Crouching Ghost Hunter, Hidden Ghost Hunter

As the tension from the ghost hunting session faded, the group went outside and breathed a sigh of relief. The dome of darkness that surrounded the school shattered and spread out into the air, letting the sun touch their skins once more.

"Ah, that's right, it's still morning... We just arrived at school." Lan Xiang scratched his head. "What now? Will we have lessons?"

"Of course not!" Ye Qingle rolled her eyes as she sat down on a nearby bench.

"Well, you never know..."

Despite Lan Xiang's words, he headed home, as did everyone else. They needed to relax for a bit after what just happened.

About an hour or two later, the clock pointed to 12. A new group of people arrived at the school.

Luo Zi Da led the group, shivering with each step he took. Turning to look at the ghost hunters behind him, he wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Haah, I sure am nervous, huh? Look at this nervous sweat..."

The three ghost hunters looked at Luo Zi Da with a wry smile. With the latter wearing various charms, necklaces, and bracelets, as well as a thick "ghost-repellent" coat, how could he not sweat? Especially since it was noon...

Of course, they decided not to inform the naive teacher that there was no need for all the unreliable accessories.

As Luo Zi Da walked towards the school building ravaged by ghosts, he took a peek inside one of the windows and saw a broken chair lying about. He cursed the principal and his fellow teachers that decided he should go instead of anyone else.

'Tsk, it's my responsibility because it's my room?? I'm sure you would have pushed it onto me even if it was the restroom!'

However, he did not dare to voice out his complaints, lest they assign him to janitor duty...

While lost in thought, Luo Zi Da arrived in front of the glass door of the school building. He gulped as he put his hand on the handle. "Guys, get ready for an onslaught of ghosts!"

They all nodded to him as they charged up their exorcism techniques.

"And... go!" Luo Zi Da pulled the door open as he charged inside. "Aaah! Come at me, ghosts!"

Meanwhile, the ghost hunters walked in with caution, entering with their palms—their main weapon—in front of their bodies, disregarding the wanton approach that Luo Zida was taking. Who cares if he encountered a ghost? At most, he'd piss his pants and go home...

Eventually, the ghost hunters traversed the first floor without encountering a single ghost.

The leader of the ghost hunters, Kang Guo, retracted his hand as he scratched his head. "Where are the ghosts?"

He examined the environment. "The destroyed pipes, messy walls, damp floor, wrecked chairs all indicate that ghosts have been here."

He then pulled out a device that looked like a scanner. "According to this device, there have been ghosts here. Look at the readings of negative energy-- it's over 9. That must mean the ghosts either evacuated from this place, or they've been exorcised recently."

"Maybe someone else exorcised them before us?" Fang Dafang shrugged.

Kang Guo shook his head. "Impossible. This is the countryside, remember? We're the nearest ghost hunters, that's why we were contacted."

"...What if it was one of the students?" Wang Bo became suspicious.

"Again, impossible, for the same reason. This is the countryside, why would a student talented in such a lucrative occupation stay here?" Kang Guo wracked his brain for a possible answer to this mystery. "...Ah, whatever, let's think about it later."

The group of three continued to explore the school building on the second floor. When they arrived, Luo Zi Da was nowhere to be found, presumably having already ascended to the next floor.

"...It's the same here." Kang Guo couldn't understand the situation before him. "Think. The teachers said that all students exited the premises instantly after the explosion, although they're not exactly sure how it happened."

"Then, in between the time when all the kids ran to when we arrived, someone else must've come and exorcised the ghosts." Fang Dafang sounded confident. "It should be a low-profile ghost hunter that does good deeds for free! That's why the school didn't know to contact them."

Kang Guo and Wang Bo didn't buy the story completely, but it was enough for now. They had no other explanation anyway.

.....

The Spider Queen hovered on the rooftop with her legs crossed. She stared at the hole that her little spider minions made.

"Haah, what a mess I've caused for Master's school."

