Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Baoshan - Part 2

Baoshan Hospital.

Seventh Floor Obstetrics.

Abandoned Head Nurse's Office.

A single sentence from Mingyue caused the large office to fall into a deep silence.

There was a ghost in this room.

She walked, sat, and lay down without you noticing. She passed through your body, and you were unaware.

Even with Yin-Yang eyes, you couldn't see her.

Good Yin-Yang eyes would show a mass of Yin energy, bad ones would reveal a blood-red causality chain.

Whichever result it was, it felt like a cold breeze had blown on the backs of the three students, making the hair on their necks stand on end.

Invisible ghosts, indistinguishable from the living.

This was the most terrifying and bewildering situation the ghost-slayer had faced in over a decade or two of growing Yin-Yang eyes.

Chen Xiu ignored the outdated "No Smoking" sign on the wall and lit a cigarette. "If Mingyue’s hypothesis is correct..."

"Then, based on what we know and combining our studies, there are three possible conclusions."

"One, the causality chain is unusual, but this isn’t the soul of a human being."

"Two, it’s an old soul, one that died for some unknown reason before entering the afterlife, and after years have passed, the Yin energy has become so faint that it no longer has a human form."

At this point, Chen Xiu stopped, took a deep drag of the cigarette, and watched the ember burn. The cigarette had already burned halfway down.

Yan Jun remained silent, and Mingyue turned to him. "Senior, why don’t you mention the third possibility?"

Chen Xiu smirked. "Why don’t you say it?"

Mingyue: "…"

Time was running out. Why waste time with these circles?

Senior Zhou Jingren was still outside, sacrificing himself to stand guard at the door.Chen Xiu had both the qualities of a sharp-minded person and a rebellious youth, seamlessly switching between the two with expert precision. As soon as he saw Mingyue, he understood exactly what she was thinking and sneered:

"You lit the fire in the stairwell, and it can only last for ten minutes at most. It’s been at least twenty minutes since then."

"Zhou Jingren is still out there, not even pretending to be a pregnant woman."

"Regardless of the reason, the security on the seventh floor is definitely much more relaxed than when we first arrived."

Before he could finish his sentence, the office door creaked open, and Zhou Jingren poked his messy head in:

"Chen Xiu, I heard you say I’m pretending to be pregnant."

"Hurry up! My brothers are out there risking their lives to cover for you, and you’re here gossiping about your junior sister?"

"You're really shameless."

With that, he quickly slammed the door shut, blocking the cigarette butt that Chen Xiu had thrown at him against the door.

Chen Xiu: "…"

The president of the Spiritual Academy awkwardly cleared his throat.

Yan Jun stepped in to save the situation: "Senior just wants to train us."

"I’ll take a guess at the third possibility."

"If this soul was human, and its karmic sins are heavy but its Yin energy is weak, this clearly goes against the norm—"

Yan Jun paused, pinching his fingers and restraining himself from speaking too coldly:

"According to the laws of Yin and Yang, it’s possible that it encountered a very strong source of Yang energy, which neutralized it, or it came near a very strong source of vengeful Yin energy, creating a 'siphoning' effect, where it lost a significant amount of its Yin energy."

Sadly, once the siphoning effect happens, the Yin energy that’s been taken is hard to replenish.

Souls that cannot form a shape, under the current situation where ninety percent of souls cannot return to the underworld, will float in the human realm and eventually be worn down by the high concentration of Yang energy until they turn to ash.

Yan Jun felt cold in his heart but understood that a ghost-slayer should have compassion for the souls of the dead. He tried to soften his words, but to his surprise, Mingyue spoke up:

"Serves it right."

"Causality, retribution is inescapable.""If this ghost was really drained of its Yin energy, then it's the retribution formed by the causality chain around her body."

After speaking, Mingyue bent down to pick up Chen Xiu's cigarette butt. Chen Xiu coughed and was about to say "thank you, junior sister," but to his surprise, Mingyue handed the cigarette butt back to him.

Chen Xiu: "…"

So you weren’t planning on helping me throw it away.

Mingyue: "It’s not out yet."

Chen Xiu: "…"

Chen Xiu took the cigarette butt, unfazed, and continued smoking, leaving his two juniors dumbfounded.

"Now, let's vote."

"We're too few in number. Even if we work together, it's not enough manpower. We definitely can't prepare for each situation separately."

"Pick one, three main situations, which one do we go with?"

"Perfect, three people, an odd number, makes it easy to vote."

Chen Xiu automatically excluded Zhou Jingren, who was guarding outside.

Mingyue and Yan Jun exchanged a glance.

Chen Xiu coldly said, "I'll count down from three to one, everyone raise a finger. No abstentions."

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

As soon as the countdown finished, nine fingers appeared.

The three of them: "…"

Mingyue chuckled, "Looks like we’re in sync with Senior."

