Han Ziyu was a very ordinary freshman boy. Although his looks were not bad, due to his lack of self-care, he always wore a pair of thick black-framed glasses, making him completely inconspicuous in a crowd. Coupled with his unsociable personality, he attracted even less attention.

When he lived in the dorms before, there were still a few roommates he could chat with. But after moving out of the dorm, he gradually stopped interacting much with his classmates.

In the male-dominated computer science major, the slovenly and unsociable Han Ziyu, except for being slightly noticed when the scholarship list was announced each semester, left the biggest impression on his classmates as nothing more than a "nerd with good grades but a bad personality".

Han Ziyu himself didn't seem to care much about these things. He went to and from classes by himself every day, his pale face constantly expressionless. Even when facing Yan Xixi whom he had a crush on, he appeared very wooden.

So He Yan's impatient and indifferent reaction was not really in conflict with Han Ziyu's usual personality, and did not initially arouse Yan Xixi's suspicions.

Moreover, he really did look unwell today, the weariness between his brows impossible to conceal, his whole person seeming as if he was recovering from a major illness, giving off an indescribable sense of frailty.

Yan Xixi felt a bit anxious in her heart.

In order to gather the things needed by that master for his sorcery, she had suppressed her disgust and gotten close to this ugly and poor nerd for so long, finally managing to obtain his blood and hair. She also took advantage of her position in Han Ziyu's heart to get a piece of jade that Han Ziyu had supposedly worn since he was a child.

Thinking of that piece of jade, Yan Xixi couldn't help but get angry. This Han Ziyu, calling him unromantic was simply an insult to the word. That piece of jade was nothing more than the most common cheap goods, the kind that could be bought for a few dozen yuan on the street. She had subtly hinted a few times, but this guy always acted like he didn't understand, until she almost directly said that she wanted that piece of jade, and only then did Han Ziyu hesitantly give it to her.

In any case, after she had finally gathered these things, she didn't dare delay even a day and immediately handed them over to that master. And after a few days of preparation, the master finally performed the ritual for her last night, sending that ferocious ghost to seek revenge on Han Ziyu.

That master had firmly told her that Han Ziyu definitely wouldn't survive last night... Could it be that the master was actually a fraud?

But she had witnessed the master's "skills", otherwise she wouldn't have believed in him so much.

Yan Xixi looked at Han Ziyu, who, apart from looking a bit listless, was still standing perfectly fine in front of her. For a moment, she felt a bit uncertain.

She asked about He Yan's health with concern in her voice, and after exchanging a few perfunctory words, finally got to the point, asking with a look of worry, "Did something happen yesterday?"

He Yan reached out to adjust his glasses, his eyes as wooden as ever. "No, just a bit of a cold. I'm going back first."

Yan Xixi's expression stiffened.

Han Ziyu seemed a bit off today... Although this guy had always been rather cold to her due to his personality, he had never been as indifferent as today.

Perhaps it was because he really wasn't feeling well?

In any case, He Yan had already said his goodbyes, so the usually reserved Yan Xixi naturally couldn't lose face by asking him to stay. She could only smile as naturally as possible and bid him farewell.

After sending Yan Xixi off, He Yan turned his head, his expression instantly changing. Ignoring his physical discomfort, he hurried back, almost fleeing in panic.

Just now... when Yan Xixi said her first words to him, he suddenly felt a familiar, sticky and icy thing touch his ankle, making him feel a chill out of nowhere in the middle of summer.

That thing - well, the creature that he still didn't know what it was, but was probably his lover - had come to find him again after mysteriously disappearing for nearly a day. And its entrance was the same as last night, both eerie and obscene...

He Yan extended a thin thread of spiritual power, unsurprisingly seeing a familiar black shadow behind him.

Aren't things like ghosts supposed to fear light? Summer evenings come early. It was only 6pm now, and although the sunlight wasn't as strong as at noon, there was still some. How could this thing come out at this time?

Before He Yan could figure out this question, something even more hair-raising happened. While Yan Xixi was pretending to care about him, that thing seemed unsatisfied and began to restlessly and slowly explore up his pant leg, meticulously tracing across his skin inch by inch.

What was this?

After tormenting him all night and then vanishing into thin air, it was now shamelessly doing this kind of thing in broad daylight while he was talking to someone else.

Even though He Yan knew that no one besides him could see the black shadow's actions, he couldn't eliminate the sense of shame constantly welling up inside.

Seeing that in the span of a few sentences, that thing had already gone up a long way, He Yan was anxious. Not caring whether Yan Xixi would be suspicious, he hastily ended the conversation.

However, the black shadow behaved quite well on the way back, not making any more moves. Except for extending another tentacle to hold his wrist, it didn't cross any lines.

"..." He Yan thought with some mixed feelings, could this thing have been jealous just now?

When passing by a pharmacy, He Yan didn't forget to go in and buy a tube of topical anti-inflammatory medicine.

If nothing unexpected happened, that place of his was probably a bit swollen.

Mindful of his body, He Yan only bought a bowl of congee to have as dinner. This body didn't have a big appetite. After finishing a bowl of not very filling congee, he felt a hint of fullness.

Next he should apply the medicine, but... He Yan sat on the bed after finishing his meal, not quite sure how to proceed.

