Chapter 16 Specters
Xiao Ma fell to the ground in shock, “What the f*ck is this? Why does this look so similar to our dream?!”
Ye Shaoyang stood on the bed and carefully inspected the oil painting. After he searched for a while, he found the site of the dream. At the location, he saw a visible dab of blood. Ye Shaoyang used his finger to touch the dab of blood and found that it was still moist. Could it be the blood from his tongue?
Then, he started to sniff the painting, and he soon caught a whiff of evil Qi that was slowly dissipating. Ye Shaoyang was slightly shocked, as only specters had evil Qi. Then, Ye Shaoyang muttered, “Never thought it would be a specter. This will be a tough one to handle.”
“What’s a specter?”
Ye Shaoyang felt that there was a need to explain, so he said, “Supernatural creatures are actually divided into four kinds: spirits, demons, the undead, and specters. Specters are created from inanimate objects, and there are numerous reasons for their creation. Their origins are usually lifeless, but they slowly come to life due to some coincidences. For example, if some put a scarecrow in a place filled with Yin Qi, a specter would slowly form. Another example would be when a jade bracelet remains on a dead person for a long time, which would also form a specter.”
“The painting itself has no problems, but it was a specter that brought our souls into the painting. Now that we’ve escaped, it has also gone away.”
Xiao Ma’s jaw dropped, “It was my soul that went into the painting?”
Ye Shaoyang nodded and said, “So, if you were to die in that painting, your soul would have been broken up and trapped inside there. Which means that you owe me another 10 thousand, pay me when you have the money.”
“10 thousand … can you give me a discount? How about five thousand?”
Ye Shaoyang gave him a glance and said, “Well if you think your life is only worth five thousand, then pay me five thousand.”
Xiao Ma smiled and said, “Hehe, I know you’re just joking around. We’re roommates, right? Why should we be discussing about money; isn’t that too shallow? Now, because you saved my life, my friend, I’m willing to let you have Zhou Jingru. How’s that? Aren’t I a good friend?”
Ye Shaoyang almost fainted when he heard this proposal, “What do you mean by letting me have Zhou Jingru, you’re saying you can get her? You?”
“Hmph, even if I can’t get her, I can at least make it hard for you. Damn it, why are we even talking about her right now,” Xiao Ma said, as he looked intently at the oil painting. He seemed very nervous, “You said that this was done by a … a specter? Why did it want to harm us?”
“How would I know? But this guy is definitely pretty powerful; he has the ability to kill someone in their dreams.”
“Yeah, he was able to get to us without you even noticing, so he must be more powerful than you,” Xiao Ma said with a sarcastic tone.
“He just got lucky. If I had my equipment—which is all in my room—he would not have been able to touch us. He just caught me off guard. If I had my Spirit Repelling Bell with me, he wouldn’t even have had a chance.”
Xiao Ma scratched his head and asked, “So, what do we do now? Are you able to track it down?”
“Specters are very hard to track. We’ll only be ready to catch it if it comes with a purpose. But I think I’ll go to the local Tudi Temple to ask around.”(TL noted: Tudi Temple, a temple that governs the land in a certain area).
Xiao Ma did not understand why Ye Shaoyang had to go to the Tudi temple to ask around.
Ye Shaoyang continued, “But the thing that concerns me the most is whether this specter is able to go into all paintings or only this particular one. If it is the former, then we’re in deep trouble.”
At this moment, these words seemed to enlighten Xiao Ma. He laughed and asked, “You know the poster I have on my wall of Teacher Chang? if I could enter a dream with her, I could do things to her in my dream, right?”
Ye Shaoyang smiled sarcastically, “Yeah, but I think you’ll die doing it.”
“I would happily die if I can die while doing her!”
Ye Shaoyang was speechless. He pondered, How could an anatomy teacher be so memorable? Was it because she taught well?
What a rough night, Ye Shaoyang thought, as he yawned loudly. He began to make his way back to his room, but Xiao Ma was still very scared of what might happen. As such, he insisted on following Ye Shaoyang to the latter’s room and sleeping together. As Ye Shaoyang had retrieved the Spirit Repelling Bell and all the other magic weapons, he was not worried at all. So, he went to sleep immediately after he laid down. When he woke up, it was already daytime. After he opened his eyes, he turned to check on Xiao Ma; the guy was sitting on a chair watching television, and he had black and baggy eyes.
