Divine Level Witch Doctor

The female ghost slipped into the car with him. She had probably never seen a car before. Once inside, she looked all around, her curiosity palpable. She couldn’t sit still, one moment zipping into the trunk, the next appearing in the engine compartment. It seemed she wanted to figure out how this car could move so fast without a horse pulling it.

In the end, having figured nothing out, the female ghost simply sat on the dashboard, watching the driver with rapt attention.

Zhao Yuan was exasperated by the ghost’s antics. ’Good thing the driver can’t see her,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, he’d either have a heart attack from the fright or get into an accident because of the distraction.’

The driver, blissfully unaware of any of this, drove steadily. About forty or fifty minutes later, they entered Yanghua Town.

Zhao Yuan took out his phone and called Ying Ji, telling her where he was. After listening, Ying Ji instructed, ”Get out of the car and wait by the side of the road. I’ll be there in a moment.”

”Okay,” Zhao Yuan agreed. He had the driver pull over, then pushed open the door and got out.

The female ghost, unlike with the car, showed no interest in the cell phone. It was hard to say if she had ever seen one before.

After standing by the roadside for seven or eight minutes, a red Porsche sports car roared up and stopped beside Zhao Yuan.

Inside the car was none other than Ying Ji.

She waved at Zhao Yuan. ”Get in!”

Zhao Yuan opened the passenger door and got in. With nowhere else to sit, the female ghost simply perched on the hood of the car.

Ying Ji started the car. As she drove toward the old family estate, she asked, ”So where is this female ghost you said is Chaining you?”

Zhao Yuan pointed ahead. ”Right there, sitting on the hood.” Then he frowned, asking in confusion, ”What, you can’t see her?”

Ying Ji rolled her eyes at him and snapped, ”My Cultivation isn’t high enough for me to open my Yin Yang Eye whenever I please!”

Zhao Yuan understood. So for Ying Ji to see a ghost, she also needed to use a Spellcasting Technique and some props. But at the same time, a new question occurred to him. ”Then why can I see her whenever I want?”

Ying Ji shook her head gently and corrected him. ”It’s not that you can see her. It’s that she *wants* you to see her.”

The phrasing was a little convoluted, but Zhao Yuan understood immediately. ”You mean she’s intentionally manifesting in front of me?”

Ying Ji nodded. ”That’s most likely it.”

”But why?” Zhao Yuan asked. ”We’re complete strangers; I’ve never met her before. Why would she be willing to manifest only to me?”

”Because you’re the one who summoned her.” Ying Ji’s expression grew serious as she patiently explained, ”There are generally two reasons a summoned ghost refuses to leave. First, the sending-off ritual was performed incorrectly, or it wasn’t satisfied with the incense and offerings. The second reason is far more troublesome: the ghost has unfinished business and hopes you can help fulfill its last wishes. Until you do, it will continue Chaining you.”

Zhao Yuan’s face fell. ”Don’t tell me my luck is bad enough to have run into the second reason.”

”I’d say it’s the second one, nine times out of ten.” Ying Ji twisted the knife before explaining, ”This ghost Chaining you isn’t afraid of the sun, can walk around freely in broad daylight, and can perfectly manifest its living appearance to you. It’s definitely a High Level Ghost. A Ghost like that wouldn’t care about offerings, just like a rich person wouldn’t care about a hundred-dollar bill. So if it’s Chaining you, it must be because it has unfinished business!”

’Damn, I’ve really hit the jackpot,’ Zhao Yuan thought, feeling utterly dejected. He was also filled with regret. ’Why did I have to be so reckless and summon a ghost last night? Wasn’t I just asking for trouble? Great. Now it’s really a case of ’it’s easier to invite a god than to send one away’!’

”Look on the bright side,” Ying Ji consoled him. ”This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, you know.”

Zhao Yuan’s interest was piqued. ”Oh? How so?”

Ying Ji answered, ”Based on your description, this ghost bears you no ill will, which means it’s a benevolent spirit. If you can help it fulfill its last wish, it will definitely reward you! And that reward will be incredibly generous. It might even agree to become your Ghost Spirit. If that happens, you’ll be incredibly powerful! A ghost that doesn’t fear the sun and can assume a human form has reached the Human Soul level at the very least! A Ghost Spirit of that caliber... even in our Ying Family, only the Ancestor possesses one!”

It was only after asking that Zhao Yuan learned that modern Witch Cultivators divided ghosts into six levels. From lowest to highest, they were: Lone Soul, Wild Ghost, Yin Spirit, Human Soul, Earth Ghost, and Celestial Spirit. Anything higher was in the realm of Ghost Immortals, who were no longer considered mere Ghost Souls.

Although Ying Ji’s Ghost Spirit was cultivated with the full backing of her family, it couldn’t take human form and had to rely on her Yang Qi to be active during the day. It was still a far cry from the Human Soul level, merely at the peak of the Yin Spirit level.

Yet the female ghost Chaining Zhao Yuan was a wild Human Soul Level Ghost Soul. If he could take her as his Ghost Spirit and nurture her, she could very well pass the Five Elements Tribulation and become an Earth Ghost or a Celestial Spirit. She might even become Extraordinary and enter the realm of the Ghost Immortals!

To be honest, Ying Ji was green with envy over Zhao Yuan’s predicament. She questioned him in detail about the ghost-summoning steps, planning to try it herself that night. She wanted to see if she could channel her inner Emperor of Luck and summon a similar High Level Ghost Soul.

Zhao Yuan could only smile wryly. He had absolutely no interest in Ghost Cultivation.

Luckily, he didn’t say that out loud, or Ying Ji might have actually killed him!

It was like someone winning five million in the lottery, only to tell everyone they never wanted to win and didn’t want the money. The sheer arrogance of such a statement was off the charts.

Soon, the Porsche pulled up in front of an alleyway.

She parked the car by the curb and led Zhao Yuan into the alleyway. Inside stood a grand residence built of grey bricks and green tiles. A plaque hung over the gate, bearing two large words: Ying Residence.

”Beautiful calligraphy!” Zhao Yuan couldn’t help but exclaim. The two words were written with fluid, powerful strokes, clearly the work of a master calligrapher. What surprised him even more was that, according to the Information Leaf, an Exorcism and Home Protection Talisman was hidden within those two words!

Hiding a Talisman within writing... whoever wrote these two words was by no means an ordinary person!

Ying Ji smiled. ”Of course it’s beautiful. Our Ancestor wrote it twenty years ago, on his hundredth birthday.”

”So your Ancestor is a hundred and twenty now?” Zhao Yuan asked. He knew from their earlier conversation that the Ying Family’s Ancestor was still alive.

”Yep.” Ying Ji nodded, then smiled. ”Why the surprised look? Besides supernatural power, isn’t longevity the whole point of our cultivation?”