Chapter 12 Test

  Eight months later

  。

  "Have you really thought it through and are ready to take the test?" asked Master Shi's old man once again.

  "I'm sure."

  Shi Yi'an has been at the Shi Manor for over a year since he arrived last year, and he has already learned almost all the basic things about Taoist magic. Even his eldest uncle, who is always picky, said that what Shi Yi'an lacks now is not learning but practice.

  "I'll remind you one last time, so you don't forget again." The old man said seriously: "All descendants of the Shi family have only one chance to take the test. Only after passing the test can they enter the cave behind the ancestral hall to find their own guardian. Those who fail the test will lose all the Taoist skills they learned before, seal their spiritual power, and become ordinary people from then on. Are you ready?"

  "I'm ready." Shi Yi'an confirmed once again.

  Upon hearing Shi Yian's confident answer, the old man nodded his head in relief and said: "The test will be held three days later. During these three days, go prepare what you need to pass the test."

  Shi Yi'an lay on a rocking chair wearing sunglasses and said to Shi Yi Xing beside him: "Have you taken the test?"

  "Every single one of the Shī family's descendants has taken part. Moreover, this kind of test isn't unique to just the Shī family; every family has something similar. They just have different focuses, that's all." said Shī Yì Xíng.

  "What is it testing in general?" Shi Yi'an was still curious.

  "It's quite simple, usually just letting you go to the mountain to handle a case or something, eliminating a few small ghosts, completing it and passing through, if not, then you're done for. Ah, don't worry, it's usually not very difficult." Master Xing spoke with a schadenfreude expression on his face.

  These three days were supposed to be for preparation, but in fact, Shi Yian himself didn't have much to prepare for. The Shi family's way of capturing demons and exorcising evil spirits had always been low-key, luxurious, and profound, never doing anything useless. They only needed to bring the necessary items to be ready for battle.

  After some thought, I packed a set of spare clothes and some toiletries and was ready to hit the road. On the day of the test, it was my third uncle who drove me there. The car stopped in front of an old apartment building, which was originally designed by a Japanese person and had a lot of character. Inside this over 10-story tall building, there were at least several dozen small rooms, each no larger than a block of tofu. The grey exterior wall was peeling off in patches due to dampness, and the walls on the side of the building were covered with ivy climbing up them. I don't know if it was because the soil here was too fertile or if the ivy was just too strong, but as I stood at the bottom of the building squinting my eyes, I saw that the ivy had even climbed all the way to the top of the building.

  Shi Yi'an only needed to stand in front of the building to feel that the entire building was gloomy.

  "It's here," said Third Uncle.

  Although the place is not very clean, because the room is small and the price is cheap, most of the houses have been rented out. The people who live here are mostly working or studying here, because they are short of money or were cheated into living in this place.

  Third Uncle handed a handbag to Shi Yian.

  "You have three days to independently resolve the matters of this building. Any attempt to call for help during this period will be considered as automatic abandonment, which represents your test failure. If the matter cannot be resolved after three days, it is also a test failure." Third Uncle said, and helped Shī Yì ān take out the backpack from the trunk.

  Third Uncle was about to leave after settling everything, and before he left, he said to Shi Yi'an: "Don't force yourself or show off, if you really can't solve it, just call home, there's nothing more important than being alive."

  "I know, I'm not that foolish." Shi Yi'an smiled and nodded reassuringly at Third Uncle.

  Third Uncle's car turned around and left, Shi Yi let out a long sigh, stretched his arms to relax his body, and decided to take a look at what was inside the large embroidered pouch that Third Uncle had left for him.

  In the empty paper bag, there was only a bunch of keys with a house number tag, a bulging wallet, and an old Nokia phone that could only make calls and send texts. The phone had only one number saved, with the contact name: "Save me!"

  The person who set this phone contact is either Shi Yixing or Xiao Shu, only these two people can be so boring.

  Put the phone in his pocket and picked up the key to take a look, on which was written 12B layer 5.

  Because the designer was superstitious about the number 13, all the 13th floors in the building were changed to 12B. Despite this, it did not change the fact that the building was a haunted house. According to Third Uncle's previous information, three tenants who lived in room 12B5 had hanged themselves to death one after another.

