THEY ALL SAY I'VE MET A GHOST

Chapter 33

A Fan Translation

CHAPTER 33 - Skipping Class (Part 1)

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Considered from a scientific and rational perspective, I was facing a pair of con artists.

Considered from the point of view of faith and emotion, I was even more certain that there was no such thing as ghosts.

But against all odds a small branch of my emotions broke off, betraying my faith. Privately, I didn't think Xiao Ning was a liar. I still remembered the time he’d gotten off the train in the middle of the night and rushed back to H City, and the travel-worn way he had looked the next morning.

Before deciding whether to believe them or not, there was something I wanted to make certain of.

I said to Ning Tiance, "Were you the one who touched my chest in the elevator?"

Xiao Ning blushed, shook his head, and said, "No, it was the ghost possessing the elevator."

"A statement isn't reliable. You have to try touching it again." I tried my best to look at this matter from an objective and academic point of view. "I still remember how it felt then. I can tell whether it was you by comparing. If it really wasn't you, then I'll believe that there was a third party in the elevator that day."

"What is this?" Sect Leader Ning looked at Xiao Ning in utter confusion.

Ning Tiance then had to briefly tell Sect Leader Ning what had happened in the elevator at the mall. Of course, his version was different from mine. In his version I used the wooden sword to hack to death a ghost that had stuck its head out of the elevator, while in my version he did a sword dance in as cramped a place as the elevator. What a pity that it had been too dark at the time and I hadn't seen it clearly; he must have looked very good.

Sect Leader Ning touched his beard and nodded. "I see. In that case, in order to prove that my Maoshan Sect hasn’t made its name by deceiving the public, Tiance, go ahead and touch him. Let Mr. Shen see the truth."

The flush on Xiao Ning's face hadn't gone down. He looked at me and said, "Really? Here?"

"Yes!" Sect Leader Ning said seriously. "A true man owns up to what he's done and hasn't done. How can we let the stain of a sneak attack in the shadows remain? Clearly it was that evil creature trying to do harm under the cover of darkness."

Xiao Ning slowly approached me, rubbed my chest briefly, then let go.

"That's wrong," I recalled seriously, "the gesture and the force were different. Let me demonstrate."

Xiao Ning was wearing a shirt, while I'd been wearing a pullover with a wider neckline. "That day, someone put his hand in my neckline, then lightly stroked, like a caress. I still remember the fingers were a little cold."

I put my hand into Xiao Ning's shirt and demonstrated the gesture.

"Oh, so that's how it was," said Sect Leader Ning with a cold snort. "That evil creature touched the place where your heart's blood was hottest. It had seen your Yang energy and wanted to absorb it."

I didn't quite understand that and addressed an academic question to Sect Leader Ning. "Didn't you say before the Yang energy would cause harm to Yin-heavy ghosts and monsters? So why would they want to absorb Yang energy?"

"Mr. Shen's Yang energy is to ghosts what the sun is to humans. If you get too close, you’ll be burned to death, but humans still need light and heat," said Sect Leader Ning.

I accepted the metaphor, but I was still dubious.

"Did you get the gesture and the force?" I patted my chest at Xiao Ning. "Come on, we'll see whether you can persuade me with one move."