Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The Ghost of the Building - Part 1

Yan Jun and Ming Yue caught a campus bus, rapidly devouring their bread and milk. By the time they reached the school gate, they dashed straight to the subway.

The exam started at three, and setting aside all the minor pre-exam details, this written exam had been changed to feel like an actual field exercise.

At least the medical school’s fieldwork didn’t have a strict limit on how long one could take to draw the talismans, but this written exam? They skipped the “time limit” altogether and made it a race to see who could do it “fast, well, and efficiently.”

The subway line 2 roared towards them, the bright white train arriving on time.

Once on the subway, Yan Jun and Ming Yue moved in sync, swiftly pulling out their books and drafts, and started practicing their talisman drawing.

The first stop was the Laoxia campus. Most of the passengers who boarded were alumni, curiously watching the two of them drawing talismans with cinnabar, whispering among themselves:

"These two... are they from the Spiritual Institute?"

"Yes, definitely. Based on my three years of experience at Jin Da, the ones with the most presence at the end of the semester are always the Spiritual Institute students. They run field exercises nationwide, they're struggling."

"Sounds like a cemetery, haha."

The two were talking happily, and the people nearby couldn't help but join in the conversation:

"Ugh, we at the Geological Sea Institute have been tormented by these Spiritual Institute students for the past couple of days."

The crowd gathered around, eager to listen:

"Tell me more. I’m from the Business Institute, and yesterday during class I heard huge booming noises from the Geological Sea Building. Did an earthquake hit?"

"I'm from the Computer Science Institute. I thought it was a real earthquake yesterday. I almost ran out to help you all in the Geological Sea. But then the instructor stopped us, saying the Spiritual Institute was... exorcising spirits?"

The Geological Sea students perked up:

"Exactly, it was the Spiritual Institute."

"Our Geological Sea building was designed to model mountains and rivers, so every class feels like a mountain climb with all the twists and turns—when the new campus was finished, the architecture students even came to tour our building, saying it was one of the best graduation projects."

"Yesterday, around 10 AM, the Kunlun Hall—oh, that’s our main hall—had ground tremors. The floor tiles, which are modeled to resemble mountains and rivers, were rising and falling like something out of a 7D cinema. It was all uneven, loud, and shaking."

"I’ve been in the campus building for more than two years, and it was the first time I knew! The tiles in Kunlun Hall that are meant to imitate mountains can actually bounce! Thirty to fifty meters, just like a tectonic plate shift! Damn, I’ve never seen anything like this!"

Other students: "Damn!"A Geological Sea student slapped his thigh: "Like a tidal wave!"

Other students: "Oh my god!"

The Geological Sea student stomped his foot: "There was a senior from the Spiritual Institute in the hall at the time. Wow, he was like an ancient swordsman. He drew his sword and jumped—damn, I didn’t know people could jump that high—he sliced through the statue in the middle of the hall with one blow."

"When he struck, I could feel the wind on my face from thirty meters away! You know what I mean?!"

"There was wind!!"

Other students: "What did he cut?"

The Geological Sea student excitedly replied: "I don’t know!"

Other students: "..."

The Geological Sea student continued: "Really don’t know. You know how the Spiritual Institute can see things that we can’t? Hahaha."

Two Spiritual Institute students who had been playing dead in their seats: "..."

Ming Yue raised her eyes to look at the chattering alumni and poked Yan Jun: "Class monitor, do you think they know we can hear them?"

Yan Jun: "..."

Yan Jun flipped a page in the book for Ming Yue, landing on the chapter about the Heavy Qi Talisman: "Focus on your reading, better start cramming."

Ming Yue obediently responded: "Okay."

But not three minutes later, she secretly asked: "That senior from Geological Sea was talking about Senior Guo Tianyang’s team, right?"

"This morning, I was with Senior Chao Tianque, and he was complaining the whole way—did Senior Guo Tianyang steal Geological Sea from him?"

Yan Jun looked at Ming Yue’s textbook with barely any notes and sighed inwardly. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for sealing spirits. "Yes, but we were just supporting. The competition between third and fourth years for leadership positions is something we just watch. Don’t get involved," he warned.

Ming Yue tilted her head to look at Yan Jun. He let her stare at him, calmly flipping another page in the book. "Can’t tell, class monitor. Your thinking is very clear."Yan Jun helped her dip the brush in cinnabar and said calmly: "Next year is the triennial Ghost Slayer’s exam, a joint exam for a hundred schools. The top 30% will be officially granted the Ghost Slayer’s license, from then on, able to roam freely."

