Ghosts Know What I Experienced

Author: Mo Chen Huan

If you’re not reading this Spicy chicken translations . Word press . Com, you’re

Translator: Aeryn

Editor: ReluctantEditor not reading this with full experience with page jumps, informational images and links.

Chapter 12

In the narrow utility room, Xi Jia was being hugged from behind by Celestial Master Ye, and had one hand on his chest. Pei Yu stood at the side, eyes widening foolishly like a dog.¹ The old ghost that had been beaten until it was incomparably miserable was still firmly stuck to the wall. In response, it quickly turned its body, using its filthy black fingernails to claw against the wall, as if wanting to take this chance to flee.

Ye Jingzhi raised his eyes, his finger slightly moved. The bronze die was like lightning, piercing through the old ghost’s chest with a loud bang.

Without thinking too much, Ye Jingzhi directly let go of Xi Jia, stepping forward to deal with this old ghost. Xi Jia looked at him a few more times with a strange expression.

The old ghost was already half beaten to death, and now it encountered Hell King Ye. It didn’t require any effort at all. Wu Xiang Qing Li just pierced the old ghost until it became a sieve. The figure of the ghost became weak and unstable, almost about to disperse.

Ye Jingzhi was rather astonished, not understanding how this old ghost was suddenly so weak. Of course he didn’t know that right behind him, Pei Yu moved to Xi Jia’s side at high-speed, sucking up and laughing mischievously, “Brother Jia, what happened? Knowing you for this long and I still didn’t know that you are also a figure of the Xuanxue world. Which master did you study under? Which sect? How come I’ve never heard of you before?”

In the corner of the room, Ye Jingzhi made a hand seal, one finger hitting Wu Xiang Qing Li. The old ghost suddenly let out a desperate, sorrowful cry. Xi Jia glanced over there and after making sure that there was nothing happening, he dragged Pei Yu out.

While walking, Pei Yu whispered, “Brother Jia, with your level, you can absolutely enter Modou’s top 10! You’re too indifferent to fame and fortune. I’ll immediately submit it to ‘Ghosts Know,’ and help you become well known. I can guarantee that you can ascend to the top of the Modou Rankings in one fell swoop….Sigh, I’m not sure about the very top. We, the younger generation, still don’t know the depth of Hell King Ye. But, I think you can definitely far surpass Nan Yi. With your skill of punching the old ghost just now, so cool, okay! I saw Nan Yi ghost hunting before. He is the eldest disciple of Zi Wei Xing Hall, just an ordinary sour daoist. How could he compare to you, Brother Jia—”

“Speak human words!”

Pei Yu quickly moved closer, “Hehehe, Brother Jia, we can team up in the future. Just like the brother and sister from the Jiang clan, let’s team up to hunt ghosts. I’ll find them, you catch them, we can absolutely rank second in Modou!”

Inside the tiny utility room, Ye Jingzhi used a gold colored spell to tie the old ghost tightly. The golden runes burned the old ghost to the point of wishing it was dead. As long as it was touched, it would cause a scorched smell. The figure gradually transformed into nothingness.

Outside the utility room, Xi Jia’s expression slowly sank. Looking serious and calmly at the face of Charlatan Pei, a dog leg begging to hold onto a big thigh.² After a long time, Xi Jia sighed, “Pei Yu, I really only want to be like every ordinary person, passing the days very peacefully and smoothly.”

Looking at the serious and solemn look on the black haired young man, Charlatan Pei’s laughing expression slowly faded.

After waiting another minute, Ye Jingzhi stepped out of the utility room, and saw the calm Xi Jia and, as before, the trembling Pei Yu. He glanced at the two. Wu Xiang Qing Li rapidly flew out from behind him, and dove straight into Xi Jia’s pocket.

The little black cat, bored for a very long time, suddenly saw the missing little bronze ball, and happily played with the little ball again. Ye Jingzhi stared at Xi Jia’s pocket with a strange look. After a moment, he said, “The ghost’s soul has already dispersed. The little ghost’s situation is somewhat troublesome. I’m not good at the matter of transcending Samsara…Fellow Daoist Pei, perhaps I need your help.”

The three of them walked into the apartment across the hall together.

Upon entering, the lights abruptly darkened. The heavy, dense curtains completely blocked any light. The apartment was filled with a putrid odor. Xi Jia couldn’t help but cover his nose. He hadn’t walked many steps past the door when he saw the mother and child sitting on the ice-cold living room floor, paralyzed.

