Chapter 10: The Ghost with Delicate Features

Ailent left, and Xu Yi tried to keep him, but it was no use as the other had already made up his mind.

"Says he has something important to do, but I think he's just scared," Xu Yi muttered to himself as he watched Ailent hurry away.

In fact, Xu Yi was a bit scared too; the place was desolate, and he was living in a Haunted House. It'd be impossible not to be afraid.

In both his past and present lives, he was nothing but a Common person, and he couldn't just become fearless in the blink of an eye.

But he knew very well that to become an exorcist, he had to adapt to this.

The danger of this Haunted House was not very high, which made it suitable for strengthening his mind, and, of course, the most important thing was that the two Resurrection Coins gave him enough confidence.

Xu Yi concentrated, surveying the basement.

Rusty sinks, dissection tables covered in bloodstains, and the signature cremation furnace—there was no doubt this place used to be a Funeral Parlor.

One could imagine, during its heyday, countless corpses being brought in and out.

After hesitating for a moment, Xu Yi pulled open the iron gate of the cremation furnace.

To his surprise, there were still skeletal remains deep inside.

"This old Ailent was so careless. He didn't even clean up the skeletons properly; no wonder he couldn't rent it out!" Xu Yi silently criticized in his mind.

Suddenly, there was a clanging sound behind him. Xu Yi jerked around, then let out a sigh of relief—it was just a hook falling off the wall.

He turned back, preparing to close the gate of the cremation furnace, but his body trembled violently... A charred ghostly figure was crouching inside, its crimson pupils staring fixedly at him.

Xu Yi took a deep breath, forcing himself to make eye contact with the ghostly figure.

He had anticipated this day would come; turning back and running away was all too common. If he wanted to make a living doing this, he had to conquer his fear.

And the best way to conquer fear was to face it head-on.

Ollie give!

If one looked closely, they might notice that the ghost actually had quite clear and distinct features—those blood-filled eyes, the blackened, crisp shell, the contorted, inviting waist... Xu Yi couldn't continue his fanciful description, feeling his calves grow weak.

After a prolonged five-second staredown, the blackened ghostly figure slowly dissipated.

Xu Yi exhaled a sigh of relief and licked his dry lips. If it weren't for the circumstances, he'd even feel like popping open a champagne bottle to celebrate.

His career as an exorcist had finally taken its first step.

He was well aware that many of the spirits and demons in this world weren't very dangerous. People feared them mostly because of their terrifying appearances.

[Psychic Entries Experience +8, current progress: 45/100.]

Xu Yi had not expected that Psychic Entries would overtake the "Scholar" Entries to become the fastest progressing entries.

Such entries, as long as one finds the right method, are actually quite easy to gain experiences with.

"It seems that the charred ghostly figure didn't have any ill intentions?"

Xu Yi recalled the scene, and a bold plan gradually formed in his mind.

If that was the case, why not use this opportunity to train his courage?

It had grown completely dark, and Xu Yi had no choice but to leave the Funeral Parlor.

If he hadn't been worried about his father getting anxious, he would have liked to stay overnight. Having tasted success, Xu Yi began to get carried away.

"Don't rush! I will come back tomorrow!" He locked the door, gave the Funeral Parlor a wistful glance, and only then did he turn to leave.

If Ailent had seen this scene, his jaw would have certainly dropped in shock.

......

The sun shone brightly; it was a new day.

"You're actually fine!"

As soon as Xu Yi stepped into the classroom, a skinny boy who looked like a beanpole suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Why should I have a problem?" Xu Yi sat down, glancing at the other party.

This "beanpole" was named Hardy, and at this school, he was one of the few people with whom you could strike up a conversation.

"Everyone at school says you've provoked Martin. Didn't he corner you after school? I have some clout with Martin. I can put in a good word for you if it comes to that," Hardy said anxiously.

Xu Yi couldn't be bothered with him and prepared to continue browsing entries.

"Oh right, Yi, the Swimming Club is recruiting new members. If we can get in, we're in for a treat! I have a special way in. You must be interested in that, right? Listen to me..."

Hardy, seeing that Xu Yi wasn't paying attention to him, indeed switched the topic.

But then he suddenly fell silent, staring straight behind Xu Yi. Maria had appeared behind them at some point.

"Xu Yi, thank you for helping me yesterday! Here are some chocolate tarts and lemon-scented tea. I hope you like them," Maria said, holding a beautifully wrapped box in her hands.

"No need to thank me!" Xu Yi took it without a second thought.

Ah! That was his biggest flaw, never learning to say no.

Hardy was left speechless. The brightest pearl in the Swimming Club was Maria, and many joined the club just for her.

But what did he see? This brightest pearl was actually bringing pastries to Xu Yi herself.

Could it be he got up on the wrong side of the bed today, or maybe he was still dreaming?

"Do you need anything else?" Xu Yi, seeing Maria hadn't left, asked offhandedly.

"Uh... if you want to join the Swimming Club, I can help. I know some people there," Maria said, looking at Xu Yi with hopeful eyes.

"Thanks, but no," Xu Yi refused outright. He was too busy dealing with entries to have time for swimming.

What's that? You say I can't refuse? Who's spreading those rumors?

"Okay then," Maria said, walking away disappointed.

Hardy looked at Xu Yi with an expression of anger at his indifference, glared at him resentfully, and after a while, pounded his chest hard, sighed deeply, slumped over his desk, and completely shut himself off from others.

"Xu Yi, the Antique Market on Rose Street is open again. Do you want to go? I heard that last week, the Spirit Exploration Society found a witch's magic wand there."

After being dejected for a while, Hardy started to make small talk with Xu Yi again.

Xu Yi was going to refuse, but his interest was piqued when he heard the second half of what Hardy said, and he agreed to go.

The bell for beginning class rang, and Xu Yi buried his head in brushing up on Scholar entries.

After a whole morning of hard work, his Scholar entries once again exceeded the Psychic entries.

[Current progress of Scholar entries: 51/100.]

The Scholar entries were more than halfway done, which was promising. He estimated it would take about another half a month to complete them.

It was going to take half a month because he found that the closer he got to completion, the harder it was to accrue experience for the entries.

St. Anna's School didn't have a nap time; they only briefly rested after eating before the afternoon classes began, but as a result, school ended earlier.

At the school gate, Hardy watched the two figures ahead of him, feeling like some kind of luminous object, blinking with light.

Xu Yi and Lisa chatted and laughed together, while he, Big Boss Hardy, was all alone.

He should have known that inviting Xu Yi would surely mean Lisa would join them too.

He thought back to Maria from the morning, and he couldn't understand—Xu Yi was just a bit taller, a bit handsomer, a bit better at studies—why didn't he get the same treatment?