Chapter 15: “Hangzhou(2)”

When going out, Song Ehuang's mother stayed at the hotel, letting the youngsters play outside, visiting many places. Since Song Ehuang and Emily Chen are aware of Shen Xiaofan and Wei Xiu's relationship, they tried to walk a bit farther to let the two walk alone.

"It's been a while since I visited Hangzhou.",

"Have you visited Hangzhou before when you're still alive?",

Wei Xiu nodded, the two walked over the bridge at the west lake. There were many water lilies and orchids floating on the lake. Emily Chen and Song Ehuang excused themselves to go visit the other building, leaving Shen Xiaofan and Wei Xiu alone at the west lake pavilion.

Wei Xiu stepped on the water and walk around the lake, "It's my first time walking on this lake.",

"Be careful.",

"You know that I won't drown, right?",

"I mean be careful of your surroundings, I heard there are ghosts around.",

"Oh.", Wei Xiu walked back to the pavilion and sat next to Shen Xiaofan, "I listen to Xiaofan.",

The two sat and enjoyed the scenery around them. It was mesmerizing and peaceful, Wei Xiu leaned on Shen Xiaofan's shoulder. Although, she couldn't exactly feel the warmth on Shen Xiaofan's body. However, she could feel the quiet and romantic atmosphere around. Just when the two were enjoying themselves, suddenly a woman wearing a light violet hanfu trotted to Wei Xiu,

"Excuse me, I need help.",

"Huh?", Shen Xiaofan was surprised, she looked at the woman from head to... down. She doesn't have feet and is floating on the ground, just like Wei Xiu. The woman was also surprised because Shen Xiaofan was surprised to see her, "You... Can you see me?",

"Y-yeah.",

"Oh, great! Please come!", the woman suddenly pulled Shen Xiaofan's wrist and led her somewhere. Wei Xiu who was half-asleep leaning on Shen Xiaofan fell on the bench and saw Shen Xiaofan being dragged by another beautiful ghost.

"You! Give me my Xiaofan back!",

On the other hand, Song Ehuang and Emily Chen were enjoying themselves on the boat. The two were talking casually and didn't realize, that Shen Xiaofan was getting dragged by another ghost while Wei Xiu was chasing after them. When the ancient female ghost stopped dragging Shen Xiaofan, Wei Xiu quickly snatched Shen Xiaofan's arm and pulled her, "You, how dare you dragging my Xiaofan like that!",

"I apologize, but this is a dire situation. But my other half was getting trapped by a powerful talisman on that building.", the woman pointed to an old hut with a yellow talisman attached to the wall.

Wei Xiu senses no malicious aura from the female ghost, but she's not sure about another ghost that is trapped inside the hut. Shen Xiaofan looked at the talisman, the paper was still in good condition, which means, someone had just placed this talisman here. Is it Emily?

"Ah-Xiu, what do you want me to do?", Shen Xiaofan asked.

Wei Xiu felt sweet inside her heart because Shen Xiaofan is depending on her regarding a matter about ghosts. Wei Xiu turned to the woman and stared at her haughtily, "What are you plotting against us?",

"I swear I mean no harm. I just wanted my other half to be released, we were just talking on the roof, when suddenly a monk passed by and suddenly attacked us. I managed to drive away the monk, however, I couldn't remove the talisman. It prevents demons and ghosts to touch it.", the woman turned to Shen Xiaofan and held both of her hands, "I begged you, please… release my other half…",

Shen Xiaofan pitied the female ghost, however, she did not dare to act carelessly. So, she once again turned to Wei Xiu. Wei Xiu also pitied the woman, moreover, she knew how painful it is to be trapped by a talisman. So, she nodded her head to Shen Xiaofan. Shen Xiaofan nodded and walked towards the talisman. She was about to pull the talisman, when suddenly a monk approached her,

"Young miss, please do not remove the talisman on that wall!",

Shen Xiaofan got surprised and took a few steps away from the monk. The monk stood before the talisman and greeted Shen Xiaofan, "This monk apologized for his behavior, may the benefactor wouldn't mind. This poor monk is named Ju Tianlu, this poor monk just sealed a fierce ghost inside, alas, the other ghost managed to fend off this poor monk. This poor monk came back to seal the other one, so please refrain from approaching this hut.",

Shen Xiaofan pretended to be stupid and asked dumbly, "I'm sorry, I don't know. If I may know, what's wrong with the ghost?",

"People have claimed that this hut is a ghost's den, many terrible things happened to whoever entered the hut.", the monk's bracelet suddenly emitted a bright light, "There's a haunting ghost nearby. Young miss, please be careful, this monk also detected negative energy from your body.",

"Is the teacher says this person is a bad person?", Shen Xiaofan asked back.

