Chapter 30: Is it this kind of bead?
"Little Yang, why were you in such a hurry to find me? Now that it's just the two of us, can you finally tell me?"
Jiang Dashi smiled, took a sip of tea, and asked Yang Haoran, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
Yang Haoran didn't touch the tea. He looked at Jiang Dashi and asked first, "Jiang Dashi, do you believe there are ghosts in this world?"
Hearing that, Jiang Dashi chuckled, "Little Yang, I am a devotee of the Death God. What do you think, do I believe or not?"
Listening to Jiang Dashi's reply, Yang Haoran also felt his question was a bit idiotic. If he asked an ordinary person, it would be fine, but asking a believer, especially a Death God devotee, seemed a bit laughable.
Although Jiang Dashi didn't give a direct answer, his meaning was clear, full of affirmation.
"I saw a real ghost last night," Yang Haoran continued.
As soon as Yang Haoran said this, the smile on Jiang Dashi's face vanished, and his expression turned serious. He asked, "Really? You're not lying to me?"
Yang Haoran nodded firmly, "I wouldn't dare deceive you, Jiang Dashi. Not only did I see one, but I was scared senseless."
Yang Haoran had rushed over late at night specifically for this matter. Since Jiang Dashi was interested, he naturally couldn't be more pleased. He quickly recounted everything that happened in Jiang Zhenzhen's rental apartment in meticulous detail.
However, Yang Haoran also made some alterations. He didn't play the role of a charlatan, but rather a friend of Jiang Zhenzhen. Aside from minor changes concerning himself, he didn't alter anything else. In particular, the terrifying appearance of the rotting old woman was described in vivid detail.
Yang Haoran spoke very carefully, taking a full hour from start to finish. In that hour, he didn't drink a single sip of water. Only after he finished did he feel parched. He no longer stood on ceremony, picked up the teacup in front of him, and gulped it all down.
Jiang Dashi listened for the entire hour, never interrupting. He frowned at times, sipped tea at others, as if deep in thought. After Yang Haoran's voice fell silent, it was a good while before Jiang Dashi emerged from his contemplation.
"Strange," Jiang Dashi frowned deeply, as if something was troubling him, something he couldn't quite figure out.
"What is it, Jiang Dashi? " Yang Haoran asked, puzzled.
"According to what you just said, this rotting old woman only scared your friend in dreams. In reality, your friend never saw her. This means it's highly possible that this rotting old woman is just an ordinary departed spirit. " Jiang Dashi said.
"A departed spirit? Is it different from what ordinary people understand as a departed spirit? " Yang Haoran asked.
"Ordinary people can form departed spirits after death, what we usually call ghosts. These departed spirits can see living people, but normally, living people cannot see them in reality. They cannot appear directly before the living. They can only make contact through dreams, either by giving dream messages to a target, or by frightening them in their dreams, just like your friend experienced. " Jiang Dashi explained.
Yang Haoran had never heard such a theory, but he didn't seem to doubt Jiang Dashi's words much. He frowned and said, "No, that's not right. Although that rotting old woman had no physical form, I could see her. Not just me, my friend could see her too. Apart from not having a physical body, she looked very real and terrifying."
"That's the strange part. Logically, ordinary departed spirits shouldn't be visible to your mortal eyes under normal circumstances. Either the environment in the rental apartment is problematic, or it's man-made."
"Based on what you just said, I don't think the environment in the rental apartment has anything special about it. Otherwise, she wouldn't have only scared your friend in dreams these past few days; she would have appeared long ago. As for the possibility of it being man-made. . . " Jiang Dashi looked thoughtful.
Yang Haoran seemed to understand something. He interjected, "Jiang Dashi, do you mean someone deliberately caused trouble?"
Jiang Dashi nodded and then said, "That possibility can't be ruled out. If the rotting old woman isn't an ordinary departed spirit, then she could both scare people in dreams and manifest herself. As for why the one controlling her would do this, I don't know."
Yang Haoran's expression grew serious. If what Jiang Dashi said was true, didn't that mean someone was targeting Jiang Zhenzhen?
Who could it be?
Was it that sharp-chinned, monkey-faced youth?
No, it couldn't be him. From the rotting old woman's reaction to the youth at the time, it was clear they didn't know each other at all, and the rotting old woman was extremely afraid of the youth. As a master of acting, Yang Haoran hadn't seen any traits of a fellow practitioner in the rotting old woman.
