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墨書 Inktalez
As the incantation was completed, the Paper Men scattered in all directions. They first formed a circle, then gathered at the staircase, swiftly floating up the steps. I was astonished; these Paper Men walked on the floor with their paper feet, but when they reached the stairs, they could not step up and instead floated directly up the wooden steps. It was truly magical.
Once all the Paper Men had ascended, Senior Zhang said, "You can open your eyes now. Soon, those spirits will follow the Paper Men down and gather in that circle. Then, one by one, they will be taken out. Once your eyes are open, you won't need to go through the trouble of calling the souls. However, there's one thing: before sending the souls, you must burn the leading Paper Man; otherwise, it will affect the spirits' reincarnation path."
After hearing this, Master Xiao and I opened our eyes. We soon saw two Paper Men floating down from the stairs. Upon landing, they began to step forward with their paper feet, each followed by a Spirit God in their thirties, expressionless and moving like walking corpses. They trailed behind the Paper Men at a steady pace until they entered the Red Circle and stood still.
In just a few minutes, the remaining four Paper Men returned one after another, each accompanied by an expressionless Female Spirit God. They entered the red circle in an orderly manner. The Red Circle was small enough to accommodate six Spirit Gods facing inward in a circle. Behind each Spirit God lay a black Paper Man spread flat on the ground.
Senior Zhang sealed off the opening of the Red Circle and took a sip of wine. He circled around it three times before stopping next to one of the Black Paper Men. He began to draw some hand spells in midair and then sprayed wine over that Black Paper Man. He pointed towards my Soul Sending Altar.
At that moment, the six colorful little Paper Men that had brought down the souls fell to the ground, appearing no different from ordinary Paper Men. Simultaneously, the Black Paper Man soaked in wine rose up and walked towards me along with its accompanying Spirit God.
Without pausing, Senior Zhang moved to the next Black Paper Man and performed the same set of actions. After finishing, he pointed at Master Xiao; that Black Paper Man also rose up and led its Spirit God towards Master Xiao.
As the Paper Men and Spirit Gods approached us, Master Xiao stared blankly at me as if confused about what was happening. I quickly grabbed a Paper Man from the ground and placed it on a red candle to burn it directly. Then I guided the Spirit God to the Send Soul position and began performing the Send Soul ritual. During this time, I attempted to communicate with that Spirit God, but it seemed to have lost its ability to speak; aside from slight changes in expression, there was no other reaction. It cooperated fully without any resistance until I sent it away without any hindrance.
Following our established procedure, we sent away these six Spirit Gods one by one within a few minutes without any incidents. The only sign of discontent came from a man tied up on a bench; he had cloth stuffed in his mouth and could only make muffled sounds. When Master Xiao sent away the last Spirit God, despair filled his eyes as he ceased futile struggles and stared blankly at the ceiling.
After sending away these six Spirit Gods, Senior Zhang collected all six colorful little Paper Men and casually kicked apart the red powder circle. The black Paper Men had already been burned by Master Xiao and me. This Send Soul process consumed no offerings; however, all of Master Xiao's Joss Paper was used up. Originally low on Joss Paper himself, he burned through all of Senior Zhang's supply as well under a principle of equality. This meant we had no Joss Paper left for sending off the next two Spirit Gods.
"What do we do now that we've run out of Joss Paper?" Master Xiao said helplessly. Senior Zhang rummaged through a large black cloth bag belonging to Skinny Man but found only talismans—no Joss Paper at all. Looking at the clock on the wall and seeing it was just past one o'clock, he frowned and asked, "Don't you have any Joss Paper left for sending them off?"
His question was amusing; sending off Spirit Gods without offering some fare for their journey makes it difficult for them to reach their reincarnation path. However, considering his background from Ghost Path where souls were used without needing to send them off properly, it's understandable that he wasn't familiar with such details.
I shook my head and said, "It's not right to do this; we need some transportation fees. The road ahead is difficult. How about we put the Spirit Gods into the vessel and take them back as a gift? After all, they are just unconscious Spirit Gods." Master Xiao nodded in agreement. Senior Zhang did not object either; he said, "That works. Let's get started. These two souls have already been summoned by the Soul Banner. My method is no longer effective, and I used up quite a bit of energy earlier, so I'll leave these two souls to you. If you need help, I can assist you."
"Thank you, senior," I said before taking out the compass to search for souls since the time for opening my eyes had arrived. A moment later, I said, "The Spirit Gods are not on the first floor." Master Xiao replied, "Don't bother with that; I'll go upstairs to gather the souls. You set up a Soul Summoning Array or something similar at the stairs and just capture them directly." I nodded and agreed. After seeing my nod, Master Xiao grabbed his Peach Wood Sword and slung his Heaven and Earth Bag over his shoulder as he rushed upstairs. I followed closely behind him. Once we reached the second floor, I began to arrange the Soul Summoning Array at the stairway entrance. Master Xiao did not stop and went straight into one of the rooms.
The process of gathering souls involved placing talismans in various locations and scattering some protective items to prevent the Spirit Gods from settling in those areas. The more places we occupied, the fewer places there were for the Spirit Gods to reside. Eventually, they would have no choice but to come out; as long as they entered my Soul Summoning Array's range, I could draw them into it. Once inside the Soul Summoning Array, I would be able to see them because it was my formation, which meant I could use the vessel to collect them.
Once we captured these two Spirit Gods, President Cai's issue would be resolved.
