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Chapter 87: The Strange Man Who Entered the Shop
Thinking about Lin Xiaoqi waiting in the River of Forgetfulness for a thousand years fills me with sorrow.
Ghost Granny sighed and said, "How about you go down and meet her? Ever since she learned that I know you, she has been concerned about how you are doing up here."
I forced a smile and replied, "I don't know how to get down there."
In fact, I had heard my grandfather mention the method of crossing into the underworld before; it didn't sound too difficult. I wanted to go down to find her, even to save her. However, not only had I never crossed into the underworld before, but I was also afraid to see her. I feared seeing her sad face in the River of Forgetfulness, and how could I possibly save a soul that had already jumped into the river? Souls that enter the Underworld cannot be brought back through the gates of hell, just as living people cannot be taken to the underworld at will.
I felt powerless and melancholic.
At that moment, Ghost Granny seemed to see through my thoughts and said, "Aren't you a Paper Craftsman? You can definitely save her!"
Upon hearing this, I was surprised. I thought to myself that although I was a Paper Craftsman, I had never heard that we could rescue souls from the River of Forgetfulness.
Ghost Granny asked, "You didn't know?"
I shook my head, saying I had never heard of such a thing.
Ghost Granny continued, "I heard it from the old ghosts below. They said that the ancestor of Paper Craftsman left behind a Ghost Seal, which allows one to freely enter and exit the gates of hell."
I knew about this; Master Ma had mentioned it to me before. So I said, "But even if I can travel between the realms, how can I bring her back from the River of Forgetfulness?"
Ghost Granny smiled and said, "Don't rush. Don't you know how to craft paper? If you make a Ming Ship and send it into the River of Forgetfulness, you can bring her back."
"Is it really that simple? Just like that, I can rescue her from the River of Forgetfulness?" At that moment, I was both surprised and delighted. If this were true, I immediately wanted to craft a paper boat since I had two jade pendants on me.
However, Ghost Granny's next words instantly chilled my heart. She said, "It's not that simple. Once the paper boat is made, it cannot be burned in the underworld; it must be taken directly there. But how can an ordinary paper boat withstand the raging waves of the River of Forgetfulness?"
Indeed, it is said that the River of Forgetfulness is filled with turbulent waves and swarming with ghosts and serpents. An ordinary paper boat would either be soaked and ruined by the water or torn apart by ghosts and serpents as soon as it entered. Souls trapped in the river for hundreds or thousands of years would surely swarm towards any boat that approached. How could a small paper boat withstand such chaos?
"Does that old lady know how to make this kind of paper boat?" I could only place my hopes on Ghost Granny, hoping she might know something.
However, Ghost Granny didn't know. She shook her head and said, "How would I know about the things in your paper-making trade? You all can control paper, right? You should have a way."
Control paper? I smiled bitterly and shook my head. Although I was in the paper-making business, I had never learned the technique of controlling paper. However, Master Ma said his disciple, Cao Qilong, had mastered his true teachings. It seemed I could only wait for Brother Cao, who roamed the world, to return and see if he knew how to make this kind of paper boat.
At that moment, Ghost Granny said she had shared everything she knew, and whether it could be done depended on me. After saying that, she stopped talking further, thanked us for establishing her grave, and left...
In the following days after returning home, my mood was extremely poor. On one hand, Master Ma's departure left me feeling lonely and desolate in this world; on the other hand, there was naturally the matter of Lin Xiaoqi—worried, anxious, yet powerless...
Regarding Lin Xiaoqi's situation, I didn't know what to do. I could only keep praying in my heart for Brother Cao to return soon and teach me the technique of controlling paper so that I could make a Ming Ship that could travel down the River of Forgetfulness to save Lin Xiaoqi.
After some time of sadness and grief, I gradually accepted reality and buried these matters deep in my heart while waiting for Brother Cao's return.
In the days that followed, I stayed at Master Ma's shop. Every day I made some Paper Figurines and Paper Horses to sell incense and paper products. Because of Master Ma's connections, people often came to the shop looking for him to ask for fortune-telling or disaster relief. So besides selling Paper Figurines and Paper Horses, I also took on the additional task of fortune-telling.
However, unlike Master Ma who welcomed everyone regardless of whether they truly had misfortunes or not—he would always find something during his calculations—I was different. If no one with genuine misfortunes came by, I generally closed the door and sent them away. This led to about eight out of ten visitors being turned away by me.
One day while I was making a Paper Figurine in the shop, someone suddenly walked in through the door. After surveying the shop and spotting me, he asked, "Excuse me, is Master Ma here?"
Upon hearing he was looking for Master Ma, I thought to myself that another one of Master Ma's previous clients had come. So without turning around, I said, "Master Ma is dead; please leave!"
To my surprise, he didn't believe me. He said, "This brother really loves to joke. I'm here for an important matter regarding Master Ma; could you please call him out?"
I replied, "Master Ma is really dead; why would I lie to you?"
Upon hearing this, he paused at the door for a moment without speaking. Then he said, "If Master Ma is dead, then how is your shop still open? Who are you?"
I thought to myself that whether Master Ma's shop was open or not had nothing to do with him. However, I wouldn't say that aloud. Instead, I replied, "I am his grandson. If our family needs Paper Figurines or Paper Horses for funeral arrangements, this shop can deliver."
He quickly shook his head and said, "No, my family doesn't need those things. Since you are Master Ma's grandson, can you catch ghosts?"
Hearing this, I couldn't help but stop the paper folding I was doing and turned to look at the person at the door. I saw that the newcomer was a middle-aged man in his thirties, dressed in a sharp dark suit and black leather shoes. Although he was well-dressed, his expression showed signs of fatigue, clearly indicating that he had been troubled by something recently. Then I looked at his forehead and noticed it was dark, suggesting that his luck was at an all-time low and he was heavily affected by negative energy; it seemed he truly was haunted.
Understanding this, I realized that this man had genuine troubles, so I put away my previous nonchalant demeanor and hurried to the table in front of him, inviting him to sit down.
Seeing my approach piqued his interest, he asked me, "Do you also catch ghosts?"
I nodded. Since he indeed seemed to be facing such issues, I wouldn't deliberately refuse him. So I replied, "Yes, Master Ma is my elder; everything he knows, I know too. Feel free to tell me your problems!"
Although I clearly told him that I could catch ghosts, perhaps he hesitated because of my young age. However, this hesitation lasted only a moment before he nodded and said, "Since you can catch ghosts, let me tell you what happened. Recently, my family has been haunted; we are all too scared to stay at home. Sigh!"
Listening to his helpless words and recalling what I had observed about his face earlier, I didn't doubt his claims. So I asked him, "Haunted at home? What exactly is happening? Have you seen that dirty thing?"
He replied, "I haven't seen it myself, but I have a child who often sees it; it's almost scared us to death."
Children are more likely to see things that normal people cannot because their spiritual covers have not fully formed and their minds are still relatively pure. For example, in rural areas, children often point to a certain place saying someone is there, but adults look over and see nothing. At this point, adults usually hurry to take the child away because they know the child has seen a ghost.
I said to the man, "Please tell me in detail about the haunting at your home over these past few days so that I can think of a solution and understand the cause."
The man nodded and began recounting the haunting incidents at his home...
It turned out that this man’s surname was Huang, and he lived in the city. He had bought his house several years ago; it was new and had never experienced any unusual occurrences until about a few months ago when strange things started happening.
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