During the day, the sun blazed brightly, and this floor had an excellent view—bright and airy. As long as you didn't constantly remind yourself this was the morgue, it wasn't actually that terrifying.
But once night fell, the streetlights couldn't reach the top floor, leaving only the quiet white glow of the corridor lights. With nothing but corpses on the entire floor and not a single living soul, anyone faint-hearted would definitely find it unbearable.
Facing Chen Lin's kind reminder, Bai Xianxian suddenly came to her senses and realized she really had gotten too cocky.
So what if there were no ghosts? Weren't corpses scary enough?!
She shot Chen Lin a grateful look. "Then I'll come swap with you tomorrow during the day!"
Chen Lin seemed about to say something, but in the end, he said nothing—just nodded and went back to typing up his work log on his phone.
The bus ride was only ten minutes, and walking back took less than twenty. Bai Xianxian bought a skewer of grilled gluten at the hospital entrance and munched on it as she headed back to the dorm.
The hospital was in the city center, and it got pretty lively at night. The streets were lined with snack stalls selling all sorts of things—just as bustling as the snack street behind her university. Bai Xianxian ate as she walked, feeling more and more fond of this job.
This was paradise for a food lover!
Back at the dorm, after showering, she got a call from Bai Xiangwang asking how her first day at work went.
Bai Xianxian towel-dried her hair and chatted casually, then, struck by a thought, shared it with her dad in amazement: "The hospital doesn't have a single ghost! The feng shui is way too good."
Bai Xiangwang found it strange too. "Logically speaking, no matter how good the feng shui is, there shouldn't be zero Yin Energy. Especially in a place like a hospital—even if there's no Yin Energy, there should still be lingering ghosts."
He thought for a moment, then added, "My guess is, feng shui is one factor, but the hospital probably has some powerful suppressing artifact."
Bai Xianxian asked, "More powerful than the Six-Spirit Sword?"
Bai Xiangwang said, "The Six-Spirit Sword only unleashes its full potential in your hands. To achieve what you're describing, it would have to be at the level of the Dragon-Tiger Mountain's Three Pure Ones Bell, at least. Hard to say, though—maybe a master just happened to exorcise the place before you got there. Isn't that perfect? Then you don't have to be scared!"
Bai Xianxian felt wistful. "But then I feel like a useless little nobody. I haven't done anything, and I'm getting paid with full benefits for free. My conscience is a bit uneasy—"
Bai Xiangwang said, "That's true." He thought it over. "Then just be more diligent—sweep the floor, take out the trash, pour water for your coworkers, grab them meals, that sort of thing. Finding something to do isn't hard."
Bai Xianxian thought her dad made a lot of sense.
The father and daughter chatted for a while, then Bai Xiangwang urged her to sleep. "Maybe the Patriarch will come for Dream Transmission tonight too! Go to sleep early so you can meet him sooner!"
Bai Xianxian was skeptical. "The Patriarch can't be that free, right?"
As it turned out, the Patriarch really was that free.
Just as Bai Xianxian drifted drowsily into dreamland, a white-bearded old man with two little gourds on his head walked out with a beaming smile to greet her.
Apparently, the statues of the six Patriarchs in the temple were sculpted according to their true dharma manifestations, so the Patriarchs really did look that fierce.
Bai Xianxian thought of the awe-inspiring, imposing dharma manifestations in the temple, then looked at the kind, gentle white-bearded old man before her, and felt that the Patriarch had put in way too much effort just to make her feel comfortable.
In the latter half of the night, Bai Xianxian woke up again.
Her head had been stuffed full of Taoist arts, and there was no way she could go back to sleep. She got up, lit three sticks of incense for the Patriarch who had worked so hard to teach her, and began reviewing and pondering what she'd learned.
When she went to work at dawn, Bai Xianxian was yawning again.
Remembering what Bai Xiangwang had told her last night, she bought an extra breakfast. Sipping her soy milk as she stepped out of the elevator, she happened to see Chen Lin sweeping the corridor with a broom.
Bai Xianxian waved at him. "Morning!" She handed over the breakfast. "Brought you some food."
Chen Lin seemed to freeze for a moment, not knowing where to look. "No need…"
Bai Xianxian shoved the food bag into his hands without argument and snatched the broom away. "I already bought it, so just go eat. I'll handle the sweeping."
Chen Lin stared at the breakfast bag for a long while, then glanced at Bai Xianxian humming as she swept. He pressed his lips together and said quietly, "Thanks."
Bai Xianxian waved a hand. "Once you're done eating, head back to the dorm and rest. Come back when you're refreshed."
Chen Lin lowered his eyelids. "No need. I slept last night."
There was a sofa in the break room, after all.
Bai Xianxian thought he worked really hard. But then again, compared to doing everything alone, dealing with coworkers might be even harder for him.
The whole floor was pretty clean and didn't need much sweeping. Bai Xianxian still didn't dare look into the morgue, but she wasn't as jumpy as before. After sweeping, she decided to change the water in the office and take out the trash—starting a new day by finding things to do for herself.
But when she went inside, she saw everything was already tidied up. Apart from her slightly messy desk, the entire office was spotless and neat. On the sofa against the wall lay a small blanket folded into a perfect square—probably what Chen Lin used for his night shifts.
