Everyone's Suppressing Ghosts: Others Contract Divine Weapons, I Contract Blank Paper

Jiangcheng Town Strange Academy, the day of the covenant.

There were three long queues outside the museum, as bustling as a shopping mall sale.

A huge electronic screen hangs in the center of the hall, scrolling through the list of items available for contract opening today.

[Thunder-patterned peach wood sword: 880,000.]

[Soul-Suppressing Bell: 360,000]

[Buddha's Light Protective Mirror: 420,000]

[Door God Talismans: 290,000]

[Thunderous Drumstick: 1.2 million.]

Each time a price appeared, a low gasp of surprise rose from the crowd.

Xu Du stood at the end of the line, looking at his phone balance.

237.6 yuan.

well.

They can't even afford the bell rope for the Soul-Suppressing Bell.

He put his phone back in his pocket and looked up at the screen expressionlessly.

In this world, after the age of eighteen, everyone has one opportunity to contract with a spirit that can suppress evil spirits.

Once the contract is successful and the life lamp is lit, one can become a demon-suppressing master.

Exorcists can take on missions, earn merits, enter the Bureau of Spirits Management, join large companies, and even be recruited by prestigious families.

If the contract fails, then graduate honestly and go to work in a factory, company, or community security office to serve the ghost hunter for the rest of your life.

So today, for many people, is a watershed moment.

It can be divided into watersheds and prices.

The wealthy man stood in the main hall, picking out thunder talismans, Buddhist mirrors, and soul-suppressing bells.

Those without money stand in the back row, looking at the prices and their fate.

Xu Du was watching when a laugh came from beside him.

"Xu Du, what are you doing standing here?"

A boy in a white tracksuit walked over, holding a black card in his hand.

Zhou Cheng.

Jiangcheng Town's Ghost Academy's second-year class 2 is known for its rich kids.

It is said that his family prepared three million for him, just to acquire a suitable popular talisman today.

Zhou Cheng glanced at Xu Du from head to toe, his gaze finally settling on Xu Du's faded cuffs.

"You're not really planning to spend two hundred dollars on a talisman, are you?"

Several boys nearby burst out laughing.

Xu Du ignored him.

Zhou Cheng, however, followed along and pointed to the depths of the hall.

"If you ask me, you shouldn't waste your time here. Popular town items are beyond the reach of a family like yours."

As he spoke, he gestured towards the end of the corridor.

There was a rusty little door there.

Four red characters were pasted on the door:

Abandoned town building.

Zhou Cheng laughed and said, "It's free inside. No money required. It's just that the contract mortality rate is a bit high."

Someone nearby chimed in, "He might not necessarily die. I heard that a senior from last year bought a mourning umbrella, cried for three days straight, and ended up in a psychiatric ward."

"There was also someone who had a contract with half a mirror, and every day he would see his own corpse reflected in it."

"This is supposed to be a talisman? Isn't this just a ghostly trash can?"

The laughter grew louder and louder.

Xu Du looked up at the door.

Abandoned town building.

This word is practically a joke in academia.

Most of them come from crime scenes.

Some are too polluting, some have unclear rules, some have terrible side effects, and some are simply unknowable how to use.

The mainstream system of suppressing evil spirits only recognizes a few types of things.

Thunder magic, Buddha's light, peach wood, door gods, and soul-suppressing bell.

With sufficient Yang energy and the right approach, the success rate is high.

As for the paper lanterns, white umbrellas, old memorial tablets, broken mirrors, and paper figures of mourning, they were all put into the waste storage.

unlucky.

Danger.

It's not formal.

Xu Du suddenly smiled.

Others find it unlucky.

He actually felt a sense of familiarity with it.

In his previous life, his family ran a funeral parlor.

They make paper figures, paste soul lamps, write travel permits, burn money for the road, and send off the dead and appease the souls of the deceased.

The neighbors would avoid their shop when they saw it.

But when something really happens at home, it's those same people who knock on the door most urgently in the middle of the night.

This life is much better.

Even after transmigrating to a world where everyone is fighting ghosts, you still can't escape these things.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Zhou Cheng thought he had chickened out and laughed even louder.

"Xu Du, if you really want to get into the abandoned warehouse, I can talk to the administrator for you. After all, we're classmates, and I'd like to see what the first 'dead waste' in our class looks like."

