Le Chemin des Fantômes Lésés, Partie 1 Le Chemin des Fantômes Lésés

Chapitre 22

But just because they forgot doesn't mean others forgot. Finally, when they were living a peaceful and leisurely life, trouble struck.

That night, Pei Linhai and Lou Lifan had just returned from their night shift internship. When they were choosing their mentors, they unfortunately happened to draw that perverted principal. Naturally, the two of them were exhausted from the training all night, and as soon as they got back to their room, they were so tired that they lay on the bed and didn't want to move at all.

But fate didn't seem to like seeing them so carefree. Just as they struggled to finish their showers and were about to get a good night's sleep, the door was suddenly pounded on—a deafening bang! Bang ...

"Lou Lifan! Pei Linhai! Help! Help me! Please help me! Please!"

Lou Lifan was utterly exhausted, but he glanced at Pei Linhai, who was in even worse shape than him, practically half-dead. No wonder; halfway through his journey, the perverted principal had used an excuse to throw him into a spatial rift, where, supposedly, many mischievous little monsters liked to play pranks… naturally, he was bound to be bullied terribly.

Lou Lifan could only weakly extend his right hand and call out in a barely audible voice, "Yu Jia... Pin Jia... just come out..."

A short-haired, energetic little girl jumped out of his palm, her tiny body, only the size of Lou Lifan's thumb, dancing in his hand: "Yay! Long time no see! Lifan! You're so handsome! You're so dashing! Why did you suddenly have a change of heart and decide to let me out?"

Lou Lifan was almost out of strength: "I didn't mean to let you out..."

The little girl then realized something was wrong and screamed, "Ahhhhh! Li Fan! Why is your body so small today! I don't want it anymore! How can I play with something so small?!"

"Yu Jia... I just wanted you to help me open the door..." If only I had gone... "I don't even have the strength to rebuild your body..."

"Are you really feeling unwell?" The little girl jumped onto his pillow, pressed her nose against his, and stared into his eyes. "If you want help, just say so! You have to say 'please,' okay? If you don't say 'please,' I'll get angry! I won't help you anymore! I'm not kidding! Say 'please,' Li Fan! Say it, say it—~"

"...Please..." He must have been out of his mind to let those two noisy little girls become his shikigami. He reaped what he sowed...

The little girl happily slid down to the ground while hugging the bedpost. Her small body trailed a white line connected to Lou Lifan's palm as she ran towards the door. Her two short legs swayed under her short skirt, and her big head looked like she might lose her balance and fall to the ground at any moment.

However, a problem arose when she reached the door. The body Lou Lifan had created for her was too small; even if ten more were stacked on top of each other, she still couldn't reach the tall doorknob.

She circled around the door a few times, then turned to look at Lou Lifan, her large eyes, which took up a third of her head, brimming with tears: "Lifan...it's all your fault! I can't even open the door...please give me a normal body..."

Lou Lifan didn't know what sins he had committed in his past life. Others could have an easy time with a shikigami, but he couldn't. He was always the one who suffered the most and worked the hardest.

He used the last of his strength to pour all his remaining spiritual power into the white line. The white line suddenly thickened, and Yu Jia's body swelled violently.

"I'll recreate your body... but my spiritual power has run out. From now on... I'm counting on you..." Lou Lifan fell into a deep sleep.

Busy with her transformation, Yu Jia didn't notice his situation. All her energy was focused on how to use Lou Lifan's abilities to make her appearance, figure, and accessories look better.

Her small body initially swelled like an inflating balloon, expanding into a round shape, obscuring her true form. At a certain point, she began to exhale, white mist rising from her mouth and being absorbed back into her body, gradually transforming into graceful narrow shoulders, full breasts, a slender waist, and beautiful legs. Spiritual energy then emanated from various parts of her body, dressing her in a lovely dress. She drew a circle in the air with her hand, and the circle transformed into a mirror. She admiring herself from all angles, until she was satisfied.

During this time, the terrifying yet pitiful knocking never stopped.

After tidying up her hair, Yu Jia gracefully opened the door: "Who is it..."

