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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Sixty-Four Master Ma
Old Man rolled his eyes and once again tapped a bundle of incense against my forehead, saying, "The jade pendant has been verified, why don’t you believe it? How can you be so slow-witted, kid?"
I thought to myself, clearly this bad Old Man is far from what I imagined Master Uncle to be, yet he’s blaming me.
Old Man naturally saw the doubt in my heart and said, "Your name is Shenbao, right? Your Grandfather came to me in a dream early this morning, saying you arrived in this area. Plus, I calculated that you would arrive here without money and would set up a stall to tell fortunes. So I went to the street that day to wait for you."
"You... you could predict that?" I was very surprised, or rather skeptical, because what he said sounded too far-fetched. How could he possibly know if I would set up a stall?
"Didn’t your Grandfather tell you that I am a Diviner?" Old Man said with a grin.
I rolled my eyes, not wanting to hear him boast. I asked if he knew my Grandfather's name. To my astonishment, this Old Man not only revealed my Grandfather's name but also provided his birth date and address. At this point, I was truly dumbfounded; I had no choice but to believe that this seemingly lazy Old Man was indeed my Master Uncle.
Seeing that I no longer doubted him, Old Man proudly laughed and then told me his surname was Ma, and the locals called him Master Ma. Noticing my dazed expression, he frowned and said, "Hey, why don’t you call out to me? Come on, say 'Master Uncle' so I can hear it."
Hearing this made me feel as if a flock of crows flew over my head; it was quite shocking. This Old Man really was too disrespectful for his age. However, at that moment, I understood that he truly was the Master Uncle I had never met before. So, I had no choice but to obediently call out "Master Uncle."
Old Man, no, it should be Master Ma, happily responded and then asked if I still lived at the Zhu's house. He told me to move into his shop from now on.
I was surprised and asked how he knew. He casually replied, "I told you when you arrived in this area; I've been keeping an eye on you. How could I not know what you've been busy with these days?"
I said, "Then since you knew I was the person you were looking for, why didn’t you recognize me earlier?"
"Isn't it good for you to experience things on your own for a while?" Master Ma said.
I muttered, "Then why did you recognize me today?"
Master Ma said somewhat angrily, "It's still you who treats me like a fraud. I've already told you that you've been having ominous signs lately, but you refuse to believe it. If something happens to you, how am I supposed to explain it to your grandfather? Tell me, if I hadn't told you I'm your granduncle, would you still believe what I say?"
I nodded and couldn't help but exclaim, "Could it be that I'm really facing a disaster soon?"
At that moment, I dared not regard the old man before me as a fraud any longer. After all, he was my granduncle. Although I didn't understand why he had pretended to deceive that woman earlier, I knew he wouldn't lie to me.
Master Ma said, "That's right. So listen to me; don't concern yourself with anything these days. Just stay in my shop and let me take care of your food and lodging, got it?"
Upon hearing this, I felt warmth in my heart. Although I had previously thought of Master Ma as a fraud, hearing him say such words made me feel a kind of familial affection that I hadn't experienced in a long time. Perhaps it was because I hadn't felt any familial love for so long that even such ordinary words moved me deeply.
To be honest, I almost cried. I thought no one would ever care about me again in this life and that there would never be any familial love for me again. Unexpectedly, even though my grandfather had left me, he was still watching over me from beyond, and now I had a granduncle.
Looking at Master Ma's smiling face, I felt like crying. Just as I was about to speak, he chuckled and said, "Once you move in, I'll leave the shop's affairs to you. You can make some Paper Figurines and Paper Horses for the customers to divine their fortunes and ward off disasters. That way, I'll have time to play cards!"
Upon hearing this, I was utterly shocked and nearly lost my balance and fell to the ground. So that's why he was treating me so well; he wanted me to come work for free! How foolish of me to almost cry just now.
Master Ma continued on his own, "Shenbao, don’t feel embarrassed or overly touched; we’re all family here. Just treat this place like your own home."
I secretly wiped away some sweat and hurriedly asked him for some incense and yellow paper before quickly leaving the shop.
I never expected that by coming to buy yellow paper, I would meet the granduncle I had been searching for all along. Although this granduncle seemed a bit lecherous, at least it meant I had another relative in this world.
Holding the incense and yellow paper that Master Ma had given me as I exited the shop, I realized that too much time had passed inside. It was already dark outside. I hailed a taxi, and when the driver asked where I wanted to go, I told him to Fushou Cemetery. The driver paused in surprise as if he thought he had misheard.
Indeed, today was the Ghost Festival on the fifteenth day of the seventh month; everyone had gone home early. The streets were emptier than ever tonight. Piles of burnt paper ashes lined both sides of the road; when the night wind blew, they swirled up into the air, creating an eerie sight.
