Chapter 16: Encountering a Ghost

The mountain wind pushes the window open in the middle of the night.

Although it was already early summer, there was still a chill in the mountains at night. Lin Jue only covered himself with a cloth garment, and when the wind blew, he felt a bit cold.

He couldn't help but curl up his body.

Just at this moment, in a daze, he actually heard voices under the floorboards.

"Eh? Who swept the dust and spider webs downstairs?"

"It must be the monks in the temple; who else could it be? It seems they invited someone to stay in the attic tonight, so they must have cleaned it up."

"It became quite clean all of a sudden."

"Isn't it? These monks are rarely diligent. Before, it was so dirty that I didn't even want to pass by downstairs."

"That guest should be asleep, right?"

"Should be, right? Brother Su, don't wake him up."

"I want to take a look at what this person looks like."

"Brother Su, you..."

They were two different voices, coming from downstairs.

Lin Jue was still dazed at first, thinking it was a dream, but suddenly reacted and woke up immediately.

Why is someone talking in the middle of the night?

Is it human or ghost?

It didn't sound like the monks in the temple.

Lin Jue didn't act rashly and pricked up his ears.

The attic was old and lacked maintenance; the wooden ladder had long since rotted, and walking on it would be shaky and creaky. Lin Jue had previously swept it, and let alone one step one sound, even standing still, just waving the broom would cause the wooden ladder to make a slight sound, but at this moment, it was very quiet.

What was abnormal was that the sound was coming upstairs.

"Still sleeping."

"Brother Su, what are you saying? It's the middle of the night right now. Everyone in the temple is fast asleep."

The voice was much fainter than just now.

Lin Jue roughly knew at this moment that these two were not human.

Are there demons and ghosts in the temple attic?

I don't know if the temple monks know.

What should I do at this moment?

Lin Jue's mind changed with a thousand thoughts, pondering constantly.

Listening to them talk, it didn't seem like they were bad.

Thinking about it, this temple had been built for a long time, and every day there were travelers coming to stay, just in varying numbers. If demons and ghosts lived here, or often came here, it could be called bold. But looking at it from another angle, these two demons and ghosts hadn't been noticed by anyone for so long, hadn't caused any problems, and hadn't been driven away by the temple, perhaps it also showed that they were indeed not of a fierce nature?

Regardless, the two voices were getting closer, not only reaching upstairs but even reaching in front of him. Lin Jue, vigilant, still didn't act rashly.

"It's a young scholar!"

"Looks like he's out seeking an education."

"He doesn't look very old; before, I thought he was a scholar gentleman in his twenties... Was the staircase downstairs swept by him?"

"Don't wake him up. This one encountered demons and ghosts halfway and wasn't afraid, which can be called having courage; he picked up a mule from the demons and ghosts and could return it without hesitation, which can be called having virtue; staying in the attic and being able to clean downstairs as well, which can be called being reasonable. Let him sleep here tonight; let's go downstairs and sit and play."

"Brother Mo is absolutely right, but this person is still a scholar..." That voice paused and gave a hehe laugh, "Why not wake him up and play together?"

"Forget it, let's go downstairs."

"Hahaha..."

The sound gradually faded away again.

Lin Jue breathed a sigh of relief.

"Riding horses together south of the city, the willows open like golden scales. Golden buckles and carved Hu brocade, I don't believe Chen Wang has eight buckets of talent." This voice was still at the top of the stairs when reciting the poem, and after reciting it, he had already walked downstairs. "This poem took three days to complete; Brother Su, what do you think?"

"What a 'don't believe Chen Wang has eight buckets of talent'! Back when we were in the Western Regions, Brother Mo, if you had this poetic talent at that time, you would have likely won the favor of the military supervisor and been promoted."

"Then how would I have met Brother Su?"

"Hahaha, Brother Mo..."

Voices still kept coming from below.

"Don't talk about me; Brother Su, is your poem ready?"

"It's ready, I'll show my ugliness, please help me refine it, Brother Mo."

"I'm all ears."

Lin Jue opened his eyes in the darkness.

These two didn't seem bad at all? I don't know if they are demons or ghosts, but they actually recite poetry.

The attic was still empty, the window was opened at some point, facing the bright moon in the sky, and the moonlight spilled in, casting a square of frost-white on the mottled wooden floor. The young scholar held his breath.

"Drums beat on the painted candle tower, who is pressing the Little Liangzhou? How many spring bean cardamom flowers are there, all turning into autumn river sorrow."

"This poem..."

"What?"

"Wrong!"

"What's wrong? Please enlighten me, Brother Mo."

"It's not the poem! It's the one upstairs! He's not asleep yet!"

"Hmm?"

At the same time, Lin Jue upstairs was also stunned.

His heart tightened subconsciously.

But before he could close his eyes, he saw two heads suddenly appear on the wooden floor under the moonlight; the two heads gradually rose, connected to bodies below, and the two people actually floated out from the wooden floor.

"..."

Lin Jue couldn't help but open his eyes wide.