Before she could fully display her beauty, that clueless guy outside suddenly rushed in and hugged her, burying his face almost completely in her chest: "Lou Lifan! Pei Linhai! Help! Save me! Waaah—~"

This blatant groping shattered Yu Jia's efforts to maintain an elegant facade. She grabbed his ear and, without even looking at him, slapped him thirty times across the face. Then, with a high-heeled shoe she conjured, she kicked him out the door. Not satisfied, she took off her shoe and chased after him, beating him mercilessly while yelling, "I'll beat you to death, you scoundrel! I'll beat you to death, you lecher! I'll beat you to death, you robber! I'll beat you to death, you thief! I'll beat you to death, you immoral person! I'll beat you to death, you'll be infamous forever! How dare you grope me! I'll kill you, I'll kill you, I'll kill you..."

She only stopped when the guy clutched his head and cried out for help, begging for mercy and saying he would never dare to do it again.

"Serves you right!" she spat, then looked up to find a group of students gathered around to watch. She put her right hand on her hip in a teapot gesture. "Look! What are you looking at! Haven't you ever seen a pretty girl hit someone before? You're so naive! Look again! Look again and I'll beat you all up!"

The students were so frightened that they scattered in all directions.

But among them, there was one person who did not leave. The person had a pale face, flowing robes, and stood there staring intently at her.

"Still looking! So what if you're a zombie! I'm a shikigami!" She stomped on the person lying on the ground, bruised and weak, and said, "Hey! Do you need something from my master? If you do, say so, otherwise get lost! I'm busy!"

"Of course... I have something to do..." After saying this, the man—Dongming Taotie—also fainted. He couldn't understand what he had done wrong; he had only hugged a shikigami, so why was he getting such a big reaction? He had also hugged Lou Lifan that day, so why wasn't Lou Lifan angry?

He forgot one thing: Lou Lifan was a man, while Yu Jia… even as a shikigami, was a woman. And that day, Lou Lifan wasn't just not angry; he was so angry he didn't know how to be angry anymore.

Yu Jia had no choice but to drag the guy by the foot into the room, toss him haphazardly into a corner, and turn around to close the door...

"Hey—what are you doing!"

Of course, it wasn't Dongming Taotie who was "doing what," but someone else.

"Don't come in! I said you're not allowed in! I'll report you for trespassing! ...What are you glaring at me for! Just because a zombie can't close its eyes doesn't mean it's so great!"

If Mr. Zombie had controllable facial muscles, he would definitely be twitching by now. But unfortunately, he doesn't.

It slowly raised its stiff arm, a slip of paper stuck in its rigid fingers. Yu Jia took the paper and read aloud: "To Pei Linhai and Lou Lifan: A week ago we agreed that you could help Taotie overcome his fear of zombies, but now it seems we must move forward. Tonight during the combat practice, he was surrounded by three zombies controlled by the enemy. In desperation, I ordered two of my zombies to protect him. However, when I had a chance to check, he was being carried on the back of a zombie as they broke through the encirclement. He was foaming at the mouth and unconscious. If this continues, the enemy will discover his weakness, and he will definitely fail the combat test next January. Therefore, I beg you two to find a way in the meantime. Dong Chong will be eternally grateful!"

Below is a line of smaller print: "P.S. He should be arriving at your residence now and causing you trouble. Please take him in for the time being, thank you!"

"What the hell is this?!" Yu Jia shouted angrily. "You're just leaving this mess here and not going to do anything about it? Afraid of zombies? If you're afraid of zombies, then don't come to this perverted academy! If you dare to come, then don't be afraid!"

The zombie had apparently come specifically to deliver the message. After she read it, it nodded with its stiff neck, turned around, and hopped away.

"Hey! Aren't you going to take care of him here?! I'm going to sell him! You zombie! Did you hear me?! Go back and tell your master! I will absolutely, positively sell this kid! And not to a host club! I'm going to sell him to the slaughterhouse! The slaughterhouse! Do you hear me?!"

The zombie didn't even turn its head before disappearing through the doorway.