The young woman with disheveled hair tightly held her son. Her lips endlessly repeating the name, “Xiao Lin.” It should be her son’s name. The little boy was in his mother’s embrace, not going crazy or mad like his mother. After seeing Xi Jia and the others coming, he obediently tilted his head, and curiously looked at them. Then, he took a step with his little leg to dash towards the three.

“Xiao Lin!!!” The woman screamed, and held onto her son tighter.

Xi Jia naturally didn’t understand what was happening in front. Pei Yu, as a person of the Xuanxue world, was also at a bit of a loss seeing this scene.

Ye Jingzhi’s clean and cold voice sounded, “This little ghost was killed by the malicious ghost, ate the first of the three spiritual souls, taiguang, among the three spiritual souls and seven corporeal souls. Taiguang is the owner’s life span. Without the first spiritual soul, he can’t reincarnate, and can only be a wandering or wild ghost. However, taiguang originated from the mother’s body. Not long after his death, it should’ve been discovered by the mother. Then she proceeded to cut flesh to bind the spirit, using the mother’s flesh and hunpo to nourish him and fill his taiguang.”³

Xi Jia thought, “If the old ghost ate the hunpo, Master Ye, did you get his hunpo back earlier?”

Ye Jingzhi flipped his hand, a deep green ray of light appeared in his palm, “Although I found it, half of his taiguang has already been nibbled away. Even if it came back, it’s no use. Therefore, Fellow Daoist Pei, your sect cultivates 《Jin Gui Yaolue》.⁴ Could you help this little ghost complete his hunpo, and transcend Samsara?”

Even though Pei Yu was very unreliable, in the face of a life-saving type of a situation, he could also be quite serious. He took the taiguang in Ye Jingzhi’s palm, and took a out a shabby book of scriptures from his Qiankun bag. Then, he decisively tore a page.

Pei Yu silently recited the incantation. The archaic page slowly hovered into the middle of the air. The little boy’s spiritual soul floated gently above the page.

“Six qi host guests, in contrast from life. Greater yin damp earth, lesser yin monarch fire; faint yin wind wood, Yin Yang dry metal.⁵ Taiguang appear, maternal blood exists. A page of Jin Gui Yu Han as a guide, I beckon the dwellers of the netherworld. Oh, soul come here……Soul Return!”

All of a sudden, Pei Yu opened his eyes, patting the page and hunpo in front of him. In an instant, a warm green light erupted from the book page, nourishing the hunpo floating above little by little. Then, it rushed towards the little ghost’s body.

The little ghost’s blue-black complexion gradually became rosy. The young woman also stopped weeping and was astonished, looking at her own son. Yet at this moment, a dark green knife swiftly flew over from the kitchen, thrusting straight at the book page in front of Pei Yu.

Ye Jingzhi’s expression became cold. He wanted to lend a hand, but saw a black shadow shoot out from Xi Jia’s pocket. With a clang, it struck the knife, making it change directions and stab into the wall. After finishing everything, Wu Xiang Qing Li excitedly flew back, shook a bit in front of Xi Jia, and then flew back into his pocket to play with Song Song.

Xi Jia, “……”

Ye Jingzhi, “……”

……How come I feel that something’s not quite right?

Very quickly, the missing part of the little boy’s hunpo returned to his body. The page in front of Pei Yu also soundlessly faded away.

The instant the hunpo returned to the body, the little boy’s eyes contained a brilliance once again. He hugged his mother, rubbing like a spoiled child. His mother firmly held him, crying bitter tears.

Ye Jingzhi’s cold voice broke the mother and child’s scene of reunion, “He has already passed, you should let him reincarnate.”

The woman didn’t became crazy again. She held her son, stood up, and walked to face the three of them. With a plop, she suddenly kneeled. Ye Jingzhi moved his finger. The woman kneeled in midair. There seemed to be something propped under the knees preventing her from kneeling further.

The woman naturally understood. As she wiped her eyes, she stood and said, “My last name is Liao. This child’s father died early. These years, just him and I depend on each other. This master didn’t say incorrectly, my maternal grandfather is Xiangxi’s famous Ganshi craftsman. The Ganshi Sect passes down onto men and not women. My grandfather only had one daughter, my mother. He was unwilling to pass it onto my mother. However, my mother had an air of arrogance, and stealthily taught herself some skills. Before she died, she taught me.”

Xi Jia asked, “You’re of Miao ethnicity?”

