Chapter Four: Invisible Even to Ghosts

“Earlier, you mentioned how to grant you superpowers—what exactly did you mean?” Zheng asked, returning to the main point.

Over the past month, he had indeed experimented with his unique abilities in various ways, but using them while in a hallucinatory state felt unreal and insubstantial.

Without a tangible body, even possessing superhero-like strength was merely self-indulgence.

“You just need to lock onto me,” Lin Yilin replied, looking at him with mild surprise.

“I’m just a fledgling hallucination—I don’t really know how to do anything,” Zheng admitted.

Lin Yilin took a deep breath and exhaled as if sighing. “There’s no rush; I haven’t reached that critical point yet. Let’s first handle the door issue.”

She had come based on Aunt Chen’s recommendation to a door shop whose owner was apparently acquainted with their landlord. A simple word and payment would settle everything.

Zheng walked over and tried to touch the doors on display, but his hand passed through them as if they were illusions.

No surprise there.

Though he could stand firmly on the ground, it was still difficult to physically interact with real objects.

At that moment, someone else entered the shop, passing right through Zheng.

Sensing something, Zheng turned to see a weary young man stride in, heading straight to the shop owner.

The owner recognized him immediately. “Mr. Chen, the door you ordered is ready. We were about to deliver it for installation.”

“That’s good, hurry up,” Chen Wen nodded urgently, his demeanor tense.

Zheng studied the man thoughtfully.

Lin Yilin approached and asked, “Something wrong?”

“There’s a strange pull,” Zheng said.

“A guy?” she asked.

“Are you joking?” Zheng stared at her serious expression.

Apparently, her personality wasn’t as stern and aloof as it appeared.

Lin Yilin nodded. “I am joking. Your behavior suggests a typical sexual orientation. As for your feeling toward that man, it’s probably because he’s very close to your ‘world.’”

Zheng’s eyes widened in realization. “You mean?”

“He’s been targeted by a hallucination and has already started to be influenced,” she said calmly, though Zheng could detect a hint of eagerness beneath her tone. “Lucky us—maybe I can take this case.”

“You seem pleased.”

“To keep the agency running, I need results. Since my foster father passed, I haven’t landed a case. In this field, I have no solid proof of my capabilities. Even if this client can’t pay, I’m willing to offer the maximum discount.”

Lin Yilin’s analysis was clear.

...

Chen Wen stood weakly at the shop’s entrance, lighting a cigarette.

“Hello, sir.”

The sudden greeting startled him, nearly causing him to drop his cigarette.

He turned to see Lin Yilin. “W-what do you want?”

Without further words, she handed him her business card.

Chen Wen glanced at it, noting the large characters “Agency” printed on it. His expression shifted immediately as he pushed it back. “No, no, I don’t need this. I can’t afford it.”

“I’m willing to handle this matter free of charge. You’ve probably been enduring anomalies around you for some time—those dark circles and bloodshot eyes tell me you haven’t had a good night’s sleep in a while,” Lin Yilin said frankly.

“No charge?”

“It’s just a small agency at the start-up stage—we need some recognition,” she explained honestly.

Chen Wen’s expression flickered uneasily. Suddenly, his gaze shifted past Lin Yilin to behind her, and his face turned ashen, pupils dilating.

“That!” he pointed behind her.

Lin Yilin looked over her shoulder with suspicion, then back. “Did you see something?”

Chen Wen was stunned. He had vaguely glimpsed a strange shadow flicker behind her, but now there was nothing. It seemed he had just seen a hallucination.

“...Sorry, I need to think about this.” Eventually, Chen Wen accepted the card, extinguished the almost untouched cigarette, and hurried away.

“That guy is too straightforward—he’s not cut out for sales,” Zheng whispered as he emerged ghostlike from the wall.

“I’m not in sales. Even if I left him alone, someone from the agency would notice his abnormality and seek him out—sometimes even force themselves on him,” Lin Yilin retorted, then looked at Zheng. “Why did you scare him just now?”

“I wanted to see if he could see me. It seems he can, but I’m not sure what exactly he saw.”

“People who can’t truly see hallucinations often perceive images influenced by their own fluctuating thoughts. That’s one of the difficulties in confirming hallucinations,” Lin Yilin explained.

Zheng stared at Chen Wen’s retreating figure for a moment, then nodded slightly.

The door issue was quickly resolved as the shop owner dispatched someone to install the new door.

Lin Yilin was about to follow when she realized Zheng had not responded. The space around was empty; he was nowhere to be seen.

...

Chen Wen ended his exhausting day and was heading home.

The city’s nightlife remained vibrant, but in the gray districts, a different kind of revelry, involving gangs, agencies, and enforcement bureaus, was only just beginning. Most of the chaos surfaced at this hour.

The Xixi Keke district was the largest gray area nearby, with stronger control compared to the outskirts. As long as one avoided risky places, trouble was unlikely.

Except for recent days’ strange events...

Step...

Suddenly, eerie footsteps sounded behind him. Chen Wen shivered and reflexively looked back, but saw nothing.

His face turned ashen as he stood beneath a streetlamp, chills running down his spine.

He stared intently behind him, then, with a reckless shout, “I see you! Come out!”

No one or nothing responded.

Unbeknownst to him, a grotesque, twisted, swollen pale face hovered inches from his own.

The grimace shifted back to normal. Zheng watched Chen Wen, who was bravely shouting down the alley, with a touch of helplessness.

Still invisible, just as Lin Yilin had said. Chen Wen’s connection to Zheng was minimal; he only occasionally caught glimpses of Zheng’s movements because another hallucination had influenced him.

Yet even when Zheng boldly revealed himself, nearly pressing his face against Chen Wen’s, he remained unseen.

A wasted opportunity—Zheng had even crafted a ghostly face he thought looked pretty good.

This was now part of Zheng’s abilities: he could alter his form, transform, and change size—from mere insects to towering dozens of meters tall.

However, such changes weren’t effortless; becoming creatures with vastly different anatomies proved difficult to sustain.

After calling out a few times with no reply, Chen Wen turned and hurried home.

His apartment was somewhat old but well-located, right at the border of Xixi Keke and the surrounding district, offering a sense of security.

Ding~

The elevator doors opened, and Chen Wen stepped into the dim hallway.

The motion-activated lights flickered on, then suddenly went out, only to flash erratically once more.

“Damn it, this broken light still isn’t fixed!” Chen Wen muttered, wiping cold sweat from his forehead.

A cold breeze swept past him. He whipped around but found nothing—only a dark corridor that seemed to harbor something at the far end, perhaps just a trick of the mind.

He dared not linger and hurried back to his rented room, fishing his keys and slipping inside as if fleeing.

As the door clicked shut, silence returned. Under the flickering light, a shadow flickered faintly.

It slowly raised its hand toward the new door.

Knock... knock...

The soft sound echoed quietly.

Leaning against the wall nearby, Zheng half-opened his eyes, watching the figure’s movements.

“Friend, want to say hello?” he tried to greet.

But after knocking, the figure vanished without acknowledging Zheng at all.

Well, now even “ghosts” couldn’t see him.