"Damn it!" Yu Jia was furious, kicking the unconscious person under his feet. "How could they be so irresponsible! Are there really people like this in this world? They don't clean up their own messes, but push them onto my Li Fan! Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

She kicked the poor man twice more as a way of venting her anger.

But if you think about it again, "making someone no longer afraid of zombies" is such a small thing that not only Lou Lifan could do it, but even she could do it! What's so difficult about something as simple as one plus one equals one!

"Hehe...hehehehe...that's right! That's it! How could I not have thought of something so simple! Hehehehehe—~" Just as she was laughing, she suddenly looked down at her feet and screamed—"Ah—where did my tail go!"

Lying on the ground, the Taotie of Dongming had goosebumps all over its body, a sign of an ominous premonition.

—The End of Chapter Three—

Chapter Four: Phantom Fox Shikigami

The "tail" that Yu Jia screamed over was not a tail in the ordinary sense; she wasn't a beast-type shikigami. She was referring to the white thread that had been trailing behind her since the beginning, connecting her to Lou Lifan. That white thread absorbed power from Lou Lifan and sent it to her; this was how they transferred power, preventing her from dying from exhaustion.

However, it doesn't feel restrictive to them because it's just an energy band and doesn't function as a tripwire. Furthermore, it can be concealed when needed.

But now... the white line... is gone...!

And it's absolutely certain that Lou Lifan didn't hide it, because he and Pei Linhai were both fast asleep, snoring loudly, and didn't have the energy to do something so pointless.

Yu Jia squatted on the ground, drawing circles: "What should we do... what if the energy runs out... what if the energy is used up before Li Fan wakes up... what happened... how could this happen..."

The dwelling places of shikigami vary depending on the type of shikigami. Some shikigami reside in the shadow of their master, some in the body of their master, some in the consciousness of their master, and there is a special type that can live in the real world like a human. Yu Jia and Pin Jia are the third type, residing in the consciousness of their master. Normally, shikigami like them, living in the consciousness of their host, would be naturally pulled back into the deeper consciousness of their master when the master faints. However, today, because Yu Jia desperately wanted to enlarge her body, Lou Lifan sent all his power into her body, leaving no power to continue the connection between them, which caused the "umbilical cord" to sever.

If Lou Lifan were conscious at this moment, it would be fine; Yu Jia could initiate the connection, and Lou Lifan could receive it in return. However, he had fallen into a deep sleep, making it impossible for Yu Jia to reconnect. It's like a local area network where the main unit can easily access the extensions, but the extensions need permission or special methods to access the main unit.

"Oh... if he doesn't wake up before then, I'll die... I'll become a ghost corpse, and it'll be so ugly..."

However… she thought again, Lou Lifan hadn’t handled the last bit of power he gave her well this time; it seemed he had given her quite a bit. She did the math carefully and chuckled mischievously.

"Hehehehe... So that's how it is! So the power he gave me is enough to keep me playing until sunrise! Hahahaha! Heavens! You're really kind to me!"

She knelt on the ground in a devout manner and thanked God and Buddha profusely. Then she jumped up, grabbed the feet of the still unconscious Dongming Taotie, and dragged him out.

"With me, Yu Jia, on the job, the results will be extraordinary! ...So heavy...Hehehehe...I guarantee you'll never be afraid of zombies again after tonight! You can even sleep with a zombie in your arms! Hahahahahaha!! ...So heavy..." The arrogant laughter continued.

She never considered that even someone who is absolutely not afraid of zombies would never sleep with a zombie in their arms... Ah, correction, it should be that no one would ever sleep with a low-level zombie in their arms...

Yu Jia dragged Taotie's feet all the way to the lawn outside the dormitory building, not caring whether there was a blood blister on the back of his head. He casually tossed him there and found a twig to draw a spell on the ground.

But just as she planted the branch in the soil, she heard a terrifying groan: "Ouch—!"

"My God!" Yu Jia screamed, retreating frantically. "Who is it! Who! Come out!"

“I also…want to ask you something… um…” A woman dressed in a very seductive manner slowly appeared on the ground, one hand covering her shoulder, with the branch stuck in her shoulder, “It hurts so much…it hurts so much…” After pulling out the branch, she walked up to Yu Jia and looked him up and down.

