Chapter 23: “Hold Me”
“Are you angry?” Mu Mu asked cautiously, testing the waters.
He looked at the painter’s expression and felt that the man seemed angry—but somehow not that angry.
Ghosts had a hard time understanding humans.
Fu Heqing looked at the innocent expression in front of him and couldn’t help laughing at his own irritation. He was just about to pick Mu Mu up and give him a little lesson, to let him know that besides the boundaries between men and women, there were also boundaries between men.
But before his hand could touch him, he felt himself lighten—and Mu Mu had returned to his transparent ghost form.
“Ah, back to this again?”
Mu Mu instinctively looked at his hands, then at the clothes scattered across the sofa. He floated around a bit, savoring the feeling of being a ghost, then returned to the sofa, squatted down to meet Fu Heqing’s eyes, placed his hands on his knees, and obediently asked:
“Mr. Painter, what was it that you wanted to tell me earlier?”
Fu Heqing looked at Mu Mu like this, was silent for a moment, then let out a long sigh and said, “It’s nothing. Go play.”
Mu Mu became even more puzzled. He watched as Fu Heqing stayed in the same position, only sitting up slightly, without even moving the clothes that were scattered over himself.
“And you? Aren’t you coming with me?”
“Me?”
Fu Heqing smiled faintly, ambiguous, but didn’t answer Mu Mu’s question. He changed the subject: “If you don’t want to go back to the little skeleton upstairs, you can go check out the things we bought, see if any of them have the kind of energy you were talking about.”
“Energy?” Mu Mu asked, confused.
“Let’s just call it that for now.”
Fu Heqing sat up a bit more, but still didn’t remove the clothes on him, and continued, “The kind of warm, cozy feeling you were talking about.”
“Ohhh, then that’s there.”
Mu Mu floated around and drifted over to the big and small boxes across from him. Pointing at the first batch of paintings and the jade-carved antiques, he said, “These few paintings and this green stone… they have a little warm energy. I felt it as soon as you, Mr. Painter, stepped out the front door.”
“But this energy is very, very small. It’s like a cake that wasn’t very big to begin with, and someone else already ate most of it—I only got the very last bit. It was sweet, very sweet, but it was all leftovers.”
Fu Heqing glanced at the items Mu Mu was pointing to—almost all were ancient antique paintings.
He silently ruled out the ancient art pieces in his mind.
Artworks from too long ago—either their energy had already been consumed by some other non-human entity, or it had naturally dissipated.
“Hmm… what about the rest?”
Mu Mu pointed to the modern paintings and said, “This one! Mr. Painter, you really got ripped off buying this! The energy is small and not warm at all. It’s like those trendy candies we bought before—expensive and awful!”
He complained angrily.
“Far worse than the two paintings Mr. Painter gave me!”
Listening to Mu Mu, Fu Heqing smiled, disregarding the lower-quality pieces, and asked, “What about that sculpture? It’s by the most talented sculptor of the past decade.”
“That one actually has plenty of warm energy, but—but…”
Mu Mu suddenly found himself at a loss for words. He floated back and forth several times, unable to think of what should come after the “but.”
“Hmm?”
Fu Heqing looked at the ghost hovering in front of him and reassured him, “No rush. Take your time.”
“Is there something different about it?”
“Yes!” Mu Mu nodded without hesitation.
“It’s just a very different feeling… it’s that kind of…” Mu Mu paused for a moment, then used a very abstract word, “that kind of feeling that doesn’t have the sweet-and-soft sensation.”
“Like there’s no sugar in the milk I like, and no strawberries on the cake I like.”
“But it’s not that the milk or the cake taste bad.”
Mu Mu rambled on, then finally asked cautiously, “Mr. Painter… do you understand?”
Fu Heqing chuckled lightly.
“What’s so hard to understand?”
“You mean…”
“You picky eater just wants a custom-made menu, huh?”
Fu Heqing looked at the room full of art, then at the ghost hovering before him. “Those two paintings I made before were done just for you, so naturally, the effect is different.”
Mu Mu’s eyes immediately widened. He protested, “I’m not picky!”
Then he realized that objection wasn’t strong enough. “Even if I were picky, it’s your fault for spoiling me!”
Finally, he added one more for emphasis: “Hmph!”
Fu Heqing watched the ghost go from cautious and timid at first to sharp-toothed and bold now, and laughed. He folded the clothes on his body, picked them up, and said to Mu Mu, “Let’s go.”
“What?”
“To the third floor. Use the little skeleton’s body, and then see if the painting I made for you can change you back.”
As soon as Mu Mu heard the plan, he happily agreed.
Even though he could float straight to the third floor, he obediently followed Fu Heqing step by step. They rode the elevator together and returned to the room, where Mu Mu slipped into the little skeleton’s body.
Fu Heqing watched as Mu Mu returned to using the little skeleton’s body. He tilted his head, waved his hands, and seemed a little unaccustomed again.
“I’m not used to suddenly losing touch sensation,” Mu Mu said, looking at his hands.
