Summer Heat

The appraisal room was not large, but several talismans were pasted all around it.

He had specifically obtained these talismans from Clear Spring Daoist Temple outside the city. They were said to ward off ghosts.

He had also specially hired a sorcerer to set up a formation within the room to repel evil and disperse Baleful Intent, at tremendous expense.

It could be said that this appraisal room was where he earned the most extra money.

After all, there were too many people and too many watchful eyes in the pawnshop.

If Water Cloud Retreat had not been more thoroughly outfitted, with better effects for dispelling Baleful Intent and avoiding ghosts, and if he had not needed the Appraiser Apprentices in the pawnshop to help block Baleful Intent and die in his stead, he would not have had Xu Hongtao move the trading location to Water Cloud Retreat.

After all, every item in that batch of treasures had Killing Intent soaring to the heavens. They were no trifling matter.

"What ghostly creature is this? Show yourself at once."

Zhang Gao shouted lowly, his face full of heartache as he took a lustrous white stone from a box and placed it into a groove at the center of the appraisal room.

Buzz!

The energy within the appraisal room immediately shifted.

Yet it had no effect at all.

There was no trace of anything around him.

None of the ghostly creature he had imagined appeared.

And soon, that terrifying sensation arrived as expected, once again drawing out a strand of "vital energy" from within him.

Zhang Gao shuddered violently, the color draining further from his face until it turned deathly pale.

"What exactly is going on?"

He was truly panicking.

And terrified.

The formation and talismans in the appraisal room had all been bought at great cost. They were the source of his confidence.

Yet they were utterly useless.

What frightened him even more was that the frequency with which that ghostly creature absorbed his "vital energy" had not slowed in the slightest. At nearly every fixed interval, it would strip another strand of vital energy from his body.

Each time made both body and soul tremble.

Each time also made him feel a weakness and helplessness rising from the depths of his heart.

That night, he suffered beyond measure.

Even though he had raged, resisted, roared, knelt and begged, and wept hysterically... it had all turned into futile struggle.

That sensation of his life force being extracted at nearly fixed intervals clung to him like a nightmare demon.

It tormented him beyond endurance and plunged him into utter despair.

He could never understand what was happening.

Why had he encountered such a nightmare?

Why was a ghostly creature haunting him?

He could never understand that all of this was only because he had sought someone to die in his place and block Baleful Intent, only to finally kick an iron plate.

And this time, it was instead he who was warding calamity away for someone else.

Even if the root of that calamity still lay with him.

The reason every method he tried proved powerless was naturally because that ghost was not beside him at all.

They were separated by several hundred meters.

Even if he possessed methods of restraint, he could only stand by helplessly.

After one night, Zhang Gao's eyes were bloodshot, his face bluish, and strands of black hair atop his head had turned to white frost... He looked haggard and aged, as though he had grown more than ten years older.

Meanwhile, Zhang Ke slept soundly.

It was a night without dreams.

Although that ghostly creature had kept its arms around his neck, occasionally raising its head to take a breath from him.

Under the effects of the Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique, his vitality had suffered no loss.

Instead, the ghostly creature's cool yin aura made him feel quite comfortable.

In the blazing summer heat, having a ghost around made sleep even sweeter...

"After one night, this ghost's soul body has indeed become more solid. It is clearly stronger than before.

I just wonder how Third Appraiser Zhang Gao is doing.

He probably isn't having a good time, is he?"

Although Chen Shaojun had used the Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique, they were separated by several hundred meters, so he naturally had no idea of Zhang Gao's condition.

Soon, daylight fully broke.

The ghostly creature disappeared as expected.

After spending the night visualizing the Tai Shang Perception Scripture, the "qi" within Chen Shaojun's body had finally reached a certain scale and condensed into a mass.

At this moment, he vaguely felt that he could already use the "qi" within his body to perform the Divine Gaze Technique and Spirit Eye Technique.

He did not hesitate.

In an instant, he cast the Spirit Eye Technique.

His mental energy did not suffer the slightest depletion, but the "qi" within his body was swiftly stirred like flowing light. It traveled along mysterious paths, condensed into runes, transformed into spirit eyes, and acted upon his own eyes.

The world around him immediately became different.

It was a riot of dazzling colors.

Things invisible to the naked eye all appeared clearly before him.

"As expected, I can cast spells.

It seems that even if the 'qi' within my body is not the Dao Origin used by Daoists, it should not be far off.

From now on, I'll call it 'mana.'"

Chen Shaojun was overjoyed. To make it easier to remember, he gave these strands of "qi" the name mana.

Although these strands of mana would not greatly improve his strength in the short term.

He believed that, given time, this mana would certainly play an enormous role.

Not to mention that even now, the mana within his body could already replace mental energy to cast spells such as the Divine Gaze Technique, Spirit Eye Technique, and Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique.

Morning.

Chen Shaojun had initially thought that even if Zhang Gao encountered a ghost, he should still appear at the pawnshop.

After all, even Zhang Ke had endured a night of being fed upon by that little ghost. Third Appraiser Zhao Gao was strong and practiced martial arts, so no matter what, he should have been more resistant to being "sucked" than Zhang Ke.

To his surprise, rather than receiving the other man's summons, he heard a piece of gossip.

By then, it was already afternoon.

The news spread rapidly throughout the entire pawnshop.

In the end, it came down to one sentence.

Third Appraiser had encountered a ghost.

Chen Shaojun naturally knew what had happened.

But he was also very curious about the other man's exact circumstances afterward.

After all, the two of them had a small grudge.

The other man had previously coerced and tempted him into appraising treasures at Water Cloud Retreat, when in truth he wanted Chen Shaojun to block Baleful Intent and die in his stead.

Although Chen Shaojun himself had also wanted to see what those treasures with Killing Intent soaring to the heavens actually were, and what rewards the Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror would give after appraising them.

There was a vast difference between voluntarily going to appraise treasures and being coerced and tempted into doing so.

Naturally, he was more than happy to hear about the other man's miserable plight and take some pleasure in it.

"Come to think of it, this is strange.

Third Appraiser is a Certified Appraiser, after all, and he has achieved Minor Mastery of the Divine Gaze Technique.

Logically speaking, ordinary little ghosts should not be able to do anything to him.

If he truly encountered one, a sweep of his mental energy would make it uncertain who would destroy whom.

But I heard that the ghostly creature Third Appraiser encountered was extremely strange.

It was as though it did not exist, and every so often, it would consume his blood, qi, and vital energy.

They say Third Appraiser was tortured all night long.

When he came out, his face was so pale and haggard that even ghosts would grieve at the sight of him. I heard that a huge patch of his hair had turned white as well."

Several menial workers were discussing it, their tones excited, as though they had witnessed it themselves.

"Was it really that terrifying?"

"Of course it was.

I'm not making this up. Third Appraiser's concubine came to ask the shopkeeper for leave and said it herself."

I recommend a friend's book, Old Gods' Dominion. The author is Mount Akina Drift King. No poison, no frustration—everyone can read it with peace of mind.

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