Chapter 10: Seeing a Ghost

  "Will those little demons be reborn and reincarnated just like the ghosts in the master's mansion?"

  "Hey, you're much more knowledgeable than before. Of course, there are also some evil spirits who have bad luck and follow some heretical Daoists. To enhance the evil spirit's power, they will feed them human blood. This way, these evil spirits will be further away from reincarnation." Xiaoshu took the opportunity to share his knowledge with Shifu Yan, after all, not many young people could understand what was being said when Big Brother was locked in his room studying all day.

  Shi Yi nodded thoughtfully as if she was deep in thought.

  "Try the peach wood sword, young man! This is a fine thing passed down from the Tian Shi family." The fat man wiped the peach wood sword on the table and strongly recommended it.

  Shi Yi'an has learned his lesson this time, the first thing he did was to turn around and look at Xiao Shu. Xiao Shu smiled and shook his head, but didn't expose Pangsuo's lie directly.

  "Although it's not a family heirloom, it's still a pretty good sword. However, times have changed and our family rarely uses weapons now. With airport security being so strict, it's inconvenient to bring many things along. Last time, big brother was stopped at the airport with Hei Gou Xue and almost got taken in for questioning."

  Thinking of Master Ye being taken away by the police with a serious face, Shi Yian couldn't help but smile. It's also true that if you were to run around the streets with a sword now, you'd definitely be caught by the police and thrown into a small black room. Even if you can fly with your sword, it's hard to avoid air traffic control these days, and if you're not careful, you might get shot down by some anti-aircraft weapon, which would be even more miserable.

  Two people strolled along the street, and Shi Yian gained a lot of new insights. On the barren land stood a magnificent gate that seemed to be a doorway to a new world. Shi Yian felt that the gate must have been inscribed with "Platform 9 3/4".

  Young uncle suddenly pointed to a small building with a red lantern not far away, and said with a sly smile: "My dear nephew shouldn't still be a virgin, come on, I'll give you a chance to lose your virginity."

  Shi Yi'an stared at her brother-in-law with a black line on his face, this old rascal.

  The small building's doorframe hung a blank black signboard, and on the doorframe of the small building were hung two bells, one was a ghostly bell, and the other was a human-shaped bell. One gold and one silver, paired with the black signboard, it had a unique flavor. Also, there was no name written on the signboard, you guys didn't even give your own signboards any words, what's the point of just hanging empty wooden boards there to pretend to be elegant?

  The small building looked gloomy from the outside, but inside it was like an ordinary ancient-style tavern. The wooden tables and chairs were neatly arranged, with a few pots of green plants scattered among them. On the pillars, several dim yellow lanterns were lit, and there were no people around, making it seem extremely elegant. To the left of the entrance was a counter over a meter high, behind which a woman was clicking away at an abacus. When she heard someone enter, she habitually raised her head to glance at the door.

  "Shi Lao Si, it's been a long time since you came. Have you forgotten the things I entrusted to you?" The woman smiled and said as soon as she saw her younger brother-in-law arrive, her voice was like a sweet and smooth truffle chocolate that made people's bones melt just by listening to it.

  "It's been a while, my second brother had some trouble recently, I helped him with a lot of work, and as soon as I was free, I brought it to you." The young uncle took out two bottles from his pocket and tossed them to the woman.

  The woman picked up the bottle, opened it and sniffed, saying with a smile: "This is more like it."

  "Who is this young girl behind you?" The woman raised a small lamp and walked out from behind the counter, her movements elegant and refined.

  Xiao Xian Rou saw the woman approaching, and immediately took a step back to create some distance between them. The woman saw Xiao Xian Rou's awkwardness and burst out laughing.

  "My second brother's son." The young uncle introduced briefly.

  The woman looked and said: "Indeed, it's just like your second brother when he was young, elegant and refined. Never mind that, you two don't stand there foolishly, find a place to sit."

  The young uncle didn't sit down, instead he turned around and put his arm around Shī Yǐ ān's shoulder, taking Shī Yǐ ān on a tour of all the rooms on the second and third floors of the small building. His face was full of sly smiles as he said: "This building doesn't have a name, but regular customers call it the Ghost Brothel Building. Because every room on the second and third floors is home to a beautiful ghost. They trade services for yang energy to preserve their youth. Do you want to give it a try? Their service is very attentive, and I won't hide it from you, these beautiful ghosts have soft bodies and can play many tricks you've never seen before."

