Su Kun instinctively thought something unexpected had happened again. But to his surprise, the long-haired man patted the old lady's shoulder and waved his hand, saying, "We're here, get off the car!"

What? We're here already?! Holy crap, if he remembered correctly, it would normally take nearly three hours to drive from Li City to Quan County, and Fu County was even further away.

But this car had only been charging recklessly for a short while before arriving at the destination? This damn thing must be a rocket!

Thinking back again to how beat-up the car looked, as if it had changed hands several times, Su Kun swore that he would never judge a car by its appearance again.

Although the old lady looked quite old and was short in stature, her speed and reaction were probably much faster than a young man like Su Kun. Almost at the instant the long-haired man stopped the car and spoke, she sprang out as if there was a spring under her butt.

In the illumination of the car's headlights, her two legs took quick, small steps, pants fluttering as she ran far away.

After the long-haired man got out of the car, he poked his head back in and made a hand gesture of respect to Gu Yan, saying, "I'll have to trouble you for the safety here."

Without waiting for Gu Yan's response, he slammed the door shut with a bang and chased after the old lady. The way he walked now was different from how he was at the police station. He seemed to float a little, as if he had no bones or weight, blown forward by the wind...

Considering his behavior, including his speech, which seemed to be a mix of modern and ancient, Su Kun couldn't help but guess that he might also be a ghost from ancient times like Gu Yan? Retaining some of his previous habits, but largely assimilated by modern life, resulting in how he was now.

However, he then thought that these speculations were actually meaningless to him. Except for the old man, what the other two really were didn't matter to him at all. After all, this experience was just a coincidence. Afterwards, everyone would naturally go their separate ways and not have much interaction.

He turned his head to look at Gu Yan again, only to find him staring at the backs of the two people, his gaze deep and pensive.

The light inside the car was a color between cool white and warm yellow, bright but not glaring. Gu Yan's appearance under this light was clearer than ever before. His eyebrows looked even more heroic from the side than from the front, slightly raised between the brows, his eyes sharp. His nose was straight and tall, his jawline lean, the angles distinct.

A person with such features would seem too sharp when viewed from the front, especially when frowning, unapproachable. This was probably why Su Kun would subconsciously obey when Gu Yan occasionally gave a light reprimand, always feeling inferior in presence. But now looking from the side...

Su Kun's gaze slowly moved from his jaw to his prominently protruding Adam's apple, then he silently turned to face forward, his lips trembling...

Holy shit, why does it feel so sexy?! QAQ

But before he could express his shock at this thought, he was stunned by the scene outside the car.

Because the headlights at the front of the car were always on, perhaps because they had been modified, their illumination range was much farther than normal headlights.

Su Kun could clearly see that he was at the entrance of a village, just as Qin Xiu had described. Less than five steps in front of their car was a river shimmering under the night, a narrow flat bridge that cars couldn't pass spanned it. A stone tablet was erected beside the bridge, engraved with the village name - Zhashu Village.

This village name was quite unique. Su Kun had almost misheard it as Zhashi Village before and thought to himself, who was so pessimistic to give the village such a name back then, as if afraid that ghosts wouldn't visit?

Crossing the bridge should be a village road. Walking a distance forward, there was a household on the right.

The old lady and long-haired man had rushed towards that courtyard just now.

At this hour, Qin Xiu's son and daughter-in-law were probably long asleep. The entire courtyard was pitch-dark now, only the dark silhouette visible in the night. After the two people flashed into the yard somehow without a sound, there was no movement for a good while.

But at this moment, just as Su Kun was staring ahead in a daze, the originally unlit courtyard suddenly turned a fiery orange, flickering. Then, the clawing flames were blown by the night wind and instantly surged up.

The houses here probably had more wooden structures. The beams and windows were all flammable materials. In no time, the fire became uncontrollable, the erupting flames licking the tall trees outside the yard. Even inside the car, Su Kun seemed to hear the crackling sounds.

"It's... it's burning!" Su Kun grabbed Gu Yan's arm beside him, looking at the scene with some nervousness, one hand already on the side door handle. "Should we go over--"

Before he could finish, he felt Gu Yan grip his wrist in return, pulling him closer, and said in a deep voice, "Stay here and don't go causing trouble."

Su Kun's hand was pulled loose from the door handle. He looked at Gu Yan, then at the fiery courtyard, somewhat at a loss.

