Traveling from the northern mountains straight to the southern coast took no less time than crossing much of Central Continent.
However, once Si Nuocheng set aside his meticulous thoughts and focused solely on the journey, they successfully arrived at one of the coastal cities, “Hulu Port,” just as the third day was coming to an end.
Hulu Port, with its name sounding more like a village, was in fact a bustling city. True to its name, its shape resembled two connected circular forms. The body of the gourd met the inland, while the gourd mouth was situated at the port, resembling a treasure gourd floating on the sea.
Throughout history, the gourd has been seen as a symbol of “fortune and prosperity.” As a result, Hulu Port attracted many large merchants who set up businesses there. With the port constructed and new bridges opening, the city developed rapidly, growing just as its name suggested—prosperously.
Even though the coastal atmosphere was tense recently, with a storm seemingly brewing, it could not stop Hulu Port from thriving as usual.
And thriving meant many people. With many people, came chaos. The higher-ups were on constant alert, hunting down suspicious individuals like cats chasing mice, while the lower ranks were lethargic, letting people through like dogs chasing rats.
As the saying goes, “Strike while the iron is hot, but the second strike weakens, and the third exhausts.” Hulu Port was so large, with so many vehicles passing through daily. Even with shift changes and meticulous checks, the guards couldn’t keep up after three days of constant work. What’s more, not everyone was attentive to the inspection duties.
Thus, Si Nuocheng and Ji Si not only found accommodation with ease, but they also had time to wander around and even… encounter someone unexpected.
At that moment, they were sitting in the most expensive café in the city, enjoying the nearly private quietness. The waiter brought over cakes and drinks, then went to prepare foie gras and lamb chops. They were surprised and impressed by the two men’s refined looks, but it was only a brief moment.
The excellent professionalism of the staff replaced any real emotions. They delivered the best service and didn’t discuss the guests once they were gone. No extra glances, thoughts, or words. This café’s service certainly justified its high prices.
The rich aroma lingered. Si Nuocheng took a sip of his bitter coffee and asked, “There are many coastal cities, why did you choose Hulu Port?”
“It’s close to Jing Du Port, one of the most secure areas. Whether it’s going out to sea or traveling, there’s a chance of being inspected. I don’t mind, but you—”
Si Nuocheng added some sugar and milk to Ji Si’s coffee. “Putting ‘None of my business’ on your neck clearly shows no intention of cooperating with the authorities. If someone notices your abnormality in this situation, it could bring you a lot of trouble.”
After a pause, he added, “But, more than that, I feel like you’ll… wipe them all out.”
Ji Si smiled. “I don’t actively harm others.” He took a sip of coffee and found it pleasant. “As for how to practice under all these watchful eyes, where to practice, and what to practice with, that’s not an issue.”
“Because Hulu Port has already entered the tiger’s mouth.”
Ji Si picked up his knife and cut the cake into a simple gourd shape. “Gourds are symbols of good fortune, they protect homes, ward off evil, and bring prosperity. Looking at Hulu Port’s terrain, its mouth faces the four seas, and its body controls all directions—if it weren’t prosperous, that would be against nature.”
“It’s just a pity that humans dug a tunnel at the gourd’s end.” Ji Si sliced the gourd in half. “The luck and fortune sucked into the gourd flow out through the tunnel, unable to be contained.”
“When the gourd breaks, it can no longer absorb fortune or suppress evil spirits. The wind flows through the tunnel, either scattering the evil into the inland or blowing human energy into the sea. With the influence of the ghost realm, Hulu Port becomes an unprotected hunting ground.”
Ji Si mashed a strawberry and pushed it through two pieces of cake. “They’ll follow the scent of humans.”
“What are ‘they’?”
“Ghosts, something you could understand as ‘evil spirits.’” Ji Si ate the strawberry and continued, “When the coastal defense encounters ghosts, only the soldiers’ righteousness can block them, but guns and cannons have no effect.”
In other words, if ordinary people encounter ghosts, they’re left with either death or serious injury.
“They like to feast on humans.”
Si Nuocheng asked, “Monsters like to eat humans?”
Ji Si laughed lightly, but his words were chilling. “It’s normal for them to like humans. ‘Humans’ themselves are the best ‘vessels.’”
“Vessel?”
“The heart, spleen, lungs, kidneys, liver are the lesser five elements; birth date and time are the greater five elements. The essence of blood and flesh, the power of the soul, the spirit and will—humans are vessels full of endless possibilities, and also the most beloved food for monsters.”
To avoid becoming food, one must turn oneself into a powerful weapon.
