Master of Kaidan
Chapter 328: Mouths Speaking of the Mysterious, Hearts Thinking of Business

Chapter 328: Chapter 328: Mouths Speaking of the Mysterious, Hearts Thinking of Business

"Legends, just legends. They say that if you peel an apple in front of a mirror at midnight and accidentally break the peel, you could see a ghost. Today, the streamer will perform a midnight apple peeling for you!"

As midnight approached, the most audacious ghost-hunting livestream started once again. Sitting in front of the mirror was Mr. Bert Wall, tall and muscular, embodying the classic iron-blooded tough guy image, casually discussing his seemingly reckless plan while lighting white candles. The dim yellow flames cast an even more sinister glow on the mirror.

[Streamer, don’t be reckless!]

[Yeah, we give up arguing with you, just don’t do this kind of thing!]

[Ghosts are real, why can’t you understand?]

...

The chat was noisy in the livestream, but Feng Xue just sat on a soft stool, holding a slightly bent small knife, and began peeling an apple, speaking as he did:

"To avoid intentionally breaking the peel and failing to see a ghost, and to increase the chances of accidentally breaking it, I will limit the thickness of the apple peel to three millimeters. This not only makes peeling the apple harder but also showcases the handiwork of a Martial Arts Faction streamer."

As Feng Xue spoke, the knife started gliding over the apple, the thin and narrow peel separating in tendrils from the fruit. After a few minutes, many viewers had even forgotten that this was a ghost collision livestream; their attention entirely focused on the apple peel, which looked like it might break at any moment.

However, just then, the midnight chime suddenly rang. While narrating a slightly colorful ghost story and looking down as he peeled, Feng Xue "completely failed" to notice that in the mirror in front of him, lit by candlelight, an arm was slowly reaching out.

[F**, Streamer, look up, the mirror! The mirror!]

[What’s happening, the peel hasn’t even broken and the ghost is already coming out?]

[It’s about to touch him! It’s about to touch him!]

...

But all these warnings seemed to have no impact on Feng Xue, who was focused on peeling. The audience could only watch as the hand extending from the mirror slow neared Feng Xue’s head.

Just at that moment, a gust of cold wind blew, causing the apple peel in Feng Xue’s hand to tremble slightly. Reacting impulsively, Feng Xue shivered sharply, and the apple peel broke accordingly.

Not only the peel, but the knife also accidentally cut his finger. As drops of blood fell onto the table and apple, Feng Xue immediately dropped the blood-streaked knife in pain, stood up, and turned around all in one motion, causing the hand that was about to touch him to miss.

Furthermore, the violently swinging ghost hand happened to slap onto the fresh blood spilled on the table and then, as if electrocuted, quickly retracted back into the mirror.

"Hisss—Is there something wrong with the air conditioning? Suddenly feels a bit cold..." Feng Xue found a hemostatic spray, wildly spraying his wounded finger, continuously complaining about the unreliable electrical appliances. But at this moment, the viewers in the livestream were too exhausted to make sarcastic comments, all of them scrambling to find clips to convince the streamer that ghosts exist.

However, everyone failed; whether it was the recorded broadcast or screenshots, no evidence of the ghost hand was left.

Of course, they wouldn’t have any, because that ghost hand was actually a White Ghost Hand controlled by an invisible Poisonous Insect Body.

As for the mirror... it wasn’t a mirror at all, but a layer of "Demonic Qi." Specifically, it was controlled Demon Qi using the Magic Technique from the Mystical Lord Secret Scripture.

Utilizing the assimilation and mimicry abilities of the Demonic Qi, it simulated the texture similar to that of a mirror. He was indeed very focused before, but not on peeling the apple; he was focused on constructing the "scene" in the mirror to coordinate with the ghost hand’s motion.

In short, it was an act of deception.

After busying himself wrapping up his hand, Feng Xue returned to the "mirror" and, performing a mime-like touch of the surface that actually had no tactile sensation, said confidently:

"Now you all should believe that there are no ghosts in this world, right?"

"Yes, we’re thoroughly convinced there are ghosts in the world now!"

"I’m more curious about how the ghost seemed to be hurt by the streamer’s blood earlier."

"Legend has it that ghosts fear the blood of a black dog, could the streamer be a Dog Demon?"

"That’s going too far!"

...

"Hey hey, leave the jokes to your group, pranking the streamer like that, even I am going to get mad!" Feng Xue pretended to be furious, placing her hands on her hips and sternly warned, while viewers continuously typed on the screen, "Why don’t you just believe in ghosts?"

Seeing this, Feng Xue rolled her eyes and said,

"Ghosts? I’ve been famously unafraid of ghosts since I was young! I often made bets to earn some pocket money. But guess what?

"When I was ten, the family next door died overnight, everyone said it was an Evil Ghost claiming lives. I bet someone and stayed in that haunted house for seven days without incident, only to find out later that the person I bet against was a Broker, tricking me into staying to clear the house’s haunted reputation!

"When I was thirteen, I bet someone and spent a month in the morgue of a supposedly haunted hospital and didn’t see a single ghost hair. Only later did I find out that the bastard I bet with had negotiated a gig guarding the morgue, which paid way more than the bet!

"At sixteen, I heard rumors of a female ghost in the mill draining a dozen strong men dry, I worked in that mill for half a year and never saw a female ghost come knocking, not even a spring dream! Later I realized, that was purely a ruse to make me work for minimum wage!

"Let me warn everyone here, really, don’t believe in all this ghost and demon stuff, almost every time it’s just a way to make you spend money.

"For example, a place is rumored to be haunted, right? Becomes known as a haunted house, and property values drop, right?

"Then, an investor buys it, hires some so-called ghost-catching master, does some simple rituals, and then claims to have spent so much money on catching ghosts, and suddenly the house isn’t haunted anymore and the property value goes back up, right?

"How much do you think they make from that?

"Not to mention hyping up things like beads and statues for warding off evil spirits, you can wholesale a truckload of those for a few credit points, just package them with a master and conduct a Consecration Ritual, and you can sell them for thousands of times more! Isn’t that quicker money than promoting idols?

"So yeah, what ghosts are there in this world! It’s all about business on the lips, but all about business in the heart! You understand business, right?!"

"Fuck, I feel like I’ve been persuaded..."

"Stay rational! Think about that hand just now!"

"Exactly, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I almost believed it!"

"Speaking of which, is there a chance that those places were actually haunted, but the streamer has a Hard Fate?"

"Now that you mention it, it might be possible!"

"So am I the only one curious about where that mill haunted by the female ghost is? No offense, just looking to make some pocket money by doing odd jobs..."

...

Watching the comments grow increasingly off-topic, Feng Xue struggled to keep her smile from breaking through, because just then, another label had appeared on her—

"Hard Fate!"