But he quickly understood Gu Yan's meaning. The old lady and long-haired man were not normal people. Since they could enter this special department and seemed to have done it routinely for many years, they must have real skills. With them there, if he, an ordinary person, rushed over recklessly, he would only add to the burden, not to mention there was also a very malicious infant spirit there.

So, after hesitating for a moment, he still nodded and stayed put in the car for now.

However, just watching like this was really a test of endurance, and it also weighed heavily on his conscience. Su Kun subconsciously clutched Gu Yan, his heart in his throat, staring unblinkingly at the small path in front of the courtyard, hoping to see the two people bringing out Qin Xiu's son and daughter-in-law.

But instead of seeing the old lady and long-haired man, he saw a dark red figure swoosh over in this direction.

This scene was so familiar that it couldn't be more familiar, almost identical to the one Su Kun encountered on the road that day - another infant spirit.

Su Kun originally thought that this seemingly ordinary van, since it was almost modified into a rocket, must have no safety issues. At least hiding inside, there should be no need to fear that infant spirit rushing in.

Isn't that how it is in novels? Cheat devices come with their own barriers, repelling evil spirits and such. So besides instinctively holding his breath and pressing tightly against the seat back, he subconsciously felt that his life shouldn't be in danger.

It's just that he forgot the most important thing - the original occupants of this car were not all human to begin with. If it really could ward off evil spirits and ghosts, then Gu Yan wouldn't have been able to sit beside him at all.

So when that infant spirit's head poked through the car window and came face to face with Su Kun, his whole being was not okay!

He let out a howl, closed his eyes and shrank to the side, wanting to dodge that infant spirit charging straight at him.

Who knew that after howling for a while, he didn't feel anything rushing over. He stopped yelling and sneakily opened one eye, only to see that infant spirit maintaining a state of half in the car and half out, struggling violently. But it seemed to be grabbed by something, unable to break free no matter what and fully rush in.

Eerie infant cries emitted from the mouth it grew, filling the entire car. Su Kun couldn't help reaching up to cover his ears, opening his other eye. Only then did he discover that the spot to his right was now empty, the car door open, enough space for a person to enter or exit.

Gu Yan, who was just beside him being clutched by him a second ago, was now nowhere to be seen.

Presumably, the one currently outside the car grabbing the infant spirit, stopping its momentum, was Gu Yan. Who knows at what moment and with what agile moves he had darted out.

Seeing that infant spirit stuck there, neither in nor out, seemingly unable to harm him for the time being, Su Kun silently wriggled a bit to the side, then sat up straight against the car door.

But the next second he was puzzled again. Since Gu Yan had already caught it, why was he at a stalemate here without further action...

He suddenly recalled the scene of Gu Yan turning into a living person when entering this car earlier, and the corner of his mouth twitched: Could it be having the same effect on this infant spirit?

The part that entered the car had turned into a normal human-like entity, while the part outside was still a spirit body? That would explain why the two were at an impasse like this, because Gu Yan simply couldn't pull the infant spirit out. But if he let go, that infant spirit would continue to rush in and hurt people.

Thinking of this, Su Kun pushed open the car door without a second word, grabbed Qin Xiu's arms with both hands and dragged her out.

Although Qin Xiu had put on weight and was on the plump side, not light at all, Su Kun, despite looking thin, was still a man after all. Moreover, he actually had more substance than he appeared, with a layer of lean muscle covering his body.

So with a combination of dragging and pulling, he got Qin Xiu out of the car in one go. Then he slammed the car door shut with a bang and said to Gu Yan, who had reverted to his deadpan kid appearance outside: "Let go, there's no one in the car."

That infant spirit was still wailing and struggling. Gu Yan, expressionless, released his hands when it struggled the hardest. That infant spirit, unable to brake in time, flew over the back seat and slammed into the rear window of the car. Its whole wrinkled monkey-like face pressed against the glass, slowly sliding down.

Su Kun: "..."

But Gu Yan didn't give it any chance to catch its breath at all, leaping into the car right after.

His small frame instantly transformed into a tall and strong appearance. With one hand propped on the driver's seat back, he flipped over to the middle row, taking advantage of the momentum. His long leg swept out, kicking that infant spirit that had just put on a ferocious face, smashing it against the side window again.

