When I said I was going to lure the ghost out, everyone drew a sharp breath and looked at each other in dismay. Even Fatty looked a bit guilty, and it was hard to tell if he was afraid of the ghost or afraid of being exposed—after all, the ghost hadn't been driven away at all.
"Little brother, can you really lure out the ghost that's haunting Xiaoman?" Zhang Xiaoman's father asked, half-believing, as he was starting to come around to my words.
I nodded, then leaned close to Zhang Xiaoman's father's ear and whispered, "Uncle Zhang, could you ask them to leave? I need to talk to you in private."
Zhang Xiaoman's father hesitated for a moment before giving the butler a look, indicating for him to lead everyone out.
The butler made a gesture of invitation and ushered the rest out. Before leaving, they all wore astonished expressions, looking at Father Zhang in confusion as to why I wasn't asked to leave. Fatty was particularly disgruntled, but the butler silenced him with a gesture before he could speak. He curled his lip and followed the others out of the room.
After the door closed, Father Zhang asked, "Little brother, are you truly confident about luring out the ghost and subduing it?"
I nodded firmly. After all, my days of studying Maoshan Ghost Taoism necromancy hadn't been in vain.
If the ghost was indeed He Wei, I had no fear of him appearing in daylight. As a newly formed spirit who hadn't even passed the seventh-night ritual, he would be easy to subdue.
Seeing my confidence, Father Zhang set aside his doubts and urgently asked how to lure the ghost out.
I rubbed my chin and replied, "From the strange incidents Xiaoman has encountered, we can deduce that the ghost haunting her is He Wei from our class. He died recently, and since he had feelings for Xiaoman in life, his spirit has lingered around her. To lure him out during the day, we need to use a 'beauty trap'."
Father Zhang frowned. "You mean... you want my daughter to seduce him out?"
I nodded. "If we get Xiaoman to lie on the bed naked, He Wei will definitely appear."
At my words, Father Zhang's expression darkened instantly, his brows knitting into a tight knot. "Absolutely not! You want my daughter to strip for a ghost? I... Zhang Hu will never agree to that!"
Seeing his agitation, I hurried to reassure him. "Uncle Zhang, calm down. Listen—tonight is He Wei's seventh night after death. By then, even my Taoist skills won't be a match for him. Xiaoman will surely die tonight if we don't act. Do you want to save her life, or preserve your pride?"
"This..." Zhang Hu was rendered speechless by my words, his mouth feeling as if stuffed with cotton wool, unable to utter a word.
Zhang Hu fell silent for over a minute before finally nodding in agreement to my plan.
"Um, Uncle Zhang... besides the ghost, Xiaoman's body will also need to be seen by me..." I lowered my voice to a whisper as I said this, fearing that Zhang Hu might fly into a rage and slap me across the face.
Upon hearing me, Zhang Hu was first stunned, then as I'd expected, his face turned beet-red, his fists clenching tightly, clearly furious.
"You little brat, you're pushing your luck! First you want my daughter to be seen by a ghost, and now you want a living person like you to see her too? You're worse than those con artists—others just scam money, but you're after her body! In this city, no one has ever dared to take advantage of me, Zhang Hu, like this!" Zhang Hu raged.
Seeing the situation turn bad, I quickly explained, "Uncle Zhang, you've misunderstood. As a precaution, I must tattoo talismans on Xiaoman's body. Otherwise, if the ghost gets desperate, it might hurt her."
Though Zhang Hu ground his teeth in anger, after much thought, he reluctantly nodded.
"Little brat, you'd better not be lying to me, or I'll make you pay!" Zhang Hu warned.
I nodded frantically, swearing I wasn't deceiving him, then secretly wiped the cold sweat from my brow. Zhang Hu had both wealth and power—he could crush me like an ant. Offending him might mean the end of the Lin family's last bloodline.
After asking Zhang Hu for a bowl of black dog blood and a cinnabar brush, I motioned for him to undress Zhang Xiaoman.
Zhang Hu didn't do it himself. Instead, he called a female nanny to help, then turned his back to avoid looking.
I silently praised Zhang Hu as a father—after all, his daughter was grown, and even as a father, he respected her modesty. He would never have allowed a stranger to see her body unless utterly desperate.
Once the nanny finished undressing Xiaoman and left the room as ordered, I looked at her naked form lying on the bed and couldn't help swallowing. The sound must have been loud, because Zhang Hu barked: "Little brat, hurry up! If you dare ogle my daughter again, I'll gouge out your eyes."
I gave a perfunctory "mm" and ignored Zhang Hu's threats. It wasn't like I'd asked to see this—some things were unavoidable. But knowing how fiery Zhang Xiaoman's temper was, if she woke up and found out I'd seen her naked, would she scream for my head?
