The next day, He Yan was awakened by the sound of his alarm.

He reflexively sat up from the bed and reached for the old phone on the bedside table. Turning it on, the time showed 7 AM. The plain thin quilt slid down to his waist as he moved.

Oh right, today was Monday and he had to go to class.

Perhaps due to the huge shock to his spiritual sea last night, He Yan's mind was blank when he first woke up. He sat there holding the phone, head lowered in a daze for a few seconds before his memories slowly returned. In disbelief, he pressed his hand against the soft bed beneath him.

...He was on the bed?

Before losing consciousness yesterday, he had clearly been restrained in the corner by the black shadow's spiritual power. How did he end up lying so peacefully on the bed now?

For a moment, a trace of luck flashed in He Yan's heart. Perhaps that chaotic scene in his memory was just a dream caused by excessive worrying.

Then he suddenly raised his head and anxiously scanned this small room of just over 30 square meters. The moment he saw the state of the room, the light in his eyes quickly dimmed again.

The entire room looked like it had been ravaged by a typhoon, with books and clothes scattered messily on the floor. Han Ziyu's half-dead second-hand laptop was lying askew on the ground, mixed in with a pile of miscellaneous items. It could be seen that the body was completely deformed and was now surely scrapped.

All of this clearly told him: those things in his memory were not a dream...

Thinking of the scene of the black shadow's body dispersing like smoke last night, He Yan couldn't help but feel his heart tighten, and an uncontrollable panic surged in his chest.

However, since he could still lie safely on the bed now, it seemed that in the struggle last night, that mysterious mass of unknown origin did not ultimately achieve final victory.

The one who could send him to bed and considerately cover him with a quilt couldn't possibly be that mass that appeared with murderous intent towards him, right?

...But why was the black shadow not here?

Just yesterday morning, it was obediently lying on the bed, like a black little octopus with its tentacles wrapped around him, refusing to let go no matter how much he tried to pull it off, both clingy and sticky.

Forcing himself to calm down, He Yan tightened his grip on the phone. Thousands of white spiritual power filaments as fine as silk threads emerged from his spiritual sea and began searching the room inch by inch.

Finally, when searching the corner of the table, the spiritual power filaments sensed a familiar aura. They immediately and eagerly entangled that thing and dragged it out from under the table.

It was a small cage no bigger than a palm, woven from spiritual power and resentment, just like the barrier the black shadow had used to restrain him last night, only much smaller.

...What did the black shadow make this little thing for?

Could it be that it shrank itself into a ball, hid inside, and presented itself to him as a gift?

But...did their family's black shadow really have such high intelligence?

He Yan closed his eyes and expelled these messy thoughts from his mind.

In any case, he had to open it and take a look first.

Casually placing the old phone with a cracked screen that he had been clutching onto the bedside table, He Yan threw off the thin quilt, got out of bed, put the coal ball-like small cage on the table, and carefully poked at it with spiritual power filaments.

Afraid of accidentally injuring what was inside, He Yan didn't use much force, only lightly stabbing at it.

Those spiritual power filaments that seemed extremely stubborn last night were exceptionally obedient this time. Even though he used little force, that small cage seemed to receive some huge stimulation. The moment He Yan poked at it with his spiritual power filaments, it immediately dispersed like smoke before his eyes.

This scene reminded He Yan of how the black shadow's form dissipated last night, and he couldn't help feeling flustered again. He tried to scoop up the black smoke with his spiritual power filaments, attempting to slow its diffusion, but the blackness still faded extremely quickly and soon completely vanished into the air.

"..."

After the small cage dissipated, a white mass fell out from within, rolled down the tabletop onto the floor, then rapidly expanded, finally taking on a human shape.

He Yan snapped out of his daze, furrowed his brows, and secretly heightened his vigilance.

...Why was it that female ghost from yesterday?

The female ghost seemed to have recovered a normal human form, with delicate features and clear eyes. Sitting on the floor, she timidly looked at He Yan. Except for her somewhat translucent figure and overly pale complexion, she was no different from a living person.

He Yan's mind was a mess, a huge cloud of questions looming over his heart like dark clouds, making him unable to calm down.