"Not handsome? 1000 yuan fine! Hand over the money!"

Yu Jia could tell that she must also be someone's shikigami, and that her cultivation was far superior to hers. So, she originally planned to just apologize quietly and be done with it, but unexpectedly... a thousand yuan!

"You're robbing me! Why should I give you so much money!"

Regardless of whether she herself is rich or poor, throughout five thousand years of history and in every dynasty, money has always been the most important thing. If a stranger suddenly and inexplicably asked you for such a large sum of money, you would also get angry with him. It's instinct.

The woman pointed to a distant spot. An ordinary person would only be able to make out the outline of a sign, but Yu Jia was a bit sharper and managed to make out the words: "Anyone who damages lawns and flowers without permission will be killed! —All faculty and staff of the Witch Class"

The alluring woman tossed her long hair, rolled her eyes, and struck a pose of boundless charm. A passing student was instantly electrified by the ten thousand volts of electricity emanating from her eyes and crashed into a tree.

"Shouldn't Paulina have told your master this when you enrolled? Everything in this academy, from the furnishings to the plants, has a purpose. Damaging any part of it could very well cause the academy's protective barrier to collapse, and then the witch class teachers will definitely find the culprit to be used as a human sacrifice..."

Yu Jia didn't know that she was sleeping at the time because she felt that the opening ceremony had nothing to do with her.

"However..." the woman chuckled a few times, "because your damage wasn't too serious, so it's just a fine of 1000 yuan. Are you satisfied now? Hand over the money!"

Yu Jia considered it in her mind. She and this woman were not on the same level. It was impossible for her to defeat her. What if she ran away?

...They'll probably be caught in no time.

Therefore, we can only use the third method!

She stared intently at the woman, her eyes filled with an extremely sinister, vicious, and terrifying aura. Even the King of Hell himself might take a step or two back in that gaze. The woman wasn't the King of Hell, and of course, she was even less so. She took three steps back.

"You...you want to attack the staff?"

Yu Jia took two steps forward, and suddenly, her eyes softened, and her voice became gentle: "Sister—"

That cloyingly sweet voice, several times sweeter than saccharin, made the female shikigami stagger back again: "You...Grandma, what...what are you doing!"

Yu Jia took a few quick steps, then suddenly grabbed her hand, his eyes glazed over: "Sister, you're so beautiful, so gorgeous..."

"Stop! Let go of me!" How terrifying! This girl... could she have that kind of tendency?! The female shikigami shuddered.

"elder sister……"

"If you come any closer, I'll call it harassment! Don't come any closer... don't come any closer... don't come any closer! Aaaaaaah—help! Harassment! A shikigami is harassing a shikigami—"

Yu Jia was well aware of the misunderstandings her actions would cause, but that was what she needed. Her eyes grew even more dreamy: "Sister! I admire you so much! I love you so much! I... Can you help me?"

"Anything! Let me go!" The girl was already hugging her tightly, and the feeling of being in contact with a woman gave her goosebumps. "I don't like women!"

"I am not a woman."

"I don't like female shikigami either! Help—"

"Sister, what did you just say?"

I don't like female shikigami either!

"No, it's the one in front."

"I don't like women!"

"No! It needs to go further ahead..." A slender waist that could be encircled in one hand...

"Don't touch me like that... Anything is fine! Just let me go! Help! I'm having nightmares if a woman touches me..."

Yu Jia suddenly let go, put one hand to her mouth in a delicate gesture, and laughed loudly with a gossipy air: "Oh ho ho ho ho ho... You said it yourself! Anything is fine! As long as I let you go!"

"Huh?" The overwhelmed female shikigami stared blankly at her.

Yu Jia continued to chuckle wickedly, almost laughing herself to death: "A shikigami! A shikigami is bound by a contract of words! Sister! You can't go back on your word! Hahahahahahaha...!!"

Verbal Contract: Within the scope of this contract's effectiveness (time, space, people), all spoken guarantees become verbal contracts and cannot be changed; otherwise, the Contract Spirit will execute the punishment for violating the contract.