Chapter 333 - 326: Taking You to Scare Ghosts

Chapter 333: Chapter 326: Taking You to Scare Ghosts

"The Monkey awakened his Magic Power?"

Although Qin Xiaoxia phrased it as a question, his tone showed no surprise.

"Yes. The Magic Power is gold in color. Unfortunately, it hasn’t reached the Soul Burning Stage. As for the ’will’ that forerunners focus on, I don’t really get it, but I think the Monkey is close."

Baru, on the other end of the line, had already sat back down in the dining hall. Hot hamburgers were being placed out one by one, with various drinks on the side.

In his hand was a cell phone he only used here.

Continuing to exist as a non-Evolver in a special department of the United States was a plan set by the association. If Baru were to truly appear as an independent Evolver, the other three of the original Four Knights would attract more attention.

This also spared him the trouble of being studied.

However, there was a small problem regarding his diet. No matter how strong and muscular a man was, he couldn’t eat an outrageously large amount of food. This meant that when Baru was out in the field, he had to keep his food intake to within three times that of a normal person.

It didn’t affect his strength too much, but he still had that feeling of not being completely full.

Whenever he had a free moment and returned to any of the association’s locations, Baru would never pass up the chance to gorge himself.

The members of the Silent Knight Order shared a similar eating habit. They weren’t fond of overly refined food, mainly because it was a hassle to eat. They preferred large quantities that were convenient and quick.

"Mm, right. How are its injuries? You forcing out its potential couldn’t have been a gentle process, right?"

Hearing Master Sage say this, Baru couldn’t help but laugh.

"I know my limits. It’ll be fine after a few days of rest. That Monkey is really tough, especially its bones—they’re incredibly hard. Although I couldn’t go all out, it was a rare chance for me to stretch my muscles."

You could tell Baru was in a pretty good mood, probably because he rarely had a suitable opportunity to make a move.

Qin Xiaoxia chuckled as well. The Monkey had truly served as a punching bag this time. If Baru had really wanted to end the fight quickly, it wouldn’t have dragged on for so long. As for how much strength Baru had used, it was hard to say.

"That Monkey is going to be incredible in the future. But you don’t have to worry about it beating you up in a year or two."

As he spoke, he looked at the potion in his hand—a golden-red liquid with a swirling gray current inside.

"The Type-G Magic Potion is finally complete. It’s a rare and opportune creation. The cost was even greater than I imagined. I estimate that among all the people in the association who can use Magic Potions, you’re currently the only one who can withstand it."

Unlike the regular series, which started with numerical designations, those starting with a letter were, by Qin Xiaoxia’s definition, special Magic Potions that were nearly impossible to replicate.

The pursuit of power is a desire common to everyone. Even Baru couldn’t help but breathe faster upon hearing this news.

At the same time, his heart filled with emotion.

Although he understood that developing Magic Potions was a long-established plan of Master Sage, his Mentor, he was also keenly aware that a large part of the motivation was for the original Four Knights.

Because they couldn’t awaken Magic Power, and with the path of advancement for the ancient Silent Knights already lost, Master Sage had essentially forged a new path for them from scratch.

It was rare for a tough man like Baru to get sentimental, but the surprise clearly didn’t end there.

"Oh, right, Baru. I’m not entirely sure, but this potion contains a wisp of Jilian’s soul essence, extracted from an Ancient Demon Remnant. If you can truly digest and control the power of this Magic Potion, you might just have a chance to gain Magic Power."

Qin Xiaoxia was usually boastful to outsiders but conservative with his own people. For him to say this meant he was quite optimistic about the potential changes. But with something like a Type-G Magic Potion, it was impossible to grasp all the variables. It would ultimately depend on Baru’s own destiny.

’Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that with Baru’s current soul strength and physical constitution, he still can’t awaken Magic Power. Is the purity of one’s body and soul really that important?’

His powerful willpower had already integrated his body and soul, making them as tough as an alloy. Aside from the past trauma that had affected his awakening, he was a nearly flawless warrior in all other aspects.

Qin Xiaoxia truly didn’t believe Baru would stop here. If there was no path, he would blaze one himself.

After hanging up the phone, he set the Magic Potion aside. Baru would naturally come and get it when he had a free moment.

He rested his chin in his hand and thought for a while, then began to modify the Magic Patterns on the Sheepskin Scroll on his desk with his index finger. The scroll listed the various current power statuses and ranking systems that the association had analyzed.

Once he was mostly done with the work at hand, he still had a tricky problem to face.

A bowl of steaming hot egg fried rice sat on the edge of the desk, emitting an enticing aroma. Its color was perfect, the rice grains were plump, the egg was evenly distributed, and it was even accompanied by a secret-recipe soup.

’Hmm, to eat or not to eat...’

This was the pinnacle of Doudou’s work after a long time. Just by its appearance, it had already reached the level of a work of art.

He glanced at the desk calendar. April 1st, the 26th day of the second lunar month. It was April Fool’s Day, and the Qingming Festival was just a few days away.

’Forget it, I’d better not eat it...’

But he could tell Doudou had put a lot of heart into it this time. If he just left it there, it might damage his confidence.

He originally planned to find a box to store it but felt it wasn’t right to feed it to anyone or anything. So, with a tap of his finger, he simply incinerated the fried rice with Magic Power.

He left a dozen or so grains of rice and some bits of egg and scallion on the original plate, and completely emptied the soup bowl.

A dozen minutes later, Doudou burst in, slamming the door open with a BANG.

"Big cousin, did you eat that fried rice?"

As he spoke, he had already jumped onto the desk. He spotted the plate and soup bowl, then looked at Qin Xiaoxia.

