LABMY CH53

As Jiang Tang stepped into the room, he was immediately hit by a chilling aura. Feeling uncomfortable, he rubbed his arms and scanned the messy living room.

The room was in complete disarray, with beer bottles scattered everywhere. A few bottles had fallen to the ground, with some yellowish liquid still inside. Cigarette butts were also strewn around, and the mix of cigarette ash and spilled beer had dried up, leaving yellowish stains on the originally white tiles.

On the TV cabinet sat a photo of a couple. The man in the photo was holding a woman intimately, both smiling brightly.

On the sofa, there was a large dark stain from an unknown liquid that had dried up. A large pink teddy bear, now covered in gray ash from cigarette smoke, sat there as if someone had been drinking and smoking on the sofa, carelessly flicking ash onto the bear.

Just one glance at the sofa was enough to tell that it wasn’t fit for sitting.

“Master Jiang, please have a seat,” the man said, closing the door behind him and gesturing for Jiang Tang to sit down.

However, after taking a couple of steps forward, he realized that there wasn’t even a place to stand, let alone sit. Embarrassed, he awkwardly grabbed a blanket to cover the stain on the sofa. He hesitated for a moment, then rubbed his hands on his pants, saying apologetically, “Sorry, things have been… rough lately.”

As soon as he mentioned “lately,” his expression turned gloomy. He sighed and added, “By the way, I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Wang Liye.”

Wang Liye suddenly seemed to remember something and asked nervously, “You haven’t officially moved in yet, right? I haven’t seen you around before.”

Jiang Tang replied, “I just came to check out the apartment today.”

Wang Liye slapped his thigh, “Good! That’s good. Master, listen to me. Do NOT rent this place.”

Jiang Tang asked, “Why?”

“Meow?”

The little black cat at Jiang Tang’s feet also let out a curious meow. The sound made Wang Liye shiver, and he didn’t dare look at the seemingly harmless kitten trying to climb up Jiang Tang’s leg.

Feeling helpless, Jiang Tang glanced at the scheming cat pretending it couldn’t climb. He bent down, picked up the little black cat, and placed it on his lap, gently stroking its head.

Wang Liye, too afraid to look at the cat, awkwardly fixed his gaze on Jiang Tang’s upper body and spoke like a nervous schoolboy, “To tell you the truth, there was a murder here recently.”

“The method,” he paused, his face showing pain and hatred, “was extremely brutal.”

“It happened around midnight when most residents were returning home from work. Everyone on this floor witnessed it.”

Jiang Tang noticed the deep sorrow in his expression and asked, “The victim was…?”

Wang Liye forced a bitter smile and continued, “It was my girlfriend… She was murdered.”

Lowering his head, he grabbed his hair in frustration. Jiang Tang couldn’t see his face, but he could hear the trembling in his voice, “My girlfriend, Qiu Qiu… at that time… her intestines were pulled out…”

Covering his face, tears slipped through his fingers. “She must have been in so much pain.”

Jiang Tang had also recently lost his loved ones, so he deeply understood the grief. He reached out and patted Wang Liye’s shoulder. Opening his mouth to speak, he found himself at a loss for words.

In the face of such grief, words were powerless.

In the end, he could only softly say, “My condolences.”

Wang Liye wiped his tears and waved his hand, “Sorry for embarrassing myself.”

Blowing his nose, he returned to the main topic, “After the murder, everyone was terrified. The residents of Apartment 401 moved out immediately.”

“Then… strange things started happening.”

“Every night, we could hear a woman crying, saying over and over again, ‘It hurts… It hurts so much…’”

“Everyone was scared to death. Those who could move out left as soon as possible. Even those who couldn’t move found excuses to leave.”

With a sincere tone, Wang Liye warned Jiang Tang, “So, don’t rent this place. That landlord is up to no good.”

Jiang Tang didn’t mention that he had already rented the apartment. Accepting Wang Liye’s kind warning, he asked, “Then why haven’t you moved out?”

Wang Liye turned his head back, his eyes red, “How could I leave? My girlfriend died tragically here. Her soul can’t find peace. How could I abandon her?”

As he spoke, tears streamed down his face again, “She must have been in so much pain, with such severe injuries.”

Jiang Tang asked, “So your goal isn’t to exorcise the ghost?”

At this, a strange light flashed through Wang Liye’s eyes. He said, “I want to ask, Master, if you can help her pass on.”

“Let her reincarnate peacefully and not wander the world as a lonely ghost.”

