Volume One, Chapter Three: The Rogue Brother and the Puppy Sister?

Chapter Three: The Rogue Brother and the Puppy Sister?

Tu Zhe screamed miserably as he was sent flying, but the little dog followed like a shadow. With a mere flicker in the void, she was beside him again, one paw raised like a golden cockerel standing on one leg, the other paw gently tapping the air in a threatening manner, snorting through her nose and putting on a fierce expression.

“Rogue ghost, how about it? Do you think this dog is impressive? Do you feel powerless before me? Well, have you considered being an obedient rogue ghost?”

Tu Zhe steadied himself with a grimace, hissing in pain. “Doggy dear... I mean, shouldn’t I call you Miss Dog, not Mister? Tell me, you’re a lady dog, aren’t you?”

The puppy lifted her head proudly, gazing up at the heavens. “But of course! I am the most gentle, the kindest, the wisest, the most beautiful—number one in everything throughout all the realms, above and below, within and without, whatever and wherever... Oh, in short, I am simply the best!”

Tu Zhe was stunned, taking a while to recover. He gave a wry smile. “I’ve seen people who are narcissistic, but never to this degree. That saying about the pheasant dancing with its reflection in the mirror—what was that supposed to mean again? Anyway, doggy dear—I mean, I didn’t say anything!” He instinctively moved a few steps away.

The puppy frowned. “Pheasant dancing with a mirror? What does that mean? A chicken dancing with a mirror? Never heard of it, can’t be bothered to think about it. Anyway, rogue ghost, I don’t think you should just call me girl dog. I have a name, you know.”

Tu Zhe brightened, his shadowy form making a grand bow. “May I ask, Miss Dog, your illustrious name and celestial homeland?”

The puppy giggled, covering her mouth. “Do you have any idea how sleazy you look right now?”

Tu Zhe straightened up, bursting into hearty laughter. “Hell, I’m a rogue, who would I be afraid of?”

He laughed from the bottom of his heart. Since his death, drifting endlessly through the void, he hadn’t had a moment’s joy. He missed his homeland, his parents, his pigs, and that damned Earth—which was growing ever smaller and farther away, lost among the stars and nearly impossible to find. There was no doubt that the puppy’s sudden appearance had brought him happiness. Though she was unreasonable and a bit violent, often kicking him hundreds or thousands of miles away, he could sense she never truly meant to harm. In this moment, gazing at the puppy, he thought that although his life had been unremarkable, perhaps being a ghost was not without its own joys and dignity. His look at the puppy grew misty and tender, as if filled with endless emotion.

The puppy grew uncomfortable under his gaze, baring her teeth and putting on a fierce front. “What are you looking at, rogue ghost!”

Tu Zhe wasn’t offended. Awkwardly, he rubbed his ethereal nose. “So, what did you say your name was? I bet it’s the most beautiful name in all the realms, right?”

The puppy shot him a glare. “Of course it is! My name is Yema.”

Tu Zhe muttered, “Good grief, what kind of name is that? ‘A horse grows fat only on night grass’...”

“Rogue ghost—” Yema raised her paw threateningly.

Tu Zhe quickly waved his hands. “At ease, puppy! What I meant was, Yema, like a gem shining in the night sky, right?”

Yema’s mouth formed an O of surprise, and she gasped theatrically. “Oh, oh, rogue ghost, you’re so clever...”

Tu Zhe mimicked her smug demeanor. “Naturally! Top scholar at Peking University, number one butcher at the market—that’s me...”

Yema’s expression grew cold. “Butcher? Have you ever killed a dog?”

Tu Zhe’s mouth worked silently for a moment. “No... honestly, never. I only ever slaughtered pigs. I changed professions and then became a ghost, ha.”

Yema’s face blossomed into a smile. “That’s more like it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know what to do with you...”

Tu Zhe’s heart pounded. “Thank goodness I never killed a dog, or else... Yema, would the consequences have been serious?”

Yema blinked. “Of course! If you’d ever killed a dog, I’d have had no choice but to throw you into the City of Living Death or the Black Sand City. Step into those places, and you’d be annihilated, body and soul.”

As she spoke, her voice faded and her mood dimmed, the light in her eyes growing somber.

Tu Zhe noticed her expression and suddenly felt a pang of sorrow. He declared loudly, “Doggy dear, I swear on my very soul—I’ve never harmed a dog!”

Yema, her eyes cast down, was startled by his outburst and glanced at him in astonishment. “If you haven’t, you haven’t—no need to shout...”

Tu Zhe saw that she was still sad and reached out to pat her head, but his hand passed right through, emerging on the other side.

“No matter if I’m human or a ghost, I swear I will never harm a dog,” he said, believing only this could make her happy. Her unhappiness had become a pain he could not bear.

Yema lifted her gaze, mist swirling in her eyes. She suddenly thought, perhaps this rogue ghost wasn’t that much of a rogue after all. She was a little moved.

Tu Zhe saw the hint of a smile returning to her eyes, sighed, and shook his head.

Yema, noticing his sadness, asked, “What’s wrong?”

