Ghosts Know What I Experienced

Chapter 22.3: Wife eats meat, I drink soup.

Chapter 22 Part 3

Xi Jia stood very far away and couldn’t see the specifics of the situation clearly. He vaguely felt that something wasn’t right, but in his eyes, there’s no yin energy in this crew. Everything was very normal.

On Zhu Que Street, people from other production teams came over after hearing the loud rumbling sounds, curiously peeking inside. The flocking crowd squeezed Xi Jia from the front to the back. He wanted to look at the crew’s situation, but a large amount of people obstructed his sight. He had to give up.

Xi Jia planned on returning to his own crew. Just as he turned, he saw a black clothed young man quietly standing next to the kite vendor from yesterday.

Wearing the same black brocade robes and long wig from yesterday, the man stood on the side of Zhu Que Street with a tranquil expression, looking at the curious onlookers surround the set so that not even a drop a water could get through. It was as if the noise and turmoil of the outside world had nothing to do with him. He just stood still, his face gentle and his eyes calm.

Sensing Xi Jia’s line of sight, the young man looked at him. The two looked at each other for a while. As if he recognized Xi Jia, the man nodded to him and turned to leave. When the man turned around, a red light suddenly flashed past Xi Jia’s eyes. When he looked at it carefully once more, he found that it was a blood red jade pendant tied to the man’s waist.

The small and exquisite jade pendant was only the size of half a palm, and a five-clawed coiled dragon was engraved on its surface. Not sure which shop the craftsmanship came from, but each tuft of the coiled dragon’s hair was surprisingly carved on such a small surface. The long dragon’s bared fangs and brandishing claws were fierce and imposing. The finishing touches of the dragon’s eyes looked vivid and lifelike.

The jade pendant had a trace of something uncanny. Xi Jia narrowed his eyes. After watching for a long time, he suddenly raised his hand to take the relic off his neck.

Bang!

The yin energy sharply rose towards the sky. However, even if he had removed the relic, there’s still no yin energy on the black robed man in Xi Jia’s eyes. But after he took off the relic, the man stopped in his footsteps. The black clothed man unhurriedly turned around to look at Xi Jia again.

Their gazes met in midair. A long time had past without anyone talking.

Next to the road, the various clamor from the crew that had another accident carried over. On one side of the road, the black haired young man in a costume and the man wearing black brocade robes looked at each other. The man lightly curved the corners of his mouth up, giving Xi Jia a gentle smile.

The fair and ordinary face appeared to be warm and soft because of this tender smile, adding a hint of kindness and compassion.

He wasn’t a particularly good-looking person, but the more he looked, the more he felt he was very pleasing to the eye.

Furthermore, this person really had no yin energy on his body.

It was only a smile. The man turned his body to leave again. Beside him, numerous busybodies curiously ran over, wanting to watch the excitement. Only he alone was walking against the crowd. The blood colored jade pendant at his waist lightly swayed as if it’s his only companion.

When the strange man completely left his line of sight, Xi Jia lightly exhaled a breath and unlocked his phone. He at first went to find Pei Yu, but after thinking about it, Charlatan Pei was really too unreliable. He might as well solve it himself than look for him. After thinking about it again, he tapped “Ye Jingzhi” in his contacts.

The “duu duu” sounds of the phone only rang for a second before it was picked up.

“Xi Jia?” A deep and steady male voice sounded with a hint of astonishment that was hard to detect.

Facing this sort of serious situation, Xi Jia was never vague and straightforwardly said what had happened. He briefly explained the situation of the crew that had consecutive accidents. Then, he also told Ye Jingzhi that he saw a man who was a lot like a malicious ghost, but there’s no yin energy on his body.

“Is it an evil spirit? The crack in the ceiling really didn’t seem like an accident. Master Ye, you said before that a lot of evil spirits are good at hiding their own presence. Could this time be related to evil spirits?”

Ye Jingzhi immediately said, “Wait for me, I’ll come right away.”

Xi Jia was stunned, “Master Ye, aren’t you in the middle of catching Qin San Shi who had escaped from the Mausoleum?”

Ye Jingzhi didn’t answer this question, “Don’t be afraid, I’ll come soon.”

