Chapter 40: Ou Yaofeng Reappears

One quiet night, an extremely lewd, foot-picking rough guy approached with a lascivious smile, saying, "Let's blow on it?" Anyone in my position would either be scared enough to call the police or 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 started rummaging.

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

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

"Want to smoke one?"

I… damn it, Pangzi, you used 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 gesture.

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

…That explanation, I admit defeat.

Pangzi impatiently said, "Do you want to smoke one or not?"

I shook my head and said, "This isn't right—QingSongShu seems not to allow us to smoke."

QingSongShu not allowing us to smoke isn't because he's being overly strict. It's because smoke is evil fire; it will cause liver fire to flare up, and smoking too much will prevent one from entering deep meditation when sitting.

"I just feel it's a waste to leave those cigarettes lying around, and we don't smoke often—just a stick when we're bored." Pangzi smacked his lips: "Come on, have one."

Indeed, the Chan‑Yi Hall is piled with cigarettes others have sent; not smoking them really feels wasteful.

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

"I didn't bring a lighter, do you have one?" Pangzi asked me in surprise.

…Not bringing a lighter while smoking—you're quite the oddball.

Fortunately, 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 item I had just picked up fell along with the matches, clinking onto the floor.

I handed the lighter to Pangzi while simultaneously bending down to pick up the little bell.

Just as I bent over, the incandescent lamp in the studio flickered twice and then went out completely.

"Pangzi, be careful."

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

With a pop, Pangzi turned the light back on.

"Damn it, Hai Sheng, look behind you." Pangzi opened his mouth wide, pointing at the blackboard.

I turned around and saw it too, stunned. A blood‑colored little bird truly appeared on the blackboard, each stroke rendered naturally perfect; the only strange thing was that this little bird had no feet.

Blood flowed from the bird's severed feet, drop by drop onto the floor. At this moment I could hardly describe my feelings, because the bird on the wall gave me an indescribable sensation.

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

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in from outside, the old window shutters clattered. At some point, a woman in white with long hair appeared outside the window; I couldn't see her face clearly, but I knew she was staring at me.

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

At that moment, the sword finger on my back had already been inscribed with a talisman; I twisted my wrist, and the sword finger holding the Guan Di Slay‑Evil Talisman lunged straight at the female ghost's face.

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

"Heaven covers, earth covers, year covers, month covers, day covers, hour covers, under the universal cover, all evil ghosts without Dao, …"

The moment I froze, the female ghost's hand reached toward me, but she was fast—Pangzi was faster. A Daoist robe flew up, swooping down heavily on him.

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

This Daoist robe differed from the one that had once covered Red Granny; it was truly refined, and the effect of using the ghost‑covering spell was at least several times that of the ordinary robe before. Moreover, the female ghost before me and Red Granny were not on the same level at all.

Pangzi instantly leapt forward, bundling the Daoist robe into a ball.

After everything was over, I still stood there dazed, keeping the pose of the sword finger with talisman, motionless. This female ghost—I feel like I've seen her somewhere before.

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

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

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

Pangzi lewdly laughed: "Where? In a porn flick or a comic?"

I shook my head—nope.

Just when the female ghost lifted her head, I was absolutely certain I had seen her before; I just couldn't remember where.

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

I followed behind Pangzi, stepped out, and the instant my foot crossed the studio threshold, that uneasy feeling surged up again.

"Pangzi, wait a moment." Furrowing my brows, I always felt something was off.

Pangzi stretched lazily: "I say, Hai Sheng, are you coming or not? I'm dead tired."

I told him to wait, I said I now have a strange feeling in my heart, as if danger hasn't been lifted but is instead drawing closer to us.

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

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

Going downstairs, he kept muttering about me.

"I don't know what's wrong with you; the more ghosts you see, the smaller your guts get—what a waste, you who are supposed to be the unmatched ghost‑master of the Yin Mountain Sect, you should give that courage back to your master, my adoptive father."

Pangzi kept muttering, I walked absent‑minded.

Just then, my heart tightened suddenly, a chilling yin aura spread from my feet up through my whole body.

"Be careful, Pangzi."

As soon as I spoke, I heard a "hissing" sound; a small black shadow flew from Pangzi's left side toward him.

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

At the critical moment, I swiftly stepped in front of Pangzi and knocked the black shadow flying toward him away with the ghost‑capturing stick.

After the shadow landed, Pangzi and I were stunned.

In the grayish-white moonlight, we saw clearly what lay on the ground. It turned out to be a brightly colored little snake. Although I had knocked it into two pieces with a stick, the two halves of its body kept writhing on the ground, and the blood flowing from the wound was black.

"Hehe, 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 woods.

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

The person who showed up was actually Ou Yaofeng, who had previously tried to harm Yao Yirong while his soul was out of his body. He wore a strange robe, stood not far away, and looked at us with a cold smile.

What's going on? His soul should have been knocked senseless by my Yin Shan Command Flag; he ought to be an idiot by now. Why is he appearing before me completely unharmed?

It's not that I lack confidence in myself; it's just that this is too bizarre. A soul struck by the Yin Shan Flag should have been scattered at least thirty feet, let alone remain intact—but Ou Yaofeng appears before me perfectly unharmed.

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

"Hehe, I remember clearly your grudge over that flag last time—you not only ruined my plans but almost turned me into a fool. Yet you never imagined I wouldn't become a fool; instead, I've cultivated some real skill." Ou Yaofeng licked his lips and sneered.

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

"This is the skill you were talking about."

Last time I saw Ou Yaofeng use a soul‑confusing curse on Yao Yirong, so I naturally guessed the little snake on the ground was his doing—snake lowering being a type of curse. But his snake lowering is rather childish.

"Just petty heresy, pathetic as can be—show me what you've got, I'll take it on." Pangzi weighed the Ghost‑Catching Stick in his hand and jeered at Ou Yaofeng.

Ou Yaofeng gave a hehe chuckle and said, "Whether it's heresy or not, you'll find out soon."

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

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

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

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

The poisonous creatures slowly closed in on us; I and Pangzi stepped back step by step, but soon we realized we couldn't retreat any further—the creatures had surrounded us in a circle and were slowly tightening.

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

The Ghost‑Catching Stick and talismans are for fighting ghosts—useless against these poisonous creatures. Even close‑combat flowery‑script techniques won't work, since the enemy is a horde of bugs, not people. My command flag isn't with me either; though I could invite a ghost to possess me, aside from commanding souls, summoning any other ghost‑immortal would be risky—who knows if it would leave after, and the method would gravely harm my body and shorten my life. Short of desperation, I would never let a ghost‑immortal take over me.

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

I: "……" Is this the kind of situation where the sky falls and you use it as a blanket, where you're at death's door and ready to be reborn? I have no magical implements at all, yet my confidence is still through the roof.