THIP Chapter 80

Mu Liuyin noticed the girl who had just been talking to Yin Che walk off on her own. She had originally planned to walk past Yin Che and head straight into the school, but unexpectedly, he took a few steps toward her. Assuming he was coming to pick a fight, Mu Liuyin furrowed her brows slightly.

To her surprise, Yin Che walked right past her without a glance and instead gave Lin Xi a warm and friendly smile. “Hey, are you a new student too? If you don’t know the way, I can show you to the dorms.”

Mu Liuyin: “…”

Though his smile looked gentle, his eyes were glued to Lin Xi the entire time. Lin Xi’s light-colored eyes flashed with a trace of disgust. She hooked her arm through Mu Liuyin’s and gave a slight smile. “No thanks, senior. I already have a boyfriend.”

Only then did Yin Che glance at Mu Liuyin. He chuckled, “Oh, it’s Brother Qi Jue. I thought he used to have a crush on Han Yi?”

Mu Liuyin shot him a cold look. “And I remember you were with Han Yi. What’s this? Flirting with Li Jingjing wasn’t enough, now you’re trying to pick up freshmen too?”

She didn’t hold back at all. Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was loud enough for the nearby crowd to hear.

Instantly, people started giving Yin Che odd looks.

Lin Xi let out a soft laugh.

“Qi Jue!” Embarrassed at being exposed in front of a pretty girl he was trying to hit on, Yin Che’s expression twisted. “You can’t go around accusing people without proof!”

Mu Liuyin smiled faintly, her tone icy. “You were just trying to flirt with my girl, and now you want me to give you evidence? Huh?”

Yin Che was about to argue that he was just being friendly to a new student, but before he could get a word out, Mu Liuyin was already walking away with Lin Xi in tow. His gaze darkened, already wondering if he should just kill Mu Liuyin early.

Unbeknownst to him, a strand of yin energy silently shot from Lin Xi’s fingertip into his body. No one noticed.

After walking a bit, Mu Liuyin came to a stop. She looked at Lin Xi, who was still holding onto her arm, and silently pulled it away, a little speechless.

Lin Xi didn’t seem to mind at all. Her eyes curved in amusement, lips still smiling. “Ah Jue, did you just say I was yours back there?”

Mu Liuyin coughed awkwardly. She had gotten irritated seeing the lecherous look Yin Che had tried to hide, and in the heat of the moment — especially with Lin Xi standing beside her — the words had slipped out.

Before Mu Liuyin could explain, Lin Xi blinked her lashes and asked, “That guy earlier… did he say you used to like someone?”

“No.” Mu Liuyin instinctively denied it. She looked at the smile in Lin Xi’s eyes and, for some reason, felt her ears heat up. She added, “I did like someone before. But not anymore. She’s already with that guy you just saw.”

Lin Xi tilted her head. “So you did like someone before?”

The question made Mu Liuyin think of how Lin Xi had misunderstood her feelings for Su Biyan in their past life — and everything she did because of it. She got a little nervous and changed the subject. “That guy just now is also a celestial master, and he knows a lot of forbidden techniques. Be careful around him.”

Of course, what Mu Liuyin was thinking was: with that ghost-catching system inside Yin Che, he was bound to cross paths with Lin Xi eventually. It’d be best to either cripple or kill him before his cultivation peaked. But she hadn’t yet figured out a good excuse to tell Lin Xi that.

She glanced at the delicate, ethereal girl beside her and wondered if the ghost-catching system had realized Lin Xi had already awakened.

“You’re worried about me, Ah Jue?” Lin Xi asked with a playful smile, her voice oddly suggestive.

Mu Liuyin pursed her lips and walked away.

Watching her retreating figure, Lin Xi lowered her eyes and smiled faintly. She didn’t follow. Since she knew Mu Liuyin was heading to class, she let her go.

Still, that Yin Che guy… something was off. Lin Xi thought for a moment, then slipped into a hidden form and disappeared.

Back at his dorm, Yin Che had just returned when his system suddenly issued an alert: a powerful yin energy had entered his body. He couldn’t sense anything wrong himself, but still ended up spending a chunk of his hard-earned exchange points to have the system remove it.

He figured it had to be Qi Jue’s doing. His face darkened even more. According to the curse he’d placed on Qi Jue, the guy should’ve already been crippled — so how had he managed to get one over on him?

Just then, the ghost-catching system issued him a cold new mission.

“Contract… the Ghost King???” Yin Che’s eyes widened.

He’d heard of the Ghost King while dating Ye Hanyi — but that was supposed to be just a legend recorded in ancient texts.

