The Tale of the Ghost Eyes Chapter 130 The Sky Master Nangong

"The amulets are working." I panted to Wei Wei.

"We have to get out of here." Wei Wei said. He put an arm around my shoulders and hoisted me to a sitting position.

I nodded. With his help, I managed to get to my feet. We trudged down the plaza away from the dormitory.

The moon shone brightly from overhead now. Looking back I watched the building tremble once more until the face was completely gone. I could see no trace of the Yin air.

The guards were waiting in a huddle at the security building door. "Hey kid! Uh…Master!" The leader called to us. "Did you do all of that? The thunder, the light, was that you two?"

I nodded a head that felt far too heavy to be my own. "No point in trying to hide it now." I thought.

"Yes, that was us." I panted. "Don't…don't tell anyone though. Our skills are a gift, not to be flaunted or else we'll be punished."

The men gaped at us with wide eyes. Two of them rushed forward to help me walk. Wei Wei muttered his thanks. "Where to boss?" One asked.

"The dean's office." I said. My throat was hoarse and the words felt like knives being scraped out of me. "I have to sleep. Tomorrow…tomorrow will be a busy day."

"Will it come back?" One of them asked.

I took a deep breath and said, "Not tonight. We suppressed it." I thought for a moment, "But you should stay in the security building. Don't go near that dorm. Do you understand?"

The four of them nodded. When we reached the administration building I dug through my bucket of amulets that Wei Wei had thought to grab. I gave each of the guards a safety amulet and bid them goodnight.

We unlocked the dean's office and headed inside. Wei Wei helped me assemble my cot and then fell into a pile on the couch. I slept like a stone that night.

The next morning we were awoken by the daylight at seven. Wei Wei took a meditation tome from his bottomless bag and began reading while I sought out the dean's private bathroom and washed up.

When I came back into the main office, Wei Wei had put his book away. He watched me for a moment as I walked stiffly back to my cot and sat down. Finally he spoke, "Shi Yong, you are amazingly talented. I researched the ritual you performed last night. You…you're outstanding."

I blushed at his praise. "You're one to talk Wei Wei, that stunt you pulled with the golden soldiers, not to mention that copper bell of yours! You're the one who should be praised." I told him.

We sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment. "Why did you come alone?" I asked him. "Where is your master?"

He gave a faint smile. "He's traveling as our masters are wont to do. I have studied Taoism for a decade now, but only half of that was with my master." He said.

"Lucky you," I returned. "I met Master Liu when I was only six. I haven't been with him for more than a fifth of the time since then."

Wei Wei sighed and said, "Perhaps all masters are like that. At least we have freedom and time." He added. "The apprentices in formal parties have many duties and rules they must abide by."

"Formal parties?" I asked, "I haven't learned of the other parties. Do you know which one my master, Liu Chunan belongs to?"

Wei Wei shook his head. His eyes darted around the room avoiding mine. "The only main party I know about is Kunlun. I've lived there for three months now. It's…" He smiled to himself, "Its boring. There're so many chores to do."

"But no Liu Chunan?" I pushed.

"My master has spoken of yours. Master Liu is said to be one of three respectable men, but no party was ever mentioned." His gaze finally met mine and he gave a small shrug.

A thought occurred to me and I felt a hot dash of shame. "What kind of godson doesn't know anything about his master?" I thought.

"Come on," I said, groaning my way off the cot. "Let's get breakfast."

Wei Wei and I left campus and walked into town. My muscles loosened up enough to walk almost normally when we got around people. There were floating crowds and conversations about the 'fantastic' to some, 'supernatural' to others, thunder that lit the night before.

After breakfast a thought occurred to me. "You're from the organization I called." I told more than asked, "Do you know when or if a master will arrive?"

He chewed on the question for a minute before responding. "Before I left, I was told that someone would arrive shortly after I did. Not more than a day or two. Let's hope by lunch time."

