Chapter 7: Paper Money~

Ghosts Know What I Experienced
Author: Mo Chen Huan
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Translator: Aeryn
Editor: ReluctantEditor
not reading this with full experience with page jumps, informational images and links.
If you’re human, please do not repost this English Translation anywhere outside Spicy Chicken Translations. Thank you.

Chapter 7

The moon at one in the morning murkily enveloped the neighborhood.

Xi Jia noticed something was really off the moment he entered the neighborhood.

This part of the neighborhood was newly built a few years ago. Located in S City, it’s development was the fastest with the highest housing cost, and it’s near Jingdu Lake. From the seventh floor and above, you could see the overhead highway over the lake and the sparkling reflections of sunlight on the clear Jindu Lake. It’s also a housing in a school district. If it wasn’t for Xi Jia receiving compensation for the demolition of his old house, he absolutely wouldn’t be able to buy an apartment here.

Because it was close to the Creative Industrial Park, many residents here were programmers. A programmer’s salary was high, but they would work overtime almost everyday. Don’t mention that it’s one in the morning right now, even if it’s three in the morning, there would occasionally be programmers returning from working overtime. It’s not possible for it to be this quiet. Not a sound could be heard even from the lights.

Xi Jia slowly knit his brows. And by his side, Pei Yu drew a rune in the air. This rune that he drew was a lot less bright than the one Ye Jingzhi drew on Xi Jia’s front door. After drawing the last stroke, Pei Yu pointed at the middle. Impressively, a golden light flooded the entire neighborhood.

“Go!”

In the next moment, Xi Jia’s pupils shrunk. He looked in astonishment at the black qi that shrouded the entirety of the neighborhood.

Pei Yu also never would have thought that he himself would actually see such a sight. This part of the neighborhood stretched across two blocks, and the floor area was extremely wide. However at this moment, the dense, eerie yin energy was twisting within the neighborhood, creating a soundless city.

A light breeze came from outside. But once it arrived at the neighborhood’s gate, it was scattered by the terribly abundant yin energy.

Pei Yu was startled, “Such concentrated yin energy, Xi Jia, is it your doing?”

When entering the neighborhood, Xi Jia noticed that something was not right, and also felt a hint of yin energy. Now that he really saw the extent of the yin energy, he said, “Not me. When I left two days ago, it was not like this. Pei Yu, can you find out where the yin energy is the strongest?”

Pei Yu shook his head, “Zishi (11pm-1am) is when the Hell Gate opens, and when the yin energy is greatly flourishing in the secular world. Right now, not to mention your neighborhood, there would also be some faint yin energy and a few wandering souls even on the main streets outside. My master and Hell King Ye could probably find the source of the yin energy before dawn, but I can’t. Wait till sunrise, the yang energy will naturally exorcise, and then I could find the cause.”

Since there’s no way to find the cause, the two strolled a bit in the neighborhood before finally going home.

Xi Jia himself was never a ghost catching Celestial Master. He didn’t know any spells, not to mention finding ghosts. And this Charlatan Pei by his side claimed to be some leading figure of the younger generation, yet he was entirely unreliable. He really was like a fake medium.

Waiting until noon the next day when the yang energy was abundant, Pei Yu held a mysterious iron compass the size of his palm. He strolled around the neighborhood like a lunatic. He kept looked down at the compass, and looked up again to see the surrounding buildings and the arrangement of trees. He was muttering in an extremely low voice, making it impossible to hear him clearly.

During the daytime, the neighborhood suddenly returned to normal.

Today was a weekday. There weren’t a lot of people in the neighborhood, only a few woman chatting and walking in the garden. There’s also some elderly currently doing exercises.

Xi Jia followed by Pei Yu’s side and looked indifferently at these residents. He had never been in contact with these people before. Or to say, in these past few years, he rarely went out because he didn’t want these people to be contaminated by his yin energy, and causing them to fall ill or even getting into an accident.

This morning, Xi Jia minded his own business, and said a few words to Wu Xiang Qing Li. He hoped that it would only block his own yin energy and not his eyes, preventing him from seeing the yin energy. Xi Jia didn’t hold too much hope. But Wu Xiang Qing Li really had spiritual awareness, and restrained a bit of its might so Xi Jia didn’t need to rely on Pei Yu’s spell. He could directly see the black qi enveloping over the neighborhood.

