Thirteen Evil Spirits

  Liu Li was answering the phone, she was annoyed. Wu Xiu had been going to the Foreign Affairs Department every day recently, ostensibly to investigate Shi Li's two disappearances, but in fact to find an excuse to get close to Liu Li.

  They were police academy classmates, and the two had a very close relationship at one point, but even after graduation and job assignments, there was no further development. It wasn't that Wu Xiuyi didn't try hard enough; the problem lay with Liu Li - she didn't want to marry someone who didn't have ambition. After graduating, Wu Xiuyi was assigned to a grassroots unit, starting from being a beat cop, and his keen observational abilities and principled approach quickly caught the attention of the criminal investigation team, and he was officially transferred to the team half a year ago. During this time, Wu Xiuyi didn't go look for Liu Li, only wanting to complete his transformation from an ugly duckling to a swan before reappearing, but as it turned out, Liu Li bluntly told him that she already had someone she loved, and that person wasn't him.

  Wu Xiu lost heart and disappeared, but after Shi Li's disappearance, he began to appear frequently in Liu Li's line of sight again.

  "I'm telling you, you're so annoying! If you want to understand history, go find it yourself, why ask me?"

  "To understand a person, both the positive and negative aspects are important. This is also required by my job. Honestly, I haven't lied to people for a long time."

  "Smooth talk! I'm telling you, this is a duty phone. If someone can't get through, it's your responsibility!"

  "It's rare for you guys in the foreign affairs department to be on duty, at most it's just some foreigners getting drunk and getting into a fight, there's never any serious business all day."

  "I'm furious! This is a smear against our foreign affairs department!"

  "Stop it, stop it, stop it! Can't I apologize? By the way, has Shi Li left?"

  "It's all you! I didn't even know when he left!"

  Liu Li hung up the phone with a huff, still unsatisfied, and slammed the receiver down again.

  After Shi Li returned, there was a smile on his face, which was strange. Liu Li felt uneasy about this. What made Liu Li unbearable was Zhao Liming's attitude towards Shi Li, as if they were a young couple. Every day when Shi Li entered the office, Zhao Liming would go forward to help him take off his coat, then hand over a cup of hot tea. When getting off work, he would remind Shi Li to go home early and not stay in the unit for too long, just like Zhao Liming was waiting for him at Shi Li's home.

  Every time she saw this scene, Liu Li felt like she was going crazy and couldn't help but want to pounce on that old woman and bite her.

  "Hum, that rascal likes tea, but never refuses my coffee, what's the meaning of this!"

  Liu Li anxiously flipped through the latest joint investigation report, her mind a mess. The past two days had been chaotic in the department, with neither Director Wang nor Zhao Liming to be seen or heard from, and even their phones were unreachable. Deputy Director Wang seemed completely carefree, not worried at all. But what was most bizarre was Shi Li's reaction - with Zhao Liming missing, he didn't seem tense at all.

  "Does everyone else know what happened except me?"

  Liu Li pushed open the coordination notice and stared blankly in the direction of the door.

  Six departments.

  Li Kezhang and Tang Hongming sat together, both of them hadn't rested well, with dark circles under their eyes.

  "What about plan number five?"

  "What else can I do? Didn't you hear it too? It's been wailing and wailing, really annoying."

  "Hmm, you're speaking bluntly, and it's really true."

  Li Kezhang habitually pulled out a cigarette, was about to light it up, when he suddenly caught Tang Hong's murderous gaze. He chuckled and tossed the cigarette into the air, stretching his neck to catch it in his mouth. The lighter's flame sprang up, and smoke dispersed.

  "That's life."

  Tang Hong's name was mentioned in a low tone, and he didn't say anything else. Li Kezhong took two deep breaths and extinguished the cigarette again.

  "But for the sake of wife and children, one should also smoke a little less."

  Tang Hong glanced at Li Kezhang, wanting to smile, but tears welled up in her eyes instead.

