Yu Zhen was a complete novice driver. It had only been a year since he got his license, and before this, he had only ever driven a small truck for delivering flowers. Even then, an old, experienced flower farmer was always by his side providing thoughtful guidance. The driving experience he had accumulated was pitifully little.

Now, driving independently for the first time, he was panicking.

"Don't be nervous, I'll watch you."

Yu Zhen gripped the steering wheel tightly, not daring to take his eyes off the road for a second. He asked, "You can drive?"

He had previously thought Yin Yan threw the car keys to him because he couldn't—

"No." Yin Yan replied, his calm and composed tone incredibly punchable.

Yu Zhen took a shallow breath and decided not to talk to him anymore. Driving required concentration; he didn't want to be distracted.

"But I will learn."

Seeing him silent, Yin Yan continued to speak, then leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes to rest. What he said and what he did were two completely different things.

???

'Didn't you say you'd 'watch me' and then 'I'll learn'?'

Yu Zhen couldn't help but spare a moment to quickly glance at him. Seeing that he had actually closed his eyes and was leaning against the seat, he stared speechlessly, then quickly returned his attention to the road. While clumsily flicking the turn signal, his mind was flooded with ellipses.

After driving cautiously and steadily out of the city and arriving at the town, the number of cars and people on the road decreased. Yu Zhen's tense nerves relaxed slightly. Just as he was about to make a normal turn onto the village road leading back to Lotus Gully Village, he saw an electric tricycle, with an old man sitting on it, suddenly appear at the previously empty corner.

He was greatly alarmed and instinctively wanted to turn the steering wheel and slam on the brakes. However, a hand suddenly reached over from the side and gripped his hand tightly, preventing him from turning the wheel, and reminded him, "Turn normally."

"But ahead—"

"Drive through it. That's not a person, just a ghostly image."

Yu Zhen was stunned. He didn't move the steering wheel, but he still stepped on the brake. Then, right before his eyes, the car passed directly through the tricycle blocking the intersection and came to a slanted stop on the roadside, its engine stalled.

Yin Yan released his hand, unbuckled his seatbelt, and got out of the car.

The image of the car carrying him directly through the tricycle replayed in Yu Zhen's mind, and he was still having trouble processing it. It wasn't until the car door beside him was pulled open by Yin Yan and a cold wind rushed in that his thoughts gradually returned.

"Just now..."

Yin Yan pressed on his head to stop him from speaking, then bent down to unbuckle his seatbelt and took his hand to lead him out of the car.

The sky had completely darkened. The entrance to the village was deserted, and the streetlight flickered unsteadily, like a candle flame stirred by the wind.

"There's resentful qi."

Yin Yan let go of Yu Zhen's hand, took a step forward, and waved his hand lightly.

The streetlight suddenly flickered. A cold wind blew past, making Yu Zhen squint. When he opened his eyes again, the figure of the tricycle had reappeared at the intersection, now in a bizarrely translucent state.

Yu Zhen gasped and couldn't help but move closer to Yin Yan.

"A wish unfulfilled. This is the lowest level of Earth-Bound Spirit." Yin Yan put his hands in his pockets, turned sideways, and gestured for Yu Zhen to go forward. "Go on. This spirit hasn't harmed anyone and is about to dissipate. Help him pass on into reincarnation; otherwise, his soul will scatter."

Earth-Bound Spirit?

Having experienced a ghostly encounter once before, Yu Zhen was a little braver. Hearing this, he summoned his courage, took a step forward, and looked carefully at the translucent tricycle. When he saw the driver's face clearly, he froze and blurted out, "Second Grandpa Li?"

Upon hearing his call, the originally translucent spirit suddenly solidified. The driver, his face gradually becoming clearer, turned his head to look. It was as if he couldn't see Yin Yan, his gaze passing right over him to land on Yu Zhen, a smile appearing on his face.

"So it's Little Yu from the Taoist Temple. Why aren't you home yet? No cars will be coming into the village this late. Come, get on, Second Grandpa will give you a ride."

