Chapter 5: Substitute Ghost

  The Second Master didn't deceive me, Xiaoxue is indeed a yin person, prone to encountering strange and terrifying things, much faster than I expected. From the county town to Jiangcheng, the bus went through Panshan Road, all the way making people nervous. Just after passing Liangzhen, we encountered bad luck, although it didn't happen to us, but it still bothered me for a long time, making my mood very heavy and making Xiaoxue feel even more uncomfortable.

  Here is the translation:

  It was like this, to say that at the time I and Xiaoxue had been on the bus for more than half a day, shaking back and forth, feeling dizzy. Not long after leaving the county town, we fell asleep. On the whole journey, apart from feeling a bit carsick, there were no other feelings. Who knew that when we arrived here, I suddenly felt a chill enveloping the bus? At the time, I had a cold sweat. Only in the state of being half-asleep and half-awake did I seem to see an extra person on the bus. I couldn't describe what kind of feeling it was, but I'm sure that at the time my eyes were still closed, yet everything about everyone on the bus was within my sight. That person was standing next to a man in his thirties who was sitting diagonally behind me. At the time, I didn't turn my head back; it was just a feeling.

  I was startled and opened my eyes to find that the feeling of looking down at the train car had disappeared. As I opened my eyes, all I saw was the train moving along the road, turning a corner, everything was calm. I was panting heavily, with cold sweat on my forehead, unable to tell if it was hot or cold. I felt the little Xue in my arms move slightly, and instinctively looked at her to see a pale face staring back at me. My heart skipped a beat as I was about to speak, but suddenly heard Little Xue's trembling voice say: "Brother, there's that thing in the car, I can feel it..."

  Her face changed, and Xiaoxue could also feel it. Wasn't I just dreaming? She suddenly turned her head to look back, but she couldn't see the person or ghost she had seen in the daze earlier. However, she saw that man, who was hugging his arms and shrinking his body as if he felt cold, and even reached out to adjust the air conditioning vent. Was it really cold? At least when I woke up, I didn't feel it. Thinking of what the manual said, only people who can sense the existence of ghosts will feel a chill due to the yin energy, but ordinary people usually can't sense it.

  When I turned around, Xiaoxue also timidly poked her head out of my arms in that direction, but she didn't see anything either. All I could feel was Xiaoxue's body trembling nonstop in my arms, and her hands wrapped tightly around my waist. I could sense her fear. Was Xiaoxue seeing something? After a moment of hesitation, I still put my arm around Xiaoxue's shoulders and asked softly, "Xiaoxue, what did you see?"

  But unexpectedly, Xiaoxue shook her head, a bewildered expression appearing on her face, and she lightly bit her lip as she said, "Brother, I don't see ghosts, but I can feel it, so cold..."

  I didn't say a word, I just tightly hugged Xiaoxue's shoulders, which seemed to calm her down. At least I felt that Xiaoxue's body was no longer shaking, and I also turned my head back, slowly feeling the chill disappear. Maybe the ghost had left? But the body of Xiaoxue in my arms was still icy cold, this feeling made me feel very uncomfortable.

  Holding Xiaoxue, I gently closed my eyes, but unfortunately, I couldn't go back to that wonderful feeling of being half asleep and half awake. I didn't speak, it's better not to see, if I saw her, my heart would feel uneasy. But at this moment, not seeing her made me feel unsteady too. I kept thinking about the methods written on the manual to see ghosts, such as using cow tears or tangerine leaves. Of course, these things aren't available now. Cow tears are because cows know they're going to die, so they cry, and before death, their yin energy is very strong, so applying it can make you see ghosts. As for tangerine leaves, they have the strongest yang energy, people use them to ward off evil spirits and boost positive energy, which also allows you to see ghosts. Actually, there are many methods, people with cultivation can open their heavenly eye, but that has nothing to do with me. Now, if I want to see a ghost, there's only one way - the Bagua mirror in my arms. This mirror is very mysterious and can be used as a demon-revealing mirror too. Anyway, that's what Second Master told me.

  But I was entangled in my heart, wondering if I should see the ghost or not. To be honest, I was a little scared, but not seeing it was even scarier. The fear of the unknown had conquered my rationality. With one arm around Xiaoxue, I took out the Bagua mirror from my pocket. The Bagua mirror was now just an ordinary mirror, but as soon as I took it out, I felt Xiaoxue calm down in my arms. Before I could make another move, Xiaoxue looked up at me with a puzzled gaze.

  He nodded, pulled back one arm, took a deep breath, put his fingers to his mouth, and lightly bit through the skin. Then he touched the center of the mirror's back with his finger, this was what Second Master taught me, I don't understand why it has to be done like this, but doing it this way makes the mirror able to ward off evil spirits and also reflect the shadow of ghosts. Actually, I don't get why you have to bite your finger, in movies they just do it in one go, but I tried a few times before finally working up the courage, it really hurts.

