Chapter Five: Moving Into the Grand Villa!

She jumped out of bed barefoot, grabbed his wrist, and dashed toward the bathroom!

No more than a few steps inside, she suddenly felt the wrist in her hand collapse!

Startled, she turned to look and saw that the palm she was holding had transformed into a thin sheet of paper money. It stretched out its short limbs and then casually folded itself up...

Though she had already accepted that this creature was not human, Tang Wange couldn’t help but be shocked, her mouth forming an “O” shape as she stared at it folding itself.

“Tang Wange!” The knocking at the door grew more urgent.

The paper figure wriggled, then clumsily grabbed her sleeve and climbed up, slipping into the pocket of her nightgown over her chest.

“W-where are you going?!” Tang Wange’s face flushed red with embarrassment.

“You’re so flat, but it’s okay, I like flat-chested girls,” it said, a little awkwardly popping a corner out of the pocket and waving its tiny hand. “Go open the door~”

“...”

Tang Wange decided to open the door first and deal with him later.

Smoothing out the wrinkles on her clothes, she took a deep breath and reached out to open the door.

As soon as it swung open, her uncle stepped inside without even taking off his shoes, directly stepping onto the clean floor.

“When are you planning to move out? The house has been sold, and they want to move in any day now!” He stated his purpose right away.

“Can you give me a little more time?” The heat faded from her face, leaving only a faint chill in her heart. “Uncle, I—”

Before she could finish, he turned coldly and headed for the door. “Impossible. You must move out tonight. Tang Wange, I’ve already given you extra time out of respect for your deceased parents. How can you still ask me for more?”

She lowered her head, biting her lips tightly.

After a long moment, she raised her pale but resolute face. “I understand. I will move out before tonight. You can rest assured.”

“That’s better!” He snorted and slammed the door shut.

Silence immediately returned to the room.

Tang Wange turned around and slumped on the edge of the bed, burying her head in her knees, her body trembling slightly.

From her pocket, the paper figure slowly crawled out, grabbing a button to climb onto her shoulder.

It crouched there, its short, stubby claws gently brushing her earlobe, causing a faint tickle.

Her voice trembled with a hint of tears. “Don’t bother me!”

“...”

Startled by her shout, it retracted its claws, then wobbled its little legs as it sat on her shoulder.

“If... if we have a house, can you still make me meat?” The paper figure’s voice whispered in her ear.

She sobbed and looked up with teary eyes at the tiny paper figure on her shoulder. “Where is our house?”

The paper figure swayed, then leapt down from her shoulder. As it landed, it transformed back into human form.

Kneeling on one knee before her, he reached out a cool hand to her neck, gently pulling her into his embrace.

“As long as it’s what you want, I can have it,” he said.

She heard those words.

Before sunset, Tang Wange had packed all her belongings.

Standing at the door with a small suitcase, she glanced at every familiar piece of furniture inside. Then, lowering her gaze, resolutely turned and opened the door to leave.

She had lived here alone for eight years—let those eight years remain behind in this place.

The door closed softly. The hallway motion-sensor lights flickered on and off.

After a crowded bus ride lasting over two hours, Tang Wange got off in a sparsely populated suburban area.

Holding the suitcase handle in one hand, she looked toward the brightly lit distance and thought she must be crazy to trust a ghost’s words...

This is... ghost talk!!!

Behind her, Zhahe had already taken human form.

He wandered around the surrounding lands twice, even counting on his fingers as if calculating feng shui...

Tang Wange silently hugged her knees and crouched down.

She never imagined she would stoop so low as to try to share a house with a ghost!

“This place isn’t bad,” Zhahe said, satisfied, stroking his chin, then rudely kicked her backside.

“Move aside, you’re standing on my feng shui spot.”

“...”

Tang Wange shifted and stood beside him.

“Where’s the ghost house I told you to buy?” Zhahe turned to her with a “sweet smile.”

“Here.”

She handed over the bag she was holding.

A ghost house, as the name implies, is a house for the dead.

But this one was made of paper; only by burning it could the deceased relatives in the afterlife receive it.

“What are you doing with this? Burn it!” Zhahe said, then nimbly jumped far away.

“Coward!”

Tang Wange puckered her lips, then lit a fire and burned the ghost house right there.

As each part of the ghost house burned away, the area circled by Zhahe began to reveal the structure of the ghost house!

When the entire ghost house had been burned, before her eyes appeared an incredibly luxurious two-story villa!

“Ghosts can have... skills like this!?” Tang Wange’s mouth gaped open.

“I don’t know about other ghosts, but I can do this~” Zhahe leaned close to her, baring two small fangs with a smile. “Then tonight, can I eat meat...?”

Before Zhahe’s question finished, the rest got stuck in his throat.

Because he saw the girl’s eyes light up, her palms open and facing upward, almost drooling as she said, “If the house can appear, can the money appear too? We’re going to be millionaires!”

“I only have ghost money. If you think it’s okay, you can take it and spend it,” Zhahe said with a blink, then smiled again, spreading his hand to reveal a thick stack of ghost money in his palm.

“...” This is no joke.

The house burned from the ghost house looked indistinguishable from any normal building.

The interior furnishings were flawless!

Tang Wange had never lived in such a luxurious home! She carefully sat on the living room sofa, afraid she might damage it.

She was probably the first living person in the world to live in a ghost house.

Before the excitement faded, her body suddenly lifted off the ground, and the next moment she fell into a broad embrace.

“What are you doing?” Tang Wange was stunned, looking up at Zhahe holding her.

“I’m tired. Going to sleep,” he yawned, tightening his hold on her.

He was tired—what did that have to do with her? This huge villa had so many rooms...

“We agreed on three rules—you’re not allowed to touch me...” Tang Wange tried to struggle.

“The three rules were in your house, but now it seems you’re the one living under someone else’s roof, Miss Tang,” Zhahe said with an unusually happy smile as he carried her upstairs.

That laugh was so sly it sent chills down Tang Wange’s spine.

Now she was truly trapped in a den of thieves... or rather, ghosts!!

Spending a night in the villa created from the ghost house was perhaps the most comfortable sleep Tang Wange had ever had.

But comfortable as it was, this bed somehow felt more and more prickly the longer she lay there, and there was always a breeze blowing back and forth, chilling her.

The sunlight was also blinding.

Drowsily opening her eyes, Tang Wange’s heart dropped!

What villa? What big bed? It was all gone.

She was now alone, wearing a bear-themed nightgown, lying in an open, desolate field!

Not exactly alone.

Her shocked eyes immediately fixed on Zhahe, who had transformed back into a ghost money figure and was trying to play dead by lying still...

“What... is... going... on——!!”

In the vast wilderness, the girl’s panicked voice echoed across the empty fields.