If it wasn't the sharp-chinned, monkey-faced youth, then who could it be? Could Jiang Zhenzhen have offended some master?
Just as Yang Haoran was pondering, Jiang Dashi spoke again, "Setting aside those two possibilities, there's one more."
"What? " Yang Haoran quickly asked.
"The rotting old woman might have genuinely been an ordinary departed spirit at first, with no attack power, only capable of scaring people through dreams. But if she was able to manifest herself later, it's highly likely she consumed other departed spirits, enhancing her Spirit Body. She can no longer be considered a 'clean' Spirit, which is why she could reveal her Spirit Body to you. " Jiang Dashi explained.
Upon hearing Jiang Dashi's words, Yang Haoran's expression suddenly stiffened. He remembered something the youth had said when he put the rotting old woman into the bead.
"That must be it! The youth said at the time that because the rotting old woman consumed other departed spirits, she would completely lose the qualification for reincarnation! " Yang Haoran exclaimed, a little emotional.
"Then there's no mistake. If she truly consumed other departed spirits and gained the ability to manifest her Spirit Body before you, there's nothing strange about it. " Jiang Dashi said.
"By the way, who exactly is that youth, Jiang Dashi? Do you know? " Yang Haoran asked, full of doubt.
He had said so much, set up so many premises, but what he really wanted to ask, what he most wanted to know, was about that sharp-chinned, monkey-faced youth.
In fact, from the moment he entered the wooden house, Yang Haoran had wanted to directly ask about the youth, to see if Jiang Dashi knew or had heard of him. But doing so would have been too abrupt. After all, their relationship hadn't reached that point yet. He could only proceed slowly, without rushing.
At the mention of the youth, Jiang Dashi slowly lowered the teacup he had just picked up. His expression became unprecedentedly serious.
Seeing this, Yang Haoran felt a little nervous inside, but he showed no sign of it on his face. From Jiang Dashi's reaction, it seemed he knew who the youth was.
At this moment, besides nervousness, Yang Haoran was also very excited. He had rushed to find Jiang Dashi late at night with a "let's try" attitude, not holding much hope. He never expected to have found the right person, so how could he not be excited?
"Wait a moment, I'll show you something."
Jiang Dashi didn't answer Yang Haoran's question immediately. Instead, he dropped that remark, then got up and retrieved a square wooden box from the bedside.
The wooden box was ordinary, nothing special about it. If there was anything different about it, it was simply too new, a brand-new wooden box, forming a stark contrast with the old table and chairs in front of them.
Jiang Dashi's action naturally made Yang Haoran even more nervous, but he had always been good at concealing his true emotions, so even though he was very nervous, he didn't show it at all.
Facing Jiang Dashi was different from facing ghosts. Jiang Dashi was a person, while ghosts were an unknown existence to him, thus bringing him intense fear. So, no matter how well he could conceal his emotions, in front of ghosts, he would still be scared out of his wits.
If one day, the existence of ghosts became commonplace for him, he would similarly be able to remain inscrutable.
Though Yang Haoran was nervous inside, his face only showed curiosity. Under his "curious" gaze, Jiang Dashi snapped open the new wooden box.
Even with Yang Haoran's inscrutable demeanor, when he clearly saw what was inside the wooden box, his expression couldn't help but change dramatically.
Inside the box was an orb, a transparent orb, and within it, several black threads, as thin as hair. They moved within the orb as if alive, like fish in water.
It seemed they sensed the opening of the wooden box, or perhaps the light from outside. The quietly swimming black threads suddenly became agitated. They sped up, some even directly colliding with the inner edge of the orb, as if trying to break free and escape. But no matter how they crashed, they couldn't shake the orb in the slightest.
The black threads seemed enraged. They transformed into terrifying ghost faces inside the orb, snarling and roaring at Yang Haoran and Jiang Dashi outside. Although no sound was heard, it felt as if the sound penetrated the orb's barrier, resonating directly in one's deepest heart.
"Ah!"
Yang Haoran cried out, his face changing drastically. He instinctively recoiled a few steps, his gaze fixed on the orb filled with terror.
"Jiang Dashi, you—you—you—you how do you have this thing too? ! " Yang Haoran stammered, his words a mix of fright and astonishment, pointing at the orb on the table.
Jiang Dashi was not startled by the scene inside the orb. Ignoring the roars from within, he snapped the wooden box shut and then asked Yang Haoran, "Is the bead in that youth's hand the same as this kind of bead?"
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