Xu Du finally looked at him.

"What are you planning to do today?"

Zhou Cheng was taken aback, then waved the black card in his hand, speaking in a nonchalant tone.

"Thunder-patterned peach wood sword."

A gasp of surprise immediately rippled through the crowd.

"A peach wood sword with thunder patterns? Isn't that worth 880,000?"

"Zhou Shaoniu!"

"Lightning-type talismans are among the top three most popular."

Zhou Cheng enjoyed this gaze.

He looked at Xu Du and smiled, "There's nothing we can do; sometimes people just start from different points."

Xu Du nodded.

"really."

Zhou Cheng was about to continue his sarcasm when Xu Du slowly added:

"Some people are born into wealth and privilege."

Zhou Cheng's face darkened.

"What did you say?"

Xu Du ignored him and turned to walk towards the abandoned town warehouse.

A burst of laughter came from behind me.

"He's actually going?"

"Are you crazy?"

"Abandoning a talisman can cause pollution at best, and death at worst."

"Even if you don't have money, you can't be this reckless."

"Why are you courting death? The Xu family runs a paper-craft shop, isn't that what they call a perfect match for their profession?"

This remark elicited even louder laughter.

Xu Du didn't stop walking.

What happened to the paper craft shop?

When you die, who won't burn some paper money for you?

A bald-headed caretaker sat at the entrance of the abandoned warehouse.

He was drinking tea from his thermos when he saw Xu Du approaching, but he didn't even lift his eyelids.

"You've gone to the wrong place. The main hall is over there."

"I didn't go to the wrong place. I want to see the abandoned town."

The administrator then looked up and frowned at him.

"student?"

"Xu Du, Class 2, Year 2".

The administrator looked him up and down, his tone becoming more serious.

"Let me make this clear first: we don't charge for abandoned town items, but the academy doesn't guarantee their safety. You'll need to sign a waiver before signing the contract."

"I know."

"you do not know."

The administrator put down his thermos and pointed to the iron gate behind him.

"The items here are all failures of mainstream contracts. Some are not unusable, but nobody knows how to use them; but most of them should never have been used at all."

He paused.

"Last year, a student bought a white paper shoe. That night, he sleepwalked into the River of Evil. When he was pulled out the next day, his foot was gone."

"Two years ago, there was a woman who wore an old red veil. Three days later, her whole family said she had gotten married, but she was clearly dead in her dormitory."

"The year before last, there was a contract with a wooden fish that would knock on doors. It knocked seven times in the middle of the night, and the whole building suffered from insomnia for a month."

The administrator stared at Xu Du.

"Are you sure you want to go in?"

Xu Du asked, "Can I choose?"

The administrator was taken aback.

"It's possible, but..."

"That's fine then."

The administrator was silent for a few seconds, then took out a waiver from the drawer.

"Sign it."

Xu Du took the pen and signed his name.

The administrator retracted the disclaimer and sighed.

"Don't touch anything once you're inside. Call me if you see anything you like."

The iron gate opened.

A musty, damp smell wafted over.

Behind the door was a large warehouse.

The lights were dim, and rows of iron frames stood side by side.

Each compartment contains one item.

Broken-tooth wooden comb.

Half a black and white portrait of a deceased person.

An old clock that never stops.

A broken bronze mirror.

Embroidered shoes bound with red thread.

There was also a paper figure that swayed slightly on its own, even though no one touched it.

The students who had come in to watch the commotion immediately shrank back.

Zhou Cheng also arrived.

He stood at the door, covering his nose, and said with disgust, "This smell... truly befits Xu Du's profession."

Xu Du ignored him.

He walked among the iron frames, his gaze sweeping over the objects little by little.

Others see pollution, eeriness, and bad luck.

But what he saw was something else entirely.

The broken wooden comb was shrouded in resentment, but not a strong one; it seemed more like someone was waiting to comb its last strand of hair.

The bronze mirror couldn't reflect human faces, not because it wanted to harm anyone, but because it had once reflected the face of a deceased person forgotten by their entire family.

The embroidered shoe had the heaviest yin energy, yet it was weighed down tightly by the red thread, like a foot that hadn't finished walking.

The more Xu Du looked, the calmer he felt.

People in this world are very good at suppressing others.

But they don't know how to settle down.

When he reached the innermost part, he suddenly stopped.