He glanced down at his right wrist. Although it looked empty to the naked eye, if observed with spiritual power, a black mist could be seen attached there. Looking further back, an even larger black shadow could be seen, like a heavy haunting spirit, inseparably stuck to his back.

Putting other things aside, in the middle of summer, having the black shadow sticking to him like this was actually quite cooling...

Although everything that should and shouldn't have happened last night had already happened, and had even broken through a certain bottom line beyond his control, He Yan's skin wasn't thick enough to apply medicine to himself in front of his lover.

After sitting still for about ten minutes, He Yan couldn't bear it anymore. He turned his head to the black shadow behind him and said coldly, "Can you leave for a while?"

The black shadow's response was to pounce on his face with black mist. He Yan felt his eyes go dark and his whole body was invaded by cold air. He quickly moved to the side.

He propped himself up on the bed with his arms, keeping his body leaning back, and observed the black shadow with his spiritual power, frowning slightly.

There was something wrong with the black shadow's appearance, as if it had no consciousness and couldn't understand what he was saying at all.

But last night, the black shadow had helped him drive away the vengeful ghost and had done that to him. Could it just be a subconscious act?

Thinking of this, the slight anger that He Yan had felt due to last night's events, no... several half-forced sexual encounters, suddenly dissipated without a trace. At least their family's partner, whom he didn't know how to address for the time being, could still remember to protect him even when they had no consciousness. He couldn't ask too much of someone who had no ability to think.

Moreover, it's not like he didn't enjoy it. Although the method was a bit shameless, thinking back on it now, he actually felt that it wasn't completely unacceptable.

"......" He Yan hurriedly stopped his thoughts that had unknowingly become a bit skewed. Thinking of that overused and slightly swollen part, he warned himself not to be impulsive.

He Yan controlled his spiritual power threads and tried to tie up the black shadow and throw it aside, but the black shadow was obviously not very cooperative. It might have thought that He Yan was teasing it, so it also stretched out its own black spiritual power threads and entangled He Yan's.

In He Yan's original world, the fusion of spiritual power was called "spiritual power level combination", which would also produce pleasure, and this pleasure was often more direct and easier to become addicted to. So after a series of struggles, not only did He Yan fail to successfully "tie up" the black shadow, but he also made himself a bit disheveled.

In the end, there was really no way. He could only lie on the bed, wrap himself tightly in the quilt, and fumble in the bedding to squeeze the ointment onto his hand, lying on his side and awkwardly applying the medicine to himself.

Even though he knew in his heart that this layer of quilt had no practical use, it could always give him a little psychological comfort, as if this thin layer of quilt could really block something...

Although it was still messed up in the end, the ointment did have some effect. When He Yan woke up the next day, he didn't feel as uncomfortable as yesterday, only a slight foreign body sensation.

It probably also had some effect of nourishing spiritual power.

Although his spiritual power had suffered some damage last night due to forced overuse, the benefits of spiritual power fusion with a partner were huge. After fusing spiritual power with the black shadow twice, He Yan's spiritual power had almost recovered.

Just like yesterday, the black shadow had run off somewhere again.

After He Yan got up and washed, he went out as usual to eat some light food, and then took the subway to the famous antique street in the area.

According to the information he had obtained, some jade stones could nourish souls, and the heavier the yin energy, the better the effect.

Han Ziyu originally had a jade stone that he had worn from childhood to adulthood, but it was just an ordinary jade. The reason why Han Ziyu cherished it so much and hesitated when Yan Xixi asked for it was because the jade was left to him by his parents, whom he had no impression of, and had special meaning.

Now that the jade had been tricked away by Yan Xixi to be used for sorcery, it was hard to say whether it would be damaged or not after the sorcery, so He Yan didn't hold much hope of getting it back for the time being.

Although the black shadow's form was not very similar to the vengeful ghost he had encountered before, it was estimated to be the same kind of creature, and the principles shouldn't be too different.

He couldn't let his partner remain without consciousness like this.

Han Ziyu actually had some savings, which he had accumulated through part-time jobs over the past year, but the amount was not large, only a few thousand yuan in total. The jade that could nourish souls mostly had good quality, and these few thousand yuan were not enough to even look at them. Fortunately, there were many stalls selling low-quality jade stones on the antique street. He Yan, armed with spiritual power as a cheat, was ready to try his luck and see if he could pick up any bargains.

Picking up bargains was not that easy after all. He Yan had almost turned the entire antique street upside down, but only found a little weak yin energy on a few pieces of jade, which was not enough to use at all.

Well, there were also quite a few "experts" in this world who could see yin energy. Those jade stones with heavy yin energy should have been taken away by knowledgeable experts long ago. How could it be his turn to pick up bargains?

Just as He Yan was estimating that he would return empty-handed today, he suddenly caught sight of a somewhat familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.

— Yan Xixi.

Although Yan Xixi was dressed very low-key and had cautiously put on a mask, He Yan still had a very deep impression of this woman who wanted to make him a scapegoat.

The antique street had always been one of the gathering places for people in the metaphysical world. Yan Xixi's appearance here was likely related to the expert who had helped her with the sorcery.

He Yan immediately followed her without hesitation.

Author's Note: The pitch-black gong: Escaped because of being mentally challenged ︿(￣︶￣)︿