"Our third and fourth years are the key group, and they will be fighting fiercely all year. We, as lower years, can learn from their experiences, but we must be careful not to get involved."

Ming Yue: "…"

Ming Yue’s eyes flashed, and she corrected her evaluation of Yan Jun in her mind. She placed her hand over his book and asked pointedly:

"So, Class Monitor, what’s your plan regarding the current situation where upperclassmen have already claimed all the positions in the various colleges?"

"You noticed too. Today is the third day after the removal of the college formation. Besides the two of us in the dorm, not many others thought about following the upperclassmen to get the leftovers."

It wasn’t just that they hadn’t thought about following the upperclassmen for the scraps; freshmen were like naive rookies, and they often didn’t have an accurate self-awareness. They were the most arrogant and untamed, yet also the most timid and weak, and their brains were slower than the upperclassmen’s.

It had been half a month of guarding the school, and three days had passed—freshmen were still blissfully unaware.

Yan Jun smiled. "You have a strong sense of collective honor."

"But when it comes to seizing opportunities from other colleges, we definitely can’t beat the upperclassmen."

"However, ghosts and spirits don’t all appear together. There will still be plenty of stragglers that freshmen can handle."

"The teachers never expected us to make any great achievements in our first year. They only want to see if our basics are solid—don’t you think so?"

Ming Yue patted Yan Jun’s shoulder like a good brother. "Class Monitor, your perspective is so far-reaching."

Yan Jun raised an eyebrow slightly at her action, subtly pulling away. "With all this chit-chat, we should rather check what happened at the Tian Jingxuan real estate project."

Ming Yue shook her head. "Compared to the chaotic situation where everyone online is acting like a reporter, I’d rather go to the scene and hear it directly from the source."

Yan Jun: "…"

Yan Jun stared at her in surprise. "I think you should know what kind of image Master Jin has in the minds of ordinary people when it comes to the profession of Yin-Yang practitioners…"

Ming Yue smiled, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. "Naturally, I understand. They’re people who don’t do proper work, can’t be in the spotlight, and are definitely not respectable."

The lake outside the window was clear and vast, quickly passing by their sight. Yan Jun, with no intention to continue studying, watched the girl beside him calmly gaze at the lake. He suddenly felt in a good mood. Even the upcoming talisman exam seemed less important now.Let’s respond to the moves, Yan Jun thought. After all, the girl beside him had the audacity to fight a werewolf from the Medical College with just a vague idea in mind, and with the live experiment to back it up. Plans rarely survive contact with reality, so it’s better to trust oneself.

Inside the Tian Jingxuan real estate project.

The community was extravagantly built, with cobblestones on the artificial forest paths that were much rounder than others. The only downside was that the buildings were positioned against the sun, receiving little light, and the terrain was strange, easily gathering Yin energy and scattering Yang.

When Ming Yue and Yan Jun arrived, they saw a black banner blocking the entrance to prevent residents from wandering in. Above, a massive golden dome, like a steam pot, covered the entire area, with black mist swirling inside, full of chains of cause and effect—

But it wasn’t blood red.

Wang Yangming was inside the dome, waving a brush like an elderly man writing Spring Festival couplets on the street on New Year's Eve.

Behind him were a group of lower-year students, huddled together like quail chicks, observing while taking notes.

Residents at the entrance were chatting, eating melon seeds: “I told you our community is haunted, didn’t I? Look, even those people from the prestigious Jin University are here.”

“Tch, what are those top students doing here catching ghosts? They should be rich doctors or lawyers, not this.”

“Blind! A Taoist priest makes a fortune in just one session, that’s a real money-making job!”

“Pfft, what good job can you have when you’re dealing with dead people? It’s disgraceful, you’re embarrassing your parents!”

Ming Yue: “…”

We’re neither Taoist priests, nor will we embarrass our parents.

We’re proper Yin-Yang Ghost Slayers.

In front of Ming Yue were the teachers and students inside the protective shield, fully focused. In her ears were the ignorant and reckless remarks of the onlookers, making her feel awkward and irritated.

When Bai Linlang turned her head and saw Ming Yue, she immediately became furious: "Ming Yue, I sent you three messages and you didn’t reply!" I almost thought you wouldn’t make it to the exam!

Ming Yue quickly apologized. Behind her, Yan Jun ignored the idle chatter, took out his student ID, and aligned the words "Sealing Spirit" with the golden shield. He took a step forward, and his entire body merged into the light barrier. The scene before them drastically changed.