  More than a decade has passed, and Tang Hongming didn't know what this man was thinking about. He just didn't expect his decisiveness. Back then, when he proposed to her and got rejected, Li Kechang immediately arranged for him to meet someone else through his parents, and they hastily got married within two months. After the wedding, Li Kechang's wife found out about Tang Hongming and made a big scene. Later, after having children, she calmed down but was still known as the notorious shrew of the residential building. Tang Hongming had wanted to apologize, but Li Kechang always changed the subject. Tang Hongming knew that Li Kechang had pinned his hopes on Professor Yu, but he didn't expect that Professor Yu would become a Taoist priest.

  Misfortunes and missteps entwined with love and hate, but none of the three people were able to attain happiness.

  "Have you felt that Xiao Shi has been a bit abnormal since he came back this time?"

  Li Ke pressed his temples lightly and suddenly asked. Tang Hongming hurriedly turned her head and quietly wiped away the tears.

  "Hmm, he looks at people's eyes... how to say it, there's a fierce light. I don't know what you think, but personally, I feel that when he looks at people, his expression is somewhat like an evil spirit."

  "Yes, he even accepted Zhao Liming and didn't refuse Liu Li either. This kid wasn't like this before, he was very dedicated. You say, is it related to those seven days when he went missing? He wouldn't actually go do that experiment, would he?"

  "It's likely that soul transplantation, I really don't know what he's thinking, when one person's thoughts merge with another, isn't that schizophrenia? According to the clues I've gathered, the one who underwent soul transplantation with him is Zhang Haiyang, both of them are troublemakers. And then there's Chuan Yu Xia, this madman, even crazier than me!"

  "Oh my, how rare! You're actually admitting you're a crazy woman?"

  "If I had done it earlier, the country might not have..."

  Tang Hong's name couldn't help but lower his head, covering his face with both hands, tears overflowing from between his fingers and dripping down.

  On the Seikōden of Daibutsu-ji, a sudden rain poured down and two sneezes were blown in succession, dirtying the tea cup that Shin had just brought up, with an embarrassed face.

  "Sorry, sorry, I don't know who spoke ill of me!"

  "Speak carefully, as every cause has its effect. Mr. Yichuan will not give others a handle to gossip about him. Intelligence! Pour the tea again and let's continue!"

  Yi Chuan Yu wanted to argue back, but seeing the piercing gaze of Bo Guang and Yang Ming, he dispelled the thought and reintroduced his invention instead.

  "Behold, this is the 'Soul Annihilator' I've spent three years crafting! Looks like a fire extinguisher, doesn't it? The foam it sprays out has been specially treated by me... and was tested in Thailand... Ah, that famous ghost catcher was actually me in disguise."

  Yi Chuan took out two portable fire extinguishers from his backpack and handed them to Pi Guang and Yang Ming, who looked at each other in suspicion, and he continued to introduce his products.

  "It's more convenient to carry it like this. Originally, I made it look like a gun, but it was confiscated at customs. No choice, time was too tight, and as soon as I received the summons, I came, so on the ship, I casually found a few fire extinguishers and modified them, the function is absolutely no problem."

  Looking at the mini fire extinguisher in his hand, he was blinded by the light in front of him and his confidence in the rain-soaked letter was also hard to maintain.

  "This time's evil spirit is different from before. The equipment of the six departments is very advanced, but still suffered a loss. Mr. Ichikawa, this... Soul Destroyer, does it really work?"

  "That's for sure! My goal is different from that of the Sixth Division. They want to capture them alive and take them back for research, but I'm going to wipe them out on the spot!"

  Yang Ming remained silent, looking down on the Rain of a Thousand Rivers with disdain in his heart. Such a thing could extinguish souls? Then wouldn't any ordinary toy be able to extinguish gods? Moreover, Yang Ming's target was not an evil spirit, but a Corpse Demon.

  Yang Ming's purpose for joining the Spiritual Association was not pure from the start. He wanted to control the evil spirits and have them fight against the corpse demons, with the evil spirits mostly being no match, but also not far off. Then, the Spiritual Association would step in and eliminate the corpse demons that had yet to recover. But now, they are facing a situation where the evil spirits are out of control, the corpse demons have escaped, and could appear at any moment, making it difficult to predict life or death.

