Chapter 23: The Fierce Ghost Will Appear

  Second Master was stunned, staring at me blankly. I had never spoken so solemnly before, and although it sounded absurd, it didn't seem absurd now. If there could be vengeful spirits and evil ghosts, why couldn't there be a land spirit? Moreover, Second Master knew my temperament best, perhaps even better than my parents. Although he sometimes spoke nonsense, once he became serious, he would never speak rashly and could distinguish between what to say and when to say it. Seeing the sincerity in my eyes, he should know I wasn't lying. However, Second Master still had his doubts: "Even if San Gu Niang is a land spirit, why did they come looking for you? Don't try to charm me with your good looks."

  At this time, I can still take out my oral habit, and I know that the second master has believed it. Of course, I will never say my own oral habit. It's a rhythm to make fun of at this time. After a moment of thought, he said in a low voice: "Master, actually, it's because I can beat ghosts, and I got to know San Gu that there was a misunderstanding. At that time, I also punched San Mei, they were investigating the grievances in our village, fearing that the villagers would suffer, so they came. However, they are yin souls who dare not touch grievances, saying that they can consume spiritual intelligence, so they called me."

  As I finished speaking, the Second Master let out a long sigh and nodded his head, but his face turned even uglier: "It seems to be true, you little brat don't know that much, not everyone knows that yin souls can't carry resentment... Ah, how could we find you?"

  I didn't say anything because I knew what Second Master meant. As the only son of Old Liu's family, Second Master treasured me dearly. At this moment, he was worried that something unexpected would happen to me. But facing the land, I didn't know how to refuse, and in the end, it just turned into a sigh. He also reminded me: "Later, follow me closely, don't move without my permission, did you hear?"

  "Don't worry, uncle, I'll definitely listen." After spitting out my tongue, taking advantage of Second Uncle's turning around, I squeezed Yang Xiufeng's eyes and saw a hint of warmth in her eyes.

  Three people entered the house, and Second Master immediately sat down on the bed with a thud, but didn't know what he was thinking about. I stood next to Yang Xiufeng, exchanging glances, not daring to speak or make any slightly intimate movements, making everyone feel very stifled. Only the quartz clock on the wall continued to tick away, and it was already ten o'clock.

  "It's getting late, let's get ready first. After all, your grandmother has become a fierce ghost and can't be treated normally." Second Master glanced at Yang Xiufeng, slowly got up, and lifted the quilt. I only then noticed that there were several mirrors of different sizes on the bed, but they were roughly the same.

  Just as I was wondering what the mirror was for, Second Master picked up a piece of glass and walked out to the outer room. Yang Xiufeng also went over to move the mirrors, so I didn't dare hesitate and carried out the largest one. It wasn't until then that I realized Second Master was using these mirrors to make something like a cabinet. I had always been puzzled as to why there was another wardrobe in the outer room, but now it made sense as Second Master installed the glass.

  This was also well-prepared, the mirror just needed to be stuck on the wardrobe and it would be fine, with wooden strips already attached, it was very simple to install. However, I didn't dare ask why they had to wait until now to install it instead of preparing it earlier. But after the mirror was installed, Second Master let out a sigh of relief, turned around to look at Yang Xiufeng who was silent, and just sighed: "Girl, you have to be careful yourself, if there's anything that doesn't feel right, hurry up and go to the yard, light those firewood..."

  He didn't continue saying, after all, the second master hadn't seen a ghost before, nor had he dealt with ghostly affairs. At this point, everything was just based on what he knew and his long-term experience, who knows if it's useful or not. Fire is pure yang, logically speaking, ghosts should be afraid of it, but whether fierce ghosts would be afraid or not, no one knows. However, the second master could only do so much.

  Yang Xiufeng nodded, turned around and went back to the inner room, covering herself with a quilt. Fortunately, Huang Daxian was still by her side. I didn't know that she had arranged five coins on the bed in the shape of a five-element array, and Yang Xiufeng hid inside it. Although I wanted to be with Yang Xiufeng, Second Master pulled me into the closet and closed the door.

  As soon as the door was closed, it was pitch black. I was fumbling around when suddenly there was a bit of light. It turned out that Second Master had prepared a flashlight beforehand. Although it wasn't very bright, it was enough to see everything clearly. With the light, things didn't seem so scary anymore. However, with the help of the light, I saw that there were several copper coins hanging in the wardrobe. Just as I was about to take one down to examine it closer, Second Master slapped my hand: "Are you looking for death? This is a coin from the Five Emperors era and you dare to touch it."

  I was stunned for a moment, and then I went up to take a closer look. It turned out that the object in front of me was a Qianlong Tongbao coin. I knew about the legend of the Five Emperors' coins, which refers to the copper coins of the five emperors of the Qing dynasty: Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, and Jiaqing. It is said that these coins have the effect of warding off evil spirits, preventing petty people from causing trouble, and bringing good fortune. Girls can thread the Five Emperors' coins onto a red string and hang them on their bags or wear them as a pendant to ward off evil spirits.

