Eight Beds, Nine People

The increase in apprentices had made the entire rear courtyard livelier.

Even though many apprentices were listless after their first appraisal, it did not affect their appetites.

In the dining hall, the newly arrived Appraiser Apprentices wolfed down their meals, their faces full of happiness and contentment.

Almost all of them had fled here from various places. They had gone hungry one meal and eaten their fill the next; a single flatbread could last them three days, and sometimes they could only fill their bellies with leaves and bark.

A pawnshop dining hall that provided food freely was something they had only ever seen in their dreams.

"The old stock appraised today didn't carry much Killing Intent. I only felt mentally exhausted after appraising three items in a row.

"If this keeps up for a few more days, I reckon I'll be able to collect one tael of silver this month."

Zhao Hu sat beside Chen Shaojun, his face brimming with smiles.

"I took four today.

"But when I was appraising the third one, I nearly capsized in a gutter.

"That thing actually contained the most troublesome Poisonous Baleful Intent. Luckily, my Divine Gaze Technique has improved somewhat lately, or it really would have been dangerous."

Du Hao sat across from them, still looking shaken by the close call.

"So your Divine Gaze Technique has reached the proficient level too?"

Zhao Hu's eyes widened in surprise.

"Not quite.

"But I'm close. It's only one foot away from the threshold."

Du Hao chuckled, somewhat pleased with himself. Then he lifted his eyes and happened to spot Zhang Ke. Although Zhang Ke held a meal bowl in his hands, he seemed distracted and deeply preoccupied. Du Hao could not help calling out, "Brother Zhang, what's wrong?"

"N-No, nothing..."

Zhang Ke came back to his senses and forced a stiff smile. Instead of sitting in the seat beside Du Hao, he deliberately took a longer route and sat down in an empty corner.

By then, even Zhao Hu noticed that something was off. He could not help asking, "What's wrong with him? Whenever he sees us gathered together, hasn't he always come over on his own to brag about what he's seen and heard with the Third Appraiser?

"Especially whenever Brother Chen is around, he can't wait to broadcast to the whole world that he's more highly regarded than Brother Chen..."

"Something is indeed off."

Chen Shaojun frowned as well and glanced at him.

Usually, Zhang Ke strutted about with his nose in the air. Yet now he looked like a defeated rooster, his face pale and his eyes lifeless. For no apparent reason, he also gave off a lonely, chilling air that seemed exceedingly strange.

Still, how others behaved had nothing to do with him.

That man had not been friendly toward him, so Chen Shaojun had no desire to concern himself too much with him.

That night, after completing his usual martial arts training, Chen Shaojun returned to his room.

His sleeping spot was at the very innermost end of the communal bed. Just as he was about to enter his own space through the narrow aisle at the edge of the bed, he suddenly felt a wave of icy chill sweep over him. His whole body shuddered, and his scalp began to tingle.

"What's going on?"

His expression changed slightly.

He was no longer the person he had once been.

He had succeeded in Body Tempering, and his senses were keen.

He could detect any minute change affecting his body, let alone this instinctive reaction that felt as though danger had descended.

Danger?

He hurriedly turned his gaze toward its source.

"That thread of cold energy is coming from the middle of the communal bed?

"But there's nothing there nearby?"

A strange look appeared on Chen Shaojun's face.

With his naked eye, he saw that everyone had already fallen asleep. There was nothing unusual.

Yet for some reason, he could clearly sense a cold, chilling aura continuously spreading outward from the middle of the communal bed.

"In the middle are four sleeping apprentices: Du Hao, Zhang Ke, and two new apprentices.

"Wait, Zhang Ke?"

Chen Shaojun had been analyzing the situation when he suddenly recalled Zhang Ke's pale face and strange behavior earlier. A wave of alarm immediately rose within him.

He hurriedly used the Spirit Eye Technique.

The instant the Spirit Eye Technique was activated, a cool sensation settled over his eyes.

Only then did he turn his gaze toward Zhang Ke.

Bright moonlight shone through the paper window and fell upon the beds. There were nine sleeping spaces arranged in a row. Apart from the one at the very edge that belonged to Chen Shaojun, which was empty, apprentices lay sleeping in all the others.

Everything appeared perfectly normal, as though nothing was different.

Yet Chen Shaojun stood frozen in place, a chill flooding his heart.

Nine people.

Nine people lay upon eight beds.

Other than his own empty bed, one of the beds held two figures pressed tightly together.

Chen Shaojun looked over and discovered that it was Zhang Ke's bed.

Zhang Ke was sleeping soundly, though he did not seem at peace. His face was bloodless, and his closed eyeballs rolled constantly, making his eyelids twitch wildly, as if he had fallen into a nightmare.

Beside him was a child who looked eleven or twelve years old, tightly hugging Zhang Ke around the neck and occasionally drawing a breath from him.

"A ghost—"

Chen Shaojun's heart trembled, and faint sweat appeared on his forehead.

It was a horrifying sight.

Especially in the silent darkness of night, the sight of it repeating the same motion over and over, occasionally sucking in a mouthful of human vitality, made his scalp go numb.

"It really is a ghost. What should I do?"

Chen Shaojun's face turned slightly pale.

Though he had succeeded in Body Tempering and was now at the Body Tempering Realm, Eighth Layer, with vigorous qi and blood, making him no weakling among Martial Warriors—

He was actually somewhat helpless when facing ghosts.

After all, this was only the second time he had encountered one.

The first time, he had in fact relied on the Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique. With preparations in place, he had trapped the ghost inside a black dog's body and only then used a wooden carving to kill it.

But now, encountering a ghost so suddenly and without any preparation, he was caught completely off guard.

The Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique required advance preparation. As for martial arts, neither the Tiger Demon Body-Tempering Fist nor the Eight-Step Cicada Catcher was an offensive technique. The only thing he could rely on was his vigorous qi and blood, thick as billowing smoke.

As for spells, the Spirit Eye Technique was useless. The Divine Gaze Technique... could it truly have any effect on this ghost?

He had no confidence in it.

Perhaps Chen Shaojun's strange behavior had drawn the ghost's attention. It suddenly and slowly turned its head toward Chen Shaojun's direction.

In an instant, Chen Shaojun's body stiffened.

"It saw me. Do I have to fight?"

Chen Shaojun gritted his teeth, preparing to stake his life on his vigorous qi and blood and the Divine Gaze Technique against the ghost.

Suddenly, the ghost slowly turned its head back again. It drew a mouthful of human vitality from Zhang Ke's mouth, then curled up in Zhang Ke's arms once more, looking peaceful and content.

"What... is going on?"

Chen Shaojun was dumbfounded.

He stood rigidly where he was.

Only after a long while did he dazedly come back to his senses.

This ghost was not interested in him?

Or perhaps it was only interested in Zhang Ke for the time being and had no intention of troubling anyone else?

But for him, that should be good news... right?

He hesitated.

I only managed to get this out now. The next chapter can only be posted tomorrow. Sigh, this damned procrastination of mine.

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