Chapter 46

“That’s fake! Don’t believe her—she’s deceiving you!” Song Qian rushed to Yun Chu’s side. She tried to pull her up, but her hand passed straight through. She couldn’t touch Yun Chu at all.

A profound sense of helplessness washed over Song Qian. She watched the woman lead Yun Chu into the Mountain God Temple. Desperate to follow, she took one step inside—only to be shoved back out by a tremendous force.

“What happened to you?”

Song Qian was covered in sweat. She turned to find Ji Wuxin tilting her head, eyes filled with worry.

She had been pushed out. What came next?

Wu Yizhi appeared to have finished recounting Yun Chu and Liuli’s tale. He was now crouched by the bedside, scrutinizing the figure lying there. The girl from the train stood guard nearby.

Song Qian craned her neck for a look. The person on the bed had their head lolled to the side. This time, she got a clear view of his face—it was the girl’s boyfriend, the male student who had scoffed at ghosts and spirits before. His face was gaunt and shriveled, eye sockets bulging grotesquely. He looked utterly horrifying.

Song Qian tugged Ji Wuxin close and whispered in her ear, “Where did he leave off in Yun Chu’s story?”

Ji Wuxin wiped the sweat from her brow and murmured back, “He only got as far as the spirit supplementing. Then that guy suddenly vomited blood, and he stopped.”

Song Qian fell into thought. Wu Yizhi hadn’t mentioned what happened after that. So what about the scenes she had witnessed? They had unfolded right before her eyes, vivid and real—not some illusion. Or had someone meant for her to see the truth?

Her finger was gently pinched. Song Qian glanced down to see Ji Wuxin toying with her fingertip, her expression one of clear displeasure.

She remembered now—she hadn’t answered Ji Wuxin’s question.

Mad again? She sure got angry easily.

Song Qian leaned toward the touchy Ji Wuxin and cooed softly in her ear, “I’ll tell you what I saw later.”

Ji Wuxin’s face lit up visibly. Her fingers shifted from pinching to gentle rubbing, stroking endlessly, as if she could never get enough.

Song Qian couldn’t help smiling, her eyes curving as she gazed at the top of Ji Wuxin’s head, tempted to reach out and ruffle her hair.

Her hand hadn’t even moved when she looked up to discover Liu Changsheng and Qi Buyu staring fixedly at her. Their postures were uncannily identical, and Qi Buyu wore an oddly creepy smile.

Song Qian quelled the urge to tousle hair and casually slipped her hand free from Ji Wuxin’s grasp.

Over there, Qi Buyu chuckled and prodded Liu Changsheng’s waist with her elbow. “Your little disciple and that pretty ghost make quite the pair.”

Liu Changsheng jolted, scooting away from Qi Buyu with exaggerated reaction, and let out a faint hum.

Qi Buyu eyed her up and down, gaze lingering on her waist before curling into a sly grin.

Liu Changsheng: “…”

The room was sealed tight, but faint sounds from outside still filtered in. A sudden gust of wind drew everyone’s attention. Wu Yizhi rose to his feet, eyes locked sharply on the door, which was plastered edge to edge with talisman paper.

“Night has fallen.”

His battle-ready stance set the others on edge. Liu Changsheng and Lin Qing moved in unison, placing themselves protectively in front of Song Qian and Qi Buyu.

Liu Changsheng shot Lin Qing an approving sidelong glance. Lin Qing perked up like he’d been injected with adrenaline, radiating the vibe of a warrior ready to clash with any ghost or monster outside for a hundred rounds.

Ji Wuxin clasped Song Qian’s wrist. “I’ll protect you.”

Song Qian eyed the row of backs before her and clenched her fist tighter in silence. She couldn’t hide behind Master and the others forever. She wouldn’t let Uncle Ji down. And she had to protect Ji Wuxin.

Slinging off her backpack, Song Qian retrieved the talisman papers she’d been practicing with lately. She positioned herself beside Ji Wuxin, eyes resolute. “Together.”

For some reason, Ji Wuxin found herself mesmerized by Song Qian’s determined profile. She had to admit, Song Sensen like this was so cool it made her knees weak. Song Qian might still be a total newbie in terms of power, but Ji Wuxin was already daydreaming about the day Song Sensen became unstoppable—shielding her from all threats, glaring down anyone who came for the jade and declaring, This is my ghost.

Aaaah—

Ji Wuxin squealed internally, electrified by her own fantasy.

“Tch.”

A dismissive tsk pulled Ji Wuxin back to reality. She whipped her head around to see Wu Yizhi eyeing her and shaking his head over and over.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Wu Yizhi let out an “ah” and spread his hands. “Nothing at all. Just caught someone spacing out all lovestruck.”

Qi Buyu promptly burst into laughter beside them.

Ji Wuxin: “…”

Lin Qing’s own tension eased as he saw the group unwind. “What was that? Nothing out there?”

Liu Changsheng’s expression softened too. She glanced at Wu Yizhi. “You did that on purpose?”

Wu Yizhi grinned mischievously, eyeing Song Qian and Qi Buyu. “Hey, don’t put it like that. Didn’t expect you to be shielding these two little girls.”

Something felt off to Liu Changsheng. Wu Yizhi gave her a weird vibe now, even though it was unmistakably him. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but it seemed like he’d known they were coming.

“You still haven’t finished Yun Chu’s story.”

Wu Yizhi rubbed his fingertips, itching for a smoke—but the room forbade it. He sighed in resignation. “What else is there? Yun Chu just did some regrettable things to supplement the spirit of the Liuli Lantern, that’s all.”

He was holding back on the rest… or maybe he didn’t know?

Song Qian studied him, suspicion brewing.

What connection did he have to Yun Chu? She hadn’t spotted him in Yun Chu’s memories.