  "Are you saying I should use this less-than-three-kilogram fire extinguisher to smash the corpse demon to death?"

  Yang Ming's mouth twitched, a silent bitter smile.

  One river rain falls, unaware of the two people's abnormality, still speaking with spitting flying words.

  "I've been studying the Thirteen Evil Spirits for a long time, and you all think they're just evil creatures that only know how to kill? That's a huge mistake. Each of these thirteen evil spirits has a tragic past, they were helpless in this world, with great grievances and hatred in their hearts, which is why they had such intense spiritual reactions after death."

  Yang Ming's eyes lit up, and his heart was slightly surprised. It turned out that he had misjudged this sloppy-looking Yichuan Rain.

  "The Thirteen Evil Spirits first appeared in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, with historical records dating back to the Qianlong era. The "Guang Yi Ji" mentions that there were twelve evil spirits that haunted the southern regions, divided into: Blood Spirit, Tooth Spirit, Bone Spirit, Eye Spirit, Ear Spirit, Smell Spirit, Tongue Spirit, Skin Spirit, Shadow Spirit, Hatred Spirit, Greedy Spirit, and Lustful Spirit. Since there are only twelve spirits, why are they called the Thirteen Evil Spirits? It is said that whenever the thirteenth spirit appears, the heavens and earth change color, with the power to destroy the world. It can only appear in a chaotic era, and when it does, the land will be scorched for thousands of miles, and mountains of corpses will form valleys. The thirteenth spirit has no name, and is simply referred to as the Thirteenth Spirit in the "Guang Yi Ji". Excluding the Thirteenth Spirit, the most fearsome among the evil spirits are the Tooth Spirit and Bone Spirit. According to legend, these two spirits were formed from the vengeful energy of the Manchu people's massacre of cities during the late Ming dynasty, condensing the grievances of tens of thousands of Han people into a single entity, a truly ominous creature!"

  A river of rain poured down, and with a sigh, he took over the tea from his smart device and took a sip. Turning his head, he saw the expectant eyes of Bo Guang and Yang Ming, chuckled, lit up a cigarette, savored two puffs before continuing.

  After Guang's body was moved away, Zhìzhī and Shàn also stood on both sides, quietly listening to the explanation.

  "These thirteen evil spirits each have their own peculiarities. The Blood Ghost is fond of blood, and anyone who dies at its hands will not have a single drop of blood left in their body; those seen by the Eye Ghost will have their souls scattered and become idiots; the Ear Ghost causes people to hear hallucinations every moment, even in dreams, and unless one's heart is firm and determined, they will eventually go mad. The Smell Ghost is different, it only appears in a specific place, and anyone who runs into it will dig out their own nose and eyes until they collapse; as for the Tongue Ghost, it is said to have a fondness for children, and there was once a widespread phenomenon of children choking on food in Fujian Province, all because their tongues had curled up and blocked their throats, resulting in many deaths. The Skin Ghost is very famous, and is mentioned in 'Liaozhai's Records of the Strange', it sucks out people's essence; the Shadow Ghost is also recorded in 'Ming Qing's Records of Strange Events', where someone dreamed of entering a painting and becoming a living being, but that was actually the work of the Shadow Ghost, if no one had awakened him, he would have been trapped in the painting forever. The Hate Ghost appears and disappears at will, wandering everywhere, and whenever someone harbors hatred, it seizes the opportunity to enter, not leaving until the person's family is destroyed and their life is lost; the Greedy Ghost is greedy for everything, money and objects alike, according to 'Miscellaneous Talks on Exorcising Ghosts', the Greedy Ghost was actually formed from the accumulated resentment of people who died of starvation at the end of the Ming dynasty. The twelfth ghost is the Desire Ghost, also mentioned in 'Miscellaneous Talks on Exorcising Ghosts', anyone possessed by the Desire Ghost will be obsessed with all things, taking everything as a means to satisfy their desires, and cannot stop until they have exhausted their energy and destroyed themselves."

