He Hao pursed his lips into a thin line. He started to say something, then stopped again and looked at Wang Zhuo.

In the time a lightning bolt would have taken to strike, He Hao’s wavering thoughts of ‘let him rub it’ and ‘don’t let him rub it’ had already fought 300 rounds!

Wang Zhuo let out a wicked laugh at the success of his prank. He dusted himself off and prepared to go to the washroom to wash up, but then he heard He Hao say calmly, “Then rub it.”

That was the outcome of the 300-round fight.

He Hao could not resist trying to push a little further.

Wang Zhuo blinked. “... Ah?”

He Hao’s expression was serious and he did not look like he was joking at all. “Come on.”

Wang Zhuo reached out generously toward He Hao’s something, thinking He Hao would definitely dodge, just as he always had whenever they were joking around and Wang Zhuo was not careful. But this time He Hao stood stock-still on the spot and did not move an inch!

Wang Zhuo’s hand stopped less than half an inch from He Hao’s something and asked, stunned, “Damn it, you’re not running away? You really want me to rub it?”

“You said it yourself. Don’t be afraid.” A mischievous smile surfaced in He Hao’s eyes.

Wang Zhuo’s hand froze in midair.

Instantly, He Hao took a small step forward, and closed the half-inch distance between He Hao’s hand and his something to zero!

An instant later, Wang Zhuo let out a laugh and smiled impishly, as if he did not care. “... Yo, it’s rather energetic. Guess I didn’t break it.”

He Hao glanced towards Wang Zhuo’s pajama trousers and laughed lightly in response. “You’re rather energetic too.”

Surely he isn’t possessed, too... Wang Zhuo thought uneasily.

He Hao was so unsettled, his face had begun to redden. He licked his lips, staring at Wang Zhuo’s own slightly red face. Although he did not dare do anything more, he could not bear to let things go just like that. Wang Zhuo stood on the spot and did not move either. The two shared a look, red-faced, then averted their gazes in unison. A strange, suggestive air permeated the room, but neither of them dared draw attention to it.

“... Ha ha, what are we standing around for?” After a brief silence, Wang Zhuo laughed and ruffled his own hair, which was messy like a bird’s nest, then swiftly turned, grabbed the washbasin and went to the washroom to wash up.

Saturday passed and Wang Zhuo did not show any unusual signs. Early in the morning on Sunday, both of them took a bus to Ling Yin Mountain, which was a famous local destination and hence had many tourists. They bought tickets for entry and for the cable car ride up and down. The cable car stopped some distance from the top of the mountain, so the two ran the rest of the way and reached the peak in less than 20 minutes. The temple was at the peak.

Wang Zhuo found several monks and residents of the temple and questioned them, but each of them was a die-hard salesman and could not go three sentences without including a promotion of their incense. In the end, a monk who looked like he had been following the Way for a long time convinced Wang Zhuo to buy some incense. Wang Zhuo prayed with He Hao before the Buddha, then turned to ask the monk again, but got no answers.

Wang Zhuo grimaced. “Don’t just say Amitabbha. Can you give us some serious suggestions? How do we get rid of the ghost possessing me?”

The monk said, with a compassionate expression, “Little benefactor, are you sure this isn’t a hallucination brought on by too much stress?”

Wang Zhuo waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t... don’t mention science to me. You don’t know what to do either, do you?”

The old monk said sincerely, “I’ve lived so long and have never seen a ghost. Little benefactor, you probably thought too much.”

Wang Zhuo said, “Then you still made me buy so much incense?”

The monk put his hands together in prayer and said mysteriously, “Amitabbha.”

Wang Zhuo: “......”

He Hao: “......”

In the whole temple they did not find a single reliable person. The monks and the temple residents all espoused a very scientific worldview, and were not superstitious in the least. The two made the rounds of the temple asking questions for a long time, but learned nothing at all useful.

He Hao’s expression was thunderous and he said, upset, “A wasted trip. This lot...”

“Forget it, forget it.” Wang Zhuo waved a hand dismissively. “I didn’t have much hope for them anyway. And yesterday went okay, so maybe the brat is really gone.”

He had just planted another giant flag for himself!

They had left early in the morning and there were many cable cars going up and down the mountain, so by the time they got down the mountain it was just after noon. They found a roadside restaurant and ate lunch—Wang Zhuo’s favourite, spicy hot pot.

Lin Feiran had said that infants’ spirits did not harbor ill will towards living people, and only wanted to experience the world. When the hot pot was served up, Wnag Zhuo patted his own back, put his hands together and murmured, “Hey, little kid, this is spicy hot pot. It’s delicious and papa loves it. I’m letting you try it now. It’ll be so delicious your spirit will leave your body. Amitabha.”

He Hao watched Wang Zhuo’s mischievous expression, then helped him split his chopsticks and twist open the cap of his drink. He said gently, “Eat up.”

Wang Zhuo put some food into his mouth, chewed happily, swallowed, and asked, “How is it, kid? Delicious? Have you left yet? If you haven’t left, leave now.”

He Hao smiled and shook his head.

He liked Wang Zhuo when he was like this, playing his little tricks and mouthing off. Every time, it made him want to go over and kiss him deeply to shut his smart mouth up.

The infant still had not emerged. Who knew if it had left Wang Zhuo’s body or was just very satisfied with the spicy hot pot.

Wang Zhuo ate his fill, then rubbed his stomach and asked, “Shall we go somewhere this afternoon for fun?”

He Hao eyed him. “We’re going back to school and doing homework. All you think about is playing.”

Wang Zhuo grinned. “Nope. I don’t want to play. In this world, only studying and developing my civic spirit will make me happy. I’m only thinking of the little kid and wanting to let it enjoy the world some more.”

“Let’s go back and do homework. When we’re done, we can play video games at night.” He Hao tousled Wang Zhuo’s hair. “Call Gu Kaifeng and the others over, too.”

“That’s more like it.” Wang Zhuo rubbed his hands together happily. “I’ll show the kid King of Glory... Ah, if we play it, do you think he’ll get hooked on it? And force me to play every day? If you don’t let me play, he’ll cry. Will that happen?”

He Hao: “......”

Wang Zhuo said, faux-gravely, “It’s not me who wants to play. It’s the brat.”

The infant’s spirit: “?”

He’d only been possessed for a few days and had already learned to toss the pot to the infant’s spirit!

He Hao said darkly, “How could an infant get hooked on the game? We agreed you could only play on weekends. Be good and don’t get ideas.”

The two strolled in the direction of the train station.

The area had recently been redeveloped as a tourist spot. Aside from the natural attraction Ling Yun Mountain, there was also a huge theme park nearby. One could see the Ferris wheel from the road.

As they walked, a family of three approached, perhaps taking their child to the theme park. The child held strawberry cotton candy in her left hand, a Hello Kitty balloon on a string in her right, and she looked up at her parents as she happily chatted with them.

Wang Zhuo’s footsteps halted suddenly and he stared at the little girl.

No, more accurately, he was looking at the balloon and the cotton candy in her hands...

He Hao noticed Wang Zhuo’s expression had grown strange. His forehead furrowed and he thought, We’re done for.

As expected, Wang Zhuo’s mouth slowly curved downward. Tears gathered in his eyes and he sobbed out, “Papa.”

He Hao: “......”