Chapter 7
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Chapter 7: Title
The Ghost in Red’s words carried such villainous charm that Ye Linlang let out a teasing whistle. "With that tone, you’ll hardly convince anyone – no, let me rephrase – nobody except me would ever believe you’d actually spare them."
Having created this scarlet spirit herself, Ye Linlang knew the Ghost in Red never broke her word. Once promised, it became law.
The crimson-clad apparition tilted her head with amusement at Bai Ye. "Your time dwindles like sand through fingers, mortal. My patience wears thinner by the breath."
Her true objective required no bloodshed – if this earnest youth could satisfy her conditions, perhaps he’d prove worthy of trust. To the Ghost in Red’s cultivated senses, murder left bitter aftertaste on spiritual progress; she’d avoid that path if alternatives glimmered.
During the creation process, Ye Linlang had woven underlying rules into all specters:
—Spirits might pursue vengeance against their killers, but would accumulate "sin" for such acts. Harming innocents compounded this burden – unabsolved souls faced purgatorial torment barred from reincarnation, while ghost cultivators found their paths thornier, heavy sin attracting heavenly lightning’s cleansing fury.
After all, Lady Ye fancied herself no demon queen – endless mortal slaughter made for tedious storytelling.
Bai Ye’s decision now branched reality – peaceful resolution or the Ghost in Red’s dissolution. Ye Linlang observed like a playwright watching act-finale unfold, content as Blue Star’s hidden architect rather than nursemaid. Her true gaze focused on the approaching "World" conflict nine moons hence.
"Can I trust you?"
Bai Ye’s question hung between them as he studied the spirit. Crimson bridal silks couldn’t eclipse her inner luminance – that dangerous elegance blending grace with blade-sharp resolve.
This ghost had only threatened Jiang Yao initially; the vigorous shouts from below proved no lives taken. A creature of her power needed no elaborate schemes for murder – a truth Bai Ye’s sharp mind had pieced together.
"Another once posed that query," the Ghost in Red’s lips curved like a scarlet dagger. "Shall I show you his answer?"
CRACK! The jade symbol exploded against stone tiles.
"Bai Ye!" Jiang Yao gasped, clutching her injured arm. The jade’s destruction left them defenseless – madness, unless…
"My part’s done." Bai Ye’s voice held steady, though his knuckles whitened. "Honor yours now."
"How you mirror him…" The ghost’s eyes widened momentarily before she laughed – clear and cold as temple bells. A flick of her wrist reduced jade fragments to glittering dust. "No mending that now, little phoenix."
Jiang Yao’s face drained of color. Bai Ye’s pulse quickened – this gamble could see them all devoured.
The pendant’s earlier strike had dimmed its glow, yet left the ghost unharmed. Bai Ye’s calculations proved sound – exhausting its power risked enraging their opponent. Sometimes surrender opened paths where resistance closed them.
"My word binds me." The Ghost in Red inclined her head. Black mist coalesced into leaping, twisted forms – the Jumping Ghosts from below, now circling hungrily.
"Your turn, oathkeeper."
"Me?" Bai Ye’s throat tightened. The spectral gazes pierced like ice needles, but he stood firm – back straight against creeping dread.
The scarlet spirit glided forward, bridal veils swirling like blood mist. "Her death would have freed me to reclaim what’s mine."
"But since I promised not to claim her life, I’ll honor my vow." The Ghost in Red positioned herself before Bai Ye, their proximity so intimate a mere hand’s reach could bridge the gap.
Her fingers closed around his wrist as crimson-lacquered nails elongated into talons, etching an otherworldly pattern into his pallid flesh with deliberate precision. Bai Ye watched immobilized, the carved lines blossoming into slender wounds that pulsed with numbing coldness – a frostbite sensation disguising its own sting.
"Alone I cannot depart," she murmured, studying him through lowered lashes. The jade symbol’s activation during Spiritual Energy’s resurgence had betrayed his uncommon nature. Her suspicion ripened into certainty as she tasted the awakening power in his veins – an accidental catalysis by tonight’s ghostly presence. Fortune smiled; this blood-empowered vessel required no murderous sacrifice.
