My Girlfriend is the Nether King

Hearing Zhang Chengren's shouts, Chen Hao's face broke into a smile as he gave Ye Yuqiao a thumbs up.

Ye Yuqiao's lips curled slightly upward. However, she did not turn back directly but instead, holding Chen Hao's hand, walked even faster. After a dozen steps or so, Zhang Chengren finally caught up with them. Panting and with a long face, he said, "Miss Ye, don't go, I will tell you everything later! I beg you, please help me with this!"

It was then that Ye Yuqiao stopped, turned her head to look at Zhang Chengren, and said expressionlessly, "Getting entwined with such trouble is like falling ill. You must never lie to the doctor, otherwise, the only person who will suffer is yourself. Do you understand?"

"Yes, yes, Miss Ye's lesson is well heard," Zhang Chengren nodded in agreement repeatedly. Taking a few breaths, he bent over and sighed, "Miss Ye, you are truly formidable, nothing can be hidden from you!"

The three of them then returned to the café and took their seats, whereupon Zhang Chengren tentatively revealed the truth:

On the seventh night after his mahjong-playing colleague died suddenly, Zhang Chengren did, in fact, see his colleague's ghost coming to find him. His colleague said that he could tell Zhang Chengren the numbers for the next welfare lottery issue, but there was one condition Zhang Chengren had to agree to: if he won the lottery, he must arrange his funeral within one week and then go to the Netherworld to accompany him in playing mahjong.

Without waiting for Zhang Chengren to agree, the colleague's ghost drifted away, leaving behind just a set of numbers. Two days later, on the day the welfare lottery was drawn, Zhang Chengren passed by a betting shop and, seeing he had some change on him, decided to bet on the numbers his colleague had left. To his surprise, that evening, those exact numbers came up, and he won five million.

After claiming the prize, Zhang Chengren went from an average wage-earner to a millionaire overnight. Caught up in the joy of his windfall, he spent his days shopping spree with his family, completely ignoring his colleague's ghost's words. It wasn't until that night when another colleague of his hung himself that Zhang Chengren, upon learning from others that his colleague had also won a lottery prize a few days earlier, recalled the condition the ghost of his colleague had set. Fearing that his colleague would come to collect on the promise, he contacted Ye Yuqiao through an acquaintance.

As Zhang Chengren finished his story, Chen Hao was stunned. He thought, since you've won the big prize and enjoyed a few days as a wealthy man, you should keep your promise. One must be honest and trustworthy. Did you think being rich was that easy? If it was, I'd be in the casino being a gambling god by now. Ill-gotten gains really can't be taken lightly.

"Miss Ye," Zhang Chengren panicked as Ye Yuqiao showed no reaction after a while. "What should I do next?"

Ye Yuqiao, chin in hand, fell into thought. Several minutes later, she finally changed her position, but only to place her hands on the table, continuing to sink into thought.

Watching Ye Yuqiao's unperturbed demeanor and Zhang Chengren's anxious appearance, Chen Hao couldn't help but feel amused to himself, thinking my girlfriend can be quite mischievous sometimes. She's trying to frighten Zhang Chengren to death. Zhang Chengren, why are you so foolish? Hurry up and raise the price!

"Miss Ye!" Zhang Chengren called out again, his voice rough and urgent.

Ye Yuqiao's eyes shifted as she frowned and said, "Mr. Zhang, this matter might not be so easy to handle. According to the rules of the Netherworld, a contract has been formed between you two. We have no right to interfere or obstruct."

"Ah!" Zhang Chengren exclaimed in fright, his eyes bulging and his face turning pale as he spoke with a hoarse voice, "Does that mean I'm beyond help?"

"Not necessarily beyond help," Ye Yuqiao said with a look of difficulty on her face. "Isn't there a saying? Spend money to ward off disasters: small money wards off small disasters, big money wards off big disasters."

"I understand!" Zhang Chengren nodded repeatedly, a glimmer of light flashing within his desperate and dim eyes. "Miss Ye, as long as you help me get through this calamity, I promise to pay you two hundred thousand as a reward!"

Two hundred thousand! As that figure left Zhang Chengren's mouth and reached Chen Hao's ears, Chen Hao was shocked!

