Chapter 2

Ghosts Know What I Experienced

Translator: Aeryn

Editor: ReluctantEditor

Chapter 2

The setting sun slowly fell. Half of its body had already fallen under the horizon. Only a little bit of afterglow sprinkled on Earth.

During this period in the evening, many children were being led home by their parents to eat dinner. They left the recreational area of the community, walking on a curved path. A strand of black colored aura climbed slowly from the soil. Passing through their bodies, it slowly crept towards a certain direction.

No one noticed the black aura. But when the black aura passed through their bodies, they all unconsciously felt a shudder. And in Xi Jia's apartment, numerous black auras poured in through the gaps in the doors and windows nearly at the level of being visible to the naked eye.

The black auras were like clouds on mountains, filling from the four corners of the kitchen to the center little by little.

In the middle of the kitchen, Xi Jia crouched on the ground and picked up the jade that broke into three pieces. He knitted his brows. With some anger, he set the black kitten down from his arms to the ground.

The black kitten didn't know what it did wrong. Blinking its pair of big wet eyes, it looked at Xi Jia ignorantly. Seeing that Xi Jia wouldn't hold it, it stretched the tip of its tongue, licking Xi Jia's fingers in a flattering way.

After a long sigh, Xi Jia picked up the little fellow again. At the same time, he put the three broken jade pieces into his pocket. He left the kitchen in large strides, turning a blind eye to the black auras. By the time he went to the living room to change shoes, the black auras have already flooded the kitchen.

The black qi gradually condensed in the kitchen, revealing a blurry figure of a woman.

Xi Jia's head remained lowered as he changed his shoes, seemingly not seeing anything. But, lying on his shoulders, the little black cat's fur stood on end. Its four paws stepped on Xi Jia's shoulder. The whole cat kept hiding on the other side of his shoulder. There was not one unsteady step as it directly fell into Xi Jia's pocket. The black kitten simply curled up. It shivered in fear, burying its small head deep into the pocket.

In the kitchen, the body of the black qi condensed into shape. It was a middle-aged woman who was about forty some years old. Her head hung low, and her water grass style hair was full of sand and gravel. The hair was all wet. The pungent odor of blood blew over. A "water drop" fell from her hair, and landed on the white tiles, staining a piece blood red.

The hair was actually wet not from water but entirely from blood.

Xi Jia finished changing his shoes, and grabbed his key, ready to go out. The black kitten hid in his pocket, whimpering. Suddenly, the female ghost raised her head. From within her black hair, it exposed a pair of wretchedly white eyeballs. She madly rushed at Xi Jia. Her black hair instantly soared and divided into six bundles. Like a long whip, it went straight towards the back of his head.

Xi Jia's footsteps made a few pauses. His twirled his fingers on his right hand, gradually forming a fist. A formless and unknown blood color aura coiled around his fingers. The moment the hair stabbed over, he turned his head to the right, one hand grabbing. But at this time, he just heard a—

Vzzzt!1

"Ahhhhh!!!"

A black shadow pierced through the window, and landed on the female ghost's hair. The hair immediately ignited into a raging fire. The female ghost turned around in horror and ran. But the black shadow, like maggots feeding on a corpse, instantly penetrated the chest of the female ghost.2 Making a droning noise, the female ghost dissipated, turning back to a mob of black qi.

Xi Jia immediately turned his head, dumbfoundedly staring at the black qi that escaped from the apartment. He hadn't had the time to react when the front door was being knocked on. He subconsciously opened the door. The two people looked up, but were both stunned.

A man in a black trench coat stood at the entrance outside of his apartment. He hadn't put his right hand down yet, obviously from just knocked on the door. He had an extremely good looking face with a high nose, handsome eyebrows, and long deep eyes. In his right eye, there's a light mole hidden. This face didn't lose to any celebrities. After finely looking at this mole, a chill came from the soles of his feet straight to his heart.

