Chapter 70

Chapter 70: The Consecutive Halls One

[Ghost Slayer License Exam Countdown 12:09:36]

[0104001 Míng Yuè]

[Captured Yin Energy Nodes: 3]

[Score: 25]

[Exam Ranking: 11,008]

[Win Rate 1:0 100%]

[10m Scan Yin Energy Nodes: 0, Yang Energy Nodes: 1]

The bridge ghost was slain, and the dense yin mist on the bridge gradually dissipated. Míng Yuè and Zhāng Qíqí exchanged communication codes amicably. Looking back, the peculiar bridge twisted and turned, horizontally inserting itself into the parallel, muddy, winding dirty river, eventually forming the mundane "Bridge Across the Long River" scenario.

This was right.

Míng Yuè thought to herself.

But she saw Zhāng Qíqí beside her pulling out paper to calculate the feng shui, marking an X on the bridge in her hand-drawn map with the note: "Feng Shui Normal."

Míng Yuè: "..."

Míng Èr Gé (Second Brother) didn't understand, so he asked, "Miss, what does this mark mean?"

Zhāng Qíqí didn't answer immediately.

I am skilled in calculations, and Jīn Dà students excel at combat. We make a good team.

Now we are "revolutionary comrades," so it’s fine to tell her.

Zhāng Qíqí thought to herself.

"I entered through entrance 25, and along the way, I noticed many odd feng shui aspects in the Ghost City Scenic Area."

"So, I’ve been correcting it as I go."

"Improper feng shui breeds evil, while proper feng shui will cultivate harmony."

"Small things like branches and bushes, I can fix them with ease.""However, the larger one..." Zhāng Qíqí pointed to the arch bridge over the dirty river that had already been self-corrected behind them and explained, "...it's not something that can be corrected by just one person's power."

"But even if the strength is lacking, you still have to give it a try."

If one person fails, two people won’t be much better.

Thinking back to when the bridge ghost toyed with them like dumplings in hot water, tsk.

Míng Yuè spread her hands: "Is this your reason for getting on the bridge?"

Zhāng Qíqí: "Exactly."

Míng Yuè fell silent for a moment, then tactfully said, "Greediness is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant, Miss."

"If this bridge ghost wasn’t relying on its craftiness, it wouldn't be easy to deal with."

"Also, the essence of adjusting feng shui is still the adjustment of the yin-yang environment—Miss, to be honest, if it's corrected, there are points involved, right?"

Zhāng Qíqí: "..."

Zhāng Qíqí gave an awkward smile and didn't speak.

The two of them walked in silence for a while.

Míng Yuè looked left and right, keeping an eye on everything around her.

The land was covered with dense vegetation, cracks from the earthquake were sparse, and in the distance, the lines of tall buildings rose, their outlines visible even through the thick gray mist.

The two of them watched as a massive structure emerged from the green and gray surroundings.

They looked out far into the distance.

This temple had a pitch-black roof without corner ornaments. At the very top, a row of guardian beasts lay on it. Unlike the homes in Ghost City, which had various poses and angry eyes, these beasts all lowered their heads with drooping eyes, their limbs jet black.

Pushing through the bushes, they discovered they had already reached the brick path leading to the temple’s entrance.

What was strange was that right in front of them, the plaque of the temple’s gate was blank, with no inscriptions.

"It’s not a temple, it’s a... hall," Míng Yuè murmured softly, recalling what she had learned from ancient books at home. She had thought this structure in the mist was a temple, but now she saw it was just an old-style palace.

The nameless hall’s interior was extremely high, with black columns. Between the trees, she could vaguely make out the black-gray floor, with cracks between the bricks that were oddly dirty, as though a large amount of blood had been splashed onto the floor and then roughly wiped dry, leaving behind dark red stains."How beautiful! The ghost and god culture of Huaxia is truly magnificent."

Zhāng Qíqí marveled at the grand and majestic architecture, while Míng Yuè focused on the outline of the palace, her thoughts feeling rather indifferent.

It's not even as nice as my family's old house.

Míng Erge clicked his tongue.

Just as she was thinking, their communicators started to beep one after another, each more piercing than the last.

Míng Yuè lowered her head and saw the 10-meter radius yin energy nodes around them starting to fluctuate—

"0.5?"

"What does this mean?" Míng Yuè asked in confusion.

Zhāng Qíqí glanced at her, feeling suspicious.

Why is Míng Yuè so clueless?

She's in the fourth year, shouldn't this be her first time taking the licensing exam?

...Then again, maybe not. Nothing is absolute.

"Generally, the fluctuation of yin energy nodes ranges from 0 to 1, which indicates that there are resentful spirits about to appear, but not yet."

"We’ll have to rely on our decisions and actions," Zhāng Qíqí said kindly, explaining.

Míng Yuè’s interest piqued upon hearing this: "Let’s go, let’s enter the hall."

"Bring the soul out! Send it off to its next life!"

Zhāng Qíqí helplessly followed.

The surroundings were eerily quiet.

They walked along the straight path, the floor tiles cracked into patterns, and the plants lining the path were lush to the north but withered to the south. Even Míng Yuè, a student with a basic knowledge of feng shui, was surprised by the oddities.

