Chapter 35: Passing the Test
Master Jiang wanted to help Yang Haoran, but he couldn't go too far or make it too obvious. In his opinion, such actions would not only cause him considerable trouble but also harm Yang Haoran.
To help, he needed a method that wouldn't implicate himself or endanger Yang Haoran. After some thought, an idea formed in his mind.
He started the black sedan, then shifted into neutral and floored the accelerator. A roaring cacophony erupted, a buzzing hum audible from far away.
Master Jiang's black sedan was already an old car, not only poorly equipped but also somewhat dilapidated. The exhaust pipe, in particular, hadn't been replaced in who knew how many years; it was riddled with rust and holes. Now, with him flooring the accelerator, the deafening racket it produced could almost rival a sports car.
This method was the only feasible one Master Jiang could devise. Perhaps there were better ways, but under the current circumstances, he had no time to consider other options.
Eight minutes
Five minutes
One minute
Master Jiang checked his cheap wristwatch every so often. Time ticked away as he continuously floored the accelerator. The closer it got to eight o'clock, the more he sighed inwardly, for Yang Haoran still hadn't appeared.
“I just hope you truly fell asleep, and aren't dead in there,” he thought. “That way, even if the test is a failure, at least you'll have saved your life. ”
Thinking this, Master Jiang checked the time. Ten seconds remained. He shook his head, preparing to leave, when suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something.
He froze, then his gaze darted towards the old building. In a ray of sunlight, a figure burst out from the dilapidated structure, running at breakneck speed. His hair was disheveled, and his expression was fraught with terror, as if he were summoning every ounce of strength. In just a few seconds, he incredibly sprinted through the iron gate—a speed that was nothing short of a hundred-meter dash!
Master Jiang glanced at the time; it was precisely eight o’clock. When he looked up again, a figure had appeared beside his car window. The man was leaning against the vehicle, gasping for breath, and a pungent odor of alcohol assailed Master Jiang, causing him to involuntarily furrow his brow and recoil slightly.
Who else could this sudden arrival by the car window be but Yang Haoran?
“Oh my god, I’m scared to death! Scared to death! ” Yang Haoran gasped out between ragged breaths, his face etched with lingering fear.
Master Jiang fanned away the acrid alcohol fumes with his hand before a faint smile finally appeared on his face. He addressed Yang Haoran, saying, “Well, old boy, that smell on you is quite—”
Yang Haoran couldn't care less about such things. What truly mattered to him at that moment wasn't that. Forget merely smelling of unpleasant alcohol; even if he had just crawled out of a latrine, he wouldn't have cared in the slightest. What consumed his thoughts was whether he had passed the test.
He took several deep breaths, his gaze fixed anxiously on Master Jiang, then asked, “Master Jiang, did I pass the test? ”
This question was Yang Haoran’s greatest concern.
Master Jiang nodded. “Congratulations, you passed. ”
Master Jiang had originally intended to say that if he had been even a few seconds later, the test would have been a failure, regardless of whether he had emerged from the Ghost Building. However, he didn't utter those words, instead directly informing Yang Haoran that he had passed the test.
Upon hearing that he had passed the test, Yang Haoran's body went limp. He sagged against the car, his face a mask of exhaustion and lingering terror.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you somewhere to meet someone. ”
Yang Haoran’s expression shifted, and a hint of wariness entered his gaze as he looked at Master Jiang. He asked with some difficulty, “Master Jiang, please don’t tell me there’s another death-defying test. ”
Master Jiang shook his head. “Don’t worry, there aren’t any more. Your efforts will soon be rewarded. ”
Yang Haoran breathed a sigh of relief. His greatest fear right now was being subjected to another damn test. His mind felt like a flickering candle flame in the wind—a mere fart could extinguish it.
“Since there are no more tests, let’s get out of here quickly. I don’t want to stay in this damned place for another second. ”
As he spoke, Yang Haoran reached for the car door, intending to get in and leave. However, just as he opened it, Master Jiang stopped him.
“The car broke down. Push it from behind,” Master Jiang said.
“You’re kidding! The car breaks down, and it had to be now, of all times? Why don’t I take a look and see what’s wrong? ”
As he spoke, Yang Haoran closed the car door, preparing to check the driver's seat, but Master Jiang stopped him again.
“Just push it when I tell you to push it. Trust me,” Master Jiang said in a low voice, giving Yang Haoran a knowing look.
Yang Haoran was momentarily stunned, then quickly caught on. He wasn't stupid; he knew Master Jiang must have a reason for acting this way. Recalling the roar of the black sedan as Master Jiang had floored the accelerator earlier, he seemed to grasp something.