Xi Jia saw this stranger mysteriously appear at his own home's doorstep, his brows tightly knit, still looking at himself up and down. Then this man, for an unknown reason, suddenly closed his eyes. He put his finger on his lips and recited a few words silently. Then, he used his finger to tap on his eyelids.

After finishing everything, only then did he open his eyes to face Xi Jia.

Xi Jia, "……"

The black clothed man, "……"

After a moment, a low and smooth voice sounded, "Wu Xiang Qing Li."

Whoosh!

A broken sound of wind glided over Xi Jia's ears, raising a few hairs. It flew into the hands of this male stranger. When Xi Jia finally noticed, the black shadow that simply pummelled the female ghost's soul until it went flying and scattering earlier, actually turned out to be a strange-looking bronze polyhedron.

The two people were once again in a long silence. But not long after, more black auras crept up from the elevator and stairs. The man tightened his long brows. With two fingers close together, he drew a golden rune on Xi Jia's door, "The yin energy is too strong. I only temporarily sealed it. First go in, then discuss."

Xi Jia had lived for 23 years. From beginning to end, this was his second time seeing a ghost hunting Celestial Master.3 In this world, there were plenty of ghosts. He could run into one or two every day. But ghost catching Celestial Masters were pitifully less. He didn't say more, turning his body sideways to let the male stranger enter his home.

On the front door, the rune that the man drew was constantly flashing with a golden light. There seemed to be no change, but there's not even a bit of black auras invading his apartment.

The black kitten timidly looked up from Xi Jia's pocket, looking around nervously. When it noticed that the black things were gone, it plunged into Xi Jia's arms at once. It shook its tail as if it was seeking comfort.

The black clothed man's expression was indifferent, "Black cats can communicate with the spirits, exorcise and repel aberrations. Why is this black cat so timid?"

While stroking the kitten, Xi Jia said, "That's why it's called Song Song."4

When Song Song heard its own name, it stuck out its tongue and licked Xi Jia's cheek. Actually, it was not ashamed, on the contrary, proud.

When he saw this man, Xi Jia knew he was seeing a real Celestial Master. If he was a fake Celestial Master, it would've been impossible to appear in front of him. If he was a half-baked Celestial Master, he perhaps would have splashed his body with dog blood the moment he saw him. It would've been impossible for the two people to enter the apartment with any peace in mind.

Next, Xi Jia spoke about his situation in a simple and clear way.

Life must have the Four Pillars of Destiny, corresponding to the stems and branches of the dates. The pillar of the year includes the year stem and year branch. The pillar of the month had the month stem and month branch. The pillar of the day had the day stem and day branch. The pillar of the hour had the hour stem and hour branch. With the four pillars of the year, month, day, and hours combined was precisely one's birthday, determining their destiny.5

Xi Jia's birth was such a coincidence, in fact, it wasn't a common coincidence. He was born on a yin year, yin month, yin day, and yin hour. In one high quality piece, he was born with a genuinely special body.6 When his mother became pregnant with him, it was also during a yin year, yin month, yin day, and yin hour. His mother also had birth complications and died due to obstructed birth. Xi Jia was born with his mouth stained with black colored blood. In this way, with such foundation of yin energy, he had a Body of Extreme Yin that was rarely seen in the world.7

Ordinarily, people with a bit more yin energy, at most they could occasionally see ghosts, making the people around them laugh. Xi Jia could see ghosts since he was small. Furthermore, he saw them everyday, also ghosts especially liked him. Until he was four years old, he ran into a crazy, old daoist. He gave him a rock, only then could he conceal his own yin energy, no longer being pressed by ghosts everyday and having sleep paralysis.

However, the daoist at the time said, "Your abundant yin energy, this old man has never saw before. Since your age is still small, it's possible to hold it back. I don't know when you're older. First, wear this stone, and have less contact with people. Especially when you're bigger, the more you need to be in less contact with people. Ordinary people can't handle your yin energy, bump into them a bit and an accident will happen. If it’s a small issue, they'll get sick. If it’s a big issue, they'll die."

