Plum Blossom Seal
"Has it changed again?" Si Mucheng asked in surprise. "If I remember correctly, last time only this petal was bright, right?"
Wen Ya's eyes darkened; her guess had come true.
So today, when she was performing the exorcism for Shen Guixiang, the same feeling she had when she performed the exorcism for Zhang Wei came back to her. Once again, she failed to feel the sense of relief that came with the ghost merging into the world.
“I suspect that the dispelled souls didn’t enter reincarnation, but instead entered the Soul-Returning Lamp,” Wen Ya suggested, then felt something was amiss. “But I’ve already dispelled three souls since the Soul-Returning Lamp suddenly activated, so why not three?”
Si Mucheng recalled the circumstances of the soul-exorcising journey and pondered, "Was there anything different?"
“Yes,” Wen Ya suddenly remembered the differences between the three ghosts, “the one on Yuhuang Mountain was an evil spirit.”
"An evil spirit?" Si Mucheng suddenly realized. "Yes, I remember now, that's right. Does the Soul-Returning Lamp choose which ghost to use?"
“It must have been chosen.” Wen Ya looked at the resurrection lamp. It was still vibrating when she encountered the ghost of the little dog at the hotel entrance, but now it had long since quieted down. Apart from the two lit petals, there was no movement at all, as if it had always been like this.
“Zhang Wei and Shen Guixiang have something in common,” Wen Ya looked at Si Mucheng, “They both stayed in the world as spirits for a long time due to some kind of accident, but they did not become evil spirits.”
"And they clearly told us they came for the Soul-Returning Lamp. The petals only lit up after we helped them clear their obsessions." Wen Ya frowned. "So, what does the Soul-Returning Lamp need? Are these the conditions for activation? Does it activate itself or is someone else activating it?"
Wen Ya felt as if she were in a fog, unable to see the truth.
Si Mucheng couldn't figure it out either: "So what should we do now?"
Wen Ya pondered for a moment: "I still need to verify. The puppy should have been summoned by the Soul-Returning Lamp, because it vibrated downstairs just now. Once the puppy's obsession is dispelled, we'll know the answer."
Thinking about it further won't help.
When Wen Ya put away the Soul-Returning Lamp, Si Mucheng belatedly realized he was in Wen Ya's room. After realizing this, he didn't know what to do with his hands and feet. He scratched his head and stood there like a large dog.
Wen Ya looked at her strangely: "What are you doing? Are you itchy?"
"No..." Si Mucheng simply lowered his hand. "Um, are you sure you're not feeling unwell anymore?"
Wen Ya realized he was still thinking about her unusual behavior in Shangguan Qin's car earlier. She shook her head, her long hair falling from her shoulders, and made sure she was alright again: "That... was just an accident." She hadn't expected Shangguan Qin to drive so aggressively. Besides, she wasn't feeling physically unwell.
Si Mucheng nodded, then spoke again, this time asking about Wen Xiaofeng: "Um, is Xiaofeng alright? She's always running around outside, she really won't get kidnapped." And then, did you roast and eat it?
Wen Ya shook her head. She didn't know how to explain it to Si Mucheng, but she said firmly, "No. Xiao Feng is different from other chickens."
Si Mucheng thought to himself, "It's very different. Other chickens don't have such messy dyed feathers."
But since Wen Ya had already said that, he stopped thinking about it.
Seeing that he was still standing there, Wen Ya tentatively asked, "You... is there something else?"
Si Mucheng instantly realized what was happening and hurriedly waved his hand, "No, no, then I'll go back first." He busied himself for a while, but didn't know what he was doing, feeling completely disoriented. Finally, as if suddenly realizing something, he rushed out the door.
However, after leaving the house, he came back and said, "Um, I've been up all day, I'm pretty tired, get some rest." With that, he closed the door and ran off.
This time he really ran away. Wen Ya was stunned for a long time, then chuckled softly: "Fool."
One night passed.
Si Mucheng was thinking about the little dog ghost, so he knocked on Wen Ya's door early in the morning. Fortunately, Wen Ya was used to waking up early, and the door was immediately opened from the inside as soon as he knocked.
As soon as Wen Ya opened the door, she saw a tall figure and took a step back defensively, but her expression remained calm: "...So early."
Si Mucheng: "Aww."
