The car pulled onto the highway.
Yang Jian secured the gold case by his feet and leaned back against the seat with his eyes closed. The Ghost Eye beneath the skin of his forehead and those on the back of his hand and his chest were all closed.
The system panel floated on the inside of his retinas.
[Current points: 110500]
One hundred thousand came from resolving the first Paranormal Invasion, ten thousand from exchanging the Gray Ghost, and five hundred from those four deliberately fed cursed spirits.
Then a new notification popped up.
[Notice: The first Paranormal Invasion has been resolved. The coordinates of the Supernatural Land are temporarily sealed. The next invasion will begin half a month after completion of the main mission "Hidden Inventory/Premature Death." Host, please use this interval to build up your combat strength.]
Yang Jian stared at the words "Hidden Inventory/Premature Death" for three seconds.
The star plasma vessel. Tengen. Riko Amanai.
And those two girls-the turning point that sent Suguru Geto over the edge.
He silently glanced at Suguru Geto, who was reviewing the mission report beside him. Streetlights flashing past the window fell across his profile, outlining clean features and a composed face.
Right now, this man still firmly believed that protecting ordinary people was a jujutsu sorcerer's duty.
Yang Jian looked away, his expression unchanged.
He opened the system shop.
Ghost Shadow (10,000 points)
Not because Ghost Shadow was the strongest in combat, but because its abilities were the most versatile-limb splicing, self-repair, bodily invasion, and supernatural suppression. After merging with the Ghost Newspaper and the Ghost Spirit Tablet later on, he could even transfer his consciousness into Ghost Shadow.
He could implant the Ghost Eyes into Ghost Shadow, allowing him to use the fourth and fifth layers of his ghost domain, even the sixth.
For someone whose actual body was that of an ordinary human, this was a second life.
But there was no rush. He would redeem it when he got back.
"Yang Jian."
Suguru Geto's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Yeah?"
"That Gray Ghost... it wasn't like the White Ghost from before." Suguru Geto closed his report folder. "The White Ghost came with you, right? What about the Gray Ghost? Its dom... ghost domain covered the entire hospital. It was there before you arrived."
"You're asking whether the Paranormal Invasion has anything to do with me."
Suguru Geto didn't deny it.
"They do," Yang Jian answered bluntly. "When I came here, the Paranormal Invasion followed. Or you could say I was the one who broke that door open."
Silence fell over the car for a beat.
Satoru Gojo turned around in the passenger seat, a lollipop in his mouth and his sunglasses still on.
"So you're saying that as long as you stay here, these ghosts will keep popping up?"
"Not constantly." Yang Jian folded his hands over his knees. "Things will quiet down for a while."
"How long?"
"Depends. At least there won't be any more in the immediate future."
Satoru Gojo snorted and shifted his lollipop from the left side of his mouth to the right.
"Fine by me. Saves me from watching you put on a show every time without getting a chance to jump in."
Yang Jian didn't respond.
The car entered Jujutsu High at ten that evening.
Yang Jian carried the gold case back to his dorm room, locked the door, and drew the curtains. After confirming there was nothing unusual around him, he sat on the edge of the bed and opened the system.
[Redeem: Ghost Shadow (10,000 points)?]
Redeem.
No special effects. No pillar of light.
A chill rose behind Yang Jian.
He turned to look at his shadow.
It hadn't changed, yet it felt deeply eerie.
Yang Jian tried controlling Ghost Shadow. It "stood" straight up from the floor, its legs attached to the soles of his feet.
With a thought, Ghost Shadow swiftly returned to being a "normal" shadow, without so much as a ripple.
[Redemption complete. Ghost Shadow is under your control.] [Current points: 100500] [Ghost Shadow status: Dormant. Abilities available at no cost: bodily invasion, limb splicing, self-repair, memory search and seizure, supernatural suppression (below Class A only).]
Ghost Shadow was different from the Ghost Eye.
The Ghost Eye was a third eye growing on his forehead. It opened and closed, its boundaries clearly defined. There were others on the back of his hand and elsewhere.
Ghost Shadow has replaced my shadow. It's always there.
Yang Jian pulled back a corner of the curtain and glanced at the moonlight. The shadow on the floor lay perfectly still. Nothing seemed out of place, but it had gained an eerie edge.
He fell onto the bed and was asleep in three seconds.
Yang Jian didn't go anywhere the next day.
He spent the entire day getting used to controlling Ghost Shadow.
He tried spreading Ghost Shadow out around him, making it easier to trigger a medium with the cleaver later.
That evening, Satoru Gojo kicked his door open and brought him two cans of cola, mentioning in passing that they had something to do tomorrow.
