All About Haunted Houses’ Chronicles Pairing PengWo – Most Famous Excerpts from Canon

Aka Probably the actual reason why so many fangirls got trapped in this novel.

PengWo (朋我) is the ship name for the main pairing of Haunted Houses’ Chronicles, Qin Yiheng x Jiang Shuo (秦一恒 x 江烁).

You probably have heard me talk about how much I adore Grave Robbers’ Chonicles’ PingXie and how much I think the dynamic of the male leads in Haunted Houses’ Chronicles’ bears a striking resemblance to PingXie. That’s likely also why there is a lot of overlap between the fandoms of these two novels. At one point, it’s even jokingly assumed that PengWo will become PingXie Generation 2 (lol).

If you read the novel plus its prequel (yes, the prequel is very important), PengWo clearly gives out a vibe of two people who bond through so many life-and-death situations and end up caring a lot about each other, not to mention one is a relatively naive, emotional man and the other is a highly skilled yet extremely mysterious man who seems to care about literally nothing else in the world. Doesn’t that ring any bell?

So this is what I’m doing now: making a point by bringing out some of PengWo’s most loved excerpts.

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He sent me home and unintentionally brought me all the way upstairs. I wanted him to stay for dinner but he refused. 

The moment he was gone, I had some uneasy thoughts, had I always been a hindrance to him all this while?

I didn’t have any appetite or even feel like brushing my teeth, so I just headed straight to bed to take a nap. I had some dreams, but luckily, my sleep was undisturbed till dawn. The next day, I ate a little bit without much care and asked about the status of some of my side businesses, then I thought I should just browse the Internet to kill time.

After looking at the Internet for a while, I suddenly came to a realisation.

When Qin Yiheng sent me home yesterday, he seemed a bit odd. I now remembered that the other day, the old man and he especially tried to recall the address of that house. Crap! Had he gone there by himself?

I called Qin Yiheng but only received a voice message.

Now I couldn’t stay still. If he really went to face such danger for me and I just sat here idly, I must be a f**king coward. 

– Volume 1, chapter 38

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My head really could not take it anymore and I refused to think any further, waiting for Qin Yiheing to continue. It seemed that he was also tired of talking, so he opened two cans of beer and gave one to me. 

“I know you must be thinking, even when the reason we go to find the location records is because of the yin key that appears out of nowhere in my house, I still seem to keep some secrets to myself and haven’t told you everything. Now, I don’t think it’s necessary to hide anything anymore.”

He continued, “Jiang Shuo, everything I do is for your sake. There is always more money to earn but there is only one life, do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

– Volume 1, chapter 45

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This person’s palm was obviously burnt by something. The wound was very old, and it hurt just by looking at it.

Qin Yiheng saw it and let out an “Ah,” then asked me to immediately look at the other palm. The result was the same: all the fingerprints and even the knuckles of this person could not be distinguished.

I casually lit a cigarette and put it on Qin Yiheng’s lips. Then I lit one for myself.

Actually, I wanted to scold him in the beginning. Back in the bath house, he had f**king crossed the line. I pondered for a bit and decided to ask him, “Who is this person? Where did you go that night?”

Qin Yiheng just breathed in the smoke and asked me to replace him for a while. I now realised that he had been pressing on the man’s neck with something.

[T/N: Think about it, folks, how close must two guys be to “casually light a cigarette then put it on the other’s lips”?]

– Volume 2, chapter 14

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I was terribly shocked, “You mean I have Yin Yang eyes?

“No no no,” Bai Kai said. “It’s because there’s something on you.”

I immediately remembered that he also mentioned something similar back in the house. My head started to whisper to itself again.

Bai Kai patted me on the shoulder and said, “With this level of IQ, if it isn’t for Qin Yiheng protecting you all this while, you might have died eight times. What you have is given to you by Qin Yiheng. Didn’t he tell you that he used the yin key found in the wardrobe to bring back something? Didn’t he say where the item is?”

I grimaced in my heart and asked, “Damn, you really mean this thing is on me?”

