Chapter 00085: Neither Buddhist nor Daoist
# Neither Buddhist nor Daoist
Chapter 85
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 85: Neither Buddhist nor Daoist
Let us rewind time a little.
When Qian Sen knocked on the back door of Li Chengxi's house, in the residential building just across the road, Lei Lei was busy with her homework.
Although she was a cultivator, cultivating in the mortal world meant experiencing the joys, sorrows, angers, and griefs of ordinary people.
The torturous college entrance exam that plagued students was, of course, part of that.
The main reason she attended cram school was that after more than ten years of practicing Qi refining and immortal cultivation, she was completely ignorant of knowledge that ordinary people should have, such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry.
However, anyone capable of Qi refining and immortal cultivation was generally a sharp-witted individual, the kind of genius who would be admitted to a gifted youth program at a top university.
So for Lei Lei, catching up on the studies that gave ordinary people headaches wasn't particularly difficult.
Just as she was wrestling with a chemistry problem, the phone on the corner of her desk suddenly rang.
The caller ID read 'Gan Xiaoyan'.
Lei Lei assumed it was her best friend calling to chat about girly topics, but as soon as she answered, she heard Gan Xiaoyan sobbing on the other end.
"Don't cry yet. Speak slowly, what happened?"
Lei Lei immediately put down her pen and listened to the intermittent story from the other end of the line with a puzzled expression.
"A ghost? And it's chasing Qian Sen?"
Just as Li Chengxi had thought, since cultivators existed, the existence of ghosts wasn't all that strange.
But ghosts rarely appeared in cities.
Humans feared ghosts, but in truth, ghosts also feared humans.
Modern cities were massive and teeming with human vitality.
Even if a ghost were to be born, a single blast of sunlight and a rush of human presence would instantly reduce it to a pile of inorganic salts.
However, since it had already appeared, there was no need to dwell on why for now.
"I understand. You ran into it in the neighboring residential complex, right? In that case, it's very likely Qian Sen will run over to my side for help. I'll go down now."
After comforting Gan Xiaoyan on the phone for a few moments, Lei Lei didn't even change, running downstairs in her pajamas and slippers with a clatter.
Although it was already late, there were still many people strolling and chatting downstairs at this hour, or enjoying the cool evening air.
Lei Lei glanced at the situation downstairs.
Putting aside whether a ghost would dare to come, the moment Qian Sen saw so many people, he definitely wouldn't run over here.
In contrast, the back of the residential building, the side adjacent to the shopping street, was quieter.
Considering Qian Sen might already be injured, the likelihood of him running directly to Li Chengxi's was much higher.
So Lei Lei only glanced at the situation downstairs before quickly heading toward the back of the residential building.
As she was crossing a greenbelt, a streetlight not far away suddenly flickered.
At the same time, a cold and gloomy aura brushed against her skin like a lick.
Lei Lei knew this was a sign of excessive Negative Energy, the standard atmosphere for a ghost's appearance.
She immediately crouched down in the bushes and quietly peered in the direction of the streetlight.
Vaguely, she could see a dark, barely humanoid shape slithering along the shadows at the base of the wall.
Whenever it approached a streetlight, the bulb would flicker several times as if from a bad connection.
An ordinary person would probably think their eyes were playing tricks on them if they saw it, but it was absolutely impossible to escape the eyes of a cultivator.
What surprised Lei Lei was that this was actually a malevolent ghost.
One who dies with grievances becomes a resentful ghost; one who dies with hatred becomes a fierce ghost.
A malevolent ghost was an evolution of these two.
It usually formed when these two types of ghosts lingered for a long time, their resentment or hatred growing day by day, until they finally transformed.
But this made its appearance in the city even more impossible.
Not only did not everyone who died possess the terrifying resentment needed to become a ghost, but even if they did, there was no suitable place in the city for a resentful ghost to evolve into a malevolent ghost.
They were typically formed over long periods in places like ancient mass graves in the mountains.
But again, since it already existed, there was no point in dwelling on the reason.
It sounded impressive, but to Lei Lei, a single malevolent ghost was truly not a difficult type to deal with.
She fumbled in her pants pocket and pulled out a stack of paper talismans.
At this moment, the malevolent ghost had stopped at Li Chengxi's back door and was knocking, again and again.
A ghost's knocking makes no sound, yet the person inside can hear a terrifying noise.
This was the so-called ghostly knocking.
Seeing this, Lei Lei not only didn't act, but hesitated for a moment.
Ghosts had no physical form; they could pass directly through any wall that wasn't too thick.
But this malevolent ghost was just knocking at the door, showing no intention of entering.
Had the transmigrated woman done something that the malevolent ghost dared not enter, or...
Lei Lei suddenly wanted to observe the situation a little longer.
Just then, a new change occurred.
A dense layer of golden light erupted from the door panel.
To be precise, it wasn't aimed at the ghost; it was more like a giant shield expanding outward.
But the moment the knocking malevolent ghost touched the golden shield, it turned to ash, without the slightest chance to struggle.
Lei Lei was certain that was definitely not some kind of magic, so naturally, it couldn't have been done by the transmigrated woman.
This power was neither Buddhist nor Daoist, yet it was righteous and brilliant, as solemn and dignified as a divine statue in a temple.
Not only could no evil being approach it, but even touching it was fatal.
Unfortunately, it appeared and vanished in a flash, so quickly that Lei Lei didn't have time to get a good look.
Lei Lei emerged from the bushes and walked quickly toward Li Chengxi's back door.
Where the malevolent ghost had been, only a small pile of ash remained, its body and soul utterly destroyed.
The feeling it gave her was like an evil creature encountering an ancient divine statue that had been worshiped with incense for a thousand years.
How dare a mere ghost act so presumptuously before divine might? A single glance from the divine eye had crushed it into dregs on the spot.
Lei Lei avoided the ashes and knocked on the door a few times, but it didn't open.
She then took out her phone and called Li Chengxi.
Although Li Chengxi didn't have Lei Lei's number, Lei Lei had long ago obtained it through her Section Nine connections, and now it came in handy.
"Open the door, it's me, Lei Lei!"
-‐‐——–‐‐——
Less than five minutes after Lei Lei arrived, reinforcements from Section Nine began to arrive one after another.
Within fifteen minutes, the main force had also arrived in full force.
They were able to arrive so quickly because some of them were originally nearby, responsible for monitoring Li Chengxi.
Upon receiving the notice, they immediately grabbed their gear and rushed over.
Some of them looked like a couple whispering sweet nothings by the roadside late at night, some looked like migrant workers getting off a late shift, and another was covered in grease and soot, looking every bit like a barbecue vendor.
It could be said that these people wouldn't look out of place anywhere; they seemed like a group of disguised special agents.
Qian Sen was put on an ambulance.
They said it was staffed by professionals who cooperated with Section Nine, so there was no need to worry about any secrets being exposed.
A man who appeared to be Qian Sen's superior grabbed Li Chengxi's hands and thanked him profusely, making Li Chengxi feel a bit embarrassed.
Before leaving, the man even made a point to say that if anything came up in the future, he should call them anytime.
We at Section Nine have some connections in the government, we can do our humble part to help...
Although the other party didn't speak too plainly, the feeling was probably that of having someone powerful watching his back.
(End of chapter)