Large Items

"What should I do now?"

Chen Shaojun had a headache.

Make a move directly?

Setting aside whether he could win, any major commotion would definitely alert the other apprentices. How would he explain it then?

A haunting?

What a joke. They could not see ghosts.

All they would see was him shouting and gesturing by himself, displaying martial strength far beyond anything they imagined.

That would be the real trouble.

"Then should I just leave it alone?

"Anyway, the ghost is only after Zhang Ke. For the time being, it probably won't threaten anyone else."

Chen Shaojun muttered as he walked to his bed, looking back every few steps.

He lay down fully dressed and truly ignored it.

When it came to dealing with ghosts, he chose to take the long view.

He needed absolute certainty. And even after dealing with this ghost, he had to make sure he could remove himself from the matter.

"But why would a ghost latch onto Zhang Ke for no reason?

"Right, Zhang Gao.

"The Third Appraiser, Zhang Gao."

Lying on his bed, Chen Shaojun naturally could not sleep.

No one who knew they were sharing a room with a "ghost" could remain calm.

His thoughts spread outward, and he quickly figured out the reason.

When Zhang Gao had previously called on apprentices to help appraise treasures, Chen Shaojun had guessed that he harbored ill intent.

From Ayong, he had learned even more of the inside story. All three appraisers had a habit of calling apprentices to help appraise treasures, using them as substitutes to die in their place and wear down the Killing Intent.

Now that he saw Zhang Ke haunted by a ghost, how could he fail to understand the root of it all?

"Then can I transfer this trouble onto Zhang Gao?"

It was not that Chen Shaojun had suddenly become kindhearted and wanted only to save Zhang Ke.

He had simply sensed danger.

Today, Zhang Gao had found Zhang Ke to die in his place. Tomorrow, he might find Chen Shaojun. Not to mention that Chen Shaojun had been Zhang Gao's original target from the start.

Of course, if today's events had not occurred, he most likely would not have involved himself too deeply. At the end of the day, he was also a selfish person, without any grand spirit of selfless sacrifice for others.

But things were different now.

Zhang Ke had already brought the ghost into the dormitory.

The trouble had arrived, and it could fall upon him at any moment.

Naturally, he could not remain indifferent.

At the thought of that ghost clinging to Zhang Ke like a koala, a chill ran through his heart.

"The Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique is an evil art.

"As long as the technique succeeds, harm can be transferred.

"But if used well, it can still be an excellent technique.

"Zhang Gao was no good person to begin with. Fighting evil with evil, restraining wickedness with wickedness—it was a perfect match."

Chen Shaojun considered its feasibility and decided that he could not sit still and wait for death.

The next day.

Chen Shaojun was the first to wake.

In truth, he had not slept at all.

Maintaining his vigilance, he spent the entire night visualizing the Tai Shang Perception Scripture.

And indeed, his progress was obvious.

In one night, he had gained twenty strands of "qi." Gathered together, they made two wisps. Added to the few wisps from before, he was nearly at ten wisps already.

Ten wisps would form a clump. Chen Shaojun estimated that by then, he should be able to truly mobilize the "qi" within his body.

In fact, even now, he could vaguely mobilize this "qi," because he had discovered that with its aid, he could also use the Spirit Eye Technique and the Divine Gaze Technique.

It was simply that there was too little "qi." Even if he wanted to mobilize it, he could not bring much power to bear.

The instant he opened his eyes, Chen Shaojun used the Spirit Eye Technique and looked toward Zhang Ke.

But very quickly, his expression froze.

It was gone.

That ghost was gone.

He hurriedly looked around.

The chilling yin aura from before had also vanished without a trace. There was no sign of that ghost anywhere in the room.

"Could everything last night have been an illusion?"

Chen Shaojun muttered.

He looked at Zhang Ke again.

At that moment, Zhang Ke's complexion was countless times worse than before. His whole face was pale with a bluish cast, the bags under his eyes were heavy, and even the hair atop his head had turned somewhat dry and yellow, as though too much of his vital essence had been drained, already harming his body.

It was obvious.

What he had seen last night was not an illusion.

He simply did not know why the ghost had suddenly vanished.

That allowed him to secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

This was good too.

He would not have to face that ghost directly.

Soon, people on the beds woke one after another, and Zhang Ke was also nudged awake by the person beside him.

"Brother Zhang, did you not sleep all night?"

Du Hao beside him noticed Zhang Ke's complexion and asked in surprise.

"I don't know why, but my head feels muddled. I also had nightmares all night."

Zhang Ke said weakly as he slowly got up and dressed.

Chen Shaojun was speechless upon hearing that.

After tangling with that ghost for an entire night and having his human vitality drained all night, if he did not have nightmares, who would?

However, although the ghost had disappeared, Chen Shaojun did not relax his guard.

Taking advantage of the others leaving the room, he went to Zhang Ke's bed and faintly sensed a lingering chill.

Then, beneath Zhang Ke's pillow, he found several strands of hair.

He still intended to proceed according to plan.

Using Zhang Ke's and Zhang Gao's hair as a medium, he would cast the Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique.

If Zhang Gao could eliminate the ghost, that would be best. If not, it should still greatly weaken the ghost's strength.

In any case, he could not allow danger to come near him.

After breakfast, Zhang Ke headed straight for the Third Appraiser's Water Cloud Retreat, just as he had in the previous days.

The other appraiser apprentices, meanwhile, all stood in the storeroom, waiting to receive items for appraisal.

What everyone received today was still old stock.

But to Chen Shaojun's surprise, there were actually several "large items" among the treasures.

"Large items" generally referred to treasures that were bigger in size and higher in value.

Their prices generally exceeded a hundred taels.

Of course, some were cheaper, but those were mostly quite unusual.

At present, there were four large items in the storeroom.

They included a bronze cauldron, two metal Buddha statues, and a lacquerware piece resembling a golden alms bowl.

Such treasures normally would not end up in the hands of appraiser apprentices. The items they appraised were mostly small objects; even jade pieces of relatively high value would not be of particularly fine quality.

Clearly, these large items were also things that had been sealed away in the pawnshop treasury. The shopkeeper likely felt that the Killing Intent on them was not too heavy, which was why he had brought them out for these appraiser apprentices to examine.

The apprentices collected treasures one by one.

Everyone knew that appraising large items was thankless hard work, so none of them chose any.

When it was Chen Shaojun's turn, however, he did not stand on ceremony. He swept all four large items onto his tray.

At this point, he could no longer care about the astonished looks of the others.

The ghost's reappearance had greatly heightened his sense of crisis. He desperately hoped to appraise treasures again and gain more, stronger means of preserving his life.

To him, these large items were opportunities.

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