Forbidden to Capture Rare Cute Ghosts - Chapter 6

When Nan Deng woke up, he found that the rabbit head wasn’t in the same condition as it was before going to sleep.

Last night, it had happily eaten two little paper figures, and while its belly was barely filled, it seemed content.

But now, the rabbit head looked lethargic, as if it hadn’t slept all night, returning to its previous state of hunger.

Nan Deng couldn’t help but feel worried, “Did you get an upset stomach?”

Since the rabbit head couldn’t talk, Nan Deng, who had spent the most time with it, could usually sense its emotional changes and could tell if it wasn’t feeling well.

Holding the rabbit’s head in his hand, he saw its half-closed eyes looking listless, as if it was reluctant to admit anything.

Nan Deng exhaled, “Are you hungry again?”

Hearing the word “hungry,” the rabbit’s head’s ears immediately perked up, and its eyes widened.

“Alright then…” Nan Deng muttered under his breath, slowly peeking out from the iron bucket.

Even if the rabbit’s head wasn’t hungry, he still had to look for food. The mark on the rabbit ear had been present for many days now, and he didn’t know when it might suddenly become effective.

Remembering the vague face of the fog ghost, Nan Deng felt a chill of dread.

“Meow…”

As soon as Nan Deng climbed out of the iron bucket, he heard a cat’s meow getting closer. He turned his head to see a black cat running toward him.

He hesitated for a moment, then recognized it as the little black cat from before.

It had grown again and now, it was a full-grown cat.

This time, the black cat didn’t bring anything, just prancing around Nan Deng as if it had come specifically to catch up and get closer.

Nan Deng squatted down to stroke its fur, “You’ve grown so fast…”

The rabbit head never grew, no matter how much it ate – it always stayed the same size.

Upon seeing Nan Deng, the black cat confidently settled down, casually flicking its tail.

That’s when Nan Deng noticed it had an injured hind leg, which looked like it had been scraped by something sharp. Luckily the wound wasn’t deep and already had a scab forming over it.

Feeling concerned, Nan Deng gently said, “You should be more careful out there.”

It seemed as though the black cat understood Nan Deng’s words. Unperturbed, it licked its leg, rubbed against Nan Deng’s hand, and quickly scurried away.

Nan Deng watched its retreating figure and wondered if the fast-growing black cat might be even more resourceful than he suspected. Surely, it would have no trouble finding food.

The rabbit head stayed quiet, crouching on top of Nan Deng’s head until the black cat finally disappeared into the night. Nan Deng then decided to visit that familiar house again.

For safety reasons, the iron bucket was placed far away from where the residents lived. Nan Deng saw the lights illuminating the area and hastened his pace.

As he passed by a garbage can on the street, he stopped.

There was a bag next to the can, with something shiny spilling out – illuminated by the moonlight.

Taking a closer look, Nan Deng discovered it was a fountain pen.

Unfamiliar with its purpose and name, he found it quite attractive nonetheless.

There were very few households living on the outskirts, and most of them chose locations closer to the city. The neglected trash hadn’t been picked up yet.

Nan Deng dusted off the fountain pen and put it in his pocket.

Now he had a gift to deliver that night.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard a faint voice, “Hey… little ghost.”

Startled, Nan Deng took a couple of steps back, looking warily in the direction it came from.

“Shasha…”

Several large garbage cans were placed by the roadside. A male ghost slowly crawled out from behind them.

He appeared to have no lower half, with his waist severed in the middle. Nan Deng took a quick glance and averted his eyes in a panic.

The male ghost found his reaction odd, “I’m not going to eat you; why are you so scared?”

His appearance was indeed frightening, but as a ghost, he shouldn’t be scared of a fellow ghost’s appearance.

Nan Deng remained silent, and the male ghost asked, “Do you live around here?”

Blocking the truth, Nan Deng lied, “No, I just came here to find some food, and I’ll be leaving soon.”

“Oh,” the male ghost examined him before asking, “Have you seen the Ghost King around here?”

Nan Deng didn’t understand, “…Ghost King?”

“Didn’t you detect it last night?” The male ghost grew excited as he spoke, “Such strong Sha Qi, it pierced through half of the city! Everyone’s looking for it…”

Seemingly benign, the male ghost made Nan Deng slightly relaxed, “Why are they looking for it?”

“Of course, to follow the Ghost King!” The male ghost’s eyes gleamed, his hands fiercely pounding the ground, “Those ghost catchers hunt us all night, I’ve had enough of it!”

Ghosts generally aren’t keen on the company of their own kind, but the Ghost King was different. A spirit of this level represented absolute power, making other ghosts willingly submit.

Ghost catchers had teams, companions, and hierarchies, but ghosts were scattered, and lacking organization. If they had the guidance and help of a Ghost King, wouldn’t they have a chance against them?

The male ghost continued to talk, his face gradually becoming more ferocious, already starting to fantasize about how he would torture the ghost catchers once captured.

