Chapter 20: Performing Surgery on a Ghost

  I opened the iron box and looked at the yin-yang knife inside, hesitating. I'm not a doctor, I have no right to hold a surgical knife, let alone perform surgery on patients.

  "Hurry up." The red-clothed female ghost urged again.

  "I won't do the surgery." I said frankly. Growing up, I've only used a knife to chop firewood, and I haven't even killed a chicken before. Now you want me to use a knife to perform surgery on a ghost? I don't have any confidence in that at all.

  "It's easy," the red-clad female ghost encouraged me: "Just cut away the bad meat and it'll be fine."

  "...will hurt you..."

  "It's okay, I won't blame you."

  This sentence gave me courage, I moved my fingers and slowly took out the yin-yang knife. The yin-yang knife was made of unknown material, emitting a cold aura that made my hand tremble as I grasped it. After taking a deep breath, I looked at the black spot on the back of the red-clothed female ghost's shoulder and stiffly cut into it with the scalpel.

  The Yin-Yang blade, sharp as a razor, sliced through iron like mud. The moment it touched the red-clothed female ghost's skin, the blade had already entered her flesh. The red-clothed female ghost let out a low moan and her shoulders slightly trembled.

  I quickly sheathed the yin-yang knife and asked: "Does it hurt?"

  The red-clothed female ghost gnashed her teeth and said it didn't hurt.

  Since I've already made the first cut, I'm no longer afraid of the second one. I tightly grasped the yin-yang knife and slashed down around the black spot, just like cutting tofu. The red-clothed female ghost remained with her back to me, her face unseen, but I could feel her body constantly trembling. My whole body was drenched in cold sweat, so I took a deep breath and cut off that piece of rotten flesh. With a loud "pa" sound, as the flesh fell, my hand shook, and the yin-yang knife also fell to the ground, accompanied by a stench of corpse gas!

  I wasn't in a hurry to pick up the yin-yang knife, it was too cold. I found that my hand had already been frozen completely red and seemed to have lost all sensation. What surprised me was that although a piece of flesh had been cut off from her body, there was no bleeding. I was shocked, suddenly, at the wound, a blackness emerged, and a dark mass flowed out!

  It wasn't until five seconds later that blood flowed out, and her blood was actually black!

  "Hmph!" With a single sound, the red-clothed female ghost sat down on the ground, her head hung low, her jet-black hair covering her entire head like a stone, motionless.

  "Hey?" I was startled, she looked too scary, wouldn't she have fainted from the pain? I took a glance at her wound, which was still bleeding, and the dark blood was slowly flowing down like water from her back shoulder to her lower back, staining her red jacket black.

  "Does it hurt?" I asked again.

  She didn't move and didn't respond to me.

  I didn't dare to touch her, carefully picked up the yin-yang knife and gently placed it in the iron box, then put the iron box into my pocket. I whispered: "The operation is complete, I'm leaving." After finishing speaking, I retreated backwards, suddenly, the red-clothed female ghost's clothes slid up, covering her exposed shoulder, her black hair moved slightly, and slowly began to shake, as if blown by a strong wind. My heart inexplicably tensed up, my eyes fixed on the red-clothed female ghost, unable to move away for a moment, my feet seemed to be rooted to the ground, unable to take a step forward.

  At last, the red-clad female ghost's head moved. Slowly, it turned back. My heart also tightened along with it, and I subconsciously reached into my pocket to grab the yin-yang knife. When her head finally turned around, under the faint light, she had disheveled hair, a face as white as paper, and both eyes tightly shut, as if still in a dream...

  Was she in so much pain that she couldn't speak and even closed her eyes?

  Suddenly, she opened her eyelids, and my heart sank abruptly. Her eyes seemed to be filled with fresh blood, bright red... And her hand slowly rose up...

  "Knife!" A shout came from behind, and in a flash, the wooden house disappeared. I found myself standing amidst a stack of dry hay, with a mound of raised earth beside me. Without looking, I knew it was a grave.

  I heard footsteps behind me, I turned around to see Wu Lele coming towards me. I was startled and quickly regained my composure, asking her what brought her here too. Wu Lele said: "Didn't you say you were going to the restroom? I saw that you hadn't come back for a long time, so I thought you fell into the toilet!" I felt extremely annoyed, calmly saying that I saw the moonlight was nice tonight and wanted to come out to clear my mind. Then I looked around in all directions, not seeing any sign of the red-clothed female ghost, urging Wu Lele to hurry back.

