Chapter 74

The Qi Family, searched inside and out, still didn't know they'd let the real thief of the Yuantian Pearl walk free.

Back at his dorm, Jiang Luo's first task was to extract the Yuantian Pearl from beneath his flesh.

He wiped the blood with a towel, bit down on one edge of the gauze, and bandaged the wound. Halfway through, pain returned to the cut; sweat dampened the black-haired youth's fringe, and his white vest was soaked through on one side.

The second injury hurt worse than the first—the wound had been cut open again. Afterward, Jiang Luo's face was slightly pale.

The wound wasn't large, but it was deep. Jiang Luo figured the scar would be ugly, but a few extra scars on a man's body were no big deal. He rolled over and sat on the sink counter, leaning back against the Mirror, and lit a cigarette to numb the dull ache.

The Yuantian Pearl was set aside. He cleaned the bloodstains off it and held it up to the light for a look.

Such a beautiful bead—and yet it was that evil ghost's soul.

Jiang Luo clicked his tongue and flicked the ash. Halfway through the cigarette, his mind grew clearer. He picked up his Mobile Phone, the pale blue light falling across his face.

He was browsing the Xuanxue World's internal forum.

The news of the Qi Family's Yuantian Pearl being stolen had already spread. Plenty of onlookers were discussing it, marveling at how bold the thief was, saying that if caught, they'd face a gruesome end.

Jiang Luo smiled—not quite a smile—and exhaled a plume of smoke, glancing up at the ceiling.

The scene of him hiding the Yuantian Pearl had been seen by Chi You.

—Even if he hadn't seen the full form of that ghost eye, he was certain it had to be Chi You.

That strangely familiar gaze, like a beast's, like a deep-abyss monster's—viscous, raising a bone-deep horror—only Chi You had eyes like that.

Chi You must know clearly that Jiang Luo now possessed two Yuantian Pearls and one of Chi You's hearts. The evil ghost couldn't sit still. Jiang Luo was quite certain Chi You would come to take the Yuantian Pearl from his hands.

If Jiang Luo were Chi You, he wouldn't feel safe leaving his soul in an enemy's hands either.

By rights, the School's feng shui layout carried an auspicious aura, so a Livid Ghost or other Evil Presence could not enter. But what Chi You used now was the Divine Statue Body—neither truly Evil Presence nor human—so the feng shui layout had little effect on him. Had Chi You come in his Ghost state, however, he would surely have been barred.

Unfortunately, an evil ghost had countless tricks; feng shui layouts couldn't stop Puppets under his control.

Logically speaking, the Qi Family shouldn't have been breached so easily by Chi You. But the Qi Family Villa wasn't the Qi Family Ancestral Hall. The mountains were full of wandering ghosts, and the Qi Family valued formations over feng shui—which gave Chi You room to exploit.

Jiang Luo stubbed out his cigarette. This time he held the initiative; Chi You's weakness was in his hands, which meant he had the advantage. An advantage unused was wasted. Jiang Luo prepared to make all the necessary arrangements, ready to teach Chi You a proper lesson when he came.

After thinking it through, Jiang Luo went back to bed. But over the next two days, contrary to his expectations, Chi You didn't come to forcibly take the Yuantian Pearl.

This wasn't logical.

How much effort had Chi You put into wanting the Yuantian Pearl—even entering the Competition through the Puppet Bai Ye Feng to get first place. Unless he'd given up on the Yuantian Pearl, why would there be no movement?

Things had gone off-plan, and Jiang Luo grew suspicious. The evil ghost was never an easy opponent; he was unfathomable. Such unorthodox behavior might be normal for him, but Jiang Luo, who had clashed with Chi You frequently, felt something was off.

Jiang Luo waited patiently another day. When he had nothing to do, he even went shopping with Ye Xun and nearly died from Ye Xun's indecisiveness.

But by the end of the day, the evil ghost still hadn't appeared.

Jiang Luo was now thoroughly convinced something was wrong.

It was like a sword of Damocles hanging over his head, about to fall but not falling—this uncertainty made Jiang Luo deeply uncomfortable. He felt aggrieved, even rising into a darker, more brooding sense of being toyed with.

In the middle of the night, Jiang Luo stared at the moon with an expressionless face, smoked two cigarettes, and finally resolved: he would take the initiative and draw Chi You out.

How to lure out the evil ghost—Jiang Luo had plenty of experience. He remembered vividly the eighteen times he'd been killed in Chi You's nightmare realm, how he'd been in Chi You's room, used Chi You's things, said many provocative things, and only then drawn the evil ghost out.

Wasn't it just provoking Chi You in his own room?

He was practiced at this.