Yu Zhen didn't know many people from Lotus Gully Village, but Second Grandpa Li happened to be one of them.

Second Grandpa Li was a diligent and warm-hearted man. He would grow some vegetables to sell in town, and if he happened to run into village children returning home from school for the holidays, he would give them a ride home.

The Taoist Temple where Yu Zhen lived was rather remote, and the path home was different from the one the other villagers used. In the past, when he came home for the holidays and ran into villagers, others were either unwilling to give him a ride or simply didn't know him. Only Second Grandpa Li, every time he saw him, would enthusiastically pull him onto his tricycle and make a special detour to take him back. He was a very good person.

But Second Grandpa Li had passed away in a traffic accident three years ago. When Yu Zhen heard the news back then, he had even made a special trip to the village cemetery to pay his respects at Second Grandpa Li's grave.

Because it was an acquaintance, the fear in Yu Zhen's heart completely dissipated, replaced by a subtle sadness.

It had been three years. He never expected that Second Grandpa Li's soul was still trapped at the intersection where the accident occurred, unable to reincarnate.

"That's okay, Second Grandpa. I drove today."

Yu Zhen took the initiative to step forward. Looking at the old man's deathly pale face, so different from when he was alive, he tried his best to put on a normal smile and asked with concern, "Second Grandpa, why are you still at the intersection so late? It's getting cold. If you don't go home, your family will start to worry."

"Not cold, not cold. My granddaughter is coming home for the holidays today, I have to wait for her. She's usually frugal, she definitely won't spend money on a car in town to get back. But it's so tiring to walk. She's a girl, and it's not safe for her to be alone at night. I can't rest easy until I see her."

Hearing this, Yu Zhen's heart soured. He clenched his fingers, then reached out to grip the old man's hand resting on the tricycle's handlebar and said, "Then you don't have to wait anymore. I heard when I was passing through town just now that Uncle Wang from the village head went to town to buy vegetable seeds today. He ran into your granddaughter on his way back and has already taken her home safely."

"She's already home?"

"Yes, she's already home."

Second Grandpa Li's expression went blank for a moment, then a relieved smile appeared. His deathly pale face slowly returned to how it looked when he was alive, but his figure grew fainter and fainter, and his voice became ethereal.

"As long as she's home, as long as she's home, this old man can rest easy... Little Yu, hurry back now. It's cold, don't make your grandpa worry."

The cold touch of the spirit in his palm slowly faded, and the image of the tricycle completely disappeared. A few specks of golden light floated up, spiraling into the space between his eyebrows, causing the hair on his forehead to stir without any wind.

"Let's go. His fetters are gone. The Netherworld Official will be here soon."

Yin Yan had, at some point, walked up behind him. He put an arm around his shoulders, led him to the car, and settled him into the back seat. Then, he opened the driver's side door, got in, skillfully started the engine, and drove off.

The sound of the car's engine drowned out the ethereal ringing of a bell. Yu Zhen snapped out of his own little emotional moment, touched his forehead which still had a faint trace of warmth, and his gaze swept over the receding scenery outside the car window. Then, he was struck with a sudden shock, sat up, and grabbed the back of the driver's seat, stammering, "D-didn't you say you couldn't drive?"

"Mm."

Yin Yan nodded and continued to accelerate, miraculously making the bumpy dirt road feel as smooth as a highway. He replied, "I couldn't before. I just learned."

Just now?

"Where did you learn just now?"

"In my memories."

???

They sped all the way back to the Taoist Temple. Yu Zhen clutched the grab handle above the door, completely bewildered.

So, so fast, and so steady. It made his own driving skills look like trash.

"We're here."

Yin Yan parked the car steadily at the entrance of the Taoist Temple. He glanced back at Yu Zhen's cowardly posture clutching the handle, then got out of the car with a placid face and walked directly into the temple through its broken main gate.

"..."

Yu Zhen glanced at his hand gripping the handle, then at Yin Yan's back, which was gradually being obscured by the door panel. He retracted his hand, feeling slightly awkward and guilty.

