Ghost Tamer 11
Through the car window, the people outside couldn’t see who was inside.
Hugging his incense sticks, Tang Xi dumbly locked eyes with Bai Qiaosheng, who had just knocked on the window.
He was so startled that his tail fluffed up slightly.
Why was the original protagonist shou here?!
Ji Fuqing swiftly retracted Tang Xi’s cat ears and tail—he didn’t want anyone else to see his little shiki in this state.
Bai Qiaosheng, however, seemed convinced they were in this car. It looked like he would keep knocking until they opened the door.
Tang Xi quickly blew out the incense, fumbling to hide them before daring to roll down the window.
The moment Bai Qiaosheng saw Tang Xi, he froze. The boy’s once overly pale complexion had turned into a healthy fair glow, and his lips were swollen—clearly having been kissed relentlessly.
It took Bai Qiaosheng a moment to process before he broke into an excited smile. “It really is you! Are you here to investigate the abandoned school building?”
That night, he had followed them to bring the two unconscious students back to the hospital. He had heard far more than he was supposed to.
Bai Qiaosheng lowered his voice, filled with suppressed excitement. “Is there really a ghost inside?”
He was clearly a supernatural enthusiast. Tang Xi even worried that if Bai Qiaosheng ever saw Tian Rourou, he might run up and hug her for research purposes instead of running away.
As a ghost himself, Tang Xi couldn’t reveal too much to an ordinary human, so he turned to Ji Fuqing for help.
But Ji Fuqing was completely uninterested. He was too busy playing with Tang Xi’s hand, stroking it as if he were handling a fragile piece of jade. He had no intention of acknowledging Bai Qiaosheng.
Left with no choice, Tang Xi replied on his own, “Maybe.”
The way he turned his head just now made Bai Qiaosheng finally notice the overly intimate way he and Ji Fuqing were sitting together.
It was obvious how the boy’s lips had ended up swollen.
Bai Qiaosheng was momentarily stunned, feeling a vague sense of disappointment, though he couldn’t quite explain why.
He suddenly recalled the teasing comments from the livestream that day—how the chat had said he and Tang Xi made a good pair. But as soon as Ji Fuqing appeared, the chat had completely changed its tune.
Even though that man had only shown his back, the chat had erupted with excited screams about how well they suited each other.
It felt like he and Tang Xi belonged to two different worlds.
Bai Qiaosheng was lost in thought for only a couple of seconds before quickly putting on another bright smile. “Are you an exorcist too?”
That night, the vice principal had let something slip. Bai Qiaosheng had followed that clue, using all his connections to dig up information. In the end, he had really uncovered things that he shouldn’t have been able to access.
Exorcists were real. The world of exorcists was strict and highly exclusive.
And that, in turn, meant that ghosts were real too.
Tang Xi fell silent.
How was he supposed to explain that he wasn’t an exorcist, but a vengeful ghost himself? One who had even tried to eat Bai Qiaosheng in the past?
He could only dodge the question.
Fortunately, Chen Sheng returned just in time, saving Tang Xi from his dilemma.
The information Chen Sheng had gathered from the students was almost identical to what the boy they had questioned earlier had said. However, the teachers’ accounts were slightly different.
The more experienced teachers firmly believed that the building had been declared off-limits simply because it was structurally unsafe. As for the rumors? They insisted it was just a story made up by students, passed down for over a decade—until someone finally had an accident this year.
Bai Qiaosheng, completely unfazed, listened in and offered his own analysis. “It’s possible the school covered up the truth back then for the sake of its reputation. Now that something has happened, they have no choice but to stick to their original statement.”
Events from over ten years ago were difficult to investigate.
This high school was a prestigious one. If word had gotten out that a student had committed suicide due to bullying, the school’s reputation would have suffered greatly.
Tang Xi poked at his system: [1551, I want to submit my answer.]
[Tian Rourou died because of school bullying!]
Thinking about it made him clench his tiny fists in anger.
But after a brief loading time, 1551 regretfully responded: [I’m very sorry, but your answer is incorrect.]
Tang Xi was stunned. [How could that be?]