“F*ck man, you didn’t go to sleep?”
”I was afraid I would go into another dream, so I didn’t dare to sleep.” Then, Xiao Ma pointed to the painting that hung in the room, “See that? The painting that is hanging there only has a river, and it’s even a fast flowing river. What if I got in there and instantly drowned?”
Ye Shaoyang laughed and said, “Sensitive a*s.”
After they showered and readied themselves, they received a call from Zhou Jingru. She told them that she had some business in her father’s company. As a result, she had to leave first.
After they walked down to the reception, they found out that Zhou Jingru had paid for everything, and she had even got a set of the morning buffet for them. After the pair filled their stomachs, they returned the room keys and grabbed a cab back to the school. Xiao Ma was already very tired when they returned, so he pestered Ye Shoayang for a Protection Talisman Paper before he went back to sleep.
When Ye Shaoyang arrived back at the dorms, he saw a guy and a girl chatting. The girl had a slim and tall body, and she was also quite pretty. Ye Shaoyang checked her out and noticed something strange about this girl … something sinister.
“Let me introduce him to you. This is our new roommate, he’s called … Ye Shanyang?” said Cheng Yu, who was sitting in front of his computer. (TL note Shanyang is sheep in Chinese).
Ye Shoayang answered with an annoyed tone, “It’s Ye Shaoyang.”
“Well, this is Li Duo. He also stays in this room, but he has a job. Due to this, he doesn’t come back often. This is his girlfriend, He Lili.”
After a quick chat with Li Duo, Ye Shaoyang found him to be a very honest person. He did not talk much, but he was quite handsome and had a very muscular build. Then, Ye Shaoyang asked He Lili out of concern, “Have you recently … gone to somewhere bad?”
He Lili was slightly shocked, “I don’t understand what you mean.”
Ye Shaoyang elaborated, “Places that are known to be haunted or somewhere that has a lot of Yin Qi.”
He Lili answered with mild surprise, “Yeah … I went to dormitory four recently. How did you know?”
“Where is this dormitory four?”
“You’ve never heard of this place? That dorm is well-known to be haunted.” Then, He Lili remembered something, “Oh that's right, you’re new here. Wait, you haven’t told me how you knew I went there?”
Ye Shaoyang answered, “Well, that’s easy. You have a dark cloud of Yin Qi covering your head, while your forehead is also emitting dark energy. A layer of Yin Qi covers your body, which tells me that you must have gone to somewhere with a lot of Yin Qi.”
After a moment of silence, everyone laughed out with disbelief. Then, He Lili jokingly said, “Why does your explanation sound just like those Daoists on television; are you going to read my palm next?”
“I don’t need to read your palm, but you best be careful and not go to that kind of place.” After some brief consideration, Ye Shaoyang decided that a Protection Talisman Paper was too expensive, so he pulled out a Jujube Wood Talisman. He gave it to her and said, “Have it on you at all times and try to go to crowded places. The Yin Qi would leave three to five days later.”
He Lili smiled and asked, “How much is this?”
“We usually sell this for 500 apiece on the mountain, but since you’re a friend, I’ll give it to you for free.”
Li Duo was beginning to get annoyed, so he got up and told He Lili, “Come on, let’s go get something to eat.”
Then, He Lili stood up and gave Ye Shaoyang a smile, “If you want to chase me, just tell me. Unfortunately, I have a boyfriend already. I’ll introduce you to a girl next time, okay?”
“I’m chasing you?” These words shocked Ye Shaoyang, “When did I even try?”
He Lili giggled and walked away.
“What the f*ck; what a narcissistic person!” Ye Shaoyang turned to Cheng Yu and complained.
Cheng Yu laughed and said, “You were obviously trying to chase her. You told her fortune and even gave her something. Better yet, you did so in front of her boyfriend. You must be really lusting for her hah!”
Ye Shaoyang was completely dumbfounded. He was just trying to help, but they assumed he was a playboy.
Join our discord channel at https://discord.me/spirithunters to ask us things