Chapter 12: Entries for Tough Guys (Revised)

At the bank entrance, Xu Yi watched the drunkard's departing figure and slowly exhaled.

There was a bank near Rose Street, and Xu Yi had not taken much time to withdraw the money.

The transaction went smoothly, without any hitches.

After getting the money, the drunkard hurried away as if fleeing.

"Could this guy be a swindler?" Hardy became more and more suspicious.

He really couldn't understand why Xu Yi would be willing to spend a lot of money on a few pieces of broken glass instead of buying him more pairs of dance shoes.

"That really was someone else's ancestral treasure!" Xu Yi exclaimed in good spirits, offering an explanation.

"Then why did he run off so fast?"

"That man is a gambling addict who was rushing off to gamble!" Xu Yi said with a smile.

Hardy was taken aback, "How do you know that?"

"The man's eyes were bloodshot and he had heavy dark circles, obviously, he hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time. His fingers were fair, not like those of a person who does manual work, but the crevices beneath his nails were full of dirt, probably from being at the card table for long periods... The lighter in his pocket bore the Vienna Hotel logo, and that's a famous casino," Xu Yi shared his deductions.

Luckily, the man was a gambling addict; otherwise, he would never have sold such a precious item. Of course, the most important reason was that he did not realize the true value of the item.

But that's normal, after all, others don't have the system.

"Where's Lisa?" Xu Yi scanned around but didn't see Lisa.

"She bumped into an acquaintance, went to say hello, and she's just coming back now!" Hardy pointed toward Lisa, who was walking back toward them from a distance.

Xu Yi didn't mind much, but as Lisa drew closer, the glass shards inside the metal box suddenly flickered for a moment.

Xu Yi stared at the bloodstains on the glass shards, puzzled.

"What's wrong?" Lisa asked curiously.

Had he seen it wrong? Xu Yi fell into self-doubt.

"Where did you go just now?" Xu Yi asked.

"I ran into Auntie Aileen from Chinatown. We chatted for a bit. Auntie Aileen came to Rose Street to pick out some decorative items for her house," Lisa answered.

Xu Yi watched Auntie Aileen's retreating figure, but the system had no alerts.

He thought for a moment but came to no conclusion, so he cast it out of his mind.

...…

By the time they arrived at the Haunted House in the graveyard, the sun was close to setting on the horizon, and night was about to fall.

Xu Yi entered the house with ease, as his trial the last time had left him with a certain resistance to ghosts and such things.

The moment he stepped into the basement, his brow slightly furrowed.

That unique chilly sensation had vanished!

This clearly wasn't due to the Psychic entries becoming ineffective, nor was it because the Funeral Parlor's supernatural presence had been exorcised.

Xu Yi took out the metal box from his bosom, opened it, and placed it in the corner of the room before gradually moving away.

After retreating three meters away, the chilly sensation reappeared.

Indeed, it was the influence of that mysterious bloodstain; its range of effect was about three meters.

Xu Yi started to wander around the Funeral Parlor. The scorched ghost did not appear, nor were there other anomalies. He suddenly felt bored and listless, unable to muster any enthusiasm.

"Why isn't the ghost brother showing up?" Xu Yi sighed.

Xu Yi might not have noticed it himself, but without realizing it, his mentality had begun to change.

It seems I can't bring this thing next time! Xu Yi packed up the metal box, thinking that the ghosts were probably too scared to appear.

The Psychic entry experience failed to accumulate successfully, and the bravery training came to an end without much fanfare. Xu Yi left the funeral parlor with regret, prepared to come back the next day.

Under the dark moon and high winds, Xu Yi walked alone through the secluded graveyard.

If it had been anyone else, they probably would have been scared out of their wits, but Xu Yi looked around hopefully, wishing for a "surprise" to jump out from the shadows. Unfortunately, nothing happened.

......

As the sun set in the west, Xu Yi once again arrived at the funeral parlor in the cemetery.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Charcoal!" As soon as Xu Yi pushed open the basement door, he saw the charred ghost corpse hiding in the corner and greeted it politely.

He took out a cup of black tea and a few delicate floral pastries from his backpack, which were today's offerings for Maria.

There were remnants of blood on the mortuary table. Xu Yi placed several pieces of paper on it and set the snacks on top.

As he turned his head, a ghostly figure, wrapped entirely in bandages, abruptly appeared behind him. Xu Yi was unfazed, self-absorbed as he moved to grab a stool. "Bandaged Sir Number Three, please make way!"

Xu Yi ate a floral pastry and felt a bit thirsty. He reached out to grab the black tea when a pale hand stretched out from behind him and grabbed the back of his hand.

"Miss Bandage Number Two, please show some self-respect. I'm not that easy!" Xu Yi freed himself from the ghostly hand and elegantly sipped his floral tea.

A whole week had passed since his last visit to Rose Street.

During that week, he went to the Antique Market after school to scrape together Psychic entry experience before heading to the funeral parlor.

The number of ghosts in the funeral parlor was surprisingly high, but they were mainly of two types: one charred ghostly figure and countless bandaged ghosts.

At the beginning, faced with the ghosts' "turn-around kill" and "jump-in-face kill," he was quite frightened, feeling as if his heart would stop.

But with deliberate practice, he could now maintain a poker face and even eat while watching the ghosts perform.

In Xu Yi's view, if ghosts cannot threaten one's life, they are even safer than a stray cat on the street.

[Entry comprehension in progress, comprehension successful, congratulations on obtaining the entry: As Brave as a Barrel.]

[As Brave as a Barrel (Common White): 100/100

Summary: Your courage far exceeds that of an ordinary person; you remain calm even in the face of terrifying events.]

Xu Yi's eyes brightened, not expecting to awaken an entry.

Apart from opening treasure chests and entry absorption, there was a third way to acquire entries: self-awakening.

Self-awakening is quite difficult, and if it weren't for Xu Yi's corresponding talent combined with deliberate practice, it would have been impossible to achieve.

Even though entry awakening is challenging, it has its benefits: once comprehended, it's instantly at full value.

A chill spread throughout his body, and his body, including his soul, began to undergo an unknown transformation, lasting only a few seconds.

As the chill receded, Xu Yi looked at the ghosts around him and suddenly felt different.

Though he wasn't afraid before, deep down he was still somewhat queasy. Now it was different; he suddenly found that after looking at these ghosts for a while, they actually seemed somewhat attractive.

No, no! Alarms went off in Xu Yi's mind, and he hurriedly recalled the images of Lisa and Maria, especially Maria.

A couple of days ago, he had accepted Maria's invitation to the swimming pool, admiring her swimming form.

He couldn't help but agree with Hadid's words that swimming was indeed beneficial to physical and mental health.

Feeling his peculiar preferences thoroughly corrected, Xu Yi breathed a sigh of relief. He wondered if those guys who sneaked into Sadako's gate at night or lingered around Beauty Chu had the same kind of entries?

[Psychic entry experience +3, current progress: 86/100.]

Days passed, and as he kept grinding for experience in Rose Street and the funeral parlor, his Psychic entry was almost maxed out.

"It's about time to consider the matter of exorcism!" Xu Yi reflected in his mind.

Lately, Ailent had been growing a bit suspicious, after all, nearly two weeks had elapsed.