Forbidden to Capture Rare Cute Ghosts - Chapter 12

It seemed like the arrival of the night was extraordinarily slow, and Nan Deng could not sleep well.

After Hei Mao and Ren Shi left, he felt extremely tired, too exhausted to even move his fingers.

However, as soon as he closed his eyes, he felt like he couldn’t sleep well, and no position was comfortable.

Nan Deng woke up twice in the middle of the night, looked at the bright sky outside, and turned to face the wall.

The corner didn’t get any sunshine, and the rough cement floor was cold and hard.

Perhaps it was because he had slept on a more comfortable bed yesterday that he was not used to it today.

With his eyes closed, Nan Deng continued to sleep uneasily.

Rabbit Head was worried about him and watched beside his cheek, its furry touch rubbing against him.

When night finally arrived, Nan Deng eagerly wanted to find Lian Yi, so he set off early.

As he walked along the street, he stopped by a garbage can and found a broken gecko tail inside.

Nan Deng had never seen such a thing before. He picked it up, examined it for a long time, and decided that it was the one.

Lian Yi had said that if he accepted a gift from Nan Deng, he would be able to see him. It might be because of the traces of his spirit on those items.

If the trace faded, would he not be able to see him again?

Nan Deng did not want Lian Yi to be unable to see him. He wanted to continue making friends with him and chat some more.

Bringing the gecko tail, he went to the familiar house and knocked on the door. They had made an arrangement, so Nan Deng thought it might be inappropriate to climb in through the window again.

The door was quickly opened, and as Nan Deng stood in the doorway, he smiled at Lian Yi and handed over the gecko tail, “This is for you.”

Lian Yi glanced at the gecko tail in his hand, hesitating briefly as he held the door handle.

He took the tail, went to the kitchen to clean it, dried it, sealed it, and put it away properly.

Nan Deng followed him all the way, watching his every move.

He noticed other items in the drawer of the low cabinet, such as a rabbit toy, dried leaves, a cleaned pen, and the black feather from last time.

Indeed, Lian Yi had picked them up each time and stored them carefully.

Nan Deng was very happy, but also felt a bit guilty. After all, the first time he gave a present, he wanted to bite Lian Yi.

He followed Lian Yi to the living room couch, sat next to him, turned on the TV, and started browsing the channels to find one he liked.

After watching for a little while, Nan Deng yawned and unconsciously leaned towards Lian Yi.

The warmth of a living human being was extremely comfortable, like snuggling up to a warm and soft blanket.

The sound of the TV lulled him to sleep. Nan Deng hadn’t slept well the whole night, and now he couldn’t resist the sleepiness anymore, gradually falling asleep.

Rabbit Head hopped from the couch, turned back, glanced at Lian Yi, and then roamed around the house on its own, inspecting every corner, trying to find something edible.

When Nan Deng woke up, he found it was already three in the morning, he had slept for more than three hours.

He was still leaning on Lian Yi, even half-lying, with one hand lightly clutching Lian Yi’s shirt.

Lian Yi was propping up his forehead with one hand, his eyes quietly closed, apparently asleep as well.

Nan Deng didn’t wake him up but fondly snuggled into his embrace.

Gaining some rest, he found his fatigue had lessened considerably. The whole ghost was full of energy.

Once again, Nan Deng felt a bit ashamed. As a ghost, he could not get used to sleeping in corners.

However, another possibility occurred to him. The reason he didn’t feel tired may be related to Lian Yi.

A human who accepts a gift from a ghost and often shares the room with one might experience certain… changes, right?

Otherwise, why would other ghosts always be looking for prey? Perhaps they too have encountered humans they couldn’t bite, and stayed close to them for energy replenishment.

With Nan Deng’s pitiful ghost experience, everything had to be assumed by his limited knowledge.

His stream of thought wandered, and his gaze unconsciously landed on Lian Yi’s neck.

Last night, Lian Yi asked him if he was hungry, letting him bite his own neck.

So… is this the only place that one could bite?

Just as Nan Deng spaced out for a moment, Lian Yi suddenly opened his eyes, locking gazes with him.

From his perspective, Nan Deng was practically hugging him, with his chin against his shoulder, his beautiful eyes staring intently with an underlying eagerness.

Lian Yi looked down, casting small shadows with his eyelashes, “Hungry?”

Nan Deng still shook his head, feeling a little guilty but not wanting to admit it: “…I’m not hungry.”

He sluggishly sat up a little, tilting his head: “Why aren’t you afraid of me at all?”

It wasn’t even to the slightest degree. After all, he was a ghost.

Lian Yi stared for a moment at Nan Deng’s pale, ghostly face, reaching out to touch the spot where his cheek would be: “Have you ever looked in a mirror?”

