CH 41.2

Chapter 41-2: Your Temperature

“Xiang Nan, don’t listen to him, if worst comes to worst, we’re unable to leave this alley, he doesn’t dare come in anyway.” The female ghost suddenly said, “A human being’s lifespan is limited while we have all the time in the world, let’s just see who can hold out.”

“Still thinking of other ways?” When the middle-aged man heard the female ghost’s words, he suddenly smiled and pulled out his right hand, which he had been hiding in his trouser pocket, and raised it in front of him, gradually making a magical formula.

“Ah!” A scream was suddenly heard, Xiang Nan and the female ghost’s gazes followed the voice only to see Xiaokang who had been standing quietly to the side, inside a blue flame, screaming and rolling on the ground in pain.

“Stop, stop, you stop!” Xiang Nan rushed to the alley’s entrance angrily, his boundless yin energy attacked fiercely, but the middle-aged man was prepared as he had already retreated back two meters.

No matter how powerful Xiang Nan was, he still can’t leave the alley. Xiang Nan’s eyes were a bloody red, he desperately wanted to throw himself out.

With a loud bang, four thick, pitch-black chains no less than a baby arm’s width suddenly emerged from the ground, one end tied to the wall and the other end to Xiang Nan’s limbs.

The shackles thrashed along with Xiang Nan’s struggles, moving violently with ear-piercing crashing and banging sounds yet he was unable to throw them off even a little.

The middle-aged man saw it’s enough and retracted his hand; the blue flames that burned Xiaokang suddenly puffed out. He stopped screaming, but after trembling twice, he lay motionlessly on the ground.

“Xiaokang! Xiaokang, how do you feel?” the female ghost quickly hugged Xiaokang only to see Xiaokang’s normally ruddy face had turned pale, and the aura on his body was scarily weak; this was the sign that his soul was going to disperse, ah.

Xiang Nan had already calmed down a bit, he turned his head and looked at Xiaokang with red eyes and saw his younger brother whom he had carefully taken care of had become like this now; his heart felt so distressed and pained.

Forget it, forget it, he had long lost his obsession towards life and death anyway. Isn’t it just refining his soul? What’s the big deal? If he lost his mind, then there would be no Xiang Nan in heaven and earth, only a frenzied evil spirit left behind. Regardless of being reduced to a tool used by people or his soul scattered and disappeared to nothingness, he would then have no consciousness left to even feel anything.

He would just assume that from today, his soul had already disappeared.

“Let them go!” Xiang Nan said with unusual calmness.

“Have you straightened out your mind?” the middle-aged man showed a smile as he felt that he was about to succeed.

“Remember your words, transcend them when the soul refining is over.” Xiang Nan said.

“Of course!” the middle-aged man agreed straightforwardly.

After hearing the conversation between the two, the female ghost cried out anxiously, “No, Xiang Nan, don’t… I’ve already died once, I’m not afraid.”

Xiang Nan turned around, he gazed at the weeping female ghost, then walked towards her with his long slender legs, the pitch-black chains clanged along with the young man’s movements until he stopped before the female ghost.

Xiang Nan slowly squatted down, he looked at the hideously crying female ghost and leaned over, kissing her forehead under her surprised eyes.

“Xiang Nan…” the female ghost was stunned.

“Leave here with Xiaokang.” Xiang Nan whispered.

The female ghost looked at the young man, remembering the time when the two first met, when she had just died and became a new ghost. She’s someone who loved good-looking young men through and through, because she had never been in love before so she wanted to go to the best university in Imperial City to look at dashing and brilliant young men before she reincarnated. However, Imperial City’s auspicious aura was too strong, and she wasn’t strong enough to get close to it, that’s why she had to squat on the side of the road closest to Imperial University, stealing peeks at those handsome young men coming and going.

One day she followed a handsome guy into this alley and was suddenly called by the soft sound of a child, “Sister, are you going to harm someone?”

The female perverted ghost was taken aback for a second, and when she came back to her senses, she realized that it was just a little ghost kid, so she couldn’t help but say fiercely, “You brat talking nonsense, be careful or I’ll hit you.”

“Who are you going to hit?”

Following a cold sounding sound, the female ghost saw the most beautiful person she had ever seen in her life, it turned out there really are people in this world who perfectly fit the portrayal described and praised in songs and poems.

