Chapter 10: The Little Ghosts Lend a Hand

Su Qianqian was terrified at that moment. After all, she was a well-behaved girl and had never been threatened like this before. She clung tightly to Zhang Xiaofan’s arm and whispered, “What should we do, Xiaofan?”

“Well, well, you two have something going on, don’t you?” one of the thugs sneered.

Zhang Bing curled his lip and said, “Kid, I didn’t expect you to have it in you, managing to win over the school beauty, Su Qianqian. I’ll give you a chance. Disappear within a minute, or you’ll be eating the back of my hand.”

Zhang Xiaofan clenched his fists. What now? There were five of them, each one stronger than him, all seasoned fighters. He’d heard before that Zhang Hua had said his brother and his cronies always carried knives with them. These ruthless types, once in a fight, never cared about the consequences.

But there was no way he could abandon Su Qianqian and run away.

At worst, he’d fight them all. Zhang Xiaofan thought fiercely.

“I’ll help you, if you take me to be released,” the male ghost from earlier suddenly spoke.

Zhang Xiaofan frowned. Making a deal with a ghost? It seemed there was no other way. He nodded firmly.

“Su Qianqian, step back a little,” Zhang Xiaofan said, pushing her gently aside, and then called out to Zhang Bing, “If you want to touch my girl, forget it.”

“Hmph, you’ll pay for playing the hero,” Zhang Bing spat, charging forward with his crew.

But at that moment, the male ghost darted in front of Zhang Bing and exhaled a breath onto him, then did the same to the others. Zhang Xiaofan wasn’t sure what was happening, but he saw that the thugs’ movements suddenly slowed.

“My powers are weak. I can’t control them for long. Hit them now,” the ghost shouted.

Zhang Xiaofan grabbed a chair nearby and swung it at their backs. Because of the ghost’s breath, the thugs were too numb and dazed to defend themselves. Their arms were limp, their heads spinning, and they could vaguely see a ghostly face grinning at them.

The male ghost appeared again beside Zhang Bing, exhaling as he said, “Return my life… wooo…”

He cast his breath, his face flashing before Zhang Bing’s eyes.

Zhang Bing staggered back, looking left and right, shouting, “Who’s there? Who’s playing tricks?”

“It’s a ghost!” one of his cronies yelled, turning to run.

The male ghost suddenly manifested in front of Zhang Bing, seized him by the throat, and snarled, “Die.”

With those words, he vanished—not because he wanted to, but because his powers were nearly spent. He had already used much of his strength, and showing himself one more time was almost more than he could bear.

“Ghost! A ghost!” Zhang Bing screamed, scrambling away on hands and knees.

From a distance, Zhang Xiaofan threw aside the chair and shouted, “That’s what you get for bullying people!”

Su Qianqian ran over, exclaiming, “Zhang Xiaofan, you’re amazing! You drove them all away!”

She had only seen the thugs suddenly freeze as they charged, then get beaten up by Zhang Xiaofan, and finally run for their lives shouting about ghosts. Although she couldn’t make sense of it, she naturally assumed they had been scared off by Zhang Xiaofan’s imposing presence.

Zhang Xiaofan asked nervously, “Were you scared?” He worried that the ghost had appeared in front of her, but did Su Qianqian see anything?

Su Qianqian thought he meant the thugs had frightened her. She shook her head and replied, “Didn’t you say you’d protect me? I’m not that easily scared.”

As she spoke, she felt her cheeks flush, thinking how brave Zhang Xiaofan was.

Soon the shop owner came over to clean up the mess. Zhang Xiaofan reached for his wallet to pay, only to realize, awkwardly, that he had forgotten it.

Knowing his family’s situation, Su Qianqian smiled and paid the bill herself.

“Sorry, I forgot my money. I’ll treat you next time,” Zhang Xiaofan said sheepishly.

“I’ll be waiting,” she replied with a laugh.

Afterward, Zhang Xiaofan escorted Su Qianqian back to her dormitory. Then he rode his bicycle back to the previous spot, where the little ghost was still waiting, though now his figure was flickering and his expression much weaker than before.

“You’ve finally come,” the little ghost said.

“Why is your body so dim?” asked Zhang Xiaofan.

“I used up a lot of power helping you earlier. My abilities are hard to cultivate, and it took a lot out of me to deal with those five living people,” the ghost replied.

Zhang Xiaofan thanked him and asked how to help him move on.

Unexpectedly, the little ghost climbed onto the back of his bike. “You must take me to a temple or a Taoist shrine before dawn, or I’ll be burned away by the sunlight.”

“Don’t worry. You helped me a lot. I won’t let anything happen to you,” Zhang Xiaofan promised, riding off.

Along the way, he asked the ghost many questions about their kind, and the little ghost answered them all.

From their conversation, Zhang Xiaofan learned that ghosts could also cultivate. Some, unwilling to enter the underworld, became evil spirits, feeding on human blood or life force to grow stronger. Their ranks were simple: first-rank ghosts, second-rank ghosts, third-rank ghosts, and so forth.

The Taoist priests and monks who dealt with evil spirits were ranked similarly: first-rank Taoist, second-rank Taoist, third-rank Taoist, and so on.

Zhang Xiaofan joked, “That’s an easy ranking system for Taoists. What’s the highest level?”

The little ghost replied, “My level is too low. I’ve only seen a third-rank evil ghost. She killed me to absorb my life force for her cultivation.”

“You really had bad luck.”

“Yeah. And the more unlucky a person is, the more likely they are to see ghosts. But I’m curious—why can you see me? You don’t seem unlucky at all,” the ghost wondered.

“I don’t know either. Only my right eye can see ghosts,” Zhang Xiaofan explained, then described how he’d been struck on the head.

The little ghost was amazed. “You’re really lucky. You have no spiritual power, yet you can see ghosts. You’re a natural for cultivation. It’d be a shame if you didn’t pursue it.”

“Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t know where to begin. By the way, did you know there’s been talk of hauntings at our school?” He then described the red packet game his class had played.

The little ghost’s face grew fearful. “I only know a little, but the ghost troubling you all is very powerful. A few days ago, I saw that even the third-rank evil ghost who killed me couldn’t enter your school. You’re in serious trouble.”

“Is there any way to deal with it?” Zhang Xiaofan pressed.

“Unless you find a powerful Taoist or practitioner, you’ll all die!” the little ghost warned.

Zhang Xiaofan’s heart sank. He hadn’t expected things to be so dire. Soon, they arrived at a temple, which was rather dilapidated—faith in such things was dwindling in the modern age.

Inside, only a young monk was guarding the place. Zhang Xiaofan made up a story about a family member passing away and asked for a scripture to be recited for the deceased, handing over two hundred yuan as an offering.

That two hundred yuan he’d gone back to his dorm to fetch after sending Su Qianqian home—parting with it all at once pained him.

The young monk accepted the offering and began to chant. The little ghost waved to Zhang Xiaofan, saying, “I once saw a Taoist on the hill behind your school catching ghosts. If you want to learn, you should visit often. You might meet her. Also, you really do have a trace of spiritual energy—I can smell it. Evil ghosts love that scent, so be careful. I’m leaving now. Thank you…”