"A spiritual pattern…"
The rooftop door exploded inward again, this time disgorging black-uniformed officers and the trembling forms of Big Black and Xiao Bai. Seven gun barrels snapped toward the scarlet specter in unison.
"Surrender immediately!" Captain Zhang barked at the hanfu-clad apparition. "Your theatrics end here."
The Ghost in Red resembled nothing more than a Hanzhou City street enthusiast in traditional attire – until Jiang Yao’s relieved gasp curdled into terror at the officers’ ghostly accusation.
Snarling phantoms surged toward the police before freezing beneath their mistress’ glacial glance. She observed the modern lawmen with amused detachment, then pressed a chill finger to Bai Ye’s brow.
"Retrieve a golden bell. Seven dawns hence, I return."
Her form dissolved into crimson mist, spiraling into the wrist-bound sigil. With her departure, the sustaining force evaporated – ghostly figures disintegrating like smoke in a tempest.
The collapsing illusion revealed the school’s true decay, twenty years of neglect materializing instantly. Captain Zhang holstered his weapon, eyes narrowing at Bai Ye’s glowing mark.
"Station. Now. And explain that vanishing… entity."
Jiang Yao stumbled past, voice frayed: "Bai Ye… what did she…"
"Nothing permanent." He rotated the undimmed sigil, its carmine hue persisting as sole testament to their supernatural night.
When the rooftop stood empty, Bai Ye whispered to the lingering frost in his veins: "They’ve departed. Our turn."
Ye Linlang yawned, drowsiness creeping in after her midnight excursion. The moment her words faded, she teleported back to her bathroom.
"Recall phantom," she commanded.
【Phantom Ye Linlang recalled.】
"Compile tonight’s expenditure report."
【Teleportation, concealment, and phantom creation consumed 3 Fantasy Points.】
【Creation of [Temporary Illusion: Red Shadow] (1hr duration): 5 Fantasy Points. Supplementary additions: [Temporary·Endless Staircase], [Jumping Ghost], [Jade Symbol], [Shatter]… 2 Points.】
【Permanent upgrade [Spiritual Pattern Mark: Ghost in Red]: 1 Point. [Seven-day Cycle·Half-hour Manifestation·Tier Seven Ghost in Red]: 70 Points per activation.】
【[Temporary Illusion: Campus Red Shadow] dissolved after 49m36s. Experimental data archived.】
【Total expenditure: 81 Fantasy Points (includes 50-point advance payment for seven-day manifestation cycle).】
【Current balance: 30,019 Fantasy Points. Pending estimation from viral live streaming footage: 40,000-50,000 additional points anticipated.】
"*cough*!!" Ye Linlang nearly choked on her water, thumping her chest until she regained speech. "System! That much from one直播?!" Her eyes glittered like minted coins, knowing Fantasy Points outweighed currency itself.
【Confirmed balance: 30,019. Projected fluctuation range: 40k-50k.】
"This changes everything!" She exhaled in relief, laughter bubbling forth. "Far exceeds expectations!"
"Admittedly, the operation had flaws – rushed planning and amateurish set design." She scrolled through the Fantasy Point logs, noting clusters of 0.3-0.7 gains with occasional 4-6 point spikes. "600k viewers? More like inflated numbers… Glad your metrics filter the noise. Those projections must be from video reposts?"
【Affirmative.】
"System," she leaned forward eagerly, "Upgrade cost from tier zero to Tier One?"
【100,000 Fantasy Points.】
"…Never mind." Her hopeful expression crumpled into an eye-roll at the system’s impassive reply.
The apparent windfall now felt meager – insufficient even for a single Awakening of Spiritual Energy. "What about reaching peak Tier Nine?"
In her customized hierarchy, tier zero reality tolerated up to ninth-rank entities, subdivided into early/mid/late/peak stages. The framework borrowed from half-remembered web novels and this world’s obsolete martial manuscripts – soon-to-be-irrelevant texts, save for their tier classification system.
