Chapter 107: The Haunting Incident

Leaving the residential area, Chen Jin closed his Spiritual Eye ability and glanced up at the sky above the neighborhood—it had returned to clear, endless blue once more.

The saying “travel across a place and observe its energy” truly held weight.

He activated the Spiritual Eye again, and atop the residential district, the sky was shrouded in thick gloom, a gray and murky haze.

After this inspection, Chen Jin leisurely rode his electric bike away. This visit had been purely accidental. Although the residential area was quite extraordinary, it was best not to pry too much. Of course, he could drive through here again in the future, just passing by as an ordinary person.

As for any treasures hidden within, Chen Jin had yet to find any. How could he be certain he was destined to be their master? It was better to exit early—perhaps maintaining a peaceful mindset was the key to obtaining such treasures after all. Humans often harbored a faint hope of luck.

The rest of the journey was uneventful. Chen Jin soon arrived at the specialty store.

Business in the specialty store grew even livelier in the afternoon, as if the townspeople were all especially free during those hours.

Chen Jin browsed through the store, looking over various pieces of furniture before returning to his office.

To him, all of this was merely a game. He had no intention of truly engaging in buying or selling to experience worldly desires or to ultimately transcend them. He only wished to give his tightly wound cultivation heart a bit of relaxation.

Sitting before his computer, Chen Jin resumed searching for myths and legends related to Xiahu County.

The most famous legend was probably Mount Gehong. There were also tales about Songshan Mazu and the Tiger Pagoda in Tagang Mountain Town. However, most were distorted or unreliable.

After scrolling through these pages, Chen Jin closed them all. He found no legends regarding the urban district he had visited. The residential area was only about twenty years old—considered old, but with no rumors of ghosts or monsters.

In fact, ghost stories were prevalent in other places, and many eerie events had recently surfaced online, especially after the restoration of the world’s primordial energy.

For example, Chen Jin now opened a video on Weibo showing a faceless female ghost. In the clip, the cameraman timidly walked down a dimly lit alley, shaking every three steps. Watching it might even strain the viewer’s retinas from all the trembling.

Yet the title was captivating, drawing a sizable audience, so Chen Jin continued watching.

The alley was short, but the cameraman seemed to take a long time traversing it. Even through the screen, his rapid breathing was palpable, revealing his nervousness.

Halfway through the alley and the video, just as Chen Jin thought it was merely a sensationalist stunt, a white shadow suddenly flashed by. Chen Jin reacted swiftly, pausing the video instantly.

The frozen frame showed the white shadow suspended midair—both absurd and terrifying.

The white figure was unaffected by the yellowish streetlight, remaining pale and ghastly white.

Because the recording was blurry, Chen Jin couldn’t discern if the shadow was truly the ghost of a woman. It felt eerie, but only that—merely strange. The paused image resembled seaweed egg soup where the eggs had blended into the seaweed, and the white shadow merged into the dim yellow and black background, obscuring any clear features.

Chen Jin resumed the video.

Immediately, a frightened scream pierced the audio, followed by violent shaking. The cameraman was running, fleeing.

“Hee hee hee…”

“Zzz… zzz… zzz…”

The unsettling laughter mixed with the static crackle of an old radio struggling to find a signal.

A sudden wave of eerie energy radiated from the screen.

“Y-you… zzz… aren’t… zzz… looking… zzz… for… zzz… me… zzz…?”

The footage became chaotic, flipping between walls, concrete ground, night, and utility poles, dizzying the viewer. Despite the disarray, the strange voice harmonized with the visual chaos, amplifying the terror and raising goosebumps.

“The Supreme Elder Lord… Primordial Heavenly Honored One… Leader of the Tongtian Sect… Jade Emperor… Queen Mother of the West… Tathagata Buddha… Jesus God… Allah…”

Amid the confusion, a call rang out, distant then near, shattering the horror atmosphere and rendering the video somewhat absurd…

And then it abruptly ended.

Beneath the video, thousands of comments flooded in, mostly accusing the filmer of fabricating the footage to attract views.

Chen Jin was unsure of its authenticity. In reality, he had never encountered a genuine ghost. At most, he had seen lingering spirits—entities existing in a different dimension from humans, incapable of harming or disturbing them. Ordinary people couldn’t even perceive these spirits. But ghosts were different; they fed on malevolent energy and could manifest before humans, interfering with everyday life.

After watching, Chen Jin had many thoughts. Having just witnessed a place rich in malevolent energy, if similar spots existed elsewhere, the likelihood of ghost appearances would rise, and such videos might become common.

He wondered how the government would handle this phenomenon.

Yet with the nation boldly declaring the dawn of a new age of universal cultivation, even these so-called ghosts would be powerless to disrupt the grand momentum.

Suddenly, a knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.

The troublesome Li Han had returned.

“Young Master Chen, someone is here for you,” Li Han announced upon entering.

“Where?” Chen Jin didn’t see anyone.

“She said she’s waiting for you outside,” Li Han replied with a strange expression.

“Waiting outside for me? Alright, understood.” Chen Jin nodded and got up, heading toward the door.

At the storefront stood a figure.

It was Zhuang Yue.

“That quick? Such efficiency?” Chen Jin was surprised.

“Yeah, not bad. Special cases get special treatment,” Zhuang Yue smiled in reply.

She handed Chen Jin a beige envelope.

“Once you finish reading, it will self-destruct,” she said.

Chen Jin took the envelope, astonished. “Really that amazing?”

He touched and weighed it, discovering a USB drive inside. No wonder it could self-destruct.

“What about those few people?” Chen Jin asked next.

“They’re old acquaintances, so naturally they received some privileges,” Zhuang Yue smiled.

“Old acquaintances?” Chen Jin detected a peculiar undertone in those words.

“Yeah, you’ll see for yourself—they’re all from back in the day… Anyway, take a look,” Zhuang Yue chuckled, then left.

Chen Jin leisurely returned to his office.

…