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墨書 Inktalez
After leaving the school, I accompanied Shangguan Mingyue to meet her very generous sponsor from last time.
We waited for half an hour at the agreed location before the sponsor finally arrived, running towards us, panting heavily.
The man, short and plump, appeared to be around forty years old. He stopped in front of us and, noticing me, kept sizing me up without saying a word.
Shangguan Mingyue introduced me, “Boss Wang, this is my junior sister. Your family’s situation this time is quite troublesome, so I brought a helper. Don’t let her youth fool you; she has defeated countless Evil Spirits. Even the Inside Man souls would turn back upon seeing her.”
Shangguan Mingyue was exaggerating my abilities. She kept signaling me with her eyes to stay silent while I stood coldly to the side.
To my surprise, Boss Wang became polite upon seeing my demeanor, smiling apologetically as he said, “Thank you, Shangguan Daozhang, for your great assistance. The reason I’m late today is that my son fell ill again. I hope you can help.”
I noticed that Shangguan Mingyue was standing silently, which puzzled me. Just a moment ago, she was urging me to hurry up. Why was she suddenly so calm in front of the main person?
It wasn’t until Boss Wang pulled out a stack of cash from his bag and handed it to Shangguan Mingyue that she became serious and asked him to lead the way. So it was all about the money.
On the way there, Shangguan Mingyue briefed me on the family’s situation: Boss Wang had bought a haunted house, which had caused his family unrest. They initially wanted to move out but then dreamed of someone threatening to kill their entire family if they did. After several twists and turns, they found Shangguan Mingyue.
As we stood at the entrance of the Wang residence, I caught a whiff of a foul odor from afar.
Looking at the house, I furrowed my brows, feeling an uneasy sensation creeping in.
Seeing my reaction, both of them stopped in their tracks. Boss Wang seemed hesitant to speak and nudged Shangguan Mingyue to say something. “Yan Xi, what’s wrong?”
“Boss Wang, this is your home?”
Boss Wang nodded blankly.
I scoffed, "Who exactly has a grudge against you, Boss Wang, to sell you a house like this?"
Boss Wang looked at me with a face full of despair, but he didn’t respond.
It was Shangguan Mingyue who curiously asked, "Yan Xi, what's wrong with this house?"
Shangguan Mingyue only understood some Taoist principles and couldn’t see anything unusual. Growing up in the countryside, my grandfather wasn’t a Taoist priest, but he was known for reading feng shui for people in the village, so I could discern some things.
"This house has its yin and yang reversed. It faces south but opens to the north, which is bad enough, but the main issue is those two big locust trees right in front of the entrance. Locust trees are also known as ghost trees; they are infamous for being ominous. Planting two big locust trees at your front door is like inviting spirits to come to your home."
Boss Wang seemed to deflate at my words. He stepped closer to me, almost kneeling, with a pleading expression on his face. "Great Master, what should I do? Please help me this time."
I wasn’t used to such scenes and replied coldly, "Let’s go inside first and see what’s going on. Those locust trees look quite old; their roots have already embedded deep below. It won’t be easy to resolve this."
Seeing my demeanor, Boss Wang hurriedly ushered us inside.
Once we entered the house, I finally understood where the heavy smell of blood was coming from.
Inside sat three people: an elderly man with white hair, a woman with a sallow complexion, and a boy with a fierce expression.
The woman leaned weakly against the sofa with fresh blood at the corners of her mouth. There was a basin by her feet filled with blood she had just coughed up.
The old man sat in a rattan chair beside her, tending to the boy and occasionally wiping away tears from his face.
The most terrifying sight was that boy; in front of him was a basin filled with the fresh blood of half a slaughtered cow. Yet he had no strength; he held half the cow in his mouth and gnawed at it, his face smeared with blood—an utterly chilling scene.
As we arrived, everyone in the living room looked at us warily, and the boy had a strange smile on his lips.
"Please, I beg you two masters," Boss Wang said, turning to us.
Shangguan Mingyue whispered in my ear, "That boy is still eating beef. I can guarantee that within three days, he will start eating human flesh. Luckily, we came early; otherwise, this family would be doomed."
Suddenly, the boy threw away the beef in his hand and grabbed a bowl from the table, hurling it in our direction.
He shouted, "Get them out! Get them out!"
Seeing that no one reacted, the boy jumped down from his chair and knelt on the ground, repeatedly banging his head against it while cursing, "Let them go, or I'll die!"
The old man was so frightened that he hurriedly tried to lift the child, but he couldn't match the boy's strength. He could only shout at Boss Wang, "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and take them away! Do you want to watch my grandson die?"
No one expected this turn of events. Boss Wang looked troubled as he glanced at us and said, "Masters, could you please step aside for a moment?"
Shangguan Mingyue replied, "No need."