With that, the three of them all laughed.Mingyue stared at the dense, tangled causality chain around the air conditioning vent. It looked like a red snake's nest, with its ends connected and twisted together in a way that made her scalp tingle.

"Based on the assumption that spirits linger in places where grudges have not been resolved..."

"I think, this senior might be the head nurse."

Mingyue said this hesitantly.

Typically, being in the medical field and saving people, the head nurse should be a position full of merit.

To casually implicate the "red ghost" in front of her as someone in that position, even a hard-nosed ghost hunter like herself felt guilty.

However, as soon as she finished speaking, the two young men beside her nodded in agreement.

Yan Jun nodded: "Agreed."

Chen Xiu: "Makes sense."

Mingyue: "…"

Mingyue quickly followed up with another significant discovery: "If she really is the head nurse, then I suspect that the old ghost who drained her Yin energy could be that unfortunate student."

Yan Jun corrected her: "Mingyue, show some respect for the dead, be careful not to speak ill of them."

Chen Xiu ignored the details, "What makes you think that?"

Mingyue pointed at the white wall on the left side of the office, "The fire in the stairwell on the seventh floor is on the west side. The head nurse's office is at the farthest end, in the opposite direction. I ran all the way to the end, saw countless people and ghosts, but didn’t see her."

Chen Xiu: "There are many vengeful spirits in the obstetrics ward. How can you be sure it was her?"

Mingyue raised her fingers, "There are only three types of vengeful spirits in the obstetrics ward: fetuses, mothers who gave birth, and those who did not give birth."

"If it’s a mother who gave birth, they mostly linger around the infant spirits. They're easy to recognize, and the body shape of a pregnant woman is quite different from a normal student."

"Infant spirits and pregnant women are even easier to spot."

She raised three fingers, "I guarantee, I didn’t see that student on the way here."

She paused for a moment, "Wait, no. Li Jiajia on the sixth floor specifically mentioned a student. Xiao Lin said five died."

"But I didn’t see a single one."Yan Jun pointed out a key suspicion: "The intern died in the obstetrics ward. This is clearly a place filled with unrelieved grudges."

"Where can they go?"

Mingyue tightened her coat: "What if someone turned into a vengeful ghost and created the siphon effect?"

"Squad leader, just look at this smoky and chaotic Baoshan District. It couldn’t have been just a few innocent ghosts causing all of this."

Chen Xiu took a drag from his cigarette: "If we follow Mingyue's logic, where a student died and turned into a vengeful ghost because of resentment, then this would at least explain things and give us a possible path to follow."

"But, it needs verification."

"You need to understand that suppressing Yin energy and suppressing Yin energy formed by vengeful ghosts are two completely different things. One is done by using talismans and formations, while the other requires removing the source and cutting off the ghosts."

"..."

Mingyue lowered her head and thought, tracing back through the logic of the whole event.

Chen Xiu watched her while smoking, a subtle look of admiration appearing in his eyes.

This junior was sharp.

When the Ming family’s child gets to work, they indeed act faster than others.

He was thinking about that when Mingyue’s eyes lit up. "Got it."

"Vengeful ghosts, vengeful ghosts. There must be deep hatred to have the ability to transform one's pure soul into a grudge. After all, once this transformation happens, both heaven and earth forsake them, and there's no turning back."

"Killing the head nurse once isn’t enough?"

"Also, Xiao Lin never explained clearly why five students died in one night."

"Let’s not mention other things, but now we have a ready-made enemy right in front of us, waiting for us to confront them."

The other two: "Who?"

Mingyue clapped her hands: "The one who helped the head nurse harm others, the nurse in charge of managing high-risk pregnant women."

"She's an accomplice in the students' deaths."

"If we find her, we might just be able to corner that student ghost!"The obstetrics department's workload was overwhelming, enough to kill people every day.

If she had to say it, Zhang Aihua felt that it was already bold of her to still show up for work.

There had been so many incidents recently.

A month ago, the head nurse and the students had infighting, and she watched coldly from the sidelines, taking advantage of the situation.

In the past seven days, twelve mothers had died. She reported each one to the police.

In the lobby, there had been a medical dispute, and students were fighting. She hid in the stairwell and called security.

Later, the head nurse was avenged by the victim’s family and was hanged in the air conditioning duct. The sharp-tongued women in the department even called her over to look at the scene. They whispered to her in front of the dead body, talking about how miserable the head nurse's death was, saying that someone who committed so many wrongs would eventually meet a tragic end.

They even said that Zhang Aihua was probably next.

Zhang Aihua didn’t say a word.

As for these women with long hair and short sight, Zhang Aihua couldn’t be bothered to engage in any conversation with them.

She had been managing high-risk pregnancies for over a decade, with countless good deeds, saving so many lives. She was tough, no doubt.

In the obstetrics department over the years, personal connections had become cold.

