Chapter 75: Making Deals with Ghosts

To Qin Jing, Zhang Wei was nothing more than a petty clown, obsessed with rivalry and jealousy even after gaining extraordinary powers—how could he possibly amount to anything significant? In fact, compared to Zhang Wei, Qin Jing felt that Hu Chaoyang lived a more carefree life. After all, anyone who acquired supernatural abilities would inevitably become inflated, not necessarily with aspirations to dominate the world, but at least with a desire to show off in front of acquaintances and ruthlessly trample old enemies underfoot. While such behavior seemed foolish against the backdrop of the spiritual resurgence—and tended to lead to swift downfall—Hu Chaoyang had not yet died, but had already been crippled by Alchemy No. 1. In this eerie, haunted place, his fate was arguably worse than death.

“It’s time to find Xu Li.”

Taking a deep breath, Qin Jing ran toward the teaching building.

His return to Lenghai Art School was for two reasons. The first was simply to see old acquaintances—in truth, to show off a little—and that matter was nearly settled now. The second was to search for Xu Li.

Upon careful reflection, Xu Li’s matter was far more important. She had sold Qin Jing a pair of diamond rings, which had directly granted him a bronze treasure chest. The value of the “polluted diamond rings” aside, just the retrieval of the treasure chest was something Qin Jing desperately needed.

This was critical to his cultivation. Though Qin Jing was ambitious and focused on building a solid foundation rather than rushing to break through the extraordinary realm, and despite already having absorbed the essence of two treasure chests, cultivation could not be delayed. He needed to find more chests and quickly reinforce his foundation to perfection—a top priority for him.

“I just wonder, are the school’s current events connected to the polluted items? Xu Li arrived at the shop three days ago—does that mean something happened at the school three days prior? Wait, three or four days ago, wasn’t there a major incident—Penglai Immortal Isle?!”

Speculating wildly, Qin Jing quickly approached the teaching building.

The art school had three teaching buildings; the largest stood north-south, directly facing the playground. The Green Recycling Society was located in the east, so Qin Jing first approached the eastern teaching building.

Though it was dim and gloomy outside, the teaching building was lively. From a distance, Qin Jing saw students—boys and girls—standing by the railings, pointing outside and discussing animatedly, some even appearing excited.

“What’s going on? Did the sky suddenly turn dark?”

“Is it going to rain?”

“I heard the teaching building is haunted.”

“What? Haunted? In broad daylight… Uh, is the darkness because of ghosts?”

“This is so much fun!”

This scene was quite different from what Qin Jing had expected, leaving him somewhat stunned. According to Zhang Wei, there should have been powerful spirits of at least second-tier extraordinary level everywhere in the teaching building—this didn’t seem right.

“Excuse me, excuse me…”

Just then, two girls walked past. Qin Jing seized the opportunity, reaching out to stop them.

One of the girls turned her head. “What do you want?”

Instantly, Qin Jing froze. The girl who turned toward him had a gentle expression, a soft tone, but her face was deathly pale and her tongue protruded unnaturally long…

Watching horror films might thrill people, but confronting a ghost in person was altogether a different experience.

“Uh…” Qin Jing was at a loss.

“Do you need something? Which class are you from? You look pretty good.”

The other girl turned as well, giving Qin Jing a charming smile and even leaning closer. She too was “remarkable in appearance,” with a mouthful of fangs, hairy tufts crammed into her nose and jutting out like steel needles, blood streaming from her eyes, and—well, her skin was flawless, delicate as porcelain. She must have been a beauty in life.

“Well, I deal in secondhand goods. Do you need anything?”

Like a magician, Qin Jing instantly produced a pile of cosmetics in his hands. “Look, here’s Dior skincare—guaranteed to restore your complexion from ghostly pale to lively. And for you, here’s the Helena moisturizing set with a complimentary nose hair trimmer. Unlike ordinary trimmers, this one is bigger, sturdier, and perfect for your needs.”

The two female ghosts paused, their pale faces betraying doubt as they picked up the Dior skincare. Though it was secondhand, it had never been opened. Seeing this, the ghost was delighted and tried to pocket it.

“Hey, wait, you haven’t paid yet!” Qin Jing quickly stopped her.

The ghost hesitated, her face darkening as she leaned closer to Qin Jing.

“What’s the matter? Don’t think you can skip payment just because you’re pretty!”

With a slap, Qin Jing pushed the ghost’s face away.

After a moment’s uncertainty, the ghost slowly produced a small bottle and handed it to Qin Jing, apparently intending to exchange it.

Qin Jing glanced at it, and instantly his smile blossomed. He hurriedly handed over the cosmetics. “Deal! This is perfect. I’ll take it. Come again next time!”

The other ghost, seeing this, also handed Qin Jing a small item, then grabbed the nose hair trimmer and departed, not forgetting the Helena moisturizing set.

Polluted Cosmetic Bottle

Material: Glass, Resentful Spiritual Power

General Function: Can serve as core refining material for certain professions.

Original Price: 3 yuan

Estimated Value: 1,000,000 yuan

Polluted Nail Clipper

Material: Stainless Steel, Resentful Spiritual Power

General Function: Can serve as core refining material for certain professions, or be considered a Level 1 extraordinary item. By enveloping it with spiritual power over time, one can draw out resentful spiritual power to attack enemies.

Original Price: 5 yuan

Estimated Value: 1,500,000 yuan

…

With the appearance of information about these two items, Qin Jing checked his phone and saw that his recycling space now contained two more bronze treasure chests!

Xu Li was indeed connected to the school’s anomalies—he had come to the right place!

Delighted, Qin Jing gazed at the teaching building, where the figures moving about were virtually mobile bronze treasure chests.

Ten minutes later, Qin Jing returned to his original spot, somewhat disappointed: not every ghost was as “easygoing” as the two female ghosts before. The ghosts inside were all filled with violent energy, and most were second-tier extraordinary. Without Alchemy No. 1’s help, Qin Jing couldn’t defeat any of them.

Standing where he was, Qin Jing had learned his lesson. He took out his phone and opened the recycling map, preparing to use it to locate “polluted” items and then conduct “transactions.”

Using the recycling map outdoors required consuming g-points, and at the art school the cost soared to 50 g-points, but Qin Jing didn’t hesitate, spending them immediately. Soon, a GPS-like map appeared on his phone’s camera display, with small dots within a ten-meter radius popping into view.

First came the deep red dots. Focusing his mind on them, Qin Jing could obtain information about each one. What surprised him was that, according to the GDP’s description, those ferocious ghosts were not actually spirits.

Polluted Student, Identity: Human (Red), Lenghai Art School Student.