She Comes Into My Dreams Every Night - Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Even the Supernatural Must Modernize

Speeding down the mountain road…

Lei Yinyin, speeding down the mountain road, had no idea what had transpired between the two women after she left.

She hunched over the motorcycle, making a hand seal with one hand.

The corner was fast approaching; there was no guardrail, and the consequences of tumbling down were easy to imagine.

The motorcycle didn’t slow down; instead, it sped up.

A Gate of Cloud Mist sprang up from the ground, and the motorcycle swiftly entered it. Moments later, the bike, the person, and the ethereal cloud gate all vanished from this ordinary low mountain.

The mountain forest returned to its original calm.

…

High, towering mountains, with clouds and mist obscuring the mid-slopes.

At the foot of the mountain, the scent of incense lingered. Today was a holiday, and a considerable number of people came to the city outskirts to burn incense and pray for blessings. The parking lot was filled with all sorts of cars.

A tourist, struck by a sudden inspiration, looked up.

The sun was impaled on the mountaintop, radiating light that spread evenly over the mist, beautiful and breathtaking, like the mythical abode of immortals described in childhood stories.

Intrigued, the tourist asked her mother standing beside her, “Hey, Mom, is the back of White Sheep Temple open for climbing?”

The elderly mother, who came to the temple to pray once a week, glared at her seemingly foolish grown daughter. “No.”

The answer only piqued the interest of the foolish grown daughter, who only visited once a year. “Why not?”

After asking, she leaned in conspiratorially. “Is it guarding something? Like in the novels…”

Her mother stared at her, a strained smile on her face, for a long time, making the daughter uneasy.

“Mom…?” she mumbled, only to be met with a loving but sharp rap on the head.

“All you do is read those novels! You need to read less!”

Clutching her head, the daughter whimpered, “But why, though…”

“You still don’t admit you’re silly, do you?” Her mother elegantly withdrew her hand and chastised her. “It’s because there’s a military restricted zone back there.”

This wasn’t entirely wrong, as the back of White Sheep Temple was indeed a so-called military restricted zone, though the things housed inside had little to do with science and technology.

The special agency, the Ghost Punishing Department, was located here.

Lei Yinyin rode her motorcycle, snaking along the well-maintained road on the back mountain.

Perhaps unlike the paranormal incident agencies people might imagine, while it possessed a somewhat ancient charm, the back mountain was still a modernized area with electricity.

Passing the training grounds halfway up the mountain, her fellow disciples in training uniforms greeted her, but Lei Yinyin was in a hurry to get back, so she didn’t stop, only nodding slightly.

A junior disciple nearby muttered under his breath, “Senior Sister Lei really is… unconventional.”

Unfortunately, the supervising senior apprentice happened to overhear it.

The senior apprentice put on a cold face and unceremoniously scolded, “Is your break time for gossiping?”

“Senior Brother, I…” The person tried to say something, but the senior apprentice immediately cut him off:

“Thousand-Mile Evasion Technique! You’ll practice it ten extra times!”

At this, the junior disciple’s face fell.

The Thousand-Mile Evasion Technique was the most difficult of the elementary spiritual arts. Those who mastered it could borrow the power of the clouds and mist to travel a thousand miles, no different from a limited Anywhere Door. As for those who were not proficient…

The disciple resigned himself to his fate and began making the hand seal.

The jerky seal was complete. He took a deep breath, as if making a resolution, and plunged forward into the illusionary, rapidly fading door of smoke and mirrors.

With a “thud,” a door appeared in mid-air, and the disciple rushed out, only to smash straight onto the ground, a sight that made onlookers wince.

“See that?” The senior apprentice stood with his hands behind his back, lecturing the surrounding junior disciples. “You practice the Thousand-Mile Evasion Technique like that, and you still dare to criticize your Senior Sister behind her back?”

He pointed. The motorcycle was still winding its way up the mountainside.

A Cloud Mist Gate abruptly appeared, engulfed the motorcycle, and then vanished completely like a mirage.