  Actually, I never understood what this thing was for, but suddenly said: "Old man, you won't have dug up someone's grave, will you? If there's a lot, give me some, maybe it's worth something."

  The old man gave me a slanted glance and hummed, "You don't know anything. The things in the tomb can be used? So-called 'five emperor coins' can ward off evil because they have been passed through millions of people's hands, accumulating endless yang energy. Therefore, they can ward off evil. Once buried in the tomb for a long time, the yang energy is exhausted, not to mention that it will be stained with yin energy, even corpse energy. Not only can't it ward off evil, but it's also easy to attract some evil spirits and ghosts. If you take out the coins from the tomb without cleaning them and use them as 'five emperor coins', don't say whether they can ward off evil or not, most likely you'll get sick. Anything buried in a tomb is best left untouched. Even good things that haven't seen sunlight or come into contact with living energy will become evil objects."

  He spat out his tongue and didn't dare say anything more, but thinking about what the second master said also made sense. It seems that nothing is immutable after all. However, these five-emperor coins weren't dug up from a tomb, so it's no wonder the second master treasured them so much. I suppose collecting them took quite some effort.

  Just as I was daydreaming, Second Master suddenly looked out from a spot where the paint had been scraped off in front of him. It turned out that there was still an observation hole left, but I didn't have one on my side and didn't know what the situation outside was like. So I squeezed Second Master: "Master, let me take a look too."

  The Second Master did not object, but only shifted his body slightly to one side, and the two of them squeezed together to look outwards. Although this opening was not large, they could still see the outer room clearly. The only thing that disappointed me was that I couldn't see into the inner room, and I didn't know how Yang Xiufeng was doing?

  As time passed, I was getting a bit urgent to pee, when suddenly the quartz clock in the inner room struck eleven. It's eleven o'clock, and there is still an hour before twelve o'clock. Isn't it said that ghosts only come out after twelve o'clock? After hesitating for a moment, I whispered: "Grandpa, I want to go to the toilet."

  The 32-year-old man who had been carefully observing the outside movement was stunned for a moment, and then scolded: "Lazy donkey, you're covered in shit and urine, it's already this late, can't you just hold on? Who told you to have something to say but not speak up early?"

  "It's not even twelve o'clock yet, I'm almost suffocating." To be honest, it's not that serious, but I actually want to see how Yang Xiufeng is doing.

  The Second Master's face sank, and he couldn't help but hum a sound: "What's wrong with not being twelve o'clock? The ghost will come out as soon as it enters the child hour. They won't care about what twelve o'clock or not. Be honest with me, don't - came."

  The conversation suddenly stopped, although no one said what had arrived, but I also knew that Old Lady Yang was back. Hurriedly looking out from the window, indeed a gust of cold wind blew outside, causing the curtains and door screens to roll continuously, even the few flowers and grasses in the corner of the wall were swaying with the wind. The candles on the table flickered uncertainly, and a faint chill seeped in from outside, dispelling the previous stuffiness instantly.

  I didn't dare to waste any more words, and held my breath as I gazed out with Second Master. The cold wind was blowing, but the old lady still hadn't come in. The lime powder on the ground was swirling around, covering up the footprints I had made when I came in. As the candlelight flickered, our hearts were also suspended in our throats. All we could hear was each other's breathing sounds. No matter how careful we were not to make a sound, the breathing sounds were unavoidable. How could taking a breath be so loud?

  The lights outside were very bright, and even in the dark of night, everything was clearly visible. The cold wind howled, growing stronger and more intense, sending shivers down my spine. I couldn't help but swallow hard, but the sudden "gulp" sound startled me so much that I didn't dare to swallow again, instead staring fixedly outside.

  I don't know how long it took, but I felt like it was a very long time. This taste of waiting in fear made my urine more concentrated, and I really worried that I would pee my pants soon, even before the fierce ghost appeared. However, as soon as this thought fell, I felt Second Master touch me once. Following his gaze, although I didn't see the fierce ghost, I saw a footprint on the stone ash on the ground. The footprint appeared very slowly, just like in a movie's slow-motion shot, slowly and gently emerging on the stone ash. After a while, another footprint would appear one step ahead, slowly walking towards the house.

  As the flickering flames danced, the footsteps slowly approached, my heart felt like it was going to stop beating. Each step seemed to be trampling on my heart, every further movement making it harder for me to breathe. I didn't dare make a single move, if someone had noticed me, they would have seen my pale face with a hint of green. I wasn't as brave as I had imagined, at this moment, not trembling or screaming was already quite an achievement.