Chapter 16

Ke Yuanbai seemed to have sensed something and suddenly turned around, looking toward the direction of Ke Xingzhou's gaze.

The air vent of the central air conditioning was still running with a whistling sound, but the wind blowing out was bone-chilling and cold, quickly dropping the temperature in the room to freezing point, making both Ke Yuanbai and An Heguang shiver uncontrollably.

The hallway, which had been bustling just moments ago with music and voices spilling out from the doors that hadn’t been properly closed, was now eerily silent, as if the world had become empty, with only the few of them left.

At the moment they realized something was wrong, a rhythmic sound of footsteps suddenly echoed from somewhere in the empty corridor.

"Ta-da, ta-da..."

Accompanying the footsteps was a soft female voice. Even without seeing the person’s face, just hearing the voice made one imagine how graceful and dignified she must be.

However, the few people present, including the male ghost, did not dare to entertain any such thoughts. As soon as they heard the voice, their faces changed dramatically.

An Heguang quickly hid behind Ke Yuanbai, gripping the clothes at his shoulder tightly, constantly shifting positions and using him as a shield.

Ke Yuanbai, dizzy from being shaken, still managed to maintain his composure and asked Ke Xingzhou, “Is this the ghost leader you mentioned?”

“I have a name!” The male ghost sounded displeased but didn’t dare to act recklessly in front of the ghost leader, lowering his voice instead. “I told you last night!”

His tone was one of being wronged by a scumbag, but at that moment, even An Heguang didn’t dare to pay attention to such small details.

Ke Yuanbai chose to selectively ignore the male ghost’s words and nervously stared at the end of the corridor.

Just as he finished speaking, a mass of black mist suddenly surged from the air vent at that spot, flowing down to the floor like thick liquid, forming an irregular three-dimensional shape.

Then, under their watch, the black mist began to writhe, stretching upward and finally taking on a distinctly female form.

When it was fully formed, the black, pitch-dark head shed the outer layer of black mist, revealing a pale and beautiful face.

Cold sweat beaded on Ke Yuanbai’s forehead. His firmly held materialistic beliefs had been shattered in less than 24 hours, and now, facing all of this, it was simply overwhelming.

He instinctively tried to move closer to Ke Xingzhou but couldn’t because An Heguang was clutching his clothes tightly, preventing him from moving.

This action, however, caught the female ghost’s attention. Her gaze swept over, followed by countless streams of solidified black mist.

The black mist flowed down from the air conditioning vent, silently dropping to the floor, and then quickly moved toward the group like rooted vines, attacking them fiercely and rapidly.

An Heguang's face turned deathly pale, and even Ke Yuanbai, at that moment, couldn’t maintain his bravado. He was dragged by An Heguang, retreating continuously.

But the entire hallway was filled with these things. They couldn’t avoid them, and soon the elusive black mist entangled their hands and feet, pulling them toward the place where the female ghost was.

Ke Yuanbai and An Heguang felt the ground disappear beneath their feet, and they were lifted into the air. The female ghost's face quickly grew larger in their field of vision, and in an instant, it was right in front of them.Just as they were about a meter away from the female ghost, her beautiful face suddenly split open—

Centered around the bridge of her nose, the face that had originally appeared pale and fragile split into five grooves, and then the skin and flesh began to unfold like petals, revealing a blood-red tunnel underneath!

The five petal-like layers of skin opened as wide as they could, each edge covered with tiny serrated teeth, and even the area where her throat should have been was encircled by horrific sharp fangs.

Perhaps sensing that a feast was near, the muscles in her throat eagerly contracted a few times, and as her sharp teeth ground together, a screeching, unbearable howl echoed.

Watching this terrifying scene, both An Heguang and Ke Yuanbai felt a wave of dizziness, their minds going completely blank.

It was over.

In their last moments of consciousness, both of them had the same thought: regret.

An Heguang regretted not transferring the money to Ke Xingzhou more decisively. If he had, he should be trembling beside him with a talisman in hand, not about to become a meal for an evil ghost.

Ke Yuanbai, on the other hand, wasn’t sure what he should regret.

Should he regret not taking Ke Xingzhou, the fake young master, more seriously after being recognized by the Ke family? Or should he regret not trusting Ke Xingzhou despite the numerous warnings, always teaching him from a high-handed position?

... It didn’t matter anymore.

Ke Yuanbai thought, his life was probably over now.

He closed his eyes, unwilling to face the horrifying scene before him. However, after a moment of waiting, the anticipated sharp pain never came.

Instead, a vague, furious roar came from the direction of the female ghost.

"Stop!"

Almost as soon as the words were spoken, Ke Yuanbai felt his body grow heavy, and he suddenly fell downward.

Before he could react, a sharp pain struck his backside.

He instinctively opened his eyes, confused, and looked ahead to see Ke Xingzhou's thin figure standing between them and the female ghost.

Ke Xingzhou stood sideways, his gaze sweeping between An Heguang and him. Suddenly, he pulled something out of his pocket and carefully handed it over.

Ke Yuanbai was unsure what was happening, but seeing the seriousness in Ke Xingzhou’s demeanor, he didn’t dare to be careless. Despite the sharp pain from his hand injury, he quickly reached out and took it.

The sensation in his hand felt wrong, and when he looked down, he saw a black-and-white kitten, not fully grown and covered in sparse fur.

Ke Xingzhou’s voice came faintly from the front: "Hold it tightly, or you might die."

Ke Yuanbai: "…"

For a moment, he couldn’t tell if Ke Xingzhou was implying something or if he was just talking about the cat.

