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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 16: Ghost Month Taboos (Part Six)
I used Hou Dewen's Ba Zi not for fortune-telling, but to calculate auspiciousness and inauspiciousness. Knowing full well that he would ultimately die due to Causality, I still found myself in a dilemma, trying to uncover flaws in the Ba Zi to save his life.
What I didn’t expect was that this calculation revealed a problem. Facing Hou Dequie, I ignored Chi Xinrong and Qin Jian, and seriously asked, “Was your cousin born on a stormy night? He was born to bring misfortune to his family; he should have no family, no parents. Why are you lying?”
Hou Dequie exchanged glances with others, scratching his head anxiously, his face turning a deep shade of purple. He hurriedly explained, “What I just said was actually about my family situation. The one injured on the ground is my wife; she was terrified. I was only gone for a few minutes to buy some paper. When I returned, she was lying on the ground, and my cousin was unconscious. The reason I lied is that I didn’t want him to get into trouble. I intended to partner with my cousin in business; he has ideas and a group of people.”
I scoffed, “I’m afraid that’s not the case. Think carefully and tell me honestly—what else is there that isn’t clear?” My words exposed Hou Dequie’s lies, leaving Qin Jian and Chi Xinrong astonished, their mouths slightly agape as they struggled to interject.
I gestured for them to remain silent and focused all my attention on Hou Dequie.
After a moment of hesitation, he stammered, “The truth is, not long ago an old Taoist priest came to our village. He specifically mentioned that my cousin is our family’s lucky star but warned of a calamity approaching. He must help my cousin overcome this tribulation, so he’s been staying in the old house where our father lived. He told us that my cousin must not encounter any trouble before the fifteenth of July; we must ensure he safely returns home by then. If anything happens to him, our family will be doomed.”
“An old Taoist priest? What does he look like?”
“He’s tall and thin, quite frightening. The children in our village cry when they see him.”
Tall and thin with a frightening appearance—I thought carefully about it, and a face suddenly jumped into my mind. Could it be him? I pressed further, “What’s his full name? Do you know?”
Hou Dequie pondered seriously for a moment before replying, “His name is Li Gui.”
Li Gui—Li Gui; same pronunciation but different characters—could it be the missing Li Gui? If it really is Li Gui causing trouble, then we have a serious problem.
I asked again, “What did he bring when he came to your house? Where did he stay? Who had contact with him?”
“He acts strangely and is unpredictable. He requested a room alone and didn’t allow anyone to approach him closely; he just liked being alone in that room tinkering with a coffin…”
Qin Jian and Chi Xinrong looked at me in shock. I whispered, “A coffin? Did you see it?”
Hou Dequie swallowed hard, his voice slightly louder than before as he straightened his back deliberately. "It's what I saw," he said.
The coffin was a necessary tool for the Evil Sorcerer, and this sorcerer was associated with a fearsome ghost. Such a ghost required a strong resentment to manifest, and I was confident that there hadn't been any major incidents in the area recently, nor had any children died due to malicious events.
Was Hou Dewen really seeking revenge for Yuyaya? Why did Li Gui want him to return home before the fifteenth of July?
I fell into deep thought when nurses and doctors came by, glancing at us before heading to the intensive care unit. I heard someone call out for Hou Dequie, and he responded, going to disinfect himself and put on special clothing before following them into the ICU.
Outside, it was just me, Qin Jian, and Chi Xinrong. The latter asked anxiously, "Is something going to happen to Ma Qi?"
I nodded, addressing both Qin Jian and Chi Xinrong. "You two split up. Chi Xinrong, do whatever it takes to find the remaining list of bystanders; you can't post notices, so keep it low-key." Then I turned to Qin Jian. "You go to Ten-Mile Temple and look for someone named Qin Ye. I need his assistance."
After all, Qin Jian was still a novice in these matters. He asked calmly, "But we didn't find anyone last time we went to Ten-Mile Temple. What if we come up empty again?"
"How will you know the outcome if you don't try? I believe this time you'll be successful."
Qin Jian nodded seriously. "Then I'll give it a shot."
"You can't just give it a shot; you must be sincere."
Qin Jian smiled faintly. "Alright, no need to ramble on. I don’t like that." Then he paused and asked, "What will you do after we leave?"
"I'll wait here for an old friend." After delegating tasks, I realized there was one more thing I needed help with but didn't know who to ask. Then I remembered Fatty. I quickly called him and found out he was at the shop doing nothing but reading a magazine. I sent him the address that Qin Jian had given me last time via text message, asking him to meet Yuyaya's parents for verification regarding another question that lingered in my mind.
With everyone else busy with their tasks, I was left alone at the scene.
I focused all my attention on Hou Dewen in the ICU, closely monitoring the corridor leading there and every slight movement around me. What seemed like a chaotic scene formed a clear picture in my mind that only I could understand.
As I sat quietly, a sudden thought struck me: the footage I had seen in the Hongqiao Supermarket's Market Management Department was definitely not a coincidence or an accidental occurrence. Fortunately, I had captured that incident on my phone.
I took out my phone and unlocked the screen, zooming in. A sharp, thin skull face appeared on my phone screen, its slightly upturned lips forming a terrifying smile. The old man, meticulously dressed and squatting on the ground, was none other than Li Gui. The white object in his hand was indeed a steamed bun!
The thought of him dipping the bun in blood on the ground to refine Evil Spirits sent a chill down my spine.
How could I not have thought of this? So many things could be related to this Li Gui lurking in the shadows.
Yuyaya had met an unfortunate end, with passersby doing nothing and vehicles continuously running her over. These were all facts that contributed to her resentment. Li Gui used buns dipped in blood for the purpose of refining Evil Spirits!
Everything became clear as two voices began to debate in my mind. One said, "Dipping buns in blood to extract resentment and create Evil Spirits is extremely dangerous. If that's the case, then things are serious."
The other voice replied, "There's no use in rushing; we need to calm down and wait for good news from our allies."
As the two voices quieted, I closed my eyes slightly and connected the dots between Li Gui's actions with the buns, Yuyaya, and Hou Dewen. This was another one of Li Gui's sinister schemes. He intended to use Evil Spirits against those who passed by without intervening and kill them, thereby greatly increasing the energy of Evil Spirits. Ultimately, he aimed to create an army of Evil Spirits that would clear all obstacles for him. Hou Dewen was another pawn of Li Gui's; if I wasn't mistaken, he wanted to use Hou Dewen as a living medium to open a passage to hell and release even more malevolent Evil Spirits during the Ghost Festival month—spirits that had suffered torture in the Eighteen Layers of Hell—to serve his bidding. He sought to create human disasters, wanting more people to seek help and bow down under his tyrannical control, satisfying his one-sided desire for madness.
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