Realm of the Night God

Chapter 30: Is it this kind of bead?

"You're in such a hurry to find me, Xiao Yang. What's the matter? Now it's just the two of us. Can you tell me?"

Master Jiang, with a smile on his face, took a sip of tea and asked Yang Haoran, his eyes showing a hint of curiosity.

Yang Haoran didn't touch the tea. He looked at Master Jiang and began, "Master Jiang, do you believe in ghosts in this world?"

Upon hearing this, Master Jiang chuckled and said, "Xiao Yang, I'm a follower of the Death God. Whether I believe or not, that's for you to guess."

[Tl: Xiao means little, Xiao Yang = Little Yang]

Hearing Master Jiang's response, Yang Haoran felt a bit foolish for asking such a question. It might be okay to ask an ordinary person, but to ask a believer, especially a follower of the Death God, seemed somewhat ridiculous.

Although Master Jiang didn't give a direct answer, his response was clear, filled with affirmation.

"I saw a real ghost last night," Yang Haoran continued.

Upon hearing Yang Haoran's words, Master Jiang's smile faded, and his expression turned serious as he asked, "Is it true? Are you not deceiving me?"

Yang Haoran nodded firmly and said, "I wouldn't dare deceive you, Master Jiang. Not only did I see it, but I was also quite scared."

It seemed to pique Master Jiang's interest. "Can you tell me in detail?" he asked.

Yang Haoran had come late at night for this very purpose, and since Master Jiang showed interest, he eagerly obliged, recounting in detail everything that happened in Jiang Zhenzhen's rented room.

However, Yang Haoran made some adjustments. He portrayed himself not as a charlatan but as a friend of Jiang Zhenzhen. Apart from some modifications to his own role, he didn't alter anything else, especially the terrifying appearance of the Decaying Corpse Granny, which he described faithfully.

Yang Haoran was very thorough, speaking for a whole hour without taking a sip of water. Only after finishing did he realize his mouth was dry, but he didn't hesitate to gulp down the tea in front of him.

Master Jiang listened attentively for the entire hour, without interrupting. Sometimes he frowned, sometimes he sipped his tea, as if contemplating something. After Yang Haoran finished speaking, it took Master Jiang a while to snap out of his thoughts.

"Strange!" Master Jiang frowned, seemingly troubled by something he couldn't quite grasp.

"What's wrong, Master Jiang?" Yang Haoran asked, puzzled.

"According to what you just said, this Decaying Corpse Granny only frightened your friend in her dreams. Your friend didn't see her in reality, which suggests that this Decaying Corpse Granny is likely just a regular spirit," Master Jiang said.

"Different from the spirits we usually know?" Yang Haoran inquired.

"Ordinary people become spirits after death, what we usually call ghosts. These spirits can see the living, but usually, the living can't see them in reality. They can only interact with the living through dreams or by haunting them in dreams, like what your friend experienced," Master Jiang explained.

Yang Haoran had never heard of such an explanation, but he didn't seem to doubt Master Jiang's words much. He furrowed his brow and said, "But that's not right. Although the Decaying Corpse Granny doesn't have a physical form, I can see her. Not only me, but my friend can also see her. Apart from lacking a physical form, she looks very real and terrifying."

"That's the strange part. Normally, ordinary spirits wouldn't be visible to you with the naked eye under normal circumstances. Either there's something wrong with the environment inside the rented room, or it's manipulated by someone," Master Jiang said.

"Based on what you just said, I believe there's nothing special about the environment inside the rented room. Otherwise, she wouldn't have just frightened your friend in dreams a few days ago. She would have appeared long ago. As for the possibility of manipulation..." Master Jiang trailed off, lost in thought.

Yang Haoran seemed to grasp something. He continued, "Master Jiang, are you suggesting that someone is intentionally causing trouble?"

Master Jiang nodded and then said, "It's possible. If the Decaying Corpse Granny is not an ordinary spirit, then she can choose to scare people in dreams or even manifest herself. As for why the manipulator is doing this, I don't know."

Yang Haoran's expression grew solemn. If what Master Jiang said was true, it meant someone had targeted Jiang Zhenzhen.

Who could it be?

Was it that sharp-tongued young man?

