Chapter Forty-Four: The Workshop

  "Is there anything else?" Su Tong felt a chill rising from the soles of her feet. She had already found Tang Ao's explanation for the birth of the vengeful spirit terrifying, on the one hand because those bound children were pitiful and would have to endure great suffering, and on the other hand, thinking about the magnitude of the resentment that such inhuman torture would trigger. Su Tong also understood that such a vengeful spirit would not be easy to deal with, and perhaps the infant spirit just on the other side of the wall was not even comparable to the truly formidable character inside the abandoned mansion.

  Tang Ao nodded: "When I rushed in that day, I also saw a child who was unconscious in the hospital. It turned out to be just like I had guessed before - the souls of those children were all left in the abandoned house. The situation is not very optimistic. As for what kind of vengeful spirits are inside that abandoned house, I still can't say for sure because the yin energy is too heavy, like a smoke bomb. After entering, I was in the light, while those vengeful spirits were in the dark. They didn't want me to discover their true nature, so it's very difficult for me to see through such heavy yin energy and discern them. However, with such heavy yin energy, we can also infer that the number of vengeful spirits trapped inside won't be small. The soul of that unconscious child told me that they were left behind to play, but didn't want to play anymore and wanted to go home, but couldn't get out. So I judged that it's possible those vengeful spirits are the ones who were used as experimental subjects by the Japanese people who pretended to run an orphanage back then, but I don't know if it was intentional or not. After these children died, their souls also couldn't leave and were trapped there, forming the current situation over time. On one hand, those seven children had their souls hooked because the ghostly spirits in the abandoned house had been lonely for so many years and saw the seven children playing outside, so they couldn't resist inviting them to play together and didn't want to let them go. On the other hand, the motive might not be so simple or kind-hearted. The vengeful spirits who were trapped for a long time had heavy resentment because they couldn't leave, and with that heavy resentment came evil intentions. Perhaps in their minds, since they couldn't leave, they might as well make those children also unable to leave, so everyone could suffer together, enduring the same terror - it's the kind of motive where if they can't have a good life, then nobody else should either."

  "What can be done then?" Su Tong asked, "If it's as you said, the yin energy is heavy and won't disperse, and the vengeful spirits are hiding in the dark, how can we deal with them?"

  "What you said is correct, that's the way it is. So, we need to find a way to cut off the source first and find out where the root of those ghostly spirits being trapped in the abandoned house is. Once we find the root of the problem, we'll know how to suppress and resolve the evil spirits' grievances, and then let them go into reincarnation. This step is crucial. If we do it backwards, it's equivalent to releasing countless vengeful spirits to harm people, and the consequences are unthinkable. Fortunately, if the historical background of the abandoned house is accurate, the vengeful spirits inside should be those orphans from back then. Their grievances are just about dying miserably and being trapped, which isn't complicated. If we want to resolve it, it shouldn't be too difficult."

  "But you released that female ghost, didn't you say you weren't very good at resolving these kinds of things?" Su Tong recalled Tang Ao's previous action of using magic to attach the female ghost to a paper doll and sending it to the temple to resolve the evil energy.

  Tang Ao nodded slightly, looking a bit helpless: "I actually browsed through some books on Huasha's related Taoist techniques before, but after trying a few times, I found that it wasn't my forte. There was a feeling of not being able to exert my strength, and I didn't know if it was because the thing wasn't suitable for me. However, this time, if needed, I still have to try my best, otherwise, the problem won't be solved easily. Fortunately, after entering the abandoned mansion, my spiritual power has increased, so I estimate that the success rate will also be higher than before. As long as I do enough 'homework', I believe it's not a big deal."

  Su Tong didn't understand the Taoist arts, but when she studied, she had a strong bias towards liberal arts. When it came to math, she always felt like she was struggling, even though she had memorized all the formulas and understood the examples. However, when it actually came time for her to solve problems on her own, she couldn't do it. Her mind was full of formulas, but she didn't know how to apply them flexibly. On the other hand, when it came to liberal arts, she was very talented. She almost didn't need to make an effort to memorize things, and after just a glance, she could remember everything. Moreover, she had a talent for making connections between different ideas, and with minimal effort, she could achieve good grades.

