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墨書 Inktalez
Zheng Xuezhang said, "I just heard a child's voice!"
I was so angry that I wanted to curse. If you heard a voice, why not say it clearly? This sudden scare—who are you trying to frighten?
Then I realized that hearing a child's voice meant we had made contact with the spirit. This indicated that the Spirit Child had already been summoned! Without saying another word, I didn't care whether Zheng Xuezhang really heard it or not; I urged him to quickly take the Ling Tong Gui back.
Zheng Xuezhang hurriedly got up from the ground, somewhat flustered as he held the Wealth-Inviting Spirit Child Ghost in his arms while using a lighter to burn the white paper with the birth date written on it. Strangely enough, even though there was wind all around, the flame burned steadily like a mountain. Watching the white paper quickly turn to ash, I knew for sure that the Spirit Child had already entered.
I instantly felt relieved, thinking that completing the first step was a good start. However, what happened next was something I would never forget for the rest of my life.
At that moment, Zheng Xuezhang was holding the Ling Tong Gui, and we turned around together, preparing to head back to school. Just as we turned, we were stunned by what we saw in front of us.
About ten meters away, a person had appeared out of nowhere. Perhaps it was due to frequent accidents in this area that led to broken lamp posts; the government hadn't even installed streetlights here. Nevertheless, Zheng Xuezhang and I could still recognize that it was an elderly woman.
In front of her was a clay basin where she was tossing paper money one by one. The flames flickered in the basin, casting her face in and out of visibility.
I clearly remembered that the old woman's face was expressionless under the flickering light, and she kept staring at us. Even while tossing paper money, she didn’t turn her head away. The whole scene exuded an eerie atmosphere.
Cold sweat instantly broke out on me. When did this person arrive? How could we not hear a thing!
Zheng Xuezhang was also frightened; he trembled and stammered, "What... what should we do?"
I feigned calmness and slightly composed myself before saying, "What do you mean 'what should we do'? Let's go back to school!"
I couldn't help but admire my own courage; such a bizarre event occurred, yet I could still move my feet.
So we walked past together, our steps steady and eyes straight ahead as if we were participating in a National Day Parade. As we passed by the old woman, a gust of wind blew over, causing the flames in the basin to suddenly rise as if they wanted to engulf us.
Zheng Xuezhang, being closer to the basin, unconsciously quickened his pace, and I followed suit. In just a short time, we covered several hundred meters until we returned to school. Standing on the familiar playground, only then did we dare to breathe heavily.
Zheng Xuezhang squatted on the ground, panting a few times, and asked me, "What was that just now? Was it a person or a ghost?"
I was startled by his words and quickly waved my hand, "How would I know? Stop talking nonsense and let's hurry back to sleep!"
Zheng Xuezhang understood that discussing this in the dead of night wasn't a good topic. So we parted ways, each heading home.
Later, I asked Second Uncle if summoning a Spirit Child would attract ghosts. Second Uncle said it was unlikely because the Spirit Child's power was too strong; even if there were ghosts, they would be intimidated and wouldn't dare approach. However, that old lady was still some distance away from us at the time, so even Second Uncle found it hard to say whether she was a person or a ghost.
In my opinion, the possibility of encountering a ghost that night was higher than that of encountering a person. In Chinese culture, midnight is when Yin Qi is at its peak; even walking on a normal path makes it easy to run into ghosts, let alone Tongsha Road, which is known as a haunted place near the university. If it were a person, why would they be burning paper there at one in the morning?
Of course, maybe I was overthinking it; perhaps that old lady really was just a person. Even though her expression and behavior seemed very strange. After this experience, when selling Wealth-Inviting Spirit Child Ghosts, whenever customers wanted me to accompany them in summoning Spirit Children, no matter how high the price offered, I firmly refused.
The next day was Friday. In the afternoon, Zheng Xuezhang came to find me and said he planned to return Ling Tong Gui and asked if I wanted to go with him. I thought there wasn't much going on over the weekend, so it would be better to check it out. If we really won, we might get some customers right then and there. As for skipping class that night, that was insignificant; let it drift away lightly with the wind.
