Chapter Thirteen: Nightly Return of the Soul

  The funeral went relatively smoothly, with no unexpected incidents.

  Just as everyone was gradually forgetting about it, something happened again. It happened on the seventh night, Wang's sister followed her master's instructions and closed the door early to rest in her room. However, when she fell asleep halfway through the night, she felt a person pressing down on her body. This scared her terribly...!

  "I wanted to struggle, but I didn't have any strength left in my body. Finally, I forced myself to open my eyes. In a daze, I saw the deceased grandfather-in-law. He was pressing down on me with a very sinister smile." Wang Jia's sister-in-law said, her face pale as she held a teacup and sat across from me and Master.

  "You see your husband oppressing you, and then what?" The master stretched out his right hand, using his index finger and thumb to pick up the tea cup on the tea table, took a light sip and asked.

  "Then he started touching..." Wang Jia's sister said up to here, a faint blush appeared on her pale face.

  "This old lecher!" I said with some indignation, slapping the tea table.

  "Hmmph!" The old master seemed somewhat displeased with me for stealing his lines and cleared his throat at me.

  "What brings you to our humble abode today?" Master Wang tapped his fingers on the tea table a few times, looking up at Mrs. Wang and asking. This matter not only involved ghostly affairs but also the Wang family's internal business. Master Wang had to get to the bottom of it before making a decision - whether to help or not. After all, even if Old Man Wang had become a ghost, he was still their own family's ghost. If things didn't go well, they'd end up with nothing but resentment after putting in the effort, and that wouldn't be good!

  "I, I just want to trouble Mao Daozhang and Miao Miao Daozhang. Help me get him away, let him not come to disturb me again." After hesitating for a moment, Wang Jia's wife finally summoned up the courage to express her thoughts.

  "Does your husband know about this?" Master asked again.

  "I didn't dare tell him, Master Dao, you don't know, my husband is a big filial son. If he finds out, not only will he not come to ask for your help, but he might even make me rely on his father more." Wang Jia's wife said helplessly, looking at me and Master Dao. She was at her wit's end with this old man of hers. In the past when her father-in-law was alive, all matters were decided by him. A 30-something-year-old man still acted like a child who hadn't been weaned, not daring to make any decisions about big or small matters in the family. If Wang Jia's wife wasn't fond of his honesty, she would have probably divorced him long ago.

  "Don't tell him, and don't say anything when you get back. You can also rest assured that his father won't come to bother you again for a while. Let's go to your house on the seventh of July." The master nodded and instructed Wang Jia's wife.

  After the fair-skinned and charming Wang's sister-in-law left, I asked Master, why wait until Qi Qi, Er Qi that day to collect the old devil, isn't it better?

  Master listened to the end, angrily knocked on my head full of bandages, and then twisted my ears and said: "The seventh day is the night of returning souls. Only on this day can those ghosts who have not yet fulfilled their wishes come back and take a look. During the period of those seven days, they cannot return. But this old lecher is different. I reckon his wish is to be with Wang's daughter-in-law. His son is also filial, so during this time, he must have burned a lot of paper money for him. Have you heard a saying? Money can make ghosts push mills. I think that old thing will definitely use money to bribe the ghostly officials and let it come back once more on the last seventh day."

  "Oh, let's seize this opportunity and teach it a lesson? But Master, what if it doesn't come back?" I asked with a hint of uncertainty. As soon as I finished asking, another package appeared on my head.

  "Not coming back? Isn't it better if he doesn't come back? We'll also save some trouble, and Wang's daughter-in-law won't know whether that old devil has returned or not. Even if he hasn't returned, we can just say he did, but was chased away by us. Will her gratitude be any less then? When will you be able to take over as the master? How come your brain is so dull?" The master lit a cigarette from a pack of Aesma and said.

  Although I was beaten painfully, I had to admire my master. The old goods were calculated to be tightly linked, and the old lecher couldn't escape. Although I had some affection for Wang's sister in my heart, those tickets emitting ink fragrance attracted me even more!

  "Hey! Mengmeng, are you going for a run?" It's another sunny morning, I put on my bright red sportswear and ran along the stone road in town as usual. The small town is not big, from head to toe it's just one street. So everyone doing business on the street knows me. Because my appearance is indeed handsome, everyone is also happy to chat with me for a few sentences. Someone asked, why wear bright red sportswear instead of others? I'll tell you, because the sportswear sold in town only has two colors! One is bright red and one is green! Which one would you choose?

  "What a pity, such a handsome young man, how did he become a Taoist priest?" An old lady was squatting in the corner of the house washing the toilet while shaking her head and sighing at me.