Nan Deng responded, somewhat puzzled, “No…”

Lian Yi paused before retracting his hand.

Ghosts that have been around for a while may forget about their lives prior to death, only remembering details about how they died and their lingering resentment.

Nan Deng, seeing that Lian Yi had stopped speaking, moved closer, continuing to press against his arm: “Aren’t you going to sleep?”

“Not sleepy,” Lian Yi responded.

Nan Deng was thinking; that if Lian Yi didn’t sleep at night, he would likely rest at home during the day. That would mean he could no longer crash on his bed.

“Oh…” Nan Deng responded in acknowledgment. Once dawn broke, he would still have to leave.

Lian Yi could not understand why Nan Deng suddenly seemed unhappy, his expression low.

Unable to resist, Lian Yi reached out like he was trying to hug Nan Deng from behind, his palm lightly brushing against his back.

Lian Yi wasn’t kidding when he said he was not sleepy; he literally stayed awake all night. In the latter half of the night, Nan Deng kept him company watching TV, or rather, it was him keeping Nan Deng company.

Before dawn, Nan Deng took hold of Lian Yi’s hand, “I have to go now…”

His slender figure and the pale, delicate fingertips of his ghost form touched Lian Yi, who looked on blankly for a moment before responding: “Okay.”

Nan Deng continued, “You should take care of your wound. If you’re not feeling well, visit a doctor.”

“Okay.”

Nan Deng still left through the window because he realized that Lian Yi, who was standing in the living room, had no intention of opening the door for him.

Without giving it much thought, Nan Deng found Xiao Tu munching on leaves in a potted plant. He picked him up and climbed out the window.

It was only when Nan Deng’s figure had faded from sight that Lian Yi locked the window and returned to his study.

There, he sat in front of the coffee table, rolled up his sleeves, and undid the gauze on his right hand.

After Nan Deng left last night, he stayed in the bathroom all along, the medicinal powder on his wound had worn off, and he hastily re-bandaged it this morning.

In just one night, even though the wound was not properly treated, there were already signs of it beginning to heal.

————————

At noon, a group of Heaven Masters, who were assigned to offer aid by the inner palace, finally arrived.

Lin Jiu was still the main person in charge of the area, and he counted the number of people while questioning, “What took you so long?” The request for assistance was placed a while ago when they hadn’t discovered the newborn Earth Spirit yet, and the situation everywhere was far from optimistic.

Later, with the Earth Spirit’s presence, the malign energies could be suppressed, but they ran into the suspected manifestation of the Ghost King.

Now, they had to capture resentful spirits, assist the Heaven and Earth Ministries that could appear at any moment, and keep tracking the Ghost King’s whereabouts, all while keeping an eye on the Black Cat Earth Spirit, hoping to get information about the Mountain God from it.

On top of all this, they also had to deal with Lian Yi, a ticking time bomb.

Lin Jiu found it challenging to handle everything at once, and his nerves, stretched taut to their limits over the past few days, were nearing breaking point.

The Heaven Masters below shook their heads, “We’re not clear, we rushed here as soon as we received the orders.”

A few Heaven Masters moved forward, placing down several large boxes. Inside were some specially made artifacts and symbol-infused water for repelling ghosts.

“This is the newest symbol-infused water developed by Elder Xie. It’s even more effective than the previous version.”

They had brought the necessary items with them while coming here to assist.

The symbol-infused water not only dispelled ghostly energies and replenished lost vitality, but it also had a preventative effect, remaining a popular choice at the symbol store.

Lin Jiu ordered the items to be taken back to the symbol store for quantity logging, casually asking, “Is Elder Xie doing well these days?”

There were four elders altogether in the palace, with Zhuo Qing’s whereabouts unknown, and Weng Pingran and Gu Xu two responsible for various matters within and outside of the palace.

The remaining Elder Xie Yun has been recuperating from an illness for many years now and has refrained from appearing in public. Still, he is an expert in developing symbols, spells, and formations and occasionally lends his hand in assistance.

“Not sure,” replied a Heaven Master, “Elder Xie is still not receiving guests. I heard his condition isn’t very good.”

Lin Jiu fell silent and waved to dismiss the Heaven Master, allowing him to join the team that had just arrived.

With the arrival of the reinforcements, the manpower across all locations can finally be boosted considerably. Nevertheless, Lin Jiu couldn’t afford to let his guard down and immediately began to reorganize and plan.

In the afternoon, Weng Pingran sent a brief message, containing only a few words.

“Prioritize the Mountain God.”

His words implied that everything else could be pushed aside to fully investigate the Mountain God’s activity.

