Bringing My Rival Back to Life (Accidentally) - Chapter 11

“Master, good news! Thanks to your strong urging, the Underworld Communication Office has launched a new service—Targeted Dream Visitation!”

Butler Bai excitedly reported to Wu Jiu, “This convenient service has now been fully promoted and has received strong support from the ghostly populace. When I checked the Underworld mailbox today, everyone praised you, saying that you truly have foresight as a talented individual who has studied in the human world!”

Wu Jiu raised an eyebrow; the Communication Office’s efficiency was indeed improving.

“Very good,” Wu Jiu sincerely complimented. “What about the procedure?”

“It’s as simple as you instructed. Just book a dream visitation through the Yin-Yang Messenger app, and both parties need to agree. Even illiterate ghosts can easily manage it!”

“Good.”

After Butler Bai left, Wu Jiu quickly shared the news with Zhu Xiao.

Wu Jiu: [We can meet!]

When Zhu Xiao received the message, he had just finished his class. He unscrewed his thermos, took a sip of water, and glanced at his phone.

Zhu Xiao: [Have you decided to reincarnate?]

Wu Jiu: [……Zhu Xiao, are you still thinking about making me your uncle-in-law?]

Wu Jiu: [It’s the targeted dream visitation from the Underworld!]

Zhu Xiao pursed his lips; it was about dream visitation.

Alright, it was just a dream, and it wouldn’t waste much time. Zhu Xiao agreed.

Following Wu Jiu’s description, Zhu Xiao found the “Dream Visitation” button in the Yin-Yang Messenger app and clicked to book.

Soon, he received a message from Yin-Yang Messenger: [Congratulations! Your booking is successful! The dream visitation will take place in three days. Both parties will meet in the dream after falling asleep. It is recommended that you maintain a regular schedule before the visitation to ensure good sleep quality. Wish you a pleasant dream!]

Zhu Xiao: [Is that all?]

Wu Jiu: [Yes.]

In the classroom, most students had left, with only a few remaining who were packing up slowly, chatting as they did so.

“Xiu’er, where were you last night? Why do you have such big dark circles under your eyes?”

“Old Tang watched a horror movie in the dorm last night. That ghost had a bloodied face and an extremely long tongue. Every time I closed my eyes, I thought of it and couldn’t sleep all night.”

Their voices were not loud, but they were loud enough for Zhu Xiao at the podium to hear. Confucius once said, “The Master does not talk about strange events, violence, chaos, or spirits.” Zhu Xiao had never believed in such supernatural things. As a cemetery worker, he could remain unfazed while exhuming human remains. But now, with the launch of the Yin-Yang Messenger app and Wu Jiu’s appearance as a ghost, he couldn’t help but believe.

The conversation between the students seemed to trigger some keyword, and his thoughts immediately shifted to Wu Jiu. Wu Jiu had been a well-known handsome man in his lifetime, and even in Zhu Xiao’s eyes, he could be described as “presentable.” Zhu Xiao wondered if he still looked the same after death in the Underworld.

Zhu Xiao was not a member of the appearance association, but if Wu Jiu now looked bloodied and had an extremely long tongue… that might be a bit too shocking for a normal human. Zhu Xiao imagined that abstract image and felt his heart needed some time to adjust.

With this in mind, he called out to Zhang Yue, who was about to leave: “Zhang Yue, stay for a moment.”

Zhang Yue, whose draft had just been returned with numerous comments to revise, was still too nervous to meet Zhu Xiao’s eyes. He was on edge, saying, “Teacher, I’m working on the revisions for my thesis…”

“Hmm,” Zhu Xiao nodded. His focus was not on the thesis; after all, he had only asked Zhang Yue to revise it a few days ago, and he knew it wouldn’t be done so quickly.

While Zhang Yue was anxious, Zhu Xiao suddenly asked, “What did you watch last night?”

“Ah?”

Zhu Xiao emphasized the keyword: “What horror movie?”

Zhang Yue blankly mentioned the film’s name, thinking he must be hallucinating from exhaustion—Zhu Xiao was actually asking him about this?

Zhu Xiao jotted down the name and said, “Thank you, you may go now.”

Zhang Yue left in a daze.

Outside, a classmate asked, “What did Teacher Zhu want with you?”

Zhang Yue, still bewildered, replied, “Uh… he asked me what movie I watched last night.”

The classmate was shocked: “He actually asked you that?”

Zhang Yue: “I don’t understand either. Maybe he just has that kind of interest?”

The classmate hissed, “An interest in horror movies? I didn’t expect Teacher Zhu to be… uh, what’s the word, ‘secretly passionate’?”

Back in the classroom, Zhu Xiao was replying to Wu Jiu’s message.

Zhu Xiao: [Alright, I’ll get ready.]

After returning home, Zhu Xiao searched for the film Zhang Yue had mentioned and watched it from beginning to end. To be honest, the plot wasn’t very scary, but the special effects were quite stimulating. It seemed that most of the budget had been spent on creating the ghostly imagery. As Zhang Yue had said, the ghost was uniquely grotesque, and looking at it for a few seconds felt like a mental pollution. Zhu Xiao felt a bit physically uncomfortable when the ghost appeared on screen, its long tongue dripping saliva and splattering on the screen, making Zhu Xiao feel like his computer screen was dirty. Several times he wanted to close the video, but he held back.

—What if Wu Jiu looks like that now?

