IMMFBCG Chapter 32

Chapter 32: A Second Encounter

The ghosts from the mass grave knew Ye Xue, and they had previously sworn they would never cause trouble. Yet, as soon as they were forcefully summoned by the ghost-attracting talisman, Ye Xue caught them in the act.

Thankfully, the ghosts reacted quickly and retreated in time. Otherwise, their fate would likely mirror that of the green-robed ghost, who had endured the full brunt of the tortures in the eighteen layers of hell.

Ye Xue watched the dissipating dark energy before her, feeling a bit conflicted. While the ghost situation had been resolved, what surprised her was that the ghost-attracting talisman given to Ruan Xinghua by the man in black had such strong power. Instead of summoning just two or three ghosts, it had called forth an entire horde.

It was precisely because of this talisman’s strong effects that it attracted the ghosts from the mass grave, drawing them toward the summoning signal.

This eerie, strange power…

Ye Xue fell into deep thought.

After the ghosts were scared away, He Siqi breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing Ye Xue’s serious expression, she couldn’t help but ask softly, “A-Xue, is something wrong? Is there an issue with the ghost-attracting talisman?”

Ye Xue snapped out of it and shook her head. “There’s no problem with the talisman. The problem lies with the person who created it.”

Someone able to craft such an eerie talisman… Ye Xue knew she had to report this to the Daoist sect, to prevent such incidents from happening again.

Although He Siqi didn’t fully understand, she sensed that the situation was more serious than it appeared.

She looked at the students in the classroom, completely unaware that they had nearly caused a disaster, and thought to herself, Young people these days are way too reckless.

They were lucky this time. Ye Xue had been here, overheard their conversation, and followed them. If no one had been there to intervene, and Ruan Xinghua had summoned the ghosts with his talisman, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Despite this, Ruan Xinghua and his group were still trying to see a ghost.

After burning the last talisman, they waited a while longer. However, even as the moon rose, the science building remained quiet.

Jiang Cheng couldn’t help but grumble, “You think this might be a fake? We’ve been sitting here for ages, and not a single ghost has shown up.”

Fan Xing sighed, “We’ve tried everything—spirit writing, umbrellas indoors, feeding at a crossroads, and now even the ghost-attracting talisman doesn’t work. Maybe there are no ghosts in this world.”

Hearing this, Ye Xue glanced at them.

She had originally thought this was their first attempt at ghost hunting, but it turned out these students had tried more ways to see a ghost than she had.

However, the methods Fan Xing mentioned were common in folklore, and most didn’t work. As for spirit writing, unless they were unlucky like Lu Xuezhen and happened to disturb a spirit’s energy field, they’d probably break their pencil before encountering a ghost.

Even when energy fields malfunction, it’s rare to attract spirits—especially in a densely populated, high-energy place like this college. Not even ghosts from car accidents could easily manifest here.

Ruan Xinghua looked at the ashes of the talisman on the ground and sighed, finally accepting reality.

Ye Xue quietly observed the situation in the classroom. Fan Xing and Jiang Cheng seemed unaffected, but Ruan Xinghua, having burned the talisman, had unknowingly absorbed some of its dark energy.

She pulled out a talisman, lit it, and gently blew on it.

Without anyone noticing, a faint glow of light circled Ruan Xinghua, dispelling the dark energy that had clung to his sleeve.

After putting her chair back, Ye Xue brushed off the ashes from Ruan Xinghua’s sleeve, completely removing the remaining talisman dust.

Ruan Xinghua, surprised by Ye Xue’s sudden action, stood frozen for a moment, staring at her in confusion.

Ye Xue calmly explained, “Your clothes were just a bit dirty.”

Ruan Xinghua glanced at his sleeve, spotting a few tiny black dots. Only then did he realize, “Oh, thanks!”

Ye Xue glanced at the black dust on her fingers and casually remarked to the group, “It looks like that guy who sold you the talisman gave you something pretty useless. If you run into a scammer like that again, just report it to the police.”

Her serious tone made it seem like it wasn’t her who had just scared off a bunch of ghosts.

He Siqi bit her lip, stifling her laughter—she could tell Ye Xue was spinning another tale.

Ruan Xinghua, reminded of the scam, instantly grew angry. “You’re right! That scammer was outrageous! He swore up and down that using the talisman would let us see ghosts! Now I guess we’ve seen a ghost—nothing!”

They had wasted two or three hours, only to see nothing at all.

Fan Xing and Jiang Cheng were equally frustrated, joining in on cursing the “scammer.”

It seemed they wouldn’t be attempting another ghost hunt anytime soon.

Suddenly, the temperature in the room dropped again. An icy chill spread throughout the classroom, enveloping everyone.

