Chapter 1

The weather in early summer was already growing a little hot. Xie Chi followed the crowd toward the exit of the train station and spotted her martial nephew from a distance. It was hard to miss him, mainly because he was holding a sign high above his head with Xie Chi’s name written in red letters, complete with bold text and an underline.

Xie Chi breathed a sigh of relief and walked toward him. Even when she was standing right in front of him, her martial nephew didn’t recognize her. Xie Chi pointed at herself, then at the sign.

“Little Martial Aunt!” He hadn’t recognized her at all! But he couldn’t be blamed. He had expected Xie Chi to be wearing Taoist robes with that famous Demon-Slaying Sword strapped to her back. Who would have thought his little martial aunt would show up wearing a white T-shirt and a pair of jeans, ripped ones at that? She also had an exceptionally youthful face, making her look just like a student who had only recently entered university.

“Little Martial Aunt, why didn’t you bring your Demon-Slaying Sword? I didn’t even recognize you.” Her martial nephew scratched his head in embarrassment. After all, it had been a long time since he had last seen this martial aunt of his, who was young in age but senior in the sect’s hierarchy.

At the mention of this, Xie Chi looked rather aggrieved. “It got confiscated at the security checkpoint. Senior Brother said he’d help me get it back and mail it to me another day.”

Her martial nephew: …

Oh, right. The Demon-Slaying Sword counted as a restricted bladed weapon. It was perfectly normal for it to be confiscated at a security checkpoint.

What Xie Chi didn’t mention was that, fortunately, the Demon-Slaying Sword didn’t have a sharpened edge, so the security officers had assumed it was a tourist souvenir she’d bought. Otherwise, she might have been detained as well.

“All right. I still have a peachwood sword made from lightning-struck wood at home. I’ll give you one to use for now, Little Martial Aunt. It’ll help you de… keep your hands from feeling empty.” Her martial nephew had originally wanted to say it would help her defend herself, but after recalling her exploits, he obediently changed his wording.

“Thank you.” Xie Chi nodded, then said, “Master told me to come down the mountain to help you with something called livestreaming. I don’t really understand it. Could you explain it to me in detail?”

Her martial nephew knew that his little martial aunt had grown up on the mountain since childhood, so it was perfectly normal for her to be unfamiliar with such things. He quickly explained, “It’s like this, Little Martial Aunt. Not long ago, a huge disturbance broke out in the capital. The situation couldn’t be brought under control right away, and news about the hauntings spread quite widely. Someone over there contacted the Taoist Association and asked us to help put on a show to dispel feudal superstitions.”

Weren’t they themselves practitioners of feudal superstition? Xie Chi was thoroughly confused.

“Basically, we’ll be livestreaming ghost hunting, but we have to make everyone watching believe that ghosts don’t exist in this world and that all supernatural incidents and ghost stories are actually caused by humans. You can use Approaching Science as a reference. That program actually has people from our profession advising it behind the scenes.” Her martial nephew coughed before adding, “Can’t be helped. We live in a harmonious society, after all.”

Xie Chi finally understood. She was quite quick on the uptake. “I see. When do we start?”

“There’s no rush. You should get some proper rest first, Little Martial Aunt. We still need to contact the livestreaming platform.” Her martial nephew led Xie Chi outside. He had driven there, so he hurried to open the car door for her.

As Xie Chi climbed into the car, she asked in puzzlement, “Will anyone watch?”

“Of course! Apparently, quite a lot of people enjoy watching livestreamers explore places where supernatural incidents and ghost stories have occurred. The platform will promote the stream, too. Besides, Little Martial Aunt, you’re pretty! Who knows? You might even become an internet celebrity or something.” Her martial nephew chuckled. “You could become famous overnight!”

There was internet access on the mountain, but Xie Chi rarely went online. She only had a vague understanding of certain technical terms, so she occasionally asked her martial nephew questions. Gradually, she came to understand everything about livestreaming and related matters.

She had originally thought she’d been chosen to descend the mountain because she was the best among those her age at exorcising evil ghosts. Only after listening to the explanation for quite some time did she realize that she’d been selected because she was young and pretty. At first glance, she didn’t look like someone who hunted ghosts at all. In fact, people would be more likely to mistake her for a fraud.

Xie Chi was speechless for a while, but she wasn’t angry about it. ​read the original at bailiantales.com​Instead, she opened her little bag and took out a box.

The box was black and made of some unknown material. Its surface was so dark and dull that even sunlight seemed to be absorbed by it.

It was rectangular and shaped like a coffin, slightly shorter than an ordinary person’s forearm.

She bit her finger and dripped some blood onto the box. The moment the fresh blood touched its surface, it was quickly absorbed.

Her martial nephew, who was driving, glanced over and exclaimed softly, “Little Martial Aunt, you’re raising a ghost?”

“Picked it up on the way.” Xie Chi stroked the box, her gaze growing a little gentler. “Master never allowed me to keep pets. Now that I’ve come down the mountain, there’s no one to stop me anymore.”

The box was indeed modeled after a coffin. Opening it would reveal a piece of jade about the size of a palm. The jade looked as though blood had seeped into it, leaving scattered specks of red.

She had picked up a ghost on her journey. The ghost had been on the verge of having its soul completely dispersed, to the point where it could barely maintain its spirit form. That was why she was using jade to nourish it, feeding it her blood twice a day. She estimated that within a month at most, its soul would become solid again.

