Chapter 175

The bumpy mountain road came to an end, and the road after getting onto the national highway was much easier to travel; Xia Yubing's backside finally didn't have to suffer anymore.

Relaxing her body against the backrest of the rear seat, Xia Yubing tilted her head to look at the speed limit signs outside the car window, as well as the surveillance cameras on the street lamps by the road; a sense of solid peace of mind arose spontaneously.

Really... left that place.

"Hey, Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe," she called out softly.

"What is it?"

"What kind of person are you, exactly?" Xia Yubing asked with some curiosity: "You said you were the person my aunt hired to save me, um... are you a professional ghost catcher? Like Uncle Ying in the movies? Or some kind of Maoshan Daoist priest..."

She used to not believe in any strange, supernatural, or bizarre things in the world, but after walking through Zanju Town, Xia Yubing's thoughts had changed quite a bit.

This world has ghosts, so naturally, there are people who deal with ghosts.

The guy holding the steering wheel in front was the latter.

"If you're willing, you can think of it that way." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe turned his head to look at the rearview mirror and continued: "However, these so-called 'ghosts' are fundamentally different from the zombies and spirits in movies. Rather than calling them ghosts, it's better to call them rules—bizarre and rigid rules."

Unlike Maoshan Daoist priests who possess magical artifacts and cultivation, they are just mortals who know how to utilize the rules.

"Rule-based horror?" Xia Yubing suddenly remembered this term.

"Rule-based horror." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe nodded.

"So that's how it is..." Xia Yubing rested her chin on her hands, her eyes quietly crossing the seat to land on Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe's shoulders, her expression thoughtful.

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe drove over a speed bump and continued: "To be honest, with your status, you shouldn't have been able to come into contact with these things in your entire life, but you had to go and court death, refusing to live a good life and insisting on becoming some streamer."

He had already checked Xia Yubing's background when he arrived, or rather, he didn't even need to check, because the client who requested Lan Shiwen's help to post the commission and seek an Ascender to enter Zanju Town to retrieve someone was none other than Zhang Yangxu's wife.

Zhang Yangxu's wife's name was Xia Chan, and she shared the same surname as Xia Yubing.

—Xia Yubing's father and Zhang Yangxu were both matrilocal sons-in-law, except Zhang Yangxu married the elder sister, while he married the younger sister, and the eldest daughter born also followed the mother's surname, Xia.

This was also the reason why Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe accepted the commission from her aunt Xia Chan to come to Zanju Town to retrieve someone—Xia Chan's relationship with Zhang Yangxu was too close, and he didn't feel at ease letting other Ascenders have too much contact with Xia Chan, so he had to take this commission himself.

Xia Yubing's mother passed away a few years ago, her father chose to develop his career abroad, seeking growth overseas, while Zhang Yangxu continued to manage the domestic foundation.

Born into such a family background, Xia Yubing could be said to have grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth; most of the troubles of ordinary people had nothing to do with this young lady.

If nothing went wrong, she would follow the rules, study, live until she grew up, and then marry a young talent chosen by the family step-by-step, just like Xia Chan married Zhang Yangxu and her mother married her father.

Then this restless young lady found Jiang Han, an amateur streamer, among her college classmates and said something like, "I also want to be a streamer for fun."

"Was Jiang Han really serious about being a streamer? He was just doing it to hook up with fans," Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe said quite helplessly: "This guy treats the live streaming platform like a casual dating app, hooking up with three or four people a week, just for the fun of opening a blind box. But you?"

A perfectly good young lady, why not act like one, and instead go be a performer? What's wrong with you?

You'll learn your lesson once you run into a ghost. The profession of a streamer sounds like something, but in reality, it's just a street performer on an overpass. It's just that the overpass of modern society has become an online live streaming platform, but the essence is the same: it's all about clowning around, attracting gimmicks, and bowing and scraping to the onlookers to beg for a few tips to make a living.

"I was just curious for a moment..." Xia Yubing felt a bit guilty: "My best friends all like to post photos on social media, and they have a lot of followers. Their travel sharing posts often make it to the trending list."

"You're jealous? Then you post them too?" Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe was speechless.

"I can't, my family doesn't allow it." Xia Yubing shook her head.

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe thought about it, and it seemed true. Xia Yubing's family had no male heirs for two generations, and the family business could basically be said to be maintained by marrying off daughters; the upbringing of the daughters was indeed much stricter than that of ordinary wealthy families, even to the point of being harsh.

"Wait, they don't let you post photos on social media, but you can be a streamer?" After a brief hesitation, Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe reacted quickly and was almost led astray by her.

"Live streaming is definitely even more forbidden, so this time I snuck out..." Xia Yubing felt more and more guilty as she spoke.

After the life-and-death crisis was resolved, she finally had time to think about what would happen next. Having caused such a scene on a trip, she didn't know what kind of punishment she would face from her aunt when she got home.

Her mother passed away, her father went abroad, and since she became an adult, Xia Chan had always been Xia Yubing's guardian. She feared her aunt just like a primary school student fears their homeroom teacher.

Logically speaking, her aunt herself was forced by the family to marry that man surnamed Zhang, and she herself suffered plenty from family discipline. Why, after growing up, did she become even more severely strict with the younger generation...?

Having been caught in the rain herself, she wanted to tear down the niece's umbrella?

Can't understand it.

"So, you simply saw your best friends posting on the internet and getting a lot of likes, saw their social media accounts had many followers, got jealous, and so you wanted to be a streamer?" Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe finally understood Xia Yubing's motivation and couldn't help but rub his forehead.

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He really couldn't understand the thought process of this group of people. Are they that starved for attention?

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe only hoped that the fewer people who paid attention to him, the better. It would be best if no one on the entire planet knew of his existence; that would be ideal.

Xia Yubing lowered her head in embarrassment; she couldn't very well say that she just liked being praised.

Born into a large family, Xia Yubing never lacked material conditions growing up, but her personality was naturally lively, yet she grew up under strict family discipline. Since she could remember, Xia Yubing had never seen a kind face from her parents, and her memories of her late mother were only of scolding and corporal punishment. Her aunt was even more of a notorious bitter woman, venting all her marital unhappiness on the younger generation.

Wanting to be noticed, wanting to be recognized, and realizing she was alive through the adoration of others—this was what she wanted most.

"When the granary is full, one knows etiquette"—in plain language, it means: she had too much time on her hands.

"Forget it. Whether it was a twist of fate or destiny, even if you were just bored, I have to tell you: once you step onto this path, there is no turning back."

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe lightly stepped on the brake, slowly driving into the highway toll station, handed Yu Zi Qian's driver's license and a banknote into the toll window; the lush mountains on both sides of the road receded, and a city with high-rise buildings was already not far ahead.

"We're almost there." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe drove through the toll station and exited the highway.

Xia Yubing closed the car window, making the wind noise inside the car quieter, before asking cautiously: "When you say there's no turning back, what do you mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like," Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe said flatly:

"Once you come into contact with bizarre events and are tainted by the influence of the bizarre, your life can never return to its original normal trajectory. For the rest of your life, you can only keep walking down this wrong path until there is nothing but darkness ahead."

As he spoke, Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe handed a business card printed with a demon mask and Yu Zi Qian's contact information to Xia Yubing, smiling as he said:

"Welcome to the Strange World."

(End of chapter)