If you don't count the one at the Wang Family Ancestral Hall in Heng Village, this was the second time he had seen the true form of a demon-ghost.

This way of appearing was truly...

"Look!"

One of them looked at Lin Jue and turned to smile at the person beside him: "Didn't I say this one wasn't asleep?"

The tone was quite lively; it was likely the one surnamed Su.

The other didn't answer him, but bowed to Lin Jue, his tone quite polite: "It was the two of us who spoke too loudly and accidentally disturbed the little master's dream; please forgive us."

"Brother Mo is right. But it's also because he has cultivated his life and Qi, so he hears our voices extra clearly. And he probably woke up long ago, but pretended to be asleep, saying nothing." That person said, turning to look at Lin Jue with a smile, "Little master, this behavior is not that of a gentleman."

Facing them, Lin Jue was truly at a loss, and there were many thoughts in his mind.

How did they know he wasn't asleep?

And how did they see that he had practiced the Qi-nurturing method?

Thinking this, he sat up.

He returned the salute to both of them, his language equally polite, but he didn't appear humble or afraid, simply explaining: "My surname is Lin, given name Jue, passing through here and staying the night, accidentally meeting the two of you. Anyone who encounters such a thing would be uneasy and suspicious, so waking up without speaking to observe the aftermath is what a normal person would do."

"Little master is too polite. I am Mo Laifeng."

"Su Xiaojin."

Hearing his name, both of them didn't hesitate and immediately reported their names.

In these days, this is considered a courtesy.

"Little master, don't mind him; this is the temple's attic, it doesn't belong to us, it should be us who disturbed the little master's rest." The demon-ghost named Mo Laifeng said with a bow.

"What a 'waking up without speaking to observe the aftermath'! Your composure doesn't look like someone who would fear demons and ghosts, right?" The demon-ghost surnamed Su looked at him with a smile.

Facing them, Lin Jue was truly at a loss, and there were many thoughts in his mind.

"You are a scholar?"

"I've read books for a few days."

"Since you are also a man of letters, and you are already awake, why be obsessed with a night's dream? Why not chat and play together? There will be endless long sleep after death." The ghost surnamed Su said.

"I am truly sleepy."

"Why be so restrained?"

These two demons and ghosts wouldn't let him sleep no matter what.

Lin Jue couldn't grasp their cultivation level for a moment, and coupled with the fact that the other party wasn't threatening and didn't show a fierce face, but was just smiling and inviting, quite well-intentioned, he really couldn't resist.

Thinking about it, he went out to seek immortality; if he didn't even dare to chat with demons and ghosts of this nature, how could he seek immortality?

Lin Jue thought this and put on his shoes.

"Did Brother Lin hear our poem earlier?"

"I heard it."

"What does Brother Lin think?"

"It's... it's not bad."

"Just not bad?"

"It can be considered... a good poem."

"What does Brother Lin think compared to Zhang and Liu of the previous dynasty?"

"..."

"Hmm?"

"..."

"Why is Brother Lin silent?"

"Compared to Zhang and Liu..."

Lin Jue tried to speak, but truly couldn't say it.

Zhang and Liu were the most famous poets of the previous dynasty in this world, roughly equivalent to Li and Du in his memory, and also had similar titles like Poet Saint and Poet Immortal. Lin Jue didn't remember any of their poems, but he couldn't say that these two could compare to them.

Since he didn't want to lie, he simply bowed his head: "My knowledge is shallow, I dare not speak nonsense."

"You kid! Can't you even say a few words of flattery?"

These two looked to be in their thirties; if the legends were true, they should have been that age when they died. Facing Lin Jue, who looked to be in his teens, they also took on the posture of older brothers:

"You must know! If you want to be a man of letters and hang out with men of letters, the first thing you have to learn is not writing poems or practicing calligraphy, not doing research, but mutual flattery! Where in the circle of men of letters do they not flatter each other?"

"I truly don't understand poetry, and I'm not a man of letters."

"If you don't understand poetry, how do you know we aren't as good as those two, Zhang and Liu?"

"..."

Lin Jue only heard the blind arrogance and mutual contempt of men of letters, as well as some bad habits, which made him somewhat uncomfortable, but because of this, the trepidation in his heart lessened a lot.

Then the two demons and ghosts continued to urge him, asking him to take out a poem that could compare with theirs, with the posture of not stopping until he took one out, even saying that it didn't have to be one he wrote himself, but one they hadn't heard before.

Lin Jue also had some good poems in his heart, and even knowing that these two had been to the Western Regions to join the army, he had some frontier poems that would make them silent and emotional as soon as they were taken out, but how could he recite them to them?

He let them urge him, but still remained silent.

He truly already knew they couldn't do anything to him.

How can a human be deceived by a ghost?

The two were truly helpless, so they stopped mentioning their poems, didn't make things difficult for him, and continued to chat with Lin Jue, talking about everything, occasionally complaining about having no wine or song to help the fun.

Lin Jue also echoed and guided them, wanting to learn more about demons, ghosts, and immortals from them. ===== CHAPTER 17 =====