A New Companion

Lan Xiang was impatiently tapping his toes inside the classroom.

"Who knows how much the ghosts are destroying in there as time goes on? And I'm supposed to wait here idly for someone?"

He scratched his head and sighed. No matter how much he wanted to rush in, he knew he needed all the help he could get.

The Touch of Life technique was his first experience in struggling to use a technique. Of course, the Teleportation Notes didn't count.

"Ah, I hope Jian'er was here. We could go together..." Lan Xiang imagined him and Xie Jian wandering around the school looking for ghosts.

Xie Jian: Kyaa! A ghost!

Lan Xiang: Don't worry, I'll save you, my princess~

"Heeheehee..." Lan Xiang couldn't help but grin. "But that wouldn't happen. She won't go to my school for no reason, and besides, even if she was here, she's strong enough to repel the ghosts by herself."

"Who's talking about me?" Xie Jian had a cheeky expression as she pushed the door open.

"Ah, Jian'er? You're here?" Lan Xiang didn't think that his wish would come true all of a sudden!

"Yes, I'm here. Okay, enough of the gushing, catch me up on the situation."

As soon as Lan Xiang finished talking, the two immediately continued where he and Ye Qingle had left after fighting the spider.

Lan Xiang opened his All-seeing Eye. After all, unless a ghost deliberately revealed itself, no one could see it, apart from him with this skill.

Xie Jian stuck close to Lan Xiang as he walked briskly through the damp and dark hallway. Broken glass shards and slight wooden splinters spread across the porcelain flooring, Xie Jian stepping on them from time to time.

Speaking of Xie Jian, her appearance was quite disgruntled, with her upper garment being that of a white T-shirt full of folds and creases and her legs covered with thick denim jeans. Her shoes were quite evidently worn in haste as her black sneakers and striped pink socks didn't match.

As for makeup, she didn't apply any at all, worried that she would overdress for the occasion, especially when it should rather be called a tragedy. Of course, she didn't forget to don her Disguise Ring, just in case.

With regards to Lan Xiang's reaction, he didn't think much of it, especially since he seldom saw Xie Jian in fancy clothing, and so was used to her wardrobe being unkempt and lacking in order. On the other hand, he would've been weirded out if Xie Jian had gone to the absolute to pretty herself when going to a disaster site like this.

In the end, even though her occasional stepping on the debris made some sounds that echoed through the hallway, it didn't inflict any pain on her feet concealed in the sneakers.

"Shh, I see something." Lan Xiang halted his walk and hid both himself and Xie Jian inside a room.

Scuttle, scuttle.

Multiple sounds of scurrying legs made Lan Xiang shiver. It reminded him of a cockroach's approach, only this time the latter seemed to be as big as a human.

"I've always hated cockroaches..."

Thinking about it further, it couldn't be a cockroach. It would be more logical to assume that it was a spider, the same as before.

"But that would mean that there is more than one spider..."

Xie Jian kept a lookout as she peeked her head through the doorway. At the end of the hallway, there was a faint image of a giant creature with multiple eyes hiding in the darkness.

"Xiang, there's a big spider way over there."

"Ah, I knew it. Then that means there's either a bunch of ghosts that are spider enthusiasts, or there's only one ghost controlling everything."

"Why, did you meet a spider before?"

"Yeah, we exorcised it. Don't tell me, it revived or something?"

"Ah, a ghost can't be that powerful. The extent that a ghost's individual power can reach has a low ceiling. It is as you said, there must be either multiple ghosts or a single one. But it would be too coincidental to encounter two spider ghosts in one building, which leaves us with the latter option... A Spirit is controlling the spider ghosts."

"A spirit?"

"Ah, I'll tell you about it later. For now, let's deal with this spider, which is... slowly crawling towards us!"

Lan Xiang clicked his tongue. "You distract it for a little while, I'll charge up my exorcism attack."

Xie Jian nodded as she approached the spider ghost without reservations. She took off her Disguise Ring and put it in her pocket as she cracked her knuckles and bent her neck for warm-up.

"Whew, it's been a long time since I last fought... Let's do this."

With a grin, she charged towards the spider!

The latter clearly didn't expect the frail-looking human female to rush towards it, especially since it regarded itself as terrifying!

It jumped into the air and flipped itself, sticking onto the ceiling.

Xie Jian glanced upwards as she let out a little 'hmph'. She looked left and right, spotting a bathroom in the near distance.