When the painter tried to put Mu Mu down, Mu Mu immediately clutched Fu Heqing’s arm and pitifully cried, “I’m using the little skeleton’s body, but I don’t want to walk by myself anymore…”
Mu Mu wiggled his tiny short legs and said with full self-awareness, “Walking is slow and tiring. You carry me.”
Fu Heqing lowered his gaze to the little skeleton clambering all over him. It was still the same careless, reckless, heartless little creature, not knowing boundaries. Clinging to the collar in front of him, it tried to climb even higher, completely oblivious to where it was.
Fu Heqing yanked the little skeleton down in one motion. Startled, the tiny sharp claws were still hooked on his sweater.
A high-end custom-made sweater was snagged and ruined just like that.
But Fu Heqing didn’t care at all. He just continued looking at the little skeleton with a very serious expression. “I can carry you,” he said.
“But I need you, Mu Mu, to seriously learn some rules of human society.”
Mu Mu sat in front of the painter, lifting his head to look up at him. He thought for a long while, then asked, “Mr. Painter… can you give me some examples?”
Fu Heqing looked into Mu Mu’s clear, innocent eyes and was silent for a moment.
Explaining these things was complicated—every reason and example he could give ultimately traced back to the darkness and dangers of human society.
He didn’t want the blank slate that was Mu Mu to encounter such things. He didn’t want Mu Mu to ever hear about the filth and corruption of people and the world.
Fu Heqing stared at Mu Mu in front of him, speechless for a time.
In fact, as long as Mu Mu stayed inside the villa, or stayed by his side, none of it mattered.
No person, no event, could stain that blank sheet.
As long as he didn’t go outside…
Is the reason a ghost can float because it’s like a blank sheet of paper?
If a ghost knew about the dangers and darkness of human beings, if a heart as clear as crystal was stained and filled with all sorts of filthy desires, would it ever be able to float again?
Fu Heqing picked up the little skeleton in his hands, slowly stroking it, slowly thinking.
Earlier, he had suggested going out, intending to use other artworks or exhibitions to figure out the pattern of how a ghost could turn human. But he hadn’t expected to discover it so quickly, so smoothly—and the key point was even connected to himself.
This meant that exhibitions and going out were no longer necessary.
If the ghost wanted to maintain a stable human form, it either had to spend money to collect highly gifted artworks, or rely on him…
The part of Fu Heqing’s heart he usually tried to suppress grew again, spreading, tightly entwining every corner of his chest.
“Mr. Painter?”
Mu Mu called softly, waving his five tiny claws at Fu Heqing, sounding puzzled.
“Mr. Painter… what’s wrong? Haven’t you figured it out yet?”
Fu Heqing slowly looked at Mu Mu. “Hmm… indeed, I haven’t thought it through yet.”
He gently put the little skeleton down again, and his mood seemed to darken.
Mu Mu didn’t fully understand, but he knew the painter seemed unhappy. Thinking quickly, he climbed onto him, patted Fu Heqing’s shoulder, and said, “I don’t know what’s going on, but Mr. Painter, you have to be happy.”
“Since I haven’t thought it through for now, I won’t think about it.”
“When Mr. Painter figures it out, I will definitely study seriously!” Mu Mu clenched his tiny fists, as if making a promise to Fu Heqing.
Fu Heqing looked back at Mu Mu and softly said, “Then I’ll tell you once I’ve figured it out.”
Mu Mu quickly nodded.
“Th-then… it’s because Mr. Painter hasn’t figured it out yet, right? Does that mean I—”
Fu Heqing looked at Mu Mu’s eager little face and let out a light chuckle. He stuffed Mu Mu into his coat pocket and said with a smile, “Alright, I’ll carry you. No more walking by yourself.”
“Not carry! Hold me!”
Mu Mu gripped Fu Heqing’s words angrily. “You just said you’d hold me while walking!”
“Don’t take advantage of the fact that I don’t understand human language!”
Fu Heqing looked at the little skeleton, glaring and kicking inside the coat pocket in protest, and pulled him back out, holding him carefully in one hand.
Mu Mu finally looked satisfied.
But as time went on, Mu Mu began to feel that something was… off.
Why did the painter always have to hold him while painting, placing him on his lap while scrolling on his phone? Why did he have to hold him even during meals? Why did he take him everywhere?
Mu Mu felt it was strange. He wanted to jump down to the floor while holding his phone, but Fu Heqing just scooped him back up every time.
“Where are you going?”
Mu Mu glared at Fu Heqing. “I want to lie on the sofa and play on my phone!”
“Isn’t lying in my arms the same thing?”
Mu Mu refused, struggling fiercely. “Th-then I want to charge!”
“There’s a charging port here too.”
“I… I!”
If he had a human body, his face would have turned red with anger.
He suddenly remembered when Li Xunyang added him as a friend and asked why he had dragged the painter to the bathroom with him, saying it was weird for two people to go together. Without thinking, Mu Mu blurted out:
“I want to go to the bathroom!”
Fu Heqing glanced at Mu Mu’s little skeleton body, a faint smile on his lips. “Alright.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Mu Mu froze.
But it was clear Fu Heqing was serious. He picked up the little skeleton and started walking toward the bathroom.
“Wai—waaaait…”
Mu Mu instantly panicked.
