Chapter Forty-Five: The Art of Subduing Spirits

Chen Yushu’s expression shifted at once.

The residence of the Zuo family was saturated with a heavy, chilling yin energy. After years of accumulation, any ghostly creature within was hardly ordinary.

Now, the female ghost with her head inverted faced him directly, grinning with a mouth stretched wide. A cold dread seeped into his heart.

In the next instant, the scene before his eyes changed.

He found himself suddenly standing in a peculiar chamber.

It was clearly a woman’s boudoir. Sitting upright at the head of the bed was a woman dressed in crimson. She seemed to notice him, rose abruptly, and beckoned with a red silk handkerchief, calling softly, “Sir, come here…”

Her figure was alluring, and as she gestured, she deliberately slipped off her robe, baring delicate shoulders and arms, her smile blooming with a strange, inexplicable seduction.

“A ghostly enchantment?”

In a split second, Chen Yushu understood.

He had fallen under the enchantment cast by the inverted ghost.

Through ghostly illusion, it drew him in. If he approached, the spirit would immediately possess him, clinging tightly until he was utterly drained.

Had this happened before, he might truly have succumbed. In such an environment, with a clouded mind and the influence of seduction, one’s desires would be dangerously amplified.

But now—

With a mere thought, Chen Yushu entered a meditative state, slipping into the yin world.

He succeeded at once.

The illusion dissolved around him.

The ghostly figure appeared again before his eyes, still standing inverted at the doghole, unmoving, lips split in that same chilling smile.

Seeing this, Chen Yushu’s anger flared.

Laughing? What’s so funny?

A pebble shot from his hand in an instant.

Bang!

It struck her right on the mouth. The figure flickered and vanished.

But stones could not harm ghosts.

Ghosts were formless and insubstantial; an ordinary pebble would pass through as lightly as a breeze, leaving no effect.

The next moment, Chen Yushu saw that shadowy ghost leap, phasing through the wall, her head slamming into the floor, rushing at him inverted, bouncing forward with terrifying speed.

His face darkened.

So fierce?

It was not just her speed, but the dense black aura billowing from her form.

According to the “Records of Ghostly Encounters” by Li Chao, the deeper and darker a ghost’s yin aura, the more ferocious it was. When the blackness reached the extreme, it would turn red—and once red, it became a vengeful spirit.

Though this ghost had yet to become red and transform into a vengeful spirit, the black mist alone gave him quite a shock.

He could not let it get close.

That thought flashing through his mind, Chen Yushu hastily retreated, reaching into his robe to pull out a bamboo tube, splashing its contents forward.

It was boy’s urine.

Ever since he learned of its use, he had carried it with him, sealed in bamboo to keep the smell at bay.

In addition to this, he had two more tubes: one filled with black dog’s blood, the other with rooster’s comb blood—both potent, positive substances that could harm ghosts.

A sizzling sound filled the air, like water dropping onto glowing coals.

The ghost recoiled even faster, flying backward.

But the next instant, she paused. The liquid had done little real harm.

She lunged forward again.

“Hmph!”

At that moment, a clear, cold snort rang out. Liu Qiao’er, who had been standing silently to the side, thrust out both hands, fingers weaving a secret gesture with blinding speed. She pressed downward with force.

Boom!

An invisible force seemed to descend from the void, pressing the ghost flat against the ground.

Liu Qiao’er produced a black cloth belt, flinging it out. It wrapped around the ghost instantly, binding it so tightly the specter could not move.

Then, she took out a clay jar, pressed the lid, and drew the ghost in, sealing it away.

The entire process took no more than three breaths.

The ghost was dealt with, and Liu Qiao’er had collected it.

“Thank you for your help, Sister Qiao’er.”

Only then did Chen Yushu step forward to express his gratitude.

“What are you doing here?” Liu Qiao’er’s face showed a hint of surprise. Then, as if recalling something, she asked, “Did you just… enter the yin realm?”

“I did,” Chen Yushu nodded, feeling a secret thrill inside.

It was like his older siblings all went to school, and now, though he’d just entered kindergarten and did not yet know as much, he felt they were finally on the same path.

He answered her earlier question, “I live nearby.”

“No wonder,” Liu Qiao’er nodded, then warned, “But next time, don’t slip into the yin world so casually, especially near haunted houses or out in the wild. You never know what’s lurking nearby. The moment you cross over, they’ll sense it. It’s all too easy to be drawn in.”

“I understand.” Chen Yushu’s heart skipped, and he made a mental note of her words. Then he asked, “By the way, Sister Qiao’er, what brings you here? And what was that technique you used just now? It was incredible.”

“I’m short on a few ingredients and thought I’d borrow some from the master of this house. But judging by his reaction, he wasn’t willing—and tried to use that inverted ghost to test me. As for the technique, that was the ‘Suppressing Yin Formula.’ It’s just a basic method for subduing ghosts—nothing special.”

She was quite candid in her explanation.

“A ghost-subduing technique?” Envy crept over Chen Yushu’s face.

A technique…

He only knew the most basic methods, not true techniques.

“Oh, and I never asked—you learned to walk the yin path? I heard you were apprenticed to the Liu family’s pharmacy. Isn’t that just martial training? Do they teach yin path arts there too?”

As she spoke, Liu Qiao’er’s eyes lit up suddenly. She looked Chen Yushu up and down, then asked in astonishment, “You’ve already built such a solid foundation? Your vitality is robust, your spirit abundant—you’re nearly ready to ignite your first incense stick?”

As someone from the same village, she had not interacted with him much, but considered herself fairly familiar with his situation. Weak in both vitality and constitution, rumor had it he’d even been targeted by a minor ghost.

The last time they’d left the village together, she’d been surprised that he could see ghosts, and that his spirit was not as weak as people said.

Still, she hadn’t thought much of it—not everyone with a strong spirit could enter this line of work.

She never expected that, in such a short time, he would already be among the initiated, able to walk the yin path upright and use it to escape a ghostly illusion.

That did surprise and impress her.

For this touched on the meditative realms: light trance, minor trance, deep trance, steady trance…

To walk the yin path upright meant Chen Yushu had entered the second meditative stage: minor trance.

No easy feat at all.