Volume One, Chapter 11: The Black Dog of the Highway Subdues the Spirit

The boy ghost hugged his ball tightly, his eyes glaring warily at Qin Yu. “Who are you? Why are you ruining my plans?”

“I’m just a ghost-catcher hired for a fee.”

The boy ghost crouched low, hands and feet splayed on the ground like a sinister spider. His gaze remained fixed on Qin Yu, fierce and venomous as though he wanted to bore a hole straight through her.

“You’re bad. I want you dead!”

His ghostly aura, sharp as blades, slashed through the air as he let out a resentful growl. As his voice faded, the sound of countless footsteps echoed around them, like the march of ten thousand soldiers.

The bright moonlight was gradually swallowed by drifting clouds, leaving the night so black that you couldn’t see your own hand. All around, pairs of green eyes flickered in and out of the darkness, and the chill wind carried with it the sound of saliva dripping steadily onto the ground—a silence that was all the more profound for these details.

“Woof!”
“Woof!”
“Woof!”
…

A chorus of barking erupted as the pack lunged, ready to tear and bite.

A faint tang of blood in the air made Qin Yu furrow her brows in discomfort. She shaped a seal with her left hand, focusing her energy into her right. “Heaven’s gate opens, earth’s gate yields, a thousand miles of power at my command…”

A blinding light burst from her palm, slowly coalescing into a long sword. Gripping the sword, Qin Yu’s presence stirred the wind, setting her sleeves billowing.

With robes swirling, she looked almost otherworldly—a celestial being.

She swung her sword. The spiritual energy concentrated along the blade flew out, weaving into a dense net that instantly ensnared the frenzied dogs before her.

Indeed, these were beasts whose spiritual intelligence had not awakened; they only knew how to lunge and bite and had no thought to evade. The same technique subdued the entire pack surrounding her.

The once arrogant, baying hounds now whimpered and trembled softly.

Seeing this, the boy ghost’s expression changed drastically as he scrambled toward the dogs, only to be flung back several meters each time he touched the spiritual net.

He seemed to know no fear, repeating his attempts again and again, only to be repelled each time.

Finally, as if realizing he couldn’t break the net on his own, he contorted his form and glared at Qin Yu, hatred twisting his features. “Why are you helping those people? They’re the ones who deserve to die!”

Qin Yu, unmoved by his bared teeth and wrath, dismissed her sword.

Her blade was not meant for pitiful spirits.

“Tell me, what happened to you?”

Judging by his size, he’d been only five or six years old when he died; behind him, thousands of black dogs…

What unspeakable events had unfolded on this stretch of road?

The boy ghost stared blankly, confusion flickering in his eyes.

He’d been told that if a celestial master caught him, he’d be utterly destroyed.

Qin Yu couldn’t read the turmoil in his gaze, but her instincts told her there was more to the story.

“Your dogs couldn’t defeat me. Do you still want to struggle in vain?”

When he remained silent, Qin Yu softened her voice. “Perhaps I can help you and your dogs.”

The boy ghost bowed his head, struggling inwardly. “Really?”

Qin Yu nodded.

She could see that the boy’s true nature was still intact.

“A sword forged of spiritual energy! I’ve only seen that in the old master’s picture books! I never thought I’d witness it in my lifetime!”

“My education level only allows me to say one thing: damn.”

“My wife is so strong and cool! I love her!”

“As a mother, I can’t bear to see a child die so young. My eyes are stinging.”

“Master Danqiu, please help him! He seems so pitiful!”

“Pitiful? If I recall, more than ten people have died on the Lujia Valley road, haven’t they? He was pitiful when he lived, but after death, harming others is his fault! Master Danqiu, you should subdue this menace for the good of all!”

Qin Yu glanced at her phone screen. On the other end, Nan Qiao’s heart skipped a beat, and her phone slipped from her grasp.

Meanwhile, the boy ghost’s appearance softened. His large, grape-like eyes blinked, and the tuft of hair atop his head bobbed adorably as he spoke.

His voice was childish and sweet, “This used to be a mountain. People in the village couldn’t afford proper burial plots, so they buried their dead here.”

“Later, for the sake of development, they decided to build a road. At first, the villagers objected, but after they were paid, they agreed.”

“But during construction, strange accidents kept happening—someone would break a leg, or work would halt because they hit an electric line.”

Mu Ling rolled his eyes. “You’re dancing on people’s graves; of course, they wouldn’t like it!”

Qin Yu had cast an invisibility spell on Mu Ling, so the boy ghost could neither see nor hear him.

“The construction foreman grew suspicious and hired a feng shui master. The master said the area was shrouded in ghostly energy and lacked a suppressing spirit.”

Mu Ling seemed to guess what was coming and grew furious. “Damn it, which useless feng shui master did this? If I ever meet him, I’ll bite him to death!”

Qin Yu shot Mu Ling a glare, and he quieted down.

The boy ghost’s expression turned sorrowful as he was drawn into his memories.

A white-bearded feng shui master stood at the construction site, pointing to the leveled mountain, “Dogs are the most yang of all animals. Among them, black dogs raised by children possess the purest innate yang energy. Dig a pit ten meters from the mountaintop and bury 999 black dogs raised by children. These yang dogs will become the spirit that suppresses this place.”

As he spoke, the boy had been hiding behind a tree.

Back then, the little boy had had no idea what those words meant. He only knew they wanted to bury his Little Black.

He ran home, desperate to drive Little Black away, but the dog didn’t understand. No matter what, he wouldn’t leave.

Soon after, the village’s dog-catcher squad seized Little Black.

He cried and protested, but it was useless. Little Black was taken away.

On the day of the dog burial, he wanted to see Little Black one last time. So he brought Little Black’s favorite small ball to the mountain.

But before he could find Little Black, he ran into the village bully.

“Lu Jiatree, where are you going?”

Lu Jiatree clutched his ball, wary. “None of your business.”

The bully was the village chief’s son—big and burly—and used his father’s position to torment others. When Lu Jiatree had Little Black’s protection, the bully kept his distance. Now, with Little Black gone, the bully seized his chance.

“Still acting tough, Lu Jiatree? Without your dog, you’re nothing!”

He reached to grab the ball from Lu Jiatree’s arms.

Unable to fight back, Lu Jiatree was knocked to the ground with a punch, tears streaming down his face.

“That’s Little Black’s! Give it back!”

The bully grinned, his eyes narrowing mischievously. “You want it back…?”

Drawing out his words, he backed toward the pit, then flung the ball in with all his strength.

The ball sailed straight to the bottom of the five-meter-deep pit.

Lu Jiatree ran to the edge. As soon as he steadied himself, someone shoved him from behind.

He fell into the pit, his head striking a stone. He lost consciousness.

When he awoke, he was crushed together with a pack of dogs, trampled day and night by countless feet…