Even after roaming around for a while, Shi Sheng couldn’t find any signs of life. The surrounding area was utterly devoid of light and sound.
In the end, it was only because An Su’s IQ suddenly came online that they found their way through a bunch of twists and turns to an ancient mansion in the distance.
A motley group of people were gathered in front of the mansion. Some were wearing Taoist robes while others wore tuxedos, looking like successful people. There were still others wearing student uniforms, standing out from the rest.
Everyone was conversing in low tones, so you wouldn’t be able to hear them if you were standing further away.
The first thing that caught Shi Sheng’s eyes was Feng Jin, who stood apart from the crowd.
It was probably due to the fact that they had a contract, for Feng Jin sensed something the moment Shi Sheng arrived. He turned around to look her way and their gazes met.
The moment he saw her, Feng Jin felt something burst in his brain.
She still had managed to find her way here in the end.
He scanned the surroundings. Once he’d made sure no one was paying attention to him, he subtly separated from the crowd and stalked over to Shi Sheng.
He caught Shi Sheng’s hands and pressed her against the wall, growling in a low voice, “Why are you so disobedient?”
Shi Sheng blinked and pouted her lips. “Come on, if you wanna kiss me, go ahead! I don’t mind! I won’t even ask you to take responsibility!”
An Su, “…” ‘Ghost-jiejie, your dignity’s fallen off! But Ghost-jiejie and Mr Feng do make a good pair…’
Xiao Bai, “…” ‘I’m pretty sure she’s a ghost, right? And that guy is a human?’
Feng Jin’s lips twitched. He tightened his grip on her shoulder before releasing her once more. With a dark face, he took a charm out and pasted it on her forehead.
Shi Sheng reached out to pull it off. “What’re you doing? I’m not a jiangshi[1].”
‘You stuck it on my forehead!’
“Do you want to follow me or not?” Feng Jin looked at her frostily.
Shi Sheng felt quite conflicted. “Isn’t there any other way?”
“No.”
Shi Sheng glanced at the charm before looking back at the dark-faced Feng Jin. She swept her gaze over the crowd gathered around the old mansion.
‘What’ll happen to Feng Jin if he can’t beat that lot without my help? I gotta stand up for my man! Forget it…I’ll just look ugly for a bit.’
Shi Sheng gave the charm back to Feng Jin. “Kiss me and I’ll let you stick it on.”
“If you’re not coming with me then go home.” ‘Still daring to discuss conditions with me!’
“Then I guess I’ll just go over like this. You can’t stop me anyway.” Shi Sheng shook her head in a rather triumphant manner. ‘I like it when you can’t stand me, but have to play along!’
Feng Jin resisted the urge to slap her. ‘She wants to follow me, yet makes me kiss her… As if I am the one begging her to go over!’
He snapped his head around to glare at An Su and Xiao Bai. “What’re you looking at? Turn around!”
An Su jumped at the sudden shout , and she hurriedly turned away. ‘Isn’t it just a kiss? What’s there to be embarrassed about?’
Feng Jin then turned to glare at Xiao Bai. The latter felt a cold chill and hurriedly spun around as well.
Only then did Feng Jin lower his head. His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he spoke, “Just one.”
“En.” Shi Sheng lifted her face and closed her eyes. “Come on.”
Feng Jin pursed his lips and he slowly lowered his head to press his lips against hers.
The feeling wasn’t the same as the last time she’d kissed him. It felt like a tingly current of electricity surging through his veins.
Shi Sheng was afraid she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from stealing some of Feng Jin’s yang qi, so she merely brushed the tip of her tongue against his lips. Then she moved hers away and gave him a peck on the cheek.
Feng Jin found that he actually felt rather disappointed. But he soon adjusted his mental state and asked her with a cold face, “Is that enough?”
“Yep.” Shi Sheng smiled and nodded.