"You ate it all?"

"Yep!" 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

"Was it good?"

He honestly had no idea if it was good or not.

"It was definitely much better than what you used to make."

Doudou then started scratching his head, looking his big cousin up and down.

"You’re okay?"

Those words made Qin Xiaoxia’s eye twitch. ’So he didn’t come here looking for praise.’

"With my constitution... I won’t die!"

"Phew... That’s good. I accidentally put in a few wrong things. I thought you’d get a stomachache."

Looking at Doudou’s dejected appearance, there wasn’t a hint of guilt. Instead, he looked disappointed.

Suppressing the urge to flick him away, Qin Xiaoxia threw him directly out of the attic.

He didn’t want to know what ingredients Doudou had used. In any case, he would never have the thought to taste-test again. Naturally, he also didn’t know that Gou Junbao, who had mistakenly eaten the "poison," was currently stuck on the toilet, unable to leave.

For it to cause someone like Gou Junbao, whose physical fitness was at the Reserve Level, to lose his composure like this, it might have been a lethal dose for an ordinary person.

...

As the Qingming Festival approached, the number of people visiting their relatives’ graves to sweep the tombs gradually increased.

Little Grey Mountain was a small hill on the outskirts of Rongcheng in Sichuan Province. A decade or so ago, no one knew about it except for the nearby villagers. But ever since the township funded the construction of a cemetery after consulting a feng shui master, the place gradually became famous.

Over the years, the cemetery had been expanded several times, and many people from within Rongcheng itself bought plots here for their deceased relatives.

In fact, consulting feng shui is a long-standing custom in Hua Country. Even government agencies often couldn’t avoid the practice. On one hand, some people genuinely believed in it; on the other, a cemetery, being a crucial final resting place for Huaguo People, was taken seriously by everyone.

When a township wanted to build a cemetery, even if the leaders didn’t believe in feng shui, they ultimately had to sell the plots to the common people. If the feng shui was bad, no one would buy. Were they supposed to build a cemetery for their own amusement?

So, it was an unwritten rule that the feng shui for such projects had to be considered. Not only that, but the public had to be made aware that the place had good feng shui, making it a good place to rest in peace after death.

In reality, it wasn’t just cemeteries. Many important buildings also had their layouts determined by feng shui masters, but this was something that was never said publicly.

As a commercial cemetery, Little Grey Mountain Cemetery naturally had its own management team. Forty-three-year-old Old Dan was one of the grassroots-level employees.

One could even say he was a modern-day tomb keeper.

In a small building beside Little Grey Mountain Cemetery, the manager once again pushed the resignation letter back.

"Old Dan, you’ve worked here for over a decade. You know how hard it is to hire people. If you’re unhappy with your pay, just say so!"

"Boss, it’s... I’m not doing this because of the money. I’m..."

"You’re what? Then spit it out!"

"Sigh!"

Old Dan sighed.

"Boss, have you really not heard anything? You don’t know what everyone else here has been discussing privately?"

"Know what? Don’t pay any mind to baseless rumors. Did you see it with your own eyes?"

"Well, no."

"Then that settles it! Alright, how about this? I’ll add another 500 to your monthly salary. Just don’t mention resigning again. The Qingming Festival is almost here, so make sure the cemetery is tidy and the trash is cleaned up regularly. You can go now."

He hadn’t managed to resign, but his secondary objective of getting a raise had been achieved.

As night approached, the bit of joy from the daytime raise was now being diluted by a gradually rising sense of fear.

Usually, two people would stay here at night. Today, it was Old Dan’s turn, along with a young lad who hadn’t been there for long, Xiaohong.

They say young people are full of vigor, but at this moment in the first-floor office, Xiaohong was rubbing his hands together nonstop.

"Brother Shan, why is it so cold tonight? Shouldn’t the temperature be in the teens?"

"You’re a young lad, can’t you handle this? Put on more layers when we go out for patrol in a bit. Wear your overcoat."

Hearing this, Xiaohong’s expression soured a little.

"Brother Shan, can’t we just not go out today? The things I’ve heard them talking about during the day these past few days are pretty scary."

"Heh, you’re just the type they’re trying to scare. How can a cemetery not have a few strange occurrences? Let me tell you, there are plenty of mysterious things in this world. If you don’t train your courage, you’ll end up scaring yourself into trouble over nothing."

"I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up when it’s time."

...

「At 8 PM.」

Old Dan was gently shaken awake by Xiaohong. He opened his eyes and found that the lights in the room were off.

He looked up, about to speak, when he saw the young man with a nervous expression on his face, holding a finger to his lips and shushing him fiercely.

Seeing that Old Dan hadn’t shouted, Xiaohong let out a sigh of relief.

The older man was made nervous by him as well. His heart began to beat faster involuntarily. He followed Xiaohong quietly to the window and looked out in the direction the young man was pointing, toward a distant part of the cemetery.

But when Old Dan saw what it was, he relaxed completely.

It was two thieves stealing "paper ash."

Among the joss paper burned for deceased friends and relatives, some is made of tin foil. If you sweep up the ashes and collect them, you can sell them for a good bit of money—several dozen yuan per kilogram.

There’s an especially large amount of it in cemeteries around the Qingming Festival. The cemetery staff can’t clean it up every day; they only do it periodically, so a lot accumulates.

Little Grey Mountain was strictly managed during the day, so no one could sweep it away. But at night, it seemed some people had come to steal it.

"Come on, I’ll show you how to scare some ’ghosts’!"

Old Dan said with a laugh to the jumpy Xiaohong.