  My heart was filled with some trepidation, but the Bagua mirror did not disappoint me. I seemed to vaguely see a faint yellow glow emanating from it, and then the mirror's surface turned towards that direction. Except for a few blurry passengers, the man had stood up at some point, and next to him was a shadow that seemed to be there yet not there. However, when I looked over from the mirror, the ghost suddenly turned around and stared in my direction, clearly startled by the Bagua mirror. I let out a fright, feeling a chill run down my spine, but it only lasted for an instant. The yellow glow of the Bagua mirror flickered once, and that cold sensation disappeared. After all, this Bagua mirror was indeed capable of warding off evil spirits.

  Looking at the ghost in the mirror, it's clear that he has reservations about this side. Although he was excited for a moment, he didn't dare to come over and instead hesitated. At this time, the man from earlier suddenly shook his head and muttered: "What am I standing here stupidly for? It seems like I wanted to do something just now?"

  As soon as the words fell, the ghost suddenly looked at him again, and the cold air became thicker. The man was a bit dazed, patted his forehead, and said: "I'll go to the bathroom, Master - stop the car for a moment, I'll go to the bathroom -"

  At that moment, I suddenly thought of something and pushed Xiaoxue away. I took out the notebook from my arms and started searching carefully. However, at this time, the driver had already pulled over and stopped the car. The man also began to prepare to get off, and Gui's figure started to become blurry as he was about to exit the car, of course not through the door, but directly passing through the wall from inside the carriage.

  When the man was walking towards me, I just found what I needed. It's like that, the ghost from earlier must be a substitute ghost. The soul of someone who died an unjust death stays at the place where they died and grabs the soul of a newcomer to replace themselves so they can transcend the sea of misfortune. This is called taking a substitute in folklore. The new soul that was grabbed is for the substitute ghost.

  Ghosts do not have the ability to directly kill people, at most they can only confuse and mislead them, making them see illusions or become confused and do things that lead to their own death. Then the ghost is freed from its fate. The most well-known type of ghost is the water ghost, which often needs to pull someone down with it to die in a similar way before it can reincarnate. That's why older people say that once someone drowns in a place, more people will keep drowning there - it's because the water ghost is looking for a replacement. And right now, this man is the replacement, as long as he doesn't get hit by a car or fall off a cliff...

  I don't know what I was thinking at that moment, but my instinctive sympathy made me take action. I squeezed out a bit of blood from the finger I had bitten earlier and applied it to the Bagua position, then aimed the Bagua mirror at the man. In my mind, I silently recited the incantation taught by Second Master. Suddenly, the Bagua mirror emitted a burst of yellow light, like a flashlight, and a beam of light hit the man's body. The man's body shook, and he indeed stopped in his tracks, but for a moment, he still looked bewildered, seemingly unable to understand why he was standing there.

  "Hey, if you get off now, you won't be able to come back—" I couldn't help but say a sentence, after all, this is saving people. Seeing the man's confusion as he looked at me back and forth, I couldn't help but feel smug in my heart: "You just met a substitute for death—"

  Although my words were light, they still attracted the attention of everyone in the car, who looked at me with a somewhat disdainful expression. Some even took me for a madman. Fortunately, the man did not do so; he just stared blankly at me, looked around suspiciously, and finally glanced at the door before walking back. As he passed by my side, he still asked in a low voice, "Brother, is it true or false?"

  This remark hurt me, and I let out a snort. I simply ignored the man, who sensed my displeasure and forced a laugh. He nodded at me: "Don't be angry, I was just casually asking... that... that..."

  Just as I was speaking, another gust of cold wind blew by, and I furrowed my brow, feeling a sense of tension in my heart. Looking through the Bagua mirror, that substitute corpse had returned again! I swallowed hard, wondering if this substitute corpse would come after me? As I thought to myself, the man's face suddenly changed color, and he stretched his neck to look into the Bagua mirror. After taking a glance, his face also changed color, and he looked up at the back of the car, whereupon his face began to... His body started shaking too! Indeed, he had seen the ghost! However, the man hadn't been scared silly yet, and with one swift motion, he grabbed my arm: "Master, you have to help me out, I..."

  She swallowed her saliva, looked at the man, and turned it over in her mind. For a while, she didn't have a way to deal with the substitute ghost, but there was another method of warding off evil in her notes that she could try. Although it was a bit strange, she remembered this method. She coughed: "If you don't want to be confused by the substitute ghost, I'll give you a solution. You find a woman's menstrual cloth and hold it against your body. It should work, as long as it has blood on it."

  The man was stunned, and didn't think much, he just made a bitter face, then his eyes scanned over the women in the whole car, finally falling on a middle-aged woman. The woman was quite fat, and her appearance was nothing to mention, so maybe she wouldn't be suspected of being flirtatious with women. The man plucked up the courage to squeeze out a smile: "Sister, do you have sanitary napkins?"