  "Hehe, Auntie, I can get married too!" Chatting with these neighbors for a few sentences every day is my essential course. So, I explained to that aunt in a very casual tone. As soon as the words came out, they immediately caused the surrounding big girls and young wives to giggle uncontrollably. Those flirtatious glances also swept in from all directions. Of course, there were also a few murderous glances mixed in. Hmm, okay! Actually, at that time, I was the Professor of Doushan Town!

  The town of Mao Shan did not have any industrial workshops, and at that time, tourism development had not yet reached that area. Therefore, the air quality was still very good. Running along the stone road, I quickly left the town. Outside the town were fields of crops, one after another, neatly arranged on both sides of the road. The gentle morning breeze brought a hint of grassy scent. The air was humid and the smells mixed in it were fresh and pleasant. Flocks of birds flew overhead, chirping away, sometimes forming a line, sometimes forming a human shape. They chased each other around, carefree and worry-free.

  "Master, it's congee with fried dough sticks again!" I said with a pout after running around the town and returning home to find that Master had already prepared breakfast. Looking at the congee and fried dough sticks on the stone table in the courtyard, I couldn't help but feel a bit fed up. After all, even good food can get boring after two or three meals, let alone something as plain as congee with fried dough sticks.

  "If you have something to eat, just eat it, don't be picky. Otherwise, can you make a breakfast for your master tomorrow morning?" The master lifted the hem of his robe and tied it around his waist, casually grabbing a fried dough stick to chew on.

  "Business has been poor lately, being able to have plain porridge and fried dough sticks is already not bad." After a while, Master put down his bowl and chopsticks and said to me.

  "It's also good, the town hasn't had many deaths recently." I swept the remaining pickled vegetables into my bowl and responded to Master with big mouthfuls of porridge. As the saying goes, a half-grown kid can eat his old man out of house and home. Master's income from doing rituals for the dead was indeed barely enough to make ends meet.

  "Shh, keep your voice down! Let's not let others hear that we're still lingering around here. I've lived in Mao Shan since I was young, and every blade of grass and tree has deep emotional significance to me! Not to mention these fellow villagers who have been with me for half a lifetime? I wish them all a long life of one hundred years!" My master gave me a loud slap on the head, then gazed at the half-open courtyard door with deep emotion.

  Just as they were talking, the courtyard gate was pushed open with a creak. The master was about to get angry, but when he saw who it was, his expression immediately changed to a warm and friendly one! Why? It turned out that the person who came was Wang Jia's wife from the tofu shop at the street corner. Early in the morning, she stumbled through the gate with her feet feeling unsteady.

  "Master Daochang, save me!" As soon as she entered the door, Wang's sister-in-law couldn't care about anything else and knelt down in front of her master with a soft knee.

  "King's daughter-in-law, what are you doing? Get up quickly!" Master rushed ahead of me to the front of King's sister-in-law, reached out his hand from a high position and supported her lotus-like arm to help her up. During this time, I clearly saw Master's Adam's apple move several times. Who knows what the old man actually saw?!

  "What's wrong?" The master supported Wang Jia's waist and led her to sit down on the rattan chair, asking.

  "Last night, he came again!" Wang Jia's sister-in-law said, trembling with fear as she tightly grasped her master's hand, just like a drowning person clutching at a life-saving straw.

  "What? Impossible! He can still come out after the seventh day of his death?" The master was shocked upon hearing this, and even he had never heard of such a thing before.

  "Could this old ghost be so generous with his money that even the ghostly officials don't care about him?" The master stroked his beard, turned his back, and poured tea for Wang's wife while deep in thought. He had to take seriously the situation Wang's wife had described. For thousands of years, people could only return to their bodies on the seventh day after death. This was the rule, who knew who set it, but from ancient times to the present, both the world of the living and the dead followed it. How did the rules get broken now? The master decided to investigate this matter thoroughly and find out where the mistake occurred.

  "How dare I believe such nonsense, last night that old thing was on top of me again...... Now it's likely that Wang's wife is also being bullied by that old ghost, seeing Master's words seem to have some distrust, in the midst of urgency can't care about what filial piety or respect. Directly just one sentence 'old thing' came out."

  "Don't worry, have you told your husband about this?" The master handed the tea in his hand to Wang's wife and patted her hand gently to comfort her.

  "No, I wouldn't dare to say anything to him. Don't be fooled by his obedient appearance in front of his father, he's actually very violent! If it weren't for the fact that he's still somewhat responsible and doesn't go around messing around, I would have divorced him long ago!"

  "In that case, I'll come to your house tonight! Since your husband doesn't know about this matter, it's better not to tell him. Tonight, you prepare a few small dishes and get him drunk. After 9 o'clock, Miao Miao and I will go to your house. No matter what, tonight I must get to the bottom of things!" The master stood beside Wang Jie's wife, looking at her collar, saying in a low voice!