Striving for Science C34 pt2

The young man walked towards Shen Chang'an, trembling. Zhang Gu could only see a blurry ball of ghostly energy. Sensing its approach, he defensively pulled out a talisman, fearing that this ghost, clinging to the human world out of unwillingness, might suddenly do something evil.

Shen Chang'an reached out and pressed the talisman back into Zhang Gu's hand. He said to the young man, "Why are you lingering around this company and unwilling to leave?"

When the young man was three or four steps away from Shen Chang'an, he stopped and wouldn't go any further. He shrunk his neck and said meekly, "I'm a homebody otaku, I'm really afraid of interacting with people, so I just stay at home playing games all day and don't want to go to work."

"In July, I was out buying something when it suddenly started pouring rain. Seeing that I was thin and weak, General Manager Wang shared his umbrella with me and encouraged me to go out and find a job."

It was clear that this young man wasn't very good at expressing himself. He stumbled over his words, making a simple matter sound convoluted: "A few days later, I heard that a large company was opening a branch here, so I applied for a job. Unexpectedly, the company's head was Mr. Wang. Mr. Wang didn't mind that I wasn't very talkative, but instead, he valued my ideas and creativity, so he decided to hire me."

"But I suddenly died the night before I was supposed to start work." The young man sounded a little regretful. "I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to my fans."

Although the young man wasn't very talkative in real life, he was a witty and humorous Weibo blogger online. He also wrote novels online, and he had millions of followers. Even the online soft advertisements he made for businesses were entertaining to his fans.

"Maybe it's because I wasn't ready to die, so I became a ghost?" The young man couldn't quite understand why he was still lingering in the human world. "Don't novels and comics always have this kind of setting, where you can't reincarnate because you have unfinished business?"

"I've been waiting for someone to take me to reincarnate, so I can only find the reason myself. After much thought, I came to work here." Mentioning the people in the company, the young man felt a little disappointed. 

"But I didn't expect that Mr. Wang's employees would be so lazy. I tried my best to help them do marketing online, to improve their public image, but they couldn't even manage the production line. Afraid that they would be scolded by customers, I could only use the excuse of being a conscientious company to save them from their severe lack of goods."

Speaking of which, the young man looked exhausted. "I worked my butt off to help them increase sales, but they suspected I became a ghost to harm them. You tell me, is it easy being an otaku ghost?"

Zhang Gu nodded sympathetically, "It's indeed quite difficult."

"The company's system had a problem, and they couldn't find the reason, so they blamed it on ghosts." The young man shook his head repeatedly. "Which ghost is so bored, wasting all their ghostly power just to make them watch horror videos? They're not just eating too much and have nothing better to do."

"It's the 21st century, why are you still believing in ghosts and gods? Even if you're a King, you can't control them." After venting his frustration, the young man finally calmed down. He cautiously looked at Shen Chang'an, his fear evident in his eyes. "Thankfully you came today and helped them figure out the reason, otherwise they would have gone to invite a Daoist to perform a ritual."

The real Daoist Zhang Gu's face was a little embarrassed, "You should be grateful that I'm the Daoist you encountered today. Some Daoists are very strict with ghosts lingering in the human realm. If they had come, they might have already imprisoned your soul."

"Are... are you guys done?" Ding Yang poked his head out, did he just see wrong, did that Daoist seem to be talking to the air?

Thinking about this, he couldn't help but touch his arm and walked a few steps towards Shen Chang'an, "Chang'an, do you feel it's particularly cold here?"

Watching Ding Yang pass through the young man's body and come to his side, Shen Chang'an couldn't bring himself to tell him that there was a ghost two steps away, so he simply said, "There's a vent here, so it's colder."

"I see." Ding Yang felt reassured and chuckled as he walked a few steps. "No wonder it's so cold." It's just that the wind's cooling effect was uneven, he could feel different temperatures just by walking a few steps.

"Sir, can you tell your friend to stop walking around?" The young man watched Ding Yang constantly passing through his body. "Even though I don't have a physical form, it's still pretty embarrassing."

"What's the point of having face when you're already a ghost." Shen Chang'an said to Ding Yang, "Brother Yang, come stand by me, there's no wind here, it's warmer."

Ding Yang quickly walked to the spot Shen Chang'an had indicated and stood there, giving him a grateful smile. It was indeed warmer here. He turned to Zhang Gu, "Daoist, do you know Chang'an?"

"We've met once, not very familiar." Before Zhang Gu could speak, Shen Chang'an spoke first, "The matter is resolved, let's go back."

"Wait!" The young man landed with a thud, hugging Shen Chang'an's leg. "Big Boss, you're radiating golden light, you're clearly a super awesome big shot. Can you please help me reincarnate? Being a ghost is so boring. I can't drink Coca Cola, or buy my favorite figurines. Please save the child!"

"Brother Yang, you go ahead first. I need to talk to the Daoist for a bit." Shen Chang'an looked down at the young man clinging to his leg, and after sending Ding Yang away, he lightly hooked his leg, causing the young man to roll into a ball and tumble down the stairs.

