IMMFBCG Chapter 5

“Chapter 5: Even the Ghosts Fight for It”

The bus was bustling with noise, but all Ye Xue felt was chaos.

A constant buzzing filled her ears, a mix of human voices and ghostly howls.

When she got off the bus, she was almost pushed out by the crowd.

Just as Ye Xue stepped off the bus, she heard someone call out to her. Turning around, she saw the young man who had urged her earlier.

He was being pushed forward by his friends, blushing as he gathered the courage to ask for her WeChat.

Ye Xue, who only had QQ and the game Snake on her phone, honestly replied, “I don’t have WeChat.”

Is there anyone nowadays who doesn’t use WeChat? The young man was visibly disappointed by her response, realizing this was likely a rejection, but he didn’t press further. He politely said, “Sorry for bothering you,” and returned to his group.

After they left, Ye Xue was about to leave too when she paused, turning to look at the bus stop sign. It suddenly hit her that the bus she had just taken connected both the human and ghostly realms. That explained why there were both people and ghosts on the bus.

While the situation on the bus made sense now, she still couldn’t figure out the shadowy figure surrounded by a group of ghosts she had seen earlier.

The passengers from the bus were disembarking, and the area became lively again with the sounds of the crowd.

Just then, Ye Xue felt a cold wind approaching. The freezing sensation grew stronger, almost as if it were right next to her. She instinctively turned her head and was met with a disfigured face.

It was the ghost from the bus accident who had approached her earlier, now glaring at her intently.

The bloodied, mangled face stared directly at Ye Xue. Her expression froze, and she clenched her fists tightly.

If she reacted now, everyone around her would probably think she was insane.

Summoning all her acting skills, Ye Xue forced herself to remain calm, turning her head away as if nothing had happened, and continued walking forward.

But the bus accident ghost didn’t let her off so easily. He got even closer to her and asked, “You looked at me several times earlier. Can you see me?”

Ye Xue: “…”

Wait a minute—given the fuss they were making earlier, wasn’t it already generous of her to look just twice?

The ghost’s icy breath brushed against Ye Xue’s skin, only centimeters away.

Ye Xue casually adjusted her hair and muttered to herself, “Why does it feel like it’s getting colder?”

At that moment, she appeared like any ordinary person completely unaware of what was happening.

Hearing this, the ghost became suspicious and withdrew his gaze. “Could it have just been a coincidence?”

No matter what he said, Ye Xue pretended not to hear him.

The ghost tried several more times to test her, but when he didn’t see any reaction from Ye Xue—considering that anyone who could see him would have fainted from his terrifying face—he gradually relaxed. He continued following her, even starting to sing, “Yo yo, check it out! The vast horizon is my love…”

How could anyone be so off-tune singing a Phoenix Legend song?

Ye Xue’s face turned pale, tormented by the ghost’s wailing attempts at singing.

She glanced ahead, took a deep breath, and continued walking forward.

Lost in his singing, the ghost didn’t realize they were moving farther and farther away from the city center, eventually reaching a desolate street.

The ghost, fully engrossed in his performance, suddenly noticed that the usual city sounds had faded. Looking up, he saw that Ye Xue was heading into an alley. He couldn’t help but shout, “Hey, it’s not safe for a girl to walk into such a deserted place!”

Ye Xue, however, stopped in her tracks, turned around, and calmly stared at him.

“…?” The ghost blinked in confusion. Wasn’t she supposed to be unable to see him?

Wait.

He suddenly sensed an overwhelming murderous aura.

Ye Xue gazed at him, her lips curling into a cold smile.

Moments later.

The bus accident ghost, his disfigured face now even more battered, retreated into a corner, questioning his very existence as he faced the wall.

Feeling weak and helpless, he lamented, “How could you deceive even a ghost?”

His one intact eye had been punched into a panda’s eye.

Worried, the ghost carefully plucked out his eyeball to check it, relieved when he found it was only swollen before popping it back in.

At least it wasn’t permanently damaged.

Still nursing his wounds, the ghost cradled his panda eye, wallowing in his misery, when he suddenly heard soft footsteps approaching.

Slowly, the ghost looked up.

That same beautiful girl, who had just deceived even a ghost, stared at him intently and asked seriously, “Do you have any money?”

Frightened of being beaten up again, the ghost weakly replied, “Sister, does ghost money count?”

At Tianyi Temple, business was as bustling as ever.

Believers often preferred to come to this Taoist temple in the city center to burn incense rather than visit Xuanzhen Temple on the other side.

That day, Grandpa Zhang and his wife, as usual, came to offer incense, placing some coins into the donation box. They were planning to ask the Taoist priest when he would be available to perform a ritual for them.

The young Taoist in charge of the records looked up and said, “My uncle and senior brothers are fully booked at the moment. You might have to wait a while.”

Grandpa Zhang was a bit disappointed, but then he heard the young Taoist ask, “Grandpa, would you like to sign up for a VIP card?”

Before Grandpa Zhang could respond, his wife, puzzled, asked, “Do Taoist temples offer VIP services now?”

The young Taoist gave a mysterious smile and replied, “Uh… you could say that.”

Since the Taoist had suggested it, the elderly couple discussed it and decided to get a card, especially since they frequently visited the temple.

But when they received the VIP card and saw the name on it, even Grandpa Zhang, who believed in superstitions, was stunned. He couldn’t help but ask, “Uh… did you write the wrong name, young Taoist?”

The card had “Xuanzhen Temple” written on it.

“No mistake,” the young Taoist said, avoiding eye contact. He sighed and added, “They’re our partner temple.”