  Although the Taoist ritual is not mathematics, in terms of the insight to learn knowledge, it should be the same. It's possible that Tang Hao is very skilled at driving out evil spirits and ghosts, but when it comes to softer methods like resolving inauspiciousness, he just doesn't have the knack for it, which is also entirely possible, and there's nothing wrong with that.

  Just then, Su Tong remembered something else: "The two of us went to the haunted house and opened the strange wooden board on the door. Didn't you say that after we escaped, you sealed the door with all your might? Can't things inside get out? Is there some special reason for that wooden board? Won't it be because we two ran over before and really let the evil spirit out to harm people?"

  "You guessed it, I thought the pattern on that wooden board was suspicious at the time. Later, when we ran out with you, the things in the abandoned house were trying to take advantage of this opportunity to rush out from under the door. Luckily, I could exert force remotely, otherwise, a big mistake would have been made by now," Tang Ao sighed. "I resealed that board back onto the door. After reading about the abandoned house earlier, I suspect that the things carved on the wooden board are actually a type of Japanese talisman, which is used to seal the abandoned house and prevent the vengeful spirits inside from escaping. Why they did this was originally puzzling to me, but now I understand a bit more. Since they conducted so many evil and cruel experiments, they were naturally afraid of being haunted by the ghosts of those who were brutally killed after leaving. So, they simply sealed off the abandoned house, trapping everything inside. When I read that post earlier, I was also thinking that luckily, during the demolition process back then, before we even started working on the abandoned house, workers began to have frequent accidents. If we had already entered the abandoned house, it would have been chaotic here by now."

  "I still have a question that I don't quite understand," Su Tong said, feeling a bit embarrassed. As an outsider, he had a lot of questions, and seeing Tang Ao's encouraging gaze, he continued, "Isn't there a saying 'wronged spirits have a place to go, debts have a person to repay'? Those vengeful ghosts that were released, shouldn't they be going after the people who wronged them in the first place, or even their descendants?"

  Tang Ao shook his head with a bitter smile: "Because hatred is blind, if they were just killed and wanted to avenge their grievances, it would naturally be a case of 'a debt must be repaid', once the great revenge was achieved, the obsession would also disappear, and they would go where they should go. What's most feared is that there are those who cannot avenge their hatred, and after dying unjustly, they are still trapped, their resentment has long been fermenting, from hating one person to hating all living beings. That's why this is the most despicable thing about those who study evil techniques with all their heart - not only do they harm innocent lives, but it's also like planting a time bomb next to innocent people. Oh, it's already this late, let's go, come with me on an errand, I need to go to the city library to find some related materials, know yourself and your enemy, and prepare well."

  Su Tong nodded, stood up and walked out of the study with Tang Ao, preparing to go out: "Go to the city library? Does the city library still have books related to Xuanxue Daoism? I didn't know before."

  "Of course not," Tang Ao was amused by her puzzled expression, "I just went to check some local records and materials about old buildings, to see if I could find anything related to the abandoned mansion."

  Two people went downstairs and drove straight to the city library. For the next half afternoon, Su Tong spent most of her time in a listless state, following Tang Wei over, mainly because after going through so many things, Tang Wei was temporarily not at ease leaving her alone, and Su Tong herself did not have the guts either. However, when they arrived at the library, Tang Wei was buried in various books about local old buildings, too busy to care about anything else. Su Tong didn't know what he was looking for and couldn't help with anything. She wanted to find some books that interested her, but she didn't dare leave this floor to go to other areas to find books. The city library was very large in scale, with a huge collection of books, each category occupying almost an entire floor. One side had row upon row of tall bookshelves, packed tightly with books, while the other side had long tables for people to sit and read. It wasn't a holiday, so there weren't many people in the library, making it very quiet. This kind of high-ceilinged building was relatively cooler inside compared to outside. If it were any other time, this would be quite nice, but now Su Tong felt very uneasy, worried that with her recent bad luck and weak yang energy, having just gone through a harrowing experience of her soul leaving her body, she might accidentally provoke some kind of trouble again, which would be terrible.