Both Wei Xiu and the female ghost looked at each other and smiled, they knew that Shen Xiaofan is a unique kid.

"N-no, this poor monk didn't dare…",

"It's okay, many people also said the same thing to me.", Shen Xiaofan pretended to smile bitterly, then she looked up at the monk, "Don't worry about it, may the teacher reached enlightenment.",

"This poor monk really apologizes for the misunderstanding, is there any way for this poor monk to make up for the benefactor?",

Shen Xiaofan looked over to the talisman on the wall and said, "I want the teacher to remove the talisman over there.",

"That must not be done! The haunting ghost might escape and do evil again.",

"From what the teacher said, anyone who ENTERED the hut will end up badly, right? What if this hut is their home and someone suddenly intrudes in without getting themselves invited? Wouldn't that be rude?",

The female ghost looked at Shen Xiaofan from head to toe. From appearance this girl looked ordinary, but who knew that she's such a smart girl inside.

"Who is this girl? I've never met someone like her.", the female ghost said.

Wei Xiu crossed her arms and smiled proudly, "She's my girlfriend, her name is Shen Xiaofan.",

"What's a girlfriend?", The female ghost asked.

"It means like a lover for a female.", Wei Xiu elaborated.

"Ah, I see… What a cute girl.", The female ghost nodded in agreement.

"Hush, she's mine.", Wei Xiu said.

After talking some sense to Ju Tianlu, he couldn't talk back nor make an excuse to exterminate the ghosts. So, he kindly retreated and handed Shen Xiaofan the same talisman as the one on the wall. Shen Xiaofan flipped the talisman and put it inside her purse. In case some bad ghost plans to attack both her and Wei Xiu, she could protect herself this time.

After removing the talisman, the ghost inside the hut was finally released. It was a handsome man wearing a cyan hanfu. The female ghost immediately hugged him as she cried, "I'm sorry, I failed to protect you.",

The handsome man shook his head and caressed the female ghost's hair, "It's fine, you've done so much for me.",

The female ghost released the handsome man and turned to Shen Xiaofan and Wei Xiu, "Thank you for saving my husband.",

"It's nothing. I suggested that you should move from here.", Shen Xiaofan said.

The handsome man was taken aback, he looked at the female ghost, the female ghost nodded as she smiled, "She can see us.",

"This official thanked the girl for saving me. If I may know, what's the girl's name?", The handsome man saluted Shen Xiaofan and bowed.

Shen Xiaofan isn't used to be treated this way, so she told the handsome man to stand up, "It's fine, It was nothing much.", once the handsome man stood up, Shen Xiaofan introduced herself, "I'm Shen Xiaofan, this is my girlfriend, Wei Xiu.",

"Girlfriend?", the handsome man blinked in confusion.

The female ghost whispered to him and then, a shocked expression written all over his face, "But, both of you are…",

Shen Xiaofan and Wei Xiu looked to the other side, feeling a bit awkward. The female ghost heaved a sigh and said, "I'm sorry, my husband didn't mean anything bad.",

"N-no it's fine, judging by your appearance you must be from the dynasty era, right?", Shen Xiaofan tried to change the subject.

The female ghost comprehended it and said, "Yes, we're both from the Song dynasty. It seems like your girlfriend here is from this era, am I right?",

"Yes, I just died a few months ago.", Wei Xiu said.

"Anyway, I think we should go.", Shen Xiaofan said while looking behind her.

"Oh, sure. Once again, thank you for saving my husband. Feel free to visit us, you're more than welcome to come to this hut.", the female ghost smiled.

Her smile was so beautiful that even Wei Xiu felt great just by looking at her. Shen Xiaofan smiled back and bid farewell to the two ghosts. The two couples look at Shen Xiaofan and Wei Xiu as their figure slowly becomes smaller.

"I didn't expect them to become a mirror grinder.", the handsome man said.

"Xu Xian, don't be like that. They're our benefactors.",

"Right. I'm sorry for being narrow-minded, Bai Suzhen.", Xu Xian said.

"It's alright, we're just a shadow ghost who used to live in the past. The era had changed as well as the world. We need to adapt as things around us changed time by time.", Bai Suzhen said as she wrapped her arms around Xu Xian's waist. Xu Xian caressed Bai Suzhen's hair slowly and nodded, "You're right, my wife.",