  A whole river of words poured out in one breath, and then he picked up his tea cup and gulped it down, drinking too hastily, splashing a big stain on his chest.

  "What about the tooth demon and bone demon?"

  Yang Ming couldn't help but ask, and in his heart he thought that it was indeed the case. When Wang Nian first brought the sealed stones, there were only twelve of them. It seemed that the thirteenth evil spirit had another place to be stored.

  Piqiung was chanting Buddha's name on the side, while Zhisheng Zhi Shan behind him was still thinking about that evil spirit and forgot about compassion.

  "As for the Tooth Ogre and Bone Ogre, they are recorded in "Guang Yi Ji" and "Yu Gui Za Shuo", but only briefly mentioned. It is said that if these two ogres do not come out, then nothing will happen, but once they appear, a mountain of corpses will be formed, which can be called a great calamity. In my speculation, the Tooth Ogre should like to bite people to death, and the Bone Ogre is probably a malevolent spirit attached to dry bones, which should be very vicious. I started researching this over a decade ago, at that time there was a serial killer in six provinces, I suspect that person had long died, being possessed by a Bone Ogre, otherwise how could there be such a cruel human?"

  Yang Ming was shocked to hear this, and he no longer underestimated the rain of Yichuan. He involuntarily picked up the Soul Extinguishing Device, holding it tightly as if it could really extinguish the soul of the Corpse Demon.

  Inside the Qingguang Hall, several people talked about evil spirits at night. The snow outside the hall had already stopped, and a thick layer of it covered the ground. The night became much brighter, and the white sky and earth were vast and endless.

  Wang Nian leaned against the wall in the corridor and waited until the person following him left before continuing on his way.

  Wang Nian came to the club tonight mainly to retrieve a few things, including several other black jade yin symbols hidden in the secret room and the original copy of "Ghost Riding Miscellaneous Talks". He had handed these over to Gao Tian, but the last few chapters of "Ghost Riding Miscellaneous Talks" were torn off and stored separately. Those pages contained the ghost-riding techniques, which explicitly stated that they should not be passed on to non-family members. Although Wang Nian did not believe in these things at the time, he still had to listen to his ancestors' words, so he did not pass those chapters on to Gao Tian. Later, when he really summoned a blood ghost, Wang Nian was even more unable to give those chapters of ghost-riding techniques to Gao Tian.

  Everything has a backup plan, which is the fundamental way for Wang Nian to protect his life.

  When Wang Nian drove back to the hideout, it was already past twelve o'clock.

  The snow had stopped, and the trail left by the car's passage was like a snake winding its way through the vast white expanse. Wang furrowed his brow, but ultimately did nothing, turning back into the house.

  This book "Yonggui Zashuo" Wang Nian had read when he was a child, but the content had long been forgotten. He only looked at the few chapters of ghost summoning techniques in his possession after summoning the blood ghost. Now that he has retrieved the full version, he ignores his physical pain and reads through the night.

  In the book, it is recorded that in the late Ming Dynasty, the southern region suffered from massacres by the Manchu people many times. Even between villages, beheaded and dismembered corpses could be seen everywhere, and wolves, tigers, and leopards came down from the mountains to feed on them, filling the air with resentment. In a newly ravaged burial ground, a headless corpse suddenly stood up from a pile of bodies, killed the lucky survivors who were transporting the bodies, and put its own head back on its neck. This was the first evil spirit, the vengeful ghost. The vengeful ghost was born out of hatred and did not distinguish between Manchu and Han people, killing anyone it met, whether human or animal. It was eventually surrounded by hundreds of Qing soldiers, who hacked it to pieces until it became a pulp. In the following decades, strange occurrences continued to happen, and a Taoist priest named Mao stepped forward to explain that these events were caused by the transformation of resentment into evil spirits, which had already shown signs of becoming demons. If they were not dealt with early on, they would surely bring disaster to the people again. If rituals had been performed a few years earlier to calm the resentment, it might have been possible to pacify the vengeful ghosts, but now it was too late, and the only option was to seal them away so that they could no longer harm humans.

