Yu Qi turned to look out the window too, and upon noticing the malevolent spirit, he frowned slightly and said, “Its aura is somewhat similar to that of the one we caught earlier.”
Ye Xue looked away, but instead of being frightened, she smiled at Yu Qi, asking, “Is that the one that crashed into us earlier?”
Yu Qi paused for a moment, then laughed along with her, “Yes, that’s the one that crashed into us.”
The malevolent spirit noticed that the only two people inside the bus who could see it were ignoring it completely. Its eyes glowed red as it let out a cold laugh, extending a pale hand to heavily slap against the bus window. As it did so, its long, sharp nails scratched deeply against the glass, leaving several marks.
Seeing this, Ye Xue frowned, and just as the spirit thought it had finally frightened them, she asked in confusion, “What if the attendant sees the glass is broken? Will they make us pay for it?”
After all, the window had been fine before they boarded the bus.
“…” The previously tense atmosphere instantly lightened, and Yu Qi fell silent for a moment, then hesitantly replied, “I don’t think so. After all, it’s scratched from the outside.”
His reasoning made sense.
Ye Xue felt reassured, “Oh, that’s good then.”
“I have a matter to discuss,” the malevolent spirit’s voice emerged from nowhere, icy and chilling, “Do you think I can’t get in?”
It seemed convinced they thought it couldn’t enter, which made it bolder.
Yu Qi glanced at it.
Ye Xue, however, yawned and casually said, “Come on over!”
It couldn’t reach her from outside.
Seeing that Ye Xue and Yu Qi were so calm, the malevolent spirit felt its authority was being challenged, and it grew even angrier.
It had traveled from a great distance, lured by the scent of something that attracted wandering souls. Even though it didn’t know what it was, its subconscious believed that if it could consume that person, its powers would multiply, and even the grim reapers wouldn’t be able to take it away then.
People die for wealth, and birds die for food.
It wiped its face with a hand but only smeared more blood across its features, its once-pale hands now stained red, and even maggots were wriggling in its flesh.
Ye Xue felt utterly disgusted, exclaiming, “Ugh!”
Seeing that Ye Xue finally displayed a look of “fear,” the malevolent spirit felt satisfied. It licked the maggots off its lips, swallowing them down, and grinned at the two, pressing its hands against the window, its face nearly plastered against it, intending to slip through.
Ye Xue lost her resolve to keep looking. Initially, she had wanted to ask it where it came from, but this malevolent spirit was just too repulsive.
Ye Xue quickly rummaged through her bag, pulling out dozens of ghost-repelling talismans to greet it.
As soon as the malevolent spirit entered, it was instantly overwhelmed by the talismans, falling to the ground with a painful scream, the maggots it had just swallowed spilling out.
“!!” If Ye Xue hadn’t remembered that they were in a public place, she would have been too disgusted to keep quiet.
Fortunately, most of the other passengers on the bus were asleep, and no one noticed what was happening.
Yu Qi cooperated with Ye Xue, pulling out a bottle to carefully collect the ghost lying on the ground, which was as light as paper.
The malevolent spirit’s clothes were soaked in blood and grime, and maggots were still crawling on it. Even if he tried his best to avoid it, some blood would still stain his fingertips, but Yu Qi seemed oblivious, calmly capping the bottle.
Once it was contained, the blood and maggots on the ground disappeared in an instant, as if nothing had happened.
Seeing this, Ye Xue realized, “So it was an illusion.”
Some malevolent spirits would use illusions to frighten people, feeding off human fear as sustenance.
Ye Xue looked at Yu Qi and curiously asked, “Did you know it was an illusion?”
Yu Qi shook his head, “I didn’t.”
But he had seen spirits far more horrific than this one, so everything before him didn’t seem like much at all.
Ye Xue placed the bottle containing the malevolent spirit alongside the previous one and couldn’t help but sigh, “We caught two.”
Two hundred thousand.
Going out yielded a profit; it was quite an experience.
Ye Xue tightened her grip on the blanket, preparing to rest again when suddenly the sound of “bang, bang, bang” against the glass came again.
Turning her head, she saw a pair of bloody eyes outside the window.
Another spirit had arrived.
…
“Bang, bang, bang—”
By the time the sound repeated, Ye Xue was no longer surprised. Skillfully, she grabbed the bottle, applied a talisman, and swiftly trapped the spirit inside, executing the series of actions in one fluid motion.
She looked at the bottles in front of her and counted, “One, two, three… six. Huh? Six of them…”
This familiar number stirred memories in Ye Xue. She lifted one of the bottle caps and pressed back the malevolent spirit that tried to pop out, tearing away a piece of its cloth to take a closer look.
As soon as the fabric left the ghost’s clothing, it instantly turned to ash in Ye Xue’s palm.
Ye Xue wasn’t surprised. Instead, she took out a spirit-revealing talisman, lit it, and gently waved it in her palm. The flames touched the ash, sweeping across it, immediately revealing a pale blue glow.
Yu Qi recognized the source of the glow: “There’s the aura of a grim reaper.”
Ye Xue nodded, lowering her voice to avoid being overheard by the other passengers, “Exactly, these malevolent spirits carry the aura of the underworld because they have been captured by grim reapers before, which is why the spirit-revealing talisman worked on them.”