And in Xi Jia’s eyes, all these residents’ faces were covered with a faint layer of black qi. That layer of black qi was like a black chiffon mask covering their faces. However, they were completely ignorant, each doing their own things with a stiff expression. They seem to be chatting, but their expressions were weird. They had a lifeless look in their eyes as if looking at a group of air. They seem to be exercising, but their joints didn’t even turn a bit. Their whole bodies were stiff like a zombie, only doing straight and strange moves.

In this neighborhood, except for Xi Jia and Pei Yu, all the other people were numbly doing things that they do every day, and completing their tasks as if they became a puppet on a string.

Pei Yu said, “First find the source, don’t bother them for now. Among the wandering souls, there’s a class of ghosts. They couldn’t reincarnate within 48 hours because they forgot that they had already died. At this time, you can’t bluntly tell them, ‘You’re already dead.’ They will be frightened so much that their soul would fly away and scatter. You have to use various hints to make them realize they’re dead so they can reincarnate. These people’s and the wandering souls’ situations are somewhat alike. You can’t act blindly without thinking.”

Xi Jia never wanted to go remind these people. He only looked at them from far away, not getting closer.

For three laps, the two searched in the neighborhood. The yin energy was too concentrated, making it impossible to find the source based on the intensity of the yin energy. Pei Yu impatiently rubbed his hair while Xi Jia stopped in his footsteps. His expression was inexplicable as he looked at a couple of children in the distance.

At this time, most children should be at school, but there were three children playing in the sandpit of the neighborhood playground. They looked to be only three or four years old and probably not in kindergarten yet. Two of the children were surrounded by a pile of sand castles. Only the remaining little boy was squatting alone in the corner of the sandpit, scooping and piling sand by himself.

Xi Jia looked far away. his vision gradually blurred as if he saw a familiar shadow.

In a lively garden, all the children were chasing around and making noise. A small shadow was hiding in a corner, looking at them enviously. Finally, he couldn’t help but take a step out, wanting to go over. His small arm was pulled from behind. Turning around, a middle aged man with a soft gaze bent down, gently rubbed his hair, and quietly said, “Jia Jia, you can’t go, daddy will play with you, okay?”
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Sighing softly, Xi Jia changed his line of sight, once again walking forward. He just took a step when suddenly he heard a loud “thump” coming from the playground. He quickly turned to look and saw the lonely little boy suddenly fall to the ground. His entire forehead slammed into the cement edge of the sandpit.

Xi Jia widened his eyes, quickly running over.

“Does it hurt? Are you okay? Child, did you bump anywhere……”

The two children playing with the sand not far away only swept a glance over, not even coming to help. He was prepared to see the little boy’s broken and bleeding head. Who knew that the boy’s forehead only had a large purple and blue bruise, there was no bleeding.

Xi Jia was slightly startled.

This was a quiet and smart little child. He lightly shook his head, pursing his lips in silence. Neither did he say it hurts, nor did he cry. Just quietly lowering his head as if he had done something wrong.

Xi Jia softly asked, “Where is your house? Big brother will send you home.”

The little boy reached out his hand, and pointed to a building in the distance.

Xi Jia turned his head and saw Pei Yu walking further and further away, not noticing the situation on his side. Anyways, it’s only to send a child home. It shouldn’t take long so he directly picked up the little boy and went to the building.

This little boy also had a faint layer of yin energy. It seems like he was never held by anyone. His small head was firmly in Xi Jia’s chest, not daring to say a word. But when Xi Jia asked which floor he lived on, he would raise his head and point in a certain direction.

Three minutes later, Xi Jia exited the elevator.

The elevator quickly closed behind him, the lights unexpectedly darkened, and the smile on Xi Jia’s face slowly faded away. He slowly lowered his head, looking at the blackened paper money in a basin in the corner.¹

On this floor, there were only two households. There’s a grey iron basin placed in between the two households. The air was filled with a faint burnt smell. The white paper money were burnt into black ashes, leaving only a bit at the edge that haven’t become ash. The burnt ashes gently floated in the air, the lights on the ceiling were broken, and a strand of sunlight barely shined through from the stairs. Mixed in was the sounds of dripping water from somewhere, making it even more eerie.

Silent, cold, devoid of human life.

Xi Jia looked down, and lightly asked, “Which house?”

The little boy pointed to a direction in front.

Xi Jia calmly held the child and walked to the door of the family’s apartment, and lightly knocked on the door.

There seemed to be no one in the house. The “dong dong” sounds of knocking on the door echoed in the hallway. It was obviously in a narrow building, yet at this moment, a cold wind blew from who knows where. It blew towards Xi Jia’s soles and rushed up. When the black colored, cold wind reached his chest, Xi Jia narrowed his eyes, and a blood colored aura wrapped around his fingers.