  He was originally a Taoist of the Quanzhen branch, named Li Yi. Later, due to the Qing dynasty's entry into the Central Plains, he returned to secular life and left the Taoist temple, wandering in the mortal world before finally settling down after getting married and starting a family. Because the place where he lived was often harmed by evil spirits, he asked for orders to drive out the ghosts. Li Yi's ghost-driving ceremony was grand and impressive, but many people did not believe it, so they also followed him in military attire along with the Green Camp soldiers. As a result, the evil spirit appeared, causing countless deaths and injuries. This made them gradually dare not watch again, only issuing orders to send the Green Camp soldiers to deliver the dead. Every time Li Yi sealed an evil spirit, dozens or even hundreds of people would die, and when he finally sealed the thirteenth evil spirit, nearly a thousand people died before it was completed. Li Yi also exhausted himself to death due to the thirteenth evil spirit.

  This "Yugui Zasuo" is a record of Li Yi's family members driving out ghosts, but as time passed, there were gradually multiple versions. Li Yi's name also gradually disappeared and was replaced by Han people's Sheng Xie Man people driving out ghosts. The version that Yichuan Yu saw was this kind, while the one in Wang Nian's hand was the original, without a single word changed. Although Wang Nian didn't quite understand classical Chinese, he still felt his blood boiling with excitement.

  "Heaven and earth are not benevolent, why should I be?"

  Wang Nian called out the Bone Ghost, staring at the skull that occasionally flashed blue light, and asked in a low voice.

  Lily couldn't sleep, she stood in front of the window and gazed at the snowy scene outside.

  The snow had already stopped, the sky was bright and clear, with birds flying hastily from time to time, as if they didn't understand why it was so early in the morning, shaking off the snow on the branches, slowly making people feel a few shares of loneliness.

  Lily couldn't get enough of this snow, she always felt that there wouldn't be another chance, and her heart ached inexplicably.

  In the distance, a figure emerged, leaving behind a straight line of footprints in the snow. It was Zhang Haiyang. He walked slowly, as if also being moved by this winter day's first snowfall, gradually merging with the surroundings.

  Lily hastily wiped away her tears and rushed downstairs, running in the direction of Zhang Haiyang.

  In the snowy night, there was another woman who couldn't sleep either, she was Zhao Liming.

  The original meaning of Tang Hong's name was that Zhao Liming could only leave after the corpse demon incident was completely over, but Li Kechang thought it was unnecessary and believed that his own soldiers knew how to keep secrets.

  Zhao Liming stood in front of the window, but the beautiful snow scene in front of her couldn't catch her attention. The fluttering snowflakes only made her feel anxious, as they blocked the originally clear view that could be seen from afar. Zhao Liming was at Shili's home, and on the day Shili went to work at the foreign affairs office, he handed over the key to her and whispered in her ear: "You will make a good wife." Zhao Liming was overjoyed, but Shili wasn't a good husband, always making her wait anxiously.

  It was already late at night, and Zhao Liming picked up her phone several times, but put it down again. She knew that a woman couldn't cling to the man she loved too tightly, or he would get tired of her. But the anxiety in her heart had no way to be vented, which made Zhao Liming feel restless.

  Just then, a figure appeared among the buildings and slowly approached. It was Shi Li. Zhao Liming let out a light breath, but her heart rate inexplicably accelerated again. Thinking that the two of them would be resting in the same bedroom, Zhao Liming's face turned red with shyness. At this moment, she had been looking forward to it for a long time, but when it really arrived, Zhao Liming felt hesitant.

  Is the future really that happy?

  Before Shi Li opened the door, Zhao Liming lay down on the bed, pretending to be asleep. Shi Li stopped at the bedroom door, seemingly taking a long time to come back to his senses, and quietly left. After washing up, he came to the bedside, bent over Zhao Liming's ear and gently kissed his hair, then softly said.

  "Sorry, didn't know you were back, worried you."

  At this moment, Zhao Liming burst into tears and recklessly turned around to hug Shili.