  It was high noon, when the yang energy was at its strongest. As soon as Shi Yifan pushed open the door, he was still startled by a chill that ran down his spine. The small room with only one bed and one table looked clean, apparently someone had cleaned it before he arrived. Shi Yifan threw his backpack onto the table and lay down on the bed without even taking off his shoes.

  He didn't plan to stay here for three days anyway, Shi Yinan was very confident, he planned to solve the problem quickly tonight and return to the mountain tomorrow.

  This room is actually quite quiet, ghosts are like dogs, barking dogs don't bite people, mischievous ghosts won't really harm you either. Those ghosts that make your toilet water bloody and make your doorbell ring for no reason usually only have that ability. The truly terrifying ghosts are the ones that come straight up wanting to take your life.

  Shi Yi relied on it being daytime, no matter how powerful the demons and ghosts were, they didn't dare to come out and roam around. He safely and soundly slept in bed until dusk, when he lazily got up, stretched his waist, and prepared to go out for dinner.

  Since being ambushed by the female ghost at Jin Niang's place last time, Shi Yian has learned a lesson. As a heavenly master, talismans and medicinal pills are his life-saving treasures, which must be carried with him at all times. After all, demons and ghosts won't give you a heads up before they appear. Before going out, Shi Yian found a waist bag and rolled up the talismans he needed to use and put them inside. He also took out a few red tickets from his wallet and stuffed them into the waist bag. He planned to eat something good outside and have a full stomach to get things done.

  The house is located in the suburbs, Shi Yinan searched for a long time before finding a relatively clean fast food restaurant. He ordered a set meal inside and sat down by the window.

  With a full stomach, Shi Yian stroked his belly contentedly and leaned back in his chair. This was the second floor of the restaurant, with an excellent view, just good enough to see the building where Shi Yian currently lived. Almost all the households in the building had turned on their lights, but the light from each household was dim, as if shrouded in a layer of fog.

  Watching the sun slowly sink into darkness, Shi Yian stood up and stretched his muscles, ready to get to work.

  As soon as Shi Yinan stepped into the apartment building's entrance, he felt a chill run down his spine, and the lights at the door flickered in sync.

  "Hmph, a small trick." Shi Yi's mouth curved slightly as he walked straight to the elevator and pressed the button. The apartment building was old, the dark green elevator had long been rusty, and even when opening and closing the doors, it made an ear-piercing scraping sound.

  Shi Yi'an pressed the button for 12B and waited for the elevator doors to close. A little girl wearing a school uniform bounced into the elevator, her uniform was a style popular in the 90s, and on her pink backpack was still painted Sailor Moon, it seemed that this little girl had also been dead for some years.

  The little girl stood in the elevator, mischievously pressing all the floor buttons at once, then smiled brightly at Shi Yian, waiting for her panicked expression.

  Shi Yi An turned her head slightly and smiled: "Is it fun?"

  "Ah." The little girl's face was full of terror as she stuck to the elevator wall, vigilantly staring at Shi Yian, as if Shi Yian were a ghost.

  "Don't be afraid, I'm not a ruthless killer." However, despite Shi Yi's gentle tone, the little girl still looked terrified and rushed out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened.

  Good grief, am I really that scary-looking?

  The elevator stopped on the thirteenth floor, and Shi Yian walked out of the elevator, but unexpectedly saw a yellow talisman posted on the door of the household directly opposite the elevator. The talisman was drawn very amateurishly, if you want to calm down two innocent little ghosts, it's not a big deal, but if you really encounter an evil spirit, this thing is no more useful than a photo of Feng Jie.

  Shī Yì ān walked over, pulled out a pen from his pocket, and added two strokes to the talisman. The effect of the talisman increased instantly. He turned around and left quietly, saying "Don't thank me too much, just call me Lei Feng."

  No. 5 was on the left side of the elevator, just a few meters away. Shi Yian took out the key and opened the door, but unexpectedly didn't feel any ghostly aura. Nor did he know where the ghost had hidden itself. Shi Yian searched around inside and outside for several rounds, but felt nothing unusual. In the end, he could only go to the bathroom to wash up simply, lie on the bed and start feigning sleep, planning to lure the ghost out.