Zhāng Qíqí recorded everything one by one.

The temple doors couldn’t be opened.

Peering through the crack in the door, all Míng Yuè could sense was a hazy fog inside, the chill seeping into her bones.Míng Yuè didn’t hold back either, pressing her left eye against the crack in the door and inhaling the yin energy with all her might.

Zhāng Qíqí, who was watching Míng Erge’s posture: "...Míng Yuè, what are you doing?"

Míng Yuè waved her hand dismissively, speaking nonsense: "Nothing, I just like the door crack."

Zhāng Qíqí: "…"

A fetish?

This is quite the strange habit.

Zhāng Qíqí turned around to clear the broken tiles.

In ancient large estates, there were many taboos about the unevenness of the entrance path, including crooked paths, missteps, cracked tiles, etc. They believed these things signaled a change in the home's feng shui.

Zhāng Qíqí carefully pried up the broken tiles and tossed them into the bushes.

Sure enough, a faint yellow yang energy rose from the surface of the ground. Her communicator chimed, notifying that Zhāng Qíqí had earned 2 points.

Zhāng Qíqí breathed a sigh of relief.

Míng Yuè squatted down beside her and suddenly spoke, "What are you doing?"

Ah!

Zhāng Qíqí was startled, sitting down on the ground in shock. "You scared me to death!"

Míng Yuè grinned, looking over the tiles that had been removed. The path was now full of dust and dirt, making it look strange.

"Did you earn points?" Míng Yuè didn’t beat around the bush.

Zhāng Qíqí hesitated for a moment before nodding.

Well, the tiles had already been cleared, and Míng Yuè wouldn’t be able to earn points from this task.

There were also the trees with inverted crowns, one on each side of the path.

Normally, trees should grow thickly toward the south, where they get more sunlight, and become sparse on the north side, which is shaded.

But here, the trees were exactly the opposite.The sun was still hanging in the sky, hidden by the mist, but it added an eerie quality to the scene.

Míng Yuè glanced at the sun, and for some reason, she smiled. She then pulled out a fire talisman and headed toward the trees.

Zhāng Qíqí’s heart tensed. "What are you going to do?"

"The tree crown can't be fixed."

"We can only clear it or destroy it. How can it be repaired?"

"Who said I want to fix the tree crown?"

Míng Yuè burned a sparse leaf from a tree nearby. This tree was strange, burning so quickly it made her doubt if it was even real.

"If it wants to be thick on the north side, let it. I'll burn the south side's crown flat."

Zhāng Qíqí jumped back in fear. "Are you crazy?"

"This will just make the feng shui worse!"

Míng Yuè nodded. "Yes."

"Miss, what does it mean when the yin energy node is 0.5?"

"You said the vengeful spirit is about to appear, right?"

Zhāng Qíqí froze, something stirring in her heart.

Míng Yuè blinked and burned the second tree flat. "So, what do you think I'm doing now?"

"The feng shui is unbalanced, and the vengeful spirits are about to appear."

"So, I’m making it even more strange, making the yin and yang more unbalanced."

"I'm going to turn this feng shui around, make the yin energy surge."

"The more yin energy there is, the more it’s friendly for the vengeful spirits and evil ghosts."

"When the feng shui flips and turns evil, that's even better! Aren’t we here to slay ghosts?""You see what I mean?"

Zhāng Qíqí: "..."

Zhāng Qíqí stared blankly at Míng Yuè.

In all her years in this major, she had never encountered someone like this.

Dì Dà (Imperial University) valued theory above all else.

It aligned with the humanistic concerns advocated in the new century: having a good heart, treating evil ghosts the same way, emphasizing reincarnation and salvation. Words of wisdom flowed smoothly from their lips.

On the other hand, the hawkish faction, represented by Jīn Dà (Golden University), was not as favored as it once was.

Critics argued that the excessively violent method of slaying ghosts might not rid the world of evil but could instead breed more hatred.

"Militarism" and "invasion" were blamed for disasters, and Jīn Dà's reputation of being undefeated in battle for over a century became a burden in the new century.

Professors from the Spirit-Sealing Academy who went to Dì Dà in recent years returned to campus and angrily cursed, saying: "You use human hearts to deal with evil ghosts, but those evil ghosts have already descended to the eighteenth level of hell!"

Yes.

"Others are not of our kind, their hearts must differ."

How could they measure the world of the dead with the public morality of human society?

Look at what Míng Yuè just did.

Adjusting the feng shui and regulating the yin-yang environment, like a "wrench" for the tracks, instead of shifting toward the yang energy, she recklessly stirred up more yin energy.

What kind of person is this?

Her goals were bigger than anything else, disregarding past experiences, and even the current professional ethics could be temporarily set aside.

Did she still distinguish between yin and yang?

Did she know that she was a reserve ghost slayer?

Zhāng Qíqí couldn't understand Míng Yuè at all.

She seemed like a demon.Míng Yuè continuously burned five or six trees. The rising ash and smoke dispersed the yin energy, scattering everywhere and cleaning the gathered yang energy from the floor until it was completely gone.