The next day, after his afternoon class, Jiang Luo went back to his dorm, prepared his things, and headed to Chi You's dorm. He'd always had Chi You's room key. The moment he entered, a burnt smell hit him.

That was the lingering smell from when Jiang Luo had once set Chi You's room on fire.

But in fact, Chi You's room had already been repaired. The charred floorboards had been replaced, the blackened walls repainted, the destroyed items all discarded. Apart from the lingering smell, the room was exactly as it had been when Jiang Luo first saw it.

Jiang Luo unceremoniously dropped his things on the floor, walked a circle around the room, and couldn't quite hide his disgust.

This room was the source of his nightmares.

Returning here, Jiang Luo could almost see one of his past deaths in every corner. Seeing the nail on the wall holding an easel, he remembered the pain of a nail piercing his skull. Seeing the bed, he remembered being locked to it and burned alive.

Jiang Luo surveyed it all calmly and thought: I will definitely kill Chi You eighteen times here too.

The dean and Chi You had a good relationship; even after Chi You's death, people still came to clean. This worked in Jiang Luo's favor. He gave the room a quick once-over, then went to shower, reeking of sweat. He wrapped the injured area in plastic wrap and made use of everything of Chi You's he could find.

He used Chi You's body wash, Chi You's shampoo. Eyes closed, rinsing the foam away, Jiang Luo even felt as though Chi You were right beside him.

He frowned. He didn't much like the feeling.

Jiang Luo walked out with a towel draped over him, arranged the Spirit Papers he'd brought, and took out the Divine Statue Heart he'd hidden.

Only then did a glimmer of amusement show on his face. Jiang Luo used the Yin-Yang Ring's secret mantra to form a dagger in his hand, sat on the sofa, and let the golden blade's tip graze the heart, barely touching.

This thing—Chi You had once chased him down trying to take it back, even luring him to Fengdu Ghost City for it.

Jiang Luo smiled. "What should I do to you, I wonder, to make your master show up?"

Under the dagger's threat, the Divine Statue Heart began to thump—thump, thump—slowly.

Jiang Luo tilted his head. "How about I carve my name into it?"

"To show you belong to me."

The more he thought about it, the more brilliant the idea seemed. Delighted, Jiang Luo carved his name into the Divine Statue Heart. With every stroke, the heart would clench.

One "Jiang" character finished, and outside it was already dark.

Jiang Luo paid it no mind and kept carving. Soon, the two characters "Jiang Luo" sat neatly on the Stone Heart, occupying the very center.

Jiang Luo nodded in satisfaction and rose to wash the stone dust off the Stone Heart. No lights were on in the room; the last sliver of afterglow sank, and the world went pitch black.

Jiang Luo was reaching for the light switch when a teasing laugh came from behind him: "On a night this fine, why turn on the lights?"

Jiang Luo's fingers paused on the switch. He turned and saw Chi You sitting in the single armchair.

Chi You's legs were crossed, his left hand propped on the armrest, supporting his head. Moonlight, silver-white, spilled through the floor-to-ceiling window; a few pale beams fell across him.

The tips of his leather shoes caught the moonlight. Chi You's jaw was outlined, his features flawless and deep, the upturned corner of his mouth laden with meaning—only his lips, whether from the moonlight or not, were pale to the point of looking ill.

Jiang Luo paused, squinting as he studied him. "So our Teacher Chi has arrived."

"Isn't this what you wanted?" Chi You's voice was casual. "So I came to keep the appointment."

Jiang Luo withdrew his hand and walked toward Chi You step by step. Chi You sat still but couldn't help a low laugh. "Ah, looks like tonight's going to be a dangerous date."

"A date? No, that's not what this is." Jiang Luo reached Chi You, bent down, braced his hands on either armrest of the sofa. His black hair fell onto Chi You's Tuxedo; the black-haired youth's smile deepened as he said, theatrically, "Chi You, why do you look a little off?"

He leaned closer in the dark, testing toward the evil ghost in the armchair, his faintly warm breath brushing the ghost's face like wind. A hidden excitement nearly tore through the darkness and broke out of his angelically beautiful face—until he saw the ghost's pitch-black eyes, and the black-haired youth laughed: "Ah, you really are a little off."

The black-haired youth straightened up, his fingers trailing along the sofa as he walked from Chi You's front to behind him.

The familiar scent of his post-shower body also permeated this small space.

The evil ghost, still propping his head, drawled lazily: "Mm?"

His voice still carried the laughter of someone holding all the cards.

Jiang Luo paused behind him, bent down, and whispered by Chi You's ear: "My, my, Mister Evil Ghost."

He couldn't help a laugh. "How come you've gotten weak?"