With a wave of her hand, she summoned a small army of spiders once more. Even though she had just been recovering qi, she was still powerful enough to cloak them all in darkness, invisible to the naked eye. "My little spiders, fix up the school as it was before the destruction that occurred."

After commanding the spiders, they all turned around and jumped through the large hole on the floor, as well as sneak through the little crevices.

"While I'm here, might as well clean up some ghosts who are probably reforming..."

She passed through the floor and started her clean-up.

Truthfully, she did not want any more contact with ghosts. The negative emotions that enveloped her mind every second of the day, as well as an uncontrollable desire for more, made her back away from the idea of merging with a ghost to regain her former strength.

"Besides, I have Master Xiang who is the strongest..." She grinned as she licked her lips.

The Spider Queen examined the topmost floor, just underneath the rooftop, and found remnants of negative energy floating about. If not taken care of, it would eventually form into a ghost again.

"Now then, how do I take care of this?"

She recalled Lan Xiang's first direct attack towards her, filled with qi of the wooden element. "Let's see, his qi was formless, yet it was also wooden..."

Never in her existence did she encounter such qi as bizarre as Lan Xiang's. Conducting multiple experiments in her mind, she eventually formed what seemed to be a cheap knockoff of Lan Xiang's qi. "Hmm, it should be enough for now."

She spread this qi throughout the room. As it made contact with the negative energy, the qi she spread made the latter dissipate. "Yes, it works. Hm, hm. Time to proceed with the other floors."

8th floor. Done.

7th floor. Done.

6th, 5th, 4th... Done.

The Spider Queen arrived on the third floor. There, she encountered a human who wore weird clothing as well as a ludicrous amount of accessories.

He was shouting random chants and mantras. "Waloloyoyo, hah, hah, lakaka-kanana amimana! Ha, take that ghosts! I found it on the web!"

"Hm, I should turn invisible." The Spider Queen decided to disregard this human and proceeded to examine the entire floor. "Ooh, interesting. It seems a ghost has already formed on this floor."

She conjured the imitation qi as usual and shot the ghost with her finger gun.

The ghost started to glow as it shattered into bits and pieces.

"That's taken care of..." The Spider Queen descended another floor. After cleaning up the last two floors, she headed towards the direction where Lan Xiang went. "Hm, hm. Good thing I marked his face earlier."

.....

The ghost hunters climbed up to the third floor.

"--! Guys! Get ready, I'm detecting a ghost around here!" Kang Guo ran up the stairs, and the other two followed.

"Ah, oh no! The teacher is right in front of the ghost!" Fang Dafang was worried.

The ghost was floating aimlessly, while Luo Zi Da was about to make contact with it.

What happened next eternally shocked them to their very core.

"Ayayaya, alalalolo, gamomago, amidanana ririri!" Luo Zi Da proudly chanted, unaware of the invisible ghost in front of him.

The ghost slowly shattered into bits and pieces, and those bits and pieces dissipated into thin air...

"Gh, ghost hunter! Mr. Luo is the hidden dragon ghost hunter!" Fang Dafang widened his eyes.

Kang Guo and Wang Bo didn't want to believe, but their eyes betrayed them. They had physically seen it, the evidence that proved this to be so.

"That explains why the ghosts were only recently exorcised! It's because Mr. Luo was the first one to enter!"

After calming themselves down, they called out to Luo Zi Da. "Mr. Luo!" "Mr. Luo, wait up!"

Luo Zi Da hastily turned around, beads of sweat covering his entire face. "W- who! Who is it? Ghost?!"

"No, Mr. Luo! It's us, the ghost hunters!" Kang Guo waved his hand hurriedly.

"Ah, it's you guys. What are you lot doing, standing idly!"

"No! Mr. Luo, we... would like to be under your wing!" Kang Guo bowed as he cupped his fists.

"Huh? What?" Luo Zi Da had no idea what was happening.