Ji Si poked at a piece of foie gras, adding, “Although ghosts are hard to deal with, they are unexpectedly suitable for you to practice on. All you need to do is take more night walks, and you’ll…”
Just then, a familiar male voice sounded beside them. “Cheng Ge?” The tone was filled with surprise and a hint of fear. “What are you doing here? Is something bad happening in Hulu Port?”
It was Jiang Qining.
Si Nuocheng turned around, and Ji Si glanced up. Since he couldn’t stop his words in time, Ji Si almost said the second part aloud: “Ran into a ghost.”
Jiang Qining: …
Si Nuocheng: …
Unconsciously using public power like this was deadly. Ji Si’s heart skipped a beat: Oh no, it’s the spoken spell.
Jiang Qining really was unlucky. He’d bought a yacht to go out to sea and encountered a snake. Now, he came out to meet friends and got caught in a spoken spell. He was probably going to run into a ghost again when walking back at night. This non-lucky guy sure had it rough.
Si Nuocheng naturally took over the conversation, turning to Jiang Qining. “What you said sounds just like bumping into a ghost.”
Unintentionally triggering a double ghost bump! Stack!
Ji Si: …Alright, double spoken spell.
The High Priest looked at Jiang Qining with an expression of both deep sympathy and affection, but the latter didn’t notice anything wrong. He just laughed and responded, “Hey, it’s not like that. Not only did I bump into a ghost, but I bumped into the fiercest one!”
Ji Si: …
This was the first time Ji Si had seen someone curse themselves. With the triple spoken spell stacked, the consequences probably wouldn’t be good. However, this misunderstanding was caused by him, and Jiang Qining was quite innocent. The deadlock he created needed to be loosened.
Fine, he’d accompany him for a while.
“Cheng Ge, this person looks unfamiliar, is he…” Jiang Qining sized up Ji Si, feeling that the latter’s appearance and aura were quite striking. With looks and temperament like that, he was either a young master working with Cheng Ge or an artist designer.
Or maybe… a future celebrity that some company wanted to promote?
“He’s my friend, Ji Si, currently working with me.” Si Nuocheng replied succinctly, but when introducing Jiang Qining, he was clear. “This is Jiang Qining, the youngest son of the king of Jing Du Port, grew up with me.”
Their circle was full of indirect ways of speaking. If Si Nuocheng had introduced Ji Si more prominently, it would have meant, “This person is new, feel free to inquire, follow our rules.”
But by introducing Jiang Qining more, he was signaling to his friends: “Don’t mess with this person, don’t inquire recklessly, follow his rules.”
Jiang Qining got it.
Working together meant doing business, not reminiscing. Jiang Qining smiled and said, “I won’t interrupt you. I’m here to wait for someone.”
Jiang Qining was waiting for the mixed-blood handsome guy who had gone on the yacht with him that day.
His purpose in waiting was to learn a fighting technique called “Drinking vodka to unleash an explosion,” so that he wouldn’t chicken out the next time he encountered danger and could stop hiding behind a saxophone.
He was a man! A man with dignity and dreams! He didn’t want to hide behind a saxophone again. Real men should fight with bare fists!
Wait… why did that sound off?
Before long, the mixed-blood handsome guy appeared, wearing only a jacket in the dead of winter. He exchanged a few words with Si Nuocheng, nodded to Ji Si, and then stopped disturbing them, choosing instead to sit with Jiang Qining and start teaching him the “Eighteen Techniques for Fighting Bears.”
However, as he spoke, the topic went off-track.
“My dad is from Central Continent, and my mom is from Ula. They first met on the outskirts of Qian Ding City. My dad looked into the forest, and a bear chased him half the length of the woods, bringing him to my mom.”
“My dad said that my mom slapped the bear’s head, said ‘Ula,’ and the bear whimpered and ran away.”
“He fell in love with her at first sight, but she rejected him.” The mixed-blood handsome guy continued. “My mom told him she only liked men who could fight bears. So, my dad practiced hard for half a year, and then decided to fight a bear in front of her. He finally found a bear, and pounced—”
At this point, not only Jiang Qining, but also Si Nuocheng and Ji Si were all ears.
“But he was slapped to the ground by the bear, and didn’t even last one round!” The mixed-blood guy laughed. “My mom couldn’t bear it, so she made both the bear and my dad kneel at her doorstep, scolding them all night.”
Everyone: … Somehow, they felt bad for the bear.
“Then they got married, and a year later, I was born.” The mixed-blood guy spoke with a melancholic tone. “Not long after I was born, my mom dunked me in ice water, thrice. That’s the Ula baptism.”
“When she saw I wasn’t sick, she knew I took after her.”