No, it couldn't be him. From the reaction of the Decaying Corpse Granny when facing the young man, it was clear they didn't know each other. Moreover, the Decaying Corpse Granny was extremely fearful of the young man. As someone skilled in acting, Yang Haoran hadn't seen any resemblance to a fellow performer in the Decaying Corpse Granny.

If it's not the sharp-tongued young man, then who else could it be? Could Jiang Zhenzhen have offended someone influential?

Just as Yang Haoran was pondering this, Master Jiang spoke again, "Setting aside these two possibilities, there's another possibility."

"What?" Yang Haoran quickly asked.

"The Decaying Corpse Granny might have initially been just an ordinary spirit with no attacking power, only capable of scaring people through dreams. But later on, she could manifest herself, possibly because she devoured other spirits, enhancing her own spirit, making her no longer a clean spirit. That's why she can reveal herself in front of you," Master Jiang said.

Upon hearing this, Yang Haoran's expression suddenly stiffened. He remembered a phrase the young man had said when he trapped the Decaying Corpse Granny into the bead!

"That's right! The young man said that the Decaying Corpse Granny, because she devoured other spirits, would completely lose the chance for reincarnation!" Yang Haoran's voice trembled with excitement.

"Then there's no mistake. If she really devoured other spirits and has the ability to manifest in front of you, there's nothing surprising about it," Master Jiang said.

"By the way, who is that young man? Do you know, Master Jiang?" Yang Haoran asked, puzzled.

After saying so much, laying out so much, what he really wanted to ask, what he really wanted to understand, was about this sharp-tongued young man.

In fact, since entering the wooden house, Yang Haoran had wanted to ask about the young man directly, to see if Master Jiang knew or had heard of him. But doing so would be too abrupt. After all, their relationship hadn't reached that point yet. He could only proceed gradually, not rushing it.

At the mention of the young man, Master Jiang slowly put down the tea cup he had just picked up. His expression became unusually serious.

Seeing this, Yang Haoran felt a bit nervous, but he didn't show it on his face. From Master Jiang's reaction, it seemed he knew who the young man was.

Although Yang Haoran felt nervous inside, the expression on his face was merely one of curiosity. Under his "curious" gaze, Master Jiang suddenly said, "Wait a moment, I'll show you something."

Master Jiang didn't immediately answer Yang Haoran's question. Instead, after dropping this sentence, he got up and fetched a square wooden box from the head of the bed.

The wooden box was ordinary, with nothing special about it. If anything, the only difference was how new it looked. A brand-new wooden box stood out starkly against the old table and stool in the room.

Naturally, Master Jiang's actions made Yang Haoran even more nervous, but he was always good at concealing his true emotions. So even though he felt nervous inside, he didn't show it.

Facing Master Jiang was different from facing ghosts. Master Jiang was human, while ghosts were an unknown existence to him, causing him intense fear. So even if he could conceal his inner emotions well, he would still be scared out of his wits in front of ghosts.

If one day ghosts became something he was used to, he could also manage to remain calm.

At this moment, although Yang Haoran felt nervous inside, the expression on his face was just curiosity. Under his "curious" gaze, Master Jiang opened the brand-new wooden box with a snap.

Even though Yang Haoran managed to keep his composure, when he saw what was inside the box, his expression still changed drastically.

Inside the box lay a bead, a transparent bead with several black threads the size of hair strands inside. They seemed to be alive, swimming inside the bead like fish in water.

As if sensing the opening of the wooden box or perhaps the light from outside, the once calm black threads suddenly became restless. They sped up, some even directly collided with the edges of the bead as if trying to break free, but no matter how they collided, they couldn't budge the bead.

As if angered, the black threads transformed into terrifying ghost faces within the bead, roaring menacingly towards Yang Haoran and Master Jiang outside the bead. Although no sound could be heard, the voices seemed to penetrate the bead's barrier, resonating directly in the depths of their hearts.

"Ah!"

Yang Haoran exclaimed in shock, his face pale with fear. His body reflexively took a few steps back, and his gaze towards the bead was filled with horror.

"Master Jiang... how... how do you have this?" Yang Haoran was both terrified and astonished, pointing at the bead on the table, his words stuttering.

Master Jiang wasn't frightened by the scene inside the bead. Ignoring the roaring inside, he snapped the lid of the wooden box shut and then asked Yang Haoran, "Is the bead in the young man's hand the same as this one?"