Wang Liye’s face was filled with sorrow and hatred toward the killer. “I heard that ghosts are forced to relive the pain of their death over and over again. That’s too cruel for her.”

“I know she died unjustly. Finding the killer… leave that to me. I’ll spend my whole life seeking revenge for her. She only needs to forget all her suffering, reincarnate, and live a happy life.”

Catching ghosts and exorcising spirits were things Jiang Tang could handle, but helping a soul pass on? That was something the Xuan Sect never taught him.

Jiang Tang originally wanted to say that he wasn’t good at guiding spirits, but when he looked up, he saw Wang Liye’s bloodshot eyes and sorrowful expression.

Having also lost someone important, Jiang Tang couldn’t bear to refuse. He lowered his head and looked at the little black cat lying obediently on his lap. Coincidentally, the black cat was also looking up at him.

With just one glance, Jian Yuanbai understood what Jiang Tang was thinking.

The black cat nodded. Before Jiang Tang could feel relieved, the cat stood up on his lap, rubbed its fluffy head against Jiang Tang’s fair, slender neck, and let out a soft “Meow~.”

With that low sound, black mist began to swirl around the room. A handsome man with glowing red eyes and a faint smile appeared before Jiang Tang.

His figure was like mist, both solid and ethereal, and his voice echoed only in Jiang Tang’s ears, “I can help you guide her spirit. But what about you?”

“Do you think I won’t charge for my services?”

Jiang Tang felt uncomfortable and turned his head slightly to avoid looking at him. He glanced down at the cute little cat still standing on his lap and then at Wang Liye, who stood frozen in place as if time had stopped. At that moment, Jiang Tang gained a deeper understanding of Jian Yuanbai’s power.

While Jiang Tang remained silent, Jian Yuanbai reached out and gently brushed his fingers against Jiang Tang’s lips. His hand, which oddly carried a warmth that no vengeful ghost should possess, tilted Jiang Tang’s chin up. His thumb slowly and suggestively rubbed over Jiang Tang’s soft lips.

His fingertips pressed against Jiang Tang’s plump lower lip, rubbing and kneading it until it turned a deep red. Jian Yuanbai’s eyes followed the motion of his hand, locking onto the flushed lips like a predator eyeing its prey.

“What about my payment?” Jian Yuanbai’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he spoke in a husky, seductive voice. “Hmm? My little darling.”

That one “little darling” made something click in Jiang Tang’s mind.

He suddenly realized something.

Jiang Tang slightly turned his head, avoiding Jian Yuanbai’s hand. He lowered his eyes, looking utterly dejected. “I thought… we were one.”

“With our bond, the solid contract between us, this connection that makes us closer than anyone else.”

Jiang Tang let out a bitter laugh. “Yet now, things have become so distant that I have to use the word ‘please’?”

“Do we really need to be this clear about something so trivial?”

Jian Yuanbai was stunned. The disappointment on Jiang Tang’s face was clear as day. He felt like this wasn’t the point, but at the same time, he couldn’t find any fault in Jiang Tang’s words.

Subconsciously, he replied, “Of course not.”

“Isn’t it just helping a soul pass on? I can handle that in less than a minute.”

Jiang Tang turned his head, his eyes lighting up as he smiled brightly at him. “So, you’re agreeing?”

He was already stunning, but when he smiled, he was downright captivating. Especially when he looked at Jian Yuanbai with such focus, as if his eyes only held him.

Jian Yuanbai couldn’t tear his gaze away. His mind was filled with one thought: *My wife’s smile is so sweet.*

Jiang Tang had intentionally reacted this way, but under Jian Yuanbai’s intense stare, he gradually started to feel uneasy… and a little embarrassed.

He cleared his throat and restrained his smile, emphasizing, “Why isn’t Wang Liye moving?”

…

Even after dissipating his temporarily formed human figure and returning to his cat form on Jiang Tang’s lap, Jian Yuanbai was still in a daze.

It wasn’t until he saw Jiang Tang and Wang Liye discussing when the female ghost might appear and how to take action that Jian Yuanbai finally realized what had just happened.

He had been completely led around by Jiang Tang!

In the latter half, the resentment from the little black cat grew so intense that Wang Liye could hardly sit still. A grown man being stared at by a cat made his back chill, and he even wanted to hug himself and rub his goosebump-covered arms.

After discussing the matter with Jiang Tang, Wang Liye quickly sent him off. “Master Jiang, thank you so much.”

“When I think about how Qiu Qiu suffers every night, I wish I could bear the pain for her.”

As he spoke, Wang Liye’s expression turned sorrowful again, and he even forgot to fear the eerie aura emanating from the little black cat.