You could say it was quite surprising to be heading to a cemetery on such a ghostly night.
I repeated my destination again. The driver said, "Young man, you've got some guts going to that kind of place at this hour. Alright then, I'll take you."
The taxi driver dropped me off by the roadside near the Cemetery. The Cemetery is located in a suburban area, surrounded by desolation; a road that rarely sees traffic even during the day was completely empty tonight.
I stood by the roadside and called Mr. Zhu, who told me he was on his way. The husband of the female ghost also said he was heading this way and asked me to wait a little longer.
While I was waiting for them, I encountered a small incident. A man in his fifties came down from the Cemetery. As he passed by me, he stopped and looked me over, then spoke to me: “Hey, young man, you’ve got some guts coming to this place tonight.”
I smiled but didn’t respond, as this was the second person to say that to me today; the taxi driver had said the same thing earlier. However, if he knew I was here specifically to catch ghosts, he probably wouldn’t think that way.
Seeing that I didn’t reply, he seemed to want to scare me on purpose and said, “Young man, do you know what day it is today? It’s Ghost Festival! Aren’t you afraid of seeing ghosts coming here at night?”
I just smiled again, not wanting to engage with such a boring question.
Perhaps because I remained silent, he took another look at me and asked, “Young man, what are you doing here at this hour?”
I replied, “Waiting for someone to pay me.”
After hearing my response, he glanced at the Yellow Paper being burned by others not far away and let out a startled scream before turning and running away. As he ran, he shouted in terror: “Oh my god, I’ve seen a ghost…”
Watching him flee in panic, I suddenly realized something and hurried after him a few steps, calling out: “Uh, wait a minute, sir! Let me explain…”
However, as soon as I shouted, he ran even faster and quickly disappeared from sight.
Looking in the direction where he had vanished, I couldn’t help but feel amused; it really was like seeing a ghost. Did I look that much like one?
Returning to the main point, not long after, Mr. Zhu and the husband of the female ghost arrived at the grave of the female ghost. I handed Mr. Zhu the Incense Candles and Yellow Paper to burn for her.
At the grave, Mr. Zhu sincerely apologized for his past actions. He sold his car for over five hundred thousand and gave forty thousand to the family of the female ghost to resolve their grievances.
The husband of the female ghost also expressed that although the reason for his wife's suicide was due to relocation, he understood that part of the reason for her taking her own life was her own inability to cope. Therefore, seeing Mr. Zhu come to apologize like this made him feel relieved.
Things went smoothly, and I finally fulfilled the promise I made to the female ghost. That night, I left Mr. Zhu's house and moved my luggage to Master Ma's shop.
On my first day at Master Ma's shop, he pulled me into the back room and said he wanted to teach me some skills. I thought to myself, Master Uncle really is Master Uncle, wanting to teach me something right away. However, once we got into the back room, he talked a lot, and I was left staring blankly, breaking out in a cold sweat. The so-called skills he was teaching me were not about folding paper or divination but rather how to deceive people, how to read faces, and how to sell things in the shop at high prices.
I felt that this Old Man was too sleazy; is this really my Master Uncle?
Since childhood, Grandfather had taught me not to deceive others and not to use what I learned for personal gain. Even when Grandfather passed away, he reminded me to accumulate good deeds and avoid doing evil. But Master Ma and Grandfather were both from the same school and sect; how could there be such a big difference in their character?
Master Ma was desperately educating me, imparting some experiences while I thought to myself that it didn't matter; after all, it was this unscrupulous Old Man who was deceiving people, which had nothing to do with me. If any customers with supernatural encounters came in, I could still help them.
I also asked Master Ma, why did he deliberately want to deceive people?
Master Ma replied that he only deceived wealthy people and officials who had done bad things and were unkind despite their wealth. Since they earned their money through improper means, what harm was there in deceiving them a little?
Hearing his explanation, I really didn't know how to refute him at that moment.
Master Ma's shop business was indeed quite good; every day there were large numbers of customers coming in, including officials and wealthy merchants. When customers arrived, Master Ma would have me help him with card games because Landlord Fighting was his only hobby. He would sit in a grand chair, stroking his white beard, making hand gestures while pretending to be mysterious and profound. Once the customers left, he would push me away from the computer and happily continue playing cards.
These days weren't exhausting; it was just that seeing Master Ma acting all mysterious in front of customers felt quite sleazy. After staying in his shop for four or five days, I received a call from City Detective team Captain Wang, who informed me that they had received another report from Liu Family Village. He asked if I would be willing to go along with them.
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