He read the mission again. It was a mandatory quest, with only one year to complete it. But the rewards were more generous than all his previous missions combined.

Floating invisibly outside the dorm window, the red-clad girl narrowed her pale eyes. The yin energy she’d injected earlier had already dissipated completely, and Yin Che hadn’t been affected at all.

His system was still low-level and hadn’t noticed Lin Xi right outside the window. Yin Che was currently reading the profile and sketch of the Ghost King that his system provided.

Red robes. Black hair. Pale eyes. Beautiful, delicate features.

Yin Che’s face turned pale.

That’s… the girl he tried to hit on today!!!

He couldn’t believe it — she was the Ghost King?! And she was sticking close to Qi Jue?? Yin Che’s expression grew uglier. He didn’t know whether Qi Jue knew her true identity. If he did, then Yin Che might not even have time to complete the contract before she decided to kill him in revenge.

Lin Xi studied him closely and noticed something strange — in his mind, there was a mass of energy that looked like both spiritual and ghost qi. She frowned, unsure what it was.

That thing suddenly twitched. Maybe it had sensed her presence?

Lin Xi floated up to the rooftop, curiosity piqued. But she quickly realized the thing was soul-bound to Yin Che — if she extracted it, he’d either die or turn into a vegetable.

Then again, she had never intended to let him off after what he’d done to Mu Liuyin.

Just… not yet.

She returned to where Mu Liuyin was. Class had ended, and she saw Ye Hanyi talking to her.

Lin Xi’s brows furrowed slightly, her expression growing cold. She reappeared nearby and walked over.

Mu Liuyin spotted Lin Xi right away. Thinking of the way Lin Xi had been acting strangely flirty toward her earlier, she turned to Ye Hanyi and said, “I’ve got something to do. I’m leaving.”

“Wait,” Ye Hanyi said, trying to stop her.

Lin Xi happened to walk up just then. She looked at Ye Hanyi and asked Mu Liuyin sweetly, “Ah Jue, who’s this lady?”

Hearing the affectionate Ah Jue, Ye Hanyi — who had never seen another girl around Qi Jue before — froze.

Mu Liuyin replied flatly, “Just a classmate.”

To think that someone who had once secretly liked her would treat her this coldly now — Ye Hanyi bit her lip, unsure whether she was more angry or hurt.

Without looking back, Mu Liuyin took Lin Xi’s hand and said, “Let’s go.”

“Okay~” Lin Xi smiled and then mischievously waved at Ye Hanyi. “Bye, big sister.”

Ye Hanyi: “…”

Seeing Ye Hanyi’s expression of barely-contained fury, Mu Liuyin couldn’t help but smirk.

Ye Hanyi had come to see her today, mostly because of the connections between their families, and also to ask why she hadn’t answered her calls. But after today, with her pride, she probably wouldn’t come back.

Back at the rental apartment, Mu Liuyin put the groceries away in the kitchen. Lin Xi followed her in. In ancient times, men never cooked — yet here was her cousin, making dinner. Her eyes sparkled with interest. “Ah Jue, I want to eat your cooking too.”

Mu Liuyin gave her a skeptical look. “Can you even eat human food?”

Lin Xi blinked innocently. “Of course I can.”

Although Mu Liuyin’s cooking was tasty, it was still nowhere near the level of ancient imperial chefs, so Lin Xi nitpicked through the entire meal.

Mu Liuyin: “…”

She shot Lin Xi a glare.

Later, back in her room, Mu Liuyin received a report from Xiao Jiu, who had detected a mandatory quest assigned to Yin Che by the ghost-catching system.

[So Yin Che already knows Lin Xi’s identity?] Mu Liuyin frowned. And with a one-year deadline… that system was probably going to do everything it could to boost his strength within that time.

[Yup!] Xiao Jiu nodded.

Mu Liuyin frowned deeper. If Yin Che decided to spread rumors about Lin Xi being the Ghost King, it’d be a hassle, even if no one believed him.

Though at this stage, even if every master in the metaphysics world teamed up, they couldn’t trap Lin Xi.

But Yin Che’s current reputation wasn’t strong enough to cause a stir. Without proof, he probably wouldn’t say anything — at least not yet.

Still, that system was troublesome.

[Can that ghost-catching system be destroyed?] she asked.

[Sure can!] Xiao Jiu said proudly. [If you’re near him when he’s close to death, I can rip the system out.]

Fair enough — but right now, Mu Liuyin wasn’t confident she could kill Yin Che.

She yawned, eyes misting slightly, and decided sleep was the best option for now.

As before, once Mu Liuyin fell asleep, Lin Xi appeared invisibly in her room and slipped an arm around her waist.