"Brother Dao, stop fooling around and get down to business."

I reached out to pull him inside, but Liu Sandao stubbornly pushed me away.

"Who's joking with you? I'm really going on this blind date!"

His serious demeanor gave me the creeps.

Just as I was about to ask him more questions, I saw him take three steps to the door and reach out to take off the string of copper wind chimes.

The moment the metallic clanging stopped abruptly, the air suddenly cooled down.

In the dim yellow glow of the streetlights, a man in a gray jacket appeared out of nowhere, his knees still stained with asphalt from a car accident.

I recognize him.

Three days ago, in the early morning, this person was standing in the middle of the road when he was hit by a dump truck and left bloodied and mangled.

At this moment, the guy's eyes were cloudy, and he mechanically opened and closed his mouth: "Boss... your shop... is closed?"

"We're no longer open for business!"

Liu Sandao spoke before I could, taking out his lighter and lighting another Da Zhong Jiu cigarette.

Ashes fell softly onto the crisp suit.

"What's the use of buying candles? You violent and vengeful spirit, with two of your three souls and seven spirits scattered, the candles for your rebirth won't illuminate the road to the underworld."

He flicked his cigarette ash: "Go to 'Du'e Hall' in the west of the city, find one-eyed Old Zhang, mention my name, and have him prepare soul-suppressing incense and soul-gathering talisman for you, and also make a substitute paper figure. Remember to write down your birth date and time clearly."

The ghost in the gray jacket wanted to speak again, but Liu Sandao waved his hand impatiently: "Alright, alright, hurry up and leave, or you'll be scattered to the winds if you miss the appointed time."

Just as the ghost turned and disappeared around the street corner, a cold gust of wind suddenly swept up the fallen leaves all over the ground.

The streetlights flickered twice, and a disheveled woman emerged from the shadows of the trees.

She wore a white dress soaked in blood, her swollen belly split open, and dark red organs dragging on the ground.

Every step left a wet, black mark on the asphalt road.

The strangest thing is the way she walks.

With his heels off the ground, he seemed to float in the air as if suspended by invisible threads, and none of the passersby glanced at him.

Liu Sandao paused, holding his cigarette, without even noticing the ash burning his fingertips.

I stared at the purplish-blue marks on the woman's neck, and belatedly realized that my waist felt cold.

This ghost was surrounded by a heavy aura of resentment, and even the air was filled with fine ice crystals. It was the most ferocious thing I had ever seen since I opened the shop.

He quickly stubbed out his cigarette, leaned forward slightly, and said in a low voice, "Be careful, this isn't an ordinary ghost who died unjustly."

This is one type of mother-and-child ghost.

These kinds of evil spirits are divided into three realms.

The most common example is a woman who died while pregnant, whose resentment condensed into a ghost fetus in her womb.

The advanced ones are mothers whose fetuses were removed before they were born, their souls and the resentment of their stillborn children coexisting.

The creature before us is pregnant and strangled to death. Both mother and fetus die unjustly, their resentment devouring each other, creating a cycle of vengeance. This is the most vicious of all.

If we really started fighting, I'm afraid Liu Sandao and I wouldn't even be able to withstand a single move from her.

The female ghost slowly drifted closer, her rotting fingertips brushing against the wood at the shop entrance.

Black blood seeped from the hollow eye sockets, and a voice seemed to come from a deep, ancient well: "I want... the lamp of rebirth... to send me and my child... to reincarnation..."

My heart trembled violently.

The lamp for the deceased can help the soul to let go of its obsessions and be reincarnated smoothly.

However, this female ghost was filled with overwhelming resentment and did not meet the conditions for rebirth.

This is like if I were to secretly hire a serial killer in the mortal world.

Not only would it ruin the entire company, but the person involved would also be held responsible.

The rules set by the underworld officials are strict; if anyone sells these items privately, the soul-reaping messengers of the underworld will surely come knocking.

At best, it will ruin one's cultivation; at worst, it will cause one's soul to be scattered.

...

My throat tightened, and I cleared it as I tried to remain calm.

Try to make your tone as gentle as possible.

"Ma'am, it's not that I don't want to sell it to you, it's just that the rebirth lamp is useless to you, look at your condition..."

Before she could finish speaking, the female ghost suddenly let out a sharp screech.

Black fluid gushed from the crack in the rotting belly, congealing in the air to form the outline of an infant.

I instinctively took a step back.

Her body suddenly swelled up, and her long hair, which had originally reached the ground, stood upside down.

The black blood dripping from the eye sockets onto the ground instantly corroded small, sizzling pits.

"I want a lamp for the deceased!"

Her voice was a mixture of male and female tones, like a mother and a fetus screaming at the same time.

The barrier at the shop entrance glowed faintly, but its light flickered uncertainly under the impact of her resentment.

I took another half step back, my lower back pressed against the edge of the counter, my palms covered in cold sweat.

I looked at Liu Sandao and kept giving him meaningful glances, signaling him to step forward and negotiate.

Liu Sandao suddenly stepped forward, his suit trousers sweeping across the black mark on the ground, producing a sizzling sound like burning.

"I said no, and that means no!"

He spoke defiantly, but just as the female ghost approached, he inadvertently moved half an inch behind me.

"Do you think the rules for the underworld officials are just for show? With your resentment, even ten lamps lit for the dead would explode into ghostly flames!"

He said this, but his fingers were secretly forming a mantra behind his back. The talisman on his sleeve moved without wind, making a soft crackling sound.

The female ghost paused for a moment, then her rotting fingertips suddenly pointed at Liu Sandao.

“You have… the aura of the Hall of Salvation…”

Her voice suddenly became hoarse, as if she had remembered something.

"Back then... that one-eyed man said I was beyond saving... you were all in cahoots with him!"

Black slurry gathered into a vortex at her feet.

The vengeful spirit in the shape of an infant opened its mouth, revealing a dense array of sharp teeth.

Liu Sandao's Adam's apple bobbed twice, and I could clearly see the cold sweat beading on his forehead, yet I still heard him speak in a somewhat ingratiating tone.

"No, no, no, we don't know Old Zhang! We were just passing by..."

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