Yang Haoran nodded, casting a grateful glance at Master Jiang, then moved to the rear of the car, pushing the dilapidated black sedan with all his might.
A series of clanking noises erupted as Master Jiang once again began flooring the accelerator. By now, the sky was bright, the sun had risen, but there were no pedestrians on the road, only the roaring sound of the black sedan’s engine as Master Jiang revved it.
After a considerable struggle, as if it had cost both of them immense effort, the dilapidated black sedan finally sputtered back to life and began to move again.
“Alright, hurry up and get in! Now that your business is done, my car really needs to be repaired,” Master Jiang called out, sticking his head out the window to Yang Haoran, who was still at the rear.
Yang Haoran acknowledged, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He was genuinely pushing the car, mind you, and every now and then he'd glance around, pretending to check where the car might be broken, acting as if it were all real.
Opening the car door, Yang Haoran gasped for breath, ready to get in. In that fleeting moment before entering, he actually turned his head to glance at the dilapidated Ghost Building. An expression of lingering dread involuntarily surfaced on his face, but besides that fear, there was something else deep within his eyes.
He withdrew his gaze and decisively got into the car, without a single hint of reluctance.
Master Jiang wasted no words. He floored the accelerator, and the black sedan shot forward, rapidly speeding away from the small road and the Ghost Building.
What Yang Haoran experienced inside the Ghost Building, aside from himself, perhaps only the ghostly entities within would know. Master Jiang naturally had no idea what Yang Haoran had gone through either. He could only make some guesses based on his own understanding of the Ghost Building, and nothing more. As for whether his guesses aligned with the truth, who could say?
Not long after the black sedan departed, an eerie distortion appeared in the space before the Ghost Building’s iron gate. Then, a rift suddenly opened in the warped space. The rift widened, and a person, with hands clasped behind their back, stepped out from within this spatial tear.
This person was short, with a pointed chin and monkey-like cheeks, but their appearance was remarkably youthful, looking only about seventeen or eighteen.
If Yang Haoran had been there, he would not only have been startled by the youth’s entrance but also by his appearance. It wasn’t because the youth’s pointed chin and monkey-like cheeks made him ugly, but because Yang Haoran had seen this youth before—it was precisely the young man who had collected the rotting old woman into his bead.
“Heh heh, the car breaking down certainly happened at the right time. But it doesn’t matter. What difference does one more cannon fodder or one less make to me? ” The youth watched the black sedan disappear into the distance, speaking with a smile.
As his words faded, the youth turned his gaze to the Ghost Building, his smile receding as his expression grew much more serious. He spoke blandly, “That kid is quite timid. To experience a grand spectacle like that for the first time and not be scared to death. . . did you intentionally go easy on him? ”
The youth seemed to be talking to himself, yet also questioning someone. However, besides him, only the dilapidated old building remained in that place; there was no sign of a second person.
Under the sunlight, the eerie and terrifying sensation emanating from the old building still persisted. It was, however, significantly better than at night. Yet, as the youth looked at the old building, there was no fear in his eyes.
No one answered him. He let out a cold laugh, unconcerned, and continued, “To become one of my people, courage is the most fundamental requirement. While one more or one less piece of cannon fodder doesn't significantly affect me, I don’t want to take just anyone into my service. If they don’t create any value for me and instead go out and disgrace me, that would be a laughingstock. So, I hope you can be stricter in your vetting. Don’t let just anyone walk out of here alive. If you do, you’ll truly disappoint me. ”
The old building remained the old building, still as eerie and terrifying. Other than a cold gust of Yin wind blowing through, no one responded to the youth.
The youth’s expression darkened slightly. This sudden gust of Yin wind seemed to have provoked him in some way. He let out a cold scoff and said, “Hmph, don’t think I’m afraid to touch you. I just choose not to. Act wisely. ”
With those words, the youth waved his hand, and the space before him distorted once more. A rift appeared, widened, and the youth, with hands clasped behind his back, stepped inside.
As the youth entered the spatial rift, his figure instantly vanished. The spatial rift, which he had casually torn open, also healed, restoring itself as if it had never appeared.
After the youth departed, the iron gate outside the old building’s courtyard suddenly slammed shut with a bang. The force was immense, as if someone in a foul mood had angrily closed it, causing flakes of rust to fall from the gate.
There was no one, no wind, only an eerie and terrifying old building, yet the iron gate had slammed shut with such force.
The sunlight warmed the earth, yet it seemed unable to warm this old building. It remained suffused with Ghost Qi, chilling to the bone, as if it were a ten-thousand-year-old block of unmelting ice. Any living creature that approached would feel its soul shiver, frozen by the oppressive cold.
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