Chapter 945: Chapter 671: The Secret of the Ghost Lantern_2
The other party had not yet attacked; after all, the Ghost Lantern in Yang Xiao’s hands hadn’t developed its powerful attack capabilities. However, there was one thing Yang Xiao couldn’t figure out: the Little Mirror Ghost had been playing around fine just now, so why did it suddenly turn hostile and strike at him with the Ghost Lantern?
This question was soon answered. The only variable was the book that Yang Xiao had picked up casually. It was only after he opened that book that the Mirror Ghost’s attack was triggered.
The layout of this secret chamber was almost a carbon copy of the one underneath the Ru Lin Academy. Yang Xiao was almost certain that the former owner of this chamber was the same imprisoned Young Master, the former Sect Master of the Yu Yuan Sect.
The method of nurturing the New Mirror Ghost was also something he had told himself. This person had ill intentions and had not informed Yang Xiao that the books here should not be casually browsed. It seemed that he had tampered with these books so that if a foreigner opened them, it would trigger the Mirror Ghost’s backlash, causing them to die at the hands of the Mirror Ghost without anyone noticing.
This would also prevent the secrets of this place from being leaked.
Yang Xiao had also casually browsed through a few books before, but he hadn’t been attacked by the Mirror Ghost then. He guessed that either only a few of the books were tampered with, or that the Mirror Ghost at that time was not yet mature enough, which was a limitation in itself.
Regardless of which it was, both points proved that the former Sect Master of the Yu Yuan Sect was a difficult opponent to deal with. Yang Xiao wished he could kill him now to avoid future troubles.
If the enemy doesn’t move, I won’t move. Yang Xiao confronted his opponent with a standoff. In this chamber, his perception of time began to skew, and he didn’t know how much time had passed. As the green light gradually dissipated, he found himself back in the secret chamber, where the Little Mirror Ghost had fainted on the ground with the Ghost Lantern fallen beside it.
After confirming there were no issues nearby, Yang Xiao walked over and picked up the Ghost Lantern. With the infusion of spiritual power, the extinguished flame of the Ghost Lantern rekindled, emitting a greasy green glow.
There was no mistaking it; this feeling confirmed that it was indeed this lantern that had trapped him.
In the hands of the Little Mirror Ghost, the lantern demonstrated new capabilities, which shocked Yang Xiao. As he tried to use the Ghost Lantern to reproduce the scene he had just experienced, the Little Mirror Ghost on the ground suddenly twitched and then slowly opened its eyes.
It woke up, not showing any aggression, just looking exhausted. Blinking its eyes, it curiously gazed at Yang Xiao.
After some thought, Yang Xiao made a bold move and once again handed the Ghost Lantern to the Little Mirror Ghost. It seemed to have completely forgotten what had happened before as it joyfully took the lantern and began to fiddle with it once more.
"Do you remember what happened before?" Crouching down, Yang Xiao asked patiently, "Can you demonstrate it again for me? If you teach me, I promise to come and play with you often and bring you more toys like this, okay?"
After repeating himself several times with gestures, it was unclear whether the Little Mirror Ghost understood. In any case, the Little Mirror Ghost shook the Ghost Lantern and flung it towards Yang Xiao, causing everything in front of him to go black as he was transported back to that world.
However, compared to before, the green light was much weaker and lasted only about a dozen seconds before Yang Xiao was back. The Little Mirror Ghost, holding the lantern, appeared even more wilted than before, but its eyes were filled with excitement.
Yang Xiao took the Ghost Lantern into his hands and, mimicking the movements of the Little Mirror Ghost, closed his eyes. After several attempts, a strange sensation surged, and a large amount of spiritual power was drawn out and continuously poured into the Ghost Lantern. When he opened his eyes, he saw the Little Mirror Ghost trapped within a green octagonal light.
In the green light, the silhouette of the Little Mirror Ghost became illusory, as if trapped in another world. Panicked, it dashed left and right, but to Yang Xiao, it seemed to be merely pacing in place. Having experienced it himself, Yang Xiao knew that running was futile in that world.