Things went smoothly; although these two Spirit Gods were more challenging to handle than the previous six due to being summoned by the Soul Banner, they were not overly troublesome. After a little over an hour, we successfully collected both Spirit Gods into the vessel. By now, this room that had been filled with Spirit Gods was now clean and devoid of any lingering spirits.
Both Master Xiao and I were in good spirits—not only because we could receive our reward but also because we had helped both people and spirits in this matter. We were fortunate that this task fell to us; this merit would also bring us Yin De (virtue), which we could claim for ourselves.
When we went downstairs, Senior Zhang was sitting on a chair organizing his things. It was already past two o'clock. Seeing us come down with bright smiles, he knew that things had gone well. He said, "The matter is almost settled; what do you plan to do with my junior brother?" He tossed this dilemma our way, clearly reluctant to deal with his own junior brother directly while not wanting him to benefit from our efforts.
Master Xiao replied, "Senior, you are his senior brother; this is an internal matter for your sect. We outsiders shouldn't interfere. Of course, if you need any assistance, we will gladly help." Master Xiao spoke sincerely, and I echoed him: "Yes, senior. Just follow your sect's rules; we won't interfere."
"Haha, what sect rules? There are only two of us left in our sect; he and I have long since severed ties—we're no longer on speaking terms," Senior Zhang said lightly. "If you don't mind, I suggest handing him over to the police." After Senior Zhang finished speaking, we saw that the Skinny Man began to struggle violently on the bench as if he were terrified and furious about Senior Zhang's decision.
I looked at Senior Zhang in confusion and asked, "Handing him over to the police doesn't make sense; if we tell them about these matters, they'll probably accuse us of spreading nonsense and end up arresting us instead—that would be counterproductive."
Senior Zhang chuckled and replied, "There are legitimate reasons for handing him over to the police. My junior brother has left a criminal record at the Public Security Bureau due to his usual activities; he just often hides in places where police can't find him while practicing his skills. Do you know why all those spirits are around thirty years old? That's because he gathered them through illegal means—he used to work at a funeral home and sometimes stole bodies just to obtain spirits. Not only that, but he's also a habitual thief who has committed countless crimes using his agility and Ghost Path techniques—he's stolen many valuable items. I've even seen some surveillance footage myself." After saying this, Senior Zhang shot a fierce glare at the Skinny Man and continued indignantly, "He originally had exceptional talent; if only he had a better mindset, he wouldn't have ended up like this. This time around, he intended to use his Ghost Path techniques to blackmail President Cai for money; it was through some indirect means that I managed to protect President Cai's parents from these spirits' harm. However, both of us know each other well—his skills are on par with mine—I can't deal with him easily right now. Miss Wang, President Cai's assistant, is actually my friend's niece; it was through my friend that Miss Wang suggested President Cai hold this gathering for selection in the first place. In the end, you two were chosen as partners—what luck!"
With Senior Zhang's explanation, all my doubts were cleared up—it turned out that this whole situation had been orchestrated by Senior Zhang from start to finish; he had everything under control all along. I realized why Senior Zhang had been acting so strangely—he hadn't said a word during our journey because he was feigning calmness to avoid saying too much and causing problems. Indeed, experience trumps youth! Even someone as clever as me failed to see through this layer of meaning.
"Senior, you truly are a cunning old fox. I can't believe I was calling you a bastard before. I apologize for that," Master Xiao said bluntly after understanding the whole situation.
"Haha," Senior Zhang laughed heartily. "Whether I'm an old fox or a bastard, it doesn't matter. This matter has finally come to a satisfactory conclusion. It has been weighing on my mind for a long time, and thanks to you all, it has finally been resolved. A few insults from you are nothing."
Master Xiao scratched his head and started to grin foolishly, and I couldn't help but smile as well. This was indeed something worth celebrating. The room was suddenly filled with laughter and joy, while the Skinny Man tied to the bench stared hopelessly at the ceiling, seemingly worried about his future fate. However, good and evil will eventually be rewarded; what awaited him was endless darkness.
The next morning, Xiao He drove Miss Wang to the cabin, accompanied by a police car that took away the Skinny Man. We didn't leave immediately; I spent a long time in the house calculating and finally came up with a method to break the "Void" feng shui. As long as they followed my instructions, they could change the house into the Xu Mountain Chen Direction hexagram, allowing it to harness the rare prosperous feng shui: both wealth and prosperity throughout life.
By the time we returned to Shanghai, it was nearly evening. President Cai specially set aside time to host a celebration banquet for us. During the feast, Master Xiao drank happily and kept flirting with Miss Wang. Senior Zhang was distractedly managing everyone’s attention. As for me, I excused myself early and ran around to buy some Joss Paper. When Midnight arrived, I found a secluded little park where I sent off the two Female Spirit Gods I had collected into objects. I still tried to communicate with them, but unfortunately, there was no result.
So many Spirit Gods were delayed on their path of Reincarnation by this Ghost Path; their families must have thought they had ascended to heaven and begun their new lives in Reincarnation, perhaps even praying earnestly for their blessings. But who knew they were still suffering in this world? This truly echoed the words of Tang Dynasty Poet Chen Tao: "Pity those bones by the uncertain river; they are still people in dreams of spring chambers."
This story concludes here.
Good night everyone, thank you "1443282760" for the diamond, thank you "I am Hami" for the 1314 Iron Coin. Thank you all for your votes.
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