Grandpa Zhang: ???

Wait, are you messing with us? Aren’t Tianyi Temple and Xuanzhen Temple competitors? How did they suddenly become partners?

Is Tianyi Temple infiltrating the enemy?

Seeing the elderly couple’s disbelief, the young Taoist felt helpless. These were orders from above, and there was nothing he could do.

This wasn’t the first time today that a patron had questioned this partnership.

At this rate, Tianyi Temple’s reputation would be ruined.

Eventually, one of the senior priests came out to explain everything to the elderly couple, finally convincing them that Tianyi Temple had indeed allied with Xuanzhen Temple.

As Ren Huamao watched the couple leave, he turned to see the young Taoist looking utterly defeated. Trying to comfort him, he said, “Hey, don’t worry. For young people like you, awkward days like this are just part of life.”

The young Taoist, reassured by the elder’s words, started to relax—until he heard him continue, “Besides, you’ve got plenty more awkward days ahead of you.”

The young Taoist: “…”

Meanwhile, at Xuanzhen Temple, with Xu Zhou away, the two remaining members saw Ye Xue enter with a bottle. When she reached the main hall, she opened the bottle, letting something crawl out.

Bai Liu, curious, moved closer to see what it was.

But when the thing raised its head, he nearly had a heart attack, quickly hiding behind Ye Xue, screaming, “What the hell is that?! It’s like a car accident scene!”

The ghost from the car accident slowly covered his face with a piece of paper.

Seriously? A Taoist temple and the priests and exorcists are afraid of ghosts?

Especially that pretty girl who had just beaten him into a pulp. Not only did she find his face terrifying, but after extorting him for money and forcing him to hide his face with something, she stuffed him into a bottle.

Her exact words were, “So you won’t ruin the city’s appearance.”

What the hell? Do ghosts have no dignity?

But under her oppressive authority, the car accident ghost had no choice but to tearfully comply.

Seeing this, the temple master, Bai Guan, couldn’t help but ask, “Junior sister, what is this?”

Ye Xue thought for a moment before replying, “A temporary worker?”

Xuanzhen Temple was short on staff, so she figured she could put him to work cleaning, saving on labor costs.

Bai Ziang repeated in disbelief, “A temporary worker?”

Bai Liu, trembling, mustered the courage to ask his father, “Dad, with this thing looking so terrifying, won’t the Xuanzhen Sect reject it?”

Other temples raise hanging ghosts, and here they are raising a car accident ghost.

It’d be such a hit to their image if word got out.

“Who are you looking down on?” The ghost couldn’t stand the insult any longer. Tearing off the paper, he said angrily, “When I was alive, I was a handsome guy, okay?”

Being forced into labor was one thing, but being disdained was a different matter entirely.

Bai Liu took one look at him, rolled his eyes, and fainted on the spot.

Before the ghost could cover his face again, he felt a familiar and intense murderous intent.

Later, after being beaten into a pulp again, the ghost, bruised and battered, curled up in a corner, letting out a pitiful whimper.

Lu Xuezhen and his roommates had recently encountered some strange things. Originally, they wanted to visit the city’s most famous Taoist temple to ask for help, but after hearing the price, they backed out.

Lu was a high school senior who had just started the school year. His family didn’t give him much for living expenses, so he and his roommates scraped together whatever they could to gather enough money.

Lu Xuezhen did a quick search on Baidu and found that there was another Taoist temple in Haicheng. He followed the GPS directions but grew increasingly uncertain the closer he got. This place seemed a bit too remote—was he walking into some kind of pyramid scheme?

That feeling intensified when the GPS announced he had arrived at his destination, only for him to look up and see a rundown temple. Instantly, he had the urge to turn around and leave.

As Lu stood there, debating with himself, the gate of Xuanzhen Temple opened.

A girl with an ethereal appearance stepped out, holding a bucket, and threw a splash of water outside.

Just as she was about to head back in, she caught sight of Lu Xuezhen from the corner of her eye. She paused and asked, “Here to burn incense?”

Seeing her up close, Lu Xuezhen blushed. He had meant to say something but got flustered and blurted out, “Uh, Daoist, can you exorcise ghosts here?”

Ye Xue raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Daoist? You can probably tell I’m not a Taoist priest, right?” She didn’t even have a Celestial Master certification yet.

It was only then that Lu Xuezhen realized she wasn’t wearing a Taoist robe but a casual tracksuit.

He opened his mouth, stammering, “So, you’re also here to burn incense?”

He immediately slapped his forehead after saying that.

What was he thinking? She had just walked out of the temple with a water bucket—clearly, she worked there.

Ye Xue noticed the faint dark energy lingering around his brows and didn’t give him a hard time. She nodded, “Come on in.”

The temple master, Bai, wasn’t in. He’d had some urgent business and wouldn’t be back for a few days, leaving Xu Zhou in charge of the temple affairs.

Lu Xuezhen, who tended to judge people by their looks, felt at ease seeing that everyone in the temple seemed to be pleasant and trustworthy. He quickly explained that he had come for help with a ghost problem.

Bai Liu chuckled, “You’ve got an eye for talent, spotting our temple right away.”

Not the best at conversation, Lu Xuezhen awkwardly scratched his head and admitted, “Well, uh, not exactly. I can’t afford Tianyi Temple. I heard Xuanzhen Temple is a bit cheaper.”

Given how run-down the place looked, surely it couldn’t be that expensive, right?

He thought this and said it out loud.

Xu Zhou: “…”

Great, the fact that Xuanzhen Temple is falling apart has officially gone public.