Forbidden to Capture Rare Cute Ghosts - Chapter 8

Nan Deng had intended to locate Lian Yi.

Having no other places to go to, as a ghost, he naturally had to hunt for sustenance.

Perhaps, making frequent visits and letting his scent cling to Lian Yi might enable him to feed on him.

The black cat still came over at dawn to rest with Nan Deng, hurriedly leaving only when darkness fell.

Nan Deng set off on his own towards a familiar direction, seeking suitable items along the way.

Although he didn’t know whether Lian Yi had taken the items left outside his door, he figured he should try any method that might work.

The suburbs were deserted. Rabbit head, having had a hearty meal the previous night, was in a good mood today. It frolicked in the roadside bushes, assisting Nan Deng in his search objective.

Soon it emerged carrying a black feather, offering it like a prize to Nan Deng.

The feather was as long as a palm, though he didn’t recognize its origin, Nan Deng considered it quite reasonable after inspecting it. He put it in his pocket.

Crouching down to pick up Rabbit’s head, he cautioned strictly, “No more running around today, and no eating people’s stuff.”

Rabbit’s head blinked silently, indicating its agreement.

Suddenly, an illuminated marking on one side of Rabbit’s head’s ear shone.

Caught off guard, Nan Deng, who held the Rabbit’s head, disappeared instantly with it.

When he opened his eyes again, his heart sank at the sight of the surrounding scenario.

The marking had activated, quickly teleporting him and Rabbit head back to the familiar cave.

The narrow and dark cave was filled with various ghosts. The numbers had shockingly increased compared to the last time he saw them.

Things had gone south.

He had not been successful in his attempts to find food these past few days. The leaves and tiny paper men rabbit heads had consumed were questionable sources of sustenance.

Nan Deng stuffed the rabbit head into his pocket, squeezing his way toward the cave exit he managed to find the last time.

“Who stepped on me?”

“Man, you stink! Go away!”

Nan Deng dared not lift his head as he quietly shifted his position.

“Crack—”

A crack appeared in the space above the center of the cave, and a dense mist began to pour downwards.

The ghosts trembled in fear, retreating in all directions.

The mist consolidated into a blurry humanoid figure, and a deep voice echoed, “Have you all had enough to eat?”

He raised his hand and each ghost’s marking began to glow just like last time, forcing them to open their mouths and spit out large quantities of black smoke.

Rabbit Head floated out from Nan Deng’s pocket, spun around in mid-air, and landed safely without discharging anything.

The marking on its ear also disappeared, meaning it had become defunct.

Nan Deng’s voice was barely audible as he whispered, “Does it hurt?”

Rabbit Head simply twitched its ears, seeming to be in its usual state and unaffected.

Nan Deng eased his worries a little, feigned a fall, and began moving toward the exit with Rabbit Head.

The Fog Ghost absorbed all the black smoke, tilting his head in pleasure as the mist surrounding him momentarily solidified.

“How did someone dare to disobey?”

The Fog Ghost turned around. Wherever his gaze fell, the ghosts lying on the ground scrambled to clear a path.

Nan Deng, who had been hiding in a corner, felt a shiver run down his spine, and his attempt to escape froze.

He lay on the ground pretending to be unable to get up. However, his body unexpectedly soared, heading towards the Fog Ghost.

Rabbit Head, who had bitten onto his clothes, was also dragged along to the center of the cave.

“Don’t you know…” the Fog Ghost’s deep voice sounded terrifying in the cave “the consequences of not bringing back food?”

Nan Deng was unable to move, his body floating in mid-air.

The Fog Ghost was in front of him, virtually holding him, the mist-shrouded face resembling a bottomless black hole. Nan Deng felt extremely frightened, his mouth wide open but unable to utter a sound.

After a while, the Fog Ghost seemed to notice that there was no mark residue on Nan Deng. He shifted his gaze to the Rabbit Head hanging from his clothes.

He remained silent for a few seconds, “What is this thing?”

He lifted his other hand, seizing Rabbit Head from the distance.

