Ghost Tamer 13
Cold sweat instantly broke out on Wang Xueping’s forehead—he realized he had fallen into the man’s trap.
“I don’t know any Tian Rourou!”
Ji Fuqing ignored his feeble excuse and continued speaking slowly, “You only became the principal of this school five or six years ago. So how do you know the name of a female student who died in that building over a decade ago?”
When Ji Fuqing mentioned Tian Rourou just now, Wang Xueping had reacted naturally—without the slightest surprise—going along with the conversation without hesitation.
Wang Xueping retorted, “I am the principal of this school. Shouldn’t I have the right to know who has died here?”
Bai Qiaosheng responded quickly, “Then why did you pretend not to know at first? Besides, all the teachers who witnessed that abandoned school building being shut down back then said it wasn’t because someone committed suicide.”
An incident as serious as a high school senior committing suicide due to bullying—how could it be completely covered up?
Wang Xueping was, after all, a seasoned schemer. Although he had been momentarily intimidated by Ji Fuqing at the beginning, he quickly regained his composure when a different person started questioning him. With a hypocritical smile, he said, “Are you all suspecting me? I’m the victim here! And besides, this Tian Rourou incident happened ten years ago—I’ve only been here for six.”
Ji Ziang’s voice was cold. “So Tian Rourou wasn’t the one who was bullied to death over a decade ago. Someone else was—or maybe that story was just fabricated by the school in the first place, meant to keep students from wandering into the dangerous old building and to serve as a warning against school bullying.”
The building’s equipment was outdated and hazardous, so the teachers from over ten years ago made up a lie to stop overly energetic students from going in.
That was why every student’s version of the story was eerily consistent.
Every school has its own ghost stories, and normally, such tales evolve into countless variations as they pass from person to person. But at Changqing Academy, the ghost story remained unchanged—because it had been deliberately maintained.
Wang Xueping’s lips trembled. “Do you have any proof?”
Ji Fuqing gently patted the small kitten in his arms, which was playfully swatting at a tiny paper figure. His voice was steady, devoid of emotion, as he simply stated a fact: “Tian Rourou’s ghostly aura only dates back six years.”
He himself was the proof.
Wang Xueping completely panicked. He lost his balance and fell back into his chair, nearly snapping its legs under his weight.
Tang Xi, who had been busily bullying the little paper figure with his paw, suddenly perked up at Ji Fuqing’s words.
“Meow meow meow?!” Wait, you knew all along that Tian Rourou wasn’t the ghost from that old legend?
Ji Fuqing raised his index finger slightly. The paper figure, which had been lying still, instantly sprang back to life and wriggled out from under Tang Xi’s paw, dashing away.
The little kitten, who had just been angrily questioning Ji Fuqing, was immediately distracted. He pounced on the fleeing paper figure, watching with dilated, excited pupils as it tumbled over.
So easy to please. A single paper figure was enough to pacify him.
Ji Ziang couldn’t help but glance at the little kitten. His thoughts drifted—this vengeful ghost didn’t act like a ghost at all. If this was an act, it was far too convincing.
Did other ghosts behave like this too? Were all tamed ghosts this obedient?
Despite his innate dislike for ghosts, he found himself once again entertaining the idea of training ghosts.
Wang Xueping, after a brief moment of silence, suddenly caught sight of the little monk standing quietly to the side. Instantly, he seemed to find a lifeline. “You’re all friends of Master Le, aren’t you? How about giving me some face? You just want money, don’t you? I can give it to you.”
Seeing that no one responded, he grew bolder. “Fine, I admit it—I did know Tian Rourou. If she hadn’t fought back so desperately, she wouldn’t have ended up jumping off that building in a panic. I was doing it for her own good!”
He had no idea he was being live-streamed and carelessly revealed his true nature.
Hearing such disgusting words, Tang Xi stopped playing with the paper figure and lifted his head to glare at Wang Xueping.
Furious, his fur bristled, and even the claws hidden in his soft paws extended, itching to scratch the man’s face into a mess.
His anger burned so intensely that the eerie blue flames of a vengeful ghost began to flicker around him. But before anyone else could notice, Ji Fuqing silently absorbed them with his spiritual energy.
As the flames dissipated, Tang Xi gradually calmed down. He poked the system in his mind.
[1551, Tian Rourou was killed by Wang Xueping, wasn’t she?]
A chime sounded from 1551.
[Congratulations, Host! Side quest successfully completed.]
Then, 1551 took the initiative to show him a memory.
It was a glimpse into Tian Rourou’s past.
She had been a beautiful girl, a lifelong dancer. Not only was she graceful and charming, but she was also well-liked—she had grown up carefree and full of laughter. But in her third year of high school, at the most crucial stage of her life, she caught the eye of Wang Xueping…
Wang Xueping lusted after Tian Rourou’s youthful beauty. One night, using his authority as the school principal, he finally found an excuse to keep her behind. The naive girl, too trusting for her own good, followed him without hesitation to an abandoned school building. There, in the empty classroom of Grade 12 Class 6, she was assaulted.
In the end, she leaped from the classroom window, dressed in her favorite white dress. Like a pure, unstained butterfly, she fluttered downward, painting the ground with the most vivid bloom of blood.