Where did their family's black shadow go? Since it could send him to bed and tuck him in, and had the time to capture this female ghost, why wasn't it appearing now?

Was it injured...and had shrunk away somewhere to recuperate?

As for worse possibilities...

He Yan refused to consider them.

"Mr. Han," the female ghost sitting on the floor suddenly spoke up on her own initiative, "I'm sorry for causing you trouble the past few days."

Like her refined appearance, her voice was very gentle, and the upbringing revealed in her words was also extremely good, easily making people feel goodwill towards her.

But He Yan had no time to pay attention to these things. He just glanced at her with a face full of irritation and wariness, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger: "If you have something to say, just say it."

Although it was unfortunate that this female ghost was deceived and mistook her enemy, wasn't he also innocent?

Being implicated in this murder case for no reason was one thing, but now he was even troubled to the point that his partner had gone missing. In his irritable mood, He Yan couldn't be bothered to put on an amiable appearance just to take care of the female ghost's feelings.

The female ghost showed guilt on her face: "I'm sorry, please rest assured, the curse Yan Xixi placed on me has been lifted, and I won't bother you again in the future."

She hesitated for a moment before continuing: "Also, if you have any wishes, you can tell me. Consider it a little compensation for the trouble I've caused you these past few days."

Actually, just like harming innocent people, using her powers to grant wishes for others was also arbitrarily disrupting the cause and effect of the human world. After returning to hell, she would have to pay the price for this too.

He Yan of course knew all this. Feeling quite satisfied with the female ghost's sincere attitude, he paused for a moment before retorting: "How can you be sure they won't curse you a second time?"

The female ghost bit her lip and replied: "I will be careful myself."

He Yan snorted in derision.

He looked straight at the female ghost and said, "I don't have any wishes. I can even help you fulfill your wish, as long as you promise to also kill the person who cursed you..."

By the end, He Yan's eyes were already surging with obvious murderous intent.

Yan Xixi, and that "expert" surnamed Fu, these two culprits who caused the disappearance of their family's shadow - he would not let either of them go.

After hearing He Yan's request, the female ghost's face showed clear hesitation.

She had returned to the mortal world to take revenge on that woman, so the Underworld Warrant only had Yan Xixi's name and birth details written on it. Although the Taoist priest Yan Xixi found had tricked her, due to the restrictions of the rules, she didn't have the right to take that Taoist priest's life.

Although the Underworld Warrant in her hand seemed to have some issues, not reacting at all when she made a move on Han Ziyu and not attracting underworld officials to investigate, if she wanted to reincarnate, she would still have to return to hell eventually. At that time, everything she did in the mortal realm would not escape the scrutiny of the Court of Ghost Prison.

The Court of Ghost Prison's punishment for crimes violating the rules was extremely severe. If one held an Underworld Warrant but took the lives of others, they would be sent to the Abyss Prison to suffer the torment of raging flames for thirty years, then enter the path of beasts for three lifetimes before they could reincarnate as a human again.

And after entering a human womb, they would have to endure the suffering of multiple disasters and short lifespans for three lifetimes to clear their sins before re-entering the cycle of reincarnation with a clean slate.

After a long silence, the female ghost still nodded. "I promise you."

She originally had a soft-hearted nature. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so easily used by Yan Xixi to the point of death. Under the dual pressure of guilt and the other party's strength, she had no second choice besides agreeing.

Things having reached this point, even if she didn't make a move against that Taoist priest, just the matter of attacking Han Ziyu alone was enough for her to suffer after returning to hell. Moreover, towards that Taoist priest who helped Yan Xixi curse her, it wasn't like she didn't hold any resentment in her heart.

"Right," He Yan suddenly thought of something and asked the female ghost, "Where is the Underworld Warrant on you? Let me take a look."

Perhaps because He Yan's tone was too matter-of-fact, the female ghost froze for a moment before obediently taking out that malfunctioning Underworld Warrant from her school uniform pocket and handing it to He Yan.

He Yan used thin threads of spiritual power to wrap around that pitch-black tablet. After some probing, he confirmed that this Underworld Warrant was indeed very abnormal, just as he had suspected before.