Rabbit Head clung onto Nan Deng’s clothes, but it was no match for the Fog Ghost’s power. A piece of the cloth was torn apart.

The Fog Ghost held it in front of his eyes, examining it closely, “Alive?”

Rabbit Head stared back with its black pupils and, with a ‘puff’, spit out the strip of cloth it was holding in its mouth onto the Fog Ghost’s face.

The strip of cloth fluttered as it descended, bringing silence all around.

The gas gradually began to boil with the evident mark on Rabbit Head resembling a tight grasp from an invisible hand.

He had shown signs of anger not long ago, resulting in fearful responses from the ghosts below.

Nan Deng was extremely worried, struggling with his hands, “Don’t…”

Before he could finish, the Fog Ghost scoffed. Opening his mouth wide, he tossed Rabbit Head in.

Next, he appeared ready to consume Nan Deng as well.

“You’re too weak,” he mumbled, “no need to keep you.”

Just as the mist started to engulf Nan Deng, he noticed the Fog Ghost’s mouth enlarging further, preparing to swallow him whole.

Nan Deng believed he was doomed. But then the Fog Ghost’s action paused, and he lowered his head to look down.

In just a few seconds, his stomach rapidly bulged, stretching like a balloon, with something moving inside.

Transforming into an inhuman form, the Fog Ghost cried out in pain and promptly threw Nan Deng aside.

Nan Deng hit the ground hard before realizing that it was not as painful as he had thought. He quickly got up.

Looking up again, the Fog Ghost was now an unrecognizable mass of rising and expanding fog, with faint flashes of red at the top.

“Boom——”

A loud collapse resounded. The upper part of the cave was cracked open by the mist, and several stones fell down.

The cramped space descended into chaos as the fog pushed forward, causing some ghosts to seize the opportunity to escape.

Others deliberately stayed back, awaiting an opportunity, curious about what was happening to the Fog Ghost and whether they could retrieve the food he had snatched.

In the midst of the chaos, Nan Deng was pushed to the edge of the cave. He forcefully pushed the ghosts aside, “Xiao Tu…”

He refused to believe that Rabbit Head was gone. It must still be in the Fog Ghost’s stomach, undigested.

At this moment, Nan Deng was not afraid at all. He found a sharp stone on the ground.

The gas had expanded several times, filling most of the cave, and sporadic dull sounds came from Fog Ghost due to the pain.

Nan Deng approached the gas, and felt a cold touch by his hand.

Raising his right hand, he gripped the stone firmly and stabbed it down ferociously.

In the very next instant, the fog entity that had swelled into a ball burst open with a “bang”, hurling Nan Deng away by the force of the airflow.

He fell again. As he rose, he saw the mist dispersing with what seemed like another giant object right in the center.

But in the blink of an eye, the object disappeared again.

Shortly after, Rabbit Head appeared from the mist, hopping towards Nan Deng.

Nan Deng’s nerves eased and he scooped up Rabbit Head, “I’m glad you’re okay…”

“What was that smell… I noticed it!” a ghost at one end of the cave spoke out.

“I noticed it too, but it’s off…”

The remaining ghosts in the cave sensed a surge of an oppressive aura for a moment, which disappeared before they could react.

They didn’t know what had happened, but they were certain that the Fog Ghost wasn’t the Ghost King. Though he was powerful, he lacked the oppressive aura.

Meanwhile, the scattered mist astonishingly began to regroup.

Nan Deng widened his eyes slightly, grabbed Rabbit Head, and hastily retreated.

In the center of the cave, the Fog Ghost reappeared, scattering a large number of black slips with a wave of his hand.

Half of the ghosts had fled, while the remaining ones were all marked by the black slips.

With his back hunched, Fog Ghost pointed towards Nan Deng, suppressing his rage, “Catch them.”

He seemed injured – whether unwilling to risk his body again or unable to leave the center of the cave, he instructed the remaining ghosts to capture Nan Deng and Rabbit Head.

