Chen Chuan cast a glance at his second self. As predicted, he was blurring out, and the damage was more severe this time.
Chen Chuan remembered the report stating he could not look at the ghost’s face, so he didn’t let his eyes wander toward her. Instead, he kept them fixed on the screen.
But he could not ignore the stimulation from the ghost to his mutated tissue. In order to not let it grow like weed, he had to use his breathing technique to guide the growth.
Ignoring the unpredictable additional damage, the ghost’s effect was even stronger than that of the medicine, which had seeped into his body.
Chen Chuan ignored all external interruptions and focused on his task. Just like when he trained, he did not have to worry about anything else as long as he had his second self as a defense.
Time passed. At some point later, Chen Chuan realized that his second self’s blurring had stopped spreading. He sucked in a deep breath and waited for a while before turning his head slowly to the side. The seat next to him was empty. There was no ghost there.
Chen Chuan regulated his breathing for a bit before standing up and leaving the auditorium. After he walked out, he greeted the assistant and Huang Dacheng when he saw them waiting for him and told them that he would come in the evening again. Then, he left.
When he stepped outside, the sky was dark. It was only after he got out of the car that had sent him back that Chen Chuan noticed something wrong.
He touched his uniform and found that some threads had come loose. Also, it looked like the color around there had faded. Wondering whether his mind was playing tricks with him, he turned on the light and found that the color had indeed faded. Chen Chuan sank into pensive silence.
Cheng Zitong’s report did not mention the ghost changing her seat, so there was no explanation or solution for this.
Chen Chuan wondered what brought it on. Was it because he had been guiding his mutated tissue’s growth?
That was indeed a possibility. It was the only thing Chen Chuan had done while in the auditorium. No one else must have done it before, but he had to do it. He could not allow his mutated tissue to grow however it wanted. He had to restrict it.
But there was also the problem of him needing three days to get rid of the ghost. On the second day, she had already moved right next to him. This made Chen Chuan wonder: What was going to happen on the third day? Would she overlap with him or move somewhere else?
If that happened, how should he deal with it?
He could ask Cheng Zitong about it once the sun was up. After all, his mentor was highly knowledgeable in this area.
So, Chen Chuan decided to sleep for a little while. When it was a little past 8 a.m., he got up, showered, and went out. He had intended to wear the jacket he wore the day before, but when he picked it up, he noticed that it had become a little older. Still, his jacket was the only one affected. The clothes underneath and his watch were fine.
After thinking it over, Chen Chuan changed clothes and went to a public phone to call Cheng Zitong.
The call went through, and he heard Cheng Zitong’s voice. “Xiao Chuan, why the call so early in the morning? Did you run into any problems?”
“I do have a question, Mr. Cheng. Here’s what happened,” Chen Chuan said and gave a general rundown of what had happened a few hours ago.
Cheng Zitong mulled over it for a bit after hearing what had happened. “It’s not convenient for us to talk about this over the phone. Don’t be in a hurry to come up with a solution. I’ll come find you at noon and help you think of something.”
“Okay,” Chen Chuan said and hung up.
He was not affected by this turn of events and continued with his daily training. When noon arrived, Cheng Zitong showed up. “Come. Let’s have lunch. We can talk while eating.”
Chen Chuan knew that Cheng Zitong was really busy and pressed for time, so he had to work even during meal time. Hence, he just followed along. They went to the teacher’s dining area in the cafeteria. Once they ordered their meals, Cheng Zitong asked for some details. Then, he pondered over it. “I’ve never heard of the midnight ghost changing locations. Your situation is quite unique, and it might really be related to you guiding your mutated tissue’s growth.
“Based on past records, whether they were those from the old era or the current times, martial artists are the ones who run into ghosts and urban legends most often. It seems like they’re naturally attracted to us.
“Of course, if a normal person sees a ghost, they usually die or are unable to leave their name in history about their sighting, so we can’t just make a hasty conclusion that they’re only attracted to martial artists. Anyway, let’s go back to your problem. You’re saying that you think that the ghost will move again tonight and might even sit right where you are?”
“It feels quite likely,” Chen Chuan confirmed.
“There’s one easy solution: Give up on the mission. Ghosts like the movie theater’s midnight ghost only appear in a certain area. If you stay away from that place, you won’t be in danger. At worst, you might get sick or feel lethargic and blue for a while,” Cheng Zitong said.
“If I choose to leave, the ghost will not disappear, right?”
“Yes, and she might become even more dangerous than before.”
“Then, I don’t intend to give up. Isn’t there any other way to solve this problem?” Chen Chuan asked.
Cheng Zitong grinned at him. “I just knew that you wouldn’t give up. There’s another easy solution: Shut your eyes. The greatest taboo in this mission is to look at the ghost’s face. If you avoid this, you will avoid most of the danger. But since this is a unique situation, it’s not a reliable solution. I have something else that can help you, though.”
He grabbed his briefcase and took out a rusty old mirror. “This was left behind after I took out a ghost before. Take it with you tonight and put it one row behind you. Remember that it must be on the seat right behind you.”