He snorted disdainfully, but nodded.

To be honest, I wasn’t afraid of him confirming it. I didn’t know why, but there was a wrenching pain in my heart. If what Bai Kai said was true, my partner Qin Yiheng had lied to me again, or he had been cheating me this whole time.

[…]

But why did he have to do this?

Why did he have to take me everywhere? Just because I believed him?

I knew that people like Bai Kai would not be able to comfort me. Actually, no one would at this moment.

– Volume 2, chapter 18

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Bai Kai said that he did give the matter some thoughts previously. Anyway, he wanted to keep investigating, and if I also wanted to, he wouldn’t mind taking such a burden along.

Those were such ugly words, but he wasn’t unreasonable. I thought carefully about it for a while and even asked myself whether I wanted to be involved in this mess any further. I realised that the answer might not be all that important. I just wanted to find Qin Yiheng and asked him if he really considered me a friend after all. To tell the truth, I was not a very honest person either, but I instinctively felt that this was what I wanted to know the most.

– Volume 2, chapter 19

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Only then did I discover that the person outside just now actually wanted to help us, but who was this person?

I had a feeling that it was Qin Yiheng.

I asked Bai Kai, “In the end who is the person that pushed you?”

Bai Kai was still in pain. He huffed painfully, then shouted at the outside, “Qin Yiheng! I don’t appreciate this! It’s my head! If my IQ is lowered to Jiang Shuo’s can you f**king afford to compensate for me?”

Hearing that, I was shaken to the core, then I screamed, “Qin Er! Is it you Qin Er?”

But, for a long time, no sound could be heard from outside.

I wanted to open the closet but Bai Kai aggressively held me back. He tried to persuade me, “How many more times do you want other people to save you? Let me tell you, there likely won’t be any more luck this time.”

I really didn’t care about whatever ‘unclean things’ that could be outside, but Bai Kai’s words forced me to stay in the closet.

Life was important, but I never wanted anyone to sacrifice for me. To me, the most uncomfortable thing in this world was to owe someone this kind of favour.

I begged desperately, “F**k you Qin Er, just tell me, is it you?”

I cried out a few times and my throat turned numb, but still no answer came from outside.

– Volume 3, chapter 14

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I almost burst into tears when I heard Qin Yiheng’s voice.

If it hadn’t been for Bai Kai holding me back, I would have rushed out of the closet.

I shouted many curses, but no one replied.

Qin Yiheng already said what he needed to. No matter how much I cried out, the outside stayed absolutely silent.

After struggling in the closet for another few minutes, I knew Qin Yiheng had left. I became completely restless and my body finally gave in.

– Volume 3, chapter 15

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Bai Kai spit out, “Let me tell you, low-IQ brat, as long as you’re in danger, Qin Yiheng will definitely turn up. I’m doing this because there’s really no other way. It seems that now is still not considered ‘dangerous enough’. I’m thinking about using violence on you. Don’t force me.”

I was stunned, but I wasn’t worried about Bai Kai being violent.

I just wanted to know if Qin Yiheng turned up because he needed to protect the thing that was on me, or because he really cared about this friend.

– Volume 3, chapter 27

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After hearing this, I understood that Qin Yiheng wanted to take advantage of the situation. 

So I said, “You must tell me what you’re going to do, or I’ll have to turn against you later.”

Qin Yiheng stared at the door, looking as though he was worried that someone would come in. 

He whispered, “I’ve found the location of the Yin River. Jiang Shuo, you should stop involving yourself with these things from now on, and you must never look for the Yin River. That’s not something you should be curious about.”

Anger overwhelmed me as I yelled at him, “Who says that I want to find the Yin River?! I come here to find you, can I not? Take a look for yourself, take a f**king good look! I’m f**king deep inside this mountain, in a house with so many dead bodies, because of the Yin River? Do I know what that river is, does that river know what I am?!!”

– Volume 4, chapter 13

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[A very important character told Jiang Shuo]

“We talked for a long time. He said he was willing to trade his life for yours.”

– Volume 4, chapter 39