Chapter 39 - Shy ghosts

Chapter 39: Chapter 39 - Shy ghosts

The car quickly drove over to the nearby cemetery. As soon as they arrived, Jua Gu got out, with Ying Di following closely behind him—or at least trying to.

The man stood beside the car for several seconds, staring at the door as though it were some complicated machine he had never seen before. He reached for the handle, pulled it once, then stopped. He tried again, only to end up standing there blankly.

Jua Gu stared at him.

Was his brain damaged even more after death?

He suddenly remembered the state Ying Di’s head had been in before he died. It had been beaten badly, and perhaps that explained why this corpse puppet seemed to have lost whatever little intelligence he had possessed while alive.

Jua Gu sighed and walked back over.

"Move."

He reached past Ying Di and opened the door for him himself.

Ying Di obediently stepped out.

Jua Gu rubbed his forehead.

This really was going to be troublesome.

The driver also got out and started to follow them into the cemetery, but Jua Gu immediately stopped him.

"You stay here."

The driver hesitated.

"Sir, I should probably—"

Jua Gu gave him a flat look.

The man reluctantly stopped, but Jua Gu could tell from his expression that he wasn’t convinced at all.

Clearly, he hadn’t understood.

Jua Gu turned to Ying Di.

"Tell him to stay here."

Ying Di nodded obediently and looked at the driver.

"Stay here."

The driver immediately nodded.

"Yes, Master."

Jua Gu rolled his eyes.

Of course.

His words weren’t enough, but Ying Di’s were.

What a ridiculous world.

With that settled, Jua Gu and Ying Di walked into the cemetery together.

The moment Jua Gu stepped through the gates, he felt a faint but refreshing wave of demonic energy brush against his body.

His steps slowed.

A comfortable feeling spread through him almost immediately, and the tiredness that had been lingering in his body seemed to lessen.

"Ah..."

Jua Gu quietly breathed out, feeling much better.

Modern cemeteries didn’t contain nearly as much ghostly energy as the ancient burial grounds he had known in his previous life. Most of the souls here had already moved on, and the world itself lacked the spiritual energy needed to sustain powerful ghosts.

But for his current weak body and cultivation level, this was more than enough.

It was like finally taking a proper breath after being trapped underwater.

Jua Gu cracked his neck and slowly walked deeper into the cemetery, his eyes wandering over the rows of graves.

This was an old cemetery where many war veterans had been buried. Countless young lives had been lost during the wars, and although most of those souls had long since moved on, faint traces of their ghostly energy still lingered around the graves.

The deeper Jua Gu walked, the stronger the sensation became.

Then he noticed them.

Small, flickering white lights floated between the graves, drifting quietly through the air like fireflies.

There were dozens of them.

The moment Jua Gu approached, however, the little lights suddenly shifted away from him.

Some floated backward.

Others quickly hid behind the gravestones.

Jua Gu blinked.

He looked at them, then at himself.

"Why are you all running away?"

The ghosts only trembled more intensely.

Jua Gu sighed.

Right.

He had forgotten.

To ordinary ghosts, a necromancer’s presence was naturally frightening. His demonic energy carried the aura of someone who could control the dead, and they could instinctively sense that he was not an ordinary living person.

Jua Gu looked up at the flickering lights and smiled.

"Good morning to the ghosts who linger here."

His voice was gentle, completely different from the frightening aura surrounding him.

"I, Jua Gu, came here today to offer you some help. Of course, you can help me in return."

The little white lights slowly stopped moving.

"Many of you died before your time, while others may have left behind too much resentment, sorrow, or regret to move on. You have remained here for far too long, wandering around this mortal realm."

Jua Gu raised one hand toward them.

"I can help you enter the cycle of rebirth. Give me your resentment. Give me your sorrow. Unburden yourselves and move on to your next life."

The cemetery became strangely quiet.

For a moment, none of the ghosts moved.

Then one tiny white light slowly drifted out from behind a gravestone.

It moved cautiously toward Jua Gu, trembling the entire way. After hesitating for a long time, it finally gathered enough courage to touch his palm.

The instant it did, the white light shimmered.

Its shape slowly changed.

A young man appeared in front of Jua Gu, dressed in an old military uniform. His face was pale, his head badly injured, and dark blood still seemed to trickle from the wound on his temple.

The ghost stared at Jua Gu suspiciously.

"Will I really be reborn?"

"Trust me. You will." Jua Gu smiled. "I have personally experienced it."

The young man’s eyebrows rose.

"You have?"

"Yes."

The ghost studied him for a moment before hesitantly asking, "Is it scary?"

Jua Gu paused.

Scary?

He certainly wasn’t going to tell the poor man that the afterlife was practically like a convenience store.

Stand in line.

Clear out your sins.

Wait your turn.

Then move on to the next life.

There was nothing particularly terrifying about it.

But where was the fun in telling him that?

Jua Gu had personally experienced it before, but perhaps the man should experience it for himself. Life—and whatever came after it—needed a little suspense.

Jua Gu smiled and shook his head.

"No. You don’t need to be afraid. You’ll get the chance to live a good life after this. Go on."

The ghost stared at him for another moment before his expression slowly softened.

His body began to shimmer.

The figure of the young soldier gradually dissolved into countless tiny crystalline drops of water. They floated gently through the air before slowly gathering around Jua Gu’s outstretched hand.

One by one, the droplets seeped into his skin.

A cool sensation spread through his body, followed by a faint warmth that settled deep within his dantian.

The ghost disappeared completely.

Jua Gu lowered his hand and looked at it for a moment.

The energy left behind by the ghost was pure and gentle, without the heavy resentment that usually came from wandering souls.

His body felt noticeably lighter.

A pleased smile appeared on his face.

"Well..."

Jua Gu glanced toward the remaining flickering lights.

"That was much easier than I expected."

The little ghosts trembled.

Jua Gu smiled wider.

"Come on. Don’t be shy."

More white lights slowly began drifting toward him.