“She had high hopes for me and personally gave me a Chinese name. My dad wasn’t to be outdone, so he gave me an Ula name. So, from a young age, I’ve been—”
The mixed-blood guy suddenly stopped. For a moment, he felt something was wrong with the dark night outside. He turned to look and saw that the retro clock tower on the building across from the café showed it was 9 PM.
It was getting late.
“You were saying…?” Jiang Qining asked, intrigued by the story.
“Tell you in the car.” The mixed-blood guy said. “We should go.”
“It’s only nine…”
“No, we’re going.” The mixed-blood guy said decisively. “Outside, it feels like there are hundreds of brown bears staring at us.”
In fact, it was just an ordinary dark night, with traffic and nothing unusual. But to someone who had grown up with bears, the sense of danger was palpable, even though he couldn’t see it.
To hear the rest of the story, Jiang Qining had no choice but to follow. However, as they passed the “business talk” table, Ji Si stopped him for a moment.
The man in white with black hair fixed his gaze on him and said, “Remember, a name is the shortest spell. No matter who asks for your name on this journey, don’t answer.”
A name is the shortest spell… What did that mean?
The words were puzzling, but they seemed to etch themselves into Jiang Qining’s mind like a brand.
Jiang Qining took a step forward. Si Nuocheng finished his dinner and asked, “Has something happened to Lao Jiang?”
“Yeah, I accidentally used a spoken spell on him.” Ji Si blinked innocently, “The one about ‘bumping into a ghost.’”
Si Nuocheng: …
“When I unconsciously said something related to ‘evil,’ if I don’t control it, the result often turns to the worst direction. That is to say, whatever the worst possible thing is, that’s what it’ll bring to Jiang Qining.”
“So, we need to follow him.”
And the name being the shortest spell, if one keeps their name and remembers who they are, they won’t lose their mind to the ghosts. If the ghosts learn your name and control you, that’s a problem.
The most important thing is—
Ji Si thought it was a good chance to test his knife.
He was curious to see, using his spoken spell ability combined with Si Nuocheng’s manifestation skills, what the strongest ghost he could summon in Hulu Port was.
Hmm, the city’s transportation system might just be in ruins tonight.
…
On the wide road, the mixed-blood guy stepped on the gas and sped ahead. Jiang Qining, sitting in the passenger seat, wouldn’t stop chattering. “Your house is out in the suburbs? That land is worth a lot, how much did your house cost?”
“Let me think… over a billion, right?” Jiang Qining counted on his fingers. “You’re really low-key, not showing off.”
Soon, Jiang Qining quieted down. He started feeling that the surroundings were a bit familiar, no… it was extremely familiar, like he had been on this road before.
“Have we been on this road before?”
“…This is the third time, we can’t get out.”
Screech—
The tires screeched as the mixed-blood guy slammed on the brakes. He spun the steering wheel sharply, narrowly getting the car stuck on a slope. The two were thrown forward by inertia, then slammed back into their seats.
Before they could even grunt, the car’s speaker suddenly emitted a strange, raspy female voice, as if laughing or crying.
[What… is your name? Hehe!]
A chill ran up Jiang Qining’s spine, and he realized he couldn’t move.
Panicking, he turned his eyes to his companion, only to see the mixed-blood guy tightly pressed against the seat, his body tense, staring straight ahead.
Straight ahead…
Jiang Qining slowly turned his eyes, and he saw a “girl,” twisted and bent, with her head cocked, grinning at them as she pressed herself against the windshield. Suddenly, her neck spun around to face the more appetizing mixed-blood guy.
Holy hell, what the heck was this thing?!
Jiang Qining screamed in his mind.
[Hehe! What’s your name?] The voice echoed again, bouncing off the car’s interior.
Black hair snaked in from outside the window, wrapping around the mixed-blood guy’s neck. Jiang Qining was frantic, feeling completely helpless as he sank deeper into the mire, unable to do anything.
[Tell me your name.] The head was moving toward the mixed-blood guy’s face.
Don’t answer! Don’t answer!
Jiang Qining silently screamed.
Maybe the sight triggered something in the mixed-blood guy’s nerves. At that moment, a burst of angry defiance broke through the shackles, and he immediately shouted, “Fine! I’ll tell you my name, so listen up!”
“My full name is ‘Vladimir Alexevarye Lotnikovsky’!”
The ghost paused suspiciously. Jiang Qining stared, wide-eyed.
“Did you hear that? If you did, then get lost! It takes me two minutes to write my name on a test paper! Now get out!”
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※
PS: Si Nuocheng: Weren’t we told that a name is the shortest spell?
Ji Si: …
PS: Jiang Qining: My full name + father’s surname + family name. It’s too long to remember! Let’s just call you ‘Laki.’
Mixed-blood guy: … I often feel out of place because of my long name.