Zhu Xiao felt he needed to be mentally prepared so that even if Wu Jiu’s appearance exceeded his imagination, he could remain calm. He mentally labeled the ghost on screen as “Wu Jiu” and, as if undergoing some kind of desensitization training, watched the scenes with the ghost three more times without any expression. Not only that, but he also found other horror movies in the “similar recommendations” section and, like cramming for final exams, efficiently went through them with the same process.

Three days later, Zhu Xiao had become well-acquainted with all the popular ghostly images in the market, feeling as if his soul had been elevated.

On the night of the dream visitation, Wu Jiu rummaged through his belongings and took out a set of formal attire that had been stored away for a long time. Butler Bai had seen this suit before; Wu Jiu only wore it on important occasions. The last time he saw it was when Wu Jiu was inaugurated as the new King of Hell. With Wu Jiu’s previous secret visit to the human world as a precedent, Butler Bai immediately became alert: “Master, are you going out?”

Wu Jiu, fully dressed in the three-piece suit, adjusted his tie in front of the mirror and sprayed some perfume on himself. “No,” he said, “I’m going to sleep.”

“Really?” Butler Bai was skeptical.

Wu Jiu got into bed in front of Butler Bai, lying down carefully to avoid messing up his hair. Butler Bai watched in astonishment. Was he really planning to sleep? But…

Butler Bai looked at Wu Jiu’s meticulously groomed appearance and asked doubtfully, “Are you planning to sleep like this?”

Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable?

“I always sleep like this,” Wu Jiu said, not revealing that he was about to visit Zhu Xiao in a dream. “Self-discipline is my guiding principle.”

Wu Jiu dismissed Butler Bai: “Alright, Butler Bai, I’m going to sleep now.”

Although Butler Bai had doubts, he dared not stay and respectfully withdrew, even thoughtfully closing the door behind him as he left.

Before officially going to sleep, Wu Jiu sent a message to Zhu Xiao.

Wu Jiu: [I’m going to sleep.]

Wu Jiu: [Are you asleep?]

At that moment, Zhu Xiao was also lying in bed, preparing to sleep, and he replied: [Lying down.]

Wu Jiu responded with a “good,” put his phone aside, and closed his eyes. However, perhaps it had been too long since he had seen a living person from the human world… or rather, since he had seen Zhu Xiao, Wu Jiu felt an indescribable excitement. Moreover, this was his first time visiting someone in a dream.

He had no other attachments in the human world, let alone anyone to visit in a dream. It was only Zhu Xiao, with whom he had been at odds for so many years, who could be considered a unique bond.

He also thought about the painting he had been working on for more than ten days but couldn’t finish. Now, he wouldn’t need to burn photos or go to the human world; he would see it in the dream.

The more Wu Jiu thought about it, the more excited he became.

Five minutes later, Wu Jiu failed to fall asleep and opened his eyes to send a message to Zhu Xiao: [I can’t sleep. Are you asleep?]

Zhu Xiao replied quickly: [No.]

Wu Jiu: [Me neither.]

Wu Jiu: [I won’t talk to you anymore. I’ll try again.]

After putting his phone aside and closing his eyes once more, another five minutes passed.

Wu Jiu: [I still can’t sleep. Are you asleep, Zhu Xiao?]

Zhu Xiao: [I would if you stopped talking.]

Although he said that, Zhu Xiao replied instantly.

Wu Jiu didn’t believe him: [So you’re not asleep either?]

Zhu Xiao sent back a period.

Wu Jiu: [Are you also having trouble sleeping?]

Otherwise, why would he reply so quickly?

Zhu Xiao: [zzz]

Wu Jiu: [?]

Zhu Xiao: [Already asleep.]

Wu Jiu was successfully chilled by his reply and fell silent.

However, another five minutes passed, and Wu Jiu still couldn’t sleep. He suggested to Zhu Xiao: [How about we chat for a while?]

Clearly, Zhu Xiao was also still awake.

Zhu Xiao replied: [What do we talk about?]

Wu Jiu thoughtfully threw out a topic about an artifact exhibition they had both seen. Some of the artifacts were unearthed from the archaeological sites they had excavated, and they had both visited the exhibition. One artifact was particularly memorable; it looked relatively normal from the front, but from the side, it was inappropriate for children. After figuring out what position it depicted, some people blushed on the spot.

It was said that the curator had been troubled by this during the exhibition, wondering what name to give it to balance authenticity and decency. The final name chosen was not entirely satisfactory but at least passed the review.

Wu Jiu said: [It was hard to come up with a name.]

Zhu Xiao also remembered that peculiar pottery vase and, for once, agreed with him: [It wasn’t easy.]

From this topic, they diverged into other subjects and quickly became unstoppable. After knowing each other for so many years and having so many shared experiences, they had plenty to talk about.

In the blink of an eye, it was three in the morning, and if they continued, dawn would break.

Fortunately, Wu Jiu hadn’t forgotten that they originally planned to have a dream visitation. With the main event in mind, he stopped the conversation before the clock struck four: [I can’t talk to you anymore. I really need to sleep!]

Zhu Xiao: [Alright.]

Wu Jiu finally settled down. Zhu Xiao lay in bed, his hands folded in front of him, and slowly closed his eyes to sleep.

Less than two minutes later, he opened his eyes again and stared at the ceiling.

…Seemed like he couldn’t sleep either.

Almost at the same time, his phone on the pillow lit up.

A new message from Yin-Yang Messenger popped up.

Wu Jiu: [Are you asleep?]

Zhu Xiao: [……]

Zhu Xiao: [No.]

Bringing My Rival Back to Life (Accidentally) - Chapter 11

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Hate that cliffhanger, don’t you?

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