Chapter 8: The Nine-Lived Cat Corpse

  As soon as he heard the name of the nun, the old man's half-closed eyes suddenly opened wide and asked us what we wanted from her.

  Don't even mention asking the shaman for peace of mind.

  The old man asked one after another: Who is it for you to calm your soul? Why did you frighten your soul? Who introduced us to come and find the master?...

  He fired off questions like a machine gun, but An Xuan was just an excuse, and he couldn't answer me. So I asked him what his relationship with Shifu was.

  The old man said it didn't matter, but if the master's wife could do it, he could do it too, and even better without charging a fee.

  I feel that this old man has some ulterior motive, perhaps it's a confrontation between two masters. I discussed with You Wu, why not just tell him everything and ask for his help in dealing with Shi Po.

  You can't be serious, you're actually considering it, and then you tell me that there's also a possibility that it's because of love turning into hate. The old man wants to prove himself stronger than the master wife, but he doesn't necessarily have to be her enemy. Even if the old man is willing to deal with the master wife, he doesn't necessarily have to deal with that old man. Since we've already decided to join the construction team, it's best not to create unnecessary trouble.

  Yu Wenti's words also made some sense, so I told the old man that I wanted to see Shifu first before making a decision, and asked him where I could find her.

  The old man's face was expressionless, and he bluntly told us the address of the master's wife. Then, he asked us to wait for a moment, and from under the counter, he pulled out two pairs of cloth shoes and threw them into my arms. I asked him what he meant, and the old man gave a gloomy smile, which matched the makeup on his face, making it look very eerie. He told us not to dawdle, but to hurry up and find the master's wife, and to get a good understanding of things. If we encountered danger, we should put on the cloth shoes.

  The smile on his face made me shudder, my heart was racing and I couldn't calm down. As soon as we stepped out the door, I discussed it with You Wu, who excitedly said that it seemed there really were problems in Shifu's household. If they could grasp something concrete, it would be great. Once the news spreads, anyone who had close dealings with Shifu will become a laughing stock, and my little Wen Jing will be safe.

  I told you not to talk nonsense, she's my cousin, and she thought I was seriously ill so she acted that way.

  You'd better not pretend to be any more, the good food is not as delicious as the seafood, the fun is not as good as the cousin, especially the quiet and honest girl who blushes when making a joke, it's the most enjoyable to bully.

  I cursed and handed him a pair of cloth shoes, Yu Mo looked at them and sniffed them, and suddenly ran to the side of the road and vomited loudly. I said it wasn't that exaggerated, right? I also took a sniff and immediately followed suit.

  The smell is simply indescribable, if I had to say it's like the smell of a Hong Kong foot with well-developed sweat glands that has been worn from childhood to old age without ever being washed, mixed with an extremely strong smell of rot and decay, I don't know if it's because it's been left out for too long or what, just taking a slight sniff, a pungent dusty smell pierces my brain, but looking at it with my eyes, there isn't even any dust on the surface.

  Recently, I've been vomiting a lot and my stomach is empty. After dry heaving twice, I almost fainted. I leaned against a tree by the side of the road, my head still in a daze. The smell seemed vaguely familiar, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember where I had smelled it before.

  Don't even mention vomiting, my face is swollen and my eyes are bloodshot, saying that I'd rather die than wear these shoes again. I said let's not talk about this for now, help me to the car and take a break, I'm dry heaving, I can barely hold on.

  Don't put me in the car, I bought some food and went to my teacher's house alone. After I regained some energy and saw that he hadn't returned yet, I called Wenjing. She was still sleeping and asked me drowsily what was going on. I told her I had been discharged from the hospital and was taking care of some things outside, asking her not to worry and to wait honestly at home. There's something very important I need to tell her tonight.

  After hanging up, I closed my eyes and rested for a while before falling asleep. It was in the car that I was woken up by the heat. The sun was dazzling, and when I looked at my phone, I realized it was already 1:30 pm. I quickly called You Wu, not knowing what he was doing. As soon as he picked up, he called me Xiao Wang. I asked him where he was, and he said they were handling things. I asked him what nonsense he was talking about, and he just said "good" before hanging up. A few minutes later, he sent a text message: Big harvest, wait for my return.

  I waited and waited in the car until the sun had set, then Yu Wu finally appeared with a red face. As he opened the car door, I was about to ask him something, but he hastily said, "Don't get up, don't make a sound."

  I shrank back, and he drove around in a big circle before stopping in a secluded spot, excitedly telling me that he had successfully infiltrated the enemy's lair and mixed into the teacher's family.

  The teacher's mother-in-law lived in a shantytown behind the Temple of Literature, with over ten rows of bungalows, a mixed place where the old man from the paper shop only told us the door number, and it took us a lot of effort to find it. Just as we were about to ask around the neighbors, a beautiful woman came out of the teacher's mother-in-law's house.