At this thought, I shivered. I hoped she'd never find out, or my worst nightmares would come true.
I forced myself to look away from Xiaoman's glaring "headlights," suppressing the tent in my pants as I began drawing Maoshan ghost-exorcism talismans on every inch of her skin.
Maoshan talismans are said to dispel evil, subdue demons, and soothe the mind to heal—though I had no idea if they worked. I was copying them straight from books, which also stated that their effectiveness depended on the caster's Taoist proficiency. I wondered if my skills were up to par.
It took me nearly twenty minutes to cover Xiaoman's entire body in talismans. Of course, I'd gotten a thorough look at her in the process—but now wasn't the time to act on impulse.
"Alright, Uncle Zhang!" I exhaled deeply and said.
Zhang Hu turned to shoot a glance at Zhang Xiaoman lying on the bed, then pressed on, "If this doesn't work, I'll gouge out your eyes."
At his words, I silently prayed to the ancestors of the Lin family. If this failed, the inheritor of Maoshan Ghost Taoism might have to switch to becoming a blind bone-reading fortune-teller.
"What's the next step?" Zhang Hu asked.
"Have someone bring several baskets of soybeans and scatter them all over the room," I replied.
"Soybeans?" Zhang Hu frowned, his face etched with confusion.
I couldn't be bothered to explain—just told him to follow my instructions.
Zhang Hu nodded and walked out of the room. Shortly after, he carried two baskets of soybeans in and poured them onto the floor. In an instant, the ground was covered with soybeans, and we had to walk carefully to avoid slipping and falling.
"What's next?" Zhang Hu asked again.
I found a stool in the room, sat down, and started playing with my phone. "Wait."
Zhang Hu seemed about to ask something else, but seeing my uninterested demeanor, he fell silent and stood by anxiously, waiting.
About thirty minutes later, suddenly, I heard a "hissing" sound accompanied by a burnt smell.
I quickly looked down and found some soybeans on the ground were burnt, all turned pitch-black, emitting a pungent burnt smell. From their shape, the charred soybeans formed individual footprints, leading toward Zhang Xiaoman's bed.
"Here it comes!" I whispered to Zhang Hu.
Seeing the scene, Zhang Hu turned deathly pale, his mouth opening to shout "Ghost!" But before any sound escaped, I clamped my hand over his mouth in time, gesturing for silence.
The footprints stopped at the bedside, but a chilly gust of wind emanated from there, making the purple mosquito net flutter continuously.
"Is... is the ghost here?" Zhang Hu whispered in my ear, his voice trembling. Even a man like Zhang Hu showed fear in the face of the supernatural.
I nodded. He Wei must have arrived, likely standing beside Zhang Xiaoman's bed—though invisible to our eyes.
I quickly took out the yellow talisman my second uncle had given me that night, then chanted incantations under my breath: "By the decree of the Three Pure Ones, the Jade Emperor commands this paper—these talismans strike down evil ghosts. Each is a divine script; any who dare defy shall be escorted to Fengdu City for decapitation. Hasten, as per the divine edict!"
This was the Maoshan Ghost Taoism Talisman Empowerment Incantation, a relatively ordinary spell for using paper talismans against ghosts. But since it was my first time casting it, I had no idea if it would work.
Upon finishing the incantation, the yellow talisman in my hand flew out like a throwing dart. As it reached the bedside, it seemed to stick to something, sparking and crackling like fireworks. The most terrifying part was the ear-piercing howl that followed, as tables and chairs in the room were all knocked over, as if something was thrashing violently.
After a moment, a chill ghostly breeze swept through. When it subsided, I saw He Wei collapsed on the soybeans, my yellow talisman stuck to his back. He thrashed in agony, emitting heart-wrenching howls.
His appearance was horrific: a pale face webbed with eerie black veins, lips tinged with livid blue, teeth as white as if powdered, both eyeballs bloodshot, and enormous dark circles ringing his eye sockets.
"Little brother, is this the ghost haunting my daughter?" Zhang Hu whispered, staring fearfully at He Wei, who was writhing on the floor.
I nodded, gesturing for him to calm down. "He Wei is still a weak spirit. Once struck by the yellow talisman, he'll convulse in agony and lose the power to harm anyone."
After struggling for a while, He Wei began to plead: "Lin Yuan, spare me! Please, I swear I'll never do this again!" His voice had a sinister quality, like a warped cassette tape, utterly unlike his living voice.
Though He Wei was dead, he'd been my classmate. Even if I hadn't liked him much in life, I didn't want to obliterate his soul entirely.
It was precisely because of this tiny shred of kindness in me that the three people in the room almost lost their lives.