Chapter 312

On a quiet, late night, an extremely lewd toe‑picking big man smirked and came over, saying, "Let's have a blow?" If anyone were in my position, they'd either be scared enough to call the police or just jump straight off the second floor.

What are you doing? Making such a fuss—if you don't like blowing, I'll do it myself. Pangzi immediately reached into his pocket and rummaged.

I looked puzzled, but I wanted to see… how he blows.

Three seconds later, Pangzi pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed me one.

Want to have a blow?

I… damn it, Pangzi, you're using the wrong verb—cigarettes are smoked, not blown.

Pangzi gave me a contemptuous glance, as if looking at a country bumpkin. He made a pursed‑lip pose.

You inhale the smoke, don't you then have to blow it out?

…With that explanation, I'm utterly convinced.

Pangzi said impatiently, "Do you want to have a blow or not?"

I shook my head and said, "That's not right—QingSongShu seems not to allow us to smoke."

QingSongShu doesn't forbid us smoking because he's being overly strict; it's because smoke is evil fire, which makes liver fire flare up, and smoking too much prevents one from entering meditation when sitting.

I think it's a waste to leave those cigarettes lying around, and we don't smoke often—just one now out of boredom. Pangzi smacked his lips and said, "Come on, have one."

Indeed, the Chan Yi Hall is piled with cigarettes others gave us; not smoking them really feels wasteful.

I took one, held it in my mouth, and reached out to ask Pangzi for a lighter.

I don't have a lighter, do you? Pangzi asked me in surprise.

…Not bringing a lighter to smoke—you're quite the oddball.

But luckily, I seemed to still have a small box of matches in my pocket; thinking of that, I reached into my pocket and pulled the matches out.

By accident, the purple thing I had just picked up fell out with the matches, clinking on the ground.

As I handed the lighter to Pangzi, I also bent over to pick up the bell.

Just as I bent down, the incandescent light in the studio flashed twice and then went out completely.

Pangzi, be careful.

While warning Pangzi, I held the ghost‑roasting stick in front of my chest; it was fine before, so why did the power suddenly cut out?

With a snap, Pangzi turned the light back on.

Damn, Hai Sheng, look behind you. Pangzi gaped, pointing at the blackboard.

I turned around and stared, too. A bloody little bird had truly appeared on the blackboard, every stroke perfectly natural—except that the bird had no legs.

Blood flowed from the bird's severed legs, drop by drop onto the floor. I couldn't describe my feelings at that moment, for the bird on the wall gave me an indescribable sensation.

Although the blood flowed from the bird's severed legs, the owner's painting skill was so superb that the two merged into a wondrous atmosphere—sorrowful, wandering, yet not gloomy.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in from outside, making the old window shudder. Sometime later, a long‑haired woman in white appeared outside, her face indistinct, but I knew she was watching me.

In the blink of an eye, it was like a cinematic montage; before I could react, she was already before my eyes.

At that moment, the sword finger I had behind me was already charged with a talisman; I twisted my wrist, and the sword finger, gripping the Guan Di Slay‑Evil talisman, lunged straight at the female ghost's face.

"Give it back, give me," the female ghost's not‑so‑deep voice sounded in my ear; she lifted her head, letting me see the face hidden beneath her hair, and I froze instantly.

"Heaven covers, earth covers, year covers, month covers, day covers, hour covers—under the universal cover, all lawless evil ghosts…"

In the instant I froze, the female ghost's hand reached to pinch me, but she was fast—Pangzi was faster. A Daoist robe flew up and came down hard to cover him.

"Ah…" the female ghost let out a piercing shriek, her body completely enveloped by the robe.

This robe is unlike the one that once covered Red Granny; it has been genuinely ritually refined, so its effect when using the ghost‑covering spell is at least several times that of the ordinary robe before. Moreover, the female ghost before us and Red Granny are not even in the same league.

Pangzi leapt forward in an instant and bundled the robe into a ball.

After everything was over, I remained standing there, still holding the sword‑finger talisman pose, motionless. That female ghost—I feel like I've seen her somewhere before.

Tch, I thought it was some formidable "guy", but a single ghost‑covering spell took care of it—I didn't even get a chance to use the ghost‑roasting stick or the talisman.

Pangzi clapped his hands and shoved the dazed me: "Hey hey, what are you doing?"

I told Pangzi, I feel like I've seen that female ghost somewhere before.

Pangzi gave a lewd laugh: "Where? In a porn flick or a comic strip?"

I shook my head—neither.

Just when the female ghost lifted her head earlier, I was absolutely certain I had seen her before, but I simply couldn't recall where.

"Never mind where I saw her; anyway, we can knock off and go home now." Pangzi tossed the cigarette and walked out of the studio.