Although Ye Xue didn’t know why these spirits appeared here, it was evident that they were indeed the six released by the black-clad individuals.
With that thought in mind, Ye Xue called Bai Liu.
Bai Liu seemed to be playing on his phone, as the call connected immediately. “Hello, Master Uncle, have you arrived in Shangli City?”
“Not yet, I’m stuck in traffic,” Ye Xue replied, glancing at the six bottles before asking again, “Have you found any news about the six malevolent spirits that were stolen earlier?”
Mentioning this made Bai Liu irritable. He complained, “Not yet! I’ve searched everywhere, digging through the city! Yet, I haven’t even seen a ghost shadow.”
Ye Xue cleared her throat and said, “You don’t need to search anymore.”
Bai Liu sounded confused: “Huh? Master Uncle, what do you mean?”
Ye Xue spoke casually, “I have six hundred thousand with me.”
“Six hundred thousand with you?” Bai Liu was momentarily stunned before he reacted, “What?! The ghosts ran over to you?!”
Then, he excitedly asked, “So Master Uncle, are we going to strike it rich?!”
Ye Xue couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm. “Well, I guess it’s a brief stroke of wealth.”
After all, the money would still need to be used for road repairs and creating golden statues for the deities.
Yu Qi listened to the conversation between Master Uncle and nephew, looking at Ye Xue, his eyes filled with admiration as she smiled, her crescent-shaped eyes shining even behind her mask.
He gently pressed his lips together, quietly gazing at her, feeling a joy he couldn’t articulate.
When Ye Xue ended the call, she could still hear Bai Liu’s energetic voice in her ears, causing her to smile unconsciously.
Then, she noticed something, instinctively looking up, only to meet Yu Qi’s gaze, which seemed to hold a lingering sparkle of joy.
Ye Xue froze for a moment, caught in his gaze, and forgot to look away.
The soothing love song continued playing in her right earbud, and it wasn’t until it switched to the next song that she snapped back to reality and turned to look out the window.
The sunlight poured through the glass onto her face, creating a slightly languid atmosphere.
When Ye Xue turned back, she realized Yu Qi was still watching her.
She paused for a moment, instinctively touching her face and asking in confusion, “Is there something on my face?”
Yu Qi averted his gaze, just as he was about to say something, his eyes catching sight of her fingertips, and his expression immediately froze, “You’re hurt?”
Ye Xue was momentarily taken aback.
Yu Qi took her hand, sounding somewhat urgent, “How did you get scratched here…”
Ye Xue, reminded by him, finally looked at her hand and discovered a small cut on her index finger, seeping a bit of blood. It hadn’t hurt until she noticed it, and suddenly she felt a sharp pain in that area.
After a moment of thought, Ye Xue said, “I think I must have brushed against something when I was catching the ghosts earlier.”
The wound wasn’t tainted with any malevolent energy, so it should be alright.
Upon hearing this, Yu Qi silently glanced at the bottles nearby, his expression darkening as if lost in thought.
He then pulled out a disinfectant spray and a bandage from his backpack, spraying her finger, saying, “It might sting a bit, just bear with it.”
The spray was cool when it first touched the wound, but as it seeped into her flesh, even with Ye Xue’s mental preparation, she couldn’t help but wince slightly.
Hearing her sound, Yu Qi paused, lowering his gaze, and more cautiously cleaned the wound. After applying the disinfectant with a cotton swab, he placed the bandage on her fingertip.
“All done,” he said.
After finishing, he glanced at the spirits inside the bottles again.
Not long after Yu Qi finished tending to her wound, the bus finally arrived at the station.
Ye Xue stuffed the blanket into her bag and noticed Yu Qi seemed ready to carry something for her, so she took the initiative to collect the six bottles.
But Yu Qi said, “Let me handle it.”
Seeing him carrying things, Ye Xue hesitated and asked, “Are you sure you can manage?”
Yu Qi looked at her, suddenly smiling, “Yeah, I can manage.”
However, after getting off the bus, Yu Qi disappeared for a while, returning with the suitcase after a few minutes.
Seeing that he was carrying too many things, Ye Xue wanted to help lighten his load and offered, “Let me take that bag.”
Yu Qi paused for a moment but didn’t give her the heavy items. Instead, he handed her the bottles again, “You take these.”
Ye Xue was taken aback.
The six bottles were still being pushed back and forth.
Ye Xue took the bottles, noticing that the glass felt a bit hot.
She picked one up to take a look and found that the spirits inside had all fainted, their souls appearing extremely weak as if they had been shocked by something, faintly glowing with a dark light. But due to the resilience of the malevolent spirits, they would only feel pain and wouldn’t face the danger of scattering.
Seeing this, Ye Xue decided to ignore them.
However, after walking a few steps, she suddenly recalled that she hadn’t used a thunder talisman to strike the spirits; how could they be injured by lightning?
Moreover, the only thing capable of directly attacking the souls was the Five Mountains True Form Diagram.
Noticing that Ye Xue was gradually falling behind, Yu Qi turned back to look for her. Seeing Ye Xue dazed and silent, he asked with concern, “What’s wrong?”
Ye Xue came back to her senses, looking at Yu Qi.
The young man gazed at her, his eyes filled with warm concern.
Ye Xue smiled lightly and shook her head, “It’s nothing, let’s go.”
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152