Devoted, roguish, obsessive ghost king top x Easygoing, alluring antique shop owner bottom
Fifty years ago, the realms of ghosts and humans overlapped, and ghosts possessed people, taking their place.
Hidden experts from all walks of life gathered and threw together a makeshift organization: the Temporary Office for Unusual Affairs. Its address: turn right into the alley behind Ancheng Second Hospital, then it's the second door on the left.
The latest trending post on the office app, Ghost Hunter 101, is about an antique shop recommended by a streamer. The owner's handicrafts are cheap and work great.
[Post 17: I'm not kidding. The ghost at the Zhou family's place on East Street had the whole family dancing in the palm of its hand. Three big-name experts went there and got seriously injured, but I used a paper soul puppet made from paper from their hundred-year-old tomb and ripped the ghost apart!]
[Post 38: I picked up a soapberry bracelet just because it looked nice, but it exposed that guy trending online, the one who killed his wife for the insurance money, as a possessed person! One step closer to my KPI!]
[Post 169: Damn, I was wondering why my ranking in Ghost Hunter 101 had dropped again. So you guys are all cheating on your numbers? Are you even human?!]
[Post 279: If anyone can persuade the big shot to come out of retirement, I'll bow down first.]
After his grandfather died, Lan Yingci took over the family's old antique shop. A diligent small-business owner, he made a living crafting bead bracelets, wood carvings, and paper dolls.
One day, a crowd of ravenous customers suddenly flooded his usually empty shop. He sighed. "I opened this place to take it easy in retirement."
Orders were booked through next year, and he had to work overtime every day to fill them. He was practically working 996!
From that day on, he started seeing strange things.
A green-eyed grass Luocha crawled out of the bathroom. "Young master!"
The two-headed, tiger-bodied tomb guardian on the altar whimpered. "I'm so hungry, young master. I need to go out and feed so I can look even more beautiful."
The tree at the mouth of the alley sprouted heads that all shouted together, "I'll raise the banner for young master! Who dares stand against him?!"
Lan Yingci: "..."
Sometimes he felt helpless, as if he were the only normal person in the whole world.
But he was a little strange himself. He had no memories from before he turned eighteen. All he remembered was that he had to protect a coffin and cut himself every month to water it with his blood. He figured whatever was inside couldn't be anything good.
On the seventh day of the seventh month, Lan Yingci watched as a thousand-year-old evil spirit sat up inside the coffin! He had long hair down to his waist and handsome features, like the soul-stealing demon from a storybook.
He said, "Child, come here."
Lan Yingci moved closer to his knees in a daze. The man's slender hands stroked his hair like those of an elder, and he sighed. "It's been so long. Have you been well?"
No!? You're a thousand-year-old ghost. How could we have met years ago?
[Blurb captured on 2024.10.13]
1. The blurb may change at any time before the story begins.
Theme: Overcome adversity