On the bottom iron shelf in the corner, there was a white paper lamp.

The lamppost is made of bamboo, the paper is yellowed, and the edges are blackened by fire.

There was a label on the lamp.

【White Paper Soul-Guiding Lamp】

[Rating: Discarded]

[Accident Record: Three contract failures. Users experienced auditory hallucinations, sleepwalking, and psychic summoning during the night.]

Recommended action: Seal or incinerate.

Zhou Cheng walked over, glanced at it, and burst out laughing.

"A white paper lamp?"

"Xu Du, you don't really want to sign this contract, do you?"

"This thing is considered unlucky even at funerals, and you're using it as a talisman?"

Someone nearby whispered, "I heard that soul-guiding lamps are for lighting the way for the dead. If a living person lights one, they're probably asking for trouble."

The administrator frowned as well.

"This won't do."

Xu Du asked, "Why?"

"It's too yin."

The administrator's expression was serious.

"The first three contractors all said that they heard someone calling them home at night. One almost jumped off the roof, one went into the morgue, and the other still doesn't dare to turn off the lights to sleep."

Zhou Cheng scoffed, "Did you hear that? This thing attracts ghosts. Xu Du, if you want to die, don't drag the whole class down with you."

Xu Du remained silent.

He reached out and gently touched the white paper lamp.

The instant my fingertips touched the lamppost.

A sound like pages turning suddenly echoed deep within his mind.

Splash!

An old, black book slowly unfolded in his mind.

On the first page, a line of faint text appeared.

【Return Gift Register】

Xu Du's pupils contracted slightly.

Did this thing travel through time with him?

Before he could react, more writing began to appear on the page.

【White Paper Soul-Guiding Lamp】

[People mistakenly believe that objects used to summon spirits are unsuitable for the living.]

[Return Gift Judgment: Incomplete or damaged items from the journey.]

[True purpose: Not to attract ghosts, but to light the way.]

[For those who have lost their way, seeing a light can guide their way home; for those who have gone astray, seeing a light can turn their negative influences around.]

[The currently solvable mystery: a knock on the door at midnight.]

[Note: At midnight tonight, the alarm will sound for the third time at Gate 3 of the old staff dormitory building.]

If the door opens, people will lose their souls.

If the lamp shines, the debt is returned to the Lord.

Xu Du stared at those lines of text, his heart gradually racing.

Knocking on the door at midnight?

Old staff dormitory?

He suddenly remembered that someone had indeed posted on the college forum these past two days.

Someone knocked on the door of the old staff dormitory building in the middle of the night.

On the first night, no one paid any attention to me.

On the second night, a boarding student opened the door and peeked in. The next day in class, his eyes were glazed over, and he even misspelled his own name.

Tonight is the third night.

Xu Du looked down at the white paper lamp.

Everyone else thought it was a useless person who attracted ghosts.

However, the "Returning to the Court" book says that it is for guiding the way.

Seeing him staring at the white paper lamp without moving, Zhou Cheng laughed so hard he almost fell over.

"Seriously? You really like this thing?"

"Xu Du, if you sign this contract, I'll have to avoid you from now on, lest your yin energy be transferred to me."

Xu Du raised his head.

"administrator."

The administrator frowned: "I advise you to think about it again."

Xu Du pointed to the white paper soul-guiding lamp.

"That's it."

The warehouse was silent for a moment.

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Cheng burst out laughing.

"Okay, okay!"

"Did you hear that? He really wants to sign a contract for a white paper lantern!"

"Xu Du, you better not regret this. If you sleepwalk and hang yourself tomorrow, our class will collect paper money for you."

Xu Du picked up the white paper lamp.

The lamp is very light.

It's so light it feels like it could be blown away in a breath.

But just as he gripped the lamp post, a pale light suddenly shone through the lamp paper.

There is no fire.

There is no oil.

But the light seeped out little by little from the wick.

The temperature inside the warehouse dropped several degrees instantly.

Zhou Cheng's laughter stopped abruptly.

The administrator suddenly stood up.

"You haven't even started the contract yet, why is it lit up?"

Xu Du looked at the three small blood-red characters that slowly appeared on the lamp paper and read them aloud softly.

"It's past midnight."

next second.

A muffled knocking sound could be faintly heard coming from the direction of the old staff building in the distance.

thump.

The entire warehouse was completely silent.