Just at this moment, the bronze die unexpectedly bounced out from under his clothes. Floating in the air, it suddenly started to shake.

Bang!

The dark wind broke apart in a flash. Wu Xiang Qing Li swung around for a little while before returning into his clothes.

At this time, rough, heavy footsteps could be heard coming from behind the entrance. It seemed like something heavy was dragging on the floor. Iron-like footsteps slammed on the floor. The sound seemed to be far yet near, getting louder and louder, until it finally stopped in front of the door. The peephole slowly turned black. There was someone looking at Xi Jia from the other side through this small round hole.

“Creak—”

The front door was lightly pushed open. A young, haggard woman stood at the door, coldly looking at Xi Jia.

The little boy struggled to jump down from Xi Jia’s arms. Quickly walking through the door, he hid behind the woman, and cautiously popped his head out, timidly looking at Xi Jia.

Xi Jia looked at the woman. The woman was also looking at him.

The woman’s right arm was wrapped in bandages and hung from her neck. There was no luster in her jet-black eyes like heavy stagnant water, coldly staring at Xi Jia. She had on strong makeup, two blood red cheeks, and a face white enough to scare people, like it was applied for a female corpse before it’s put in a coffin. Just like this, she stared motionlessly.

The air was completely filled with the burnt smell of the paper ashes. After awhile, Xi Jia smiled, “The child accidentally knocked against the ground just now.”

The woman still firmly stared at him, not saying a word.

Xi Jia smiled again, “On this floor, did someone recently pass away?”

The woman silently stared at him.

After a long time, just when Xi Jia decided to open his mouth and ask again, the little boy lifted his hand and pointed at the front door across the hall. The woman’s rough and ice-cold voice sounded, “The grandfather in the opposite apartment died three days ago.”

Xi Jia looked startled. He just raised his head when he heard a slam. The front door was suddenly shut in his face.

“Ding—“

The elevator suddenly stopped behind Xi Jia.

He was still standing in front of the door and didn’t touch the elevator button at all. Yet, the elevator just stopped at this floor. A scalp numbing chill traveled up his spine. There was clearly no wind in the hallway, but the burnt paper ashes in the iron basin in the corner fiercely drifted up. A little bit sprinkled on Xi Jia’s hair.

A bell rang, and the elevator door opened from behind him. Xi Jia turned his body around, expression heavy. His fingers clenched tightly in a fist as the ghastly blood colored aura wrapped around his fingers. He hadn’t seen clearly when he heard an excited voice.

“What was I saying? I can definitely find it! Eh? Xi Jia, how are you here? Don’t tell me you also found it? Ah, look! There’s paper money here, definitely someone just died. One of these two apartments, there’s absolutely a problem. My compass’ needle was all in chaos as soon as I got here. This malicious ghost’s yin energy is too powerful. From what I have seen my entire life, it’s only weaker than you.”

Xi Jia, “……”

The mono-lidded Charlatan Pei chattered endlessly. Just now, it wasn’t easy to raise a little bit of the suspense. It disappeared in a flash, “If my compass ran into you, then it’s not a problem of chaos, that could be scrapped off. Don’t you take off Wu Xiang Qing Li, or else my compass would really be scrapped, and I would have nowhere to cry. You, this person, whose yin energy is even stronger than ghosts. This is also my power, I didn’t directly catch you as if you’re a ghost, if it was someone else…..”

Xi Jia reached the end of his patience, “……Shut up!”

The Author has something to say:

Wu Xiang Qing Li: This baby was originally called a ruthless, awesome, violent, and tyrannical name, Wu Xiang Qing Li (无相青黎)! But you guys unexpectedly named this baby something like Five Spices Qing Li (五香青黎 Wu Xiang Qing Li), or even something like Five Boxes of Green Pears (五箱青梨 Wu Xiang Qing Li)! Ahhhhh angry! It doesn’t display a bit of this baby’s cool and awesome temperament (ノ`Д´)ノ！！！

Translator’s Notes: Sorry, honest readers, I know countermeasures are annoying. Was the message in the middle too ambiguous? If you read the whole dummy page, I’m sorry. I cut out a couple paragraphs, paraphrased, and added tense changes and typos. Doing crappy MTL for the dummy pages in the future. Please read this again >_< I’ll probs use this method until it doesn’t work against b-o-t-s anymore. I apologize for the inconvenience.
¹ 纸钱 paper money: aka Buddhist/Taoist ritual money, made of paper to be burnt for the gods or the dead. Another term is joss paper (金纸). ↵