UCS Chapter 13

Gao Shi’s pupils contracted sharply. “Level one? No… only level three?”

 

Ghosts were classified into three levels.

 

Level three was the lowest, for newly formed ghosts that had not yet harmed anyone. These ghosts were the weakest; if they encountered someone with a fate like Gao Shi’s, they would vanish in the blink of an eye.

 

Level two was intermediate, mostly for those that had absorbed yang energy but had not yet caused human deaths.

 

Level one was the highest, with at least one human life on their hands. As they absorbed more yang energy, their form would grow larger, more solid, and more difficult to deal with.

 

The ghost hunched behind the youth was enormous, almost covering half the hall. Judging by its size, it looked like a level one ghost, yet there was no trace of blood energy from it.

 

This meant it had never harmed anyone, not even absorbed yang energy.

 

As far as was known, ghosts could only strengthen themselves by absorbing yang energy. Walking in the yang realm would consume their essence, and without absorbing yang energy for a long time, they would become smaller and smaller until they completely disappeared.

 

The case of this giant black shadow was unprecedented.

 

Recalling the nest of ghosts he had caught around Gao Gusheng, Gao Shi said gravely, “It seems the ghost classification system needs updating.”

 

Yin Ling[mfn]Silver Antelope[/mfn] nodded solemnly.

 

The travelers around them were gradually decreasing, being subtly led away. The once bustling hall now had only a few people left.

 

A man with heterochromia appeared in midair. Seeing him, Yin Ling asked, “Eyes, have you sent everyone away?”

 

Ghost Eye nodded, then nodded slightly to Gao Shi as a greeting before silently returning to the void.

 

Ghost Eye concealed himself, placing Xuan Yu’s formation talismans in eight directions to form an array that guided the passersby out. Now only they remained in this place, with no need to worry about harming innocent bystanders.

 

As soon as Ghost Eye left, the illusion placed around the youth and the young adult immediately broke. They suddenly realized how quiet their surroundings were. The vast hall now had only them and a few oddly dressed people.

 

“What, what’s going on?” the young adult shouted at Gao Shi and the others with false bravado. “What are you doing? Is this some variety show?”

 

The youth frowned and stopped the young adult. He fixed his gaze on Gao Shi, as he looked the most normal among them—and although this man seemed to have a bad temper, he somehow gave people a sense of security.

 

“Excuse me, could you tell me what just happened?”

 

At this point, the Anomaly Management Bureau personnel had not yet arrived, so Gao Shi temporarily took on the role of auxiliary police. He walked toward the two, maintaining a neither distant nor close distance, and showed his ID.

 

“Hello, police. We’re currently executing a special mission. Please don’t panic.”

 

The People’s Police was indeed a powerful tool for stabilizing people’s minds. After seeing Gao Shi’s ID, the two visibly relaxed. The young adult, in particular, completely changed from his previous irritable demeanor. He stepped past the youth, smiling and extending his hand to Gao Shi. “Hello, hello, we’ll definitely cooperate with your mission.”

 

Gao Shi didn’t shake his hand, leaving the young adult embarrassed. He awkwardly withdrew his hand, but a flash of anger crossed his eyes.

 

His disguise was good, but he forgot who he was facing. Yin Ling pursed his lips but didn’t say anything, just lowered his head and began unwinding the bandages wrapped around his left arm.

 

The compass in Xuan Yu’s hand spun frantically. He stepped back, and a hazy mist rose around him. Though he clearly stood there, it always felt as if the space was empty.

 

Meanwhile, the space around the youth began to distort slightly.

 

The surrounding anomalies disturbed the giant ghost shadow behind the youth. The shadow fixed its gaze on Yin Ling, emitting a tremendous roar inaudible to ordinary people.

 

Yin Ling’s exposed eye suddenly contracted, transforming into a vertical pupil like that of a python.

 

The youth and young adult sensed something unusual. They instinctively tensed up, vigilantly looking around, cautiously moving toward Gao Shi.

 

The young adult appeared to be shielding the youth, protecting him, but they were now facing Gao Shi.

 

Gao Shi laughed, took out a cigarette, and lit it.

 

He took a drag, watching the white smoke he exhaled. “What’s wrong, afraid I’ll eat your little lover?”

