Ghost Matchmaking: Ghost Emperor Husband and Campus Queen Wife

Meanwhile,

Yun Zhenyue entered the bedroom.

She cautiously placed her hand on the handle of the second drawer.

Gu Yuan had already told her.

The first drawer was for gifts from his male friends.

This second one...

...was for gifts from his female friends.

’I wonder how many female friends Gu Yuan has.’

Yun Zhenyue felt a little nervous.

She hadn’t actually planned on taking a gift from Gu Yuan. After all, the reward she got from the last mission was just a bag of fertilizer, and she hadn’t even given it to him. It felt a little awkward to accept a gift for no reason.

But Gu Yuan said she had helped solve a huge problem in the Ghost City.

If she hadn’t dealt with that blood-red paper figure, the Ghost City might have been thrown into chaos.

And he, the old City Lord, would have been criticized by everyone.

"Huuu..."

Yun Zhenyue took a deep breath.

’I’ll just pick the most inconspicuous one.’

When she pulled open the drawer,

she saw that there were far fewer items inside than in the first one.

There were only five small, unassuming objects.

An old brass bell, covered in signs of use.

A perfectly intact hourglass, a red envelope stuffed full with "Happy New Year" written on it, a strangely shaped key that looked like it was made of human bone...

...and an ugly-looking Unity Bracelet.

The bracelet seemed to be the most inconspicuous of the lot.

Yet Yun Zhenyue found her attention subconsciously drawn to it. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The Unity Bracelet lay in the cold drawer. The threads used to weave it were inconsistent—some red, some black—and had a strange texture, as if it were woven from hair. Each knot was twisted into a bizarre arc.

The moment her fingertips touched the cold bracelet,

she suddenly heard a peculiar sound, as light laughter and the sound of nursery rhymes seemed to bubble up in her mind.

"Huh?"

Yun Zhenyue blinked.

Taking a closer look...

’This bracelet really is woven from hair!’

She suddenly remembered the orphanage Gu Yuan had mentioned before.

’Could this be a gift from the children at the orphanage?’

Filled with curiosity, Yun Zhenyue went to the living room.

She immediately held up the bracelet and asked Gu Yuan, "Hubby, was this Unity Bracelet a gift from the children at the orphanage?"

"Mhm, that’s right."

Gu Yuan, who was watching anime, turned his head to answer.

Just like the Golden Red Fish Talisman,

these were all things he had no use for.

And since they held sentimental value, he could only keep them as collectibles.

You have to understand,

Gu Yuan couldn’t have been bothered to create something like the Fengdu Ghost City.

A friend of his, a top-tier Evil Star, had dragged him into trying it out. But then that friend suddenly had a life-or-death matter to attend to and dumped the whole mess on him. That friend was the one who made the Fish Talismans.

At first, Gu Yuan had thought about making them into identification tokens.

But that friend insisted that Fish Talismans looked more impressive!

In any case, at his friend’s behest,

Gu Yuan served as the old City Lord for a while.

And later on...

He passed the buck to his successor and tossed the Fish Talismans in the drawer as well.

The same went for the brass bell, the hourglass, the red envelope, the key...

The bell was a gift from a former female subordinate. Shaking it would summon her, a Great Evil, but Gu Yuan had never used it.

The red envelope was from an "auntie" who had once helped Gu Yuan.

That auntie was always trying to set Gu Yuan up with her daughter, and the envelope was stuffed with what she called "lucky money."

These funds could be used to buy a life.

If you were in mortal danger, you could hand it over to escape death.

Of course,

the lucky money was unused when the auntie gave it to him.

As for the key...

Gu Yuan didn’t want to think about it.

It was a terrible story, one that involved betrayal.

This Unity Bracelet was from his birthday.

The children from the orphanage had each used a lock of their hair to make it.

Besides its tracking ability, it also had another special power.

With this in mind, Gu Yuan said casually, "Aren’t you very interested in my orphanage?"

"Take this. I remember that... what was it, manor? It shouldn’t be too far from the orphanage. If you run into the children, say hello to them for me."

"With their help, your time at the manor will be much easier."

"But there’s one thing you need to watch out for. They’re a bit mischievous. You’ll have to keep an eye on them so they don’t tear the manor down."

’Is that so?’

Yun Zhenyue’s eyes lit up with curiosity.

Gu Yuan had mentioned that orphanage long ago.

She had always been curious about the children there.