"Yaga assigned us a mission." Satoru Gojo leaned against the doorframe, his tone casual. "In a few days, we'll be escorting a girl called Riko Amanai, the star plasma vessel. She's the one Lord Tengen assimilates once every five hundred years."
Yang Jian opened his cola.
"Utahime Iori and Mei Mei went on a mission two days ago, and we've lost contact with them. We need to check on them."
Yang Jian took a sip.
"You coming?" Satoru Gojo tilted his head at him.
Yang Jian put down the cola. "That mission's for you. What does it have to do with me?"
"Yaga's exact words were-'Bring that collaborator along.'" Satoru Gojo shrugged. "You signed an agreement. Jujutsu High gives you room and board, so you've got to work."
Yang Jian was silent for two seconds. Of course he knew what the star plasma vessel mission meant.
"How many of us?"
"Me, Geto, Shoko, and you." Satoru Gojo tossed the other can of cola to Yang Jian. "Meet at the school gate at seven tomorrow morning. Don't be late."
"You're telling me not to be late?"
Satoru Gojo was already gone.
Yang Jian sat on the edge of the bed and opened the second can of cola too.
The star plasma vessel. Riko Amanai.
The Time Vessel Association's hired killer, Toji Fushiguro's ambush, and the spark that would bring Suguru Geto's beliefs crashing down.
He opened the system panel.
100500 points. Points shop: Ghosts: Ghost Eye (200,000 to upgrade to the intermediate stage), Ghost Shadow (redeemed), Ghost Child (unlocks for purchase in the later stages of the main storyline, 1,000,000), Ghost Hand (150,000), Ghost Dream (300,000), Ghost Hand Palm (100,000), Ghost Lake (300,000), Ghost Fire (150,000), Silence (unlocks after obtaining Ghost Child), Wish-Granter Ghost (600,000), Ghost Bus bundled with Ghost Blood (700,000), Ghost Newspaper (150,000)... Supernatural items: (Red Ghost Candle, 5,000 points), (White Ghost Candle, 2,500 points), Substitute Doll (10,000), Rusty Cleaver (200,000), Music Box (40,000), Deceiving Ghost Necklace (100,000), Ghost Furnace Fire (150,000), Ghost Spirit Tablet (100,000), Coffin Nail (250,000)...
Equipment on hand: most of a Red Ghost Candle, one White Ghost Candle (unused), one Straw Rope Circle, one Substitute Doll (provided by the system for the twenty-four-hour mark), and various containment tools forged from one hundred kilograms of gold.
I'll save the points for now and redeem things as needed.
But the Paranormal Invasion was on hold, so there were no ghosts to contain and exchange. He could kill cursed spirits, but a Grade 3 was worth only ten points. The efficiency was absurdly low.
Yang Jian drained the last of his cola, crushed the can, and tossed it into the trash.
"I need another way to make money. Maybe I should ask Yaga for a raise."
Six fifty the next morning.
When Yang Jian reached the school gate with the black cloth bag full of gold tools on his back, Suguru Geto was already there.
"Morning." Suguru Geto handed him a convenience store rice ball.
Yang Jian took it, tore open the wrapper, and bit into it.
"Read the intel?"
"Yeah." Yang Jian chewed his rice ball.
"What do you think about this?"
"Are you asking why they lost contact, or about the star plasma vessel herself?"
Suguru Geto paused. "Either. Both."
"The loss of contact-either someone intercepted them, or something unexpected happened and they couldn't communicate." Yang Jian crumpled the rice ball wrapper and stuffed it into his pocket. "As for the star plasma vessel... assimilating a living person with some old monster who's been alive for centuries-you think that's normal?"
Suguru Geto didn't answer.
Shoko approached from the dorms carrying a medical kit. Her hair was hastily tied back, dark circles ringed her eyes, and an air of sleep-deprived irritability hung around her.
"Don't talk to me," Shoko said as she passed them. "I'm not awake yet."
Yang Jian and Suguru Geto both shut their mouths.
At seven oh three, Satoru Gojo came running from the classroom building as though he were right on time, his sunglasses crooked on his nose and half a slice of toast hanging from his mouth.
"Let's go-"
"You're late," all three said in unison.
Satoru Gojo stuffed the toast into his mouth, chewed twice, swallowed, and rolled his eyes.
"It's only three minutes."
The van was parked at the gate. The same unfortunate assistant manager was driving.
Before climbing in, Yang Jian glanced back at the gates of Jujutsu High.
The campus was quiet in the morning light.
Who knew when he would see peace like this again?
Before you continue