Chapter 7: The Marriage of Shadows (Part 1)

  Nan San settled down in Lingjiao Village from then on. In order to take good care of this Taoist who could drive away evil spirits, the villagers naturally took good care of him. Who wouldn't want to use Nan San's skills to calculate their own fate? However, Nan San set a rule that he would only accept visits and calculate fortunes on the first and fifteenth days of each month. He did so for a reason - after all, fortune-telling was revealing heavenly secrets, and it couldn't be done casually. Therefore, he only helped villagers solve some illnesses and disasters.

  Second Uncle had a deep admiration for Nan San, and every two or three days he would invite him to drink tea and chat. He listened intently as Nan San shared strange stories from various places and explained some Taoist teachings. Before long, half a year had passed, and on Nan San's suggestion, Second Uncle joined forces with several influential villagers to discuss the issue of random grave construction. They eventually decided to put an end to it, which although offended some people, also happened to align with Old Ba Dao's views, and could be considered as having made amends with those above.

  But more importantly, Nan San said, "Feng shui has five advantages and disadvantages, namely Su Long, hole, sand, water, and direction. Therefore, it is called Feng Shui Qi, lacking one is not acceptable." So Nan San asked Er Shu to build a collective tomb, not only to gather the earth's energy, but also from the perspective of safety for Lingjiao Village.

  Perhaps it was Nan San's reputation that had gradually spread, and people from all over the countryside had heard that there was a Taoist priest in Lingjiao Village who was knowledgeable and skilled at a young age. Many people came to pay their respects, fortunately, Nan San was a generous host who welcomed everyone, as long as it didn't involve anything obscure, he was happy to help, which led to a strange incident. When talking about this strange incident, many people looked at Nan San with admiration.

  Why, it's just because this strange thing is a ghost marriage. I'm afraid people in big cities rarely hear about what a ghost marriage is all about, but for country folks, this ghost marriage is no joke. Not only must the rituals be sufficient, but also can't make any mistakes, otherwise the two families hosting the ghost marriage will suffer. And Nan San encountered just such a strange thing about a ghost marriage this time.

  It is said that the old man with the surname Wang from the neighboring village has been restless for days. Why? Because his son died, and it was an unexplained death. The son had just gotten married less than seven days ago and suddenly passed away. It's a pity that the old man hadn't even recovered from the joy of the wedding before he had to start arranging funeral affairs. It can be said that fate is playing tricks on people. Then, he heard that there was a powerful Taoist priest in Lingjiao Village, so he thought about asking him to divine the cause of his son's death.

  Then he found Nan San, explained the intention, and Nan San did not decline. He carefully inquired about the situation. It turned out that Old Man Wang had a son named Wang Yi Shui, and the story probably started from half a month ago. Wang Yi Shui was originally doing delivery business, specializing in sending goods for people. He was honest and kind-hearted, and many people liked him, but his appearance was not impressive. Over 30 years old, he still hadn't gotten married or established a career. Old Man Wang was worried about this, and just then, the village matchmaker introduced a woman named Li Shi. She was clever, pretty, and efficient. When Wang Yi Shui saw her, he was overjoyed, but he was afraid of being rejected, so he didn't dare to express his feelings. It was actually Li Shi who took the initiative, and the two quickly agreed to get married.

  It seems that many people would think this is a good thing, but it's not. Since Li entered the house, Wang Yishui has become like a different person, with a violent temper, often running out every two or three days, and at night, indecent sounds can be heard coming from his room. Old Man Wang also knew that they were sleeping together, but he just thought his son had changed his ways, so he didn't pay attention to it anymore. But gradually, things started to go wrong, Wang Yishui's body became weaker and weaker, until a week ago, he left this world.

  After Wang Lao said that, he let out a sigh of helplessness and Nan San fell into deep thought for a moment before asking: "Wang Lao, tell me your son's birth eight characters."

  The old king was still reeling from his grief, and it took him a long time to steady himself enough to write down the birthdate of Wang Yi on a piece of paper. Nan San took it over, brought out a bowl of clear water, two incense sticks, and a handful of glutinous rice. He placed the paper with Wang Yi's birthdate under the glutinous rice, then put it in the clear water. After lighting the incense, he muttered to himself for a moment, and suddenly the glutinous rice in the clear water turned black, and the black grains floated to the surface.

