Ghost Catching System

The person in the tree, clutching a large watermelon, was just about to smash it down when his foot slipped. He lost his grip, and the watermelon flew out, scaring him out of his wits.

"Ah! Watermelon, you descended from the heavens."

The young man on the ground had just recited these words, quite lyrically and cultivating his sentiments. His voice harmonized with his actions as he embraced the earth. Just as he looked up, he saw... a large watermelon obscuring the moon.

Chu Hao also followed his gaze and was immediately speechless.

A huge watermelon smashed hard onto the young man's face.

BANG!

The watermelon split into pieces.

It had to be said, watermelons this season had incredibly thick rinds, as hard as rocks.

Just his luck, it hit him right in the face. The young man let out a scream of agony.

"AAAH!"

Why was the watermelon so red? The young man was dazed and confused from the impact.

In the distance, inside a small grove, Luo Shuai's father and Little Li were frantically getting it on, faintly hearing the screams.

Little Li's face was flushed, and she was drenched in sweat. "Uncle... Uncle, stop... stop! I... I heard someone screaming," she panted.

Luo Shuai's father, holding Little Li tightly as they went at it with abandon, said, "Who cares? Even if the Heavenly King himself showed up, he couldn't stop your uncle from screwing you."

Now, that's audacity.

Chu Hao was speechless as he looked at the ground covered in watermelon pieces. You little bastard, you wanted to set me up, but you didn't expect Brother Hao to be so lucky today, huh?

Chu Hao couldn't help but ask, "Are you alright?"

The young man painfully got up, saying, "I'm... I'm fine."

His face was covered in blood, his nose clearly crooked, yet he still claimed to be fine. Buddy, I respect you for being a real man, Chu Hao thought.

Chu Hao feigned confusion. "Hey, hey... how did a watermelon fall from the sky? Does your family grow watermelons in trees?"

The young man, clutching his painfully swollen nose, propped himself up against a tree. "Yeah, yeah, my family grows all our watermelons on trees," he managed.

To hell with you and your tree-grown watermelons! the young man cursed inwardly.

Chu Hao sneered inwardly, then said aloud, "Tree-grown watermelons? I've never seen those in my life. I'd really like to take a look."

The young man quickly pulled Chu Hao. "Don't look! What's so interesting about watermelons on a tree? I'll take you to see a ghost instead."

Chu Hao shrugged. So, all this was just to lure me in and try to spook me? Did you really think Brother Hao couldn't see through your pathetic little conspiracy? Child's play.

It had to be said, the temple was very desolate. A chill breeze blew through, sending shivers down one's spine.

Chu Hao glanced around. He saw a white figure flitting past a corner, like a very large mouse, and felt a surge of Monster Qi.

Chu Hao stroked his chin. This Luo Family sure has a bit of everything. Raising ghosts is one thing, but are they keeping monsters too? It seems the Luo Family knows a few tricks.

The young man shivered; he felt an eerie chill every time he came here. Why is the air so cold? Big brother should be coming out soon, right? he wondered.

Chu Hao couldn't help but ask, "Where's the ghost?"

The young man rubbed his watermelon-smashed face. "What's the hurry? It should be soon."

What do you mean, 'it should be soon'? You guys dress up as ghosts to scare me, and I have to wait? So unprofessional, Chu Hao thought.

Chu Hao was pondering how to scare this bunch of bastards when suddenly, he saw a large white mouse in the shadows, staring intently at him with eyes like a human's.

Chu Hao wasn't afraid. He surveyed the temple surroundings and noticed it was dedicated to a mouse. There was a stone statue in front; the depicted figure had shifty eyes and a pointed face, clearly resembling a mouse.

He figured it out. The Luo Family is indeed worshiping a mouse spirit. Heh... you better not come out, or Brother Hao is having roast rat for dinner tonight.

Finally, behind the statue, a shadowy figure appeared. It was dressed in white garments, with disheveled hair and a face covered in fresh blood.

"I died so miserably!" the figure wailed.

Such dedication to playing a ghost; it was unparalleled.

The young man said excitedly, "A ghost! It's a ghost!"

I'm not blind, Chu Hao thought. He had to pretend, putting on a fearful expression. Acting, after all, shouldn't be taken too seriously.

"AAAH!! Ghost!" Chu Hao turned and ran.

"Release!"

The young man who had been guiding Chu Hao was excited. They had stacked a pile of bricks on the beam above the entrance they'd used, just waiting for Chu Hao to run back. He tugged the rope. But as Chu Hao ran out, the bricks on the door beam didn't move at all.

"Damn!! Are you kidding me?"

The three plotters were dumbfounded. The fact that the bricks on the door beam hadn't fallen left them utterly speechless and frustrated.

"How can this kid be so lucky?" the thirty-year-old Luo, who was the eldest of their group, couldn't help but complain.

"Just now, my hand slipped, and the watermelon didn't hit him," said Little Zhong, the youngest of them, who had been in the tree.

The young man whose face was covered in watermelon seeds—Brother Ming—said dejectedly, "Sigh... a miscalculation."

The three of them were quite frustrated.

Just then, Little Zhong, the one who had thrown the watermelon, peered through the faint moonlight into the darkness and saw three figures. He said in surprise, "Huh! Big Brother, Brother Ming, who else did you bring to help?"

Brother Ming cursed, "Are you blind or what? It's clearly just the three of us!"

The thirty-year-old Luo said, "We didn't ask anyone else to come. It's just the three of us."

Little Zhong counted again, then said in panic, "No... that's not right! There's... there's one more person! There are three... three of them!"

"Including yourself, that makes three. Are you being silly?" the thirty-year-old Luo retorted.

Brother Ming frowned. "Little Zhong, don't try to scare us."

Seeing three?

That meant Little Zhong, from his perspective, saw three people, not counting himself.

Little Zhong said in horror, "It's... it's really three!"

Brother Ming counted the shadows. "One, two, three... plus me..."

His voice trailed off. Damn it! There really *was* an extra person. Panic seized all of them.

Brother Ming shouted frantically, "Who's there! Come out! Don't try to scare us!"

They were one hundred percent sure that the extra person was definitely not Chu Hao; that kid had already run out of the temple.

So... who was this extra person?

The three of them grew increasingly terrified, their legs quivering. Could they have really encountered a ghost?

They had long heard about the oddities of this temple, and Old Master Luo had strictly warned them not to come here. They had only brought Chu Hao to the temple to try and scare him.

Bai Yan, the Luo Family's sacrificial god, was in truth a fat white rat. He had resided with the Luo Family for a hundred years. While he had helped the Luo Family become wealthy, they, in turn, had aided him in his cultivation.

This was known as "stealing from the heavens to cultivate."

It meant that humans and monsters typically found it hard to coexist, a truth stretching back to Ancient Times. However, this rat spirit cooperated with humans. They supported each other: the rat spirit helped the Luo Family amass wealth, and in turn, the Luo Family aided the rat spirit's cultivation. This synergy was called "stealing from the heavens to cultivate."

The existence of this rat spirit was a secret known only to the heads of the Luo Family from generation to generation. In other words, only Old Master Luo was aware of Bai Yan's existence.

Bai Yan was quite angered to see the young Luo descendants running to his temple to play pranks and scare people.

He didn't show himself; he would just wait for them to leave. Having cultivated for so many years, he had come to view many things with indifference.