From then on, the female perverted ghost began to frequently appear around the alley, trying to peek at the beauty.

One day Xiaokang asked her, “Sister Weiwei, why don’t you go reincarnate?”

“I want to collect 999 handsome men.”

“That much, ah, have you collected all of them yet?”

“If I can’t collect them all, then I’ll come and kiss your brother, I will be satisfied if I can kiss him, ah.”

The female ghost remembered when she finished saying this, she was slapped by an angry Xiang Nan. However, she didn’t expect her wish to be realized today.

“Go!” Xiang Nan stood up to make way for the female ghost.

She was silent for a moment, then grit her teeth, hugged the motionless Xiaokang, bowed her head, and walked out of the alley. She slowly approached the middle-aged man who was standing at the alley’s entrance step by step.

The man naturally sensed her hostility, but he could just pinch such a weak ghost to death with a single finger, so he didn’t mind the other party’s threat to his mind.

The female ghost walked step by step, and right at the moment when she passed by the middle-aged man, she suddenly turned violent, her fingernails grew longer and she pierced them towards the man’s heart.

“Courting death!” a burst of energy came out from the man, and it struck both the female ghost and Xiaokang.

Xiang Nan flew to catch them only to find the female ghost, who once had a somewhat clean aura, already had a pale face with red eyes, all of her body was surrounded by pitch-black resentment.

“You…” Xiang Nan wanted to say more but hesitated.

“I’m really useless, even if I become an evil spirit, I’m still so useless!” The female ghost’s fragile soul body was already a little unstable after being harmed by the man’s attack.

Xiang Nan looked at the two souls in his embrace, both of their bodies were no longer stable. With a gaze full of hate, he stared at the middle-aged man fiercely, “You said that you won’t hurt them.”

“It’s her that overestimated her strength, a mantis trying to obstruct a chariot, if it wasn’t because of you, then her soul would already scatter away right now.” The middle-aged man suddenly crouched down and picked up a yellow charm from the ground, something that fell down when the female ghost flew from his attack, “Sensor Talisman, you’re quite capable, ah, you actually can find a Celestial Master to help you.”

The middle-aged man unfolded the talisman paper and sneered after he looked at the smooth incantation lines on it, “Unexpectedly, there’s someone who dares to snatch something that I have my sight on, this person is simply tired of living.”

Halfway through the exam, Chen Yu finished all the questions that she could possibly answer, while the rest were untouched, and now she planned to calculate her score. If she can get 70 points, then she wants to hand in the exam, after all, there’s still 10 points the teacher will deduct, the passing score shouldn’t be too big. If she can’t get 70 points, then she will persist, she can get a few points for writing a few more steps, right? [T/N: not quite sure with my tl here. PR: Chen Yu thinks she will get some points for showing some work even if she doesn’t get the correct answer.]

Just when she counted 50 points in, Chen Yu suddenly felt the aura inside her body go out of control; it was expanding and spinning in her dantian like it was about to explode. [dantian: an acupuncture point three inches below the navel, usually believed to be the place where people’s energy gathers inside]

BOOM!

Chen Yu fell from her seat and coughed desperately on the ground.

“Classmate, what’s wrong with you?” Seeing that Chen Yu suddenly fell to the ground, the proctor hurried over to check.

Chen Yu raised her head, there was no blood in her face, oh god, the cramp.

“Classmate, why is your complexion so bad? Do you want me to send you to the infirmary?” Seeing the color on Chen Yu’s face, the proctor asked in worry.

“Teacher, I’m okay!” Chen Yu arranged her breathing, letting the restless spiritual energy in her body calm down before she stood up straight with the help of the teacher. She grabbed the test paper on the table and handed it to the proctor and said, “Teacher, I’m handing in the paper.”

Chen Yu turned and walked to the podium, took the bag she put there and strode out of the classroom.

Who’s brave enough to attack me, your grandaunt! [T/N: grandaunt here is a vulgar way for a woman to refer to herself in a verbal fight]

Chen Yu walked out of the classroom angrily, turned towards the stairs, found a corner with no one in sight, flipped her hands, and drew a symbol in the air, “Heaven and earth spirits, descend!”