According to the information he found on the occult forum, the Underworld Warrant was an avatar of the rules of hell, carrying a hint of the power of rules, and was not to be desecrated by any person or ghost. But He Yan poked at it for a long time with thin threads of spiritual power, and this Underworld Warrant was like it was dead, showing no reaction at all.

However, besides this oddity, he couldn't find any other clues after looking at it for a long time, so he could only return it to the female ghost.

After talking with the female ghost for so long, it was already close to 8 o'clock. The first class started at 8:30, so he definitely wouldn't make it in time.

After discussing with the female ghost, He Yan used the leftover materials from making the formation last night to fold a talisman that could temporarily house her, and put it in his backpack before leaving.

After eating breakfast at a roadside shop without tasting anything, he finally arrived at school at 9:30.

Without trying to catch the first class that he was bound to be late for, He Yan went straight to the classroom for the second period. It was still empty without a single person inside.

He directly sat in the very back row, right in the middle.

At 10 o'clock, after the first class ended, many students who came for the second class gradually entered the classroom. Seeing him, quite a few people showed strange looks.

The previous roommate entered the classroom from the back door and felt his way to He Yan's side. After sizing him up for a while, he asked with a face full of suspicion, "Han Ziyu?"

He Yan let out an "en" sound.

The roommate suddenly slapped his thigh and clicked his tongue in wonder. "You've got skills, man. How did you cut your hair and take off your glasses, and it's like you changed your face?"

The moment he saw this person just now, his first reaction was that someone had come to substitute for the class. This class was a joint one with their class and another, with a total of only sixty people. The faces had long become familiar, so when a handsome guy with delicate features suddenly appeared, it was quite eye-catching since there were only a few people in the classroom right now.

This person had a small frame and delicate features, especially bright black pupils, and a somewhat pale complexion. He was the standard gentle and handsome type that easily stirred girls' affections.

But looking more closely, something felt a bit off.

How come the white-washed shirt this handsome guy was wearing looked so similar to his former roommate's?

Then he observed carefully and found that this person's features indeed resembled his former roommate's somewhat, and the backpack placed on the desk also looked very familiar.

This was quite shocking.

Although his former roommate couldn't be called ugly, he definitely couldn't be considered handsome either, just an unremarkable one among countless male engineering students. How did changing a hairstyle and taking off glasses directly push him into the ranks of handsome guys?

He Yan: "........."

Actually, Han Ziyu's looks weren't bad to begin with, just that his mental state wasn't good and he neglected taking care of himself, so he inevitably appeared ordinary.

After his spiritual power was fully restored, he directly repaired this body's vision defect, took off those ugly glasses, and with a change of core, his entire bearing completely transformed. It was normal for him to look very different from before.

However, He Yan naturally couldn't explain these reasons to his former roommate, and didn't have the mood to banter with him either, so he could only nod in agreement.

Roommate: "......"

I suspect this kid is brushing me off!

Forget it...

The roommate scratched his head and stared at him on his own.

In any case, when this guy was still living in the dorm before, he had this kind of personality, not uttering a word even if beaten with three sticks. Sometimes, he suspected that the total words Han Ziyu said to them in a day didn't exceed ten sentences. He once suspected whether Han Ziyu had autism.

When almost everyone had arrived, Yan Xixi finally entered the classroom.

As the class assistant, Yan Xixi was actually quite responsible, unlike the class assistants of other classes who were rarely seen once a month. She attended this class with them every week, reportedly to observe their learning situation.

She always liked to sit in the last row, and He Yan sat here specifically to wait for her. Sitting in the last row, Yan Xixi naturally noticed He Yan, who had changed dramatically. She looked somewhat dazed and clearly didn't recognize him at first, even politely smiling at him.

The roommate beside her laughed and nudged Yan Xixi, saying, "Great Beauty Yan, didn't expect it, right? This is our Ziyu..."

Yan Xixi's already pale complexion instantly turned even whiter, her eyes revealing an undisguised look of shock and fear.

He Yan turned his head and, at an angle the roommate couldn't see, pulled the corners of his mouth into a malicious smile directed at her.

Author's note:

Yanyan: My partner is gone, I want to hit someone!

Big shot: Knows nothing, only knows how to sleep.jpg