Xi Jia, “……” He’s not scared at all, ah!

He merely wished to ask for the specifics of the situation to avoid misunderstanding and beating up a good person, and then realize that the person wasn’t a ghost or monster. That wouldn’t be good.

Xi Jia quickly said, “Master Ye, you’re busy. There’s really no need to care about me. I only want to know if it’s a kind of evil spirit……”

“It’s my fault,” the anxious male voice interrupted Xi Jia’s words, and Ye Jingzhi seriously said, “Xi Jia, wait for me, I’ll come very soon……is that okay?”

Is that okay?

At this moment, he suddenly forgot the words that he wanted to explain further.

Xi Jia was slightly stumped for words and subconsciously said, “Okay.” By the time he came back to his senses, the phone had already hung up. He was at a loss as looked at his phone’s black screen. He somewhat didn’t understand why he would say “okay.” Why he would suddenly start accepting another person’s unconditional help after living alone for all these years.

Next to the Xianyang International Airport, Ye Jingzhi suddenly changed directions and flew towards Chang’an.

Master Buxing was startled and quickly stopped him, “Young Daoist Ye, what are you doing? Didn’t we just come from there? We had already checked there and didn’t find a trace of Qin San Shi. Why are you running towards Chang’an again?”

Ye Jingzhi’s gaze was heavy, “This junior has something.”

Master Buxing subconsciously asked, “There’s still something that’s more important than Qin San Shi escaping the Mausoleum in the Xuanxue world?”

Ye Jingzhi nodded heavily, “Yes.”

Master Buxing, “Ah? What is it?”

Ye Jingzhi said each word and phrase one at a time, “His matters, to me, is more important than my life.”

Master Buxing was completely shocked silly and let of the hand holding Ye Jingzhi, watching him leave.

Twenty years ago, Yi Lingzi probably never thought that the words he had said without thinking to his disciple would leave a deep mark in his disciple’s heart, ultimately raising a good Twenty-four Filial Exemplars¹ husband, “Wife’s matters is your matter. Your matters is still your matter. Master’s biggest regret is not saving Fellow Daoist Ziyun at that time, and helplessly watched her get devoured by a 500 year malicious ghost. Jingzhi ah, even if you die, you should die in front of your wife. Anyone who dares to bully your wife, touch your wife, you need to make him step over your dead body first!”

After saying this, Yi Lingzi remembered the female confidant that had an untimely death as he drank a mouthful of 50-year old strong wine and fell asleep. And his only disciple earnestly recorded this sentence in his notebook, recited it three times a day until it was painstakingly engraved in his mind.

If you want to touch my wife, step over my dead body first!

Master Ye was like a rocket, flying towards the Qin and Tang movie city with a whoosh.

In the Qin and Tang movie city, Xi Jia held his cellphone, looking at the screen somewhat stupefied. After thinking a long time, he decided it was still better to send a message to let Master Ye know that he could handle it here so Master Ye didn’t need to make another trip. But just as he typed half a message, he heard a soft voice sound from behind him, “You understand this thing?”

The fingers grasping the phone suddenly tightened. Xi Jia turned his head to look while simultaneously retreating back a step.

Outside of the chaotic crowd, the black clothed man that had just left had unknowingly came back up behind him and smiled at him.

The man looked down at Xi Jia’s phone, and then raised his head to look at Xi Jia.

Xi Jia suddenly understood. He stared at the other side with vigilance and brought his right hand behind his back. He slowly closed his hand, a blood red aura climbed up in between his fingers bit by bit. His voice was ice-cold as he looked down, indifferently asking, “You’re talking about a cell phone? You don’t know how to play with a phone?”

The man in black was slightly stunned by what he had heard and looked at Xi Jia somewhat at a loss.

Xi Jia also looked at him.

He didn’t know why this black clothed man would come back, and also didn’t understand why he would use such a familiar tone to talk to him. He tightened his fist as a precaution. If the other party dared to take a single step forward, he would dare to punch the man until he ate dog shit.²

However, the black robed man didn’t move forward. He only fixed his gaze on Xi Jia. At this moment, Xi Jia had already put the relic back on. The soaring yin energy was being firmly restrained by the relic. Only a faint strand of yin energy that the relic wasn’t able to hide twisted around him.

