Forbidden to Capture Rare Cute Ghosts - Chapter 17

“Xiao Tu?” Nan Deng pushed open the kitchen door, but it was eerily quiet inside.

He closed the door, mumbling to himself, “Where did it run off to…”

Outside, a circular formation on the ground was radiating bright light, encompassing the entire house within its reach while also isolating all sound.

Initially, the celestial masters, who were attempting to break through the magic formation, halted their endeavors, their attention diverted towards the rear.

There, an overwhelmingly evil spirit was rising, and the pointer on the compass reached its limit, indicating the sudden appearance of a highly aggressive creature.

“Is it the Ghost King?” Someone inquired aloud.

But soon, the answer to the question became obvious.

It wasn’t the Ghost King, instead, it was a giant beast.

The creature was as tall as a four-story building, with various parts of its body composed of dozens of different animals, and three huge red eyes.

Despite its massive size, the beast was extremely agile. Its thick tail lashed out at the surrounding people as it instantly appeared in front of Gu Xu.

Following this, everyone present witnessed Gu Xu kneel down directly in front of this monstrous creature, without the slightest intention of attacking it.

At this time, someone present recognized the beast’s identity, tremblingly saying, “It’s… It’s the Chaos God.”

Monstrous and hideous in appearance, similar to a wild beast, with three red pupils, its appearance was usually accompanied by a strong evil aura.

The Chaos God, Hui Shou.

Gu Xu was exuberantly excited, reaching out to touch the giant beast in front of him: “Finally… you have deigned to appear…”

Hui Shou had disappeared without a trace for nearly twenty years, it could not be found anywhere. Only those who see it with their own eyes, judging solely from the intense evil spirit, would mistake it for the Ghost King with a similar aura.

Among the three deities, the Chaos God was the strongest, and also had a violent and brutal temper. Its wisdom was no greater than that of a wild beast, but it listened very obediently to the Mountain God.

In various rumors, it was also described as the mount of the Mountain God.

Or perhaps, a pet.

At this moment, everything else, including Zhuo Qing and Lian Yi, was tossed to the back of Gu Xu’s mind.

Facing the Chaos God made him ecstatic. He fantasized that the Mountain deity must also be here, and that he was the chosen one, the person who was privileged to come into close contact with the deities after all this time.

However, in the next instant, the giant beast opened its colossal mouth, viciously pouncing at Gu Xu.

Gu Xu was caught off-guard, but having held the position of an elder for so many years, his strength was not to be underestimated. He reacted very quickly, narrowly dodging the attack, while his back suffered a deep wound, torn open by sharp teeth.

The excruciating pain somewhat cleared his mind, and gritting his teeth, he shouted, “Retreat!”

The celestial masters surrounding him were still immersed in the shock and excitement of the Chaos God’s appearance. The sudden turn of events brought those beside him back to reality, and they quickly escorted Gu Xu in retreat.

The giant beast was relentless, launching another attack. Many celestial masters dared not act against the Chaos God, and within an instant, several people were eaten alive by the beast.

A sickening scent of blood began to spread, and a portion of the older celestial masters finally began to recall their previous fear of the Chaos God.

The intent of chaos could be either good or evil, maintaining the balance between Yin and Yang.

Among the low-wisdom creatures tamed and controlled by the Mountain God, the Earth God didn’t like humans, but wouldn’t actively attack them. However, Hui Shou operated completely differently.

Besides the Mountain God, it was unrestrained and did as it pleased.

In short, it would eat anything, including ghosts and living humans.

Rumors even circulated that the miasma unleashed by Hui Shou’s presence was actually bait to attract all kinds of creatures, which it would then devour.

If you were unfortunate enough to encounter Hui Shou without the Mountain God’s company, escaping as quickly as possible was the only course of action you should take.

Gu Xu retreated far away, grabbing a few medicinal pills to consume.

With the chaos rampant at the scene, he didn’t have the time to tend to his injuries; the magical artifact he summoned could only protect himself and those near him.

“Elder!” one of his subordinates exclaimed joyously, “Reinforcements have arrived!”

With Hui Shou’s terrifying miasma sensed by celestial masters patrolling elsewhere, they would definitely rush to the scene.