Just like the daoist had said, before university, he only had to ignore the ghosts that were floating around, and Xi Jia could still live like a normal person. But after university, the yin energy in his body just silently spilled out.

Of the four roommates at the university, only Chen Tao's yang energy was the strongest. Xi Jia's every single strand of yin energy that was being suppressed the stone had no effect on him. Everyday, just being under the sun will make it disappear. So in these four years, Xi Jia only made one friend, Chen Tao, and also minimized contact with others.

Hearing to the very end, the man's brows knit tightly. After Xi Jia frankly expressed that he didn't know how to repair the jade, only thought about going out and see if a master at a gold shop can simply glue it together, the man shook his head and said, "This Mt. Tai stone already broke. There's no use gluing it back together. Mt. Tai stones are hard, it can't just casually break. It's just that your yin energy had permeated it for many years, and it became a blood red color, transparent like jade, it would still break with one bump. If it doesn't break today, then next month, it will also break by itself."

Speaking of, Xi Jia, eyes hanging, glanced at the black kitten in his arms.

So I couldn't completely blame you then?

Song Song immediately went up to rub.

Facing a genuine ghost hunting Celestial Master, Xi Jia showed a sincere expression, and honestly asked, "This stone is already broken, how should I hide the yin energy?"

"A Body of Extreme Yin, I have never seen it before. This is also not an ordinary Mt. Tai stone. I'm not good at hiding yin energy. There's no way at the moment." The man thought for a moment, eyes concentrating, then spread his fingers, "Wu Xiang Qing Li can temporarily hide your yin energy. Although I have no way, I know a person. He should have a way, I will go find him immediately."

Xi Jia is like every blind believer, believing in superstitions. An expression of excitement took over the bronze polyhedron in the man's hand.

Boom!

When Xi Jia's finger touched this bronze instrument, like when it first arrived, there seemed to be something in the world vanishing instantly again. The golden rune on the front door no longer flashed a golden light. The black colored auras in the community disappeared bit by bit. The sunset finally fell completely to the west, and S City officially entered the night.

Xi Jia gratefully looked up and said, "Master, I do not know how I may address you?"

The man in black was slightly stunned. It seemed that he didn't expect Xi Jia to ask this question. His eyes restrained, "My surname is Ye."

This Master Ye wasn't like those fake mystics that have a glib tongue. After Xi Jia finished saying his things, he got up and left. Before leaving, he let Xi Jia temporarily use his magic weapon to suppress the yin energy. He expressed that he would go find his friend, and perhaps had to wait a few days before he could come back.

Five minutes later, the Celestial Master surnamed Ye really left. Xi Jia extended his finger, booping Song Song's wet pink tip of the nose. The little brat was immediately dissatisfied, and pawed at his face.

Xi Jia stroked the greenish black bronze polyhedron. The corner of his lips helplessly rose.

"Among them ghost hunting Celestial Masters, there is still someone so simple? You are Song Song. That person just now, isn't he foolish……En, Dai Dai sounds a little better, let's just call him Dai Dai, okay?8 He just handed me his magic weapon. This should be his magic weapon, right? Still so ardently helping me resolve the problem……"

While carrying Song Song, Xi Jia went towards the kitchen, "In this world, there's still more good people, ah!"

Currently flying away from S City to the capital, the good person Ye Jingzhi, "……"

Although the blood colored jade that accompanied him since he was small was broken, the days still have to pass. As a 180-line bit part supporting actor, Xi Jia was not lacking money, but was also not rich.9 Ever since raising this gutless black kitten with a wicked mouth, he himself couldn't eat meat anymore, and actually gave Song Song cooked fish to eat everyday.

Seeing that his deposit in the bank card had fallen by four digits, Xi Jia greatly sensed his grim situation, and hurried to give Chen Tao a call. He hadn't finished dialing out yet, when Chen Tao actually took the initiative to call over, "Xi Jia, good news! Director Wang thinks that the scene you shot before was not bad, he wants to give you more scenes! You quickly come, shooting will start tomorrow. I guaranteed Director Wang that you would definitely come."