Ye Yuqiao coughed lightly and gently kicked Chen Hao before saying to Zhang Chengren, "Mr. Zhang, we can help you eliminate this disaster. However, ill-gotten wealth is ultimately just that, ill-gotten. If you want to live comfortably in the future, you'll need to engage more in charity and use the money that wasn't rightfully yours for good deeds, or else you'll eventually face divine retribution!"

"Ah!" With a long sigh, Zhang Chengren lamented, "People really need to stay in their lane! My life might have been frugal before, but it was simple and happy. If I could do it over, I definitely wouldn't bet on the lottery. Miss Ye, don't worry, I will use that money for charity, and I will do good deeds for the rest of my life."

Ye Yuqiao nodded, then proceeded to share the countermeasures with Zhang Chengren.

The night deepened, in Zhang Chengren's home. Chen Hao, Ye Yuqiao, and Zhang Chengren sat around the living room mahjong table, three people short of one, precisely waiting for one person, or to be exact, a ghost.

Ye Yuqiao had just informed the other two that the colleague who had died suddenly was seeking the companionship of the three people who were there that night in the Netherworld to play mahjong, all because his abrupt death had left him with a deep sense of dissatisfaction and resulted in an obsession. To remove the obsession from his heart, the only way was to let him play mahjong one more time, until they played through the night, and when dawn came the following day, his ghost would return to the Netherworld and the obsession would disappear.

During Zhang Chengren's restless wait, the clock eventually struck twelve.

"He's coming!" Ye Yuqiao said in a low voice, instructing, "After I start rolling the dice, you just follow my lead and draw the tiles. Don't be nervous, don't make a sound, and let's stick to the plan!"

"Mm!" Zhang Chengren's voice trembled. The place he had lived in for so many years suddenly felt so terrifying.

After Ye Yuqiao finished speaking, an eerie silence fell upon the living room. Zhang Chengren's heartbeat and breathing became more frantic as every second passed.

Affected by Zhang Chengren's nervousness, Chen Hao, who had initially been looking forward to watching a good show, also started to feel scared, his legs trembling uncontrollably. He looked at Ye Yuqiao, who was staring expressionlessly at the center of the mahjong table.

Just then, a cold breeze blew in, stirring the living room curtains.

"Ah!" The nervous Zhang Chengren couldn't help but let out a scream at the slight noise.

Ye Yuqiao's eyes widened angrily as she glared fiercely at Zhang Chengren, who shivered and, under the pressure of Ye Yuqiao's ferocious gaze, forced himself to calm down.

Suddenly, the chandelier above the mahjong table flickered and made a "zzzt, zzzt" sound, similar to electromagnetic interference. Zhang Chengren immediately covered his mouth with his hand, his eyes rolling back, his face deathly pale.

After the chandelier flickered, the empty chair opposite Zhang Chengren was suddenly moved, scraping the floor and making a "thud thud" sound. Chen Hao activated the Nether Eye Power in his left eye and saw a male ghost, about the same age as Zhang Chengren, sitting next to him, dressed in some factory workshop uniform, with a particularly fierce look in his eyes.

However, the male ghost's attention remained fixed on the mahjong on the table as if he hadn't seen the other three people beside him.

Ye Yuqiao had said that the male ghost had returned due to his obsession, and as long as they kept his focus on playing mahjong without letting him see the faces of others, by dawn his obsession would naturally dissipate, and his spirit would no longer return to seek Zhang Chengren; but if he saw someone else's face, he would remember his mission to claim Zhang Chengren's life, and his obsession would change.

"Dala la," Ye Yuqiao threw the dice on the mahjong table, counted them, and then began to draw tiles.

After Ye Yuqiao drew her tiles, the male ghost followed suit, and then it was Chen Hao's turn; however, when it came to Zhang Chengren, who covered his mouth with his hand and looked terrified, he was as if soulless and did not move to draw his tiles.

Seeing the male ghost, who was focused on his own mahjong tiles, about to lift his head, Chen Hao fiercely stamped on Zhang Chengren's foot.

Fortunately, Zhang Chengren was jolted to his senses by Chen Hao's stamp and immediately reached out with his trembling hands to draw his tiles.

