"Hey. Zhang Mansion."
Zhang Yue reached out, intending to tap the stranger's hand.
Before her fingers could brush the fabric of his sleeve, he shifted aside with effortless precision.
Her fingers closed around empty air.
Zhang Yue stared. What's with that reaction?
"I'm... not a ghost."
She instinctively lowered her gaze.
"And I certainly hope you aren't one either."
His shadow stretched across the damp forest floor, swaying with the lantern light.
She had heard plenty of stories growing up. Spirits that borrowed beautiful faces to lure travelers into the mountains. Fox demons that smiled sweetly before devouring their prey. Wandering ghosts that asked for directions only to steal your life instead.
A quick glance settled her nerves.
Good.
He cast a shadow.
His boots left clear footprints in the wet earth.
No floating.
No translucent robes.
No glowing eyes.
"I'm merely trying to get home."
For the first time, the stranger looked at her.
Not fully.
Just enough for his gaze to brush over her before returning to the road ahead.
"You fear ghosts?"
His voice was low, carrying no ridicule. Just quiet curiosity.
Zhang Yue shrugged.
"I think any sane person would."
A corner of his sleeve stirred in the breeze.
"You shouldn't."
"Huh?"
"The dead rarely harm without reason."
She blinked.
"That's strangely specific."
"They're easier to understand than the living."
His answer came so matter-of-factly that she couldn't tell whether he was joking. Zhang Yue laughed awkwardly.
"So your advice is that I should stop worrying about ghosts..."
"...and start worrying about people?"
This time, he answered without hesitation.
"Humans are far crueler."
The smile slowly disappeared from her face.
For a heartbeat, she remembered the gossip in the ancestral hall.
The accusing eyes.
The whispers.
The family who had looked at her as though she carried misfortune itself.
"Fair point."
Without turning around, he added,
"I'm going towards Zhang estate."
His voice was low and even, like still water beneath moonlight.
No explanation.
No request.
Just a statement.
Zhang Yue frowned.
For someone with the personality of a brick wall... he had an unfairly pleasant voice.
She hurried after him.
"Then I'll tag along."
He neither agreed nor objected.
He simply kept walking.
For several moments, neither of them spoke.
It wasn't an awkward silence.
It was... peaceful.
The forest had settled after the storm. Everytime the wind passed by, the rainwater dripped from the branches above. Somewhere in the distance, frogs croaked and crickets resumed their endless concert. The night carried the sweet fragrance of blossoms.
The only other sound was the steady rhythm of his footsteps.
Unlike hers, they never hesitated.
Every step landed with quiet certainty, as though he had walked this path a thousand times before.
Military?
Forest ranger?
Or just someone ridiculously confident?
Zhang Yue's gaze drifted upward.
Even from behind, he stood unusually straight.
Not stiff.
Disciplined.
His dark traditional robes were simple, yet impeccably neat. Rain hadn't left a wrinkle on them. The lantern in his hand barely moved despite the uneven ground, making him seem almost detached from the muddy forest surrounding them.
There is no way he is related to Zhang family. If he was one of them, she would have met him. But the way he was dressed in traditional robes made her assume that he also attended the ancestral ceremony at the mansion. Is he a family friend? Or a neighbour?
"So..." Zhang Yue tried again. "Do you live around here?"
"Sort of."
"I see. I live in Xi city though and came to attend the ancestral ceremony at the mansion."
She clicked her tongue.
"I've visited the estate every year since I was little. But tonight..." She glanced around the unfamiliar woods. "Everything feels different. Did someone secretly rearrange the entire forest?"
He answered with nothing more than a quiet hum.
She leaned slightly toward him, trying to catch a better look at his face.
The lantern illuminated only fragments of him.
A sharp jaw.
Straight nose.
Dark hair tied neatly behind him.
His features were striking, yet distant, as though he belonged to a painting rather than the living world.
"I'm Zhang Yue, by the way."
She extended a hand.
He looked at it briefly.
"Zhang Yue?"
"That's right."
She withdrew her hand with an awkward laugh.
"The infamous Zhang Yue. You know, the family disgrace who opened a café and makes twisted buns for a living. The good for nothing young miss of the Zhang family."
A moment of silence lingered between them. Even the rustling forest went silent at her reply, just like him.
"I have quite a bad reputation within the family, so it's normal that you have never heard of the young miss whom they disowned."
"Did they abandon you too?" He asked, voice flat but not cruel.
Her smile faltered. "Too? You know someone else they cast aside?"
"It's better if children like you don't ask such questions." He replied as if he was not ready to answer directly.
Zhang let out a laugh, more from disbelief than amusement.
"Children?"
She placed a hand over her chest in mock offense.
"Excuse me, Mister. I'm a grown woman."
She straightened her back with exaggerated pride.
"I pay taxes. Well..."
She scratched the tip of her nose when she recalled that she is currently unemployed.
"I used to pay taxes."
Still nothing.
"I also ran a café for unpopular twisted buns and occasionally gets drunk in family shrines."
Even after hearing her explaining, he didn't react and just kept walking.
Zhang Yue sighed dramatically.
"Tough crowd, huh?"
The corner of her lips twitched despite herself.
She had spent the last five minutes telling her life's story to a man who contributed exactly six words to the conversation.
Somehow...
She didn't mind.
"Anyway, the café flopped," Zhang Yue continue d, "Well, was made to flop. Long story. So I'm job hunting now. Got an offer, actually. Things are looking up."
He made a vague sound again. The kind that could mean anything, or nothing at all.
She didn't mind. Somehow, it was easy to talk with him, even if he wasn't talking back. Maybe it was because he wasn't judging her.
"I mean, it was fine till evening."
He gently tilted his head as if he was asking what happened.
"I was supposed to reach the capital by tomorrow morning for the interview. I don't think I will make it there, even if I fly. Also, I don't have documents or money to fly. Now I've got no phone, no money, no shoes, and somehow I've managed to lose my way back home."
He slightly slowed his tracks, as if he was rethinking whether to continue walking with her.
"Hey, don't worry. I'm not going to ask for money from you. I just need to reach Zhang mansion and find my uncle."
"This path leads to Zhang Mansion." He said finally, nodding ahead.
"Oh. That's great, thank you, Mr..."
She hesitated. "You didn't tell me your name."
A pause. The lantern flickered in a passing breeze.
"It's better if you don't know it."
And just like that, he stepped behind a curve in the trail and disappeared into the dark.
No footsteps.
No figure.
No rustle of robes.
Only the fading glow of a lone lantern disappearing between the trees.
"What the hell?"
A chill crept down her spine.
For the first time that night, Zhang Yue wondered if checking for a shadow had been enough.