  Fortunately, Wu Lele didn't ask again. After returning home, she asked me if I was afraid to sleep because she was in my room, so I wandered outside. I couldn't explain it to her, so I randomly agreed. Wu Lele then pushed open the door of the room where my mother slept and reminded me with concern: "Sleep well, don't run around again."

  I feel warm in my heart.

  I didn't sleep for the rest of the night, my eyes occasionally gazing out the window, afraid that the red-clothed female ghost would come looking for me again. Until dawn broke, she didn't appear, and I felt relieved, only then slowly falling asleep.

  When I woke up, it was already noon on the second day. Wu Lele had left and my mother was killing a chicken. I said there were no guests today, why kill a chicken? My mother said this chicken is for me to eat, saying that I'm weak and need nourishment. Who said I'm weak? This made me very depressed. My mother said it was Wu Lele who said so.

  How did she know I was lying? Where did she see it from? Was it because I didn't sleep with her last night?

  My mother said that Dahei woke up, and asked me to go take a look. I was very surprised and asked her how he woke up. My mother said that his cousin, who is a doctor, came to their house and gave Dahei an injection, and then he woke up.

  Isn't it said that Da Hei's soul was lost? How did a single needle manage to sew his soul back on?

  I came to Dahei's house in a daze, and indeed there was a guest at his house. He was very thin, wore glasses, and looked like he was in his thirties. Without thinking, I guessed that he must be Dahei's older cousin. After Dahei's mother introduced us with a smile, I went inside to see Dahei.

  This kid was still lying in bed, with a pale complexion and a malnourished look. I said you finally woke up, where did your soul go fishing during this time? Dahei moved his lips weakly and said: "I went to a very dark place, later I heard you calling me, and I followed the sound of your voice back."

  It sounds so mysterious, I don't know if it's true or false.

  My brother came in at this time, I said isn't Dahai's soul lost? How did you wake him up? My brother sneered: "What lost soul? It's simply nonsense. Dahai was just frightened and fainted due to heart attack caused by blood pressure. I gave him an injection and he's fine."

  A simple injection would be enough…… how lightly it was written off. I suddenly felt a sense of loss, if it were really so, then Li Shennu wouldn't be as legendary as he's made out to be, and there'd be suspicion of deception and pretending to be a god. And all my efforts with Dahei, including inviting Zhong Ling'er and entering the cave, would have been in vain.

  If one day you find out that all your efforts are in vain, will you have a feeling of being extremely annoyed and having no way to vent?

  After several days of dullness, Da Hei's body slowly recovered and regained its former vitality. I mentioned to him the incident where he hanged himself with Huang Pizi, but he said he knew nothing about it, feeling as if he had just woken up from a dream. In the dream, he saw a place shrouded in mist, unable to find his way, until he heard my call and was able to dispel the clouds and emerge from the confusion.

  I think he might have really lost his soul, and gone to the place between the world of humans and the underworld, but then it's said that I led him out of darkness back into the human world, which I just can't explain, because I never even called out to him.

  These days, Wu Lele often comes to my house to play. She seems to have a crush on me, and as for me, how should I put it? I think she is just as beautiful as Zhong Ling'er, but she lacks something that Zhong Ling'er has - elegance. However, I am curious about Wu Lele due to the changes after her illness. Her knowledge is vast, and she even possesses supernatural powers. Although I don't rule out the possibility that she's just trying to fool me, in some aspects, she's indeed different from ordinary girls. So, I neither like nor dislike her, ultimately forming an ambiguous feeling that can't be put into words.

  In just over ten days, my father and Li Shennu still hadn't returned. My mother and I had called each other several times, but the phone always said that the other party's mobile phone was turned off.

  Half a month has passed and my father still hasn't returned, my mother and I are getting anxious. Firstly, we're worried about Father's safety, secondly, we're worried about my tuition fees. I received the university admission letter, it's a pretty good university, the annual tuition fee is around 20,000 yuan, but my family... to be honest, is really poor. I don't know what happened to my parents over the years, other people's families are building new houses and installing air conditioning and modern equipment, while our home is empty and bare.

  I've only heard that Daoist priests are often very poor, as the saying goes: "At the gate of a Daoist temple, there's always someone coming and going." But my father was a shaman doctor who treated ghosts' illnesses - what a formidable role! How could he be so poor?

  No choice, my mother had to go to relatives' homes to borrow money. Borrowed from several families in a row, borrowed only a few thousand yuan.

  If my father doesn't come back and give me tuition fees in a few days, I won't be able to continue my university studies.

  This evening, thinking about the tuition fees, I was at a loss for what to do and couldn't sleep. As I was tossing and turning on my bed, suddenly, there came a faint sound from outside the door.