Immediately after Chen Yu’s words fell, a golden charm formed in the air. This was the ultimate pinnacle of spiritual charms, the Spirit Descending Charm. Legend has it that in ancient times when magic was thriving, the Spirit Descending Charm could invite immortals, but now in the age where magic was vanishing, it can only give spirituality / intelligence to the talisman. [T/N: I confess, I’m only guessing with these words here]

Chen Yu saw the spell forming, felt the source of power just now in her heart and pointed her finger, “Go!”

The talisman suddenly passed through the wall and flew straight to the alley’s entrance not far away.

Chen Yu picked up her bag and was about to chase the talisman when she heard a chuckle from above.

Chen Yu raised her head in surprise and saw a handsome young man smiling at her, “Classmate, you still have to study for exams, heaven and earth spirit formulas are useless!”

Chen Yu didn’t have time to pay attention to him. She smiled awkwardly and ran out with her bag in her hands. The boy saw Chen Yu was embarrassed so he didn’t say anything more, only smiling as he went down the stairs.

The school entrance was very close to where Chen Yu took her exam, she ran so fast she attracted the attention of numerous students on the campus.

Meanwhile, in an alley near the Imperial University, the middle-aged man had finished giving the talisman’s master a lesson. He looked at Xiang Nan and said, “I’m giving you face so I’ll let her off this time, if there’s another time, then don’t blame me for being impolite.”

“Xiang Nan, don’t, don’t…” the female ghost still wanted to stop Xiang Nan.

“My patience is limited.” The man reminded him.

Xiang Nan picked up the female ghost and Xiaokang at the same time, walked step by step to the other exit, and pushed them out using strength.

“No, don’t…” the female ghost looked at Xiang Nan with eyes full of tears, but she couldn’t reach him no matter how.

“Brother, brother.” Xiaokang also woke up at this time and called Xiang Nan while mumbling.

Xiang Nan closed his eyes and abruptly turned around, no longer looking at the two behind him. The hostility in his body kept surging stronger and stronger until the soul-refining array on the wall was fully activated, constantly devouring his hostile energy and drawing out his soul at the same time.

This type of soul-refining array continuously absorbs an evil spirit’s hostile energy, after it has absorbed enough energy, it will begin to absorb the evil spirit’s soul body. After the evil spirit becomes extremely weak, the Celestial Master will be able refine it. Originally, these procedures required the Celestial Master to defeat the evil spirit themselves and right when the evil spirit’s soul was about to disperse, he could use a Soul-Refining array.

What Xiang Nan was doing was weakening his own energy until his soul was unable to resist, then the man in front of him could walk inside the alley to refine his soul without much effort.

The middle-aged man saw Xiang Nan was finally resigned to his fate and he was about to get another powerful ghost-servant, so he couldn’t help but showing a wide smile full of satisfaction.

BOOM!

Just as the middle-aged man was smiling triumphantly, a golden spell suddenly flew from behind, and a powerful spiritual force exploded on him. The man hadn’t noticed it and he was caught off guard by the impact of the spiritual force, sending him flying inside the alley.

Xiang Nan saw the man unexpectedly enter the alley, he changed into a black shadow in the blink of an eye and rushed over as boundless evil energy completely surrounded the man until he had no way of escaping.

After the middle-aged man was caught by Xiang Nan, he quickly reacted and took out a mahogany sword from his sleeves to fight Xiang Nan.

Xiang Nan was itching to tear him apart, he was frenzied; he kept attacking frantically without thinking about defending himself.

The middle-aged man defended himself in a flurry, he needed to find a chance to leave the alley as soon as possible. As long as he can leave the alley, he can grab the little ghost and Xiang Nan wouldn’t dare to mess around no matter how powerful he was.

The middle-aged man sacrificed an advanced level talisman to shake Xiang Nan away, and he was finally able to run to the entrance through a gap. However, Chen Yu had arrived right then. In her eyes, there was no monstrous evil energy emitting from Xiang Nan, only the familiar aura coming from the man before her.

You bastard, you’re the one who attacked this grandaunt!

Chen Yu directly brandished her compass as she raised her hand and threw it forcefully.

The poor man hadn’t stood firmly when he was slapped back inside the alley by a huge spiritual energy.

Author’s NOTE:

Xishi: You actually attacked me while I’m taking my exam, what if I fail my finals?

Third Young Master: There’s still me, I’ll tutor you.

Xishi: Then I won’t kill him, only hit until half dead…