Bowing his head, Yang Xiao looked towards his lantern. It had been extinguished, yet it was continuously draining his spiritual power — an extremely terrifying consumption. In at most ten minutes, it could completely deplete the current Yang Xiao.
The shape of the lantern was also octagonal, just like the illusory world that entrapped the Little Mirror Ghost. Truly a fearsome ability.
Yang Xiao did not rush to release the Little Mirror Ghost. Instead, he tried to strike the illusionary Little Mirror Ghost in front of him with the Human Bone Staff. He only exerted a bit of force, yet this time, the staff’s ability to track enemies failed. The attacks launched by the staff meandered nearby for a while before finally dissipating into nothingness.
Indeed, the world trapped by the Ghost Lantern was a special existence, similar to the Mirror World. Outsiders couldn’t touch or grasp it. Even Yang Xiao, the master of the Ghost Lantern, could not attack those trapped inside.
Undeterred, Yang Xiao took out a kitchen knife and the Ghost Duster. Even when approaching the panicking Little Mirror Ghost, he couldn’t breach this world to strike at it, and the person trapped inside couldn’t see the outside world either.
After trying out the magic artifacts at hand, Yang Xiao concluded that the world created by the Ghost Lantern acted as a barrier, able to trap someone while separating people of both worlds, preventing anyone from attacking another.
Withdrawing his spiritual power, he released the Little Mirror Ghost. This time the Little Mirror Ghost had learned its lesson. As soon as it was freed, it snatched the Ghost Lantern and glared at Yang Xiao with wide eyes, as if it was afraid that Yang Xiao would enclose it again.
However, children are children, after all. In no time, the Little Mirror Ghost forgot about the incident and resumed playing with the Ghost Lantern. Yang Xiao observed silently on the side, feeling that something was off about the lantern.
The Ghost Lantern was his publicly known Magic Artifact. Many had seen it, and most thought it was trivial. Yet, this artifact, deemed trivial, had given Yang Xiao significant help. It restrained enemies who could camouflage themselves, dead in their tracks. Not only did it have rare illusion-breaking and dispelling abilities, but now it also had developed something akin to a cage effect. It even shielded against the Human Bone Staff’s attacks. These were not potencies a common Magic Artifact would possess. At least, Yang Xiao had never seen a second similar artifact.
What was more thought-provoking was the origin of this artifact. It was found in the Nightmare World where the Nether Garment was also located. The more Yang Xiao thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. A vague sense of fear arose — could there be some connection between the two...?
Feeling a chill, Yang Xiao didn’t want to stay any longer. After consoling the Little Mirror Ghost, he left and took the book that had fallen on the ground with him.
Back in the real world, leaning against the sofa, Yang Xiao gulped down a few sips of hot tea, soothing the unease in his heart. He took out the book again — an ancient, thread-bound book in vertical format with mostly yellowed pages. The text was classical Chinese, evidently old.
Yang Xiao casually flipped open a page and read each line carefully. The strange feeling from before was gone. He had decent literacy skills, yet the reading was still challenging. After quite a while, he gathered a little bit of insight: the book seemed to be a local chronicle from ancient times, full of dull and tedious records, plus some nonsensical rural rumors, all over the place. There were many missing pages in the middle of the book, making it incomplete.
Closing the book, Yang Xiao remembered the captured Sect Master, a highly knowledgeable person whose collection of books was undoubtedly valuable. It was just that he was not familiar enough to understand them. He decided to take one out to the Peace Hotel to inquire about its price. The offered price alone would be indicative of the item’s worth.
Thinking this, Yang Xiao tore the book in half, keeping the latter part to avoid exposing its origin. He decided he would only carry half of it.
It would not be advisable to inquire about the Ghost Lantern at the hotel. He decided to find an opportunity in the next few days to seek advice from Senior Brother Qingfeng. If that didn’t work, he could ask his uncle. With the old man’s wealth of knowledge, perhaps he could clarify Yang Xiao’s doubts.
