Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

Chapter 148: The Wick

Read at: /?m=1

-----

Qiao Sang’s pupils suddenly contracted.

It’s important to understand that vital energy is a characteristic of living beings.

The more abundant a person’s vital energy, the more vibrant and energetic they appear.

As long as a person is alive, they have vital energy, it’s just a matter of how much.

However, attracting the attention of a ghost-type beast isn’t simply about being alive.

The entire body must be brimming with an enormous amount of vital energy.

In horror movies, ghost-type beasts are often depicted as feeding on the vital energy of young people. They never seem to target the elderly.

An elderly person’s vital energy is naturally low, and since it's contained within, ghost-type beasts can’t sense it.

For instance, creatures like the Ghost Lamp, which enjoys guiding lost travelers in exchange for vital energy, predominantly help young people, as large data sets indicate.

Death energy, on the other hand, is a type of aura representing the absence of life.

Places with the most death energy are funeral homes, morgues, and cemeteries.

If a person starts exuding death energy, it signifies that their life is about to end.

To attract a ghost-type beast with death energy, that energy must be incredibly dense.

If you can sense death energy from a living person, it usually means they have less than three days to live.

Logically, the vital and death energy that ghost-type beasts can detect should be beyond the normal energy range.

But Little Treasure sensed both energies from the old lady.

This doesn’t make sense!

Qiao Sang silently pondered. Every abnormal phenomenon must be caused by an extraordinary creature.

Could this be related to the missing Ghost Lamp?

For a moment, Qiao Sang’s mind raced with ideas.

She tried to connect all the events. The old lady was on the verge of death, but her family arrived on the same day, and then the Ghost Lamp went missing while the old lady’s condition improved.

When piecing together the order of events...

Qiao Sang’s right hand unconsciously supported her chin, and she began thinking of conspiracy theories.

Could it be that the old lady’s family discovered some of the Ghost Lamp’s abilities and forced it to extend her life?

But the cost of doing so might be death, which explains why the Ghost Lamp disappeared while the old lady, unaware of this, was still foolishly issuing a mission to find it.

No...

Qiao Sang quickly dismissed her own theory.

If the Ghost Lamp had died, the old lady, as its beastmaster, would have been the first to know...

But what if the Ghost Lamp had saved the old lady and didn’t die?

Qiao Sang pulled out her phone and started searching.

[What abilities does the Ghost Lamp have to bring someone on the verge of death back to life?]

The webpage quickly responded.

[Sorry, no results for What abilities does the Ghost-Lamp Beast have to bring someone on the verge of death back to life.]

Qiao Sang: ...

It seems no one has asked this question before...

Unwilling to give up, she logged into a forum and posted the question.

Within seconds of posting, several replies popped up.

[I don’t know how the Ghost Lamp brings someone on the verge of death back to life, but I know how it can make them die faster. Want to know?]

[Why did I even see this question?]

[OP, your thinking is a bit off.]

[Please! This is a ghost-type beast, not some divine pet with god-tier healing skills!]

[Let me educate you: The Ghost Lamp absorbs vital energy; it doesn’t give it.]

Qiao Sang stared at the last reply, deep in thought.

Right, the Ghost Lamp loves vital energy. It likely stores a fair amount within its body. If it could transfer that energy to someone nearing death...

Qiao Sang exited the forum and quickly scanned her recent call records, finding the number she wanted to dial.

For a question the general public wouldn’t discuss, it was best to ask someone knowledgeable.

The phone rang twice before being answered.

"Hello, what’s up?" A calm voice came from the speaker.

"Vice Principal, I wanted to ask if the Ghost Lamp can give vital energy to people?" Qiao Sang got straight to the point.

Liu Yao put down the documents in his hand. Qiao Sang had been contacting him more frequently lately, and he could recognize her voice without checking the caller ID.

However, he hadn’t expected her to call with such a strange question this time.

Though Qiao Sang didn’t have outstanding academic performance, the questions she was interested in exploring far exceeded the level of a high school student.

After pondering for a few seconds, Liu Yao replied, "No, the Ghost Lamp absorbs vital energy through the wick in its body. Even if it releases the absorbed energy, it would just dissipate into the air. There’s no way to transfer it to a human body."

"The human body isn’t built to absorb this kind of energy like a ghost-type beast."

Qiao Sang frowned slightly. Had she guessed wrong?

"Could the Ghost Lamp’s wick be transferred to a human body?"

Since the wick was the key to absorbing vital energy, would it work in a human body?

Liu Yao’s face darkened. He hadn’t expected Qiao Sang to ask such a question.

Transferring the Ghost Lamp's wick into a human body would mean removing the most important organ from the beast.

Centuries ago, some researchers, in their pursuit of obtaining certain powers from extraordinary creatures, had conducted such heartless experiments. These were later strictly prohibited by the Alliance.

He hadn’t expected someone so young like Qiao Sang to think about such dark matters.

Liu Yao felt it was necessary to correct her mindset. With her talent, she had a bright future ahead, but if her thinking strayed, it could lead to disaster.

Liu Yao sternly replied, "Of course not. Removing the Ghost Lamp’s wick is like removing a human’s heart. The human body can’t withstand that kind of energy. If this were attempted, both the Ghost Lamp and the human would die."

Qiao Sang fell silent. If that were the case, then her earlier theory was entirely wrong.

But what, then, was causing the old lady’s condition to change?

Liu Yao, not hearing a response, asked cautiously, "Where are you right now? Did you see something or hear someone say something that made you ask this question?"

Qiao Sang sighed and replied, "I’m out on a mission right now. Today we went to the Beastmaster Center..."

She spent the next two minutes explaining the situation, but when she finished, the other end of the phone was silent.

Qiao Sang checked her phone to see if the call had dropped. It was still connected.

"Vice Principal?" Qiao Sang called hesitantly into the phone.

"...I’m here, just had a signal issue."

Liu Yao felt a bit embarrassed. Here she was diligently working on a mission, and he had been suspecting her of having dangerous thoughts...

"Actually, the Ghost Lamp’s wick can remain in a human body for a short time." Liu Yao said after clearing his throat.

"But it can’t stay for too long, or the Ghost Lamp itself will die. Moreover, the wick can only be removed if the Ghost Lamp consents."

"Some studies have shown that, whether scanned by instruments or dissected after death, no one has been able to find the Ghost Lamp’s wick."

-----

-----