Her medical reputation relied entirely on the doctors, but if the nursing staff lacked Zhang Aihua, the whole department might crumble.

Could she really be defeated by a vengeful ghost?

Impossible.

If she couldn't avoid it, she'd just switch to another hospital to work.

Feeling the cold air around her, Zhang Aihua stubbornly thought.

So—When faced with the three young people in front of her who claimed to be experts in ghost-slaying and exorcism, Zhang Aihua wore a coffin-like expression.

"I don't have much to tell you."

"I'm saddened by the head nurse's death too, but sadness aside, life must go on."

"Not finding the cause and blaming others—did your moral education teacher teach you this when you were little?"

"I've heard of the Spirit Exorcism Institute. Isn't that just a place for wild Taoist practices?"

"You young people, not doing any proper work, learning how to kill ghosts. Don't you fear your parents will come back from the grave to scold you?"

For years, Nurse Zhang Aihua had never lost a verbal battle with patients' families, and now, when she berated these students, it was a piece of cake.

Ming Yue and the other two exchanged glances, a chill running through their hearts.

This person has such a poisonous tongue.

Cursing others' parents to die early, filled with malevolent energy, and not even afraid of losing virtue.

The chairman of the Spirit Institute, with his short temper, sneered coldly and was about to take action, but Ming Yue grabbed him by the arm.

"Hold on, Senior." Ming Yue signaled, pulling a yellow paper from her backpack.

"…"

Chen Xiu turned his head to look at the pattern on the talisman and realized it wasn't a curse he had seen in his textbook.

Yan Jun, however, recognized it.

"Ghost Summoning Talisman," he wrote in the palm of his hand and showed it to Chen Xiu.

When Yan Sheng, from a wealthy land-owning family, expanded his business in the early years, he didn't believe in ghosts or gods and showed no respect for the heavens. After suffering some retribution, he invited an old Taoist priest from the capital to perform a ritual.

At that time, the old Taoist, in order to win the trust of Yan Sheng, who was a firm believer in materialism, drew this Ghost Summoning Talisman and briefly opened his spiritual sight for three breaths to see how many wandering souls were lingering around the construction site Yan Sheng had chosen.

When he saw it…

It was shocking.

The old man was so frightened that he had a stroke on the spot, spent half a month in the ICU, and after recovering, he became humble, burning incense and making offerings to appease the vengeful spirits at the construction site.

From then on, Yan Jun learned about this talisman.It came from unorthodox practices, opening the yin eye for the living, leading to consequences whose outcome was unknown, and was looked down upon by traditional yin-yang practitioners—

Yet, it took a different path and resolved the disputes that helped gain the trust of the living.

Ming Yue said seriously: "Sister, your medical skills are remarkable, and your hard work and efforts are unmatched. Your hands have no doubt delivered countless babies."

"But when the underworld calculates deeds and grievances, it does not offset good deeds against bad ones."

"Heavenly laws, humans as pigs and dogs, ten virtues can't make up for a single wrong. Do you understand?"

She dampened the talisman with water and held it in front of Zhang Aihua, making a slight gesture.

Zhang Aihua: "…"

Zhang Aihua was soft when it came to persuasion, and she could tell when a student spoke sincerely. In the midst of her struggle, she sneered:

"Isn't it just a broken talisman?"

"I'll see what happens when I stick it on."

"Our obstetrics department is a united front. You think you can fool us? No way."

Saying that, she took the talisman and casually slapped it on her eyes.

The three of them: "…"

The rumors had already spread three or four floors, yet they still thought they were an unbreakable united front.

As soon as she stuck it on, Ming Yue immediately stepped back, and the other two students lowered their heads, pretending to be good students.

Three seconds later—

"Ahhh—!!"

A scream echoed through the obstetrics department.

Zhang Aihua collapsed to the ground, convulsing all over, her face drenched in tears and mucus, muttering incoherently: "Ghost... ghost, ghost, there’s a ghost—!"

"The ground... the ground... ahhh, it's everywhere!!"

"It's black!"The remaining three nodded in unison: "Yeah, there’s a ghost."

Zhang Aihua cried out, "Help me, help me!"

The three of them: "…"

Ming Yue bent down, attempting to help her up. But as soon as she got close, a strong stench of feces and urine emanated from Zhang Aihua.

"Smells so fragrant."

Ming Yue’s hand paused, her expression odd.

She turned to Yan Jun and said, "Class leader, could you please find the changing room and bring this sister a pair of pants?"

Then Ming Yue, maintaining a neutral expression, tried to lift Zhang Aihua—

Unexpectedly, the woman was too heavy and limp, unable to be raised, and her pants dragged on the floor, leaving a yellow stain behind.

Yan Jun: "…"

Yan Jun almost couldn’t hold back a laugh, but nodded: "Alright, I’ll get them right away."

"Thank you for your hard work, Nurse."