She glanced at Zhāng Qíqí and smiled:

"Why be so concerned?"

"Don’t carry too much weight in your heart, this is the Ghost City of Fengdu, anything can happen here."

"Letting go to catch is also one of the thirty-six strategies."

"I know, Dì Dà (Imperial University) emphasizes the ideological education of the Spirit-Sealing Academy, Miss, you’ve all been ‘tamed’."

"Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing."

"Someone like me, a dangerous element, should be fewer in number, easier to manage."

Míng Yuè was joking as she spoke.

Zhāng Qíqí hesitated and said, "But doing this… the vengeful spirits that have yet to appear will probably show themselves."

Míng Yuè: "Let them come."

"Miss, I’m not lecturing, but—" Míng Yuè said seriously, "—this place already has ghosts, do you plan on hiding them? Preventing a problem before it occurs isn’t about covering it up once it festers."

"It’s about forcing it out, squeezing it out, tearing it open, don’t you think?"

Zhāng Qíqí: "…"

Zhāng Qíqí smiled and said: "Are all the students of the Spirit-Sealing Academy like you?"

"Truly terrifying."

Míng Yuè used a yin energy talisman to extinguish the remaining flames, "The Spirit-Sealing Academy has hidden dragons and crouching tigers, what do I count as?"

In no time, all the trees were left with sparse bald patches. Thick yin energy enveloped the entire straight path, extending until it touched the tightly shut doors.

A loud bang!

The doors opened.

Míng Yuè and Zhāng Qíqí turned around at the same time.

In the air, a golden brush appeared, writing with silver hooks and iron strokes. However, the characters that appeared were a pale, cold silver, like snow.【Wúcháng Hall】

The three large characters were bold and powerful.

As the brush fell, the characters were formed.

Zhāng Qíqí: "…"

Míng Yuè: "…"

Míng Yuè whistled: "Come on, Fengdu City gates are open, let's release a hundred thousand evil ghosts."

"Congratulations, we’ve reached Wúcháng Hall."

Zhāng Qíqí was at a loss whether to laugh or cry: "You really stumbled upon it by accident."

Both of them drew their weapons, one ahead and one behind, entering the hall.

Inside, it was quiet. Upon entering, they saw that it was a hall complex, layered and winding, with no way of knowing how many more palaces were connected in the back.

Inside the small hall behind the big gate, statues of the Black and White Wúcháng (the Gods of Death) sat with half-closed eyelids, hands hanging down in the hall, the white on the right and the black on the left, silent and solemn.

Míng Yuè placed her trident down to show respect and bowed to the two gods.

Zhāng Qíqí: "What’s wrong?"

Míng Yuè: "Nothing, my father and brothers have connections with the two ghost messengers, I should pay my respects to the elders."

Zhāng Qíqí responded with an "oh."

Míng Yuè looked up, her mind a bit strange.

She felt like she had thought of something, but couldn't quite grasp it.

Behind the small hall was an open space leading to the inner hall. The connected brick path looked no different from the outside. Halfway, there was a water tank with lotus flowers inside and white lotus stems sticking out.

Míng Yuè: ???

Are fresh lotus roots grown in this season?

Wasn't it supposed to be around the start of school?Zhāng Qíqí didn't notice anything unusual and pulled Míng Yuè to walk outside. Míng Yuè, still not convinced, circled around the Wúcháng Hall's small hall again. The two statues of the gods silently stared at her, and she stared back at the statues.

Strange.

What exactly was wrong?

She couldn't figure it out for now.

Míng Yuè stepped out of the small hall. Zhāng Qíqí was examining the statues placed along the straight path, admiring them.

Míng Yuè, intrigued, was about to walk over to take a look when she glanced at the lotus water tank and noticed—did the lotus roots grow longer?

Míng Yuè: "…"

Míng Yuè's heart tightened. She approached quietly and carefully focused her gaze.

Sure enough.

Though the water tank was not close, she could clearly see the "lotus stems" slowly crawling out, pale and tender from being soaked in water, like a group of snow-white sour bamboo shoots.

Míng Yuè: "…"

Míng Yuè covered her left eye, thinking to herself, "Thank goodness my right eye is sharp."

She observed carefully.

Not knowing it before, but once she saw it—she jumped in shock!

Those weren’t lotus stems!

Clearly, they were arms and hands coming out of the water tank!

Pale, shining with water, no parts besides the shoulders and neck, with fingers swollen and purple from soaking, creeping out of the water tank, with water droplets sliding down the skin. Who knows how many "hand-lotus" were hiding under this beautifully blooming lotus flower, in the dirty brown water?

Zhāng Qíqí, engrossed in studying the statues of the Ox-Head and Horse-Face, was startled by Míng Yuè’s loud cry from behind.

"Miss!"

"Run back!""This year's lotus roots are on the market too early!"

"Pah—it's hands, it's hands!"

Zhāng Qíqí: "…"

Zhāng Qíqí was utterly confused.

At that moment, the large door of the Wúcháng Hall slammed shut with a loud "bang."

Hell was locked.

No way out.