In any case, the immediate danger seemed to have passed. Ke Yuanbai didn’t like cats but had no strong prejudice against them. He cradled the little kitten in one hand and pulled An Heguang, who was on the ground, with the other, moving toward a safer spot.

Looking around, he realized that when Ke Xingzhou had arrived, he had removed the strange black mist from the ground, and behind them, a clean, safe area had formed.

Without hesitation, both of them took refuge in that space.

What they didn’t expect was that, despite being a ghost, the male ghost, who had previously startled them, was now trembling and trying to squeeze into the same corner with them.The cold, wet sensation felt like pressing up against a huge block of ice, and both Ke Yuanbai and An Heguang shuddered from the chill.

Ke Yuanbai gritted his teeth. “Isn’t she the ghost leader you mentioned? Why are you hiding?”

The male ghost’s eyes were filled with tears. “Wuwuwu, I’m still scared when the ghost leader gets angry! Would you dare approach your boss if they were mad at you?”

Ke Yuanbai: “…”

An Heguang: “…”

It sounded so reasonable.

“But could you not stand so close?” An Heguang sniffed. “Ke Yuanbai already slept outside with you last night on the ground and almost caught a cold. Now you’re back. Don’t you feel sorry for him?”

The male ghost: “Sorry, sorry, I forgot I’ve been dead for a long time…”

Ke Yuanbai: “…”

For some reason, the terrifying atmosphere felt like it couldn’t hold up any longer, and now Ke Yuanbai even felt like he might snap.

When he looked back, the battle had already reached a stalemate.

Ke Xingzhou had somehow pulled out a large number of yellow talismans, which, without any assistive measures, floated in mid-air, faintly forming a transparent barrier shimmering with golden light.

He chanted, “Five Stars suppress the colors, light illuminates the dark. Thousands of gods and saints, protect my true spirit…”

In an instant, a wild wind picked up, and Ke Xingzhou’s robe fluttered loudly.

At first, he was still within the barrier’s range, while the female ghost lunged at him with her claws outstretched, her black nails swelling as they seemed to aim directly at his eyes. Yet, Ke Xingzhou remained motionless, whether because he didn’t see it or couldn’t move, standing there frozen.

At that moment, Ke Yuanbai and An Heguang suddenly remembered that Ke Xingzhou was just a peer, not much older than them.

Ghost hunting, even if they didn’t believe in it before, they knew required a lot of time and effort to learn.

Ke Xingzhou was so young; he probably was just a student at the Taoist temple!

Both of them felt a tight pang in their chests, instinctively blurting out, “Ke Xingzhou!”

“Be careful!”

Before they could finish speaking, their voices cut off abruptly. Looking at the scene before them, they nearly couldn’t catch their breath—

Ke Xingzhou flicked his eyelids, and his chanting didn’t stop for a second. He raised his hand and pressed the female ghost’s head down. Then, as casually as discarding trash, he tossed her back even further than before.

It looked like he didn’t even exert any effort, yet the female ghost flew back violently, crashing hard into the edge of the barrier.

Then came a loud crackling sound of thunder, and several scorch marks instantly appeared on the female ghost’s pale body.

Ke Yuanbai and An Heguang: “…”

With every chant, the golden light on the barrier grew stronger. And with every flicker of the golden light, another wound appeared on the female ghost’s body, quickly turning her into something unrecognizable.

The female ghost’s agonizing screams echoed throughout the entire corridor.She growled several times as she rose again, attacking once more. Not only did she fail to injure Ke Xingzhou, but she also ended up with more black, scorched handprints on her body.

The wounds she sustained from crashing into the golden light barrier were even more terrifying.

The barrier’s range visibly shrank, and the female ghost’s face, covered with cracks, was filled with confusion and doubt. However, no matter what, she couldn’t break through the barrier Ke Xingzhou had set up, nor could she attack him.

Moreover, every time she made contact with Ke Xingzhou, she suffered heavy damage. The wounds on her body increased, and her soul grew more transparent.

It was clear the female ghost never expected that a mere human could be so powerful, capable of severely injuring her with just his physical body.

When did the Taoist priests outside become this strong?!

But the only result of being fully enveloped in golden light was the shattering of her soul. After a brief moment of shock, the female ghost quickly reacted, unwillingly letting out a sharp scream.

The two humans and one ghost behind Ke Xingzhou only felt a buzzing in their heads, and then a sharp pain in their ears. They immediately covered their ears, unable to care about anything else.

Ke Yuanbai felt something furry touch his ears and suddenly realized he was still holding the kitten. After a moment of hesitation, he let go and grabbed the little cow kitten by the head.

The next second, blood poured out of his ear.

His face contorted from the pain, and suddenly something was shoved into his ear.

An Heguang had just withdrawn his hand. Seeing Ke Yuanbai looking at him, he raised his eyebrows, pointing to the bright orange earplugs in his own ears.

At the same time, a talisman flew toward them, and the ear-piercing noise instantly disappeared, replaced by Ke Xingzhou’s calm voice: “Mighty Heavenly Beast, suppress the five soldiers. Five Heavenly Devils, perish and vanish... Wherever they are, all gods shall welcome!”

In an instant, the golden light blazed even brighter. The barrier formed by the talisman passed unobstructed through Ke Xingzhou’s body and slowly closed in on the female ghost.

It eventually shrank into the shape of a cat carrier, the kind that was popular at the time.

An Heguang: “?”

Ke Yuanbai: “?”

Female ghost: “???”