  After weighing the pros and cons, it's still safer to stay by Tang Ao's side, even if it's boring. At least it's better than being on edge all the time. She didn't want to experience that kind of stimulation again, like she did earlier today.

  Fortunately, Tang Ao didn't spend too much time on this matter. When Su Tong sat beside him with his arm propping up his head, almost falling asleep, he finally closed the last book and said to Su Tong: "Let's go, we're going back."

  Su Tong rubbed his eyes hastily, perked up and left the library with him.

  As they walked out of the library, it was already late afternoon. The spring daylight was getting longer, and the two of them drove back home with a warm sunset glow on their faces. The gentle evening breeze carried a hint of coolness, but it felt comfortable on their skin. For a moment, Su Tong almost forgot about the difficulties and dangers they were going to face, or rather, she didn't really forget, but just wanted to savor this peaceful and cozy moment, trying not to think about what was waiting for them when they got home.

  The car drove halfway, Tang Ao received a call, he communicated with the other end of the phone in a few words, hung up the phone, turned his head to ask for Su Tong's opinion: "I have something to do, need to go to the studio to deal with it."

  "I'm fine, let's hurry up and go." Su Tong replied in a rush. If Tang Ao hadn't mentioned it, she had almost forgotten that he still ran an interior design studio. Remembering this, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty. "It's all my fault, these past few days I've been causing you trouble with my own things, wasting your time and energy. Has your work been delayed a lot because of me?"

  "That's not the case, you don't have to think there's anything wrong with it. To be honest, solving the mystery of the infant spirit and the abandoned mansion is more attractive to me than the design drawings at the studio," Tang Ao said with a smile. "Have you forgotten what I told you? After that serious illness, I completely forgot about the interior design knowledge I learned in college, and my thinking and inspiration were gone. So later on, in order to maintain the normal operation of the studio, I hired two newly graduated students to do those designs that they really wanted to do, and I only occasionally intervened in those that were a bit abnormal. You understand what I mean."

  Su Tong nodded: "I understand, but you're the boss and still need to check in frequently. No matter what, I'm affecting your normal work, so hopefully it won't delay any important matters."

  "It's okay, the two of them are already used to my personality," Tang Ao said with a slightly self-deprecating smile. "It just so happens that you're coming with me this time, I'll introduce you to those two."

  Su Tong felt that Tang Ao's words had a hint of implication, a man who not only cared about her very much and took care of her in every way, but also treated her affairs as his own and worked hard to take care of them. Moreover, he was even very enthusiastic about introducing her to his friends, which meant something. Su Tong wasn't a 15 or 16-year-old girl who had just fallen in love for the first time and was still confused and infatuated, she naturally had some understanding in her heart.

  However, she didn't mind getting to know the two staff members in Tang Wei's studio. As for this neighbor, she hadn't known much about him in the past, or rather, she had no impression of him at all. Now, with this opportunity, she also hoped to gain a better understanding of him.

  Isn't there a saying that goes like this: if you want to understand someone, starting from the people around him is the best entry point.

  "Come on, it's also a good opportunity for this uncultured bumpkin to broaden his horizons!" Su Tong said with a playful smile to Tang Ao.

  Tang Ao's studio is not far from the residential area where they live, and it didn't take long to arrive. The storefront of the studio is not large either, which is normal, after all, they only do design and are not responsible for construction or sales of any physical goods, so they don't need a lot of space.

  As they walked up to the studio door, Tang Ao jokingly said to Su Tong: "We're here, let's go in. Once we're inside, you'll find out that it's actually me who doesn't have any artistic vision!"

  As he spoke, he took the lead in pushing open the antique-style wrought iron gate.

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