Bai Xianxian wandered around but couldn't find anything to do for herself—Chen Lin had already finished everything before she even arrived.
What else could she do when she ran into such a diligent coworker?
The brilliant sunlight gradually shone down again. Bai Xianxian lay sprawled on her desk, drowsy and half-asleep. She turned her head to look at Chen Lin, who was hidden behind his office computer screen with only a tuft of hair peeking out, and yawned sleepily as she asked, "Chen Lin, can I take a quick nap on the sofa? I'm so tired. Call me if anything comes up."
His usual low voice came from behind the screen: "Sure."
Sleeping sprawled on a desk wasn't as comfortable as lying down, so Bai Xianxian happily trotted over to the sofa and lay down. She glanced at the small blanket folded into a neat square, then twisted her head halfway around to ask, "Chen Lin, can I use your little blanket?"
This time, he didn't answer right away.
Bai Xianxian thought he didn't want to share and was about to say it was fine, when she heard him speak slowly: "…Sure."
Bai Xianxian was still considerate: "It's okay if I can't use it! Just say so and I won't be upset!"
Chen Lin was silent for a few seconds, then explained in a very low voice: "No, it's just…" He still hid himself behind the computer screen, like a snail tucked into its shell: "Things I've used might bring bad luck."
Bai Xianxian immediately retorted: "Who said that?! How could it bring bad luck? Birth, aging, sickness, and death are all part of life! Every job needs someone to do it—what you do is a good deed that earns blessings!"
He was quiet for a while.
Bai Xianxian lay back down, flicked the small blanket open, and covered herself. A faint floral scent, like laundry detergent, curled around her nose on the cold air from the air conditioner. She curled up on her side into a little ball, and with her eyes closed, mumbled sleepily: "If anyone ever says that again, tell me, and I'll beat them up for you—"
Chen Lin still didn't say anything, but a moment later, the air conditioner beeped as the temperature went up.
No patients had passed away that morning, so the office phone never rang. Bai Xianxian slept straight through until noon, and in her dream, she felt someone gently patting her shoulder.
She rubbed her nose and opened her eyes. The blue-clad figure in front of her immediately stepped back three paces, and the hand that had just patted her shoulder was quickly tucked into a pants pocket. She heard his somewhat flustered voice: "…Time to eat."
She was instantly wide awake!
She scrambled up and excitedly pulled her lunchbox out of the desk drawer: "Food time, food time! Let's go, let's go!"
Lunch was still eaten sitting next to Chen Lin.
After two days of getting along, he seemed less awkward around her than before. Previously, he had always been a loner, and with his job in the morgue, Bai Xianxian had found him eerie when she first met him—and others naturally felt the same way. Aside from work, they could barely exchange two words with him.
Now, wherever he went, a lively figure followed along, and everyone found it a bit unusual to see.
Still, no one thought it was strange, because the two of them were the only ones in the entire hospital wearing those work uniforms—clearly, they were kindred spirits!
Having slept all morning and eaten a hearty lunch, Bai Xianxian was full of energy. Back in the office, she went through the scriptures and Taoist texts she'd downloaded to her phone, then started reviewing what the Ancestral Master had taught her through Dream Transmission over the past two days.
Her theoretical knowledge was now fairly solid, but she had too little practical experience. She'd learned so much but had no idea what it would actually look like in practice. She'd originally thought the hospital would give her chances to practice, but now she couldn't find any opportunity.
When she left, Third Elder had specifically instructed her: don't shut yourself in a room and just memorize scriptures—all Taoist arts can only improve quickly through real combat. And if she wanted to spread the Bai family's reputation, reading books and chanting scriptures alone wouldn't cut it. She needed to make a name for herself in Yunchang City.
But where was she supposed to start?
Other people had major sects and schools backing them up—she had no connections at all!
Thinking it over, a flash of inspiration hit Bai Xianxian. She turned her head and called out, "Chen Lin, can I use the computer?"
Chen Lin silently rose from his workstation.
Bai Xianxian grabbed the little cushion she'd bought that morning and ran over to sit down. The computer desktop was spotless—nothing but work records, no clutter. She opened a browser and searched for supernatural forums.
To her surprise, there were quite a lot of them.
Things like "Urban Ghost Tales," "Did You See a Ghost Today?" "Ghost Encounters," and so on. Both posters and readers were numerous, with people vividly describing their paranormal experiences in threads, scaring readers into screaming while begging for updates.
This was a ready-made opportunity to practice!
Having received Dream Transmission from the Ancestral Master, I'm no longer the person I used to be! It's time to show everyone what it means to be "under the Six Spirits, no demon or ghost can hide"!
Bai Xianxian eagerly registered an account and decided to lurk on these forums for a while, carefully reading and searching. If she found any posts that didn't look like made-up stories but were real ghost encounters, she could go practice!
Of course, most of these posts online were fabricated stories, and to a professional eye, they were riddled with holes.
Bai Xianxian spent the entire afternoon searching but found no posts that seemed to involve real encounters with ghosts. Instead, she stumbled upon a serialized supernatural story and happily began reading the novel.