Two black slips flew towards Nan Deng and Rabbit Head. Rabbit Head sprang from Nan Deng’s arms, surprisingly agile. It leaped up and bit the slips, shaking its head to tear them apart.

“Ptui.” Rabbit Head spat out half a slip towards the Fog Ghost in a clear defiance.

Nan Deng scooped him up again and hurried into the tunnel leading to the well cover.

Ghosts started chasing after them from behind, but fortunately, their food had been drained by the mark not too long ago. They were in a weakened state and had not yet recovered.

The fastest ghost among them passed through the tunnel wall to block Nan Deng.

He reached out a hand. Rabbit Head in Nan Deng’s arm opened its small, three-lobed mouth to an incredibly large size, biting off half of the ghost’s arm.

The ghost lifted its severed arm, staring at it in shock for a moment before letting out a terrified scream.

The tunnel was quite dark. Focused on escape, Nan Deng did not see what had happened.

Upon hearing the screams from behind, he hastily quickened his pace.

On the other side of the tunnel was an outer square, where Nan Deng pushed open a manhole cover and crawled out.

The growling sounds of different ghosts were already close by. Frantically looking around, he continued to flee towards the deserted street.

——————————————

While the tunnel collapsed, compasses in various parts of the city simultaneously detected an incredibly strong surge of negativity.

Lin Jiu’s face grew solemn, “It has appeared again.”

The city this evening was especially restless.

The news of the Ghost King’s appearance wasn’t just known to the Celestial Masters; even the vengeful spirits knew.

Upon hearing the Ghost King was here, a large number of hidden spirits of all levels couldn’t suppress themselves, causing an uproar, trying to capture the Ghost King’s attention.

Some even quietly infiltrated from other regions, it was unclear how the news spread.

The vengeful spirits that had appeared over the last two nights had multiplied, the Ghost King indeed appeared as they had wished.

Lin Jiu immediately summoned his team, heading towards the direction pointed out by the compass, while enquiring about Lian Yi’s movements.

On the other end of the communication was another small squad, the captain quietly replied, “Chief Lian… left, heading southeast.”

Southeast was the suburbs, perhaps Lian Yi had returned home.

There were multiple signal requests for help tonight, all dealt with by Lian Yi single-handedly, without the need for the assistance of an on-site Celestial Master.

Lin Jiu picked up on the hesitance in the captain’s words, and sought to find out what had happened.

“Chief Lian’s mood tonight… seems off.”

Choosing to use vague terms, the captain didn’t reveal much. In actuality, Lian Yi tonight was as fierce as a grim reaper.

Their small squad was initially tasked to assist the Underworld in trapping a newly forming vengeful spirit. Halfway through, another fourth-level spirit launched an attack on them, aiming to disrupt their operation.

The squad was no match and sent out a distress signal, to which Lian Yi quickly arrived.

A fourth-level spirit, ranking just beneath a Ghost King, couldn’t last even twenty minutes against Lian Yi.

Lian Yi didn’t even use his Bagua Ring, tearing off the fourth-level spirit’s arm barehanded and subsequently refining it on the spot.

The fourth-level spirit’s death was agonizing; refining it on the spot made him relive it all over again.

The squad members couldn’t bear to watch but didn’t dare to interfere.

Only Lian Yi remained cold and aloof, as though he didn’t hear the agonizing wails of the vengeful spirits.

Subsequently, the target person of the squad died, and a new vengeful spirit was born, but there was still no sign of the Underworld.

Ignoring everything, Lian Yi refined the newly born vengeful spirit on the spot.

The refined spirit body was no longer “fresh” to the Underworld, greatly reducing the power it could replenish.

This was like indirectly stealing the Underworld’s food, which under normal circumstances would not be allowed. However, nobody had ever done this before, so there were no additional rules.

Before departing, Lian Yi briefly left behind a statement: “I’m short on time.”

The captain watched him leave, daring not to utter a word.

Celestial Masters practicing spiritual arts are inherently more sensitive to resentment and negative energy. Lian Yi, merely standing there, radiated an overwhelming invisible pressure.