The force of that kick was so vicious that it directly shattered the glass.

Looking at the cracks spreading like a spiderweb, Su Kun silently complained about the glass quality while wisely pulling Qin Xiu and moving a good distance away.

Sure enough, that infant spirit, bouncing around again, probably finally realizing the inconvenience inside the car, rammed that cracked spot once more, directly shattering the whole piece of glass, and drilled out of the car. But before it could scurry far, a hand reached out from the broken window and grabbed it by the neck.

Gu Yan emerged from the car again, expressionless. The moment he made contact with the outside, he had already shrunk to about the same size as that infant spirit.

He glanced at the gradually diminishing flames in the distance, then coldly looked at the infant spirit struggling in his grasp, unable to break free. Carrying it, he disappeared into the darkness where the car lights couldn't reach.

Just as Su Kun craned his neck, poking his head around trying to see what he was going to do, the sound of chaotic and hurried footsteps suddenly rang out from the village road behind him, along with the clear cry of a bird.

He whipped his head around and saw a huge vermilion strange bird circling above the burning rooftop, seeming to have a human figure standing on its back. Su Kun could only vaguely see that person swinging something downward, then a localized heavy downpour started above the building.

The already diminished flames almost instantly sizzled with rising smoke the moment the rain poured down, completely extinguished.

At the same time, the long-haired man and the old woman who had rushed out carrying Qin Xiu's son and daughter-in-law also crossed the bridge and ran to the side of the car.

Both of them looked a bit disheveled. The long-haired man, his face dark, put the man on his back down on the ground, his expression stiff as he patted the smoke and dust clinging to his body. The old woman also carefully set down a very petite woman, hands on her waist as she let out a long sigh.

Before she could even straighten up, a vigorous voice transmitted from the sky, getting closer and closer, the content of the words quite arrogant: "Aren't you two capable! Didn't you tell this old man to guard the exit on the other side of the village and leave you two to fight that little ghost! And the result? If this old man hadn't been worried and brought Pomegranate over to take a look, you two would be ashes now! Serves you right for being cocky!"

The long-haired man and the old woman had an odd, awkward expression for a moment. Then that old woman, not convinced, raised her head toward that old man riding the fiery red bird flying over and spat, "Who would have thought that suicidal little ghost would set a fire!! If it tried anything else, this old woman wouldn't be afraid at all!"

The fiery red bird landed on the riverbank, shrinking to the size of a palm the instant its talons touched the ground.

An exquisite figure wearing a Daoist robe with fluttering wide sleeves landed on the ground, putting away that palm-sized little bird, and walked over, chin raised, exceptionally proud: "Wooden stake comrade, stick figure comrade, hurry and kneel to thank this old man for saving your lives."

The old woman angrily retorted, "This old woman is a thousand-year-old camphor tree spirit! You undying old fart are the wooden stake."

The long-haired man's face twitched fiercely: "I am a treasured painting of the Painting Immortal, not a simple stick figure."

The old man snorted and glared: "You're the old one, call me Master!"

Su Kun, who was supporting Qin Xiu on the side, looked at them in a daze and muttered: "Camphor tree spirit... treasured painting..." Holy crap, I was just saying how there are people who look like paintings again, turns out they really are fucking paintings!!

The master chuckled smugly on the side: "Yeah, otherwise why would they be afraid of fire? These two are easily ignited goods."

"Eh? Where's that suicidal brat? This old lady almost lost two innocent lives, I must kill it," the old lady camphor tree spirit said angrily as she rolled up her sleeves.

The long-haired comrade treasured painting pointed at the unconscious woman and corrected: "Including the one in her belly, it's three lives."

The master glanced at them: "Including you two, it's five lives."

Camphor tree spirit, treasured painting: "..."

Just as everyone was staring at each other, Gu Yan floated out from the shadows on the side, falling into everyone's sight.

Su Kun's first reaction was to look at the corners of his mouth, then he pointed with trembling fingers: "You didn't swallow this one too, did you?"

Gu Yan denied with a deadpan face: "No."

The other three people suddenly realizing the meaning of Su Kun's words: "..."

A moment later, the master and the old lady suddenly rushed in front of Gu Yan, excitedly holding his hand and said: "Join us! We're just missing a ghost!"

Gu Yan, Su Kun: "..."