At the edge of the street not too far away, Lin Jiu led a team to their location.

Despite the arrival of reinforcements, Gu Xu’s expression remained somber, “Don’t celebrate too soon.”

Attracted by the miasma, not only celestial masters were drawn, but also a large number of frenzied, agitated vengeful ghosts.

On the other side, the circular formation continued to protect the house at the center. The lights inside flickered peacefully, as if inside a different world.

Nan Deng stood in the hallway, raising his voice, “Xiao Tu, I’m getting really angry now!”

He had nearly searched the entire house but was still unable to find Xiao Tu.

At first, Nan Deng thought that maybe because he had been neglecting Xiao Tu over the past few days, it was angry and deliberately hiding.

However, as minutes and seconds passed, concern began to settle in.

Nan Deng walked to the window, hesitated for a moment while pinching the curtain, but ultimately didn’t pull it open.

With Lian Yi still not back, he didn’t dare to take any rash actions, so he just peeked outside through the narrow gap between the curtains.

Outside the house, everything was pitch black, enveloped in the tranquil darkness of the night.

Under the influence of the formation, Nan Deng couldn’t see anything.

Meanwhile, outside of the formation, chaos reigned.

The giant beast attacked indiscriminately, devouring humans and ghosts alike. The vengeful ghosts that arrived there discovered it wasn’t the Ghost King, and while some fled, the remaining ghosts began attacking the celestial masters who were present amidst the turmoil.

Lin Jiu first ordered people to escort Gu Xu away before retreating to an even more remote area on the outskirts to avoid accidentally injuring innocent residents.

Only after they had retreated two blocks away did Lin Jiu manage to wound a vengeful ghost with his sword, suddenly realizing that the giant beast had vanished.

Just as mysteriously as it had appeared, it disappeared into thin air, leaving no trace behind.

Lin Jiu contained the injured vengeful ghost in a pottery jar, speaking with a solemn voice, “You guys head back first.”

They wouldn’t deal with the remaining vengeful ghosts for now. They intended to send their injured companions back to the talisman shop for treatment first and then arrange for people to clean up the scene.

Given that the giant beast mainly swallowed people whole, the open fields and streets didn’t have much blood left on them. Lin Jiu, who had only suffered minor injuries, also stayed behind to help clean up.

“Hui Shou…,” he murmured the name of the chaos God, his eyebrows furrowing deeply.

Lin Jiu’s squad had arrived the earliest and had witnessed practically everything, so there was no need for them to be asked many questions to understand the entire situation.

Looking at it now, the sources of evil energy from the previous two encounters were likely from the chaos God and not the Ghost King.

A rough estimation showed that more than ten celestial masters had been damaged, most of them being Gu Xu’s subordinates.

Lin Jiu could also guess why Gu Xu had brought people to this location in the middle of the night.

And the appearance of the chaos God also confirmed one thing: there was a high probability that the Mountain God was nearby.

Lin Jiu stood in place, silently gazing at the distant house with its lit windows.

“What are you guys doing?”

A familiar cold and indifferent voice echoed, and Lin Jiu turned around in surprise.

It was Lian Yi. He had just come in from outside, not appearing to have been home a moment ago.

“Chief Lian,” Lin Jiu stepped forward, “Where have you been?”

Lian Yi was dressed in black, with a clay pot in his hand.

He tossed the pot to Lin Jiu and said, “I went to catch a few ghosts.”

Lian Yi had followed the water ghost to the destination, but there was no sight of the fog ghost.

He found himself in the basement of an abandoned factory, filled with numerous vengeful spirits, all marked by the fog ghost, just like the water ghost.

The basement had been sealed off from the outside, seemingly to deliberately delay time, and Lian Yi was surrounded by the vengeful spirits in the basement.

“Huh? How did this person get in here?”

“Quick, flee… flee…”

“He is… he is Lian…”

All the ghosts sensed something wrong with Lian Yi’s aura and wanted to run away, but they discovered they couldn’t.

In the dark basement, a soft glow began to rise – a silver Bagua ring.

The beam illuminated Lian Yi’s indifferent handsome face, accompanied by the continuous screams of the vengeful spirits.

In order to conserve time, he didn’t purify these ghosts on the spot, but put them into the clay pot instead.