The woman was startled, “Yes, I’m a Miao. My surname’s Ghob Ghueas (仡瓜 Ge Gua). My Chinese Han last name is Liao. That knife was left by my mother. My mother didn’t have magic power. She told me, if I wanted to overtake a corpse, I would have to rely on the knife. When my grandfather was buried, all of his Ganshi magical weapons and tools needed to be buried with him. My mother only kept the knife. It contained my grandfather’s many years of remnant corpse energy and magic power.”

Xi Jia turned to look at the knife nailed to the wall.

Pei Yu nodded his head, “No wonder that knife could cut bone as if it’s mud. You clearly don’t have any magic power, but could actually bind the kid’s soul. However, this kind of magic weapon, because of its long-term exposure to corpse energy, it already has a demonic nature. Because you also don’t have a Ganshi craftsman’s magic power, you are unable to control it. If you continue to use it to Soul Bind, at most in a month, you would also became a ghost.”

“Not only that.” A low male voice rang, interrupting Pei Yu’s words. Ye Jingzhi slightly leaned over, looking at the little boy behind his mother, “Even with the magic weapon, cutting flesh to bind the spirit wouldn’t easily succeed. Do you…wish to stay and protect your mother?”

The little boy blinked, looking at the strange Celestial Master confused.

Hearing Ye Jingzhi’s words, the woman widened her eyes and covered her mouth, not daring to believe. After a long time, her child tugged the hem of her clothes, softly saying, “Mommy, it hurts……”

The woman lowered her head, and saw her well behaved child pouting. He seriously said, “Mommy, don’t get bitten by grandpa, it really hurts……”

The woman couldn’t control it anymore and started to bitterly cry again. She crouched and tightly held her son that stayed in the world of the living in order to protect herself. The little boy didn’t understand anything, only continuously saying to his mother to not look for grandpa, grandpa bites, and it really hurts.

The mother and child hugged each other tightly. Ye Jingzhi’s expression was tranquil as he watched. Pei Yu couldn’t bear it and turned his eyes away. Xi Jia slowly crouched and rubbed the little boy’s head, softly saying, “Grandpa already left, won’t hurt your mom anymore, and won’t bite your mom.”

The boy’s large jet-black eyes looked at Xi Jia earnestly. Slowly, a pure and innocent smile appeared on his young and tender little face. A clear childish voice sounded, “Thank you, big brother.”

The pure and innocent smile of the child stung Xi Jia’s heart. The young woman cried while endlessly using her hands to wipe away her tears. With great effort, she smiled, “Xiao Lin, mom will live well, you need to know well, okay? Don’t make mom worry. Mom is okay, everything is okay……”

A white light emerged from the little boy’s body little by little. He finally softly called “Mommy” and then his body suddenly collapsed. The blue-black livor mortis that was already visible to the naked eye appeared on the corpse’s surface. The woman tightly held the child’s stiff ice-cold body. She could no longer maintain the smiling expression that she gave just now with great difficulty. All that remained was her desperate, painful cries.

The boy was already dead for several days after all. Pei Yu used his connections to help the child report for a death certificate, and the body was quickly cremated. On the third day, the young woman held the urn of ashes and left the neighborhood. It was said that she went to find a distant cousin, and didn’t want to stay in this place where she lost her lover and child.

Thus with “the old ghost’s soul sent flying and scattering, and the little ghost also entered reincarnation,” as the conclusion, it finally came to an end. However, the old ghost’s family’s husband and wife seemed to have started to vent about divorce. The couple originally wasn’t very good to the old grandfather. When the grandfather died that day, the police had wanted to take the two back for interrogation. In the end, it was decided that the grandpa accidentally fell off the bed and died, and let the two go.

In any case, the neighborhood eventually returned to its former peaceful days.

When the three left the little kid’s house, it was very late at night. Xi Jia looked up hopefully at the sky. With the city lights, a single star couldn’t be found.

Pei Yu quietly sighed with regret, “How is this considered a matter. If I knew early that the old ghost unexpectedly ate the hunpo of somebody’s child, causing the mother to cut half an arm to bind the soul, I would absolutely personally hit the old bastard until his soul flies and scatters!”

Xi Jia raised the corner of his mouth, asking, “Can you beat him?”

Pei Yu’s expression exposed his embarrassment, “I…Even if I couldn’t beat him, but don’t I have you, Brother Jia!?”

Ye Jingzhi walked out of the building, and also raised his head to take a look at the night sky lit by the lights. Then, he turned to look at Xi Jia, “That relic requires me to add blessings on it every day for a full seven sevens, 49 days. At the moment, it still can’t completely block your yin energy. I will stay in S City for the next half month. You don’t need to worry about malicious ghosts plaguing you.”