  Seeing this scene, Old Man Wang naturally couldn't understand it, but Nan San understood that the black glutinous rice represented something dirty. After calculating with his fingers, his face turned dark: "Old Man Wang, your son probably had a ghost marriage, no wonder he died within seven days."

  Old Wang's eyes widened in shock as he heard the cause of his son's death, and he couldn't believe it. It wasn't until San Nan confirmed it again that he calmed down, looking puzzled and saying, "My kid was fine, how could he possibly be a substitute for someone else's ghost marriage?"

  This matter was also beyond San's calculation. Since this was a bizarre death incident involving evil objects, he naturally couldn't just sit back and do nothing. So he packed up his gear and headed out with Old Man Wang. At the time, Second Uncle wasn't around; otherwise, given his fondness for excitement, he would have definitely tagged along.

  When San followed Wang to his home, he found a sturdy young man standing at the door of Wang's house, who looked a bit like Li Kui and had an intimidating air. As soon as he saw Wang, he anxiously came forward and said: "Wang Lao, where have you been? I've been looking for you for half a day without seeing your shadow, and I thought something was wrong."

  "What's going to happen? Isn't this about finding someone to take a look at what really killed the kid?" Old Man Wang then introduced Nan San, but when he saw that the young man named Xi Zhi furrowed his brow and sized up Nan San, his tone was somewhat aggressive: "I'm looking at you, Daoist, with your clear eyebrows and bright eyes. You're not thinking of cheating us honest country folk out of our money, are you?"

  Nan San didn't show any displeasure towards Xi Zhi's questioning. At his age, no matter where he went, his attire would always invite scrutiny, and he had grown accustomed to it. Moreover, he observed that this young man was rough around the edges, with a fiery temper, belonging to the fire element of the five elements, and having an irritable disposition was normal. Smiling, he said: "I don't collect your protection fees, what nonsense is this about cheating?"

  Naxi heard this and her face fell, Wang Lao also detected a hint of something off, so he smoothed things over, leading San into the inner room, pouring tea to show respect. After some polite conversation, San got straight to the point: "Wang Lao, take me to your son's house to have a look, and at the same time let's go see that Li Shi."

  Old Wang nodded and led Nan San and Xi Zhi towards the room of Wang Yi Shui. This Old Wang was quite a wealthy household, with a well-arranged house. Nan San had thought that Li Shi would still be inside at this time, but when they arrived, they found no one inside. Old Wang looked puzzled and hastily asked Xi Zhi if he had seen anyone, but saw him shake his head. Just as he was about to ask Nan San, he saw Nan San wave his hand to stop him and walk towards the bedside instead.

  Wang Lao and Xi Zhi were stunned, not understanding what Nan San was going to do, and could only watch quietly. After walking to the bedside, Nan San first reached out to touch the bedding for a while, picked up the pillow to observe it, and then called out to Xi Zhi: "Burn this pillow for me."

  Xi Zi didn't react, foolishly asking what was the point of burning it. Nan San shook his head, this matter wasn't something to be discussed with an insider, just like last time when he called Lao Ba to blast the stone statue. He had no choice but to take matters into his own hands, using a talisman to ignite the pillow, and then throwing it on the ground. Wang Lao Tou and Xi Zi were both holding their breath, staring at the burning pillow on the ground. After about a moment, all that was left was a pile of ashes, with only a few strands of red hair exposed.

  The two people on the side were surprised that the hair was not damaged in the fire, and Wang Lao said with a start: "Dao Chang, what's going on?"

  Nan San picked up the red hair and stared at it, sniffing at the tip of his nose: "This hair seems to have a fishy smell?"

  Xi Zi asked what was strange about the hair, he saw Nan San reveal a hand and was somewhat surprised, but still didn't quite believe that this young man had any great skills. He didn't want Wang Lao to be deceived, so he was wary of Nan San. Taking over the red hair, he sniffed it carefully and covered his nose, saying: "This smells strange, just like the stinky ditch in our village."

  Xizi's words made Nan San thoughtful. He stared at the red hair in his hand and shook his head, saying: "It seems we're too late, this Li family must have run away long ago."

  Wang Lao heard this and was shocked, hastily calling Xi Zai to go out and find her, but was stopped by Nan San. This Li Shi is a ghostly thing, relying on Xi Zai alone, it's impossible to find her.