Jiang Tang said, “Don’t worry.”

If it were up to him to perform the soul-purging ritual, Jiang Tang might have been unsure, afraid of not doing it well.

But with Jian Yuanbai handling it, Jiang Tang had no worries at all. For some reason, he felt an unconditional trust toward Jian Yuanbai.

This trust had no origin. It existed from the moment he first saw Jian Yuanbai, and as they spent more time together, Jiang Tang gradually chose to follow his heart.

Before leaving, Jiang Tang asked, “Aren’t you afraid to be here alone?”

Because Wang Liye said that he had seen his girlfriend’s ghost, but if someone else was with him, the ghost wouldn’t appear—only her cries could be heard.

That’s why Jiang Tang needed to stay in the house he had just rented and wait for Wang Liye’s girlfriend, Qiu Qiu, to appear. Then, Wang Liye would call him.

Wang Liye smiled, with a hint of bitterness and deep love. “I’m not afraid.”

“How could I fear her? Even if she’s become a ghost, she’s still my beloved Qiuqiu.”

“Besides, she’s never harmed me. It must be because she still remembers me and can’t bear to hurt me.”

He looked at Jiang Tang and said seriously, “We loved each other deeply.”

Jiang Tang fell silent for a moment, then nodded and returned to the house he rented.

Most of the furniture in the house was covered with white dust sheets. Jiang Tang lifted one from a chair and sat down.

The little black cat in his arms remained quiet, letting him gently stroke its head.

Jiang Tang paused and suddenly asked, “Since you’re here, where did Ghostie go?”

He felt a bit guilty asking this. He hadn’t thought about the real little black cat, Ghostie, who had been replaced by Jian Yuanbai, for days.

Now that he wanted to talk to Jian Yuanbai but didn’t know what to say, Ghostie suddenly came to mind.

The little black cat let out a soft “meow~.”

Even though his cover had been completely blown, he still had to keep up the act, stubbornly clinging to the identity of a little black cat.

Jiang Tang knocked on the cat’s head. “Speak human language.”

Only then did Jian Yuanbai respond, “He went to play somewhere else. Don’t worry, he’s fine.”

Clearly, he could have answered directly, but he insisted on meowing first and only speaking after getting knocked on the head. Jian Yuanbai was pretending to be a cat, yet teasing Jiang Tang at the same time.

Jiang Tang hummed in response and said, “That Wang Liye seems to really love his girlfriend. Even after she turned into a ghost, he still can’t let her go.”

“And he was sincere enough to warn me about the tragedy here and advise me not to rent this house.”

The little black cat rolled around in Jiang Tang’s arms, tucking its paws under its body like a little farmer warming his hands. With a serious expression, it said, “Not necessarily.”

Although Jiang Tang knew this little black cat was actually Jian Yuanbai, he still found its actions and expressions adorable. He gave the cat a good rub and asked, “Why?”

The little black cat’s serious face was squished into a mess. It let out two pitiful meows before saying:

“It’s nothing special. I just noticed that pink teddy bear on his sofa.”

Jian Yuanbai only had a vague understanding of the plot. Someone like Wang Liye didn’t even appear in the original storyline, so he couldn’t judge whether Wang Liye was lying based on the plot.

He simply saw that pink teddy bear and felt that Wang Liye wasn’t as sincere as he appeared.

Jiang Tang thought for a moment and recalled the pink teddy bear Jian Yuanbai mentioned. “What’s wrong with the teddy bear?”

Jian Yuanbai replied, “That kind of pink teddy bear doesn’t seem like something Wang Liye would buy. It was probably bought by his girlfriend.”

“It’s placed so prominently on the sofa, meaning she must have loved it. But now, the bear is covered in cigarette ash and stained with alcohol, the fur all clumped together. It looks filthy.”

Jiang Tang reasoned, “He just lost his girlfriend. In his grief, he turned to alcohol and nicotine to numb himself. That’s understandable.”

The little black cat seemed to chuckle as it lazily groomed the fur that Jiang Tang had messed up.

“Maybe.”

“But if it were me… If it were something you left behind before you were gone…”

Jian Yuanbai’s tone was light, almost casual, “I’d treasure it and wouldn’t let even a speck of dust touch it.”

In a dim, airtight space, a dark green bracelet sat neatly on an intricately carved wooden shelf. Surrounding it were compartments filled with various objects.

From expensive jade stones to cheap keychains, each item was carefully preserved.

No one could understand what standard had been used to gather these completely unrelated objects in one place.