But doing so would unavoidably delay the capture of resentful spirits and the suspected Ghost King that had supposedly escaped from the tower.

In Lin Jiu’s view, the Ghost King should be given the utmost priority.

He held a communicator hesitantly for a long while, but in the end, he decided to proceed with his own plan.

————————–

Before the sun was about to set, Lin Jiu tried to contact Lian Yi, connecting their communicators.

Inside the communicator, Lian Yi’s voice was low and indifferent, “What is it?”

“Chief Lian,” Lin Jiu explained, “We’re going to conduct a cleansing operation tonight. Do we need to arrange for personnel in the suburbs too?”

The cleansing operation would be extensive, a large number of Heaven Masters would be mobilized in the night to seek hidden resentful spirits everywhere.

This was to continue their search for the Ghost King. The fruitless attempts of the past made Lin Jiu restless.

Now that he had ample deployment, he refused to believe they wouldn’t find any clues.

Once the Ghost King issue was quickly resolved, it wouldn’t be too late to approach the Earth Spirit Black Cat as per the inner courtyard’s wishes.

The cleansing operation required scrutiny of every inch of land. Yet, the suburban area had always been peculiar.

Lian Yi resided there. Ordinary low-level ghosts did not dare to approach, and those who dared to target him were essentially seeking death.

But if they gave up on the suburbs, the cleansing operation would be incomplete. Going there, however, they feared disturbing Lian Yi and upsetting him.

Lian Yi had lived there quite peacefully for such a long time, Lin Jiu, still wary of him, decided to inform him first.

There was a long silence at the other end of the communication. Just when Lin Jiu started to feel uneasy, Lian Yi finally responded, “It’s needed.”

—————————

After leaving Lian Yi’s house, Nan Deng didn’t go anywhere else but returned to his small corner to wait for daylight.

The Black Cat arrived early and slept alongside him.

Nan Deng held the Hei Mao and a bunny head plushie in his arms. The Cat had grown a bit bigger. It was indeed a live creature, but its body temperature was nowhere near Lian Yi’s.

Nan Deng yawned, he was no longer as sleepless as he was the day before but still missed Lian Yi’s bed.

After an indeterminate duration, Nan Deng was awakened by a movement beside him.

When he opened his eyes, he discovered it wasn’t dark yet, and his arms felt empty. He saw the little rabbit head sitting next to him looking outwards.

Hei Mao, meanwhile, was stationed in front of Nan Deng and the bunny, its back arched, emitting a low growl and fluffing up its fur and tail. Its pair of golden eyes fixed intently on the newcomer.

“Nan Deng.”

A familiar voice rang out. Nan Deng was taken aback for a moment, quickly propping himself up from the ground. He saw Lian Yi standing under the eaves of a nearby house.

“Why are you here?” he asked, surprised, “Were you just…passing by?”

His place wasn’t far from Lian Yi’s house. Nan Deng’s first instinct was to assume that he happened upon him by chance.

“No,” Lian Yi replied, taking a step forward, “I came to find you.”

He had meticulously scoped out the area and indeed found Nan Deng.

This corner was relatively hidden, but if one had the intention, they could discover it.

“You came…to find me?” Nan Deng asked, puzzled.

Lian Yi’s approach made Hei Mao even more furious. It seemed ready to pounce on Lian Yi at any moment. Nan Deng quickly stopped it.

“Don’t be scared, don’t be scared…” Nan Deng comforted it, “This is my friend.”

Immediately, Hei Mao tucked away its offensive posture but remained on high alert, loyally guarding Nan Deng.

Lian Yi’s gaze swept over Hei Mao and landed on the gloomy corner.

According to Lin Jiu, the newly born earth spirit was also a Black Cat.

Lian Yi had never seen the new earth spirit, and besides, in a non-combat state, discerning anything from the appearance of many earth spirits was difficult.

Earth spirits wouldn’t approach or protect a resentful spirit; this could be a coincidence.

The corner was narrow and short. Lian Yi crouched down and said to Nan Deng, “This place isn’t safe.”

Nan Deng immediately became tense, “What happened? Why?”

From his pocket, Lian Yi took out a palm-sized device. Nan Deng recognized it as a cell phone.

He unlocked the phone, brought up a text message, and handed it to Nan Deng.

“It’s from the Heaven Master’s Inner Courtyard, all residents have received it,” Lian Yi explained, mindful of the possibility that Nan Deng might not recognize some characters in the text. “They’ve sent reinforcements. Tonight, they’re conducting a carpet-style cleansing operation, capturing all ghosts.”

The text message was to alert the residents to be prepared as there might be a search of their homes.

Nan Deng was dumbfounded, holding onto Lian Yi’s sleeve for help: “Then… what should we do?”

