Chapter 62: A Haunting! You Actually Fear Ghosts?

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Inside the courtyard, a violent surge of internal energy shook the air.

Muffled impacts echoed repeatedly as Ye Liuyun practiced his martial arts.

A fierce wind whipped through the quiet courtyard, stripping the leaves from the old tree until its branches were almost bare.

Ye Liuyun's figure darted back and forth across the yard, his fist techniques fierce and powerful, whistling through the air with ferocious momentum.

Under such conditions, the maidservants had no way of lingering in the courtyard for long.

"Hoo!"

After a long while, the turbulent internal energy finally subsided completely.

"I've finally broken through!"

With these words, Ye Liuyun slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

On his personal attribute panel, his realm had shifted from the mid-stage Xiantian to the late-stage Xiantian.

He had originally thought that, having just broken through to the mid-stage Xiantian not long ago, it would take at least some time to reach the late-stage. Never did he expect that the upgrade of a single talent trait would instantly break his cultivation bottleneck.

Furthermore,

the late-stage Xiantian was far from the limit of the Combat Physique.

Even if he were to simply progress step-by-step with his cultivation from this point on, it probably wouldn't take much time to reach the peak of Xiantian, or even the Grandmaster realm.

And this was merely a golden-quality Combat Physique talent.

If he were to acquire a second and a third cultivation-related talent trait in the future, he probably wouldn't even need to practice hard; he could simply be stacked right up to the Great Grandmaster realm.

Not to mention that above the golden-quality traits, there was an even higher tier: the red-quality traits.

He could only wonder

what kind of miraculous effects a red-quality trait could achieve.

He was starting to feel rather expectant.

He believed that the day he could truly sit back and relax without a single worry was drawing closer and closer.

...

For some time afterward, Ye Liuyun rarely ventured out of the city.

Every day was spent practicing martial arts and more martial arts. With Si Nan and Shi Sheng overseeing the affairs of the Brocade Guards, Ye Liuyun didn't need to worry about anything at all, placing his primary focus squarely on his martial arts training.

In this day and age,

anything else could deceive you, but the strength cultivated within your own body would never betray you.

Such days continued for over half a month,

until a certain case prompted Ye Liuyun to lead Si Nan, Shi Sheng, and a detachment of Brocade Guards out of the imperial capital.

"Hoo!"

Riding on horseback, Ye Liuyun wore a relaxed expression.

Although martial arts training was of paramount importance, occasionally stepping out to relax his mind was quite pleasant and beneficial for elevating his state of mind.

"My lord, do you think the haunting described in this case is real or fake?"

Si Nan rode his horse alongside Ye Liuyun.

Recalling the case they were about to handle, he couldn't suppress his curiosity and asked.

***

The case Ye Liuyun had taken on involved a small town not too far from the imperial capital. The town had originally been peaceful and harmonious, but just a few days ago, people reported seeing eerie, drifting ghost-fires in the dead of night.

Some villagers were even witnessed being burned to death directly by these ghost-fires.

Panic had gripped the entire village, leaving them with no choice but to report the matter to the Brocade Guards.

"Legends of ghosts and spirits have existed since ancient times. Whether they are true or not, we will know once we take a look."

Even before his transmigration, Ye Liuyun had always held the attitude of "better safe than sorry," let alone now, when he had personally experienced something as fantastical as transmigration.

The sudden appearance of some ghost didn't seem all that strange anymore.

"However, trying to claim that ghosts are haunting based solely on so-called ghost-fires is far too far-fetched."

When it came to handling cases, Ye Liuyun remained remarkably serious.

In his view, there were actually many ways to create fire out of thin air. Although substances like phosphorus powder were not widely circulated in this era, certain jianghu tricksters were still well-versed in them.

Aside from that, using other methods to produce flames from nothing was hardly a difficult task.

Therefore,

whether it was truly a haunting by ghosts still required personal investigation to ascertain.

"My lord is wise!"

Si Nan nodded cooperatively, offering a smooth and natural compliment.

However,

the moment he turned his head, Si Nan noticed Shi Sheng, who had been quietly riding on the other side the entire time.

He cast a rather strange look in that direction.

"I say, why are you being so quiet this time? You haven't said a single word?"

He hadn't noticed it at first,

but Si Nan suddenly realized that ever since leaving the city, Shi Sheng had been acting like a wooden post, not uttering a single word—completely different from his usual self.

"What is there to say?"

Even upon hearing Si Nan's remark, Shi Sheng only muttered a brief, sullen reply before falling silent once again.

Strange, truly bizarre.

Si Nan's interest was instantly piqued.

"Come on, share your thoughts on this case. Do you think it's a ghost haunting?"

At the mention of the word "ghost," Shi Sheng's eyelids visibly twitched, and he turned his head to avoid looking at Si Nan.

"Didn't my lord say we need to verify it ourselves before we can know for sure?"

"..."

At this moment, even Ye Liuyun sensed that something was amiss with Shi Sheng.

Si Nan possessed a nimble mind and immediately put two and two together.

A playful, teasing smile crept onto the corner of his lips.

"Well, verification requires someone to actually go and check it out. Shi Sheng, how about when night falls, you go and check it out?"

"No way!"

Hearing this, Shi Sheng threw caution to the wind and hastily raised his head to object.

Catching Si Nan's teasing gaze, Shi Sheng quickly scrambled to explain.

***

"I need to stay by my lord's side to protect him! Your lightness skill is better, you should go."

*Does the lord really need you to protect him?*

If you're going to make up an excuse, at least find one that sounds somewhat believable.

Si Nan finally figured out where Shi Sheng's odd behavior stemmed from.

"I say,"

he smiled as he urged his horse closer to Shi Sheng,

speaking in a bantering tone.

"You aren't scared of ghosts, are you?"

"How could that be!"

As if stepping on his sore spot, Shi Sheng stiffened his neck and retorted,

"I, Shi Sheng, have always walked an upright path; how could I possibly be afraid of some specter?"

*"Do no evil in the daytime, and you won't fear a knock on the door at midnight."*

Si Nan would have to be an idiot to believe such a transparent protestation of innocence.

"Is that so? Then you go investigate."

"I need to protect my lord."

"You're afraid of ghosts."

"I am not!"

"Then go investigate."

"I..."

For once, Shi Sheng was left completely speechless in front of Si Nan.

"We're all brothers here. If you say you're afraid of ghosts, it's not like I'm going to laugh at you."

Si Nan reached out and patted Shi Sheng's shoulder.

"You really won't laugh?"

"Of course..."

Si Nan paused for a fraction of a second, the smile on his lips widening significantly.

"...I'm lying!"

"Hahahahaha!"

"You're actually afraid of ghosts, hahahahaha!"

Watching Si Nan laugh so hard he was rocking back and forth, Shi Sheng remained silent, his face utterly devoid of expression.

Only his fists clenched a little tighter.

*What should I do? I really feel like hitting someone right now.*

Everyone had things they feared; rugged and robust as Shi Sheng appeared, he genuinely harbored a deep dread of all things supernatural and ghostly.