  Look at that lewd and dissolute smile of yours, I knew it, nothing good would come out of this. Even if I were to be a gigolo for the rest of my life, I wouldn't want to give my first time to a ghost...

  Although he was discontented in his heart, he still had to give enough face on the surface. Shi Yu An said with a rather polite tone: "Thanks, I think it's better if we just forget about it."

  "Alright, since you insist on staying, I'll let Jin Niang prepare some small dishes for you. You can eat and wait here while I go get the things. I'll be back soon." Before leaving, Xiao Shu reminded Jin Niang again: "This is Old Master's treasure, so please make sure nothing happens to him. Can you keep an eye on him for me?"

  Jin Niang said: "You're still not at ease here with me? The talismans posted in the building are all drawn by you, so rest assured."

  After watching Xiao Shu leave, Jin Niang went to the small kitchen in the back to prepare a small dish for Shi Yi An. Shi Yi An sat alone in the empty and spacious hall, lost in thought. Although this place was simple, it had a lot of flavor, and it could be seen that the boss had put in a lot of effort in decorating it.

  "Ding Ling", the wind chime at the door moved slightly, and Shi Yian turned her head in the direction of the sound. She saw a man wearing a gray long shirt walking in. The other party glanced at Shi Yian sitting there and went upstairs with ease.

  Shi Yian sat downstairs and saw him walk around several doors before finally taking off his sign and entering the house. It turned out to be a customer who had come to "consume". Although Shi Yian was not interested in the seductive ghost, he was very interested in this transaction method. After seeing him enter the house, there was no sound, thinking that these rooms must have been cast with some kind of Taoist spell or witchcraft to isolate the sound, so outside sounds couldn't get in and inside sounds naturally couldn't get out either.

  In the silence, a dense ringing sound suddenly came from the hall, which was not caused by human shaking. Shi Yian thought of this and felt a dizziness. The lamp in the hall was pressed down by the wind, and the light in the room was dim and unclear. Shi Yian had some inexplicable unease, as if he was about to sense something.

  The wind blowing in from outside was getting colder and colder. Even though Shi Yi An had pulled his collar tight, his lips were still trembling with cold.

  No, this is not normal.

  Shi Yi An controlled his stiff body and suddenly stood up from the long bench, but his thighs heavily bumped into the horizontal bar of the dining table. He got up quickly and bumped hard.

  Ahh, Shi Yi'an let out a silent scream in his heart, he felt the pain crawling along his nerves up his spine and into his brain in an instant, violently tearing at every single one of his neurons.

  "I'm going." Shi Yi'an muttered under his breath, rubbing his thigh. Only then did he realize that the wind in the great hall had stopped, and several lanterns were quietly shining. The chill from before seemed to have dissipated quickly, as if the feeling from before was just a dream.

  Illusion!

  Shi Yi'an's heart skipped a beat, and he was suddenly subjected to an illusion for no reason. If he hadn't escaped the illusion in time, he would have probably frozen to death inside it.

  "Jin Niang." Shi Yian called out in the direction of the small kitchen, but there was no response. Shi Yian hurried into the kitchen, wincing at the pain in her legs, and saw Jin Niang curled up on the ground, shivering and pale-lipped.

  Seeing Jin Niang like this, Shi Yian was also panicked for a moment. Thinking that he had just woken up with leg pain because of the collision earlier, Shi Yian gave Jin Niang two big slaps without any mercy. Apart from her cheeks turning red after being hit, Jin Niang showed no reaction at all.

  "Hey, hey, big sister, wake up quickly, little uncle is calling you to protect me."

  Jin Niang was still trapped in the illusion and couldn't escape, so she didn't hear Shi Yi'an's anxious calls. Shi Yi'an scratched his head and pulled out a handful of paper from his pocket, which were all the talismans he had drawn incorrectly that morning. None of them were useful, except for one giant thunder symbol. Shi Yi'an glanced around the kitchen and saw a plate with a chicken on it, its blood drained and feathers plucked clean. The chicken was now lying in the plate, looking adorable.

  What Shi Yi An needs now is not chicken meat, but chicken blood. After searching around the stove, he finally found the chicken blood, only to discover that it had already coagulated into a block of blood tofu...

  It seems there's no chicken blood, so I can only use human blood then.

