Chương 24: Chapter 10 Ghost House Transformation Phenomenon_2
Cen Dongsheng slowly opened his eyes, looked over there, and said in a deep voice, "Sister Zhi Zhen, did something happen?"
"I'm picking clothes and accidentally bumped my foot..."
Uh, it's not like we're going out shopping, he thought.
"Sorry, I was too nervous, this is the first time someone stayed overnight at my place... I just got up this morning and wanted to leave the room, then I remembered you're still here, and I hadn't even put on proper clothes."
There was a hint of shyness in her voice.
"Wait a moment, I'll change into suitable clothes and shoes as quickly as possible."
...
Cen Dongsheng turned on the living room light, then heard the bedroom door being opened again.
He turned his head, and the sight that met his eyes made his eyes light up.
As she herself had said, today Sister Zhi Zhen changed into a sports outfit, a cool sleeveless top and white knitted pants that highlighted her straight legs, with her shiny black hair tied into a long ponytail draped over her back.
A departure from her usual urban lady aura, today An Zhizhen looked like an energetic girl, full of youthful spirit, seemingly ageless.
"Stunned?"
Seeing him speechless, An Zhizhen tilted her head slightly and asked with a cheerful smile.
"A bit, yeah."
Cen Dongsheng honestly nodded in acknowledgment.
"Great, then it wasn't in vain picking clothes."
"Yeah, I originally thought there's no sun in the Ghost House..." Cen Dongsheng said, "But seeing Sister Zhi Zhen's attire, even without the sun, it already feels so dazzling."
"Hahaha, you're really good with words, no wonder girls like you, it's giving me goosebumps."
Girls? Or the boss! he retorted in his mind.
"Flattery never fails," this was the survival law of an office worker, which wasn't exaggerated at all. After all, in the hierarchy-respecting Curse Forbidden Master society, bosses really had the capability to take the heads off their subordinates.
Seeing her mood wasn't bad this morning, Cen Dongsheng couldn't help but say, "You've adapted to the weird occurrences quite quickly, Sister Zhi Zhen."
Transitioning from an ordinary person to someone in the know, being able to promptly accept the truth and adapt to survive was also a part of one's talent.
"I can't let others protect me while I'm crying and make me a joke. I still want to maintain a little dignity as an elder sister."
Sister Zhi Zhen smiled and answered.
"Dongsheng, take me with you."
*
They walked out the door, and though it was clearly morning, the corridor outside remained pitch black, as if the world was trapped in an eternal night.
This row of rooms was vacant, a reflection of another world. Only the moonlight above faintly illuminated Xiaokang Building.
They arrived at the stairwell and walked down the nearby fire exit. After descending a floor, Sister Zhi Zhen seemed to notice something and suddenly grabbed the sleeve of Cen Dongsheng walking in front.
"Wait a moment..."
She pointed downstairs, lowering her voice anxiously.
"What are those? Should we hide?"
Cen Dongsheng silently watched the corridor on that floor. A white shadow floated by gently, glowing faintly under the moonlight.
Then another, followed by the next... White shadows swarmed, drifting through the corridor in dense rows, congesting the narrow passage like an office building at closing time.
These white shadows were featureless, only roughly distinguishable as men, women, elders, or children by their silhouettes. Some outlines were so faint they almost blended with their surroundings.
"Class D ghosts, the lowest grade of Floating Spirits," Cen Dongsheng explained.
"They often appear in groups, drawn by yin energy, and while they emit an aura themselves, being surrounded by these things will quickly make one feel weak, since they constantly absorb yang energy from living beings."
"...The lowest grade, huh?"
"Yes, unable to even form their own shape, they actually don't have the ability to kill. As long as you're not constantly in their aura, you won't die. Just leave or avoid them as soon as you see them. Of course, if the elderly or infirm run into them, there's still a chance something might happen."
"You really know this stuff," Sister Zhi Zhen marveled.
"Yeah, I read some books Grandpa left. I mentioned it last night."
Although he was generous with explaining ghosts and the Forbidden Masters to Sister Zhi Zhen, he didn't mention anything about the future.
Thus, Sister Zhi Zhen might suspect his source of information later... To preemptively tackle this, Cen Dongsheng fabricated a fictional past for himself, claiming that while he was at the welfare home, he had a good relationship with an old man nearby, and before the man passed, he received an ancient book filled with knowledge.
During the "first wave," a group of people who inherited the ancient Curse Forbidden Master traditions used the techniques passed down by ancestors to deal with ghosts and had an early advantage; but this advantage quickly disappeared in the Forbidden Master society.
Faced with natural powerful birth horoscopes and ever-emerging new curses, tradition became a joke; as for experience in dealing with ghosts, people soon summed up more scientific and effective systematic methods than those recorded in old books.
Cen Dongsheng concocted this identity to make his source of "knowledge" more reasonable.
He looked at the woman clutching his sleeve.
"Sister Zhi Zhen, why don't you try interacting with them?"
Certainly, Cen Dongsheng could easily destroy the ghosts blocking the path with True Qi, but he thought it better for Sister Zhi Zhen to start getting used to the presence of ghosts.
"Don't be afraid. Like I said, they don't have the ability to immediately take or attack human lives. If something goes wrong, I'll help."
Being An Zhizhen's guide—thinking this way made him a bit proud, which wasn't good.
"...I understand."
Sister Zhi Zhen evidently understood his intention and didn't refuse.
...
Standing at the junction of the corridor and stairs, the woman placed her hand on her chest, the rounded outline beneath her palm rising and falling with her breath.
An Zhizhen stared at the white shadow less than a meter in front, almost brushing past her eyelids. She overcame a slight sense of discomfort and stepped forward—
"..."
Upon colliding with the white shadow, An Zhizhen's body passed right through the Floating Spirit.
At the moment of contact, she felt as though she were entering a damp and cold mist, soaked all over, her shoulders heavy.
There was a sensation of vitality being striped away... but not overwhelming.
"Seems like Dongsheng's knowledge in this aspect is quite accurate," she thought, quickly stepping forward several times, leaving the white shadow behind, and finally returning to her original place.
An Zhizhen looked back, and the Floating Spirits continued along their trajectory, paying her no mind.
"Oh."
Cen Dongsheng clapped his hands beside her, offering encouragement.
"Very well done. You'll slowly begin to get used to it."
The woman smiled at his praise. She instinctively touched her ponytail.
"...Actually, I still feel uncertain. If only I had the power to fight against ghosts like you, Dongsheng, I wouldn't be so nervous."
"You will."
"Really?"
If An Zhizhen couldn't become a Forbidden Master, that would be the biggest joke.
"Of course. But not right now."
...
Continuing down the stairs, they quickly reached the first floor.
"I think I hear something... Are there more ghosts?"
Before stepping out the main entrance, An Zhizhen stopped again.
"No, it's people."
Cen Dongsheng looked toward the flowerbed at the central courtyard.
Under the unending blanket of night, about a dozen figures gathered there, noise coming from that direction.
He didn't feel any yin energy, they were all alive.
"Looks like we weren't the only ones caught up in the 'ghost house.'"
Cen Dongsheng narrowed his eyes slightly.
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