"Sorry, I didn't expect you ghosts to be so fragile, are you okay?" Shen Chang'an looked at the young man crawling up from the stairs, couldn't help but take a step back, "You shouldn't crawl like that, it's not like you're filming a horror movie."

"My, my legs are weak, I can't stand up." The young man lay on the ground, trembling hands clutching Shen Chang'an's ankle again, "It's not your fault, sir, it's just that my ghost power is too weak, I can't handle the golden light on you."

"You said he has golden light?" Zhang Gu couldn't see other people's aura, but hearing the young man's description, seeing Shen Chang'an's eyes shining, "Boss, you have merit!"

"Yeah, I not only have merit, but I have ten lifetimes of merit," Shen Chang'an smiled calmly.

"Boss, have you ever thought about joining our Xuanmen?" Zhang Gu said, "With your talent, as long as you join our Xuanmen, you'll definitely be the future light of our Xuanmen, want to consider it?"

"Thanks, I think it's pretty good right now." Shen Chang'an didn't even think before rejecting, he looked down at the young man and said, "You're looking for the wrong person, I'm not the right specialist, why don't you ask Daoist Zhang for help?"

"I can't." Zhang Gu quickly said, "My aptitude is mediocre, I haven't reached the realm of communicating with the yin and yang. But my master might be able to do it, he's not only good at various mystical arts, but also can communicate with the yin and yang, most importantly, he's been staying in Wuming City for the past year, we can take him to ask my master, to figure out what's going on."

"Thank you, Daoist, thank you, Daoist." The young man said, "How about I do some marketing for you online, to build up some popularity for your sect?"

"Thank you, no need, our Daoist sect believes in letting things happen naturally, you should think about how to successfully reincarnate." Zhang Gu politely declined, he took out a bag, "Or should I put you away and take you to my master's house?"

"No, no need, I think it's pretty good to hang on to your leg, sir." The young man remembered the scenes in comics where ghosts were captured by Daoists in gourds or jars, and shook his head like a rattle, "Your thighs are so long and warm, and they shine, I love it."

"Alright, if you like being dragged around on the ground, I won't force you." Zhang Gu put away his small bag and said to Shen Chang'an, "Shall we go now?"

"Wait, I'll call my friend, we're supposed to have lunch together." Shen Chang'an took out his phone and dialed Dao Nian's number.

"Dao Nian, I have something to do at noon, I might not be able to come back for lunch..." Shen Chang'an looked down at the ghost clinging to his leg, "I have something urgent to do, I need to find someone."

"Will you wait for me at home?" Shen Chang'an glanced at the time, hesitating for less than three seconds, "Okay, I'll come back right away after I'm done."

***

Dao Nian hung up the phone, his face expressionless as he looked at the Changfeng Biological Company across the street: "Let's go."

"Sir, you can go with Mr. Shen." Liu Mao looked at Dao Nian's cold face and mustered his courage to say.

"Do you know what human males hate the most?"

Liu Mao shook his head.

"Not having freedom." Dao Nian closed his eyes. "I've existed for so long, I can't be petty with children. I let him do whatever he wants."

Liu Mao thought, your cold face doesn't show any signs of not being petty.

***

Shen Chang'an and Zhang Gu hailed a ride-hailing car. When they reached their destination, Shen Chang'an looked at Zhang Gu in confusion. Wasn't this his apartment complex?

"My senior master lives here, but he's been in a bad mood lately. Apparently, a monk has been staying at his place and won't leave."

This statement...sounds familiar?

When Zhang Gu knocked on the door and Uncle Zhang's figure appeared in the doorway, Shen Chang'an knew that the world was truly not that big.

"Qinggu?" Uncle Zhang's face was tight. "What are you doing here?"

"Qinggu greets Master Uncle ." Facing his Master Uncle, who was known for his strictness, Zhang Gu, whose skills were still lacking, was very respectful. "Master Uncle, your junior has a matter he doesn't understand, and begs for your assistance."

"So it seems your progress has been rapid lately, only one thing you need help with." Uncle Zhang curled his lips, but the smile looked mocking no matter how you looked at it.

Zhang Gu: "..."

Pretending not to understand the deeper meaning in his senior master's words, Zhang Gu turned to look at Shen Chang'an standing beside him. "Master, this is a friend I just met. You..."

“Shen Chang’an?” Seeing Shen Chang’an emerge from behind Zhang Gu, Uncle Zhang looked down at the ghost hanging on his foot and suddenly shouted, “Wait, don’t move! I’m going to open your Third Eye!”

Today, he would finally avenge his humiliation. Who said there were no ghosts in the world?!

Zhang Gu looked at his master with confusion, then at Shen Chang'an. What was going on?

Uncle Zhang pulled out a talisman and used it to immobilize the ghost clinging to Shen Chang'an, preventing it from escaping. Then, he took out a precious bottle of ox tears and strode towards Shen Chang'an, boasting with a grand gesture, "If I don't scare you half to death today, my surname isn't Zhang!"

Shen Chang'an: "..."