Chapter 50: The Summoning Spell That Stirred Trouble

As Cheng Keyan was still speaking, I felt her hand touch the inside of my thigh and slide upward. A shiver ran through my entire body, and the blood within me surged wildly. Instead of stopping her, I found myself instinctively rooted to the spot.

Just as her hand was about to reach my most sensitive area, the ward door was pushed open by Cheng Keyan's husband.

Startled by the sound of the door opening, I abruptly clamped my legs shut. This sudden movement trapped Cheng Keyan's hand right between my thighs.

Fortunately, she swiftly pulled her hand back, and her husband didn't seem to notice the incident. Otherwise, I would have had no choice but to fight him to the death that very night.

After entering the ward, Cheng Keyan's husband set down the midnight snack. I picked up a box and began to eat in silence. Since Cheng Keyan had just regained consciousness and was not yet able to eat, she simply lay on the bed, saying nothing.

Once the food was finished, a dead silence hung over the ward. I glanced at Cheng Keyan and nodded at her, but she shook her head in response. Ignoring this, I patted her husband's shoulder and pulled him out into the hallway.

We sat side by side on the bench outside the door. Just as I was pondering how to question him, he spoke up first: "I know what kind of relationship you two have; you can't hide it from me. But I advise both of you to show some self-respect, or don't blame me for being unpolite."

I looked at him and deliberately asked in return, "What kind of relationship?"

"Are you fucking still playing dumb?" Cheng Keyan's husband suddenly flew into a rage.

I looked at him and chose to remain silent. It wasn't that I was backing down; I simply felt that arguing with him in a hospital was hardly a wise choice. However, I definitely needed to teach him a harsh lesson so that this fellow would understand what I was capable of.

My mind raced quickly as I recalled a ghost-summoning method from the *Ghost Arts*. A hospital was certainly a place with no shortage of ghosts.

Thus, I silently recited the incantation in my heart: "I draw close to the ghost immortals, the ghost immortals lean upon me; I make my plea to the ghost immortals, the ghost immortals ask what I seek." At the same time, my hand began to trace a talisman in empty air.

Drawing talismans in the void was immensely difficult. It required the practitioner to complete the entire talisman in one smooth, uninterrupted breath, demanding a rock-solid foundation in talismanic arts. In truth, the talismans recorded in the *Ghost Arts* were not numerous, and the few that existed were exceedingly simple.

The only reason I was able to perform it in the void at this moment was that this particular ghost-summoning talisman was far too simple, easily accomplished in four or five strokes.

As I mentally chanted the ghost-summoning incantation, I drew the talisman simultaneously. The very instant the drawing was finished, I saw a golden rune truly manifest in the empty space where my hand had traced. Although it vanished in the blink of an eye, I had seen it clearly.

At the same time, a chilling gust of wind swept through the corridor.

Gathering my composure, I slowly stood up. Meanwhile, Cheng Keyan's husband was staring at the floor, completely oblivious to what had just transpired. I quietly reached out my hand and gave his shoulder a fierce slap.

Cheng Keyan's husband jumped in fright and hurriedly turned around to look at me. Puzzled by my expression, he immediately raised his voice and cursed loudly, "Are you out of your mind?"

I smiled at him and said, "It's nothing, nothing at all."

Inside, however, I couldn't stop myself from snickering.

As the saying goes, mortals fear ghosts by thirty percent, while ghosts fear mortals by seventy percent, because every living person possesses three flames of vital energy located on the crown of their head and both shoulders. As long as these three flames remain unextinguished, ghosts dare not easily approach the living. If even one of these flames goes out, that person's vital energy becomes weak, and they will encounter a ghost.

There are many ways to cause a person's vital energy flames to extinguish.

For instance, when walking alone down a dark road late at night and hearing someone call your name, one must never turn back. Turning back once extinguishes a single flame; turning back three times extinguishes all three flames on the body.

Just now, when I patted Cheng Keyan's husband on the shoulder and he turned his head, one of the flames on his body had already gone out. As for what would happen next, I only needed to sit back and watch the show.

Facing me now, Cheng Keyan's husband seemed determined to press the issue.

"Is your fucking brain broken? If your brain is broken, this is a hospital—if you don't know how to call a doctor, I'll go call one for you."

I glanced at him and said, "Why don't you calm down."

Emboldened, Cheng Keyan's husband rolled up his sleeves and pointed at me as he continued to curse. I silently looked away, too lazy to bother with him.

Just then, I noticed the lights at the far end of the corridor suddenly go out one by one. A figure wearing a white hospital gown and a deathly pale face was slowly drifting closer. Whichever spot he drifted to, the lights in that immediate vicinity would instantly extinguish. After he passed, those lights would flicker back on.

By this time, the corridor was filled with chilling, bone-chilling gusts of wind.

Seeing that the good show was about to begin, I turned my head back and locked eyes with Cheng Keyan's husband. Ignoring the abuse pouring from his mouth, I simply stared at him quietly.

While he was still in the middle of a fierce tirade, the light directly above my head went out with a sharp *pop*. Instantly, my surroundings plunged into pitch-black darkness. I could also sense that right behind me, the figure in the hospital gown with the deathly pale face was slowly drawing closer.

The exact moment the light went out, Cheng Keyan's husband abruptly stopped talking, the expression on his face instantly shifting to one of extreme terror.

I chuckled at him and asked, "Hey, what's wrong with you? Speak up."

Cheng Keyan's husband stared past my shoulder, retreating step by step while his entire body trembled. I feigned confusion and stared at him, saying, "Hey, say something, are you mute? What on earth is wrong with you?"

"Ah—!" Cheng Keyan's husband finally let out a scream and bolted into the ward.

Watching the direction of his escape, I sneered, then turned around to look behind me. At that moment, I was startled myself, because after chanting that single soul-summoning incantation, I had actually drawn four or five ghosts. One of them was missing half an arm and was covered in blood. Another ghost wore a nurse's uniform and gripped a scalpel in a pair of deathly pale hands tinged with a faint, chilling bluish-grey, enough to make anyone's heart pound with fear.

Recovering my wits, I hurriedly said to them, "Thank you, esteemed ghost immortals, please return of your own accord."

To my utter astonishment, after I finished speaking, those ghosts remained standing in place without moving a muscle. Even worse, I could sense them slowly closing in on me.

Panic began to creep in, and I quickly added, "Esteemed ghost immortals, I advise you to leave on your own. Since I had the means to summon you here, naturally I have the means to send you away. If you don't believe me, feel free to try!"

Yet, even after I uttered those words, the ghosts continued to approach me step by step. They raised their hands, slowly reaching toward my neck.

In my anxiety, my mind completely short-circuited; halfway through reciting the exorcism incantation from the *Ghost Arts*, I completely forgot the rest.

With the situation turning critical, I quickly bit down on the tip of my tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood.

This blood from the tip of the tongue is the ultimate source of pure *yang* energy in the body and can injure ghosts and deities alike. Struck by this blood, all five ghosts simultaneously emitted a sharp, ear-piercing shriek that sounded strangely like loud wailing. However, after only a brief pause, they lunged at me once again.

Panicking completely, I tried to turn and run, only to find my back pressing hard against the wall—I had driven myself into a dead end.

It was over. This time I had really played with fire and gotten burned.

Yet right at that moment, the five ghosts in front of me vanished into thin air, and the lights in the corridor flared back on. I looked around in startled disbelief, absolutely certain that the five ghosts were truly gone.

At that instant, I caught sight of a familiar figure appearing in the distance.

It was Jin Yuan.

The very same Jin Yuan who had nearly lost his life not long ago because of the telephone ghost incident.