Then she rushed toward the boy with a stack of talismans and quickly affixed one to his forehead.
In an instant, the boy fainted and collapsed into his grandfather's arms.
The old man was startled and wanted to remove the talisman, but I noticed him. I quickly shouted at him, "Old man, don’t move! If you do, your grandson's life is over."
The old man's hand froze in mid-air as he stared blankly at me.
Boss Wang, still shaken, rushed over and knelt before Shangguan Mingyue, pleading, "Master, what happened to my son? Please tell me!"
"The Evil Spirit saw us coming and wanted to threaten you with your son's life to drive us away. So I used a talisman to bind this Evil Spirit. Don't worry, your son is safe for now."
Just as I finished saying that your son was safe, the woman, who had been lying weakly, suddenly stood up and spat out a mouth ful of blood.
I rushed over to her, using the Soul Calming Technique I learned from my books to tap on both sides of her temples, helping to stabilize her spirit.
The woman was too weak; her soul was nearly being forced out of her body by the Evil Spirit within, which was why she had been under such control.
The sudden change almost caused Boss Wang to collapse.
I helped Boss Wang support his wife while calling for the old man to bring over his grandson.
Seeing the old man struggling, I quickly went to assist him. To my surprise, the boy was much heavier than he looked. He weighed as much as an adult, no wonder the old man was having a hard time; even with my help, we could barely drag him away.
Although my Soul Calming Technique could help the woman settle down, since I was still a beginner and lacked sufficient spiritual power, I would need to get a talisman made specifically for her from Shangguan Mingyue.
I noticed something strange and asked Boss Wang, "Have you or the old man experienced anything unusual?"
Boss Wang shook his head. "The only ones sick in the house are my wife and son. My father and I have never had any issues. I did have a strange dream once."
"What kind of dream?" I pressed.
"I dreamed of a strange woman one night. She had a human upper body but a snake-like lower body. Then she told me that if I dared to move away, she would kill my entire family."
After hearing Boss Wang's account, both Shangguan Mingyue and I were left puzzled. A woman with a human upper body and a snake lower body—could this be related to the Snake Spirit?
It was too bizarre; it seemed almost impossible.
Shangguan Mingyue leaned closer to me, speaking in a voice only the two of us could hear.
"Yan Xi, this house is too strange. As soon as I entered, I felt a strong Yin Qi. There's also an overwhelming sense of Resentment, which is normal for a haunted house, but I can even smell something akin to demonic energy. Is there anything in that book of yours about this? After all these years wandering the world, I've never heard of such demons."
The ancient book Liu Qingfeng gave me contained methods for exorcising ghosts in its first half, while the latter half focused on Feng Shui.
Right now, I could only see about three pages of content, and regarding this demonic energy, I had never even heard of it.
However, I knew from the moment I stepped into this house that something was off; it was definitely not as simple as the two locust trees at the entrance.
I asked Shangguan Mingyue, "Why are it the women and children who are affected? Logically, the elderly should be the weakest; why haven’t they been harmed?"
Shangguan Mingyue was just as puzzled but told me she had a plan.
She then instructed Boss Wang to fetch what she needed.
Boss Wang hurried off to gather a bag of items: a jar of Black Dog Blood, a bag of white Glutinous Rice, a packet of Cinnabar Powder, and finally, a jar of Sanbai liquor.
I asked Shangguan Mingyue what she intended to do with all this—was she planning some kind of ritual?
She replied, "I'm going to summon a Great Ghost to ask some questions. It might take some time to complete this; you’ll need to step up and keep the spirits at bay."
"Me? You can't be serious! I'm not an exorcist; how can I handle this?"
Shangguan Mingyue looked at me earnestly. "Yan Xi, this family's lives depend on you. You must hold your ground."
In that instant, I felt the weight of responsibility settle heavily on my shoulders; five lives rested in my hands along with Shangguan Mingyue's.
I handed the talismans given to me by Shangguan Mingyue to each member of the Wang family, instructing them that no matter what they saw next, they must not speak or move; otherwise, they would all lose their lives.
The Wang family members nodded vigorously, clearly frightened, and assured me that they would absolutely not dare to move recklessly.
Shangguan Mingyue set up the ritual altar and took out the Peach Wood Sword, igniting the talismans which began to flutter in the air.
She chanted Taoist scriptures under her breath, dressed in green robes, her figure moving swiftly as she danced.
After Shangguan Mingyue instructed me to sprinkle the glutinous rice, once I finished scattering three handfuls, the incense candles on the altar began to burn down rapidly.
The smoke that emerged did not rise straight; instead, it formed rings like those exhaled by a man smoking—flickering and swirling in circles.
My heart raced with tension, and I held my breath as it thumped loudly in my chest. It was my first time witnessing a summoning ritual, filled with both curiosity and fear.
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