The Alluring, Blushing Ghost of Strawberry Milk

“Did you get the strawberry milk?”

“…”

Chen Ran, clad in a yukata, sat on the tatami mat, observing the figure that had, moments ago, vanished from behind the television, only to reappear peeking from behind the wall, revealing but half a face.

Was it a female ghost?

She certainly seemed to be one.

Her long, jet-black hair cascaded down, indistinguishable from that of Sadako, while the faint glimpse of her face revealed a bloodless, ghastly white complexion and equally pallid eyes.

She possessed a nose and a mouth, and, quite frankly, this entity was rather attractive.

Devoid of any peculiar scars or the repulsive, decaying sores one might expect, her face was simply pristine, an utterly bloodless oval (TL Note: ‘瓜子脸’ (guāzǐliǎn), literally ‘melon seed face,’ describes an oval-shaped face, often considered a beauty standard in East Asia) complemented by purplish-black lips and a delicate nose.

At first glance, she was undeniably startling.

Yet, upon closer inspection, one would indeed discover a true beauty. Indeed, indeed.

And…

Her figure seemed remarkably fine as well; how else could a plain white dress, which appeared utterly unappealing, manage to look inexplicably alluring on her?

Chen Ran quickly shook his head, chastising himself for such thoughts.

A female ghost, cloaked in a blood-stained white dress, hardly seemed like someone to provoke, so why on earth was he feeling “allured” by her?!

Moreover, she consistently lurked, whether behind the door, by the wall, or beneath the table, always revealing only half her face.

She spoke again, her voice a soft murmur.

“Did you get the strawberry milk?”

“I did,” Chen Ran affirmed, retrieving the strawberry milk from the hotel’s refrigerator.

“Oh, good.”

The female ghost fell silent, but in the very next second, the strawberry milk on the table vanished. Immediately, she reiterated her question.

“Did you get the strawberry milk?”

“…”

“As a boyfriend, you should buy strawberry milk for Caihua!”

Her small cheeks puffed out in a pout.

How was it that the female ghost before him was inexplicably becoming somewhat adorable?

Hmm.

Caihua was likely her name.

“You want me to be your boyfriend?”

“Mm-hm!”

“Why?”

Chen Ran was stunned, wondering why he had been targeted by this spirit.

“Because only you can see Caihua.”

“…”

“And you can talk to Caihua.”

“…”

Chen Ran suddenly understood; this must be the consequence of investing too many points into his ‘Spirit’ attribute.

So, becoming mentally powerful meant encountering strange beings like evil spirits and being able to communicate with them?

F*ck!!

Was this attribute not a pure debuff?!!

He nearly blacked out from exasperation.

Nevertheless, as a transmigrator, Chen Ran quickly regained his composure; the existence of evil spirits in a transmigration world was, after all, quite normal. He needed to remain calm.

Besides, at least the female ghost before him didn’t seem aggressive.

And she was even a little cute.

****

Ugudu realized that the evil spirit was actively preventing him from finding her.

Saburo the Scarred (TL Note: ‘刀疤三郎’ (Dāobā Sānláng), literally ‘Scarface Saburo’), whom he had dispatched, along with the others, could not penetrate the domain the evil spirit had created, even with the guidance of his magic.

So strong.

But what was happening?

Why was this power of rejection growing increasingly intense?

It hadn’t been present at the beginning.

Was the evil spirit doing something now?

Perhaps she had found prey and was embarking on a killing spree?

Ugudu made his judgments based on his past experiences, but what he likely hadn’t considered was that the evil spirits in this world differed significantly from those in his original异世界 (TL Note: ‘異世界’ (yìshìjiè), a common term in web novels referring to an ‘otherworld’ or ‘different world’) .

The fundamental difference lay in this:

Ugudu hailed from a world plagued by incessant warfare, where various monsters ravaged kingdoms, slaughtering villages one day and annihilating towns the next.

It was a world where the kingdom’s noble elite squandered resources freely, while the impoverished peasants were burdened with a ninety percent tax (TL Note: ‘什九税’ (shíjǐushuì), a tax where nine-tenths of one’s income or produce is taken), and the ever-present threat of a Demon Lord’s world-ending crisis loomed large.

Consequently,

the evil spirits born in such a world were, naturally, ferociously malevolent and utterly insane.

However, in the contemporary society he now found himself in,

having enough to eat and wear was considered perfectly normal. Thus, the ‘resentment’ (TL Note: ‘怨念’ (yuànniàn), a strong, lingering grudge or ill will, often the cause of a spirit becoming a malevolent entity) harbored by most souls who became evil spirits was, naturally, vastly different from what Ugudu, hailing from another world, understood…

****

Chen Ran was now utterly at his wit’s end.

He even felt a pang of regret.

He should have agreed to sleep with Jiang Zilin and her sisters; at least then he would have been lying next to the Jiang family siblings, which was surely better than a female ghost?

He turned his head slightly.

Chen Ran could see the black-haired, pallid female ghost peeking out with half her face from the tatami pillow beside him, her equally pale eyes fixed upon him.

While she was undeniably attractive, seeing such a sight in the dead of night was, regardless, quite terrifying.

Hmm, though he supposed he would get used to it eventually.

What truly unsettled Chen Ran, however, was that Caihua, the female ghost before him, seemed to be drawing closer and closer.

Like a caterpillar,

she continuously shifted her body within the futon, inching towards him bit by bit.

Then, before he knew it,

Chen Ran suddenly realized that they were now sharing the same futon, and his hand could already feel the icy touch of her fingers…

And surprisingly, they were quite soft.

Aside from the cold, her hand was as delicate and tender as any ordinary girl’s—at least, no different whatsoever from Jiang Zilin, Jiang Lengleng, or Duanmu Hui’s.

Could ghosts actually be touched?

Chen Ran wondered, perplexed.

Logically, ghosts shouldn’t possess physical forms, so why was she tangible?

But Chen Ran quickly understood why the ghost before him was ‘touchable’.

Because…

“Want to sleep together?”

‘Aren’t we already sleeping? What more do you want?!’

Chen Ran was aghast!!

But in the very next second, Caihua, the female ghost, abruptly vanished from beside his pillow, only to reappear directly before him, having climbed out from under the covers, nearly causing Chen Ran’s heart and lungs to stop.

Not only did she deliver a classic horror movie jump scare, right in his face,

her cold, soft body was now draped over him!

And surprisingly,

judging by the pressure, she didn’t seem small at all.

“Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep…”

The female ghost’s incessant, murmuring chatter began to grate on his ears, and Chen Ran could clearly see her face indeed turning red.

So ghosts could blush too!!!

Then, truly, she began to take off her clothes beneath the covers…

!!!

‘What the hell is going on?!

Meeting a female ghost on a trip who immediately wants to *do it* with him, without a word—what kind of bizarre plot development was this? It was like some messed-up erotic visual novel or doujinshi (TL Note: ‘本子’ (běnzi), a slang term for fan-made comics, often with explicit content, akin to hentai doujinshi in Japan)…’

For some reason,

Chen Ran’s mind truly conjured several similar doujinshi plots.

‘No way.

No way, no way, no way, no way…’

Chen Ran seemed to have suddenly realized something.

Including the ridiculous skills like “Hypnosis,” “Invisibility,” and “Time Stop” from the “King’s Game” app on his phone.

Were those not all standard features in doujinshi?!!

Chen Ran’s mouth twitched as he realized he had truly transmigrated into quite an extraordinary world…