  However, this ghost was also very patient and didn't come out for the whole night until later when Shi Yinan's fake sleep turned into real sleep, and there was still no movement in the room.

  When Shi Yi'an woke up from his sleep, it was already the next morning. Had this ghost gone out last night?

  Shi Yian sat up dazedly, staring blankly at the swirling dust in the air. It seemed he would have to spend another night here. Shi Yian entered the bathroom and found that the water heater was on, but he had no memory of turning it on. He turned the valve, and hot water poured down from the showerhead. Shi Yian took a refreshing bath and went downstairs to eat with renewed energy.

  When Shi Yian went downstairs, she still took the elevator. The inner wall of the elevator should have been installed with a mirror, but the mirror surface had long been covered by various small advertisements for drainage channels and door locks. A working man holding a leather bag stood in the corner, occasionally pushing up his glasses and stealing glances at Shi Yian.

  Shi Yi'an had already noticed him from the moment he stepped into the elevator. This person was wearing a suit that didn't fit well, and at first glance, it was clear that it was a uniform made by the company. Although his leather shoes were very clean, the creases on the surface of the shoes revealed that this pair of low-quality leather shoes had been worn for a long time.

  "Hey, Master." The elevator stopped on the first floor, and just as Shi Yi'an was about to leave, the man finally mustered up the courage to call out to him.

  Wow, this man has two brushes, and he can actually tell that he is a heavenly master.

  Shi Yi stopped and turned around to look at the man, saying: "How did you know I'm a Tian Shi?"

  The man adjusted his glasses and smiled, saying: "Master, I'm really sorry, but your talisman is about to fall out."

  Finally managed to put on a handsome look, but ended up with an awkward smile, said thank you, and lowered his head to pull up his waist bag.

  "Master, were you invited by the landlord of this building?" the man asked.

  "No, I live here."

  The man listened and continued: "Master, isn't this a haunted house?"

  "It's not a haunted house, but it's indeed a bit unclean." Shi Yian was just telling the truth. The place had a heavy yin energy, but the resentment was far less than the yin energy, so it didn't reach the level of a haunted house.

  "We're okay living here, right? My wife is pregnant now and I'm worried." the man asked nervously.

  "I can't guarantee that." Shi Yi'an himself was still a novice and didn't dare to speak recklessly. He paused for a moment, thinking of what his younger uncle had told him before - catching ghosts as a Heavenly Master was like solving a case as a detective, sometimes it wasn't as simple as it seemed on the surface. What they needed to do was to peel away the layers and find the truth in the end. So he asked the man: "Speaking of which, when did this place start becoming like this?"

  The man shook his head and said, "I'm not clear either. Actually, I haven't lived here for long. At the time, I rented this place just to save money, but after moving in, I found out there were problems. However, I've already paid a year's rent, so if I don't live here, I'll have to sleep on the streets. Oh dear, I'm going to be late, Master. Let's talk about it when we get back, let's talk about it when we get back."

  Watching the man hurry away, Shi Yinan finally found a solution to the problem. After breakfast, he found a small district nearby and saw an old lady sitting in the yard, so he squatted down and chatted with her.

  "Grandma, I'm a student from the nearby university and I'm doing a survey. I was wondering if there are any local legends about haunted houses or anything like that." Shī Yì ān had just graduated for less than a year, and the bookish air around him hadn't dissipated yet. Plus, he had a fairly handsome face, which made him meet all the requirements of being a "teacher's pet".

  Several old ladies saw that Shi Yian was handsome and had a sweet mouth, and they all smiled like flowers, rushing to answer: "Yes, there is a small courtyard near the City God Temple, where it is said to be haunted."

  "That high school wasn't said to be haunted a while ago, and many kids jumped off the building." said the one in yellow.

  "No, you're wrong, high school was because of the teacher."

  Shi Yi'an listened to this and thought, "What's going on here? If these old ladies really get into it, they'll be talking about ghosts running wild all over the place." Shi Yi'an hastily guided them back on track: "I was asking if there are any high-rise buildings that are particularly haunted?"

  With this reminder, the one in green clothes slapped his thigh and said: "How could we have forgotten that the gray apartment building across the street is haunted?"