The King of Curses

Chapter 33: Ghost in the Bathroom
Cen Dongsheng stretched his muscles, then took a big step and opened the bathroom door in front of him.

"Should I move aside..."

A forum user from the Youshan Ghost Story section named "Pearl Little Radish" - Miss Chen, hid behind him, her expression pale and stiff, her body trembling slightly.

"No need. You don't have to do anything. I told you, you're just a small fry."

Cen Dongsheng replied.

He closed the door behind him and scanned the bathroom with a sharp gaze, but did not see any signs of ghosts or anything like that.

I did smell a hint of Yin Qi, but it was very faint.

His spell was not the type that was good at tracking down enemies, so he could only sense their presence but could not determine their location.

"…Are you hiding and not coming out?"

Cen Dongsheng narrowed his eyes. He thought of Miss Chen's description just now.

"I see. It could be that the ghost is activated by some triggering condition. For example... completely restoring the scene will make it appear?"

He thought for a moment, walked out of the bathroom, and found Miss Chen hiding in the corner and peeking around. She was startled when she saw him come out.

“Do you see it every time you take a shower?”

"Uh...well, basically."

Miss Chen calmed herself down and began to recall.

"At first, it was on the glass door. I thought it was fog, but the more I looked at it, the more it looked wrong. It felt like a man's face. At that time, I wondered if I was just being allergic."

"Later, when I was taking a shower, I could see his appearance in the mirror. He was a middle-aged man wearing a vest and had a slightly plump figure. However, his body outline was very illusory... It was as if he didn't exist in the world. This made me sure that I had really seen a ghost."

"What happened next? He always shows up when you're taking a shower?"

"I never took a shower at home again."

Miss Chen smiled bitterly.

"Usually I go directly to a nearby bathhouse, or find a cheap hourly room to rest..."

"I understand."

Cen Dongsheng nodded.

"Then wash it again."

Miss Chen widened her eyes in astonishment.

“What did you say…?”

"I'll let you wash it again. Right now."

His tone was flat.

"That ghost is hiding. We have to lure it out."

"what……"

Miss Chen was stunned.

She had never heard of such a strange request... No, it was not a request. Looking at the condescending attitude of this man, he was basically asking her to take a shower.

It was impossible not to be suspicious now. Compared to the possibility that the other party was really trying hard to catch a ghost, she couldn't help but imagine the dangerous aura of this man.

Is it just to find an excuse to do something to me?

But when this thought came to her mind, in addition to fear and terror, there was also a slight feeling of excitement.

It has to be said that when she saw Cen Dongsheng for the first time, she was definitely scared. It was difficult for ordinary people to approach him; but when she mustered up the courage and secretly observed him for a while, she soon noticed that the man was good-looking and had a great figure, and he felt... quite elegant.

She even began to fantasize that he was like the handsome, abstinent guy in female-oriented online novels. For some readers, as long as the face is good-looking, criminals are acceptable.

Cen Dongsheng saw her standing there motionless in a daze, her expression and eyes constantly changing, and he had no idea what she was thinking.

He naturally couldn't guess what was going on in the other person's mind at this moment. He frowned and spoke again:
"Why, didn't you hear?"

"Oh, oh...I heard it..."

Miss Chen's face turned red and white, and she lowered her head.

"I, do I really want to wash..."

Cen Dongsheng blinked.

He suddenly thought that this request might seem a bit strange to ordinary people. Moreover, the other party was a woman living alone, and he was a strange man who had just arrived. It was normal for people with a higher level of vigilance to find it difficult to accept.

Sister Zhizhen was right, I really don’t know much about this aspect, and this is my weakness.

But having said that, he will not change the decision he made. If the other party is unwilling, he will just leave and will not indulge anyone.

"You don't have to take off your clothes. To avoid trouble, just heat the water. When it appears, shout or make some noise. I'll be guarding outside the door and won't come in."

Cen Dongsheng said. He stared at the woman in front of him.

"Will you do it? Give me an answer."

Miss Chen opened her mouth wide. She looked a little surprised and nodded after a while.

"I...I know..."

……

Perhaps her survival instinct took over, and Miss Chen finally did as she was told. She walked into the bathroom with a pile of clothes and started to boil water.

