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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 144: Ghost Month Taboos (Part 24)
"Don't panic. It was my oversight. She died just as I was calling you. Her family kept hanging up the phone. Now that I think about it, that must have been her final struggle at the edge of death, unable to wait for my rescue."
"She must have died in a terrifying way."
"It's so scary. Just a moment ago, we were sitting together eating hot pot, but strangely, she didn't eat a single bite; she just sat there inhaling through her nose."
"Thinking back on it now, it's truly frightening. She was completely cold, without any warmth."
Faced with their hindsight, I was at a loss for words. I had not been in close contact with them, so I didn't know the details. Now they were recalling what had just happened, each trying to speak over the other, which was genuinely annoying.
What should I do about Mi? What kind of person is she really? Can one discern that someone is not human just by looking at them, or is it something only observable through subtle details?
Mi seemed to notice me staring at her. With her hands behind her back, she playfully smiled at me and said, "It's because she has no shadow." This was so unlike Mi—no shadow and not afraid at all, yet quietly telling me that one of them was not human.
The current situation left me no time to ponder further. Checking the time, it was nine forty-two.
"Mi, you take care of the love candles. The heart in the Bagua Formation represents the love candles. The survivors on the Blacklist will sit around the love candles, and we will place a statue of Amitabha Buddha above them. I remember Qin Jian told me Yuyaya's birth date; she is a dog in the zodiac, and her guardian is Amitabha Buddha. If successful, Yuyaya's spirit will appear here, and Amitabha Buddha will protect her from being disturbed by Li Gui. Each survivor on the Blacklist will hold a copy of the Supernatural Scriptures and continuously chant for Yuyaya."
Uncle Zhang and I gathered the children's toys that Mi collected and made our way toward Cobblestone Street.
The night was pitch black, with a chilly breeze cutting through my neck. Rows of decorative street lamps stood like still, slender monsters, watching our every move with keen eyes.
The compass in my hand felt heavy as lead; it was eerily calm here, giving off an impression of a silent void.
If I wasn't mistaken, due to the presence of Li Gui, all spirits on Cobblestone Street were too afraid to act recklessly. Li Gui was an Evil Sorcerer; he could manipulate spirits and also consume them to enhance the energy of Evil Spirits.
One sentence: Li Gui is nothing but a monster.
As we reached the midpoint of Cobblestone Street, a powerful dark aura pressed down upon us.
Uncle Zhang, despite being prepared, still felt something was off. First, Grandpa's Tablet was attacked, and with a sharp crack, it split into two pieces.
"How could this happen?" Uncle Zhang muttered under his breath. I felt anxious as well; Grandpa was an exceptional Mortician, unmatched in his skills. It seemed he had been careless and fell for Li Gui's sinister trick. Even so, the Tablet, which had been nourished daily by the Spirit Energy of the land, shouldn't have been so easily shattered!
Li Gui did not appear; it merely shattered Grandpa's Tablet as a warning to me. Later, I learned that it was Uncle Zhang's mischievous grandson who had taken Grandpa's Tablet to play with it, resulting in its accidental breakage. His wife, fearing her father-in-law's wrath, tried to glue it back together, but it was utterly useless.
I remembered my first visit to Cobblestone Street, the events that transpired, the sounds I heard, and the words on the sign.
Rising Sun Floor — Hell Gate Arcade.
"Here, in hell," I said as I stopped in my tracks. I took out the Paper Man, formed a hand seal to cast a spell, and blew on the Paper Man: "Grant you life, return you to innocence, play freely, and return at the hour of the rabbit." I released my grip, and the Paper Man fell to the ground with laughter and playful sounds.
Fatty stared in awe, while Uncle Zhang looked utterly dumbfounded.
This was the ultimate technique Grandpa had taught me: the Paper Man Technique.
"Mask your presence and hide aside." I placed concealment talismans on both Uncle Zhang and Fatty. They crouched in the shadows; with their presence masked, they were unlikely to be detected by any Spirit.
I pinched a Soul Absorbing Talisman between my fingers. As soon as Yuyaya's Evil Spirit emerged, the Soul Absorbing Talisman would strike while the Dao Bottle stood ready; she wouldn't be able to escape.
I believed that right now, Li Gui was also casting spells before the Altar, hurriedly refining malevolent energy to control the Evil Spirit.
The sounds of playful antics were loud, and Li Gui would not perform Evil Arts in these houses; instead, he should be unable to hear the commotion from the dark basement.
Another reason Li Gui underestimated us was the rumors surrounding this road throughout history.
I thought that Mi had already started the game.
The one reciting scriptures was chanting, while Mi was calling out Yuyaya's name.
If she were to call out Yuyaya, the pure Spirit untouched by Evil Arts, then the Evil Spirit would inevitably fall apart.
In fact, every person has a pure soul tree since birth, but as they grow up, environmental factors influence them, leading to the gradual loss of purity and a shift towards evil; this is what later becomes the Heart Demon.
I was confident I could deal with Li Gui because three-year-old Yuyaya had not yet been severely affected by environmental factors; her heart remained pure and flawless. However, Li Gui intended to exploit her resentment after death to refine her into an Evil Spirit to harm others.
Mi was calling out for Yuyaya.
A lively group of Paper Dolls was playing merrily.
Fatty, Uncle Zhang, and I crouched in the shadows, our legs numb from squatting, yet we still hadn't seen the Evil Spirit emerge. An impatient Fatty muttered, "Brother Qi, do you think it won't come tonight? We might as well go home and get some sleep."
"Shut up and sleep your ass off," I cursed quietly, mindful of Uncle Zhang's presence and refraining from further insults.
"Look!" Uncle Zhang's alert made both Fatty and me tense up. We saw a chubby girl with white skin and braided pigtails giggling as she crawled out from the dark window of Hell Gate Arcade. Without hesitation, she rushed towards the paper children who were playing.
Now she was an Evil Spirit. Seeing the paper children, she didn't care about anything else; she grabbed one of the bouncing paper children and bit down. The paper child let out a startled cry as it revealed its true form—a mere piece of paper.
The Evil Spirit bared its sharp, dark teeth and lunged at the other Paper Dolls.
In the midst of the chaos, I brandished the Soul Absorbing Talisman. Chanting the incantation, I formed the hand seals, but the Evil Spirit remained motionless, casting a disdainful glare at me.
The Soul Absorbing Talisman was ineffective against her.
I couldn't panic! I bit my tongue and quickly scribbled a few strokes, aiming the Soul Absorbing Talisman once more at the Evil Spirit.
Feeling threatened, the Evil Spirit turned to flee.
If anyone has ever watched a soccer match, the speed at which the Evil Spirit ran was akin to that of a bouncing soccer ball, darting toward the dark window. In a split second, someone burst forth from the shadows and grabbed hold of the Evil Spirit, blocking her from returning inside.
My heart leaped into my throat: "Don't..." But my shout came too late; he was bitten hard by the Evil Spirit, blood gushing from his neck like a fountain.
I gasped, "Uncle Zhang." Spitting out blood and saliva toward the Dao Bottle, I urgently recited, "I am the eye, pursuing the form. Eyes like thunder and lightning, illuminating all directions, revealing demons—submit now! Taishang Laojun, Urgent Command! Collect—"
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