My wife is a witch princess.

"The Fox King doesn't eat cat food—"

call out--

The black cat disappeared, and Momoka sat obediently by the window, grinning foolishly: "If my sister doesn't eat... I will."

"Will you be obedient? If you are, I'll give you food."

Song Che turned his head and started teasing Tao Xiang.

"I'll be very obedient!"

……

Xia Li sat on the sofa drinking porridge the whole time, occasionally turning her head to watch Song Che and Tao Yao's back and forth. She could understand their behavior, but she couldn't sense Song Che's emotions.

Whether Song Che found it amusing, helpless, or had some hidden agenda, she could only read the event itself, not his attitude towards it.

Her mind-reading magic... can only read thoughts, but not intentions.

She just watched quietly, thinking to herself: the role she was playing was that of the "girlfriend." Generally, in situations like this, human women would play with the pet alongside the man.

But she couldn't muster the energy.

Just looking at Song Che seems to be enough.

"Xia Li, come and pinch Tao Xiang's cheeks, they're so soft and can warm your hands."

"You bad person! You're even more shameless than Tao Xiang—my hands are so cold!"

Xia Li didn't go over; instead, she turned to look to her side.

The little girl, whom only she could see, was smiling as she watched Song Che eat sunflower seeds; the shells disappeared as soon as they hit the ground.

"Hello," Xia Li said.

The little girl didn't realize what was happening and was still focused on eating sunflower seeds.

It wasn't until Xia Li got up and walked up to her that she said "Hello" again.

The little girl belatedly realized what was happening, her eyes widened, and she suddenly stepped back, hugging herself tightly: "A ghost! Song Che, save me! There's a ghost!"

Xia Li paused for half a second: "It seems like you're the ghost."

"Oh, I forgot, I'm the ghost... You're scaring me to death by talking like that all of a sudden."

Xia Li looked her over and asked, "Are you cold?"

"Ghosts and monsters, keep away from living people! Be careful, or I'll drain your life force!"

"Are you Song Che's sister?"

"Yeah! We're really close, we've played together since we were little." The little girl suddenly stared at Xia Li's chest, then looked at her own calm chest and frowned. "So you can see me... you lewd woman."

"...I'm serious."

"You're reading those frivolous little books."

Xia Li pursed her lips: "I glanced at it by accident."

“You watched the fireworks yesterday, and then you read another page.”

"..." Xia Li's fingers clenched tightly, a hint of killing intent flashing in her eyes.

She whispered a spell.

"Xia Li, who are you talking to?" Song Che had just made Tao Xiang cry and then comforted her when he turned around and saw Xia Li talking to thin air.

“You were right when you said last time that ghosts haunt the living.”

"What makes you say that?" Song Che looked at her tense fingers.

"That little girl is still here. She's a bad child."

"You're the bad kid! You hypocritical woman!" the little girl exclaimed, jumping up and down.

Xia Li ignored her and continued seriously, "I asked the magic mirror, and it said that ghosts and monsters need to be dealt with by Taoist priests. Do you know what a Taoist priest is?"

Little girl: "Hey! There's no need to kill me!"

“Taoist priests… there are no real Taoist priests anymore, they’re mostly charlatans.” Song Che looked around but still couldn’t see anything. “Xia Li, ask her if her name is Yangyang.”

“She said her name was Wei Yangyang, and that I wasn’t even born when you met her, but I’m already two hundred years old.”

Wei Yangyang was taken aback: "Two hundred years old?"

I am eighteen years old now.

This kind of conversation across the void made Song Che a little dizzy. He thought for a moment and said, "How about this, I'll speak in my mind later, you read my mind and relay it to her, and then tell me what she said."

Xia Li understood what he meant and began to mutter to herself. The scene suddenly became somewhat strange.

(Song Che thought to himself: Are you really Wei Yangyang?)

Xia Li relayed: "Are you really Wei Yangyang?"

