The increase in apprentices caused the entire backyard to become lively.
Even though many apprentices were dispirited due to their first appraisal, it did not affect their appetite.
In the canteen, the new apprentices were all eating heartily, their faces full of happiness and satisfaction.
Almost all of them had come from various places to escape. They survived for three days with a single meal. Sometimes, they could only rely on tree leaves to fill their hunger.
Thus, a situation like the canteen of the pawnshop, where food was provided freely, was only seen in their dreams.
"The baleful aura in the old materials I appraised today wasn't that heavy. I managed to appraise three treasures before feeling exhausted."
"If I have a few more days to appraise treasures, I reckon that I can receive one tael of silver this month."
Zhao Hu sat beside Chen Shaojun, his face full of smiles.
"I received four items today."
"However, when I was appraising the third treasure, I almost failed miserably."
"That treasure actually contained the most troublesome poisonous aura. Luckily, my Divine Vision technique has improved during this period of time. Otherwise, it would've really been dangerous."
Sitting opposite him was Du Hao, who had a look of lingering fear on his face.
"In that case, has your Divine Vision technique also reached the Proficient-Level?"
Zhao Hu widened his eyes in shock.
"It should still be lacking."
"But it won't be long now. It's just a matter of time."
Du Hao chuckled, feeling a little pleased with himself. Then, he looked up and saw Zhang Ke. Although Zhang Ke was holding a bowl of rice in his hand, he looked distracted and seemed to have a lot on his mind. Thus, Du Hao couldn't help but shout, "Brother Zhang, what's wrong?"
"I'm— I'm fine…"
Zhang Ke came back to his senses and flashed a stiff smile. He no longer sat beside Du Hao. Instead, he deliberately walked away and sat in an empty corner.
At this moment, even Zhao Hu realized that something was amiss. He could not help but ask, "What's wrong with him? Usually, when he sees us gathered together, doesn't he always take the initiative to lean over and brag about his experiences with the Third Pawnbroker?"
"In particular, when Brother Chen is around, he usually wants to spread the news that he was more appreciated than Brother Chen…"
"Indeed, something is wrong."
Chen Shaojun frowned and looked at him.
Zhang Ke was usually arrogant, but now, he was like a defeated rooster. His face was pale, and his eyes were listless. For some reason, there was a sense of loneliness and gloominess to him, making him look extremely strange.
However, it had nothing to do with Chen Shaojun.
After all, Zhang Ke was not friendly to him, so he was unwilling to pay too much attention to him.
At night, after Chen Shaojun's routine martial arts training, he returned to his room.
His bed was in the innermost part of the shared room. Just as he was about to enter his own bed from the side, he suddenly felt a wave of cold aura assault him. As a result, his entire body shivered, and his scalp actually became numb.
"What happened?"
His expression changed slightly.
The current Chen Shaojun was different from before.
His body had been tempered and his senses were keen.
Thus, he could detect any minute changes in his body, not to mention this stress response that seemed as if a crisis had arrived.
Was there danger?
He hurriedly turned his gaze toward the source of this feeling.
"That cold aura is coming from the middle of the shared room."
"However, there's nothing around that area, right?"
A strange expression appeared on Chen Shaojun's face.
He looked over and saw that everyone was already asleep. There was nothing strange about that area.
However, for some reason, he could clearly sense a cold aura spreading out from the center of the shared room.
"There are four apprentices sleeping in the middle of the room. They are Du Hao, Zhang Ke, and two new apprentices respectively."
"Wait a minute, Zhang Ke?"
As Chen Shaojun was analyzing the situation, he suddenly recalled the pale face and strange actions of Zhang Ke. Then, he was instantly bewildered.
He quickly used the Spiritual Eye technique.
When he used the Spiritual Eye technique, he instantly felt a cooling sensation in his eyes.
Then, he looked at Zhang Ke.
The bright moonlight shone through the paper window onto the beds. There were a total of nine beds. Except for the empty bed at the edge of the room, which belonged to Chen Shaojun, the rest of the beds already had apprentices sleeping on them.
Everything seemed normal as if nothing had changed.
However, Chen Shaojun stood rooted to the ground with a stiff expression. He felt a chill in his heart.
There were nine people.
There were nine people lying on the eight remaining beds.
Apart from his empty bed, there were two figures on one of the beds.
Chen Shaojun looked over and realized that it was Zhang Ke's bed.
At that moment, Zhang Ke was sleeping soundly. However, he did not seem to be in a stable state. His face was pale and his eyes were rolling around. His eyelids were twitching wildly as if he was in a nightmare.
Beside him was a child who looked to be about 11 or 12 years old. The child was hugging his neck tightly while looking at him from time to time and taking a deep breath.
"It's a ghost—"
Chen Shaojun's heart trembled, and his forehead was covered in sweat.
This was a horrifying scene.
It was especially quiet in the dark night. Thus, the scene of the ghost taking in a breath of human aura from time to time made his scalp tingle.
"It's really a ghost. What should I do?"
Chen Shaojun's face turned slightly pale.
His body had been tempered, and he was at the 8th Stage of the Body Tempering Realm. Furthermore, his blood and qi were thick, and he was not considered weak among the martial artists.
However, there was nothing he could do about ghosts.
After all, this was only the second time he had encountered a ghost.
Furthermore, during his first encounter with a ghost, he was actually prepared and used the Substitution technique to seal the ghost within the body of the black dog. Then, he used the wood carving to kill the ghost.
But now, he had suddenly encountered a ghost while he was unprepared. This immediately caught him off guard.
The Substitution technique required preparation in advance. Moreover, in terms of martial arts, the Tiger Demon Body Tempering Fist and the Eight Steps Chasing Cicada were not offensive techniques. Thus, the only thing he could rely on was his thick blood and qi.
When it came to his Dharma spells, the Spiritual Eye technique was useless. As for the Divine Vision technique… Would it really work on this ghost?
He was not confident.
Perhaps it was Chen Shaojun's strange actions that attracted the attention of the ghost. It suddenly turned its head slowly and looked in the direction of Chen Shaojun.
Chen Shaojun instantly froze.
"It saw me. Is it going to fight me?"
Chen Shaojun gritted his teeth. He was prepared to use his thick blood and qi, as well as the Divine Vision technique, to fight this ghost.
Suddenly, the ghost slowly turned its head and sucked in a breath of human qi from Zhang Ke's mouth. Then, it nestled in Zhang Ke's arms again. It seemed to be calm and at ease.
"What's going on?"
Chen Shaojun was stunned.
He stood stiffly on the spot.
After a long while, he finally came back to his senses.
Was this ghost not interested in him?
Or could it be that it was only interested in Zhang Ke for the time being and had no intention of causing trouble for others?
However, this should be good news for him… right?
He hesitated.