In the end, Lian Yi broke out of the basement and rushed back as quickly as he could.

Lin Jiu slightly gasped as he peeled a corner of the charm paper on the clay pot.

This was more than just a few ghosts, there were nearly thirty.

He quickly stored the pot well, informing Lian Yi of all the occurrences earlier.

When talking about how Gu Xu was the first to bring people here, Lin Jiu lowered his head, vaguely indicating he was not aware of it.

After he finished speaking, Lian Yi didn’t show any reaction, responding with a cold, “Fine.”

Following that, he turned to leave, heading towards his residence.

—————————

In the bedroom, Nan Deng was crouched, peering under the bed.

He had already checked the wardrobe. There was no sight of the rabbit’s head anywhere, and all the doors and windows were securely closed.

After Nan Deng had tidied up his bedsheet, he sat on the floor, feeling at a loss.

At that moment, he heard a soft “pat” sound coming from the direction of the study, like the sound of a window being closed.

Nan Deng quickly got up and opened the door to look. Xiao Tu was hopping out from the study.

“Where have you been running off to!” Nan Deng frowned, picking up Xiao Tu by the ears. “Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you!”

Xiao Tu slyly licked its lips, swaying a bit in Nan Deng’s hand.

It had eaten quite a bit tonight, and though its transformation had consumed a considerable amount of energy, it still felt rather satisfied on the whole.

Holding Xiao Tu in his arms, Nan Deng rubbed its head, “Behave yourself, or else… I’ll starve you for a whole day!”

As his words fell, the sound of the door being unlocked echoed through the room.

It was Lian Yi — he had returned.

Nan Deng excitedly ran over to him, stowing Xiao Tu into his pocket and hugging Lian Yi, “You’re finally back…”

Lian Yi let out a soft affirmation, and saw Xiao Tu poking its head out from Nan Deng’s pocket.

It landed on the floor, looking up briefly at Lian Yi for a few seconds before hopping away merrily towards the sofa.

“You wouldn’t believe it,” Nan Deng whined to Lian Yi, “Xiao Tu was missing just now, and I was all alone at home, not daring to go out.”

In reality, he didn’t feel angry because of Xiao Tu’s little disappearing act, he was just a bit worried and showing his dependence on Lian Yi in the guise of annoyance.

Lian Yi raised his hand stroking his forehead, soothingly said, “Don’t be scared.”

He still had on his black coat from when he had left. Nan Deng, disliking it the more he saw it, started unbuttoning the coat for Lian Yi.

Lian Yi lowered his gaze and allowed Nan Deng to proceed.

Before returning, he had once again felt a dull pain in his heart, which only started to ease up upon seeing Nan Deng.

At that moment, there were footsteps approaching from outside.

Someone was knocking on the door from outside, shouting, “Chief Lian…”

It was Lin Jiu. The last word hadn’t been said yet when strong spiritual energy surged towards him from within the house, tightly gripping his throat.

Lian Yi turned sideways, coldly telling whoever was at the door, “Beat it.”

With the extreme impatience in his tone, Lin Jiu hastily retreated. He had to walk some distance before he finally regained his ability to speak.

Seeing that the lights were still on in the house, he originally had some questions he wanted to ask the interpreter, Lian Yi.

This time, he didn’t dare to linger, so he quickly left with the rest of his team.

When Lian Yi turned around, he saw Nan Deng clutching his sleeve tightly, gazing at him with anxiety.

“Who was that?” Nan Deng seemed frightened, whispering softly, “You were really fierce just now…”

Translator Footnotes:

煞氣衝天 (Shà qì chōng tiān): An expression that can be translated as “evil spirits soaring into the sky,” indicating the overwhelming evil aura emanating from the appearance of Hui Shou.

陰陽 (Yīn Yáng): Yin and Yang represent dualism in Chinese cosmetology, with Yin being the darker, softer, and feminine aspect, and Yang representing the brighter, harder, and masculine aspect. The two are often considered opposites, continually seeking balance within nature and the cosmos.

陣法 (Zhènfǎ): Referring to a formation, which can be a magical pattern or an arrangement of people or objects, to harness energy and provide protection or other benefits.

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