Cen Dongsheng stood outside the door, watching the glass on the door gradually covered by water mist, and the white mist blocked the view inside.

He stood there quietly waiting until -

"Ah ah--!"

A woman's panicked scream came from inside the door.

Cen Dongsheng raised his foot without hesitation and kicked the bathroom door open.

As he expected, the recoil from the door panel indicated one thing: the door, which was not originally locked, was blocked by an unknown force.

This is also a common method used by ghosts to interfere with reality.

Especially those who wander around haunted houses. They like to lure humans in, then lock all the doors and windows with invisible force, and enjoy watching the blood eaters with regret on their faces, crying and banging on the doors and windows, struggling desperately to get out, and finally die in despair...

But the tricks of low-level ghosts are only this limited.

Whether using Yin Qi or matter, this method of blocking doors and windows needs to rely on the strength of actual objects, and the strength is naturally incomparable to the "spatial separation" of a haunted house.

The latter is a bit troublesome. Apart from using the highest level of spell to break it brute force, it can only be done by a spell master who has the ability to interfere with space.

For Cen Dongsheng, even if there was an alloy security door in front of him, it could not withstand the force of his kick.

After kicking the door open, the white fog in reality and the invisible and intangible evil energy that permeated the space rushed towards Cen Dongsheng's face at the same time.

Without even blinking, he stretched out one hand, grabbed the neck of Miss Chen, who was holding her head and trembling, and threw her out of the door. With his other hand, he grabbed directly to the center of the Yin Qi.

"—got you."

The corners of Cen Dongsheng's mouth curled up, revealing a smile that looked quite ferocious to others.

"You want to hide when you see me coming? It seems that you are one of the more intelligent types among your kind... It's a pity that you are a ghost after all, and you still can't resist your instincts."

His big iron-like hand firmly grasped the other person's neck.

Just as Miss Chen described, this was a ghost that looked like a middle-aged uncle. His body outline was illusory, but his dress and appearance could still be seen. He was overweight and had a bit of a Mediterranean look, and there was a sense of vulgarity in his appearance.

And now, his neck was being firmly strangled by Cen Dongsheng. The uncle ghost's face showed human-like pain, his hands and feet were struggling desperately, the outline of his body was fluctuating violently, and strange distortions were occurring.

The Yin Qi it exuded spread out as if it had substance. The tiles, sinks, and floors in the bathroom all looked like they had been abandoned for more than a decade or even decades. The color began to turn yellow, and the dirty color of mold spread out. This Yin Qi seemed to have some kind of corrosive ability, and the clothes Cen Dongsheng was wearing also began to show signs of decay.

If an ordinary person stood here, his physical strength would be taken away instantly, and his yang energy would be lost. At the same time, his body would show signs of festering as if he had a serious illness.

only……

The corrosion of Yin Qi stopped after it touched his skin.

The body strengthened by the power of the tiger demon is filled with true Qi, and this state is said to be immune to all evil.

"Humph."

Cen Dongsheng sneered, grabbed the other person's throat and slammed him against the wall next to him.

"boom!"

The intense true Qi exploded along with the strength in his hands, instantly dispersing the Yin Qi that filled the room.

"Lonely soul..."

Although it was expected, he still sighed.

Even if one refines a ghost of this level, it will be difficult to gain anything. Having said that, it is a commission after all, and he has to complete it. He still has a sense of responsibility for his work.

"Just clean it up. It won't take much effort anyway."

……

Miss Chen was hiding outside the door. She was still recovering from the shock when she heard a startling, heavy muffled sound coming from the bathroom, which frightened her so much that she trembled all over.

Looking in that direction, I saw cracks appearing on the wall, and the lime was falling off. The man inside seemed to be able to bring down the whole house with just one punch...

Miss Chen swallowed hard, the only thought in her mind was:
Can I really get my deposit back? Will I have to pay the landlord for renovations?
But she didn't dare to stop it, or even offer any suggestions.

The next second, an illusory spirit flew out of the bathroom and hit the wall; the murderous man followed slowly out.

He reached out and picked up the ghost again, clenched his fist into a sandbag-sized fist, and smashed it hard into the face, directly making the ghost's head dented.