Ruan Xinghua muttered, “Weird, why did it get cold again? Is it just because it’s late?”

Fan Xing and Jiang Cheng, also feeling the cold, nodded in agreement.

Ye Xue glanced toward the door and saw a familiar red figure drifting inside.

He Siqi, whose yin-yang eyes were still active, watched in shock as a pale-faced woman in a red dress floated through the wall. She couldn’t hold back and let out a small scream.

Ruan Xinghua and the others, puzzled by her outburst, asked with concern, “Hey, are you okay?”

He Siqi shook her head, taking a deep breath.

The red-dressed ghost, however, seemed quite familiar with Ye Xue, and almost floated straight to her side.

As she passed Ruan Xinghua, a gust of cold air blew over him, making him shiver even more.

Ruan Xinghua was nearly questioning reality, thinking, It’s only about 68°F today, right? It can’t be this cold… or is the weather forecast wrong again?

The red-dressed ghost hovered close to Ye Xue, asking softly, “Master, did you come to see me? Did you bring me some spicy hotpot from the cafeteria?”

He Siqi stared in disbelief. This ghost liked spicy hotpot?

Ye Xue, pretending not to hear, took He Siqi’s hand and turned to the three boys. “It’s getting late. Maybe we should head back?”

The red-dressed ghost knew Ye Xue rarely spoke to spirits in front of others, so she wasn’t upset when Ye Xue ignored her.

As the ghost glanced at the lingering dark energy left behind by the burnt talismans, she asked curiously, “Master, were you fighting here just now?”

Then, she realized something was off.

Quickly identifying the foreign energy that wasn’t from Ye Xue, she turned her gaze to the three boys, letting out a cold snort, “It’s you guys again! You fools, always messing around with nonsense. You must be bored out of your minds.”

He Siqi twitched at her words.

No wonder they looked so skilled—they’ve done this before. They’re bold!

Of course, Ruan Xinghua couldn’t hear the ghost cursing at them.

He glanced at his phone to check the time and was shocked. “Whoa, it’s almost ten o’clock!”

They had been in the science building for so long that they hadn’t even started their group project.

Seeing the time, Ruan Xinghua didn’t want to waste any more of it. He turned to Ye Xue and said, “We need to head back and do our assignment. How about we walk you home first?”

Ye Xue smiled and politely declined, “No need, our dorm is just across the street.”

At this, the red-clothed female ghost gave them a once-over and, with a disdainful tone, said, “Taoist, they’re trying to pursue you! Don’t let these immature boys fool you. Only study and career are the true path!”

Ye Xue’s smile froze for a moment, almost breaking her composure.

With time running out, Ruan Xinghua and Jiang Cheng rushed to finish their homework. After confirming that Ye Xue and her friend could return safely, they left the science building quickly.

Before leaving, Ye Xue even remembered to order spicy hotpot from the cafeteria for the red-clothed ghost, reminding her to throw the trash away afterward. Only then did she return to her dorm.

Over the weekend, Ye Xue remembered she needed to buy a helmet for the car crash ghost, so she took the bus to a nearby store to pick one up.

As she walked past the alley, she caught the scent of burnt incense.

Turning her head, she saw someone burning spirit money at the entrance.

That’s when Ye Xue realized—it must be the fifteenth of the month again.

In Haicheng, there’s a tradition where, on the first and fifteenth of each month, families with deceased relatives burn joss paper and candles at their doors to honor them.

But nowadays, besides a few elderly who still hold onto the tradition, very few people continue burning spirit money on those days.

An elderly woman, her hands trembling, tried to light the candles with a lighter, but before she could, the candles lit up on their own.

She seemed puzzled, squinting at the lighter in her hand. After studying it for a moment, she probably figured she had already lit the candles without realizing it. Once the flames were burning steadily, she tossed the folded spirit money into the fire.

Next to her floated a ghost, an elderly man in traditional Chinese attire. His soul was dim, not fully formed, suggesting he had only recently passed away.

The old man sighed as he looked at her, “Your hands are so shaky, you’re going to burn yourself.”

From Ye Xue’s vantage point, she could see into the house. A memorial photo of the elderly man sat on the altar in the living room, smiling kindly, looking exactly like the ghost standing beside the old woman.

The old man kept murmuring to himself, clearly worried about his wife.

Ye Xue watched for a long moment, then quietly turned and left.

Just as she exited the alley, someone called out to her, “Ye Xue?”

Ye Xue looked up to see a young man with black hair walking toward her.

She smiled warmly, her eyes crinkling. “Yu Qi, what are you doing here?”

Yu Qi, noticing something off in her expression, said, “I just came from the cemetery and happened to pass by when I saw you.”

