My Wife Came From A Thousand Years Ago

Chapter 27: Very scary

The sound of the hairdryer stopped.

Xu Qing paused his actions of helping Jiang He dry her hair, thought for a moment, and asked, "What did it look like?"@@novelbin@@

He instinctively felt that Jiang He must have seen something she couldn't understand, like an older woman wearing a facial mask to pick up a delivery, passing by the window...

"Her hair was very long, even longer than mine," Jiang He said, turning around and pulling her hair forward to cover her entire face. "Something like this."

"…"

Xu Qing frowned. In the middle of the night, Jiang He covering her face with her long hair was quite a visual shock. "And then?"

"Her face was deathly pale, so pale… even whiter than the wall," Jiang He said, pointing at the snow-white wall.

"You can't be serious..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Xu Qing interrupted, feeling uneasy as he glanced around the brightly lit living room. Coupled with the recent ghost rumors, he suddenly felt a little on edge.

What exactly had Jiang He seen?

The two of them locked eyes in silence.

Even while drying her hair, Jiang He kept her sword upright, leaning it against the leg of the chair.

"Ahem… so, ghosts don’t exist. They don’t exist in this world. You need to believe in science," Xu Qing tried to reason. "Think about it—if ghosts really existed, after thousands of years and countless deaths, wouldn’t the world be overcrowded? Where would they all live, right?"

He tried using science to explain, "You're probably under too much stress, causing hallucinations. Quickly dry your hair and go to bed."

A girl coming to a completely unfamiliar world on her own—it was normal to let her imagination run wild. If she were more fragile, she might have broken down entirely...

Jiang He clearly didn’t believe him, but she said nothing further. She turned around to let Xu Qing continue helping with her hair while her hand subtly tightened around her sword hilt.

"In my place, ghosts are very scary things," she said.

"They’re just as scary here," Xu Qing replied.

"Really?"

"Of course," Xu Qing said while running his hands through her soft, smooth hair. "But the problem is they don’t exist. It’s completely impossible for them to exist. Understand?"

"Then why was there a Taoist priest catching ghosts the other day?"

"Because people mistakenly thought there were ghosts when there weren’t."

"There are. I saw it."

"…"

The living room was brightly lit, but Xu Qing couldn’t help but feel a chill.

If someone like Jiang He could exist, maybe a ghost showing up wasn’t entirely absurd either?

"I wonder if my sword could harm it," Jiang He murmured, frowning as she pondered how to protect herself in this dangerous world.

"Stop it! You’re making it sound real… I’ll ask Uncle Zhao tomorrow if I can borrow a peach wood sword," Xu Qing said, trying to sound confident.

"Alright."

The hum of the hairdryer resumed. Both of them were lost in their own thoughts. Jiang He’s long hair was soon dried. She stood up, shook her head, and made sure to pick up her sword.

"Thank you, young hero."

"No need for such courtesy," Xu Qing replied, pretending to return the gesture with a bow. He unplugged the hairdryer and put it away, then urged, "Go to bed now."

"I..." Jiang He hesitated, struggled for a moment, and then shook her head before returning to her room.

The living room lights went out. After a while, Xu Qing remembered he hadn’t showered yet, so he turned the lights back on. Slipping on his slippers, he headed to the bathroom. There was still some lingering steam inside, carrying a warm humidity and the faint scent of shower gel.

Living with someone else was entirely different from living alone.

If he were by himself, hearing Jiang He’s description would have been terrifying.

His thoughts wandered as he hurriedly finished his shower, taking a third less time than usual. Drying off and clutching his clothes, he dashed out. Just as he was about to turn off the living room lights, his gaze fell on the computer on the desk, and he paused.

A thought suddenly came to mind.

---

In the makeshift bedroom cleared from the storeroom.

Jiang He listened to the sounds outside. Sitting on the bed for a while with her sword by her side, she felt no desire to practice swordsmanship tonight, as she normally would before sleeping.

Neatly folded stacks of clothes—purchased by Xu Qing—were placed at the head of the bed. Though their styles seemed strange to her, they were much better than the short skirts and shorts she had seen people wearing on the streets.

Jeans, knit sweaters, jackets… Jiang He carefully observed everything whenever she went out and was sure that Xu Qing had chosen the most conservative options for her.

The young hero is a good person…

Under her pillow was a set of coarse cloth clothes—the same outfit she had worn when she first arrived. Jiang He reached under to take it out, laying it across her lap and examining it. Her fingers brushed over the patches.

Compared to what she wore now, the shoulders of this outfit were a bit narrow, and the sleeves were slightly short. The coarse fabric felt rough to the touch—

Back in the village, Second Boss would probably have altered it for her, lengthening the sleeves and loosening the collar a bit.

First Boss... Second Boss...

"Martial arts are honed through fighting! Don’t fear pain! If someone looks down on you, hit them until they submit, and no one will dare provoke you again!"

"… A little girl who can’t even sew properly and spends all day waving swords around—how will you ever get married? Here, try this outfit. If it doesn’t fit, bring it back, and I’ll adjust it."

Though it had only been a little over a month, it felt like an eternity.

More than a thousand years had passed.

Jiang He caressed the patches on her old clothes and sighed deeply. Clearing her mind, she put the clothes away, grabbed the sword, and resolved to keep living, no matter where she was.

This dangerous world...

She made up her mind to practice her martial arts well and defend herself against that ghostly creature. Just as she was about to start practicing her swordsmanship—

Knock, knock, knock.

The door to her room sounded.

Holding her sword, Jiang He walked over and opened the door, only to be slightly stunned. Xu Qing stood at the doorway, his face dark.

"Come here."

Seeing Jiang He open the door, Xu Qing didn’t waste words. He turned back to the desk and pointed at the computer. "Is this what you saw?"

He had felt something was off earlier. After his shower, he had turned on the computer and noticed it hadn’t been shut down properly, just put to sleep. Checking the playback history, there it was.

"The Haunted Village."

Jiang He gripped her sword nervously. "Yes, I saw it through the surveillance."

"…"

Xu Qing gritted his teeth, unsure how to explain that Thousand-Mile Eye, video playback, and surveillance cameras were entirely different things.

If Jiang He continued interpreting the 300GB of horror films on his hard drive as real events, her worldview would completely shatter. High martial arts world? Science? What science?!

Seeing the frightened look in Jiang He’s eyes, Xu Qing was both frustrated and amused. He remembered how, as a kid, he had been so scared of the ghost in The Phantom Lover that he didn’t dare go to the bathroom.

"Never mind. Go to sleep for now. I’ll explain it to you tomorrow."

"What if something happens in the middle of the night—"

"Relax. Nothing will happen," Xu Qing interrupted, moving the mouse to close the video. "Look, I’ve sealed it away. Go to sleep peacefully."

Jiang He hesitated for a moment but, seeing Xu Qing’s relaxed expression, finally felt reassured. Hugging her sword, she returned to her room.