 

The youth was startled, only now realizing that he had been positioned like a human shield, protecting the young adult’s entire back.

 

The young adult instinctively looked back, then quickly pulled the youth to his chest. “Xiaoyu, I’m happy you care so much, but when you chose me, I promised to protect you for life. I should be the one protecting you.”

 

Was that so?

 

The youth stood dazed as he was pulled between the young adult and Gao Shi.

 

Just moments ago, it seemed the young adult had actively pulled him behind himself in a protective posture.

 

The instant the youth was pulled to the front, the black shadow immediately enveloped the young adult. However, in the next moment, the ghost shadow let out a scream of agony, as if being corroded, creating a vacuum around the young adult.

 

A thin layer of smoke outlined the ghost shadow, forming a protective barrier between the shadow and the two people.

 

Now!

 

Yin Ling’s afterimage remained in place, but he had already appeared beside the ghost shadow. His speed exceeded the limits of human eye reaction. His golden pupils contracted sharply, becoming as thin and long as a snake’s.

 

His hand, freed from bandages, transformed into a grotesque, enormous black ghost claw, swiping at the roaring shadow!

 

The black mist forming the shadow writhed frantically to dodge this strike. However, two hands suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind it, grabbing the invisible ghost shadow from left and right. Yin Ling’s claw struck fiercely at the center of the shadow!

 

A piercing ghost wail echoed throughout the hall. Yet instead of attacking Yin Ling and Ghost Eye, the shadow used all its strength to lunge toward the young adult!

 

A faint golden light rippled around the young adult as the smoke dispersed. Yin Ling roared, “Get away!”

 

Ordinary human eyes couldn’t see ghosts, but the body’s instinctive reaction sounded the alarm. In that instant, the young adult actually grabbed the youth in front of him and pushed him toward the ghost shadow!

 

Caught off guard, the youth was pushed forward, his expression bewildered and frightened. He still didn’t know what was happening.

 

However, the ghost shadow didn’t attack the youth. His somewhat childish face in the black mist looked as if he had fallen into a bizarre dream.

 

The opportunity was fleeting. The ghost shadow was caught in Yin Ling’s hand. The vast black mist was folded up like a bedsheet, finally compressed into a small sphere.

 

The youth still stood dumbfounded. As the black mist flowed past him, somehow his eyes stung, and tears fell.

 

Though ordinary human eyes couldn’t see ghosts, he rushed toward Yin Ling. “Just now, what was that?!”

 

Yin Ling placed the compressed sphere of black mist into the spirit-locking bottle, looking to Gao Shi for help. “Brother Gao?”

 

Gao Shi was watching the young adult who sat trembling on the ground.

 

 

Next to the young adult, there was a jade pendant that had shattered.

 

Gao Shi walked towards the young adult, looking down. “That push just now, feeling guilty?”

 

“Do you know that push could have killed him?”

 

The youth bewilderedly shifted his gaze from the small bottle in Yin Ling’s hand.

 

The young adult’s eyes darted around, but he shouted loudly, “What do you mean kill him? I clearly pushed him away because I was afraid that thing would hurt Xiaoyu!”

 

He loudly defended himself, but everyone knew it was just an excuse.

 

Even the youth, who had been kept in the dark all along, no longer believed his words.

 

But the youth didn’t seem to care about him. He just glanced back at the young adult, then fixed his gaze on the spirit-locking bottle, pleading, “Can I see it?”

 

Yin Ling looked troubled and glanced at Gao Shi. Gao Shi walked towards the youth and said, “These things absorb people’s yang energy. Ordinary people should avoid contact as much as possible.”

 

The youth anxiously said, “But…”

 

The moment Gao Shi was ten steps away from the young adult—

 

A ghost shadow darted out from the youth, lunging fiercely towards the young adult!

 

“Get away!!”

 

Xuan Yu hurriedly formed an array, Ghost Eye rushed out from the void, and Gao Shi dove towards the young adult—

 

However, none of them were as fast as that figure.

 

Just a hair’s breadth away from the young adult, a slender hand grabbed the ghost shadow.

 

The young man in the white Taoist robe, looking down at the ghost shadow in his hand, spoke in a clear, crisp voice.

 

“What grievance do you have?”

---