Ye Xue remembered that Yu Qi had mentioned his family before, knowing he must’ve just visited his parents’ graves. She nodded in understanding but didn’t pry further.

Yu Qi naturally took the bags from her hands, helping her carry them as they chatted while walking.

He wanted to ask why she seemed a little down, but he worried that bringing it up might make her feel worse.

In the end, Yu Qi pursed his lips and didn’t say anything.

Ye Xue quickly returned to her usual self and glanced behind him. “Where’s Uncle Wang? Didn’t he come with you?”

Yu Qi shook his head. “No, I came out on my own.”

Then, looking up, he asked, “Would you mind keeping me company for a bit? We’re headed in the same direction, anyway.”

Ye Xue smiled teasingly, “How do you know we’re going the same way? Do you know where I’m going?”

Yu Qi hesitated.

Ye Xue, no longer teasing, grinned. “I’m heading to Xuanzhen Temple. Are you going to see my senior brother?”

Yu Qi only wanted to keep her company, so he nodded. “Yes, I need to go to Xuanzhen Temple as well.”

“Great!” Ye Xue said. “But if that’s the case, you’ll have to take the bus with me.”

Then, as if recalling something, she curiously asked, “Yu Qi, have you ever taken the bus before?”

Ye Xue seemed to have recovered, her eyes still filled with a warm smile.

Yu Qi felt a slight sense of relief, and warmth flickered in his gaze as he softly explained, “I’ve taken the bus before. Back when my master used to take me out, we’d either walk or ride the bus.”

But after his master passed away, Yu Qi rarely went out with others.

The two of them walked side by side toward the bus stop.

Meanwhile, Uncle Wang, the driver, had been waiting in the car for quite a while.

He didn’t know what Mr. Yu had seen, but halfway through the drive, Yu Qi suddenly asked him to stop and walked down the street, as if he were looking for someone.

The driver had a hunch—it could only be Miss Ye that had stirred Yu Qi’s emotions.

As this thought crossed his mind, his phone lit up.

When he checked it, Yu Qi had messaged him, saying he and Ye Xue were taking the bus and that Uncle Wang didn’t need to wait any longer, telling him to head back on his own.

Uncle Wang chuckled, “So that’s how it is.”

Smiling to himself, he set down the phone and started the car, heading back to the Yu residence.

…

At Xuanzhen Temple, a stylishly dressed woman named Ms. Liu came with her son to offer incense.

After lighting incense and donating some money, she led her son to find Xu Zhou.

Ms. Liu began telling Xu Zhou about her son’s recent reckless attempts to see ghosts.

Her family practiced Taoism, and when they had a Feng Shui problem in the past, it was the temple’s head and Xu Zhou who helped them resolve it. Since then, Ms. Liu and her husband have developed a deep respect for matters of the supernatural.

However, she didn’t expect her son to be so bold. After hearing about the supernatural events at home, instead of being scared, he wanted to experience seeing ghosts for himself.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if it were just him, but he dragged his classmates into it as well.

If her son hadn’t accidentally slipped up when he got home, Ms. Liu wouldn’t have known he had been up to so much behind her back.

If something had happened, how would she explain this to the other parents?

Her son, who had been standing off to the side in a daze, couldn’t help but protest, “Mom, I told you I’m fine! Besides, I didn’t even see a ghost!”

Ms. Liu twisted his ear and scolded, “You keep saying that, but if you see a ghost, I bet your legs will turn to jelly!”

Xu Zhou glanced at the boy, noticing that his yang energy was strong and his expression clear, with no signs of anything unusual.

Just as Xu Zhou was about to reassure them, he looked up and saw a familiar figure approaching the door. Smiling, he called out, “Aunt Ye Xue, you’re back.”

Hearing this, Ms. Liu and her son also looked toward the entrance.

A slender girl in a beige coat walked in. Her features were delicate and beautiful, with an almost ethereal quality that immediately drew people in. Beside her was a handsome young man.

The two of them, standing together, made for a striking pair.

Ms. Liu, having never seen such a beautiful person before, couldn’t help but take a few extra glances.

She turned to her son and said, “Look at them, and then look at yourself…”

But her son didn’t react at all.

He stood there, staring blankly ahead. Then, suddenly realizing who it was, he blurted out, “Ye Xue?!”

Ye Xue, who had been chatting with Yu Qi, snapped out of her thoughts and looked ahead. When she saw who it was, she froze too.

Not far away, Ruan Xinghua stood there, wide-eyed, clearly shocked to see her.

Recalling something Ye Xue had once said, he seemed to piece it all together and asked in disbelief, “You’ve never seen a ghost before?”

Ye Xue: “…”

If she told him she was just an errand girl at Xuanzhen Temple, would he believe her?