Chapter 41 - The Necklace

"Are you alright?" Yang Mi stood beside him and asked. Gu Wang Ji was breathing hard and looked quite pale and turning blue after being choked out by that ghost earlier.

Gu Wang Ji shook his head timidly and shrunk back in fear. 

"Why is this happening to me? This is the second time already!" 

Yang Mi looked at him with pity. She could understand his feelings and the reactions he was portraying through his face and actions. After all, any normal person would scream bloody hell if they saw a ghost, especially when they were targeted by these spiritual creatures not once but twice. 

However, Yang Mi didn't know what's wrong with him too. The last time Gu Wang Ji was with a ghost it was when they were taping a movie. Gu Wang Ji was the main male lead of the movie while she was just a secondary character who would appear a few times in front of the camera. Due to this, Yang Mi only noticed the ghost stalking him when she was about to leave the drama crew. 

At that time, Gu Wang Ji was already suffering from endless nightmares and sleepless nights. His weight decreased a lot, and there was even a rumor that he weighed lower than his female lead. Then, one day, Gu Wang Ji suddenly didn't come to the shooting, and there was no news from his manager. The entire drama crew and the movie director were really worried about this since they didn't know what happened. But since it was just the first day, they eased their minds thinking that Gu Wang Ji must have slept through the day because of his hectic schedule.

But on the second day and third day, Gu Wang Ji still didn't appear on the shooting site. Hence, the Director finally decided to call his agency. But they only told the Director that Gu Wang Ji's schedule was conflicted with a variety show, and they couldn't give it up and apologized to the Director. The Director no longer felt the need to get angry over this since it was normal to have a conflicting schedule. It was only that the agency and Gu Wang Ji failed to inform the Director. 

However, that was only the beginning of it. 

Gu Wang Ji was bedridden, and everyone in his studio was scared shitless by his situation. They called a doctor to see through his condition only to find out that he was extremely healthy and nothing seemed wrong with Gu Wang Ji.

But how could that be? Gu Wang Ji's complexion was too pale, and he even looked deadlier than a corpse; he lost the graciousness of being a top actor and the beauty of his face. The most important thing that every actor thought of taking care of was their faces since they were paying them for.

Yang Mi worried that this has something to do with the ghost and decided to visit him during the night when the haunting hour was the most lethal. Thankfully, before anything could happen to Gu Wang Ji, Yang Mi was able to save him and make the ghost go away.

"Have you offended someone?" Yang Mi suddenly asked. She stepped inside the bathroom and took a towel before throwing it to Gu Wang Ji to wipe his sweat.

Suddenly slapped with a towel, Gu Wang Ji now noticed how he was soaking wet with sweat that his clothes were sticking to his body. His fan might die from thirst if they see this sight of him, but Yang Mi begged to differ as she wasn't even interested in looking at him - the victim of a ghost's haunting.

"I... I don't know." He started to mumble. "You... You know that as an actor, we might or might not offend someone through our characters."

That is right. As actors, whoever they played in the movie or series would overlap these characters to the actors. When they played an evil villain, people would think that these actors are evil too. When they played a good and innocent character, people who watched them would always believe that they're some angel who fell from the Heavens.

"I'm not talking about that." Yang Mi told him with a sigh.

Gu Wang Ji glanced at her, "What do you mean? Do you mean if I offended a spirit or demon?"

Yang Mi shook her head this time and took a seat on the chaise beside the wall. "You might have offended a person. It doesn't matter who. However, they must have attached something that belongs to you and contacted a spirit master to call on ghosts to target you." 

Hearing this, Gu Wang Ji paled once more. His face was whiter than a paper, and his body shook as if he was a grass blade swaying back and forth during a storm.

"But I really didn't offend anyone." Gu Wang Ji repeated.

Yang Mi formed a straight line on her lips.

"I didn't think of this when I first saved you. But with what happened today, it only means my suspicion is true." Gu Wang Ji met her eyes and gulped hard as if there were nails and thumbscrews inside his throat. "You have something in your possession that shouldn't be there with you."

Yang Mi stood up from the chair and walked towards Gu Wang Ji. She held his stare and asked him softly, "Did you steal something you shouldn't have?" 

There was a moment of silence inside the room. 

Then, Gu Wang Ji shook his head stubbornly. "No! I didn't steal anything! Why would I!"

Gu Wang Ji didn't admit it. However, the way his eyes were averting and avoiding meeting hers like how he did just now, Yang Mi finally concluded what had happened. 

Gu Wang Ji stole something and had yet to return it, causing these ghosts to frequently visit him. Because he stole that something, it became an anchor for ghosts to target him. 

"You need to return it." Yang Mi told him. She expected him to agree to her after what he had gone through these past months, but surprisingly, Gu Wang Ji shook his head.

"No... It's mine. Why should I return it?" Gu Wang Ji said and unconsciously reached for his necklace. "I didn't steal it. It was mine in the first place and has returned to me now."

Yang Mi frowned at his words. She couldn't tell if he was disillusioned or confused about whether it was his or not. 

Her eyes followed where he was touching his necklace, and the light gleamed in her eyes as she realized that the necklace was the thing he stole. It was a necklace with a silver metal chain wrapped around his neck, a round pendant hanging below with transparent glass in front of it, and inside that pendant contained something that resembled a clumped dust. But Yang Mi knew that what was inside that pendant was not quite what it seemed.

"You..." She stared at him in disbelief and tried to take the necklace off his neck.

But Gu Wang Ji was faster.

He crawled away from her and tightly clasped the necklace inside his hand as he shouted at her, "No! This is mine! You can't take this away from me! Why don't you just help me kill off all these ghosts instead of taking my necklace!"

Yang Mi was so shocked at his behavior and intense obsession over his necklace. 

Seeing her not speaking, Gu Wang Ji continued on, "Senior Lin told me that you can help me. So, just do your job and exterminate or banish these ghosts away! I don't need you to question me about my things!"

"That is not yours." Yang Mi interjected. "Whatever is inside that necklace, that is not yours to keep. These ghosts will keep coming for you because of that! Can't you even understand that?"

Yang Mi was so frustrated over this matter. Not only because she wanted to help Gu Wang Ji solve this problem of his, but also because she wanted to get home and get things over with quickly!

Why was everyone so stupid when it comes to the unknown? 

"Gu Wang Ji, you can't keep that. I'm telling you this because I know how ominous that necklace is, and every ghost around you will sense it and follow you." 

Yang Mi tried to explain to him, but Gu Wang Ji still refused to listen. He swiped the things on the table, and the sound of glass shattering and water from the broken vase splattering on the ground. 

"I don't care! This necklace is mine, and I won't hand it over to you or even to these ghosts!" Gu Wang Ji persisted and was determined not to let go of his necklace at all.

Yang Mi flinched as she felt pain on her calf, and she was sure that a stray fragment of the shattered glass flew to her and embedded inside her calf. 

'I must be bleeding.' Yang Mi said inwardly and bit her lips. 

Her eyebrows drew together as her eyes started to get colder as time passes by and as Gu Wang Ji continued to obsess over a necklace that contained someone's ashes.

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Author has something to say: That's today's update! ❤️