"So... you think *I'm* the only one who can solve this?" Li Li asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Mary and Sylvia nodded vigorously.

  They had been frantically trying to figure out how to find her. A university has thousands of students, and they didn't know her name or major—only that she was likely an international freshman.

  "We saw the viral video online," Mary explained. "We DM'd the poster and found you that way."

  The video of Li Li summoning a storm had convinced them: She wasn't just a weirdo folding paper in the corner; she was the real deal.

  Li Li stroked her chin. She wasn't sure if becoming an internet meme was good or bad for her "low profile" strategy, but she pushed that thought aside.

  "Show me your **Protection Charms**," Li Li commanded.

  Mary and Sylvia immediately fished them out—one from a keychain, one from a phone case.

  Li Li inspected them. The edges of the red triangular talismans were charred black—a clear sign they had blocked a wave of malicious energy.

  She handed them back. "**It's easy to invite a spirit, but hard to send one away.** You guys summoned something without performing a proper dismissal ritual. Naturally, it decided to stick around."

  "Do we need to send it away now?" Mary frowned. "We've played with the board for years and never did a dismissal ritual."

  Li Li rolled her eyes. "That's because you never actually summoned anything before."

  "But... the planchette moved..." Sylvia whispered weakly.

  "Psychological suggestion. You were scaring yourselves," Li Li said bluntly.

  Mary: "..."

  Sylvia: "..."

  "So," Mary asked, looking hopeful, "we just need to do a dismissal ritual now, right?"

  Li Li sighed, shaking her head. "It's not that simple. The spirit has already latched onto your friend Jack. It’s entangled. That takes effort."

  Sylvia asked, "So what do we do?"

  Li Li looked them dead in the eye.

  "**Price increase.**"

  Mary: "..."

  Sylvia: "..."

  *Wait a minute. Wasn't the girl in the video portrayed as a compassionate, divine figure? Aren't Asian reclusive masters in movies supposed to treat money like dirt? Why has she raised the price twice before even lifting a finger?*

  But lives were at stake. Mary gritted her teeth.

  "Fine! **We'll pay!**"

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  A satisfied smile flashed across Li Li's face for a split second before she composed herself. She cleared her throat and said with an air of profound mystery, "Let me go back and prepare. Meet me downstairs at the boys' dorm at midnight. Let's see what we're dealing with."

  Mary and Sylvia nodded solemnly.

  They exchanged contacts and split up.

  ---

  Li Li finished her classes and returned to her apartment.

  She packed her essential tools: peach-wood sword, talismans, incense. Then, she took a pack of dried noodles from the fridge and cooked herself a bowl for dinner. Since she had to work the night shift, she treated herself to a **fried egg**.

  *Gotta eat well to fight ghosts,* she thought happily, munching on the crispy edges of the egg.

  From the corner, Xiao Mei watched with jealousy.

  "Why do you get an extra fried egg," the ghost asked resentfully, "but I get one less stick of incense today?"

  After dark, Xiao Mei was more energetic. Thanks to days of high-quality incense nourishment, her resentment had faded significantly. Li Li had even swapped the heavy suppression talisman for a lighter one, allowing Xiao Mei to move freely around the apartment.

  "Because I have to work," Li Li said between bites. "**Laborers are the most glorious.** I deserve this egg."

  *...That logic somehow sounds irrefutable.*

  "Then why does **Xiao Xie** get new toys?" Xiao Mei pointed a ghostly finger.

  She was referring to the giant plush centipede toy Li Li had ordered online. It had just arrived.

  Currently, Xiao Xie (the scorpion demon) was clinging to the plushie, clamping its pincers deep into the fabric and biting the stuffing with savage joy—reliving its glory days of fighting other venomous insects in Li Guang’s jar.

  Also, Xiao Xie refused to sleep in the **Deluxe Reptile Terrarium** Li Li had bought. It preferred sleeping on the peach-wood figurine's face or on Li Li's head. The expensive terrarium, fully decorated with fake rainforest plants and heat lamps, sat empty with the lid open, just in case the scorpion ever decided to "slum it."

  Li Li looked at her scorpion son with doting eyes.

  "**No matter how poor we are, we can't let the child suffer.**"

  Xiao Mei: "..."

  She had nothing to say. She couldn't exactly call Li Li "Mom"—she was technically five years older than Li Li!

  ---

  After bantering with her roommates, Li Li checked the time. 10:30 PM.

  She shouldered her backpack and headed out.

  The buses had stopped running. Since her bank account was currently on life support, calling an Uber was out of the question. She had to walk. Fortunately, the campus town was relatively safe.

  She arrived at the boys' dorm a few minutes before midnight.

  Two figures were waiting in the shadows.

  Li Li walked up, then hesitated. "You're... Mary? Sylvia?"

  Standing there were two fresh-faced girls in comfortable hoodies and sweatpants. **No white foundation. No black lipstick. No spikes.**

  They nodded calmly.

  "Whoa," Li Li said awkwardly. "**You guys changed skins.** I almost didn't recognize you."

  "It's late. We didn't want to scrub off heavy makeup after we get back," Mary explained pragmatically. "Besides, if we really see a ghost, running in platform boots is a hazard."

  *Sensible,* Li Li thought.

  "What do we do now?" Mary asked.

  Li Li checked her digital watch. Ten minutes to midnight.

  "We wait. Hide in the bushes."

  The three of them squatted in the landscaping shrubs next to the dorm entrance, blending into the shadows.

  Dead silence.

  Li Li kept her eyes glued to her watch.

  **11:59:59... 00:00:00.**

  The moment the digits changed, a sudden, biting wind swept through the courtyard, rustling the leaves of the trees with a sound like whispering voices.

  *Here it comes.*

  Li Li looked down the road.

  The streetlights flickered and dimmed, as if the electricity was being drained away. Heavy clouds blocked the moon. The path to the dorm became a tunnel of darkness.

  Li Li squinted.

  A slender figure appeared at the end of the road.

  It moved with agonizing slowness.

  The figure looked short and walked with a strange, wide-legged gait, limping heavily. It looked deformed. And... it seemed to have **no head**.

  As it got closer, Li Li realized the truth.

  It wasn't short. Its height was reduced because **every limb was broken and twisted at unnatural angles**.

  And it wasn't headless.

  The ghost's head was **dangling against its chest**, the neck broken so severely it was connected only by a thin, stretched layer of skin, swinging slightly with every limping step.

  **Cultivation Tip #1:** Always keep the free protection charms your weird classmate gives you.

  **Cultivation Tip #2:** Never trust a "Reclusive Master" who charges surge pricing after midnight.

  ---