Jade could nourish souls, but not all jade was equally effective. Moreover, jade used for nourishing souls had to be completely intact. At the very least, there couldn’t be any tiny holes in it. Otherwise, its spiritual energy would leak out, making its effects barely worth mentioning.

Her martial nephew didn’t dare say anything aloud, but he couldn’t help grumbling inwardly. His little martial aunt really was something else. Other people raised cats and dogs, but she raised ghosts…

There were quite a few people in their profession who kept ghosts, but they stolen content all raised them to serve their own purposes. He had truly never seen anyone raise one as a pet before.

After feeding the ghost its blood for the day, Xie Chi hugged the box and stroked it for a while before reluctantly putting it back into her backpack. By then, they had already arrived at their destination. Her martial nephew was evidently quite wealthy. He lived in a detached villa with a garden larger than the houses of ordinary families.

Her martial nephew parked the car and led Xie Chi inside. Seeing her glance around, he smiled and asked, “Do you like it, Little Martial Aunt? If you do, I’ll give it to you.”

“No need.” Xie Chi shook her head. “Once everything here is settled, I’ll be going back to live on the mountain. What would I need a house for?”

“You could just leave it here! If you like cats and dogs, you could even raise a whole bunch of them here. Just spend a little money hiring someone to take care of them.” Her martial nephew led Xie Chi into the house. He hadn’t hired a housekeeper, but he did keep two little ghosts at home, and they were even more useful than a housekeeper.

Unfortunately, ghosts and dogs had a hard time getting along peacefully. Otherwise, hiring ghosts to look after them would have worked just as well.

Xie Chi patted her bag. “If I raise too many, I won’t be able to take care of them all. Senior Brother said that if you keep pets, you should look after them yourself. Otherwise, what’s the point?”

Her martial nephew couldn’t help finding her amusing. He thought his little martial aunt looked especially adorable when she spoke with such a serious expression. He first led her upstairs to a room. The ghosts who worked around the house had already cleaned it thoroughly, so she could move right in.

“Little Martial Aunt, you must be tired after that long train ride. Would you like to rest first, or shall we have something to eat?”

Xie Chi had brought nothing but her small backpack. She placed it directly on the bed, then took out the coffin-shaped box and set it on the bedside cabinet. “Bring me an incense burner and some offerings first. I’m not hungry yet, so I’ll eat tonight. I want to take a shower and get some sleep first.”

“All right. I’ll have someone bring the incense burner and everything else over. Have a good rest, Little Martial Aunt.” Her martial nephew was a young man, after all. Since Xie Chi wanted to take a shower, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to linger, so he quickly left.

About two minutes later, someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

The door creaked open, and a female ghost entered, carrying an incense burner, incense sticks, candles, and some offerings. She asked timidly, “Shall I arrange these for you?”

Xie Chi nodded. “Set out the incense burner and offerings. I’ll light the incense myself. You can leave afterward.”

The female ghost hurried forward and arranged the incense burner, offerings, and everything else. Just as she finished setting them down, she suddenly heard a thump, as though someone had knocked against the underside of the table. The female ghost was about to lean over and take a look when a hand suddenly emerged from the box on the table. Its fingers were deathly pale, and its nails were grayish-blue. It seized the female ghost’s wrist and forcibly dragged her toward the box.

The female ghost let out a scream and struggled to break free, but the hand was astonishingly strong. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t escape its grip. She could only watch helplessly as she was dragged, bit by bit, into the box. Just then, Xie Chi grabbed the wrist of that hand.

“You can’t eat this!”

The hand paused for a moment before swiftly retreating into the box. The female ghost was scared senseless. But it wasn’t really the hand that had frightened her. It was Xie Chi’s words.

So… so that thing had been trying to eat her? How cruel! It wouldn’t even spare a fellow ghost!

“You can go now.” Seeing how badly frightened the female ghost was, Xie Chi patted her shoulder reassuringly. “I’ll burn some paper money for [stolen content]you another day to help you get over the fright.”

The female ghost didn’t dare stay a second longer. She hurriedly fled the room, so terrified that she even forgot to open the door and slipped straight through the crack instead.

Once the female ghost had left, Xie Chi stroked the box and said earnestly, “Didn’t I tell you before? You mustn’t eat things indiscriminately. Why are you being disobedient again?”

The box shifted slightly, and a finger emerged from inside, gently scratching Xie Chi’s palm. Her gaze softened. She bit her finger again and dripped two drops of blood onto the box. Only after the blood had been absorbed did she explain with extraordinary patience, “Eating random things can give you an upset stomach. Once you’re feeling a little better, I’ll find you something else to eat, all right?”

After soothing her family’s little darling, she finally went to take a shower. Once she had finished bathing, she returned to the table, took out some paper and a pen, and prepared to write a letter home.

After all, this was her first time raising a ghost, and she didn’t have much experience. It would be better to consult the experienced people back home.

After finishing the letter, she spent some paper money to hire a little ghost to deliver it. She estimated that within two days, her senior and junior martial brothers, martial nephews, and the others back home would receive it.

As the saying went, three ordinary minds were better than one Zhuge Liang. With so many people back home, surely there would be a few who were skilled at raising ghosts and could offer her some advice, right?