“If you want to criticize and talk about someone behind their back, not only should you aim to reach your Senior Sister’s level, but at the very least, you shouldn’t fall flat on your face, right?” He cracked a smile and nudged the disciple playing dead on the ground with his toe. “Get up and keep practicing! Where’s the energy you had when you were talking just now?”

The disciple groaned in pain and reluctantly climbed back up.

Lei Yinyin was the top apprentice of their generation and one of the first to complete her training and move into active duty.

Standing at 1.83 meters, with a stable civil service position, a calm temperament, and decisive efficiency, she was very popular among the younger disciples.

It was precisely because of this that even with the use of the Thousand-Mile Evasion Technique, it took her quite a bit of effort to reach the Wind-Ear Division.

Tossing her helmet aside, Lei Yinyin walked quickly into the Wind-Ear Division, instinctively calling out to her childhood friend:

“Help me look up a person—”

“Seriously? Work as soon as you get here?” the woman sitting at the office desk exclaimed.

“Tell me, when will you come to see me just to catch up?”

“During non-work hours,” Lei Yinyin raised an eyebrow. “Alright, stop wasting time, connect to the system and look someone up.”

“Who?”

“Lin Jue, from Minguang. This Jue.” Lei Yinyin wrote the character for her.

The internet speed on the mountain was fast, and in a moment, all of Lin Jue’s visible information was displayed on the screen.

“Nothing looks wrong. What’s the matter? Why suddenly look this person up? Aren’t you handling the Beiguan Village case?” Chen Zhen chattered non-stop, buzzing in her ear.

Lei Yinyin simply took the mouse and seriously reviewed Lin Jue’s information on the page.

For ordinary people, their records here were minimal, only basic information was visible. Lei Yinyin reached the bottom in just a couple of scrolls.

Parents deceased? Primary, junior high, and high schools all shut down?

Lei Yinyin was so angry she laughed. This ghost hadn’t even bothered to make a convincing fake file.

“Look up Su Huaiwang next.”

Chen Zhen’s eyebrows relaxed. “Oh, the victim in the Beiguan Village case. What’s up? Did you find something new?”

Lei Yinyin nodded. “But I can’t be sure yet.”

Chen Zhen first praised her: “Truly our top student, able to find leads in a case like this.” Then her expression changed, becoming serious. “But don’t act rashly, alright? The ghost in that case is an A-Grade Resentful Spirit, you won’t be able to handle it.”

A-Grade Resentful Spirit—the highest-ranked ghost, and the most difficult to eradicate among all spirits.

With those two things combined, most people here wouldn’t even be able to scratch its surface.

No wonder my mother went personally.

Lei Yinyin’s brows furrowed deeply. “An A-Grade Resentful Spirit? There’s an A-Grade Resentful Spirit now?”

Chen Zhen realized her slip of the tongue and chuckled awkwardly. “Ah, well, there are exceptions to everything.”

“What kind of exception is this?” The heroic woman’s brows furrowed tighter as she pressed for answers. “After the situation stabilized, let alone an A-Grade spirit, even C-Grade spirits rarely appeared. How did an A-Grade Resentful Spirit suddenly emerge?”

She took a sharp breath. “Don’t tell me…?!”

Chen Zhen immediately jumped up from her chair and tightly clamped her hand over Lei Yinyin’s mouth. “My dear little ancestor! You can’t talk about things like that! Can we please not talk about things that damage unity?!”

“Preventative measures are the only way to…” Lei Yinyin was still trying to voice her grand philosophy.

“Oh, come on! If you know about it, do you think the Director doesn’t?”

Lei Yinyin fell silent.

“Stop asking so many questions. This Resentful Spirit is a historical legacy issue. It’s newly born, but also not newly born.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means it wasn’t formed from the resentment of just one person after death, but from the resentment of a whole group of people that solidified over time. As for how big that group is and how long the time span is, you can tell just by the fact that it’s labeled A-Grade, can’t you?”

Lei Yinyin was speechless again.