Given the steady driving skills Yin Yan had displayed, his act of grabbing the handle was truly superfluous, and brimming with distrust for the driver.

Although Yin Yan still wore a calm expression just now, judging from the way he got out of the car on his own and entered the Taoist Temple without a word, he was probably angry.

When a person who had always been tolerant and gentle suddenly showed signs of anger, Yu Zhen felt a bit lost, and even a little panicky.

The two of them were now in the same boat. Subconsciously, Yu Zhen, who had just lost his last living relative in this world, had already invisibly invested a kind of familial, codependent emotion in Yin Yan.

And Yu Zhen had always been anxious and accommodating towards his family.

Yin Yan, having entered the Taoist Temple first, had already turned on the lights inside, sparing Yu Zhen the possibility of stumbling and falling in the dark.

However, Yu Zhen didn't realize this. He hurried into the kitchen and explained awkwardly, "Yin Yan, I wasn't doubting your driving skills. Grabbing the handle was just, just a subconscious reflex. I..."

Yin Yan turned around and shoved a thermos of hot water into his hands, saying, "I know. Go wash up, then sleep. You need to digest the power you absorbed."

Yu Zhen took the thermos. He really couldn't read Yin Yan's mood from his expression and asked cautiously, "Then, are you still angry?"

"Like a puppy."

"What?"

"The way you looked just now."

"..."

"............"

Yu Zhen's brows furrowed. Carrying the thermos, he left the kitchen without a backward glance.

By the time Yin Yan had also tidied himself up and entered the room, Yu Zhen was already lying on the bed, facing the wall.

The old bed wasn't large, only one and a half meters wide. Right now, there were two pillows and two quilts placed at opposite ends, with a thick woolen blanket laid over the quilts.

Yin Yan remembered that during the day, the pillows on this bed had been placed side by side. It was obvious that the person who made the bed did not want to have much interaction with the other person sleeping with them, which was why they had deliberately arranged the bed this way.

He didn't say anything. He turned off the light, very tactfully slipped into the empty quilt, and closed his eyes.

In the quiet rural night, the only sound was the rustling of branches swaying in the wind. Yu Zhen suddenly opened his eyes to find the sun shining brightly outside. He was sitting on the threshold of the Taoist Temple's front hall, and before him was the figure of his grandpa, kneeling before the statue of the Founding Ancestor and casting copper coins.

"Grandpa?"

He was puzzled and tried to get up, only to find he couldn't move.

"Xiao Zhen, you're all right now. It's time for Grandpa to leave."

The old man didn't turn around, but the motion of casting copper coins in his hand stopped.

"Grandpa?"

Yu Zhen's heart tightened. He vaguely sensed something and struggled, wanting to get up and reach the old man.

"This Taoist Temple has been forcibly kept by me for so long. It's time for it to be released." The old man sighed, then suddenly kowtowed deeply to the statue of the Founding Ancestor, murmuring scriptures that were hard to understand. Then his voice grew fainter, a golden light rose, and everything around them began to fade.

"Grandpa!"

"Xiao Zhen, go and enjoy a good life. In the next life, Grandpa will continue to tell you stories."

Yu Zhen had a terrible dream. In the dream, the statue of the Founding Ancestor enshrined in the Taoist Temple suddenly transformed into a golden light and flew into the sky. Then, everything inside the temple began to decay and age.

The plaster peeled from the walls, bricks and tiles cracked, and in the blink of an eye, the building turned into a ruin. And amidst this ruin, Grandpa Yu followed the golden light from the statue and disappeared.

The dream ended. He held back his tears and opened his eyes, only to find himself wrapped in a woolen blanket, lying in the back seat of the car. And in front of the car, where the Taoist Temple should have been, was now a pile of ruins.

The first ray of morning sun fell. Yin Yan turned around in front of the ruins, met his gaze through the car window, and said calmly, "Yu Zhen, your worldly ties here have been severed. It's time to leave."