Pei Yu subconsciously said, “How could Brother Jia be afraid of being plagued by malicious ghosts. When those malicious ghosts see Brother Jia, they wouldn’t even have time to ru—”

“Pei Yu!”

Xi Jia’s stern voice reprimanded. Charlatan Pei was startled. He was aware that he said something wrong and quickly shut his mouth.

Xi Jia then turned to face Ye Jingzhi, “Then, Master Ye, where do you plan on staying these days? I remember that there’s only residential areas nearby.”

Ye Jingzhi, “I will find a hotel to stay at, then I’ll recite incantations for you every day.

Xi Jia, “…but this, I would feel very apologetic?”

Ye Jingzhi shook his head, “No harm.”

Xi Jia, “……”

You feel like it’s no harm, but on the other hand, he would also owe you too much.

Before, Pei Yu praised Ye Jingzhi as “Xuanxue world’s moral model,” and Xi Jia didn’t believe it. Under the “Ghosts Know” official account articles, those people of the Xuanxue world also eulogized Ye Jingzhi as a moral model, and Xi Jia still didn’t believe it.

There’s still such a selfless and devoted great person in this world?

How is it possible!

Until Xi Jia met a King of Hell praised as a moral model.

Honestly feeling very apologetic, Xi Jia contemplated for a moment, and thought of, “How about…Master Ye, you come stay at my house for a period of time? My place has two bedrooms which should be enough.”

Pei Yu immediately interjected, “Wait a minute. You only have two beds. If Hell—Master Ye came, where would I sleep?”

Xi Jia replied, “Why would you still want to go to my house?”

Pei Yu justified, “If I don’t go to your house, where would I go?”

Xi Jia instantly replied, “Hotel.”

Pei Yu, “……” Why must it be me that needs to stay at the hotel, and not let Hell King Ye stay at the hotel, ah!!!

Ye Jingzhi seemed to not know how to handle this kind of social interactions. After Xi Jia invited him, he refused for a while at first. But Xi Jia invited him in every possible way, so he could only agree.

Back at home, Xi Jia especially took out the quilt he just aired, and delivered it onto the second bedroom’s bed. Pei Yu sullenly stayed in the living room. Waiting until it’s time to sleep, Xi Jia pointed to a corner, “There’s a camp bed there. Make the bed yourself, and then you can sleep.”

Pei Yu, “Why does Hell King Ye get to sleep in the bedroom, and I sleep in the living room!”

Xi Jia was surprised, “You’re so loud, are you not afraid of Master Ye hearing it?”

Pei Yu was immediately frightened, fleeing backwards, and hurriedly hid behind the sofa. After three minutes, he determined that Ye Jingzhi didn’t come out to beat him, and he let out a sigh of relief, “Hell King Ye’s probably asleep. I never expected that I could sleep under the same roof as Hell King Ye in my lifetime. My god, I’m really too awesome. Brother Jia, you don’t know, Hell King Ye, this kind of person is very terrifying! We, the younger generation of the Xuanxue world, not many people are familiar with him. Although he is the moral model, the number of ghosts he killed is more than the salt we eat. But when he beat ghosts until their soul flies and scatters, that kind of scene is too terrifying, no one dares to approach him.”

Xi Jia originally wanted to return to his room to rest. After hearing Pei Yu’s words, he couldn’t help but curiously ask, “You younger generations aren’t familiar with him?”

Pei Yu shook his head, “There are some that are familiar with him. I remember there’s a monk from the Great Wanshou Temple that has a good relationship with him. He’s extremely terrifying, his strength is enough to beat a group of us. Who dares to care about him. What if he’s in a bad mood one day and don’t want to be a moral model anymore, one slip and we’re all finished, alright?”

Xi Jia softly asked, “……you all ignore him?”

Pei Yu didn’t even think about it, “Why should we care? He’s Hell King Ye, we’re ordinary people, and we have no common language.”

In the living room, Pei Yu brought up a lot of Ye Jingzhi’s legendary achievements. Xi Jia had already heard about the matter of Ye Jingzhi killing nearly ten thousand evil ghosts in Fengdu four years ago. This time, he also talked about when Ye Jingzhi took Wu Xiang Qing Li and sent a century old evil ghost’s soul flying and scattering.

Pei Yu talked until he was sleepy, then closed his eyes and fell asleep. Xi Jia quietly and softly walked up to the guest bedroom’s door. He gently knocked, “Master Ye, are you asleep yet?”