The man seriously looked on. After a long time, he asked, “What is your name?”

Xi Jia didn’t answer.

The man wasn’t angry, his gentle eyes slightly bent in a smile, “It was this one who was lacking in manners and ought to first give their name before asking for someone else’s name.”

Xi Jia directly asked, “What is your name?”

“This one is called Ying, name Ziying.”

Xi Jia widened his eyes, intently staring at the soft spoken, gentle, courteous, black clothed man in front of him.

Ying Ziying?!

Qin San Shi, Ying Ziying?!

The one that “Ghosts Know” had mentioned who escaped from the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor and didn’t know where he ran off to, that Ying Ziying?!

“When did you cross over?”

Xi Jia had mixed feelings in his heart. He didn’t know at this moment whether he should go up and slap him, quickly capture this person, and hand him over to Ye Jingzhi, or should he wait for Ye Jingzhi to come and handle it together. Suddenly hearing what Ziying had said, he was stunned in place and asked back, “When did I cross over?”

Ziying lightly nodded, “Lord’s style of dress does not resemble my Qin, nor does it resemble the customs of the Six States. Perhaps you have lived a few years longer than this one?”

Xi Jia just realized what “when did you cross over” meant.

Xi Jia, “……”

You’re the one who’s dead! Your entire family’s dead!

Not right, there’s nothing wrong with Qin San Shi’s entire family actually being dead.

Clearly the person before his eyes was the terrorist that was mentioned in “Ghosts Know,” the Qin San Shi who could cause the Xuanxue world major turmoil. But looking at this person’s gentle and soft smile, how could Xi Jia think this man was scary?

Ziying still wore a smiling expression, waiting for Xi Jia’s answer. Xi Jia thought for a bit and answered, “I haven’t died.”

The smile on Ziying’s lips suddenly froze. After a moment, he asked, “If Lord has not died, how could there be such a formidable yin energy?”

Xi Jia, “……Naturally born with it.”

Ziying, “……”

The next moment, Ziying suddenly reached out and grabbed a hold of Xi Jia’s wrist. Xi Jia widened his eyes, his right hand tightened into a fist, aiming towards Ziying. Ziying quickly turned his head to the side to dodge, looking at Xi Jia in surprise as if he couldn’t understand why he would hit him.

Xi Jia felt an ice-cold aura that sent shivers straight down his spine the instant their hands touched. As if it had been underground for several thousand years without seeing daylight, Ziying’s hand were as cold as ice. He was obviously smiling warmly and brilliantly, but the body had no temperature.

In contrast, Xi Jia’s body temperature steadily spread to Ziying’s palm. The temperature caused Ziying’s fingers to tremble as he got burned. He slowly lifted his head to look at Xi Jia.

There’s a sort of inexplicable emotion hidden in that pair of eyes.

Disappointment, sorrow, loneliness, despair.

It wasn’t easy to find someone similar, but unexpectedly discovered that they’re not the same. To have something suddenly and to also lose it suddenly, everything had happened in a split second. In this world, in the end, there’s only him alone covered in dust without ever moving forward a step.

When Ye Jingzhi rushed over to the Qin and Tang movie city, this scene was what he saw.

A handsome man in black clothes firmly grabbed Xi Jia’s hand. Xi Jia striked a fist over, but the person unexpectedly stepped aside. Then, he stared at Xi Jia with a strange look.

Xi Jia!!!”

Ye Jingzhi’s eyes contracted. He took out Wu Xiang Qing Li, smashing it towards Ziying.

The Author has something to say:

Mirror: He actually bullied my wife, he actually felt my wife’s hand QAQ! I’m so angry to the point of tears!!!

Yi Lingzi: Bad disciple! Master wanted to raise a good dissolute, free, and easy disciple to carry on Master’s legacy as a Love Saint, ah!!!

Translator’s Notes:

¹ 二十四孝 Twenty-four Filial Exemplars – a classic text on Confucian filial piety and moral values. More info here. ↵

² 狗吃屎 – this phrase literally means “dog eats shit,” but it a vulgar way to say “falling flat on their face.” Saying “falling flat on their face” loses the profanity, so “eating dog shit” it is. ↵