Her palm raised as she pointed towards the spider. An ice spike quickly formed, targetting the hairy creature.

The spider's speed escalated as it crawled towards Xie Jian's location, attempting to swallow her in one fell swoop.

With a smile, the number of ice spikes in Xie Jian's hand went from one to none!

The ice spike flew towards the spider's abdomen, piercing it accurately before it rapidly melted.

The spider healed itself up as it continued to approach Xie Jian.

"Hmm, seems like my qi quickly loses its properties once it makes contact with the ghost."

Xie Jian had learned about ghosts and Spirits in her time at school, but she had never actually encountered one before, as they were rare and could only be met if one deliberately looked for them in places they were most common, such as graveyards, casinos, schools, prisons, AKA places where negative emotions run amok.

In any case, this was Xie Jian's first time facing a ghost. Their ability to nullify qi displeased her quite a bit.

Xie Jian watched the spider running towards her on the ceiling. She raised her arm, then instantly sent it back downwards!

The pipes connected to the sprinkler on the ceiling burst open, the water sending the spider down to the floor!

As she exhaled, she twisted her hand like she was turning a thermostat.

The water that surrounded and flooded the spider froze over, immobilizing it within the ice block.

"Heh, this water isn't made of my qi, so it should take longer to-!"

The spider simply twitched its legs, shattering the ice that kept it inside immediately! The ice shards scattered all over, with some flying towards Xie Jian's face.

"Tch, looks like it's simply strong enough to break through the ice."

Faced with no other choice, Xie Jian extended her qi awareness towards the bathroom that she saw earlier. There, she felt a large amount of water flowing through.

"This should be a huge pipe, right? Would it be okay if I broke it...?"

Xie Jian looked around. Although this building looked abandoned, it was still Lan Xiang's school. Of course, there were two more buildings beside this one, but still...

She had her reservations.

However, as she saw the spider shaking off the ice shards off its fur, she decided immediately.

"This abomination needs to die..."

And so, she bit her lip.

"Take this--!"

A figure suddenly ran past her. It was Lan Xiang!

His finger was glowing green, containing a huge amount of qi! It was such an amount that Xie Jian couldn't imagine putting into a single attack.

Lan Xiang, whose fingers felt like they were about to explode, rushed towards the spider supporting his numbing right hand up with his left.

As he was about to approach the spider, he readied to pierce his fingers through its thick furry body.

"--Die!"

The spider flinched as it saw the green light.

It then remembered the orders of the queen.

"I'll take a massive blow if another one of you dies. Don't risk it!"

As such, escape was now its priority.

Dodge!

With a swift strafe, the spider barely managed to dodge the fatal green light. It felt one of its legs burning as Lan Xiang brushed upon it.

"Tsk, stop delaying the inevitable!"

Lan Xiang attacked once more!

Dodge! After that, the spider decided to turn around.

Run! Run! Run!

The spider put its eight feet to work, scrambling around the room. Every time Lan Xiang got close and tried to spear his fingers through, the spider would do a quick maneuver before continuing its escape.

Lan Xiang grit his teeth as he felt the energy close to exploding on his fingers. The veins on his right arm up to his neck glowed a bright green, qi coursing through towards his fingers!

He couldn't take it anymore, his skin was close to burning off! Lan Xiang stopped running as he withdrew the wood qi from his fingers. The green glow through his veins disappeared.

And so, in the end, the spider made it up the stairway and escaped from his pursuit.

Lan Xiang weakly raised his head up the stairs as he breathed in and out. He slowly sunk as his right arm limped, and his legs collapsed.

"Xiang!" Xie Jian caught Lan Xiang's head just as he was about to hit the hard and wet surface of the floor.

"Xiang, are you fine?"

She grimaced as she saw him sickly and pale. It was something that she swore she would never let happen again, and yet here he was.

"I, I'm fine. Let me, let me lie on your lap, please~"

Xie Jian let out a sigh of relief. 'Seeing as he still has the energy to tease me, he should be fine.'

She brushed her hair behind her ear as she carefully sat down on the floor, placing Lan Xiang on her lap.

"Haah, that... That's much better, whew. Worth it."

"Stop talking and relax for a moment. You need to rest for a little while before we can proceed."

"Eh...? But I cannot rest while monsters are nearby!"

"..." Xie Jian.