If it was a living person, there is no doubt that he would have been dead at that moment, with his skull cracked and his brains splattered.

The ghost has no entity, so it can still survive, but the outline of its body becomes more and more illusory; but this is not a good thing, because it means that it will have to endure more violent torture...

Cen Dongsheng did not stop, but punched and smashed again in a plain and unpretentious manner.

It was like a heavy hammer, smashing down again and again, directly smashing the ghost's head into the neck cavity, like a nail being hammered into the wall.

The Yin Qi that made up the body began to dissipate, unable to support its outline. The body continued to deform, directly changing from a human form to a gas ball.

In the face of this overwhelming violence like a storm, the lonely soul could do nothing but scream and struggle.

As a bystander, Miss Chen looked pale, her body stiff and unable to move. She felt that the ghost of the uncle who had been haunting her for weeks looked a little pitiful at this moment...

……

Cen Dongsheng let go only when the ghost had completely lost its ability to resist, was no longer in human form, and was on the verge of disintegrating.

The ghost slid to the ground and squirmed on the ground like a mollusk.

At the moment before it was about to turn into nothingness, its last instinct was to move towards Miss Chen who was sitting on the ground, like a moth flying into a flame.

"interesting."

Seeing this, Cen Dongsheng laughed.

"Is this the reason why you linger in the world and refuse to leave?"

Although the characteristics of real ghosts are not exactly the same as those of ghosts that ordinary people know, there is still some common characteristics.

For example, the transformation of souls into ghosts is not only related to the concentration of yin energy in the local area, but is also related to the "obsession of the dead."

Ghosts often act according to instinct, which comes from their desire for the flesh and blood of the living and is also rooted in their own obsession.

The ghost of this middle-aged man can even control the urge to kill humans and devour their life energy, just for the sake of taking a few more glances at girls taking a bath... He is really a pervert.

It’s just a pity that Cen Dongsheng has always been merciless to ghosts.

He walked slowly to the ghost, which had become as faint as a halo. Under Miss Chen's stiff gaze, the man raised his foot, stepped on its neck, and stepped down hard.

"Click."

That was the sound of the floor cracking from being stepped on easily.

The ghost's neck was broken again, and it was completely reduced to ashes.

"It's done."

Cen Dongsheng retracted his foot and looked down at Miss Chen from above.

"It's all right now, Miss Chen."

"Uh...ah, ah, yes, thank you very much..."

Miss Chen wanted to stand up from the ground, but because her body was still stiff, she almost fell halfway.

"Yeah. I'm leaving."

After saying this, he turned and left without any hesitation.

Looking at his back, the woman was stunned for a while, and felt her inner emotions become very complicated.

After the fear and panic, she came to her senses and saw a kind of elegance in the man's figure.

After the exorcism was over, he really left like that.

"Wait, I haven't paid you yet—"

Cen Dongsheng didn't even turn his head, but just waved behind him.

"No need."

He just disappeared into the corridor...

*
Feeling relieved and free from worries, Cen Dongsheng walked down the stairs humming a little tune.

He clenched his fists and felt the benefits of refining the ghosts.

Sure enough, it doesn’t work.

Even if he kills a few more of these small monsters of this level, the amount of true Qi in his body will not increase much.

After all, reality is not a video game. You can't gain experience by killing monsters, and you can accumulate experience to become the "Shilipo Sword God".

For a spell master, the amount of true Qi cannot be continuously increased by repeatedly refining Yin Qi. There is an upper limit at each stage.

Therefore, the most important thing is actually to improve your own "character", that is, to break the limitations in your body.

Fighting powerful ghosts and mastering dangerous forbidden objects and curses are all ways to improve your own "fate".

Those who are content with mediocrity will continue to sink into mediocrity; the only way to cultivate oneself is to be courageous and diligent.

With Cen Dongsheng's current level, if he wants to become stronger and continue to master the second or even third level of the Tiger Demon's power, he must deal with those vicious ghosts, and even -

A class A ghost at the "house owner" level.

Just as he was thinking, a bell rang in his trouser pocket.

When he opened his phone and saw the familiar number on the screen, Cen Dongsheng's mouth curled up slightly unconsciously.

"Speak of the devil, I hope Sister Zhizhen can bring good news this time."

(End of this chapter)