Director of a Suspense Film

Ch8 – You’ll be a magician at 30

　　Zong qi quickly fell into a state of deep sleep, unwaking despite the noise around him.

　　Of course, a ten-dollar inn wouldn’t have air condition, but there was an electric fan on the ceiling. It was pretty cooling with it spinning at night. 

　　Zong qi slept well that night. 

　　At about midnight, a steady stream of cool air began to seep down from the ceiling. With a blow of the fan, it spread throughout the whole room, making it extremely comfortable.

　　Though it was noisy upstairs for the whole night. 

　　First, it was the sound of heavy objects hitting the ground, then there was a series of hurried footsteps, and finally, there was a number of heavy coughs and blow.

　　These noises continued until the sun almost rose. 

　　After a ray of light appeared in the sky, the noise suddenly stopped, followed by a movement twice as big as before.

　　The noise spread from the innermost side of the third floor to the outside, noisy and chaotic, allowing no peace at all.

　　Zong qi was sleeping soundly when a violent knock sounded from his door.

　　No amount of noise upstairs could affect him, but the knocking at the door was really annoying.

　　Zong qi sat up straight from the bed with his eyes closed, looking at the time with narrowed eyes. He walked to the door in slippers and glanced into the peephole.

　　“Quick! Open the door!”

　　The one standing outside was Qi Ningzhou. 

　　The man didn’t carry his peach wood sword nor his luopan, only wearing a Taoist robe. A large half of his face was hidden under the darkness in the corridor, knocking hurriedly on the door, not a single bit of the indifference he held when they first met remaining. 

　　Zong qi yawned as he unlocked the door. 

　　“What are you doing in the middle of the night? It’s still dark outside, so loud.” 

　　After hearing the sound of the door unlocking, ‘Qi Ningzhou’ celebrated in its heart. It couldn’t continue maintaining his shapeshift with the minuscule amount of power he had left, cracks appearing on the parts of the face it had hidden in the darkness, dripping with black blood. 

　　Fighting with the Celestial Master had wasted the resentment it had painstakingly gathered while dormant at the inn, requiring an urgent replenish. 

　　There was nothing that was more replenishing than human flesh and vitality for ghosts. Especially the man in front of him, with delicate skin and a pleasant scent coming from his body, looking scrumptious. It could smell the scent even when it was upstairs, making his mouth water nonstop.  

　　In the span of a time that couldn’t be narrated, just as Zong qi was about to pull off the chain on the door, a shout came from the end of the corridor. 

　　“Don’t open the door! That isn’t human!”

　　But it was too late.

　　As he had spoken, the door was completely pushed open. 

　　At the same time, the dormant scream value had jumped straight up to 50. 

　　Qi Ningzhou, who was stopped by the Ghost Pounding the Wall[1] and had to come late, stood at the entrance of the stairs. His Taoist robe was stained with corrosive black blood, his peach wood sword hanging with several broken talismans, looking tragic.

　　Qi Ningzhou didn’t lie to Zong qi.

　　He truly didn’t bring many talismans this time. Because the talisman paper specially made for exorcism talismans were expensive, poor Celestial Masters like him could only use them sparingly.

　　He didn’t expect that the ghost this time would have resentment beforehand. Because of the unique terrain, he was afraid that it was just one step away from turning into a fierce ghost, making it extremely difficult for Qi Ningzhou.

　　It hasn’t been long since he left the mountains, his Toaist was still too shallow, and his life experience and exorcising experience weren’t high. This was why he had messed up. (t/n: messed up = failed at something one should have been good at)

　　From the perspective of his Third Eye, Qi Ningzhou could only watch as the hand of the rotten ghost hidden in the darkness light up, laughing evilly as it grabbed the yawning black-haired youth.

　　The next second, a sharp scream rang in the corridor. 

　　“AHHHHHHHHHHHH—”

　　The black fog blocking the door of the room rolled wildly, the rotten meat seemed to be stimulated by something extremely hot, collapsing from the inside. First, it was drops of dark yellow pus dripping out of him, then it rolled back and forth in the air. In the span of less than a second— together with terrible shrieks— the previously overwhelming ghost shrank to only one-third of its original size.

　　What’s going on?!

　　Qi Ningzhou’s eyes widened, a crack appearing on his face. 

　　He was a professional, he was more than clear that this was the appearance of a ghost being forcefully purified. 