  Shi Yi An casually picked up a knife and made a cut on his finger. The knife was an old-fashioned iron kitchen knife with a sharp blade and a heavy body. After the first cut, only the skin was broken. With the second cut, a small fountain of blood spurted out from his finger.

  Don't waste it, Shi Yi'an wiped the blood on his hand onto the back of the talisman paper and drew a new Clear Heart Talisman.

  The talisman was drawn, but due to the large amount of blood, it was a bit blurry. Shi Yī ān used his own blood to stick the talisman on Jǐn Niáng's forehead. He didn't know if this talisman would work, but as he listened to the increasingly dense sound of the demon bell, he felt extremely anxious. After sticking the talisman, Jǐn Niáng's convulsions slowed down significantly, and she quickly regained consciousness. She tore off the talisman on her forehead with one hand.

  "You cheap thing, dare to bully me." Jin Niang suddenly got up and pulled Shi Yi An's arm, walking outside.

  In the hall, a female ghost floated in mid-air, with tiger eyes and wolf teeth. Her long hair was greasy and stuck together, hanging down on her clothes that were so dirty they had lost their original color. If all the female ghosts in the chat room looked like this, those scholars who spent a night with them would probably poke out their own eyes in anger. The female ghost's appearance came with a green glow, making her look like a giant firefly, shining dimly and floating in mid-air with a dirty aura.

  As soon as Shi Yi'an came out, the female ghost didn't say a word and stretched out her long fingernails towards him, pouncing over with a speed that left people speechless. At the same time, the female ghost drew out a white silk strip and tied it around Jin Niang's neck, directly hanging Jin Niang from the crossbeam of the small building.

  At the moment when Shi Yi'an was caught by the neck, he thought to himself: "Don't villains always spout some nonsense before launching an attack to give the protagonist a chance to prepare? Why aren't you following the script?"

  Shi Yi'an's eyes rolled back in his head as he struggled to lift his hand and grab the female ghost's wrist. The blood on his fingertips stuck to her icy wrist, and a burst of green smoke rose from the spot where the blood had touched, accompanied by a foul smell of charred flesh. The female ghost let out a shrill cry and flung Shi Yi'an away, slamming him onto the table beside them.

  "Cough, cough, cough." Shi Yi'an suddenly let out a loud cough and saw the female ghost standing there, staring at him with a thoughtful expression, making his scalp feel numb.

  I'm going, this is obviously the look of looking at the dishes in one's own bowl, can you take back that gaze that's about to emit green light?! Shi Yi'an endured the pain and dryly laughed twice: "You see, being stained with my blood makes you so painful, if you were to eat me, it would definitely be a gut-wrenching experience."

  As they spoke, Shi Yinan glanced at Jin Niang who was hanging there and saw that Jin Niang flipped her wrist, a silver light flashed by, knowing that Jin Niang could escape on her own, he slightly let out a breath. Shi Yinan stared tightly at the female ghost in front of him, without leaving any trace, he put his hand into his pocket and clenched the giant thunder symbol in his hand, this was his only remaining talisman.

  The female ghost apparently didn't want to give up this great opportunity, but doing it herself would get her stained with Shi Yian's blood, what a hassle. She turned her hands over and summoned another white thread, which swiftly wrapped around Shi Yian's neck, dragging him in front of her with a combination of pulling and tugging.

  Shi Yi'an was suffocating from lack of oxygen, seeing stars in his eyes. If he could be freed now, he would want to slap this long-haired scoundrel two times, always pinching other people's necks, what kind of thing is that? Let's do it openly and honestly.

  Just as Shi Yian felt like his lungs were going to burst, the white silk around his neck suddenly loosened.

  It turned out that Jin Niang had cut off her own white silk after cutting it, and then threw the knife over to rescue Shi Yi'an from the water and fire. Shi Yi'an grasped the opportunity to take two breaths, flipped his body and took out the giant thunder symbol.

  Taking advantage of the standoff between Jin Niang and the female ghost, Shi Yi's wrist moved slightly, and he threw out the talisman paper. The talisman paper floated gently and stuck to the back of the female ghost. One second passed, five seconds passed, Jin Niang and the female ghost had already started fighting, but the talisman still floated gently on the female ghost's back, nothing happened.

  "!!!!!!!!!""Can you be useful just once when it really matters?"