I followed Pangzi out, and the moment my foot stepped out of the studio, that uneasy feeling surged again.

"Pangzi, wait a moment." I frowned, feeling that something was off.

Pangzi stretched and yawned: "I'm telling you, Hai Sheng, are you coming or not? I'm dead tired."

I told him to wait, saying I now had a strange feeling—as if the danger hadn't been lifted but was instead closing in on us.

Pangzi stood ahead, hands on his waist, impatiently waiting for me for two minutes.

"Everyone says it's fine; you're just being paranoid." Pangzi flung his pack aside and walked downstairs.

Downstairs, he kept muttering about me.

"I don't know what's wrong with you—seeing more ghosts only makes you timider; as a peerless ghost‑master of the Yin Mountain sect, you should give that courage back to your master, my foster father."

Pangzi kept muttering, and I walked with an unsettled mind.

Just then, my heart clenched tight, and a chilling yin aura spread from my feet through my whole body.

Be careful, Pangzi.

As soon as I spoke, I heard a 'hiss' and a small black shadow flew from Pangzi's left side.

Pangzi turned blankly and asked, "What did you say?"

In the nick of time, I quickly stepped in front of Pangzi and struck the black shadow lunging at him with the ghost‑capturing rod, sending it flying.

After the black shadow hit the ground, Pangzi and I were stunned.

The moonlight was grayish-white, and we could clearly see what lay on the ground. It turned out to be a small, multicolored snake. Although I had already beaten it into two halves with a stick, the two halves of its body continued to writhe on the ground, and the blood flowing from the snake's severed ends was black.

"Keke, Chen Hai Sheng, Wang Weiqiang, we meet again." A gloomy, hoarse voice came from all directions. As the voice faded, a black shadow slowly walked out of the forest.

"It's you……" I and Pangzi exclaimed at the same time.

The person who arrived was none other than Ou Yaofeng, who last time had his soul leave his body and intended to do harm to Yao Yirong. He wore a strange robe, standing not far away, looking at us with a cold smile.

What's going on? His soul should have been struck by my Yin Mountain command banner, and now he ought to have become an idiot. Why is he appearing before me unharmed?

It's not that I lack confidence in myself; it's just that this is too bizarre. A soul struck by the Yin Mountain banner would at least have its soul dissipated three zhang, let alone a living soul, yet Ou Yaofeng appears before me unharmed.

When things go against the norm, there must be a demon; that's my instantaneous conclusion.

"Keke, I remember clearly the grudge you bear for my banner last time—you not only ruined my plans but nearly turned me into an idiot. Yet you never imagined that I wouldn't become an idiot, and instead I've cultivated a formidable skill." Ou Yaofeng licked his lips and said coldly.

I frowned, pointing at the small snake cut in half on the ground, and asked him.

"This is the skill you spoke of."

Last time, I saw Ou Yaofeng cast a soul-bewitching curse on Yao Yirong, so I could naturally guess that the small snake on the ground was being controlled by him; snake lowering is a type of head-lowering magic. But Ou Yaofeng's snake lowering is rather childish, isn't it?

"Just petty heretical tricks, utterly worthless. Show me whatever skill you've got—I'll take it on." Pangzi weighed the soul‑capturing staff in his hand and jeered at Ou Yaofeng.

Ou Yaofeng gave a heheh cold laugh: "Whether it's petty heresy or not, you'll find out soon enough."

Having said that, he shrank his whole body into the black robe.

Pangzi and I were wondering what he was up to when suddenly he loosened the black robe.

Immediately afterwards, a large swarm of centipedes, spiders, snakes and other poisonous creatures ran out from beneath him.

"Damn, is this guy running a zoo? He's so loving, keeping all these little creatures." Pangzi rubbed his eyes and exclaimed.

The poisonous creatures slowly closed in on us; Pangzi and I stepped back step by step, but soon we realized we could retreat no further, for the creatures had surrounded us in a circle and were slowly closing in.

"Pangzi, what do you still have on you?" I frowned, turned, and asked Pangzi.

The soul‑capturing staff and talismans are for fighting ghosts; they're useless against these poisonous creatures. Some close‑range flowery melee techniques also won't work, since the opponent is a swarm of bugs, not a person. And I haven't brought my command banner with me; although I could invite a ghost to possess me, aside from commanding souls, if I invited some other ghost or immortal to possess me, not to mention whether it would stay or leave afterward, the method would also inflict great harm on my body and even shorten my lifespan. Unless absolutely necessary, I would never allow a ghost or immortal to possess me.

Pangzi spread his hands openly and said: "I didn't bring anything."

I: "……" Is this the rhythm of using a fallen sky as a blanket and rebirth at death's door? I've brought no magical implements, yet my confidence remains surprisingly high.