"Female Shaman?" Song Miaozhu looked up, startled. She had been lost in thought, pondering where to find more spiritual energy, looked up in surprise at the two girls standing before her. "Me?"
Lin Jiaojiao grew so nervous under her gaze that she couldn't speak. Xu Xiaodan quickly pulled out her phone and showed her the screen. "You were filmed last night in the eastern part of town…"
Song Miaozhu glanced at the trending local hashtag:
"Young Woman Folding Paper Offerings Late at Night in Yuanshan Ancient Town—Performance Art or Ritual Magic?"
The photo accompanying the post was unmistakably her.
"At least it's only a local trend… and the buzz isn't too big yet."
"You two took this?" she asked, squinting. If she remembered correctly, these girls had secretly taken photos of her a week ago and got caught—she'd made them delete the pictures right then and there.
"No, no! Not us!" they both waved their hands frantically.
"We only saw it this morning!" Lin Jiaojiao quickly added.
They were here to ask for help, not make enemies. Knowing she disliked being photographed, they wouldn't dare—especially now that they suspected she might be the real deal.
Seeing their genuine panic, Song Miaozhu relaxed slightly. "Thanks for the heads-up,"
"No problem!" The two girls looked flustered. "Um… Sister, we actually came to ask if you could help us… exorcise a ghost."
"Exorcise a ghost?" Song Miaozhu studied them carefully. "Neither of you can see spirits, right? You haven't come into contact with one either."
Their eyes held no trace of spiritual energy—no Heavenly Eye awakening. Their bodies bore no lingering yin energy, meaning they hadn't been near a ghost.
"Were you scammed? Or just scaring yourselves?"
"No, no! We're sure Sister Hong isn't alive anymore!" Lin Jiaojiao insisted.
"We've never seen her in person," Xu Xiaodan added. "But when we first moved into the dorm a year ago, all of us had the same dream. She stood in the center of the room, dressed entirely in red, and told us to leave. She said she used to live in that exact dorm."
"So you want me to exorcise a ghost from your dorm?" Song Miaozhu frowned. "Has anyone died there?"
Both girls shook their heads. "No."
"Unless someone died there or their remains are buried there, a ghost can't linger for long."
Before the spiritual energy resurgence, even the most vengeful spirits couldn't stay in the mortal realm without an anchor—unless the place was their death site or held their bones.
Xu Xiaodan and Lin Jiaojiao paled. "D-Died there? Remains?"
"Which university are you from?" Song Miaozhu asked. "I'll see if I can visit sometime."
"With the town's spiritual energy nearly depleted, a change of scenery might be good. Might as well do a good deed."
If cultivation failed, she'd still have to face judgment in the underworld based on her merits and sins.
"We're from Lingcheng University…"
"That's in the city—pretty close. How about tomorrow? I'll go check it out with you."
She'd been sitting at the shop entrance for a week now, and the escape room's promotional period was over. She could leave anytime.
"O-Okay!" The girls nodded eagerly. "We'll meet you here tomorrow morning!"
They left in a daze, immediately diving into research about unsolved murders at Lingcheng University. Shaking her head, Song Miaozhu returned to her paper folding—until her phone rang again.
"Hello? Sister Mumu?" She answered. "What's up?"
Zhao Mumu usually texted; calls meant urgency.
"Miaozhu, where are you? Is anyone around?" Zhao Mumu's voice was tense.
Song Miaozhu glanced around. Only a few tourists lingered under the ancient locust tree—now a minor attraction thanks to the escape room's popularity.
"No one nearby. Go ahead."
"Miaozhu, you've been exposed!"
"What?"
"The old curator of the National Museum—the one in artifact restoration—started seeing ghosts half a month ago. Recently, he also noticed spiritual energy and reported it to the government. The state had established Spiritual Energy Investigation Units (SEIU) across the country. They're researching all incidents related to spiritual energy."
My brother's been assigned as the leader of the Lingchen division. He saw your photo—the one of you performing paper rituals last night! It's been flagged by the higher-ups. Since I'm also in Yuanshan Ancient Town, he called me directly to ask about you. I gave him an excuse for now, but it's only a matter of time before they come looking for you!"
She took a big gulp of water before continuing.
"Miaozhu, what do you plan to do? Do you want to work for the government? I can't speak for other departments, but Lingchen's unit is just getting started. My brother has a background in traditional crafts and is recruiting people with your skill set. I might be joining him soon too."
Miaozhu fell silent. This was unexpected, but not surprising.
If this had been back when she was still job hunting, she wouldn't have hesitated to take a stable government post like this.
But things were different now. She had her ghost workshop and no longer needed to worry about money. Tying herself to another organization didn't seem worth it. Especially since she carried more than a few secrets—joining any formal group could become dangerous.
Still, this spiritual awakening... no one really understood the rules for cultivation yet. Working in isolation wasn't going to cut it. She needed to hear others' insights to piece together the most effective path.
Especially if, as it seemed, the government had some truly capable individuals—people who might be progressing even faster than she was. Information sharing made sense. But joining? That was another matter.
She came to a decision quickly.
"Tell your brother I'm not joining," she decided, "but I'm open to sharing findings. If he agrees, give him my contact. I'll be in Lingcheng tomorrow—we can talk then."
"Got it!" Zhao Mumu hung up.
Five minutes later, she called back. "He agreed. I'll go with you tomorrow—make sure he behaves. By the way, why are you going to Lingcheng?"
"Oh…" Song Miaozhu smiled. "Someone hired me to exorcise a ghost."