　　Fortunately, he reacted quickly. When he saw the black fog dripping with pus turning around and trying to run, he immediately raised his peach wood sword and started muttering the mantra.

　　“The five-star town colourful, its light shining onto dark. Thousands of gods and saints shall protect my true spirit. The giant beast subdues the five soldiers. The monster made in five days loses its form and dies. Wherever it is, all gods welcome it.” (t/n: this is a real mantra but theres no english translation so google translate it is :D) (im sorry im terrible at these)

　　“—As urgent as the law!” 

　　The exorcism mantra plated the peach wood sword with a hazy fluorescence that could only be seen if one’s third eye had been opened. With a sharp stab in the air, it split the scattered ghost straightly in half. (t/n: as in the line was very straight) 

　　The rotten ghost face twisted hideously for a while, the cut throat unable to make a sound as it was unwillingly turned into the dust in the air, dispersing into the ground. 

　　Not long after that, the entire corridor seemed to brighten, liberated from the previous cold and suppressing atmosphere. 

　　After something screamed into his face, the little drowsiness Zong qi had was scared way. 

　　He put down his yawning hand, looking at the empty corridor in from of him slightly confused, as if he hadn’t reacted yet. (t/n: yawning hand as in the hand he used to cover his yawn) 

　　Of course, it was just that he didn’t react. 

　　Qi Ningzhou saw it clearly. Just as the ghost’s nails closed in on the black-haired youth, even before its unsightly face managed to ‘join in’, it looked as if it had been melted by something, its power greatly decreasing. Decreasing to the point that Qi Ningzhou’s exorcism mantra combined with an unskilled strike of his sword could make it go up in smoke. 

　　Absolutely terrifying! 

　　“What… happened just now?” 

　　Zong qi broke the silence in the corridor first, tone suspicious, “How is it that I blink once and you run from in front of me over to the corridor over there? Is this one of the secret techniques of you Celestial Masters?” 

　　Qi Ningzhou: ……

　　His heart was still shaken, refusing to believe it. He even felt frozen out of doubt. (t/n: im sowwy i cant tl this for some reason. Basically, he was shocked, couldnt believe it, and his brain kinda just stopped working)

　　“The thing in front of you just now wasn’t me.” 

　　The Celestial Master stated dryly, “It was the vengeful spirit on the third floor.” 

　　“Vengeful spirit?” 

　　Zong qi and stared at him and he stared back, “But I’m sure I saw you through the peephole.” 

　　“That was an illusion.” 

　　The Celestial Master said calmly, “Usually, only people who’ve opened their Third Eye would be able to see ghosts, but there are some ghosts with great resentment who can temporarily borrow someone else’s appearance, but the time they can maintain it for isn’t long.” 

　　As he brought this up, Qi Ningzhou once again confirmed that there was no residual resentment in the air before putting down his sword, dragging forward his exhausted body. 

　　It was his mistake this time. If it wasn’t for the black-haired youth’s help, he would have definitely died tonight. 

　　Zong qi made a sound of acknowledgement, touching his chin, half believing yet half suspicious of the Celestial Master’s words, “So it turns out it was a ghost just now… It didn’t look that scary. It even ran away before it got close, unless… that good friend was afraid of the living?” 

　　Zong qi still held a reserved attitude towards Qi Ningzhou’s words. It was mainly because he hadn’t activated his Third Eye, so other than hearing that one scream, he had only seen the Celestial Master raising his peach wood sword, muttering a few words of mantras and striking the air. Then nothing happened. 

　　Qi Ningzhou who had just lost almost half his life because of said ‘good friend’: ……

　　The feelings in my heart, no one will ever understand. 

　　After a long time, the Celestial Master slowly opened his mouth. 

　　“How did you do it?” 

　　Even if it was Qi Ningzhou’s shifu exorcising ghosts, he would still need to say the formulas even if he didn’t use talismans. 

　　The black-haired youth in front of him clearly didn’t do anything, yet the ghost had its power directing halved. This supposed unheard and unseen power was even stronger than the High Monks who could bear Sariras[2] after death in the temples. 

　　This power, Qi Ningzhou has only ever seen in ancient books. 