He seemed to have nowhere else to hide. Staying here would be undoubtedly unsafe.

“Come back home with me.”

Lian Yi’s tone was low and tender, both comforting and coaxing: “Hide in my closet, they won’t know.”

Almost instantly, Nan Deng nodded in agreement, but then hesitated: “But it’s not dark yet.”

He couldn’t appear under the sun, or his ghostly form would burn.

Lian Yi had anticipated this: “I brought an umbrella.”

The rabbit head sized them up from the side, quietly showing a look of contempt.

Once again, Nan Deng nodded, touched.

So, Lian Yi had received the news and had come looking for him specifically wanting to hide him.

The message stated that the operation would begin at six in the evening. Various exorcists will reach their destination just as it gets dark.

Calculating the time, they needed to leave soon. Nan Deng would have to follow Lian Yi straight away.

A black cat blocked his path, meowing at his feet. Nan Deng petted the cat’s back fur, “I’ll go hide for a while, it’s okay… Would you like to come with me?”

If Lian Yi disagreed with the black cat entering the house, letting it wait outside for a while was also an option.

The black cat glanced at Lian Yi and then at the rabbit head in Nan Deng’s arms.

It chose not to accompany them, as if ensuring Nan Deng would be alright, then quickly stepped away.

Lian Yi stared at the black cat’s departing figure for a moment longer before opening the prepared sunshade.

Nan Deng was next to him, the umbrella tilted toward him, perfectly shielding him from the sunlight.

The streets were deserted. Nan Deng held onto Lian Yi’s hand, vigilantly surveying the surroundings.

A person and a ghost returned to the house. Nan Deng darted straight into the bedroom, hiding in the deepest corner of the closet, pulling some of Lian Yi’s clothes over himself.

After hiding for about half an hour, he heard noises outside.

The wardrobe was placed near the window, allowing clear audio of someone’s footsteps.

The person who arrived stopped at the entrance and knocked on the door.

In an instant, Nan Deng was driven to extreme fear.

What if Lian Yi regrets it and he is hiding here, he might not even have a chance to escape.

Nan Deng tightly held onto the rabbit’s head, curled up unmoving under a pile of clothes.

He could still hear Lian Yi opening the door and speaking with the person, but unfortunately, he couldn’t hear what was said clearly.

Sometime after, Nan Deng couldn’t remember how long exactly, it finally became quiet.

Then, the sound of footsteps approached the bedroom. The door was pushed open and whoever it was stopped in front of the wardrobe.

“Nan Deng.”

It was Lian Yi’s voice, “They’ve left.”

Lian Yi opened the wardrobe and patiently waited for Nan Deng to come out on his own.

A pile of clothes in the corner moved slightly, and then fell off.

Nan Deng slowly crawled out of the wardrobe and asked softly, “Have they all left?”

Seeing Lian Yi nod, he relaxed slightly.

At this point, he noticed that Lian Yi had changed into a light blue outfit, different from the usual black and gray that he used to wear.

The light color gave Lian Yi a different temperament. Nan Deng couldn’t exactly pin down what was different, he only felt that he wanted to get even closer to him.

Lian Yi crouched down, and reached out his hand to him, “Don’t be scared.”

Nan Deng held his hand and squeezed into his arms, hugging the warm body and finally letting out a long sigh of relief.

Translator’s Footnotes:

黑貓 (hēi māo): Refers to Black Cat, I’ll start calling him Hei Mao, so at least, it has a name.

人獅 (rén shī): Refers to Ren Shi, the spirit from the last chapter, that is associated with a humanoid lion figure.

言下之意 (yán xià zhī yì): An expression which means ‘implying’, ‘the intention of the words’ in English.

清掃 (qīngsǎo): Translated here as ‘cleansing’, it’s a term often used in the literature involving spiritual or supernatural themes to indicate ‘clearing out’ or ‘cleansing’ an area of harmful spirits or energies.

困擾 (kùnrǎo): A term to indicate ‘bothering’ or ‘troubling’ one in a situation or state.

手機 (shǒujī): Translated here as ‘cell phone’, it’s the most common term for a mobile phone device in Mandarin Chinese.

地毯式清掃 (dìtǎnshì qīngsǎo): Literally ‘carpet-style cleansing’; refers to a wide-ranging and thorough search or cleanup operation.

聲音 (Shēngyīn): This word translates to ‘voice’ or ‘sound’. In this context, it refers to Lian Yi’s voice which Nan Deng recognizes, indicating familiarity and trust between the two characters.

Hahahaha Lian Yi! I saw what you are trying to do!

What do you think about this chapter? Let me know in the comments!

I love ya ٩(◕‿◕)۶