definitely not to be trifled with; these people were always deeply entangled with the supernatural—commonly known as being haunted by evil spirits.

“It’s because Chu Ning acts so much like a human that I keep forgetting what I am now,” Tanya muttered, unwilling to take the blame herself. It was all Chu Ning’s fault, every bit of it.

Years of experience had taught her to shoulder her superiors’ mistakes without complaint. Today, she could finally enjoy the satisfaction of passing the blame, and she wasn’t worried about Chu Ning being upset.

Chu Ning never cared about what others thought, which was why he faced even the most troublesome situations with such composure.

He simply smiled, saying nothing. He understood Tanya’s forgetfulness well. She struggled to accept being a ghost and still longed for the advantages of being human.

Someday, she’d declare, “I’m done being human!”—the kind of melodramatic proclamation only someone in the depths of adolescence would make.

Chu Ning had seen too many who, in their pursuit of power, became neither human nor ghost—abandoning all ethics and pushing themselves to the extreme for strength.

He’d also seen those who desperately wanted to regain their humanity, blindly chasing after unattainable legends like moths to a flame.

Thinking of this, Chu Ning sighed deeply, pressing a hand to his forehead in exasperation.

His other self was obsessed with this very path, and Chu Ning had no idea how to deal with it. Even though he would scorn such people with righteous words, when it came to his own affairs, he found himself trapped—whatever he did felt wrong.

He had experienced both situations. His old self had desperately pursued unmatched power. The legend of the sofa in the northern villa was nothing like the rumors; as the one involved, Chu Ning knew the truth better than anyone.

In fact, the red and black stains on the sofa were just the result of blood splattering whenever he fed. Over the years, it had accumulated, giving rise to the legend of the “Blood-Drinking Sofa.” In that sense, the tale wasn’t entirely false.

Chu Ning had never given up on shortcuts to power—devouring human flesh and blood, consuming the souls of ghosts, forbidden rituals. Any opportunity to grow stronger, he took without hesitation.

This relentless pursuit made him ever more powerful, yet increasingly dissatisfied with the steady path of consuming humans. Eventually, a twist of fate brought him a method for explosive growth.

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By performing a forbidden ritual to summon a terrifying, unknown entity, and then devouring that entity, one’s power could erupt exponentially. Unsurprisingly, such a method was fraught with peril, but the potential rewards made it almost irresistible.

Inevitably, Chu Ning failed. In the end, he was devoured himself—such was the fate of most in this world.

It was nothing like the nonsense in novels, where the protagonist turns the tables at the last moment, consumes the unknown entity, gains vast knowledge, and embarks on a life of limitless power.

Thus, another Chu Ning was born, inheriting the abilities of his predecessor. Unable to accept reality, Chu Ning split into two personalities—one always trying to escape, always longing to become human again.

That part imitated every human behavior, constantly attempting to explain supernatural events with science or, failing that, likening them to the exaggerated antics found in anime.

It was a way to convince himself that everything around him was normal, to numb his mind and believe he was still human.

The thought made Chu Ning want to laugh. When something truly unexplainable happened, he’d force that side of himself out to handle it.

But then he’d feign ignorance of the entire affair, using special means to blur his memories, ensuring everything had a reasonable explanation.

“Finally, it’s almost gone.”

The Chu Ning who believed himself human could still make sense of his world within the villa, like a naïve rookie untouched by reality. But once thrust into the complexities of society and tangled conspiracies, he gradually broke down, unable to cope.

Chu Ning understood perfectly why his other self was so obsessed with wealth—it was simply to satisfy basic material needs and cut himself off from the world, avoiding all contact with others.

In this way, he could live forever within the lies he wove for himself.