Black smoke obscured the sky, and the shadows of the buildings were shifting, rising and falling like an earthquake. Sometimes they formed circles, sometimes lined up in rows, casting dark, ink-like shadows in the afternoon sunlight, and ghostly figures emerged.A causality chain, over a meter in diameter, stretched several hundred meters, winding around the buildings. It was burning with fire, smoke rising and burning, and at first glance, it looked like a torture device dragged up from the magma hell of the underworld.

Wang Yangming noticed Yan Jun entering out of the corner of his eye and immediately started the exam: "Yan Jun, how do you differentiate the colors of the causality chain?"

Yan Jun immediately lowered his head to greet him, replying: "The causality chain follows a rainbow color spectrum. The closer it is to the middle, in the cyan-green band, the more peaceful it is. The closer it is to the ends, in the red and purple bands, the more intense and malevolent the evil spirits are."

Wang Yangming nodded and waved his hand. Several symbols flew towards Building No. 9, and the small building stopped as the black mist burned away and dissipated. "Ming Yue hasn’t arrived yet? It’s just you two left."

Yan Jun: "She hasn't come in yet."

Wang Yangming looked back—

Outside the protective shield, Ming Yue was holding a notebook, chasing after the onlookers to gather event information, completely ignoring the strange looks from pedestrians:

"I told you! This building is haunted, it’s been happening for several days now. Every night, the road feels wrong!" said a middle-aged woman doing square dance.

"Yeah, every road is acting strange. My God, I got back to the community at 11 PM yesterday after work, and a road I’m so familiar with ended up leading me to the mortuary of the nearby hospital! Damn, I was sweating all over!" said a bald office worker.

"The elevators too. All thirty-something buildings, each elevator showed non-existent floors after 10 PM—three days in a row! I’ve gotten so many complaints from residents, my head is about to explode!" said the community property manager.

"Could it be that the foundation piles from when the community was built have started showing spirits? I’ve been on night patrol at 2-3 AM, and I saw groups of people squatting by the building foundations burning paper. They were all wearing white clothes! Every building had them!" said the security guard.

Ming Yue: "…"

Uncle security guard, before you say all that, could you please check the obituary board in the community?

Upon hearing this, Wang Yangming was impressed. He said to Yan Jun: "Your classmate Ming Yue is not bad. She knows how to collect evidence on-site—But now, get her to come in."

Ming Yue was called several times before she entered. Behind her, she could hear enthusiastic cheers and support from the aunties and uncles: "Little girl, you’re going to take the exam, right? Good luck!"

Ming Yue: "…"

As she entered the light barrier, the warm sunlight outside disappeared, replaced by a cold, gusting wind. Ming Yue's left eye immediately began absorbing Yin energy. She looked at the graduate student who was helping set up the desk and spoke: "Let me do it, Senior."

Before the senior could decline, Wang Yangming didn’t turn around. He pointed with his hand: "Don’t mind her, just stand over there and prepare for the exam."

Ming Yue: "…"Ming Yue quickly ran over. Yan Jun, seeing that everyone had arrived, immediately instructed the thirty-odd students to form into five-person rows, aligned by student number, standing in neat lines.

Each team had a table in front of them, complete with a backing board, cinnabar, and yellow paper.

The first-year students were silent, many with flushed faces, palms sweating, and their hands and feet cold from nervousness.

Ahead of them were the senior students demonstrating the symbol drawing in actual combat. In the storm, a graduate student senior directly used a rope to climb up the building and drew his sword to strike—this scene made the first-year students’ blood boil, itching to clap and cheer.

Yin energy swirled around their ears, the ghost of the building right in front of them.

The curtain of the stage to show their learning had been drawn. If not fighting now, then when?

Let the storm come more fiercely!

M...

Ming Yue’s surname was always associated with those who died early, especially during moments like this.

She stroked the red desk, calming her mind, quickly reviewing the ghostly event of the building she had just collected, calculating which symbols from the curse literature might correspond.

Then, she dipped her wolf-hair brush into the cinnabar, waiting for instructions.

Yan Jun glanced at her, then circled back to inspect the first group of five. He noticed that the three from Room 405 were in the first row.

"Teacher Wang, it’s three o’clock," Yan Jun said.

The first group: "…"

All five students tightened their expressions at once. The cold sweat from the Yin wind pierced to their bones, and their classmates behind them were also tense. After all, this was a live demonstration—pressure was unlike anything else, especially with the crowd of onlookers behind.

Wang Yangming stopped writing, flicked his hand, and ink splashed onto the floor.

"Five minutes. Write out the logical summary of the ghost incident at the Tian Jingxuan building—free style."

"Raise your hand when you’re done. The master's students will tell you what symbols to draw.""Whoever is fastest goes first. The results will be calculated based on both quantity and quality."

"Start."