All the clues so far pointed to Tian Rourou being the innocent girl who had taken her own life by jumping off the school building after being bullied.
Could there be another cause of death?
1551 responded: [I regret to inform you that this is not the correct answer. Also, just a reminder—you only have two chances.]
The naive little kitten hadn’t expected there to be a limit on attempts. Blinking his round eyes, he cautiously asked: [Is there a punishment for failing the task?]
This time, he was much more careful—since he only had one chance left.
1551 answered: [You won’t be punished, but Tian Rourou will remain trapped in the final moments of her suicide forever.]
In other words, she would be stuck in an endless cycle of taking her own life—not harming anyone, but suffering for eternity.
Tang Xi’s eyes widened in shock. The punishment wasn’t for him, but he was still furious.
1551 whined pitifully: [I didn’t set these randomly generated side missions either…]
Tang Xi’s heart softened almost immediately. [Alright, I forgive you.]
He tugged on Ji Fuqing’s sleeve and said, “I don’t think she killed herself because of school bullying.”
Ji Fuqing chuckled at the round, wide eyes staring up at him. “Why the sudden stroke of genius?”
His response meant that he, too, didn’t believe Tian Rourou had taken her own life due to bullying.
Bolstered by his confidence, Tang Xi’s tone lifted with excitement. “Maybe we’ve been stuck in the wrong line of thinking this whole time. We need to approach this from a different angle.”
With that, he eagerly pushed open the car door and stepped out, looking ready to dive into action.
To Ji Fuqing, all of this was like a child playing make-believe. But he indulged his little shiki—not only was he not annoyed, but he even guided him to think critically.
Ji Fuqing asked, “Do you remember how the rumor described that girl?”
Tang Xi thought for a moment before tilting his head. “They said she was very poor, that sometimes she couldn’t afford to eat and had to pick through trash.”
That single sentence was like a key clicking into the right lock—details they had overlooked suddenly became clear.
“Wait a minute—Tian Rourou learned how to dance! And she was even preparing to compete in a major competition!” Tang Xi gestured excitedly. “She wasn’t some girl who was too poor to afford food or school fees!”
He had been chasing the wrong lead from the very start.
Bai Qiaosheng asked in confusion, “Is Tian Rourou the ghost in the abandoned school building? Why don’t we just check the school’s records?”
If they looked through the archives of Class 6 from over a decade ago, they could see if a girl had mysteriously disappeared during her senior year. That would confirm the credibility of the rumors. After all, no matter how much the school wanted to cover it up, they couldn’t completely erase the existence of a student. If she had died in her senior year, then at the very least, records from her freshman and sophomore years should still exist.
However, the workload would be enormous—since the rumors never specified exactly how many years ago the incident had occurred.
“Master Ji!”
Ji Ziang suddenly caught up from behind. As soon as he got out of the car, he respectfully bowed to Ji Fuqing before turning to Chen Sheng with a frown. “I’ve finished handling my matters. If you’re done here, you should leave.”
Master Ji didn’t like having too many people tagging along.
Chen Sheng instinctively looked toward Ji Fuqing, putting on a pitiful expression.
But Ji Fuqing’s attention was entirely focused on Tang Xi—he didn’t spare Chen Sheng so much as a glance.
Chen Sheng’s face twitched. He had just finished running errands and hadn’t made any progress on the mission assigned by the elders—there was no way he’d willingly leave now.
Since Ji Fuqing showed no reaction, he could only force out a fake smile and turn to Tang Xi. “I can handle checking the records.”
Tang Xi timidly looked up at him. He could sense that this person didn’t like him.
But he also sensed that he wasn’t lying.
Time was tight, and as long as someone could help, that was all that mattered.
So, he nodded.
Chen Sheng let out a small sigh of relief and, as if afraid Tang Xi would change his mind, quickly expressed his gratitude.
Bai Qiaosheng was sharp—he had already pieced together the relationships between these people in an instant.
For once, he and Ji Ziang found themselves on the same side. With a forced smile, Bai Qiaosheng urged, “Then hurry up and go. You should be able to find student records in the library or the academic office.”