When we got to the school we found that the guard's shift had rotated. The daylight guards appeared much more wholesome and smelled less like a brewery, although the scent was still present. We asked about the night shift and the new head guard shook his head. "Nothing to report." He looked at me curiously for a moment. "Are you the one in charge? Aren't you a little…puny?" He asked.

"Supremely puny." I replied with a smile.

We surveyed the dorm after crossing the plaza and found the windows still burst open or ajar. There was no sign of a face in the bricks, or clouds of yin air in the sunlight. I shrugged to Wei Wei and we trekked back to the guards. I asked them to keep everyone away from the dormitory and asked what they knew. The head guard looked at me, cast a look to the left and right, and then lifted the collar of his uniform shirt revealing a safety amulet. It was one of mine.

"Say no more." I told him with a smile.

We hung out at the guard station until a black car pulled into the gate around lunchtime. Wei Wei and I were playing a card game with two of the guards when the brakes squealed. All noise in the guardroom died instantly. Wei Wei and I got up and walked outside.

Three men got out of the car. The driver was about sixty with white hair. His wrinkled face was shaven and he wore a grey Wushu outfit. Beneath the billowing sleeves were thin hardened arms that looked very strong.

The man immediately behind him was about thirty and dressed in a suit and tie. He stood back to let out the third man, a younger fellow who appeared about Wei Wei's age. He was wearing what looked like a baseball uniform all the way up to the cap. He reached back into the car and came out with two luggage bags big enough to hold all of my possessions between the two of them.

One of the guards stepped forward, but I was faster. "These might be the people we were waiting for." I told him. "Hold back."

Wei Wei and I approached with a "Hello," and "Who are you?"

The old man in grey smiled at me. "You are Shi Yong?"

I recognized the baritone voice at once. "You sound younger than you look." I almost said, but bit it back and nodded. "Are you the man I spoke with on the phone?"

His smile widened. "Yes indeed I am, son. I'm glad you made it through the night. Can you show us to the building?"

I nodded and gestured for them to follow.

"Were you successful in suppressing the spirit?" Baritone asked.

I nodded and watched his eyes widen. "How do you feel? You seem fully recovered!"

I grinned and scratched the back of my head self-consciously.

"Wait." He said suddenly. The five of us stopped walking. "Look at me, son."

He all but grabbed my chin and angled my face to his. "Ohhh…" He said, gaping at me. "Your eyes…all that Yin air…" He clicked his tongue and then kept walking. The rest of us followed after a brief pause. "You know," He continued when I'd caught up. "Your body must be in excellent shape to adjust that supernatural imbalance you have. If you were to ever cure them, your eyes I mean, I bet you'd have a very bright future ahead of you."

I meant to ask what he was talking about, but he rolled on. "Wei Wei, you did a great job! I'll be sure to pass that along to your master. You might even get some work in a senior department." He turned to Wei Wei with a pleased smile.

"Thank you!" Wei Wei replied instantly.

We got to the dorm and Baritone started surveying it. He walked from corner to corner, examining the windows, bending down to inspect the amulets we'd pasted. When he finally got back to us his old face was pinched in a frown. "You did okay for a couple of kids." He said. "Thank goodness the moon was bright, else you might have been toast." He looked down from the building to me, "And for your first time doing a soul suppression ritual, eh?" He looked back up, not bothering to lower his voice. "Lui Chunan picked himself a freak."

"Hey!" I shouted at him.

He didn't give me a chance to continue, "My name is Nangong Zhentian, Shi Yong. Remember it. I'm going to teach you something today as a favor to your master."

Wei Wei took a step back from us. "You…" He said in a quaking voice, "You're Sky Master Nangong?"

Nangong Zhentian didn't look down from the building, "Is there another Nangong Zhentian wandering around?"

Wei Wei immediately shook his head and then bowed in respect.

"Master Liu, Master Ge, and now Master Nangong!" I thought, "I've met three Sky Masters!"

Chapter end