A hint of helplessness flashed in Feng Jin’s eyes, dispersing some of the thick gloomy clouds that usually surrounded him.He stuck the charm to Shi Sheng’s forehead again and warned her, “Don’t take it off.”
He thought some more before deciding to reach out and hold her hand as an insurance against any mischievous urges she might get.
It was clear that Feng Jin’s decision was indeed correct. From the moment they walked into the crowd, Shi Sheng had the urge to poke everything she saw. Had Feng Jin not been keeping her from doing so by pulling her along, a world war would’ve started by now.
Since Xiao Bai and An Su were humans, it was fine for them to just follow Feng Jin. Without actually displaying their prowess in battle no one would know just how capable (or otherwise) they were.
“Where’d you pick up that white-face at the back from?” Once they put some distance from the crowd, he turned and asked Shi Sheng in a low voice. Currently Feng Jin was more concerned about this.
‘The last time was a female, but now it’s a male! Does she even place me in her eyes?’
“I didn’t pick him up. I kidnapped him.”
‘K-kidnapped?!’
Feng Jin’s grip on Shi Sheng’s hand tightened subconsciously. “What did you kidnap him for?”
“Out of that group of idiots on Mt. Tiandu, only he could see me; who else would I kidnap? The Taoists of Mt. Tiandu are a bunch of conmen, someone should report them.”
‘Mt. Tiandu…’ Feng Jin suddenly realised that the invitation he showed her hadn’t contained an address. ‘She didn’t know where I was but guessed the people from the monasteries on Mt. Tiandu might’ve. So she went there to kidnap someone and inquire the venue from them…’
Feng Jin felt he should re-evaluate this ghost of his. ‘Just what can’t she do? She even dared to kidnap people from Mt. Tiandu…’
“Their real experts are here. See those people wearing Taoist robes over there…?”
Suddenly, Feng Jin felt his hand being pulled. When he turned back, he found that Shi Sheng had twisted her body so she could blow cold air at a tuxedo-wearing man in the distance.
Tuxedo Man felt a frigid wind buffeting him, causing him to shiver. However, as the others around him didn’t seem to notice it, he didn’t react too much for fear of being looked down upon. Thus , he could only endure the cold in silence.
Feng Jin’s face was dark as he pulled her back. “What’re you doing?”
“Testing to see if he’s the real deal.” Shi Sheng shrugged. “As proven, he’s not that big of a deal.”
“Not everyone here is very capable. There are various clans of exorcists, and the Lu Clan that person belongs to is one of them. They’re just here to gain more experience. They haven’t achieved the ability to be independent yet.” Feng Jin patiently explained.
“Oh, did others from the Feng Clan come?”
Feng Jin fell silent, his lips pursed tightly.
“No. I’m the only one.” Feng Jin’s voice was very low, as if he was suppressing an emotion.
‘How could those cowards from the Feng Clan come over?’
Shi Sheng turned to look at his profile, as she reviewed the plot quickly. ‘It’s mostly the Feng Clan’s fault that Feng Jin’s like this… Environments shape people; he wasn’t always like this.’
She suddenly hugged him and rubbed her cheek against his chest as she spoke in a half-comforting, half-arrogant tone, “I’ll take the Feng Clan for you. You can do what you want with it; kill off whoever you want to. Take revenge if there’s enmity. If there’s no enmity, then make one.”
Feng Jin was caught off guard by her hug, so he could only freeze on the spot, arms stiff at his sides.
He didn’t know how Shi Sheng could use such an unbridled tone, as if declaring that conquering an entire clan was as easy as having a meal to her. But…her words made him happy.
He couldn’t hug her back as it would appear strange and raise suspicion. He looked towards the old mansion that was shrouded in darkness.
‘Looks like I have to go in there tonight.’
[1] Jiangshis are… a cross between a vampire and a zombie. They got the stiff movements of a zombie, but drink blood like a vampire. Oh, and they jump! With both their hands stretched out in front of them. Bunny-hopping… Okay, so that may or may not have been a recent addition that isn’t part of the original lore.