Chapter 11. Stupid character tropes

"I'm going to break your whole shop down if it doesn't help me get better mental strength."

Yu Yan shouted towards Kai before the theatre room door closed. Hearing that, Kai could just smile wearily and wondered why cultivators always like to break things up.

Since opening his shop, every random cultivator he had gotten as a customer had threatened him in some way or form.

'These people really don't know how to talk. No wonder they always fight with each other and are just a stepping stone or a sidekick for the protagonist. They are made with two brain cells.'

Kai snorted and pictured the faces of the cultivators after watching <The Conjuring>. They have not dared to talk to him rudely after that.

He smiled and waited for the students of the academy to come out of the door.

***

The ten students of the academy who had decided to go in to watch <The Conjuring> sat down. Shen Mu has placed enough chairs for all of them, but as they started the movie, they couldn't help but feel anxious.

The image of the man running away when they first entered the shop was still in their minds.

"Do you really think it's that scary as Tang Yan said?"

A guy with a pot belly said. He was cultivating in his family martial arts which give a lot of emphasis on body mass. Basically, they were a family of human tanks.

"I don't know, but he said the evil spirit would put a lot of pressure on us and it's very hard to handle it."

"We can handle it. We are already in our second year in the academy." Yu Yan glared at everyone who was already cowering. "If we can't even watch a movie, then how can we call ourselves proud cultivators?"

"That's right. We need to just get it over with and if what Tang Yan said is true, then we will be able to last longer in the chamber."

Another guy said. He seemed more confident and everyone else also nodded.

They turned on the movie and it started off pretty good. Everyone in the room was surprised to see images moving and their voices even being. The camera movements and proper lightning surprised them.

Moreover, they could see that it was almost like they were watching a scene in real life.

They have never seen such an artifact and were very intrigued.

As the movie progressed, they soon realised that it wasn't going to be an easy watch. The doll in the beginning of the movie truly shook their hearts with fear.

"Why is that doll so creepy?"

"Ah, it reminds me of the dolls I used to have."

"Don't say that. I used to own dolls too. I won't be able to look at them the same way after today."

In some scenes, a few people would even scream out loud, especially when the unknown problems began in the house of the family in the movie.

Yu Yan in particular felt like crying when the dog died suddenly. She has a soft corner for animals and it made her anticipate more bad things happening in the house.

With every new jump scare, shivers crawl down her spine as she gasps in fright.

An unknown pressure mounted on all the students. It was like they could feel the pressure of the evil spirit in the room, right in front of them.

Their senses have heightened and they were involuntary preparing for the next terrifying moment.

Yu Yan had even grabbed onto her chair as the evil spirit possessed one of the daughters of the Perron family.

"Heavens! That evil spirit is so strong. The whole family might die like this."

She said as she gulped down her saliva, feeling unwell suddenly. A feeling of getting out of the room building up in her heart.

It was then that another jump scare came and this time, she stood up.

"Yu Yan, are you okay?" The cultivator with a pot belly asked as she looked back at him. She tried to calm herself down as she replied.

"No, I am not. That evil spirit is too powerful."

"Yes, the family is going to die like this. We should get out of here."

"No, we can't—"

She was about to refuse when on the screen, Lorraine, one of the demonologists, suddenly fell down the cellar. It sent chills down her spine as she saw the face of the evil spirit.

It felt like she was in front of him and You Yan was going to lose her life at any moment.

"I need to get out of here!"

Without any hesitation, she sprinted out of the room with the others looking at her.

"Yu Yan, please don't leave us here."

"We can't handle this evil spirit alone!"

"I'm coming with you!"

They all sprinted out of the room and onto the front of the shop before they took another breather.

Like that, another group of customers failed to watch the <The Conjuring> on the first try.

***

"I'm going to kill you!"

Kai looked down at the barely 5ft tall girl who was holding a dagger in front of him.

She was Yu Yan who had run out of the room, almost crying. It had taken her ten minutes to calm down and put the picture of the evil spirit out of her mind.

After that, she had directly aimed at Kai who was simply trying to solve a crossword puzzle in the newspaper.

"Why do you want to kill me?" Kai asked, not too scared because of his own cultivation breakthrough.

Although he was not that strong, he could still run away if he wanted to.

"Because of that evil spirit. I was so close to dying."

Yu Yan snorted. Actually, even she knew she wasn't being rational, but cultivators were not really known for that.

"You yourself wanted to watch the movie. Why are you trying to kill me just because you can't handle it? If you keep being like this, I'm going to throw you out."

"What did you say?"

"Check your Qi." Kai frowned and said.

"What?"

"Check it. You watched the movie due to increasing your mental strength, right?"

When Kai said that, Yu Yan suddenly remembered. Due to being so scared, she had completely forgotten about it and just wanted to lash out her feelings on someone.

Nodding her head, she checked up on her Qi circulation.

She found out that there was a strange feeling inside of her that was soothing her insides, almost like a cold touch to her meridians. It was giving her protection from something.

It was a foreign energy, but it wasn't harmful and instead, it felt welcoming like a gentle touch of a mother.

She immediately understood what it was.

"It really works…"

She said, her eyes blinking in shock. Tang Yan wasn't lying, but this was too unbelievable for her to believe.

Around her, other students who have watched the movie with her also rejoiced.

"Wow! You feel that energy inside of you!"

"Hey, Tang Yan, is it really that?"

"Yes, that is the feeling of the mental strength buff you are getting. I'm pretty sure you all would do way better with the Mental Resilience chamber."

Tang Yan replied to the barrage of questions that was hurled towards him while his classmates completely forgot about the evil spirit and rejoiced at their new found strength.

The other students who had not gone inside the theatre room just looked at them in disbelief, not knowing if they were saying the truth or not.

"Hey, did it actually work?"

A guy asked the cultivator with the pot belly. His name was actually Lu Liang.

"Yes, it definitely did!"

He was so happy he felt like he would pass out. Mental strength for a cultivator was very important and it was almost impossible to increase it without going through tough, life threatening circumstances.

This way was too quick!

"I don't believe it! How can mental strength increase like this?" One of the students still refused to believe it.

"Didn't Tang Yan also say that?"

"He might be lying."

"Then, let's go to the chamber and see for yourself."

Lu Liang said and everyone around him nodded. That was the best way to prove that watching <The Conjuring> had indeed worked.

"Owner, we will be back soon."

They said as the students left the shop. Yu Yan stared at them for a second before putting the dagger back and sighing towards Kai.

"I'm sorry."

She said as she ran after her fellow classmates. She also wanted to test her new limits in the chamber.

As for Kai, he was simply wondering something else.

'She's really like that hot headed tsundere in the beginning of a cultivation novel. I really don't like them until they get some character development.'

With those thoughts, he rubbed his neck and wondered if he should get a bodyguard.

After all, cultivators didn't think before pulling out daggers in this world. It was too dangerous!

Especially with all these stupid character tropes in cultivators.

***

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