[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner":3,"chapter-i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-chapter-7":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I'm Not Crazy—This Is the Emperor's Banner",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2291347,4480,"Chapter 7","i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-chapter-7",7,"\u003Cp>Seeing it was an unknown number, Shen Siyuan initially didn’t want to answer, but considering the time, it likely wasn’t an advertisement or sales call, so he chose to accept the call.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hello, may I speak with Mr. Shen Siyuan?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A gentle female voice came through the phone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is I. Who are you…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mr. Shen, hello, I’m Jiang Wenxin, Dou Dou’s mother—we just met in the elevator today.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, what’s the issue?” Shen Siyuan realized upon hearing this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wenxin quickly recounted everything that had happened in the elevator, detail by detail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, she said: “I saw him lingering outside the door, unwilling to leave—I’m worried…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t worry. As long as you don’t want him, he can’t enter your home. Also, don’t fear him—the more afraid you are, the closer he’ll get. Those growths on his face? They show he’s no longer the kind-faced man he was in life. Ghosts have no physical form; unable to suppress their desires, those desires manifest outwardly. Moreover, sins committed in life also appear on the soul…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But you needn’t fear. As long as you aren’t afraid of him, he won’t harm you. At worst, you might just have bad luck—no threat to your life…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Siyuan gave a general explanation: the ancients called ghosts unclean things for good reason—if a person’s three fires are weak, they easily become haunted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Being haunted won’t cause direct physical harm, but it brings persistent bad luck, a decline in fortune, and misfortune in all matters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you~ thank you so much, Mr. Shen. I’ll properly thank you tomorrow.” Jiang Wenxin kept bowing her thanks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No need to be formal… I’m doing this for… uh… Dou Dou’s sake. She’s adorable—I like her.” Shen Siyuan said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a few more casual words, they ended the call.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Siyuan felt there was nothing more to say; Jiang Wenxin felt thanking him over the phone was empty—she planned to thank him in person tomorrow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hanging up, he tidied the food containers on the table, then turned on his computer to play the game for a while.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t play competitive games, but a RPG online game from Pig Farm—he’d been playing since university, investing considerable time and money, taking breaks and returning many times, and now he played purely out of nostalgia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He logged in, cleared today’s daily quests, then saw a friend with the ID 【Maryo】 come online.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was one of Shen Siyuan’s few real-life friends—he’d originally wanted to name himself 【Mario】, but the name was taken, so he chose 【Maryo】. Fortunately, he played a female character, so the name suited him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let’s hit the arena.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing him online, Shen Siyuan immediately called out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Can’t. I’m with a group doing a dungeon—farming 【Fire Fox】 fragments.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Fire Fox】 is a new mount just added to the game, obtainable by farming fragments in dungeons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the shop also sells a 【White Fox】 mount, but it costs money—obtained via lottery—and requires at least three thousand yuan to acquire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Shen Siyuan, whose monthly salary is under six thousand, it’s completely unaffordable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he had zero interest in mounts, outfits, or such things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But 【Maryo】 was different—he had a severe collecting obsession, not just for paid mounts and outfits, but even free ones—he spent enormous effort collecting them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, he had no shortage of money—he came from a family in the clothing business, a true rich second-generation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His parents strongly supported his gaming hobby, considering it infinitely better than entrepreneurship, cars, watches, or prostitutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks to him, Shen Siyuan had received many rare outfits and mounts—not because he was generous, but because these items were usually obtained via lottery, and whenever 【Maryo】 got duplicates, he didn't bother listing them on the marketplace, directly giving them to Shen Siyuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing 【Maryo】 wasn’t coming to the arena, Shen Siyuan quickly logged off. Honestly, he’d long lost interest in the game—he no longer stayed up all night chasing its mysteries like he once did.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet he couldn’t bring himself to quit entirely; sometimes he’d log in just to take a look, only to find he had no desire to do anything—how pathetic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He shut down the computer. It was still early, but he didn’t know what to do. His life was dull: work, read novels, play games—unchanging. Maybe he really should consider finding a girlfriend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He already guessed why his mother wanted him to go home this week—it was another blind date. This wasn't the first time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Siyuan wasn’t bad-looking, but he had no house, no car—who’d want him? He even disliked himself, let alone the girls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Forget it. Shower and sleep.” The more he thought, the more agitated he became—he decided to shower and go to bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Damn it. Even if I gain a chance to cultivate, I still have to worry about money.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Siyuan chuckled bitterly, stood up, and headed for the bathroom—when his phone rang again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned back, picked up the phone from the table—the number was familiar: Dou Dou’s mother’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hello, Mr. Shen, are you resting? I’m sorry to disturb you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as he answered, Jiang Wenxin’s cautious voice came through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not yet. What else is it?” Shen Siyuan frowned slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mr. Shen, I’m really sorry—when my husband came home tonight, I told him about Dou Dou. He thought I was crazy, almost took me to the hospital. Also, Dou Dou wants her father to hold her, so we came to see you—we hope you can help…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright. I’ll help to the end. Just come over—I live…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I know. We’re already downstairs.” Jiang Wenxin cut him off quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll come down.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Siyuan said this and prepared to hang up—he wasn’t surprised Jiang Wenxin knew his address.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wenxin hurriedly added: “That… that old man surnamed Lu… he’s been following us. I don’t know how to make him leave…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No problem. We’ll talk when you come down.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Siyuan hung up immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he stepped out, preparing to go downstairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Honestly, he was growing annoyed by Jiang Wenxin’s repeated calls, but thinking of Dou Dou, of their desperate longing for their daughter, he understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he reached the lobby, he saw a man and woman standing nervously by the door—alongside them, two ghosts: one old, one small.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without saying it, the small ghost was clearly Dou Dou; the old one, the man Jiang Wenxin called surnamed Lu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His face covered in dense growths—anyone with a fear of clusters would be nauseated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Gegge.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Shen Siyuan appear, Dou Dou ran straight toward him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mr. Shen~”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wenxin hurried forward two steps as well; her husband, Tao Guangxi, followed closely, curiously sizing up Shen Siyuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only the old ghost stood far off, not approaching.\u003C\u002Fp>",1119,"2026-06-20T03:53:08.657Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","5102f8419368b982bdaa6b9bdd4f30164c1547d8d1039a040d5f5ec14184f876","i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-chapter-8","i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-chapter-6",623,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-cover.jpg"]