As Gu Yuan slowly tied the bracelet onto Yun Zhenyue’s wrist,

she gave it a little shake

to make sure it wouldn’t fall off.

However, Yun Zhenyue didn’t want to bother the children.

’I’ll go find them after the mission is complete!’

...

「At this moment.」

The audience from the Corruption Country was not pleased.

It was just an orphanage.

If this had been at the beginning of this season of Bizarre Matchmaking, they would have been terrified.

After all, a place like an orphanage was bound to be more terrifying than a regular instance.

There might even be a Crimson-robed Ghost!

But after several missions,

Crimson-robed Ghosts were no longer anything special.

Besides, their country’s Bonnie was receiving help from Count Dracula.

That’s right!

Just *help*!

The people of the Corruption Country ignored the jeers and taunts from the audiences of other nations.

Plus, according to what the Great Cold Country’s officials had said earlier,

Gu Yuan’s relationship with the orphanage might not be that good.

Was he just bullshitting?

Whether he could actually command them was a different matter entirely!

And at the end of the day, they were just a bunch of little brats!

Even if those brats did go out of their way to help Yun Zhenyue,

this was the SSS-rank Eternal Night Manor!

Even if there wasn’t a Great Evil, there would still be top-tier Evil Stars!

A Western-style instance had finally appeared!

They were hoping to restore their former glory, to see the afterglow of their sun-never-sets empire once more!

And yet Gu Yuan was talking about tearing the manor down?

Did he think it was some shack in a slum?

This was a total slap in the face!

[An orphanage? Pfft! Just let them try!]

[A bunch of snot-nosed kids. After Bonnie offers the holy blood, she’ll slaughter anyone who comes at her!]

[Bonnie is enduring this humiliation for the glory of our empire. All of you, watch your mouths.]

[That Dragon Country freak is so shameless. No class at all, just running his mouth.]

[Heh, Gu Yuan is a high-level Evil Star, but he’s too scared to use his powers. He’s nothing compared to Count Dracula.]

...

「As evening fell.」

All the women chose to teleport to Eternal Night Manor,

beginning the new round of missions.

The instant Yun Zhenyue arrived at Eternal Night Manor,

not far from the manor’s grounds...

stood the Terminal Orphanage.

As a cold wind blew past, heart-shaped leaves rustled like whispers. A large tree dropped a few bright red fruits, and a small dog made of old burlap wagged its tail and began to gnaw on them.

WOOF WOOF!

Suddenly, the little dog barked twice, as if it had noticed something.

The sound carried into a room on the second floor,

where a group of children were playing with their toys.

Shoushou, a skinny little boy, was drawing the view from the window.

Pangpang, a chubby boy, was gnawing on a large, strange piece of meat.

A child playing with blocks accidentally dropped them, and tears welled in his eyes.

A girl in a pretty little dress quickly rushed over to comfort him,

stopping him just before he could break into a full-blown wail.

But just then,

the children all lifted their heads in unison.

They stopped everything they were doing.

"I think... I can feel Big Brother’s presence," the little girl said in surprise.

The other children all nodded.

"I feel it too!"

"Yeah, it’s like he’s right nearby!"

"Is he back? Let’s go get him."

"It feels like it’s coming from that foreigner’s place. Should we go?"

The children looked at one another,

each seeing the eager anticipation in the others’ eyes.

Just then, the one who was prone to crying said timidly, "But Big Sister said we’re not allowed to go outside. She’s worried we’ll be naughty."

"Silly, we can just sneak out!"

the little girl said, exasperated.

"Don’t you miss Big Brother?"

"...I do," the crybaby admitted, biting his lip.

"Well, there you go!"

The little girl sighed.

"Let’s vote. Do we wait for Big Brother to come back, or do we sneak out and find him now!"

As soon as the words were out,

the children exchanged a look and all raised their hands.

Seeing this, the little girl proposed, "Okay, let’s go pack. Just bring a little something to eat. We’ll head out tonight, when it’s time for bed!"

The group of children cheered with excitement,

all chattering at once!

"Okay!"

"I’m gonna bring my paintbrushes to draw a picture for Big Brother."

"I’ll bring some meat, otherwise we’ll definitely get hungry."

"Oh, right. We have to be really quiet and not wake *Him*."

"You mean *Him*? Duh! If we bring *Him* along, we’re all doomed!"

"That’s someone who gives even Brother Gu Yuan a headache!"