Nan Deng listened, his heart pounding with fear. He silently retreated half a step.

In reality, the male ghost was of a very low level, only just beyond the second level, having survived till now by constantly hiding.

Ghosts as weak as him were especially hopeful for the Ghost King’s protection.

He told Nan Deng that he hadn’t rested during the day either, having come all this way at great risk, yet still not heard a single piece of news.

“Forget it, I’ll go look somewhere else,” the male ghost said as he prepared to leave, scanning the area, “Are there any other ghosts living here?”

Nan Deng hesitated before shaking his head, “I’m not sure.”

There shouldn’t be any, right? He had stayed in the iron bucket for a few days without seeing a single ghost nearby.

The male ghost looked in a certain direction, a fearful expression appearing on his greenish-black face, “It feels like Sha Qi… but not quite. Didn’t you sense it? It’s definitely unsafe over there.”

The ghost no longer paid attention to Nan Deng and slowly crawled away.

The rabbit head silently crouched atop Nan Deng’s head, its eyes unwavering.

Nan Deng stood in place, feeling confused. He didn’t understand the male ghost’s words, and his nerves were tensed because of it.

He looked over in the direction the male ghost had been staring at – the house with the lights on.

After some hesitation, Nan Deng decided to follow his original plan.

He patted the fountain pen in his pocket, cautiously making his way there.

————————————-

Concurrently, the news of the sudden appearance of the Ghost King was also forwarded to Lian Yi by Lin Jiu.

Extra manpower was being prepared to be sent over from the Nei Ting, but without any trace of the Ghost King, they couldn’t continue their next steps.

Lin Jiu was about to put away the communicator that had yet to receive a response.

At that moment, a new message came in from the Tian Shi squad that was on tonight’s mission.

“Possible emergence of a new area earth spirit in the southeast direction, currently assisting in capturing resentment spirits.”

Lin Jiu immediately interrogated, “Are you certain? Have you confirmed clearly?”

They had verified numerous times that the area earth spirit here was dead.

Without the earth spirit, Sha Qi naturally increased, resentment spirits roamed, and under such circumstances, it was even less likely to give birth to new earth spirits.

“Certain, it’s a black cat.”

“But it didn’t want to make contact with us and quickly left. We currently don’t know where it is.”

Earth spirits belong to the category of semi-spirits, semi-gods, who have always disliked humans. Even though the Tian Shi can practice spirit techniques, they would still turn into ghosts after death. Therefore, earth spirits also disliked Tian Shi, so this reaction seemed normal.

Lin Jiu clenched the communicator, “Send the coordinates, I am coming right away.”

He did not understand the real cause of the birth of the new earth spirit. He always felt it was very unusual, and this matter might be as important as the appearance of the Ghost King last night.

He immediately reported to the Nei Ting, hesitated for a bit, and then sent a message to Lian Yi.

After all, Lian Yi was a chief Tian Shi with a higher rank. If Lian Yi wanted to take over this area, he only needed to say the word.

“Ding—”

The communicator in the drawer rang once. Lian Yi was sitting on the sofa on the other side, seemingly not hearing it.

In front of him on the coffee table, the glass bottle containing the black object was taken out again, it was speaking intermittently, accompanied by suppressed cries of pain.

“Just give up, I won’t tell you,” the black object’s tone was filled with hatred, “No one will help you, your end will only be worse than mine.”

“You’re just a born monster, do you also deserve to be a Tian Shi? I regret not directly snuffing you out when I had the chance.”

The ghost was full of resentment, all the malice from his lifetime was infinitely magnified, almost unrecognizable from what he looked like when he was alive.

The black object cursed for a while until he was in too much pain to speak.

Through the small glass bottle, he noticed that Lian Yi seemed to be zoning out, not noticing what he was saying at all.

In the study, only a wall lamp was lit. The light was dim and yellowish. The window was half-open, with the night wind blowing in from outside.

Lian Yi was sitting on the edge of the sofa, most of his body hidden in the darkness, his indifferent side profile unclear in the faint light.

After an unknown amount of time, Lian Yi slightly lifted his fingertips. The glass bottle on the coffee table rose into mid-air, flew back, and confined itself into the drawer.

He stood up and walked into the living room alone.

At the same time, Nan Deng was climbing up the window.

At first, he didn’t dare to approach, fearing as the ghost man had warned, that there were truly some dangerous things lurking here.

The doorway was not yet patched up with new talismans, but the leaf placed before was gone.

Nan Deng cautiously confirmed the safety, placed his pen at the doorway, and looked at the lit living room, still very tempted.

He touched the rabbit’s head in his pocket and decided to take a look inside.

The living room had a window on the side that was left open. The curtains were not fully drawn. Nan Deng climbed onto the windowsill and just happened to see a person walking into the living room.

He paused midway in the action of climbing inside the window, gripping the edge of the window without moving.

The homeowner was a very young man. He walked over to the sofa in the living room, sat down, and started flipping through a book on the armrest.