I actually agreed to go with someone who planned to gamble with their life. Later, when Second Uncle heard about this, he scolded me thoroughly. They were risking everything they had; if they lost, they might pull out a knife and kill you right there—this kind of thing isn't rare at all. Are you out of your mind? Did you get kicked in the head by a donkey to foolishly jump into a pit?
I didn't dare say a word because thinking back on it later made me break out in a cold sweat. Sometimes I even wondered if Zheng Xuezhang really intended for me to accompany him in death if he lost. Unfortunately, both he and his father had an accident later on, so that question never got answered.
At that time, I only thought about using this opportunity to expand my influence. Students have very little purchasing power; real customers need to come from society at large. To this, Second Uncle commented: "You have what it takes to do big things; in the old society, you might have been like Xu Wenqiang from Shanghai Beach. But in the end, you'd definitely die worse than him."
Because I loved taking risks too much—sometimes my courage scared even me. As the saying goes: "Those who are bold get to eat meat; those who are timid miss out." So this could be considered an undesirable trait that also has its advantages.
Thus, I boldly followed Zheng Xuezhang to his home. When we arrived, his mother was already waiting for us. After introductions were made and she learned that I was the one who sold Zheng Xuezhang the Amulet, her attitude completely changed.
His father was pleasantly surprised and treated me very politely.
His mother shot me cold glances as if she wanted to sweep me out with a broom.
Seeing my discomfort, his father decided we should head straight to the casino. Of course, before that, we needed to offer some prayers to the Spirit Child and ask for its help in achieving great victories!
The offerings had already been prepared, with two candles lit. Then, His Father knelt before the Wealth-Inviting Spirit Child Ghost, bowing respectfully and making wishes. His mother watched from the side, occasionally shedding a few tears. Zheng Xuezhang also seemed to feel uncomfortable and went to comfort her.
His Father stood up, making countless promises that after this time, regardless of winning or losing, he would never gamble again. This calmed things down a bit.
Zheng's Father used to be a fisherman, so his skin was slightly dark and he wasn't very tall, appearing quite ordinary. However, one could see a fierce determination on his face; if he added a Gold Chain around his neck and got a few tattoos, he would resemble Brother B a bit.
Before leaving, I reminded Zheng Xuezhang's mother, "Auntie, this thing really works. Please don't impulsively throw it away. The little ghost holds grudges; anyone who treats it poorly can be tormented for a lifetime."
Zheng's Mother didn't have a good impression of me and coldly replied that she understood. Then she made an excuse to clean up and pushed me out. I didn't feel awkward; after all, gambling isn't a good thing, and I was essentially encouraging them to continue gambling. It was no surprise that she wouldn't treat me kindly.
Afterward, we took a taxi and headed out of the city. I was a bit surprised and asked, "Where are we going?"
Zheng Xuezhang explained that casinos in their area were generally not located in the city because they were too easy to raid. Powerful people usually set up their venues in rural areas because rural folks are more inclined to gamble; everyone participates, and there are fewer reports made. Of course, this is just superficial; if the police genuinely want to catch gamblers, it doesn't matter if you're hiding in the countryside or even in the sea; they can still find you.
The Taxi Driver clearly knew this and chatted extensively about gambling during the ride. He looked at us with envy because that casino had very tight security; unless you were a familiar face and had deep pockets, you wouldn't even be allowed in.
Hearing the driver's flattery, Zheng Xuezhang and His Father couldn't help but puff up with pride. I felt somewhat speechless; I thought they were almost out of money yet still acted like big shots.
Soon after, we arrived at a nearby village. The driver was unwilling to drop us off on the road, so we had to walk over. From a distance, Zheng Xuezhang pointed to an area surrounded by tiled houses and said that was the casino. I asked him if he had ever gambled there.
Zheng Xuezhang shyly admitted that a couple of years ago when his family had some money, he had gone there with His Father a few times. However, after his father lost too much money, naturally, he no longer had the chance to participate.
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