Chapter Forty-Seven: Was My Journey Across Worlds All for Naught?

Chen Yushu's expression grew solemn, and he nodded once more.

He realized that he had indeed acted recklessly earlier.

The main issue was that he still knew too little about the intricacies of this profession.

Although Li Chao’s Ghost Records contained scattered introductions to various aspects of the trade, mentioning many taboos and rules, it hadn’t said much about the taboos of spirit-walking.

Of course, he also understood that nothing was absolute.

It wasn’t that he could never walk the spirit path again in the future.

A spirit-walker’s gift was precisely in traversing the realm of shadows, communicating with ghosts and the dead, and resolving troubles by understanding their desires. If he were to forgo spirit-walking entirely, many things would be impossible to accomplish.

But it had to be done only in relatively safe places.

In Jianghuan Town, for example, it was a place where people lived, and with the presence of agencies like the Bureau of Spirits, even if powerful entities did exist, they were mostly under control.

Otherwise, those with greater skill in the field would have been summoned to deal with them long ago.

As for the villages, most had ancestral halls, and the spirits within could only protect their own people, without much destructive power.

So those places were relatively safe as well.

Out in the wild, or in natural centers of yin and malice, one had to be especially cautious.

“As for the last art,” Liu Qiaoer paused slightly, then decided to let Chen Yushu choose for himself. “Which type of ‘art’ do you wish to learn?”

“Which type of ‘art’?” Chen Yushu repeated, genuinely surprised and delighted. He hadn’t expected to be given a choice.

This kind of blissful dilemma was something he had hardly ever experienced.

He knew the opportunity was rare, so he began to consider carefully.

Of the two arts he had already learned, one was the Subduing Yin Formula, the other was Qi Watching Technique.

The Subduing Yin Formula was for dealing with ghosts, a method of attack, though in practice, it wasn’t particularly lethal—its main effect was to suppress.

The Qi Watching Technique was a method of observation, more useful for seeking advantages and avoiding harm.

Each had its merits and weaknesses, but both were indispensable, and he was very satisfied with them.

“Attack, defense, escape, support—now that I have ‘attack’ and ‘support’, what I lack is ‘defense’ and ‘escape’?”

Chen Yushu’s eyes flickered as he pondered his options. Just then, he caught sight of a little girl with two pigtails playing alone in the courtyard.

He had already asked about her before; the little girl was Liu Qiaoer’s ghost servant, a messenger spirit.

Despite her small stature and harmless appearance, her abilities were far from minor: delivering messages, scouting, and even handling disputes with other spirits.

A sudden inspiration came to him, and the words left his mouth before he realized it: “Qiaoer, for the last art, I’d like to learn the technique of nurturing ghost servants.”

“Oh?” Liu Qiaoer was momentarily stunned, but she didn’t refuse and nodded in agreement. “You have quite an eye for choosing.”

“These ghost servants aren’t just any wandering soul you find on the street and take in. They must be carefully selected. Any soul burdened with resentments or malice is not suitable. Ghosts older than three years are not suitable. And those with unclear pasts are also to be avoided... For these reasons, most ghost servants are weak, bullied everywhere, unable to reincarnate, condemned to wander the world.

“Ghost servants are often truly pitiful.

“Take my own, for example—Yin was a stillborn for three consecutive lives. She died at birth and remained with her mother’s spirit. At last, her mother conceived a second child, but before Yin could be reincarnated, that child died as well. For the third child, Yin waited ten long months, but before birth, her mother was poisoned by a concubine and suffered a miscarriage. Thus, Yin lost her chance at reincarnation forever, unable to enter the cycle of rebirth, doomed to wander the world until I found her.

“So once you decide to nurture a ghost servant, do not bully them or abandon them lightly.”

Liu Qiaoer glanced at Yin playing outside, then gazed seriously at Chen Yushu.

“I understand!” Chen Yushu answered solemnly, nodding quickly. His gaze toward Yin was tinged with sympathy.

Three lives lost before birth.

Such a fate was truly tragic and pitiful.

As the saying goes, ‘A true teaching conveys more in a single phrase than a thousand volumes of words.’

The three arts were written quickly by Liu Qiaoer, all within half an hour.

The total came to only about eight hundred words.

But each line was a gem, with no hidden meanings or cryptic instructions—every word was clear and direct, easily understood at a glance.

When Chen Yushu received them, they were as precious as treasures. He read them several times over before carefully putting them away.

“Thank you, Qiaoer. I’ll do my best to gather the thirty taels of silver and bring them to you soon.”

Chen Yushu gripped his hands together and gave Liu Qiaoer a formal bow.

“No need to stand on ceremony. The spirit-walking trade is not an easy path. You must be careful.” Liu Qiaoer waved her hand and left the study.

“Um, Qiaoer...” Chen Yushu called after her, hesitated, then asked, “If I want to learn more arts in the future, can I still come to you to buy them?”

Though he felt embarrassed and a little greedy, he knew this was his easiest way to obtain the legacy techniques of a spirit-walker. He didn’t want to miss the chance.

“These are life-saving arts. The three I sold you were already a bargain—just because we grew up in the same village. So...”

But Liu Qiaoer’s limits were easy to shift. She added, “Next time, they’ll cost more. And no credit allowed.”

“Alright! No problem!” Chen Yushu replied joyfully.

Afterward, he arranged for Liu Qiaoer to rest in a guest room.

As for himself, he hurried to the kitchen, lit the charcoal stove, and began brewing medicine.

Naturally, it was the Nourishing Essence Decoction.

He had been busy all day and hadn’t yet practiced his stances.

A daily dose of Nourishing Essence was non-negotiable for him, and he didn’t want to let anything interrupt it.

“However, this is the last portion of Nourishing Essence I have. After drinking it today, I’ll have to buy more. Otherwise, my martial training will slow down.”

He drank the decoction in one gulp, but his brow furrowed.

He truly didn’t have much silver left.

Today’s purchases—talisman paper, ink, and other items—had cost him twenty taels, and with more than four taels spent on miscellaneous items before, he now had only six taels left.

Six taels would buy, at best, two more portions of Nourishing Essence.

It was barely a drop in the bucket.

And not only that.

He still owed Liu Qiaoer thirty taels.

If he wanted to continue learning more legacy arts from the spirit-walkers, he’d need to buy them from her as well, and that would require another large sum...

“Poor! Poor! Poor!

“In my past life, weighed down by a mortgage, I struggled every month—even if I tried to give up, there was always another payment notice.

“Now, even with my memories awakened and a new life in a new world, I still have to scramble for a few taels of silver. Isn’t this... isn’t this a wasted reincarnation?”

Chen Yushu took a deep breath, feeling a sense of helplessness.