Resentful Spirits are ghosts formed by resentment. As long as the resentment is not eliminated, they can never be truly eradicated. Even if they are temporarily reduced to ashes, they will eventually be reborn thanks to the lingering resentment in the world.

Dealing with Resentful Spirits is both very difficult and very simple. Once the target or cause of their grievance disappears, they will achieve enlightenment on their own.

But where there is white, there will be black; where there is light, there will be darkness.

Resentful Spirits can never be completely eliminated.

However, powerful Resentful Spirits like this are rare, because…

“Wait a minute?” Lei Yinyin suddenly noticed a blind spot. “It never harmed anyone up until it reached A-Grade?”

This was a simplified way of speaking; they all knew that the “people” Lei Yinyin referred to were innocent individuals outside the scope of the Resentful Spirit’s grievances.

Resentful Spirits are rare because many of them choose to harm the innocent in their anger and hatred. Once they do that, they turn into Malicious or Vicious Ghosts.

Chen Zhen nodded with difficulty. “Well, as hard as it is to believe, that’s what happened.”

“In the decades since its birth, it has never harmed an innocent person. It just shrinks into its territory day after day, having its own nightmare…”

At this point, Chen Zhen’s face showed an expression of distress.

She was a technical staff member, not a well-traveled, hardened Heavenly Master, and such matters always made her feel melancholy.

Lei Yinyin looked down in contemplation. This case was more complicated than she had imagined. She was only a low-ranking Heavenly Master; who would have assigned this case to her?

She looked up, about to say something, but was interrupted by a voice from the doorway.

“Lei Yinyin, the Director is calling for you.” A middle-aged woman with an imposing presence walked towards them.

She wasn’t wearing a uniform, but her posture was straight, and her aura instantly marked her as someone extraordinary.

Lei Yinyin nodded. “Understood, I’ll go right away.”

The woman shifted her gaze from Lei Yinyin to Chen Zhen. “And you, watch your words.”

Chen Zhen shrank her head, defensively sinking into her chair, mumbling, “I know, Mom…”

Chen Zhen feared nothing in the world, so fearing her mother was nothing to her.

The woman withdrew her gaze and told Lei Yinyin, “Don’t spread what was just discussed.”

“I understand.” Lei Yinyin was also aware of the sensitivity of the issue.

Only then did the woman seem satisfied. She turned around. “Follow me, the Director is waiting for you.”

A while later, outside the training grounds, Lei Yinyin sat obediently in the waiting area, craning her neck to watch the lightning-like spiritual energy that filled the training field.

She felt a little anxious, tapping her feet together.

“You came?” A shadow suddenly fell over her. She quickly stood up, nodding rapidly.

“Have you already been there?” Lei Yinyin knew exactly who her mother was referring to and immediately nodded again.

The woman sighed. “She’s a good person.”

She was tall, even taller than Lei Yinyin, and her features were somewhat similar to hers. Even with the marks of time, her sharpness was undiminished.

If Su Huaiwang were here now, she would surely be surprised to find that this woman was the one who had stood by her hospital bed that day.

“Go change your clothes. It’s been a long time since we’ve sparred.” She turned around and gestured casually.

Lei Yinyin was taken aback.

“What? Did you think I was going to ask you about the case?”

Lei Yinyin hesitated, then replied, “Yes.”

Lei Zhengqing chuckled softly. “I’m not so controlling that I interfere with my daughter’s work.”

Lei Yinyin pursed her lips. “I will try my best to solve it.” She had already guessed that Lei Zhengqing was the one who assigned the case to her.

The Director of the Ghost Punishing Department raised her hand, signaling her to stop talking. “Safety first. It’s just a regular case.”

But right now, she was just a worried mother who nevertheless had to push her daughter forward.

“I will be safe.” Lei Yinyin didn’t fully grasp what her mother meant, but she tried to reassure her with as much conviction as possible.

Lei Zhengqing paused her step and let out a nearly inaudible sigh. “It’s time you saw the world.”

Lei Yinyin was puzzled and wanted to ask what she meant, but Lei Zhengqing had already quickly walked into the training grounds.

The spiritual light flashed again.