Chen Chuan took the mirror and asked, “Is this all I need, Mr. Cheng?”
“This will be enough. Even though I’ve never run into your situation before, I’ve been researching ghosts and urban legends for years, so I do have some ways to deal with them. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have let you accept the mission.
“But you must understand that when it comes to these things, having a solution doesn’t mean that everything is fine and dandy from there on out, nor does it mean that there’s no other solution aside from the one given to you. You must pay attention to what’s going on around you. Ghosts and urban legends are really harmful to normal people. The slightest misstep can get them killed, but us martial artists are more resilient. This ghost isn’t all that dangerous, so I’m sure that you can tackle it on your own.” New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹~𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮~𝚗𝚎𝚝
Chen Chuan nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Cheng.”
“Alright, let’s eat,” Cheng Zitong said with a smile.
After he had lunch, Chen Chuan returned to the dorm and threw himself into training.
When it was 6 p.m., he got ready, grabbed his bag, and left with his saber.
The car from the movie theater arrived on time and sent him straight to Orchid Fragrance Theater. At this point, Chen Chuan was already familiar with the road. After he greeted Mr. Huang and his assistant, he went straight to the auditorium.
Once there, he removed his bag and hung it outside before taking the mirror out. He went to the middle seat, opened up the wooden stand fixed to the back of the mirror, and set it behind him.
With that done, he sat down and began watching the movies.
Orchid Fragrance Theater was truly the largest movie theater in the southern part of the city. It had so many movies that Huang Dacheng had no trouble finding those he had not watched before. This time, he played foreign movies for Chen Chuan, allowing him to see the cultures of other countries.
As the movies continued playing, midnight approached.
This time, Chen Chuan did not wear his watch and could not observe the time accurately. All he could do was wait silently.
It felt like a century had passed before the screen flickered, and he felt a chill down his spine. At the same time, his second self started blurring out.
But he did not see the ghost. She did not appear in the seat next to him. If the old mirror was effective, she should be sitting right behind him.
Chen Chuan observed his second self. The blurring effects were stronger than what any medicine could do. Even if he did not use the Respiration Node Breathing Technique, he could sense how abnormally active his mutated tissue was. The powerful stimulation was causing it to grow rapidly.
Chen Chuan was prepared for this. He shut his eyes and used the method He Xiaoxing taught him to guide his mutated tissue’s growth so that it would not grow wantonly.
While doing this, he noticed that the blurring effect wasn’t diminishing. Instead, it grew stronger. This showed that the ghost was getting closer to him. She might actually overlap with him in the end, but Chen Chuan did not move. He just threw himself into guiding the growth of his mutated tissue.
This lasted for a very long time. When it was 4 a.m., all of a sudden, the chills disappeared without a trace. The projector also stopped playing the movie, though Chen Chuan did not know whether it was a coincidence or the projector had broken down.
Chen Chuan waited for a while before he opened his eyes and stood up. He groped around the seat next to him and found the flashlight he had placed there. Once he turned it on, he swung it a bit to check his surroundings. Then, he walked out of the row to go to the row behind him to grab the old mirror.
When he was about to leave, something caught his eye, and he shone the flashlight there. He picked up a dusty old photo from the crack between the backrest and the cushion.
He illuminated the photo, which was about two inches in size, but it was so old and yellowed that he could not see the face of the woman in the center of it. He could only tell that she had a slim, graceful build. Her hair hung all the way down to her ankles, and she appeared to be wearing vintage stage clothes.
After some thinking, Chen Chuan put the photo away. When he left the auditorium, he spoke to Huang Dacheng’s assistant, who left in a hurry. Soon, Huang Dacheng came running. He wiped his sweat with his handkerchief and asked eagerly, “How was it, Mr. Chen?”
“It’s done, Mr. Huang,” Chen Chuan said.
Delighted, Huang Dacheng grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously. “Thank you, Mr. Chen, truly! You’ve helped us greatly!”
“You don’t have to thank me, Mr. Huang. I came here to take care of this problem,” Chen Chuan said.
“I still have to thank you. We’ve approached a number of other people before coming to you, but they either rejected our request or said that they couldn’t deal with it. It had to be you! You really are a professional. You managed to solve this huge problem for us the moment you stepped in. You’ll be our VIP from now on. We’ll always give you our best service whenever you come,” Huang Dacheng said gratefully.
Chen Chuan took out the old photo and showed it to him. “I have a question, Mr. Huang. Do you recognize the person in the photo?”
Huang Dacheng drew closer to take a look, then shook his head. He was about to give it back when he seemed to remember something. “Wait. Perhaps someone else may recognize her. Can I borrow the photo for a second?”
Chen Chuan handed the photo over.
Huang Dacheng asked his assistant to see that Chen Chuan was properly attended to before running away with the photo. After around ten minutes, he came back huffing and puffing. Once he regulated his breathing, he said, “I got it, Mr. Chen. The woman is wearing the theater’s old stage clothes. She must have been a stage actress.”