The curtains were being blown constantly by the wind. He didn’t glance at the direction of the window throughout it all, but Nan Deng inexplicably felt as though he had been caught in the act.

Of course, ordinary humans who did not practice spirit techniques would not be able to see ghosts.

Nan Deng composed himself, quietly let out a breath, and continued to climb in.

He slowly made his way into the room, while vigilantly observing his surroundings.

This was his first time getting close to a human under normal circumstances.

Back in the amusement park, it was too dark, and he was scared. He couldn’t clearly see what the several Tian Shi looked like.

The entire house was very quiet, seemingly inhabited by only one person. The closer he got, the faster Nan Deng moved, he hid at the corner between the living room and corridor to continue observing.

From his viewpoint, he could clearly see the homeowner sitting on the sofa. He was slowly turning the pages of the book. His actions occasionally let out minor sounds.

Even while sitting, one could tell he was tall, his demeanor was cool and outstanding, and he seemed to be around twenty-five years old.

Nan Deng secretly observed him, thinking in his heart, that this person is very handsome.

The rabbit’s head peeked halfway out of the pocket, only to be pushed back in by Nan Deng.

He feared that the rabbit head would run amok and eat something. There were people in the house that evening. It would be problematic if they noticed any movements.

After a while, Nan Deng left the living room and checked each room, indeed finding no second person.

The door to the bedroom wasn’t fully closed. Nan Deng gently pushed it open wider and squeezed his way in.

The room was dark, and there were no lights on. The room’s decor was simple and neat, with two pieces of ordinary clothing hanging on a coat rack near the door.

Nan Deng carefully checked once more, seemingly not finding anything used for exorcism in the house.

This person’s courage was truly commendable.

Nan Deng walked over to the side of the bed, bravely sat down, and caressed the soft fabric.

It seemed more comfortable than the frigid iron bucket. Nan Deng thought about bringing back some old fabric in the future to line his iron bucket.

The rabbit’s head peeked out again. Its pitch-black eyes scanned the room, but finding no food, it retreated.

Nan Deng stayed in the bedroom, waiting patiently.

He planned to wait until the homeowner fell asleep, then find a way to bite him. This way, the homeowner would be defenseless in his dream. Even if he were to notice something off, he wouldn’t have the chance to react.

Nan Deng was ready to go, but he ended up waiting for a long time and the homeowner didn’t return to the bedroom.

Could this person not sleep…

Nan Deng waited and waited, growing restless.

He left the bedroom and returned to the corner of the living room.

Lian Yi was still reading. His posture remained unchanged, showing no signs of being tired.

Nan Deng lifted his head to look at the bright light, mustered up the courage, and silently walked over.

He moved slowly, step by step, eventually squatting down not far in front of Lian Yi, and settled onto the carpet.

Getting closer, Nan Deng noticed that the color of Lian Yi’s pupils differed from each other.

He curiously examined him, nudging a bit closer. His gaze moved gradually onto Lian Yi’s wrist.

It was not covered by clothing, providing a direct area to sink his teeth.

Nan Deng recalled the various ways ghosts devour humans, and tried to slightly touch Lian Yi’s backhand.

His actions were careful and hesitant, withdrawing his hand the moment they made contact.

Lian Yi’s drooping eyelashes quivered slightly, unnoticed by Nan Deng.

The touch of a living human body was warm, a strange and unique sensation.

It probably would not be detected. At most, it might be felt as a sudden coolness or tingling sensation on a small piece of skin.

He could bite now, devouring a small clump of living soul, and still wouldn’t be sensed.

Yet, as Nan Deng hesitated while looking on, he felt the position was somewhat inconvenient.

So, he brought out the rabbit head and held it to Lian Yi’s side.

The rabbit head was quiet, eyes blinking not once — just like an immobile doll.

Nan Deng whispered, “Xiao Tu, just eat a little bit.”

Translator Footnotes:

Muaaahahahahhahahahha, Nan Deng, you are playing with fire boy ♨(⋆‿⋆)♨

煞氣 (Shā qì): It means “negative or resentful energy” in English. It’s often used to describe the nefarious energy emanating from ghosts or spirits.

內庭 (Nei Ting): It means “Inner Court”. In the novel, it represents a high-level group or organization within the ghost catchers community.

黑貓 (Hēi māo): It means “Black Cat”. And I knew this cat wasn’t normal, but I didn’t think it was an earth spirit

地靈 (Dì líng): This term is used to denote “Earth Spirit”

書房 (Shūfáng): It means “study room”. In traditional Chinese culture, it is a room used for reading and writing.

房主 (Fáng zhǔ): It directly translates to “homeowner”. In the context of this novel, it refers to Lian Yi, who is living in the house that Nan Deng is currently exploring.

小兔 (Xiǎo tù): Literally translates to “little rabbit.” It’s a nickname or term of endearment Nan Deng uses for the rabbit’s head, an item he possesses.

And please guys, talk to me, and say hello in the comment.

I love ya (─‿‿─) ♡