Her life ended at the very age when it should have flourished.
No wonder, when they later investigated, they found the classroom’s desks and chairs had been moved. The center of the room had been cleared.
Tang Xi let out an angry meow, frustrated by the smallness of his current form. He wished he could revert to his vengeful ghost state and scare Wang Xueping to death.
Wang Xueping, trying to get closer to them, spoke more freely than he should have. He knew Master Le wasn’t a good person, so how noble could his friends possibly be? Weren’t they all the same kind of people?
They had to be here to extort hush money from him.
With this thought growing firmer in his mind, Wang Xueping suddenly saw the man in front of him rise, still holding the kitten. He muttered some kind of incantation, and before Wang Xueping could react, his body went stiff—completely immobilized except for his rolling eyes.
Ji Ziang stared at Wang Xueping with undisguised disgust. He loathed vengeful ghosts, but even more so, he loathed the people who created them. If it weren’t for men like Wang Xueping, how would the world be filled with so many restless ghosts?
Half of all vengeful ghosts were born from personal obsession, the other half from unresolved grievances.
Ji Ziang said coldly, “Wait here for the police.”
The mortal world had its laws. Some things exorcists like them could not interfere with directly.
He noticed that Ji Fuqing had just infused Wang Xueping with a trace of ghostly energy extracted from Tian Rourou. After his death, his soul would not find peace—it would be tormented for a hundred years before being completely annihilated.
This was a violation of exorcist laws. But Ji Fuqing was a legend among exorcists. Who dared to question his actions?
Ji Ziang kept his gaze straight ahead, pretending not to have noticed anything.
The cat in Ji Fuqing’s arms, Tang Xi, was still fuming, no longer in the mood to play with his little paper figurines.
Ji Fuqing picked up a green jade pendant from beneath Tang Xi’s paw, distracting the kitten. “This is an evil jade, crafted from the corpses of nineteen infants.”
“Meow?!” The cat recoiled in shock, curling into a tight ball and burrowing into Ji Fuqing’s sleeve.
Had he just been playing with such a sinister object all this time?!
Ji Ziang picked up where Ji Fuqing left off, taking the opportunity to show off his extensive knowledge of exorcism.
“This kind of jade was banned long ago. Some were made from stillborns legally obtained from hospitals, but others were sourced through illegal means. To prevent innocent infants from being harmed, the jade was completely banned. While it can block a deadly strike from a vengeful ghost, the resentment of the infants it was crafted from makes it dangerous—easily backfiring on its user. Nowadays, only those who follow dark paths in exorcism still refine such things.”
And those dark-path exorcists—weren’t they precisely the ones from Lexian Temple? The same people who sold this jade to Wang Xueping.
Ji Fuqing suddenly stopped in front of a room, sneering. “Not strong enough to fight head-on, but certainly good at running and hiding.”
He had sensed a ghostly flame appear when Tang Xi got angry earlier, which meant the target had fled.
Ji Ziang frowned. He took a few quick strides forward, breaking down the door and spending a moment dispelling the barrier placed at the entrance.
Inside, the room was completely empty.
Ji Ziang slammed his fist against the wall. “He got away!”
Tang Xi cautiously peeked inside, but a sudden wave of searing energy rushed toward him.
Before he could even feel the pain, something blocked the attack.
Ji Fuqing’s expression darkened. The aura around him, usually steady and unshaken, fluctuated for the first time—because someone had dared to target the kitten in his arms.
The surrounding spiritual energy trembled in response.
The most direct reaction came from Bai Qiaosheng, who was standing next to him—his legs nearly gave out, and he almost dropped to his knees.
“Meow~” I’m fine.
Sensing his poop scooper’s panic, Tang Xi gently reached out a paw and patted him reassuringly. Then, bit by bit, he climbed up to nestle beside his neck, looking just like a chubby furball growing out of his shoulder.
Ji Fuqing retracted his spiritual energy, stroked the little kitten, and only relaxed after confirming that the golden, fluffy ball was completely unharmed.
He rubbed the tiny furball, his calm tone laced with killing intent. “I’ll find him.” And once he did, he would make sure to deal with him.
Tang Xi nodded.
“Meow!” I believe in you!
Ji Fuqing’s expression visibly softened.
Tang Xi didn’t overthink the situation—he simply assumed he had been targeted because he was too weak and never considered any other possibility.
“Meow meow meow?” So how do we help Tian Rourou pass on?
At the moment, he was more concerned about Tian Rourou than himself. He felt deeply sorry for what had happened to her.
Ji Fuqing replied, “To help a vengeful ghost move on, we need to find any part of her body and know the cause of death.”
They already knew the cause of death. Now, all that was missing was a part of her body.
Tang Xi had no idea where her remains might have been hidden, but he was certain Wang Xueping had handled them.
Wang Xueping had kept this secret for six years, which meant he must have hidden the body well.
The body… Tian Rourou… The surviving students… The place she refused to enter…
A memory surfaced—the two students who had hidden in the bathroom.
Tang Xi suddenly let out a sharp meow. He bit onto Ji Fuqing’s collar and tugged urgently.
“Meow meow meow!” Hurry! I know where her body is hidden!