Chapter 5: Father And Son’s Tender Affection
This human, how did he suddenly turn into a Hannya that makes ghosts flee in terror!
“Mother” and “Sister” stood rigidly frozen in place, partly due to the control effect of the Terrifying Smile, and partly because the Evil Spirits’ simple minds couldn’t process it.
The two translucent Evil Spirits wanted to turn and flee the haunted house immediately, but could only watch as Shangshan Che walked over slowly, utterly unable to move.
“Mom, long time no see.”
Shangshan Che eagerly embraced the Evil Spirit resembling his original mother, crossing his arms and surging with Power of Ghost God, twisting the Evil Spirit bit by bit into a twisted shape.
“Urgh… urgh urgh…”
Under “Sister”‘s terrified gaze, the “Mother” being hugged by Shangshan Che couldn’t bear the strain and burst into a cloud of gray mist with a bang.
【You killed a Scattered Wandering Soul, obtained 10 Soul Ash】
Shangshan Che shook his head regretfully: “Old thing, didn’t you pay into your pension for a full twenty years? How come you only dropped this little Gold Coin.”
“Now then…”
Staring at the “Sister” who had slightly regained mobility and was trembling in fear, Shangshan Che asked puzzledly: “Little sis, didn’t I say I wanted to live a quiet life alone? Why did you come to bother me?”
“Go… go! I’ll leave right now!”
“Sister”‘s eye sockets bled, emitting low sobs as it hurriedly turned to float out of the room.
“Since you’ve come, stay.”
A dark blue claw landed on “Sister”‘s shoulder, the terrifying pressure rendering the frail Evil Spirit’s struggles futile.
Watching “Sister” struggle endlessly, Shangshan Che pondered.
—With his current Strength, he no longer feared so-called Scattered Wandering Souls, the common Ghosts like drifting spirits that ordinary people encounter.
The Terrifying Smile’s effect was also good, hard-controlling Scattered Wandering Souls for nearly fifteen seconds, and it was even a large-area AOE.
Then let’s try…
With a thought, Shangshan Che equipped the Hundred-Eyed Ghost Pupil onto the 【Laughing Hannya】 Card.
Instantly, his vision blurred.
When it cleared again, Shangshan Che was shocked to find his field of view had expanded from 180° to about 270° ahead!
A subtle nausea hit him.
Facing the suddenly expanded vision, even Shangshan Che in Laughing Hannya form felt somewhat dizzy.
But this minor issue would improve with adaptation.
After standing in place and swiveling his gaze a few times, Shangshan Che felt somewhat disappointed—could the Hundred-Eyed Ghost Pupil’s effect really just be this?
It’d be better to release it to act as a Scout.
He shook his head, then narrowed his eyes slightly upon refocusing on “Sister”.
Because above “Sister”‘s head floated a faint, slightly yellowish white mist.
This mist hadn’t appeared before equipping the Hundred-Eyed Ghost Pupil.
But what did this mist represent…
Shangshan Che pondered briefly, then pulled out the Cloth Doll from his pocket—which he had “accidentally” blindfolded with a large wad of Tissue Paper on the road—and saw nothing above its head.
No effect on inanimate objects, even Supernatural items.
“Stay right here, don’t move.”
After warning the “Sister” who didn’t dare breathe, Shangshan Che walked to the Balcony and peered at the street through the gap in the Curtain.
Just then, a illusory figure drifted under a streetlamp not far away, also with a faint white mist above its head, but much fainter than “Sister”‘s and without any yellow.
So that’s how it is.
“Little sis, thanks for your hard work.”
After giving “Sister” a quick end and gaining another 10 Soul Ash, Shangshan Che thought:
—The second effect of equipping the Hundred-Eyed Ghost Eyeball on a Demon Incarnation is probably distinguishing the opponent’s Strength.
Though it’s unclear yet whether this “Strength” is an objective measure like Star ratings or subjective relative to his own Strength.
In any case, the Hundred-Eyed Ghost Eyeball’s effect satisfied him greatly.
Retracting the Laughing Hannya Mask, Shangshan Che leaned back on the soft Sofa.
He didn’t plan to spend this new 20 Soul Ash directly in the Half-Star Card Pool 【Deep Bamboo Forest】, but to save up and pull after unlocking the One-Star Card Pool in the Future.
After all, the Half-Star Card Pool’s drop rate was abysmally low.
Even if he got lucky once and pulled Laughing Hannya or versatile cards like Hundred-Eyed Ghost Pupil, it couldn’t hide that most of his other pulls were just 【Soul Incense Ash（Tiny）】.
Those were the Small Experience Bottles polluting the Card Pool.
As for how to unlock the One-Star Card Pool…
Just need to possess one One-Star Demon Incarnation Card.
The simplest method now was to upgrade the Half-Star Laughing Hannya to One-Star—directly pulling a One-Star Demon Incarnation had less than one-in-a-thousand odds, which Shangshan Che dismissed outright.
No need to mention not having enough Soul Ash; even with plenty, he wouldn’t waste it that way.
Better to Level up the Cards he already had.
He selected 【Laughing Hannya（Juvenile）】 in the interface.
Then he could feed it the faintly glowing 【Soul Incense Ash（Tiny）】 from his inventory.
Shangshan Che tried it; one feeding took up to 10 portions, and he currently had 12.
【”Laughing Hannya（Juvenile）” Leveling up: 0%】
Gazing at the exquisite Card where the Laughing Hannya Mask began rotating, Shangshan Che couldn’t help sighing:
Those damn greedy developers, they even calculated this!
Pulling a pile of Soul Incense Ash from the Card Pool, feeding the ash to the Demon Incarnation, then using the upgraded Demon Incarnation to unlock pricier new Card Pools…
It was practically a perfect internal recycling mechanism.
Still, feeling Laughing Hannya visibly growing stronger was quite satisfying.
After all, Laughing Hannya getting stronger meant Shangshan Che getting stronger!
He just didn’t know if these 10 portions of Soul Incense Ash alone would be enough for it to Level up…
Seeing the Progress bar unchanged after dozens of seconds, Shangshan Che estimated it would take at least two or three days to finish eating, or even over a week if longer.
From tonight’s sudden appearance of “Mother” and “Sister” at home, and Nanjo Emi’s earlier words, Supernatural Events weren’t common but also not extremely rare.
So during Laughing Hannya’s upgrade, he needed to develop quickly too.
Tomorrow if he met Lili Zi, he’d tell her not to investigate that club yet, lest she attract trouble.
As Shangshan Che planned, the TV suddenly blared with soccer Match sounds.
He blanked out, memories flooding in of warm moments with “Father”.
Then Shangshan Che smiled at the figure beside him: “Dad, why aren’t you sleeping so late?”
Beside Shangshan Che, the middle-aged man didn’t reply, just silently staring at the soccer Match on the TV screen.
“Heh, fine.” Shangshan Che shook his head: “Stay up all night watching the Match then, I’m off to bed.”
With that, he headed to his Room, pausing midway to remove the “binding” from the Cloth Doll’s eyes.
Then in the Room, he found a small string and hung the Cloth Doll at the Room Door.
Sister Nanjo’s doll could serve as a door guardian; he’d carry it when going out.
Bang.
Shangshan Che stared at the suddenly popped 【Enter Eternal World】 option and eagerly shut the Room Door.
Outside the Room, the Cloth Doll hanging in midair spun lightly, its black pupils reflecting the middle-aged man’s blank face.
