“Don’t joke with me, I’m being serious—can you see ghosts? Or rather, do ghosts really exist in this world?” In a rare change of demeanor, Grace Miller became unusually serious, with an aura that suggested she’d kill you if you didn’t answer. Every man knows that, when faced with a woman like this, the best choice is to comply. This is the foundation of family harmony and good neighborly relations...

“‘Ghost’ is the foreign term; Chinese people usually call them ‘spirits’—the ‘longing’ left behind by the dead in this world...” Perhaps annoyed by the persistent questioning, Henry Clark uncharacteristically answered Grace Miller’s question honestly.

“There really was a spirit standing next to that boy just now, wasn’t there?” Staring straight ahead at the road, Grace Miller’s words actually piqued Henry Clark’s interest.

Carefully sizing up his driving companion, Henry Clark tried asking, “You can see them too?”

“So you’re saying they really exist?!” Suddenly pulling over, Henry Clark lurched forward from inertia; if not for his quick reflexes, bracing his hands on the car door and grabbing the handle above his head, he might have flown through the windshield.

“How could that be? This is the modern world—we have electric lights, how could ghosts possibly exist? That’s superstition, it’s a scam!” Muttering strangely to herself, Grace Miller’s stiff smile looked like that of a corpse.

“When I was in the psychiatric hospital before, my fellow patients acted just like this. Deep breaths, deep breaths, and you’ll be fine.” Henry Clark’s way of comforting people was certainly unique.

“I’m being serious—why do spirits exist?!” Staring straight at Henry Clark, who remained calm even after seeing a ghost, Grace Miller longed for an answer, her beautiful eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

“Do you really want to just disappear into thin air after you die? Vanish without leaving a single trace...” Henry Clark’s rhetorical question left Grace Miller speechless. “So-called spirits are the lingering attachments people have to this world before they die. It could be longing for loved ones, a strong desire for material things, or even hatred toward certain people. When someone dies with these attachments, they become ghosts, lingering in the world, striving to fulfill their wishes before reincarnating. But if they can’t let go or forget, they’ll never get the chance to reincarnate, becoming wandering lonely spirits and night ghosts...”

“But why do they have to disturb my life?” Hugging her arms tightly, trembling, Grace Miller’s tears finally fell, crying like a child. “I haven’t done anything, but they cling to me day and night. Even though I can’t see them, I can clearly feel their presence. Ever since I can remember, I’ve always felt things like that around me. When I told my parents, they just looked at me angrily, suspecting I had mental problems. These things obviously exist, so why won’t they believe me?”

“So you started lying to yourself, telling yourself they don’t exist, that they’re just your imagination...” Still bracing one hand on the car door, Henry Clark sighed as he watched the cars passing by, feeling happy for the people inside. Because they didn’t have these troubles...

“How did you know what I was thinking?” Wiping her tears, Grace Miller asked in confusion.

“Because I used to be just like you. But you’re luckier than I am—I didn’t even have the ability to lie to myself...” Henry Clark smiled helplessly, at himself. “Ever since a car accident eight years ago, I’ve had the ability to see spirits, though I never wanted to... From then on, whether I liked it or not, besides the living, all I saw were the dead. I could sense their every expression, hear every word they said. Many of them simply couldn’t accept the fact that they’d died. So when they discover living people like us who can sense them, they like to hang around us, talk to you, laughably trying to prove they’re still alive... For the first month, I was more terrified than anyone. I told my family, and they just sent me to a psychiatric hospital, where I was tied to a bed every day and given medicine for lunatics. Until Boss Bennett got me out of the hospital...”

“You... had it rough...” People are such pitiful creatures, always comforting themselves by comparison. After learning about Henry Clark’s past, Grace Miller’s anxious heart gradually calmed, thinking, “At least I’m not the most miserable...”

“Don’t act like we’re in a Korean drama, okay? Just drive—the next intersection, turn left.” Henry Clark really didn’t want to talk about his past. If it weren’t for their similar experiences, he’d rather die than bring it up again and reopen old wounds.

“Oh...” Realizing her own lapse, Grace Miller restarted the battered car, drove onto the road, and turned left at the intersection as Henry Clark instructed.

But unexpectedly, they ended up in a “red-light district”?

The so-called red-light district is where prostitutes work. Usually, it’s made up of small hair salons, but none of them actually cut hair. Instead, scantily clad prostitutes sit inside, striking seductive poses, luring in lecherous customers.