Could They Have Actually Developed Feelings?

"Mm! Go on, then."

Zhang Gao nodded, putting on an imposing air.

"Let me brew the tea for you first."

After saying that, Chen Shaojun rose without waiting for the other man's consent and began making tea. At the same time, his eyes swept the surroundings without drawing attention. He had noticed earlier that there was a black cloth bag in one corner of the room. If his guess was correct, it likely contained the second batch of treasures Xu Hongtao wanted Zhang Gao to appraise.

The Spirit Eye Technique activated. In an instant, what he saw through his eyes became completely different.

Before him lay a sea of scarlet. Killing Intent surged skyward, churning the winds and clouds.

Within that Killing Intent, there seemed to be flashes of blades and sword shadows rising and sinking. A crimson bloody radiance, like a ribbon of silk, swayed ever so slightly, sending the surrounding Killing Intent rolling in waves.

"What dense Killing Intent. Yin energy blanketing the crown, blade flashes and sword shadows, a blood-colored silk ribbon... Just what sort of things are inside?"

Chen Shaojun's eyelids twitched wildly. He could sense an enormous threat contained within. Even merely observing it through the Spirit Eye Technique made his heart pound in alarm, as if the blades, swords, and blood-colored ribbon within might pounce on him at any moment.

He hurriedly shifted his gaze away, only to soon spot a blood cloud floating above a rust-covered tin can in the distance. On a canvas banner resembling a command flag, a ghostly being that looked twelve or thirteen years old flickered in and out of view amid dense ghostly qi.

Moreover, Chen Shaojun recognized it at once. This ghost was precisely the one he had seen last night, clinging to Zhang Ke.

"This ghost really did come from Water Cloud Retreat."

Chen Shaojun's eyes flickered, but his hand made an extremely subtle motion. A small blade slid out from his fingertip and, with a light swipe, severed a strand of hair beside Zhang Gao's head. He casually clenched it in his hand.

Only then did he cautiously glance at Zhang Gao. Seeing that the man had noticed nothing, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

His objective had been achieved.

Chen Shaojun did not remain at Water Cloud Retreat any longer and soon took his leave.

Appraisal Room Seven.

"Though the process was a little dangerous, everything went smoothly in the end.

Now that all is ready, all that remains is for me to chant the incantation and perform the technique."

Chen Shaojun took out both strands of hair, then brought out two prepared wooden human figurines and bound the hair to them with black cloth.

Only then did he formally begin to cast the Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique.

He calmed his breath and focused his mind.

Using spiritual power as the guide, he drew talismans with his mind.

The peculiar fluctuations of spiritual power caused even the surrounding air currents to shift faintly.

Chen Shaojun's spiritual power was now far stronger than before. Thus, when casting the technique, he moved skillfully and swiftly, quickly inscribing the fundamental runes of the Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique onto the two wooden figurines.

At once, a peculiar connection formed between the two figurines.

The two figurines represented Zhang Ke and Zhang Gao respectively.

Once either of them suffered harm, the attack would immediately be transferred and fall upon the other.

As for which was primary and which was secondary, Chen Shaojun had complete control over that.

"Now, all I need to do is wait."

A trace of anticipation appeared on Chen Shaojun's face.

Time passed, and night fell.

Chen Shaojun entered the dormitory early and waited in secret.

Amid the rising and falling chorus of snores, Chen Shaojun silently visualized the Tai Shang Perception Scripture.

Suddenly, a chill aura emanated from afar.

Chen Shaojun jolted.

"It's here!"

He hurriedly opened his eyes and activated the Spirit Eye Technique.

Sure enough, he saw an extra figure on Zhang Ke's bed several meters away.

The young ghost lay quietly in Zhang Ke's arms, its face tranquil and calm. Perhaps it was an illusion, but Chen Shaojun actually saw a trace of attachment in the ghost's cold, dim gaze...

Attachment?

Attachment to Zhang Ke?

Could they have actually developed feelings?

Chen Shaojun wore an odd expression as an inexplicable shiver ran through him.

No matter how he looked at it, the scene was eerie.

But a ghost was still a ghost.

Humans and ghosts traveled different roads, and it could not restrain its instincts at all.

No matter how attached it was to Zhang Ke, when it came time to draw breath, it would not hesitate in the slightest.

It raised its head, placing its mouth against Zhang Ke's.

Then it inhaled fiercely.

A stream of "vital breath," of "life force," was drawn out and swallowed in a single gulp.

That strand of vital breath seemed to benefit it greatly. Its soul body became slightly more stable, a little more solid.

"Time to begin. I can't let Zhang Ke really get sucked dry."

Chen Shaojun knew that Zhang Ke had been drained for an entire night yesterday, and his body was already severely depleted. If this night passed without intervention, he truly would be sucked into a dried-up husk.

He swiftly activated the Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique.

Buzz!

In an instant, a ghostly gleam flashed across the two wooden human figurines.

At the same time, Zhang Ke on the bed formed an inexplicable connection with Zhang Gao, hundreds of meters away.

Soon, the ghost raised its head again and took another fierce breath at Zhang Ke.

Under the Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique.

Zhang Gao, far away in his own residence, shuddered all over. His face instantly turned several shades paler.

Those who practiced martial arts possessed senses far keener than ordinary people.

Zhang Gao could not be called an expert, but when such a large mouthful of human vitality was devoured, he still awoke at once.

"What's going on?"

He was deeply unsettled.

That feeling just now, that instant of terror, sent a chill through his heart.

"Master, what's wrong?"

His movements woke the newly taken concubine beside him.

"It's nothing. Probably just a nightmare."

Zhang Gao replied.

The next moment, that peculiar, terrifying sensation rose in his heart again.

Immediately afterward, he felt a stream of vital breath being drawn from within his body. As it departed, his qi and blood began to wither as well.

In that instant, it was as if he had fought several rounds of battle with his concubine. His body went weak, and even his steps became unsteady.

"What in the world is going on?"

Zhang Gao's face was deathly pale. He panicked.

The first time, he could still dismiss it as an illusion.

But the second time, when he inexplicably felt his vital breath being drawn away and his qi and blood declining, anyone would have been frightened.

"Master, what exactly is happening?"

"I don't know either... All of a sudden... It's here, it's here again! Could it be that I've encountered a ghost?"

Zhang Gao looked around nervously, feeling as though something in the darkness was entangling itself around him.

"Wait, a ghost?"

Suddenly, his expression changed.

As a full-fledged appraiser at the pawnshop, he naturally knew of ghosts. Over his many years as an appraiser, it was not as though he had never encountered one before. Linking that knowledge with his current condition, he finally understood.

He really had encountered a ghost.

His heart trembled. No longer caring about anything else, he leaped from bed and rushed into a bedroom next door.

This was the appraisal room he had set up in his home. Compared with Water Cloud Retreat at the pawnshop, it was naturally much cruder, but it had everything it needed.

It also contained arrangements specifically meant to deal with ghosts.