  The beautiful woman looked to be in her early thirties, with an oval face and a head of shoulder-length hair. She wore a tight-fitting yellow dress that accentuated her full bust and long, slender legs. In Yu's words, she was clearly a woman who could withstand some hardship. He went over to strike up a conversation, also asking about the situation with Shi Po.

  You Mou's way of hitting on someone was to rush up and hug them, crying out loud saying "Sister, I've finally found you!" The beauty quickly pushed him away, almost slapping him. The reason she didn't slap him was that after You Mou gazed deeply at the beauty, he immediately became disheartened and burst into loud sobs, saying "I'm sorry, I made a mistake."

  You Mou didn't explain that he had a sister who looked like the beauty but was mentally ill, and they got separated two years ago. A few days ago, his friend said he saw his sister here, so he came to look for her, but it turned out to be someone who looked similar. After apologizing sincerely, You Mou flashed away, rushed into a store to buy many gifts, and chased after the beauty to give them to her. The beauty naturally refused, and in the midst of pulling and tugging, You Mou took the opportunity to express his deep longing for his sister, staring at the beauty's face with infatuation as he spoke.

  The beauty then adopted a younger brother, took him to buy some fabric nearby, and even brought him back home for lunch. Of course, the reason she trusted Yu Wu was largely due to his work ID.

  The beauty's home is the teacher's wife's home, and it was quite unexpected. Taking advantage of the opportunity to ask if there were any other people at home, the beauty said that there was also a sister who was 56 years old this year. A few days ago, her older sister passed away, and she was helping out at someone else's house. Now only grandma is left at home.

  Grandma's body is not good, after eating she goes to rest in the bedroom. Yu Wu doesn't stay at Shifu's house for a whole afternoon. As a result, when he helps the beauty clean up the house, the beauty sits on the sofa, her two white and tender little feet propped up on the coffee table, her eyes shining brightly as she admires him. So Yu Wu is ready to investigate thoroughly and help me uncover Shifu's conspiracy.

  I said you're taking advantage of me, it's time to split up. My cousin is in a precarious situation, and if you delay for another ten days or half a month, the beautiful woman will be slept with, and even Wenjing may be ruined by an old man.

  Hesitated for a moment, don't mention that the beauty tonight wants to take grandma out, and this kind of person who plays evil tricks, there must be strange things at home, such as raising little ghosts' corpses, harming people's wooden puppets and so on. We two slipped in, took these things out, if we were lucky, we would break the evil spell that harmed Wenjing, if not, we could also hand them over to the construction team or the police.

  It's come to this now, although it can be expected that the master's house is not clean, but that strange old man also has some skills, the two pairs of cloth shoes he gave should have some use!

  After the sky darkened, we rushed to Shifu's house. The layout of this flat house is like a string of several rooms lined up in a row, and Shifu's house has three rooms with a small courtyard outside, where there is a grape arbor. If you want to raise ghosts, that place is most suitable.

  Arriving at the gate, he knocked on that green iron door. After a long time, no one responded, so he pushed me up against the wall, jumped in and then pulled me down, as if it were his own home, opening the screen door to enter. He said with a sly tone, "Mimi, your dad is back again."

  Yu didn't mention that the teacher's wife had three black cats at home, which followed him around all afternoon and were now nowhere to be found, not even coming out to greet us two uninvited guests. Yu didn't say that she rummaged through everything and then went into the inner room by herself, not letting me touch her sister's undergarments.

  I'm actually a good citizen, sneaking into someone's home has already made me nervous and frightened, let alone rummaging through their belongings. I figured there wouldn't be anything important in the living room, so I didn't bother searching thoroughly. There was a faint smell of smoke in the air, probably from something being burned. I shone my flashlight around and found an iron basin under the sofa, pulled it out and saw half a basin of ashes, looked like they had burned some fabric.

  That beautiful woman was out buying fabric that morning when she met You Wu, there were a few pieces of cloth and thread under the tea table, it should be making clothes or something else, but why did she burn them, I don't understand. However, in this day and age, women who can do needlework are still beautiful, You Wu is considered to have found a treasure.

  There was nothing particularly eye-catching in the living room, but I gradually felt a strange and eerie feeling in my heart, it was as if I had ants on my back. Just then, You Wu suddenly let out a cry of surprise from inside, rushed out in a flurry, and handed me a wooden sign.

  Shining a flashlight, a surge of evil fire burst out in his mind. This was a spiritual position with four small red characters: Wen Jing Zhi Wei (A Position of Quietude).

  But looking carefully again, it doesn't seem like it's for worshiping ancestors either, and I don't know what it's used for.