For the next few hours, the mahjong game went smoothly, and Zhang Chengren, who was initially shaking with fear, gradually steadied himself.

Being in a game with a ghost, neither Chen Hao nor Zhang Chengren dared to slack off and didn't feel the slightest bit tired; Ye Yuqiao sat expressionless the whole time; the male ghost, on the other hand, played with increasing excitement and focus.

Half a month before the male ghost's sudden death, he had only 435 yuan left in his drawer. So this time, Zhang Chengren had arranged exactly 435 yuan in his drawer ahead of time, and in his, Chen Hao's, and Ye Yuqiao's drawers, they placed a bunch of loose change to prevent someone from running out of money and causing the ghost to look up.

Unfortunately, the one with terrible luck today was the male ghost. After a few rounds, the male ghost had only drawn winning tiles for himself once and won two rounds. As it neared five o'clock, Zhang Chengren drew winning tiles for himself again, and quickly Ye Yuqiao and Chen Hao paid up; the male ghost opened the drawer in front of him, rummaged through it with his left hand, and suddenly let out an angry hum, slapping the mahjong table with his right hand.

Realizing that the male ghost might have run out of money in his drawer, Chen Hao, Ye Yuqiao, and Zhang Chengren, who were busy shuffling the tiles, exchanged frantic looks.

Just as the male ghost was about to lift his head to look at Zhang Chengren sitting opposite him, Chen Hao suddenly stretched his left hand in front of him, then pointed to the floor on the right-hand side of the ghost.

The male ghost followed Chen Hao's hand and saw a hundred-yuan bill on the floor. Naturally, the male ghost thought the hundred yuan was his own and happily picked it up from the ground, then, while keeping his head down, handed it to Zhang Chengren, his other hand busy shuffling the cards.

Just a few seconds earlier, a terrified Zhang Chengren quickly took the money and hastily found the change for the male ghost.

After they started a new round, the male ghost was focused on the tiles in his hands, and Zhang Chengren glanced at Chen Hao, using his eyes to express his gratitude. If it hadn't been for Chen Hao's quick wits in dropping the hundred yuan on the floor, his colleague's ghost would have seen him.

Following that, Chen Hao, Ye Yuqiao, and Zhang Chengren formed an unspoken agreement to never win no matter what, and also deliberately fed the male ghost winning tiles to let him win money.

As time slowly passed, with Zhang Chengren eagerly waiting, daylight finally arrived. At one point, when it was the male ghost's turn to draw and discard, the game abruptly stopped. A tired Chen Hao looked at his side and the male ghost was no longer there! He excitedly turned to Ye Yuqiao, who returned a small, exhausted smile and said, "He's gone!"

"The male ghost is gone!" Chen Hao said to Zhang Chengren happily, feeling that nothing had come easy.

Zhang Chengren nodded his head and then laid his head on the mahjong table, bursting into loud sobs.

...

Ten minutes later, Ye Yuqiao and Chen Hao left Zhang Chengren's place and stood on the street corner waiting for a taxi. It was just getting light, and the whole city was still quiet. Under the streetlight, the two exhausted people clung tightly to each other.

After waiting for ten minutes, Chen Hao said, "It seems there won't be any taxis for a while, how about walking back? I'll carry you."

Ye Yuqiao rolled her eyes, yawned, and said softly while waving her hand, "No need to carry me, I can see you're tired too!"

"It's okay!" said Chen Hao as he squatted down and deftly lifted Ye Yuqiao onto his back.

"Chen Hao, are you really not tired?"

Chen Hao smiled and shook his head, then said, "Ye Yuqiao, don't you think this is quite romantic? Me carrying you, walking on the quiet early morning streets, this vast city, at this moment, it seems to exist only for you and me."

"Romantic?" Ye Yuqiao frowned slightly, mulling over Chen Hao's words in her mind.

"Just close your eyes and get some sleep, we'll be home soon!" Chen Hao added.

After hesitating for a while, Ye Yuqiao finally hooked her arms tightly around Chen Hao's neck, resting her head slant on his shoulder, and slowly closed her eyes.

It didn't take long before she realized her heartbeat was accelerating, which scared her.