C12 Chapter 12

As we headed upstairs, Mo Ningning kept eyeing the pressure cooker in my hands, still uneasy. “Xiaogang, are you sure you don’t need that super-duper evil-banishing flag I got at the market?”

I was sweating bullets inside. There are way too many scammers these days—how do they even manage to fool a girl this gullible?

“We really don’t need it.” I shook my head firmly. Come on. Since when did I need props to catch a ghost? I only brought the pressure cooker because I was craving something. Once I caught that “ghost,” I was going to stew him right there and get some much-needed protein back in my system.

When we stepped into the bedroom, I couldn’t help frowning. Mo Ningning noticed right away and asked nervously, “What is it, Xiaogang? Is something wrong?”

After a long pause, I said, struggling, “The perfume is way too strong.”

Mo Ningning turned bright red on the spot. Liang Jing completely lost it laughing.

I kept a straight face and started scanning the room. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. This place hadn’t been haunted at all.

And if the room wasn’t haunted, then everything Mo Ningning saw could only mean one thing—someone was messing with her.

Yeah, right, I thought, unimpressed. Tonight, we’re doing a ghost-scares-ghost.

I quietly pulled Liang Jing and Mo Ningning aside and laid out my plan.

Late that night, Mo Ningning lay asleep in bed.

Suddenly, a shadowy figure appeared at her bedside, grinning at her like an idiot.

Then another figure in white appeared behind him and lightly tapped his shoulder. “Hey, buddy. That’s my food.”

The first figure spun around—and saw a headless female ghost.

“Ahhh!” he screamed and whirled around, ready to jump out the window.

The headless ghost grabbed him. “Don’t! The ladder’s already been pulled away!”

The light snapped on.

I climbed in through the window. “Sorry—when I was coming up, I accidentally kicked the ladder down.”

The headless ghost shrugged off her coat, and Mo Ningning sat up in bed.

The shadowy figure realized things had gone sideways and spun to bolt for the door, but Liang Jing tackled him to the floor in one swift move.

I hurried over. “Easy—he’s an old man!”

“What?” Liang Jing froze, then yanked off the mask and saw it really was an elderly man. She sprang back up at once. “I’m so sorry, sir.”

Mo Ningning’s eyes went wide. “Uncle Wu? Why is it you?”

By then, I understood everything. I didn’t say a word, waiting for Uncle Wu to explain it himself.

“I’m sorry, miss.” Uncle Wu sat on the floor, defeated. “I didn’t have a choice. They took my granddaughter.”

“Who?” Mo Ningning asked coldly.

“Li Yifeng.” Uncle Wu let out a long sigh.

Mo Ningning’s face went pale with anger. “Him? He actually dared to do this? I’m going to make him pay!”

“Hold on—I don’t get what he’s trying to accomplish,” Liang Jing cut in. “What’s the point of having someone scare you? Isn’t he worried you’ll retaliate once it comes out?”

“Who knows? The guy’s a total psycho!” Mo Ningning snapped.

“The motive’s pretty obvious,” I said.

“What motive?” Liang Jing shot back.

“Uncle Wu, if I’m right, getting you to scare Mo Ningning was just step one. Step two is having someone show up to ‘help’ her out of the mess. So Li Yifeng’s next move would be for you to casually let her know he can deal with ghosts. Then he’d pull the same kind of stunt I did.”

“What stunt?”

“No idea.” I shrugged. “All I know is, when Mo Ningning came to me to catch a ghost, I had to stay in her bedroom.”

At that, Mo Ningning and Liang Jing finally put it together.

Mo Ningning clenched her fists. “That bastard. I’m not letting him get away with this!”

“What about Uncle Wu’s granddaughter?” Liang Jing asked.

“Now that we know what’s going on, that’s enough. I’ll have my dad handle the rest—he’ll make sure Uncle Wu’s granddaughter is brought back safe,” Mo Ningning said quietly.

Butler Wu sat on the floor, tears streaming down his face. “Miss… you’re not blaming me?”

“I’m not blaming you. I just can’t trust you anymore. When this is over, I’ll give you some money—enough for you to live on in retirement,” Mo Ningning said coldly.

Watching this, I finally realized what was different about this girl.

Calm. Detached. Even a little ruthless.

I honestly couldn’t tell whether the Mo Ningning who acted clueless was the real one, or if this version of her was.

Maybe she didn’t know either…

And just like that, it was over. I figured with Mo Ningning’s dad and the kind of pull he had, everything after that was nothing I needed to worry about.

I didn’t see Mo Ningning again until two weeks later. I asked her, “How are Butler Wu and his granddaughter?”

She said, “They went back home.”

I said, “That’s good. Oh—what about Li Yifeng?”

She answered flatly, “He’s dead.”

My hand jerked, and I almost dropped my chopsticks on the floor.

Mo Ningning hurried to explain, “I didn’t have anyone do it. That bastard got wasted, went flying down the highway like an idiot, and launched off the side of a mountain. I didn’t even get the chance to settle the score with him.”

“Oh.” I murmured, and I couldn’t help thinking of something my old man used to tell me:

What goes around comes around.

People prey on others, and sooner or later, it catches up with them.

So be like me—be a good person.