　　Some kind people are born to have purple mist, normally they are reborn as a certain god or doggess, or they would be born from the blessing of gods to be the chosen one… It’s just the passive of big shots. (t/n: purple mist is like the uh ‘fate’ kind of thing to successful people like emperors) 

　　The gaze he used to look at Zong qi changed.

　　Unless…? 

　　The black-haired youth scratched his head, “Maybe it’s because I have too much Yang energy? I was born on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. It was teeming with Yang energy that day, the fortune teller would always tell me to take more cold showers when I had nothing to do.” 

　　So that’s what it was! (t/n: giving me a naruhodo! vibe)

　　Qi Ningzhou was enlightened, burying his remaining doubts. 

　　He had been leaning towards whether or not the other party practised Neijia[3] secret techniques, instead, ignoring the simplest explanation.

　　Sure enough, I still have a shallow cultivation. I need more training.

　　After berating himself in his heart, Qi Ningzhou shuffled over, stretched out his right hand and calculated silently, looking more and more surprised.

　　“It truly is the constitution of extreme Yang.” 

　　Qi Ningzhou’s shanmen[4] would also hold ceremonies regularly on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, on the Dragon Boat Festival. That day was when Yang energy was at its highest in the whole year, for Zong qi to explain it this way, there was nothing wrong with it.

　　In addition, he was also born at 12 in the afternoon, which was coincidentally the time with the most Yin energy. This was why he held such an odd amount of appeal to ghosts. 

　　It’s just that this appeal was too weird. Even if it wasn’t the reincarnation of some big character, you’re saying that it was related to the imbalance of Yin and Yang in this time and age…? 

　　“Wait, I know what it is!” 

　　Just when Zong qi’s sleepiness struck again, preparing his farewells to go back to bad, the Celestial Master revealed a look enlightenment, “Your yuangyang hasn’t been released, has it?” 

　　Zong qi: …?

　　He suspected his thoughts were too dirty, unsure whether the other party was talking about that.

　　四舍五入对方成了自己的救命恩人，齐宁舟也没有了昨天走进旅馆时的矜持，话变多了起来。

　　The other person could well be considered his saviour, Qi Ningzhou had also lost the reservation he held from yesterday when he walked into the inn, his words increasing. 

　　“Have you ever watched Journey of the West?”

　　Zong qi nodded. 

　　Nonsense, one of the four classics, a must-read in primary school, anyone who didn’t read it isn’t Chinese. 

　　“Tang Seng is the reincarnation of the golden cicada, the second disciple of Buddha. When he was reincarnated into High Monk Xuan Zang, it was already his tenth life. With great merits and virtues, he accumulated ten lives of not releasing his yuanyang, so all the monsters along the way wanted to eat him.” 

　　Qi Ningzhou said, “You also did not release your yuanyang, thus holding strong appeal for those ghosts.” 

　　“I see.” 

　　Hearing him give such decent examples, Zong qi felt like he really did think the wrong way, tapping his chin and thinking, “But, Master Qi, the yuanyang you speak of, what is it…?”

　　The Celestial Master said with a straight face, “Yuanyang is a man’s cum.” 

　　Zong qi: ……

　　Not noticing his awkwardness, Qi Ningzhou added more oil to the fire with his usual expression, “I can see your Yang energy is more than normal people, thus I made such a wild guess. Under normal circumstances, not releasing yuanyang doesn’t simply mean not having sex, even masturba…” 

　　“Stop!”

　　The black-haired youth couldn’t bear it anymore, stopping the Celestial Master’s incessant theories, receiving confused looks from the other party.

　　“Since Master is immersed in metaphysics, you never touched Western mystery right?

　　Qi Ningzhou nodded obediently, “It is indeed so.” 

　　“Then I’ll tell Master a secret.” 

　　Zong qi kept a flat face, “As long as you don’t release yuanyang for 30 years, you’ll become a magician.” 

　　After he said that, he closed the door with a ‘bang!’, leaving Qi Ningzhou outside, looking confusedly at the door, not understanding why the black-haired youth had such a huge change of attitude after talking. 

　　But…

　　Qi Ningzhou slowly lowered his head, looking at the peach wood sword in his hands, feeling a little sullen. 

　　If what Friend Zong said was true, then doesn’t that mean he’ll become a magician in five years? 

　　But he was a Celestial Master. He couldn’t change his profession in the middle, or his shifu will beat him to death.

　　It’s a bit hard if you think about it like this.jpg