Chapter 1904: Living with Mister Ghost: Various Matters 20

The rear courtyard of the Jin Residence was extremely mysterious, even keeping vicious ghosts.

A feng shui clan whose duty is to exorcise ghosts actually raises ghosts openly in its courtyard—it seems the secrets of Jin Chen's family are far more than he imagined.

Jin Chen followed that faint familiar memory, passing through the long imitation‑antique corridor, as if likewise traversing long ages, arriving at the edge of a courtyard where water trickled.

Here the Zhu Lin scenery was beautiful and elegant, tranquil and serene; under the moonlight it seemed to become the dwelling of an immortal guest in the mortal world.

And Jin Chen, surrounded by gloomy resentment and hostile energy, also became out of place here.

【Someone!】 Ling Gun Gun warned.

Jin Chen concealed his form, silently floated down, and followed behind the two night patrollers.

In the blink of an eye he saw the two sneaking into the small courtyard.

"We need to move faster; in a bit it'll be time to change shifts."

"That's right; after much persuasion we finally got them to agree to swap shifts—today we really need to scoop up enough profit."

The two hit it off, slipped into the courtyard, and, familiar with the way, pushed open the door of the lane.

"Wow, you guys are stealing stuff."

Relying on them not being able to hear him, Jin Chen tailed them like a behind‑the‑scenes spirit.

"Shameless." Jin Chen muttered, then lifted his eyes to survey the empty storeroom; anything even remotely related to ghost‑catching treasures had been completely ransacked.

What little remained on the shelves was also shoved into their pockets by the two guys, scrambling over each other.

I don't know whose unlucky residence this is, but it's been picked clean.

In the blink of an eye Jin Chen saw a calligraphy painting on the wall, a mocking smile stiffening on his lips.

Ling Gun Gun came over to join the fun, gave a hey, and 【Host, this is your handwriting!】

I am that unlucky fellow.

This realization made Jin Chen very unhappy, extremely unhappy, especially unhappy.

Jin Chen stared gloomily at the two night‑patrol disciples still rummaging through boxes, then suddenly spoke.

"Are my things useful to you."

Thud.

The disciple nearer to Jin Chen blankly lifted his head, then stiff‑faced jerked a look backward—there was nothing.

But he had clearly heard a sound just moments before.

"Hey, hey! Don't take it! Did you hear anything just now?"

The other disciple gave him a strange look: "Don't scare yourself."

"Hurry up and grab this thing and run."

Jin Chen lazily lifted his eyes, waved his hand, and shut the door.

Bang!

The two figures froze at once; only the summer night wind blowing in through the window howled, accompanied by the rustling of the Zhu Lin.

"Today the wind is so… strong…?"

"Probably; we just need to leave quickly—as long as we've stolen the stuff, he can't come back to find us."

The two dashed off, but before they even reached the courtyard gate they simultaneously struck an invisible barrier, both tumbling backward with a slap.

Jin Chen: "Leave the stuff and get out."

The eerie voice drilled into their heads, making them tremble all over, until they finally recognized it.

"Big… senior brother?"

Hearing that title, Jin Chen's head suddenly throbbed; his long fingers pressed his brow, and he said nothing more.

Since the Jin Family's details are still unknown, exposing himself now would be of no benefit.

After the two fled in utter disgrace, Jin Chen then re‑entered the courtyard.

"Genius, genius, so what! From now on you'll die in here, and not even a whole corpse will remain!"

"You're too enviable, Jin Chen; this is the price you must pay."

The howling night wind suddenly carried a few curses, audible only to Jin Chen.

These words came from what he had heard before his death.

Jin Chen slightly lifted his eyelids and glanced at this elegant courtyard.

If the memory is correct, his bones are probably still in the courtyard.

That is quite terrifying.

"Sleeping Together with My Corpse"

【Side‑task progress detected: 50%! Host, keep it up~】

Jin Chen, feeling extremely terrified, found an empty room to sleep in; but as soon as he lay down, he felt that every part of the lattice ceiling was off.

He fell silent for a few seconds, turned over, and didn't want to look.

Another five minutes passed.

Jin Chen rose expressionlessly, satisfying that damned curiosity of his.

There was a hidden compartment in the ceiling.

Jin Chen fiddled with it for a while, then opened what was inside.

A manual of ghost‑catching secret arts.

Jin Chen: "……"

Wow, what a pleasant surprise.

He reflexively wanted to toss the book away.

【Host, wait!】

Ling Gun Gun came over, "This is at least your old book; maybe there are some important clues inside."

Jin Chen flipped through it casually, "Nothing……"

But there actually is.

Jin Chen turned to the last page, which was obviously torn out hastily, and the text on the second-to-last page was clearly an explanation for the torn-out page.

— Forcibly turning a person into a vengeful ghost can seize their luck and be used to suppress the family's doomed decline.

Jin Chen couldn't help but recall what the overstuffed ghost had said, and his gloomy brows and eyes gradually grew icy.

Did those bastards who killed him really drive nails into his body?

The ghost can tolerate it, but Jin Chen cannot.

Jin Chen unilaterally decided on their fate—stab them into a hornet's nest and then stuff ants inside.

Even after lying back on the bed again, Jin Chen still couldn't sleep.

He was thinking about that nasty little bee.

Jin Chen thought it over, pulled out his phone, and opened Xia Tan's friend circle—just as empty as before, with nothing to scroll through.

He didn't know how much Xia Tan now despised Daoists, so he used his carefully crafted alter ego to disguise himself and privately messaged her.

Dao Sheng: "Little Daoist observing the night sky has calculated that we are fated; why not cast a hexagram?"

Xia Tan now reflexively rejects anyone she sees as a Daoist; she buries herself in the blanket, glances at it with disdain, and continues to hide in Jin Chen's pillow to rest.

Dao Sheng: "Even unresolved feelings between humans and ghosts can be divined."

Xia Tan was indeed drawn in by that line.

He thought for a moment, then slowly typed a reply.

Xia Ri Yun: "What do you know?"

Dao Sheng: "What do you want to calculate?"

Xia Tan paused for a long time, wiped away the moisture seeping from the corner of her eye, and pulled her thin blanket tighter.

Xia Ri Yun: "A ghost eliminated by a Daoist…… could it possibly be revived?"

"This idiot."

Jin Chen's fingertip stalled; he irritably poked Xia Tan's avatar and replied.

Dao Sheng: "Then why do you want to get rid of him?"

Xia Tan had no intention of saying much to this strange Daoist, and she replied again a few minutes later.

Xia Ri Yun: "I regret it—is that not allowed?"

Dao Sheng: "Sure, sincerity brings efficacy—if you sincerely devote a moment each day and think more about that ghost, he might reappear in a few days."

Xia Ri Yun: "……"

"Sure enough, a swindler."

But for some unknown reason, the dead heart, upon seeing this passage, couldn't help but throb again, as if glimpsing some hope.

Dao Sheng: "Vengeful ghosts aren't that easy to kill."

Xia Ri Yun: "Then why hasn't he come back……"

Dao Sheng: "He's angry."

Jin Chen snorted, feeling especially tsundere.

Xia Tan didn't know whether to believe it or not, and didn't reply further; Jin Chen felt it inappropriate to say more using this alter ego, so he simply ended the chat.