“It’s me! I thought none of you could see me… I didn’t expect you to find me.” Xia Li paused. “She admitted it.”

(Long time no see. So you're now... a ghost?)

"Long time no see. So, are you a ghost now?"

"I don't know... I just always follow my mom around."

(Are you right in front of me right now?)

Are you standing right in front of me right now?

"I'm on your back."

"...Get down quickly, it's creepy."

"Ok."

(Yangyang, can you see other ghosts?)

Can you see other ghosts?

"It seems not... Huh?"

Xia Li suddenly shut her mouth and looked up expressionlessly: "I don't want to pass on the message anymore. The way she talks is so strange, she always uses interjections."

That's true—it's really difficult for Xia Li to imitate that lively tone.

Song Che couldn't help but laugh, looking in the direction Xia Li's gaze had fallen, even though there was nothing there.

"Yangyang," he tried speaking to the air, "since you can be seen and communicate... shall we talk? You've been following Aunt Lan around, is there something you can't let go of?"

There was silence for a few seconds.

Xia Li, with a straight face, relayed the message dryly: "She said... Brother, can you hug Mom for me? She always cries alone at night."

“No problem.” Song Che didn’t understand why Wei Yangyang suddenly appeared. Logically speaking, a ghost is reborn and wanders the world because of some obsession.

Aunt Lan's yang energy is failing... half of the problem is probably due to Wei Yangyang.

Song Che found it difficult to communicate with her, so after asking a few simple questions, he sat down to think about what would happen that evening.

Xia Li grabbed the book and ran into the bedroom, then hurriedly closed the door.

……

"You've been spying on me."

"I just happened to see it."

"From when?"

"About a week ago, I suddenly found myself at my brother's house. Later, when my mother came back, I stayed with her for two days."

Xia Li didn't say anything, she lay on the bed reading a book, but she couldn't concentrate on a single word.

Her mind was completely absorbed in another book, and she couldn't let Song Che know about it.

Wei Yangyang sat by the window, murmuring, "Why did I suddenly appear? It's been... twelve years."

Chapter 58 Unseen and Untouchable

Sunlight streamed obliquely into the living room, casting dappled patterns of light on the floor.

Song Che was curled up on the sofa, a biology textbook lying open on his lap, its pages long untouched. His phone lay quietly on the coffee table, not a single new message—it seemed the exams weren't finished yet, and his suspended death sentence had at least been extended to tomorrow.

He closed the book, stood up, and stretched.

Bruce lifted his head from his nest, glanced at him sleepily, and then buried his head back down.

Tao Xiang isn't in the living room; she's probably off causing trouble somewhere again.

Song Che walked to the window and looked at the window on the third floor opposite.

A few pieces of clothing were hanging on the balcony, swaying gently in the breeze.

He remembered Aunt Lan mentioning having dinner together that evening.

It's time to go buy some groceries.

He pushed open Xia Li's door.

"I'm going out to buy groceries. I'll be going to Aunt Lan's house later," Song Che said in a low voice.

Xia Li turned her head and nodded.

Wei Yangyang floated over, her eyes sparkling: "Brother, are you going to Mom's? I want to go too!"

Song Che couldn't hear, but Xia Li relayed it for him: "She said she wanted to go too."

"Let her come along," Song Che said, "but... don't let Aunt Lan notice anything."

"Ah."

The farmers' market is right next to the residential area, less than a ten-minute walk away. Around three or four o'clock in the afternoon, there weren't many people in the market; some vendors were arranging their goods, while others were chatting together.

Song Che, carrying shopping bags, stopped at each stall. He vaguely remembered Aunt Lan's tastes—she liked light food and disliked greasy food; she liked eggplant, but it had to be cooked until soft and flavorful.

He selected round eggplants, bok choy, and a bunch of fresh scallions from the vegetable stall.

After buying groceries, he went to a delicatessen and bought half a salted duck. As he paid, the proprietress smiled and asked, "Little Song, are you having guests over today?"