Xiao Yuxi’s breath hitched. She looked nervously at Su Nian.

Su Nian shook her head, signaling for her to stay still.

But the strange figure drew closer and closer until it was pressed right up against the screen.

The glowing ember also drifted slowly toward them, right in their line of sight.

The perm-haired auntie looked horrified, digging her nails into the arm of the bald uncle next to her.

Su Nian’s gaze shifted to the uncle. After holding it in for a while, he couldn’t help but cry out in pain.

"Ah! That hurts like hell!"

He gently pulled the perm-haired auntie’s hand away, then, forgetting his image, grimaced and began rubbing his arm vigorously.

At the same time, the glowing light floated over and turned toward him.

It was as if an invisible person was standing there, smoking and looking right at him.

[What is this uncle doing?!]

[Does he have no sense of danger? What if he gets his whole family killed?!]

[I can’t believe him. Does he not think about his family at all?]

[Sigh, morons like him are the worst. See? Now the ghost has its eye on him.]

But then the uncle grabbed a cup of water and tried to douse the glowing ember.

But it had absolutely no effect on the light.

The uncle started to get angry.

"I refuse to believe this!"

He picked up another cup of water, but before he could throw it, the perm-haired auntie started whacking him.

"Are you crazy?!"

[Serves him right! I swear, does he not have a brain?]

[Seriously, can’t he tell something is wrong?]

[How did a moron like that end up with the perm-haired auntie?]

[Is it just me, or is this uncle actually pretty meek? He looks tough, but he doesn’t fight back at all when the perm-haired auntie hits him.]

Su Nian could see the strange ghost nonchalantly wipe its face, then drift closer again.

This time, however, it floated curiously up to Xiao Yuxi.

A thick smell of smoke, mixed with the scent of damp earth, assaulted her nostrils.

Terrified, Xiao Yuxi didn’t dare to breathe. She could only glance carefully at Su Nian, her eyes pleading for help.

But this time, the bald uncle, fiercely protective of his daughter, could no longer suppress his primal strength.

He couldn’t see the entity, but he actually managed to grab the cigarette butt.

[!!!! This guy is a real daredevil!]

[I don’t even know if I should praise him. You rarely see someone this gutsy.] 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

[Streamer, aren’t you going to save him?]

[Yeah, driving the ghost away should be the priority!]

Unexpectedly, the uncle found that he hadn’t just grabbed a cigarette butt—he’d also discovered what truly seemed to be an invisible person in front of him.

His eyes widened in disbelief, his expression slowly stiffening. Even the muscles in his face began to twitch.

His hand fumbled around in mid-air, finally confirming that there was a person standing in front of him.

Time seemed to freeze for a few seconds. He looked like he wanted to reach for the cigarettes in his pocket, but his hand was shaking so badly he couldn’t get them out after several tries.

[This uncle is seriously brave!]

[He’s so awesome. The second I realized there was a floating cigarette butt, I probably would’ve pissed my pants.]

[Isn’t he afraid of pissing off the ghost?]

Trembling, he finally managed to pull out a cigarette, but he couldn’t get his lighter to work.

The uncle lowered his head and started muttering to himself, "Prosperity, democracy, civility, harmony, freedom, equality..."

[This is kinda funny, what the heck!]

[This uncle managed to turn a horror movie into a comedy.]

[I’m seriously dying of laughter.]

Xiao Yuxi also turned to face the screen.

"Master, what are we going to do about this!"

Su Nian said, "It’s fine. It’s just here to visit family."

Visit family???

It wasn’t just Xiao Yuxi; even the perm-haired auntie was stunned. The information was too much for them to process all at once.

As for the uncle, he was now on his second repetition of the Core Values.

[Visit family? Does that mean what I think it means?]

[So this ghost is one of their relatives?]

[But this ghost is such a jerk. Why does it keep scaring them?]

[It’s not trying to be scary. Maybe it doesn’t know it’s frightening them.]

Su Nian took out an Appearance Talisman. The talisman paper burned to ash, and the white smoke, as if it had a mind of its own, quietly slipped into the screen.

It swirled around the ghost.

A moment later, a soul appeared, dressed in tattered rags and covered in dirt.

Its hair was caked with mud, and its whole body was so grimy that one couldn’t help but suspect it had just climbed out of the ground.

"AHHHHHH!!!"

Xiao Yuxi couldn’t help but scream. She was the closest to the ghost and had watched it materialize little by little. Seeing a person appear out of thin air like that, she was completely dumbfounded.

The perm-haired auntie also looked like she’d been scared stiff, standing rooted to the spot without moving an inch.

The ghost, as if playing a scary game, walked straight up to the uncle.

The uncle had his eyes closed, quietly muttering the twenty-four-character Core Values. The expression on his face when he opened his eyes to see the ghost is hard to describe.

His face was completely distorted, his eyes were wide, and his hands trembled uncontrollably, but he was still muttering.

"Prosperity, democracy, civility, harmony, freedom..."

[This uncle is definitely the comic relief.]

[I’m begging you, stop being so ridiculous!]

[Uncle, are you trying to kill me with laughter?]

[It’s outrageous, but it also feels kinda normal!]

Just then, the auntie, who had been standing there in a daze, seemed to snap out of it.

She rushed in front of the ghost, her hands trembling uncontrollably.

"Dad? Is that you?"

[Oho, mystery solved. It’s Xiao Yuxi’s maternal grandfather.]

[I get it now. He’s here to test his son-in-law.]

[But why is the old fellow dressed like that?]

"SOB... SOB... SOB! Dad! What happened to you? Mom has been waiting to see you one last time!"

Su Nian said, "He was a soldier. He disappeared during a flood rescue mission."

[Salute to a hero!]

[Suddenly his figure seems so noble and grand.]

[He’s the most magnificent person.]

[I was a soldier too. I can’t watch this.]

[The longer I look at him, the redder his silhouette becomes! I know it—that’s China Red!]

"Dad?"

The bald uncle was stunned. He had heard what Su Nian said.

But he didn’t believe in ghosts or gods. No matter how absurd the events unfolding before him were, he thought it was all fake.

But now, he was truly dumbfounded.

It was true he had a father-in-law, but he had never met him. When he was dating his wife, he already knew her father had disappeared.

And a big reason his wife had started dating him in the first place was that he was also a soldier.

The perm-haired auntie was already sobbing uncontrollably.

She clung to him, unwilling to let go. As a little girl, she had watched her father leave, never to return home.

And now, he had finally returned, but like this.

He had vanished in the floodwaters, but his soul had drifted on, finally finding its way back to his daughter.