Not long after, the door opened. Ye Jingzhi was still dressed in his black trench coat with an indifferent expression, like rejecting people from faraway. Through the gap, Xi Jia saw that the quilt on the bed was never touched. The sheets were also smooth and flat without any traces like no one had lain in it.

In his heart, he thought of Pei Yu’s words “Why should I care about him” that was uttered like it was inevitable and right. Xi Jia raised the corner of his lips. Showing a gentle smile, he softly said, “Master Ye, go to sleep early, good night.”

His deep pupils slightly trembled. Ye Jingzhi’s lips opened and closed. After a long time, he replied in a low voice, “Good night.”

The moon rose to the middle of the sky. Zishi (11pm-1am) arrived. It’s the moment where the yin energy was the strongest in the secular world.

It was also the moment when the “Ghosts Know What I Experienced” official account updated every day.

There were many Celestial Masters currently hunting ghosts, currently finding ghosts, and currently playing with wandering ghosts. At this time, everyone fished out their cell phones one after another, tapped open the official account, and prepared to take a look at today’s share of gossip……today’s share of news. There’s still one major headline and three small articles as usual. But this time, the instant the Celestial Masters opened the official account, all were completely dumbfounded.

Great Wanshou Temple, a young monk forcibly struck and cracked the red sandalwood wooden fish he had been using for ten years.

Zi Wei Xing Hall, a few young disciples cried out in alarm and made their eldest martial brother, Nan Yi, tightly knit his brows.

In some villa in the outskirts of Haicheng, an old man with completely white hair shrieked. All the glass in the entire house completely shattered. His 60-some year old son bitterly and hatefully ran upstairs, “Dad! I’m begging you, don’t read “Ghosts Know,” okay! Can’t you just go dance some public square dances? Dancing public square dances is great, it’s beneficial for physical and mental heath!”

Qishan-daoren’s eyes widened, “Did you see tonight’s news article yet?”⁶

The 60-some year old man shook his head, “Not yet. I just unlocked my phone, and your scream broke all the glass. So I went upstairs to see.”

Qishan-daoren straightforwardly slapped the table, “You quickly go see! So much fun! It turns out that before Yi Lingzi, that old fellow, died, he even set an engagement for his disciple!”

The old man was shocked, “Senior Yi Lingzi? Didn’t he only have one disciple, precisely that Hell—…Young Daoist Ye?”

Qishan-daoren laughed, “That’s right. Today’s ‘Ghosts Knows’ headline news is…Yi Lingzi set an engagement for Ye Jingzhi nineteen years ago!”

The Author has something to say:

C+: My gong already has a fiancée, this novel can’t be written!

Mirror: ……Can I refuse to marry?

Fuwa: Heiheihei, are you sure you want to refuse the marriage^_^?

Translator’s Notes: Shoot me, all these incantations. *dead*

¹ 目瞪狗呆 Eyes widening foolishly like a dog: meme (Hey, Pei Yu, have a sample of some dog food lol)

↵

² 狗腿 Dog leg: fig. translated as sucking up or bootlicking. Also used in the last chapter. But the literal translation is pretty fitting here since he’s begging/looking for a thigh to hug. Noun form can be henchman, lackey, yes-man, etc. (Here, Pei Yu have some more dog food.) ↵

³ 三魂七魄 Three spiritual souls and seven corporeal souls, 魂魄 hunpo: collectively they’re called hunpo, or soul(s). There are two types of souls in Chinese philosophy and traditional religion, hun and po. Hun is the yang soul and spiritual. Po is the yin soul and corporeal. A daoist tradition proposes a structure of 3 hun and 7 po, or it could be translated as 3 spiritual/ethereal souls and 7 corporeal/bodily souls. I’m going to leave the names of each soul in pinyin b/c translating it directly will sound very…unpleasant. Just to name a few…taiguang would be fetus light, shigou would be corpse dog, and choufei would be smelly lung. ↵

⁴ 金匮要略 Jin Gui Yaolue: English translation is the Essential Prescriptions from the Golden Cabinet. This lengthy name doesn’t sound like a cultivation technique (doesn’t sound cool *cough*) in English. It’s pretty much an encyclopedia of Chinese Traditional Medicine prescriptions. ↵

⁵ These are most likely excerpts from books regarding Chinese Traditional Medicine. Once again very rough, and translated very literally. ↵

⁶ 岐山道人 Qishan-daoren: Qishan, actual place in China. The old man’s daoist title. Daoren, one of the honorific suffixes for a daoist. ↵