“Little miss, staring like that gives you away.” Wu Yizhi met Song Qian’s eyes. His pitch-black gaze held no light—like a viper lurking in shadows, poised to lash out its tongue.

Song Qian ducked her head quickly, chills prickling her back. “Sorry.”

Liu Changsheng stepped in front, blocking his line of sight, and snapped without ceremony, “Don’t scare my disciple. She’s got a timid streak—if you freak her out, you footing the bill?”

“Whoa, disciple!” Wu Yizhi’s demeanor flipped. He jabbed a finger at Liu Changsheng, reverting to his usual slacker grin. “You, so broke you don’t have a dime to your name, snagged a disciple? Bet you couldn’t even swing the apprenticeship fee.”

Liu Changsheng’s face darkened. She fixed him with an icy glare. Say that in front of her disciple?

Wu Yizhi held her stare without flinching.

They locked eyes until they ached. Liu Changsheng blinked first, her prayer beads whirring faster than usual in her hand. She was fuming, no doubt.

The wind howled on outside. Silence blanketed the room. Leaning against Ji Wuxin, Song Qian drifted toward sleep.

Crack… crack…

The grotesque grind of bones twisting reverberated through every corner. Song Qian’s eyes flew open. For a split second, she thought she’d slipped into Yun Chu’s memory again. Realizing it was still this room brought a faint pang of disappointment. She desperately wanted to know what became of Yun Chu.

The male student on the bed bolted upright. Eyes shut, his arms writhed unnaturally.

“Uncle Wu, he’s…” The girl clapped a hand over her mouth, stifling sobs.

Wu Yizhi raised a finger to his lips, then quietly drew her back.

The male student’s limbs kept contorting. He bucked at the waist and lurched to his feet in a stance straight out of a zombie flick—mindless, shambling, ready to lunge and bite.

And that’s exactly what he did. He wrenched his head sideways, forcing it nearly backward until it could go no further. Only then did he halt and slowly pry open his eyes—eyes clouded and wrong, far too old for his years.

His eyeballs swiveled unnaturally, raking over everyone in the room. They lingered on Song Qian and Ji Wuxin for several long seconds.

Moments later, they swung back, blazing with madness impossible to ignore. Fixated on Ji Wuxin, he lolled out his tongue. Thick drool trailed from his chin, soaking into his shirtfront.

He looked every inch the zombie now.

Revulsion churned in Song Qian’s gut. She stepped in front of Ji Wuxin. As expected, the male student’s face twisted into frenzied fury, his glare at Song Qian savage and feral.

“Song Qian, the bell!”

Liu Changsheng’s command cut through the air. Song Qian whipped out the bell and a talisman paper. She’d mastered activating it this way.

Ding-a-ling—

Song Qian jangled her wrist, and the chimes pealed relentlessly into the male student’s ears. His gaze went slack, his features smoothing from their snarl. It was working!

Minutes of ringing later, he slumped bonelessly onto the bed. The girl flung herself atop him, clutching his hand and weeping, his name tumbling from her lips.

Song Qian sighed to herself: Even now, she won’t quit. That’s true love.

“What’s happened to him?” Liu Changsheng approached Wu Yizhi.

Wu Yizhi burned a talisman to make talisman water, then handed it to the girl and told her to feed it to the boy.

He turned back and finally answered Liu Changsheng: “Didn’t I say it before? It’s the Mountain God’s blessing.”

“Bullshit,” Liu Changsheng cursed.

Wu Yizhi laughed for a moment before his expression turned serious: “It’s Yun Chu. She extracted his emotions.”

People have seven emotions, six desires, three souls, and seven po. What they call extracting a person’s innate joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure is actually just extracting their soul.

“Extracting souls…” Liu Changsheng’s face darkened as her tone involuntarily grew cold. “The person who came up with this method for spirit supplementing deserves to die.”

Extracting souls from living people is a great taboo to begin with. Judging by the state of this village, that Yun Chu probably didn’t leave many people alive.

Lin Qing chimed in from the side: “She really does deserve to die! No matter how much you like something, you can’t just go around extracting souls!”

“Does extracting souls kill people?” Song Qian didn’t quite understand the concept of soul extraction.

“If a person’s soul is extracted, they won’t die, but they’ll lose a lot of things—just like what Wu Yizhi said earlier about emotions being extracted. Emotions are part of the three souls and seven po.”

“Those who have their souls extracted usually go mad or become mentally abnormal. Some fall into endless sleep and turn into vegetables. It all depends on which part of the soul was taken.”

After Liu Changsheng finished speaking, she looked at Wu Yizhi with some confusion: “You said his emotions were extracted, but does spirit supplementing even require those things?”

“Because what Yun Chu is doing now isn’t spirit supplementing. She wants the spirit in the Liuli Lantern to have emotions.”

To give a spirit human emotions, she’d go so far as to extract other people’s souls to make up for it? From the corner of her eye, Song Qian glanced at Ji Wuxin and couldn’t help but think: Will Ji Wuxin ever have emotions for me?

She couldn’t stop herself from imagining that if Ji Wuxin were emotionless toward her, would she end up doing something just as absurd and insane as Yun Chu?

She… probably wouldn’t.

As Song Qian thought this, disappointment began burying her heart, and just when her dejection nearly overwhelmed her completely, her fingertips were suddenly pinched.

She looked over and saw Ji Wuxin playing with her fingers again. Noticing that Song Qian had caught her little action, Ji Wuxin looked up and gave her a smile.

It was a very silly smile, but Song Qian felt like it yanked her entire being out of the darkness. She brushed away the gloom in her heart and reached out to grip Ji Wuxin’s hand in return.

No matter whether she has emotions or not, as long as Ji Wuxin stays by her side, that’s enough.