“Of course, they’re dry,” Ban Xia muttered, searching for something to clean the blood off her hands. “This is a 33-centimeter extra-long overnight pad with 100 absorption pillows. It can handle seven gushes. Did you think our company’s new product was a joke?”
“Give me all of them! Everything in that box!” The ghost finally stopped spinning, pointing at the box and lunging toward it.
Ban Xia hugged the box tightly, flashing a toothy grin. “Sure, but it’s cash only. No checks.”
The ghost snarled, clawing at his head. “I don’t have money! If you don’t give it to me, I’ll kill you! I’m a bandit, the Mountain King of Green Wind Fort!”
“Then go ahead, kill me,” Ban Xia said, straightening her back with a calm smile. “See if you can.”
The ghost screamed, tightening his grip. But as Ban Xia’s face turned purple, her body began to emit a soft glow, similar to the blade’s.
The ghost screamed again, his fingers recoiling in pain as black smoke rose from his hands. He retreated, clutching his charred fingers.
“I told you, you can’t kill me.” Ban Xia stepped forward, the glow around her intensifying. “If you want the goods, pay up. No credit.”
Desperate, the ghost rummaged in his robe and pulled out a gold hairpin. “I have money! Here, take this!”
Ban Xia caught the hairpin, inspecting its pearl embellishment with delight.
“Not cash, but acceptable.” She kicked the box toward him. “It’s yours now, Brother Ghost.”
Elated, the ghost hugged the box and vanished.
Ban Xia tucked the hairpin into her coat pocket, sighing with satisfaction. She had successfully sold a box of sanitary pads to a ghost. Truly, she was the strongest salesperson in history.
* * *
“How was the show, Brother?” she asked, crouching beside the cross-legged man. “If you’ve finished watching, could you tell me where this place is?”
The man raised his eyes, the curved blade now resting in his hand. For the first time, light illuminated his face.
Ban Xia, well-acquainted with handsome men, still found her heart skip a beat. He was undeniably stunning, with features rivaling her idol Takeshi Kaneshiro, but exuding a gentleness and nobility that felt almost otherworldly.
Swallowing, she evaluated him through her inner fangirl lens. Despite his soft demeanor, his noble aura hinted at hidden strength. Definitely an alpha, she concluded.
“This is a karst cave in Jiu Yi Mountain,” the man said with a faint smile, looking Ban Xia over. “You shouldn’t be here, young lady. You don’t belong to this world.”
Ban Xia’s ears buzzed, and a sinking feeling spread through her chest. Her hands and feet felt cold as she finally managed to ask, “Then what year is it now?”
“The sixth year of the Jiayou era, during the Great Song dynasty,” the man replied crisply, his gaze calm and knowing, as though he fully understood her situation.
The sixth year of Jiayou!
Ban Xia staggered, almost biting her tongue. “Damn,” she cursed, not once but twice.
Was everything nowadays about being atypical?
She hadn’t crashed her car, been electrocuted, or jumped into a river. She was simply selling sanitary pads in her office—and somehow, she ended up here. A completely unorthodox time travel, damn it!
“You should have destroyed his soul earlier,” the man said after a pause. “He was an evil spirit, and you had the ability to do so.”
Ban Xia huffed twice but didn’t answer. Instead, she crouched down to look at him. “How do you know I have that ability? How do you know I’m from another world? Who are you, a Bodhisattva or some charlatan?”
“My name is Xuan Ye,” the man said softly. “I’m an onmyōji.”
“An onmyōji? A ghost catcher?”
“Yes, I’m a soul collector.”
After this brief exchange, Ban Xia suddenly grew angry. She jumped to her feet. “If you’re such a master, why didn’t you save me? You just sat there, watching me get strangled by that ghost!”
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