Ghost Tamer 12
The fluffy fur hid his blush as Tang Xi let out a soft “meow.”
His little tail obediently curled halfway around the man’s wrist, a gesture of complete trust and dependence.
Bai Qiaosheng stood frozen for a long moment. It wasn’t until the person had walked away that he snapped out of it, suppressing a strange sense of loss before quickly chasing after them.
Along the way, he got Ji Ziang’s permission to start a livestream.
With just a few words, he lightly skimmed over the details, avoiding anything too heavy.
The viewers in the livestream only knew that he had gone to talk with the principal of a certain school about the abandoned teaching building featured in his previous stream.
Since it was rare for supernatural streamers to do something like this, some viewers, finding the mountain road boring, were about to leave.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew past. Bai Qiaosheng instinctively raised his arm to block it, causing the livestream camera to shake—and in that brief moment, it captured Ji Fuqing.
Even though his face only appeared on screen for less than two seconds, the chat exploded.
Ji Fuqing was holding a cat, and the usual sense of aloofness he exuded was softened. He looked like an immortal stepping down from his pedestal, carrying an irresistible charm.
Some quick-fingered viewers had already taken screenshots and posted them online.
“AAAAH, AWSL! A handsome guy and a cat—this combo is too perfect!!”
“Wait, isn’t this the same cat the streamer picked up that night in the abandoned building?”
“Medic, I need healing! This gorgeous man is killing me!!”
“Hold on… doesn’t this guy look like the one who was holding that pretty boy the other day?”
That last comment was quickly buried in the flood of chats, but it still planted a seed in some viewers’ minds. The “microscope girls” immediately pulled out screenshots from that night and compared them, soon becoming almost certain—it was the same person.
“Wuwuwu, of course handsome guys only hang out with other handsome guys.”
Bai Qiaosheng noticed the conversation drifting in the wrong direction and hurriedly switched the camera back to himself, trying to steer the topic away by chatting about something else.
But compared to Ji Fuqing’s brief yet stunning appearance, his face—which usually worked wonders in his streams—seemed slightly lackluster. The chat was still filled with requests, begging him to show the handsome man again.
Just then, they arrived at Lexian Temple. A young monk inside peeked at them through a small crack in the back door. He was momentarily stunned by Ji Fuqing’s presence before politely declining their visit.
“My master is currently entertaining an important guest. I’m afraid he won’t be seeing any visitors today.”
With that, he moved to close the door.
Tang Xi, panicked, meowed anxiously and stretched out his little paw, trying to grab the door.
Ji Fuqing gently held his fluffy paw and murmured, “Don’t make a fuss. What if you hurt yourself?”
As he spoke, a small human-shaped paper talisman silently flew from his body and stuck itself onto the young monk’s bald head.
The monk’s eyes instantly glazed over. Then, with a pleasant smile, he turned around and pushed the door wide open. “Please, come in.”
Tang Xi’s round cat eyes widened in surprise. He let out a curious “meow” and pulled his little paw free, reaching out to try and grab the paper talisman on the monk’s head.
This time, Ji Fuqing didn’t stop him. Instead, he nudged him forward slightly, indulging his natural feline curiosity and playfulness.
Tang Xi poked at the paper talisman with his soft paw pad, lifting one corner slightly—when suddenly, the little paper figure moved! It wiggled, stood up, ran a few steps, and then slipped down the monk’s collar to hide on his back, safely out of reach from the mischievous cat paws.
Tang Xi watched it go, then turned to Ji Fuqing and let out two amazed “meows,” his curiosity about the little running paper man growing even stronger.
In this world, there were no plush balls, so this was the first time he had encountered a toy he truly liked.
Ji Fuqing’s fingers moved slightly, and another paper figurine floated out, swaying in front of Tang Xi, teasing the cat.
Tang Xi, with his little tail raised, pounced on it, happily hugging the tiny paper figurine in his paws while kicking at it with his hind legs.
Only after the kitten finally quieted down did Ji Fuqing step forward and walk inside.
Originally, it was the kitten who had wanted to come, but now, distracted by play, its attention was entirely captivated by the new toy.
It was as if the roles had reversed—now someone else was the one completing the task.
Watching everything unfold, 1551 muttered to itself: […What a useless thing.]
Bai Qiaosheng was so focused on the livestream that he didn’t notice anything strange about the little monk. And so, they were led by the puppet-like monk to Principal Wang’s room.
The so-called “distinguished guest” of the temple’s owner was presumably Principal Wang. However, when they arrived at his room, they only found him alone.
Wang Xueping had been anxiously waiting inside. When the little monk pushed the door open, he immediately stood up and eagerly greeted, “Master, you’ve finally emerged from seclusion!”
But upon seeing the three unfamiliar men, he froze.
He took two steps back. “Who… who are you?”
The little monk, having completed his task, simply stood aside in silence.
Ji Ziang spoke up, “Hello, Principal Wang. I’m Ji Ziang, the exorcist from the Ji family that you hired the other day. We’re here to confirm a few things with you.”
Wang Xueping’s expression shifted several times before settling into a forced smile. “Ah, so you’re the masters! Please, have a seat. If you need anything, you can just ask the vice principal—why make the trip here yourselves?”
Back then, he had pulled every string he could to hire the Ji family’s exorcists, but he had never actually seen what they looked like. However, Ji Fuqing’s powerful presence left no room for doubt, and Wang Xueping didn’t question his identity for a second.
Only after Ji Fuqing sat down did Ji Ziang cautiously take a seat as well.