Technically, Chen Sheng could have continued along the same path as them. But with that one sentence, Bai Qiaosheng effectively forced him to leave ahead of schedule.
Chen Sheng gritted his teeth, but when he met Tang Xi’s gaze, he froze.
His unease made him wary of this vengeful ghost, so he didn’t dare say much before taking his leave.
Ji Ziang’s expression toward Bai Qiaosheng softened slightly. With that out of the way, he no longer cared that an ordinary person wanted to tag along with exorcists.
Besides, even he couldn’t understand what the ancestor was trying to do.
Indulging that vengeful ghost.
Accompanying him in these pointless investigations.
Allowing a shiki to develop too much independent thought—normally, that would be asking for backlash.
But this was Ji Fuqing.
So that possibility was nonexistent.
Ji Ziang’s emotions were complicated. By the time he snapped out of his thoughts, they had already arrived at the vice principal’s office.
Tang Xi raised his hand to knock on the door. Before doing so, he carefully touched his face, worried that more bloody tears might appear.
A flat, indifferent voice came from inside. “Come in.”
The moment the vice principal saw them, his expression shifted instantly—from one of superiority to obsequious flattery.
A seamless transition. No hesitation at all.
Rubbing his hands together, the vice principal stepped forward with a fawning smile. “Masters, why didn’t you let me know you were coming in advance? I could have gone to welcome you properly.”
Tang Xi replied, “We’re not here to see you. We just want to ask about the principal’s whereabouts.”
Ever since he was transferred out of the hospital room, they hadn’t been able to find him. As one of the victims, he had no reason to enter that abandoned school building in the first place.
The vice principal wiped his sweat. “The principal? He should be at the temple on Lexian Mountain. They say the only reason he survived the abandoned school building back then was because a master from that temple gave him a spiritual jade. Now that the jade has lost its power, he’s gone back to ask for another one.”
“Don’t be fooled by his usual demeanor—when it comes to staying alive, he values his life more than anyone.” The vice principal chuckled, but there was a hint of subtle resentment in his tone.
He had always been annoyed by how the principal would strut around, belly out, deliberately showing off his jade as if by accident.
That master from Lexian Temple only guided those he deemed ‘fated.’ The vice principal had visited several times but had never even gotten a glimpse of him.
“Lexian Temple?” Tang Xi blinked. The name felt oddly familiar.
This familiarity came from the original host’s memories, but those memories were too hazy—foggy and indistinct. He couldn’t recall exactly where he had heard it before.
The path up Lexian Mountain was made entirely of stairs, stretching endlessly into the distance.
Because the temple emitted a sacred aura, Tang Xi’s vengeful ghost form was vulnerable to its energy—he might suddenly rever to his original form. To avoid vanishing mid-step and scaring Bai Qiaosheng, Tang Xi excused himself and secretly transformed into a cat, allowing Ji Fuqing to carry him up the mountain.
When Bai Qiaosheng saw the little kitten, his eyes lit up with delight. He wasn’t usually fond of furry animals, but for some reason, the moment he saw this kitten in the abandoned mansion, he had the urge to adopt it.
At least, even though it had been taken away, it seemed to be living quite well.
Bai Qiaosheng reached out to pet the cat, but Ji Fuqing shot him a cold glance, and his hand froze in midair, inexplicably unable to move forward.
He could only soften his tone and ask the kitten, “Is your owner Tang Xi?”
Even though he knew cats couldn’t understand human speech, he still felt the need to talk to it.
Tang Xi had just left, and now the kitten appeared—Bai Qiaosheng naturally assumed the boy had brought it along.
Although Ji Fuqing didn’t seem like the type to raise a cat, he was Tang Xi’s boyfriend. Taking care of his pet wouldn’t be unusual.
Suppressing the discomfort in his heart, Bai Qiaosheng had just lifted his head when he heard the man’s indifferent voice:
“This is my cat.”
Be it man or cat—both belonged to him.
Author’s Note: No, the kitty belongs to everyone! (Runs away)
Hey, is his finaly the arc where the og protag shou and gong finally get together??