Xi Jia directly refused, "I've shot with this crew before, not going."

Chen Tao was angered, "Director Wang's being generous, what are you doing not going? Also you don't need to shoot that many scenes. I saw the script, there's a total of three scenes. You can finish shooting tomorrow. In the end, are you coming or not?"

Xi Jia, true to his words, "Not going. With crews I've already cooperated with, I won't go to them a second time in three months. You know this."

Chen Tao, "Really not going?"

Xi Jia, "Not going."

Chen Tao, "Three scenes for 10,000, still not going?"

Xi Jia, "……tomorrow, what time?"

Chen Tao gave a laugh, "A bit before noon is okay. Recently, there's something not quite right with the crew. Director Wang requested to start shooting at noon, but from morning to night they didn't start up the equipment. You know, Director Wang, this kind of second generation of an official, can shoot any kind of movie, but he had to choose this horror film as his debut work. Just because he is a little bit superstitious, always believing in any ghosts or not ghosts."

Xi Jia just casually said "En." this one word. Coping with the past, he packed up his suitcase that afternoon, then rushed to Pinghu Scenic Area.

Waiting until he rode the bus, transferring to a public bus, and after being bumped around for four hours, he arrived at the set, and he still haven't seen Chen Tao. He saw a deputy director rushing over. When he saw him, he said, "You are Xi Jia, right? Little Chen had an accident! He told me yesterday that you would come to the crew today. This way, you can first come with me to the crew. Anyways, there's only three scenes. It’s okay once you’re done shooting."

Xi Jia stopped in his steps, his expression no longer relaxed, "May I ask, what happened to Chen Tao?"

The deputy director was distracted for a moment, slapping his thigh once, "Sigh, it's not a big deal. He lost his footing yesterday night, and had fallen down from the mountain top. Fortunately, there were trees to cushion so it's not a big situation. He's lying at the hospital right now, life is no longer in danger. But his left leg is broken, and also seem to have broken a few ribs."

Xi Jia narrowed his eyes slightly, "How could Chen Tao fall down from the top of the mountain?"

Hearing this, the deputy director mysteriously glanced all around. Then, leaning towards Xi Jia's ear, he said in a small voice, "I’m only saying it to you, don't tell anyone else. I think Little Chen didn't slip, he ran into evil!"10

The Author has something to say:

Song Song: Meow meow, meow meow meow meow~ (Hello, my name is Song Song~)

Fuwa: Hello, my name is Fuwa~

Xi Jia: Hello, my name is Xi Jia~

Ye Jingzhi: …… (Anyways, not called Dai Dai.)

Translator’s Notes

1 嗡 Weng – a buzzing/humming/droning sound. Kinda destroys the mood if Buzz! was put, imo, so I settled with vzzzt.

2 跗骨之蛆 – idiom, lit. maggots feeding on a corpse. Fig. to cling on without letting go, pester obstinately

3 天师 Tianshi – Wiki has it as Celestial Master. More info here and here.

4 怂怂 Song Song – means terrified. Repeating a character as a name or nickname is considered cute. (Yes! No longer have to call it this little guy, little black cat, or black kitten!)

5 Four Pillars of Destiny – fortune telling based on birthdate, more info here.

6 于一块极品阴穴阵眼出生: The sentence I have isn't entirely wrong, but it's incorrect. Is it related to Fengshui or is it about the birthing process? My internet searches are giving me acupoints.

7 Body of Extreme Yin – the physique is as it sounds. The body has an abdunant amount of yin energy higher than normal. In case you don’t know, yin is the opposite of yang. Yin is female/cold/dark/etc. Yang is male/warm/light/etc. This is why Xi Jia is more often described as more pretty/beautiful/delicate than handsome.

8 呆呆 Dai Dai – means foolish or absentminded

9 180-line – refers to one of the major bus routes in Suzhou.

10 撞邪 encounter or run/bump into evil – to be possessed/haunted, can also mean having bad luck.