Tu Zhe replied with a trace of sorrow, “I wanted to pat your little head, but... but I’m just a ghost with a soul but no body—I can’t do it...”

Yema thought deeply for a moment, then said, “That’s easy to fix, just watch.”

She extended a paw and grasped at the void, which rippled in concentric waves as something vast and intangible surged toward her. In an instant, it coalesced into a dewdrop on her paw.

Before Tu Zhe could ask what it was, Yema flicked the dewdrop at him. It sank into his soul and expanded to match its size, instantly wrapping his spirit in a transparent, tangible shell. Suddenly, Tu Zhe felt sensation return. He could feel his body—faintly substantial, with a sense of weight. He was no longer drifting uncontrollably; he could walk and even run in the void.

Overwhelmed, Tu Zhe trembled. In disbelief, he stretched, flexed his legs, patted himself everywhere. Tears welled up in his eyes.

Yema watched his silly, tearful excitement and giggled, covering her mouth.

Tu Zhe walked over, reached out, and touched her furry head.

It was warm, soft, lustrous—gentle all the way to the soul.

Compared to this, those famous shampoos were nothing; they weren’t even worthy of washing the puppy’s paws.

A single dewdrop could enshroud his soul, restoring his senses? What kind of magic was this? The puppy was mysterious indeed!

Yema and Tu Zhe lay together in the void.

Yema reclined gracefully on her side, propping her head with a paw, her hind legs neatly tucked, the other paw idly twirling the fine fur by her ear.

Tu Zhe sprawled with no regard for image, arms pillowed behind his head, one leg crossed over the other, swinging defiantly—a picture of roguishness.

“Doggy dear—Yema—let me tell you about myself...”

“No!” Yema suddenly cried.

“Hm? Puppy, what do you mean?” Tu Zhe sat up, puzzled.

Yema seemed to arrive at a big decision and sat up, her bright eyes fixed on him. “Let’s make a pact, shall we? I won’t ask where you’re from, and you won’t ask about me. It’s enough for me to know your name is Tu Zhe.”

Tu Zhe was stunned for a moment. “Alright. And for me, it’s enough to know your name is Yema.”

“A high five to seal the deal?”

“A high five!”

A dog’s paw and a ghostly hand slapped together. And a dog and a rogue ghost laughed together, carefree and without a worry.

When their laughter faded, the dog and the ghost felt a sense of aimlessness.

Tu Zhe asked, “So where will you go from here?”

Yema’s smile faded. “I don’t know... will you take me with you?”

She clasped his hand expectantly, a touch of frailty and pleading in her gesture.

Tu Zhe thumped his chest. “No problem! With me around, you can walk proudly across every realm.”

But what were these three realms? And what heavens were included?

“Really? I’m so happy I could die!” Yema twisted his arm with her little paws in excitement.

Hm, wasn’t that a bit rough and crazy as an expression of joy? But he rather liked it.

Grinning from ear to ear, Tu Zhe endured the puppy’s abuse, his laughter blooming like a flower.

Next, the unscrupulous ghost and the bored puppy began arguing over seniority.

The ghost wanted to be the puppy’s father; the puppy thought that was too unfair and pinched him all over, insisting on being his elder sister.

In the end, no match for the wit and scheming of the Peking University ghost, Tu Zhe naturally became the big brother, and Yema the little sister.

The puppy, feeling deeply aggrieved, stopped calling him rogue ghost and began calling him Rogue Brother.

Rogue Brother it is, then. I like it.

The joy of being a brother is something others will never understand.

From then on, Rogue Brother and Yema the puppy wandered the void together.

Tu Zhe was full of curiosity about his doggy little sister. But he did not dare ask. Not only because of their pact, but also because of the sadness in Yema’s eyes—a sadness that stabbed him every time he saw it. He himself had suffered enough; he did not wish to touch the secrets Yema was desperately hiding. He knew those secrets were the ones she most wanted to forget and escape.

Brother and sister spent their days in playful banter, lying in the void when tired, chatting about everything and nothing. To amuse Yema, Tu Zhe would deliberately say things to provoke her into mock anger, letting her pinch and scold him as she pleased.

In this ghostly existence, there was pain and there was joy.

But these days did not last long. Everything changed with a sudden turn of events.

One day, Rogue Brother was hugging the puppy as they drifted, and the puppy was tugging at his mouth, shouting, “Rogue Brother, you’re the worst—!”

Suddenly, a thunderous explosion sounded not far away, and a pillar of blood-red light shot into the sky. Even the edge of that surging blood light, as it swept past them, sent them hurtling thousands of miles like cannonballs. In an instant, the dewdrop shell around Rogue Brother’s soul was covered with fine cracks like cobwebs.

Rogue Brother was injured. But in that split second, he instinctively wrapped Yema in his arms, pressing her little head under his chin to shield her from the blast.

When the puppy broke free and saw Rogue Brother’s battered state, she was furious.

Standing akimbo, she shouted toward the source of the blood-red light, “Who dares hurt my Rogue Brother? Show yourself before me—!”