âEvery Gathering must be held at a haunted mansion. This place happened to be chosen for this round. Whoever exterminates whatever is haunting the mansion first is the winner; itâs a good chance to boost oneâs reputation.â Feng Jinâs low voice reverberated in the darkness.
âThereâs a possibility that other exorcists will attack you and steal your badges. If your badge is stolen, you canât continue participating.â
âAnd if you steal everyone elseâs badge?â Shi Sheng suddenly asked.
Feng Jin blanked out for a moment before replying, âYouâd be awarded the title of grandmaster.â
âIs that title so great?â
âI guess so.â
All of the people who were just here at the Gathering to gain experience remained outside. Only those who were experienced could enter the mansion to participate. Hence, snatching all of the participantsâ badges was proof that one had high enough strength to claim the title of grandmaster, the greatest honour among exorcists.
Those with that title were respected no matter where they went.
âOkay! Letâs go rob them all then!â Shi Sheng rolled up her sleeves and got to work. Feng Jin pondered for a while before coming to the conclusion that helping her would be easier than stopping her.
Robbery was childâs play for Shi Sheng. And as a villain, her methods were naturally⌠less than honourable. Her victims did not even have time to react before they were robbedâthey werenât even able to catch a glimpse of who the thief was.
When the crowd outside saw that participants were streaming out of the mansion one after another, they went forward to ask, âWhat happened? Why are all of you coming out together?â
âEven if people did have badges stolen in the past, weâve never seen this many come out at a time!â
âDonât even mention it.â A dark-skinned, short man spat on the ground. âSome asshole used underhanded means to take our badges.â
âYeah! Once everyoneâs out, I want to see who the sneaky little shit is! Even if heâs stolen all of our badges, I refuse to acknowledge him! To use such despicable means⌠PEI!â
The people outside looked to their neighbors as their hearts pounded. âCould we be seeing the birth of a new grandmaster this year?â
An Su didnât know why, but she felt like this matter had something to do with her Ghost-jiejie.
âŚâŚ
In the mansion, Shi Sheng floated back to Feng Jinâs side after having eliminated yet another person.
âHow many are left?â
âThree.â Feng Jin paused before continuing, âThey are Guo Cheng from Baiyun Monastery, Song Jiang from Zhangchun Monastery, and Wei Li.â
Guo Cheng was the name of Xiao Baiâs Master.
âYou mean the monasteries from Mt. Tiandu?â Shi Sheng raised a brow before harrumphing disdainfully. âHow capable can those people who taught a bunch of idiots be?â
âTheyâre the real deal.â Feng Jin reminded Shi Sheng, âDonât underestimate them.â
âOh.â Shi Sheng gave a perfunctory response.
Noticing her uncaring expression, Feng Jin could only raise his vigilance.
They just so happened to run into Wei Li in one of the side courtyards. Wei Li had already learned from others that there was someone in the mansion stealing badges, and that this person had already been fairly successful. So, his first reaction upon meeting someone was to attack.
But Shi Sheng pulled out a smoke grenade and tossed it over. Wei Li was too quick, so he didnât have time to stop himself from stepping into the smoke-filled area.
Thump! And the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground could be heard.
âSo what if you have ability? If you canât use it, all of that ability is just rubbish.â
Feng Jin, ââŚâ
âHer methods are getting more brutal⌠She used to swing that sword of hers around before, but now she doesnât even bother to take it out.â
âWhereâd you get that thing you just tossed?â âGhosts can keep physical things on them? I feel like everything Iâve learnt is completely uselessâŚâ
Shi Sheng immediately moved over. âKiss me and Iâll tell you.â
Feng Jin, ââŚâ âCanât we just talk this over like normal people?!â
The end result was still him leaning down to give her a peck. His cheeks were burning, but fortunately it was too dark here so Shi Sheng couldnât see his face.
âI have a space. A space, you know? Like the things that can fit a ton of stuff in novels.â
Feng Jinâs lips twitched. âHas her chuunibyou relapsed?â
Shi Sheng paused, before continuing in a much darker tone, âEn⌠You wouldnât kill me to steal my space out of jealousy, would you?â
Feng Jin didnât know what kind of expression he should be making. âWell, youâd have to tell me what your spaceâs medium is firstâotherwise, how would I steal it?â
Although he didnât have a space, heâd seen records of it in his clan. Normally, spaces would have an item that served as a medium, and there were some mediums that would fuse with their owners when they acknowledged a master. The space would disappear when the owner died, so it couldnât be stolen.
A space sounded tempting, but to the current Feng Jin, it wasnât as tempting as the woman in front of him.
âI suppose so.â Shi Sheng nodded. âThen Iâll tell you once youâve been slept by me.â
âââŚonce youâve been slept by me.â
This woman and her ridiculous wordsâŚâ
Feng Jinâs heart, which had been calm for many years with nary a ripple, was currently surging and building up towards a storm. He lightly sighed.
The last two participants were eliminated by Shi Sheng using the same method.
âAnd weâre done!â Shi Sheng tossed the badges to Feng Jin. âCome on, praise me! Wasnât I great?â
Feng Jin was helpless. âEn, you were great.â
âYou didnât even fight them, what was so great about that? Great at underhanded tricks?â Feng Jin was already visualising the reactions of the people outsideâŚ
âForget it. Even if they all attack, Iâll still protect her.â
Snatching the badges didnât mean things were over; they still had to exterminate whatever was haunting the mansion.
All this while, Shi Sheng hadnât noticed anything out of the ordinary apart from the creepy atmosphere and messy surroundings.
âLetâs check out the back.â Feng Jin pulled her to the back courtyard of the mansion. This courtyard wasnât as dark, but the light here was only enough to make out some vague silhouettes.
Whooâshâ
A gust of cold wind of unknown origin blew over and caused the cluttered scraps in the yard to creak. Shi Shengâs brow furrowed before she drew her sword and brought it down on a pile of scrap.
âAh!â A sudden shriek arose from the pile and a white figure shot out.
Shi Sheng changed directions to swing at them.
âBig Sis, help! Big Sis, save me!â A childish voice rang out in the courtyard.
A black figure shot out from the room off to the side and lunged over to block the white figure with her body.
âNing Ying, youâre⌠back.â A somewhat hesitant and nervous voice made Shi Sheng stay her hand. Her sword stopped just shy of the woman who had appeared.
Shi Sheng examined her. The woman was wearing a bright red wedding dress. Yes, like the type used for weddings in ancient times.
Her features were hidden in the dark, so Shi Sheng couldnât really make them out. âYou know me?â
âSecond SisâŚâ The white shadow behind the woman peeked out and asked with a bit of uncertainty, âBig Sis, is it Second Sis?â
The woman ruffled his hair and replied with a less nervous, but more doubtful tone, âItâs her.â
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The child immediately came out from behind the woman. âSecond Sis! Second Sis! Itâs me, Xiaoyan! I really missed you!â
âXiaoyanâŚâ Images flashed in Shi Shengâs mind, vanishing before she could get a good grasp on them.
Shi Sheng kept her sword. âYou two really know me?â
âSecond Sis⌠whatâs with you?â Xiaoyan timidly tried to approach her, but was held back by the woman. âBig Sis, thatâs Second Sis! Why are you holding me back?â
âHow much do you remember?â The woman didnât release Xiaoyan, instead directing a question at Shi Sheng.