If one were to come into close contact with him, they might inexplicably feel fearful, worrying he might suddenly transform into another fierce ghost, and mercilessly kill them just as well.

This was the negative impact brought about by an inherently negative body constitution, no wonder no one dares to approach him.

His method of refining vengeful spirits on the spot was different from other Celestial Masters. He didn’t worry about excessive consumption of spiritual arts, and didn’t care if they relived their gruesome death right in front of him.

If one were to see eye to eye with him, they might believe it was nothing. However, personally refining a vengeful spirit was something all Celestial Masters were reluctant to do.

The captain explained briefly all that had happened, disclosing everything to Lin Jiu.

The Underworld failed to appear afterward, possibly because they sensed the spirit body had been refined, and didn’t want to waste a trip.

Lin Jiu fell silent for a moment before replying through the communicator, “Understood.”

By then, he was already leading his team to the location of the cave.

There was a significant depression on the ground, collapsed from within. The residual negative energy was barely detectable, and the compass needle wavered back and forth.

Yet another one escaped.

The Ghost King seemed to be playing games with them, exposing traces intentionally, yet not truly appearing.

A frown creased Lin Jiu’s forehead, instructing others to investigate further.

Soon, they discovered a few more vengeful spirits that had lingered near the collapsed site. They moved together along a tunnel.

Lin Jiu led the team to continue their pursuit, arriving at a plaza in the city center.

At this point, there was little of the lingering energies left, faintly leading towards the outskirts.

Lin Jiu hesitated for a few seconds before heading in the direction of the outskirts.

The closer they got to the outskirts, the fainter the energy became. The vengeful spirits seemed to have dispersed. The compass oscillated wildly, pointing in several directions.

Holding the compass, Lin Jiu waited patiently until the needle pointed towards a new location.

He looked up to see that it was likely pointing towards Lian Yi’s residence.

As long as there were traces left, it would be impossible to give up, so the team scattered, heading off in different directions.

The squad led by Lin Jiu chose the direction of Lian Yi’s residence. Just as they prepared to move forward, a black cat emerged from the darkness, blocking their path.

After a few days, the black cat had grown significantly brawnier.

With its back arched and its fluffy tail puffed out, it issued low growls, deterring their advance towards the outskirts.

Lin Jiu took a step back, trying to communicate with the earth spirit: “We’ve tracked the vengeful spirits here, we request passage.”

The black cat acted as if it heard nothing, its pair of golden eyes fixated on them, ready to launch an attack should they step forward.

Lin Jiu thought that they had trespassed on the black cat’s territory, even attempting to detour was not an option.

In a helpless situation, he was forced to choose another direction to continue the chase.

With an earth spirit around, there should be less to worry about.

Before departure, Lin Jiu took out his communicator and hesitated about calling Lian Yi.

Although he believed that Lian Yi would not answer, surprisingly, the call connected after a few seconds.

“Chief Lian,” Lin Jiu respectfully addressed, “Are you at the outskirts?”

“Yes.”

Lin Jiu quickly queried, “Tonight, the Ghost King made an appearance but escaped again, it’s possible that other vengeful spirits might have fled to the outskirts. Have you encountered any unusual activity there?”

Lian Yi stood by the door, unlocking it.

As he entered the room, he could smell a familiar scent, hiding in his room.

“No.”

With the two characters uttered, Lian Yi ended the call.

The lights were off throughout the house, with moonlight streaming in through the window. A black feather lay on the ground in the hallway.

Lian Yi picked up the feather and headed towards the bedroom.

Inside the bedroom, the wardrobe showed signs of having been opened.

Lian Yi stopped in front of the wardrobe, standing as still as a sculpture.

Hesitating for a moment, he raised his hand to knock and said, “Come out.”

Translator’s Footnotes:

你沒事就好 (ni mei shi jiu hao): “I’m glad you’re okay…” is a phrase showing concern and relief.

Oh my, Oh my, Lian Yi finally decided to talk with Nan Deng?

What do you guys think about this chapter?

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