He didn’t dare sit alongside Master Ji. Even his own father, the Ji family patriarch, had never been granted that privilege. But before they ascended the mountain, Ji Fuqing had casually told him not to reveal his identity, so for now, Ji Ziang could only treat him as a highly skilled elder.
Ji Ziang continued, skillfully maneuvering the conversation, “Some matters are best discussed face-to-face with those directly involved.”
For some reason, the phrase “directly involved” seemed to strike a nerve in Wang Xueping. Just as he was about to sit down, he nearly lost his balance and had to grip the table to steady himself. “W-what do you mean, ‘directly involved’?”
Ji Ziang noticed something was off but remained composed. “After those students had their incidents, you were also found unconscious, covered in blood, in front of the teaching building.”
Wang Xueping let out a relieved sigh and forced a laugh. “Ah, yes. Maybe it’s because I’m the principal of this school, and recently, I made the decision to demolish that abandoned teaching building. That female ghost must have set her sights on me because of that. I was so unlucky… Fortunately, I had the jade talisman from the master here.”
Ji Ziang asked, “What jade talisman? Could I take a look?”
Wang Xueping hesitated, showing a hint of wariness.
Ji Ziang pressed further. “Actually, we have some connections with the masters at Lexian Temple. I’ve always been interested in the jade talismans they make. Otherwise, why do you think the little monk let us in so easily?”
Wang Xueping instinctively glanced at the little monk, who remained standing there with a serene smile, saying nothing. That silence alone was an implicit confirmation.
Relaxing a little, Wang Xueping said, “You should’ve mentioned it earlier! So you’re acquaintances of Master Le. Here, this is the jade he gave me—feel free to take a look. Though, to be honest, it already saved my life once, so the spiritual energy inside it has probably been depleted by now.”
Ji Ziang took the jade and examined it, finding that it was, indeed, just an ordinary piece of jade.
Tang Xi: “Meow.” Let me see!
The kitten, who had been quietly playing with the paper figurine, immediately turned his attention to the white jade. He stretched out his tiny paws, making a grabbing motion as if he wanted to examine it too.
As a vengeful ghost, he seemed to sense something unusual about the jade.
The greedy little kitten didn’t want to let go of the paper figurine, so he pressed it under his butt while reaching out with his other two paws to take the jade.
Ji Ziang, without thinking, handed the jade directly to Tang Xi. It was only after the fact that he was struck with shock—he had just passed an object to the Master Ji’s shiki without asking for permission.
And the most unsettling part? When the vengeful ghost reached out its little paws, he instinctively wanted to oblige, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
This had to be one of the ghost’s luring tricks!
Ji Ziang stole a glance at the Master Ji, relieved to see he wasn’t angry.
If Ji Fuqing had shown even a hint of dissatisfaction, then Ji Ziang’s hopes of inheriting anything from the family would have been completely shattered.
Tang Xi held the jade tightly, the strange feeling growing even stronger. It was as if something inside the jade was calling to him. Puzzled, he gave it a few experimental pats with his soft little paw pads.
Wang Xueping’s expression darkened slightly as he saw his precious jade being played with by a cat, but he quickly masked his displeasure and spoke in a careful tone, “That jade cost me a fortune—I paid a full eight million for it.”
Bai Qiaosheng smirked. “For a school principal, dropping that much money on a piece of jade couldn’t have been easy, huh?”
Wang Xueping’s voice carried a trace of pride. “I have a bit of money to spare. It was expensive, sure, but if it can save my life, then it was worth every penny.”
From his tone, it didn’t seem like spending eight million was all that difficult for him.
Although the livestream viewers couldn’t see the scene, just hearing the conversation was enough to make them uneasy.
“This voice… sounds a lot like my school principal… Actually, during the last livestream, I already felt something familiar. Our school also has an abandoned building with a story behind it…”
“Spill the details! We might be classmates!”
“This principal probably made a fortune skimming off the top.”
Wang Xueping was indeed a seasoned trickster. If he had known he was being streamed, he would have been much more careful with his words. But because Ji Ziang had mentioned their supposed connection with Master Le, he hadn’t given it a second thought.
Ji Fuqing ignored him. Seeing that the little kitten had finished patting the jade and was about to bite it, he pressed a single finger against Tang Xi’s mouth to stop him.
At the same time, he released a small surge of spiritual energy.
Only Tang Xi could see it—a warm, glowing aura rushed toward him and eagerly rubbed against him like an affectionate pet.
After circling him a few times, it reluctantly burrowed into the jade, then forcefully slammed into it, almost as if expressing disdain.
In an instant, the once-white jade began to change. Strands of deep, inky green seeped from its center, spreading rapidly. In the blink of an eye, the jade had transformed from pure white to a murky green.
But unlike Tang Xi’s emerald-like cat eyes, this green was thick with impurities—like stagnant, polluted lake water, carrying an ominous aura.
Everyone in the room noticed the transformation.
Wang Xueping let out a startled cry. “W-what? My jade… it’s restored?!”
Excited, he jumped up, eager to snatch the jade from the kitten’s paws, but he hesitated—after all, the man holding the kitten was someone he dared not provoke.
Ji Fuqing’s voice was cold and detached. “Tian Rourou’s resentment is overwhelming. The fact that this jade was able to save you from her grasp is quite remarkable.”
His tone carried an undeniable authority, and Wang Xueping instinctively nodded along without thinking. “Exactly! Master Le’s jade is only given to those with fate. It’s extremely precious, so perhaps you could…”
Ji Fuqing lifted his gaze. “Then tell me—how exactly do you know Tian Rourou?”