The two then went downstairs together to have breakfast.
The hotel restaurant was on the first floor. They arrived early, and the restaurant wasn't crowded. Si Mucheng sat by the floor-to-ceiling window. After getting his food from the buffet, Si Mucheng noticed a small figure outside the window. His hand holding the bread paused, and he asked uncertainly, "Master, is that... that little dog ghost?"
Wen Ya was drinking milk when she heard this and turned her head. Outside, a small, pale yellow dog sat upright. Seeing that they were all looking at it, it immediately stuck out its tongue. It looked no different from any other ordinary dog, if it weren't for the fact that it didn't cast a shadow.
"Hmm." Wen Ya was very sensitive to spirits and could sense them at a glance.
Although the puppy was still in its living form thanks to Wen Ya's talisman, Si Mucheng couldn't forget the shock he felt when he first saw it last night. Wen Ya said that a ghost's form is what it looks like when it died, but this puppy clearly didn't die a natural death; it died a horrible death.
"Does it have an owner? Or is it a stray dog?" Si Mucheng guessed. "Those wounds on it must have been inflicted by someone. Who would do that to it?"
Wen Ya shook her head.
She knew that Si Mucheng's tendency to empathize had resurfaced, but what she was worried about now was something else entirely.
After finishing breakfast, Si Mucheng couldn't wait to go out. The little dog ghost came bounding over. If the dog had a physical form, passersby would have exclaimed, "What a wonderful two-way run!"
The little ghost dog seemed to really like Si Mucheng, circling around his feet and staring at him with its wet, round eyes.
A thought suddenly popped into Wen Ya's mind: a big dog leading a small dog.
She raised her hand and clenched her fist to block the smile on her lips.
Si Mucheng played with the little dog ghost for a while, though Wen Ya didn't know how he ended up playing with a ghost. She said calmly, "If I remember correctly, you once fainted from being scared by a ghost. Aren't you afraid now?"
Si Mucheng felt a pang of regret that he couldn't pet the puppy; its curly fur must have been so soft. He retorted, "A puppy ghost isn't a ghost."
Wen Ya raised an eyebrow and remained silent.
Wen Xiaofeng suddenly appeared out of nowhere. As if sensing Wen Ya's presence, it would come out and fly to Wen Ya's shoulder, nestling there calmly.
The hotel was in a fairly bustling area, and even though it was still early, the sight of the two of them—one carrying a brightly colored chicken on his shoulder, and the other teasing a dog on the ground with nothing in sight—was quite odd. As a result, many people turned to look.
Wen Ya didn't care much about the probing looks, but she didn't like being stared at like a monkey, so she said, "Let's go first."
Si Mucheng stood up: "Let's go...where to?" He finally realized, "To dispel its obsession? But what is its obsession? No...how do we know its obsession?"
This was something Wen Ya had been worried about all morning.
Although she had been practicing since childhood, she had never reached the point of being able to communicate with animals. Moreover, after so many years of exorcising spirits, this was the first time she had exorcised a spirit for an animal.
“I… have no clue either.” Wen Ya looked at the little dog ghost, which was sticking out its tongue at her, giving the impression that it trusted her and liked her very much.
Wen Ya couldn't stand the look in his eyes, so she sighed and said, "Let's go to that park up ahead first."
Not far from the hotel is a wetland park, which is full of greenery and has a spiritual atmosphere that is helpful to the spirits.
The park at this time of day is mostly filled with people doing their morning exercise, making it quite lively.
They walked along the central lake, and the further they went in, the fewer people there were, until they stopped when all they could see were green plants and the lake.
Ghosts don't feel tired, and neither does the little dog ghost. It frolicked around happily. But as soon as Wen Ya beckoned to it, it immediately ran over, wagging its tail rapidly.
Si Mucheng asked in surprise, "Master, you can communicate with it?"
Wen Ya pursed her lips: "We can't fully communicate, we can only try our best." She had learned a magic array from her grandfather, which allowed spirits to communicate with each other. The communication between spirits was purer, and they could know what the other knew and thought. However, using this magic array almost required the soul to leave the body, and no one in the world would use such a magic array anymore.
Wen Ya didn't know where her grandfather had learned it, but given the current situation, she had no choice but to try anything.
Wen Ya didn't intend to tell Si Mucheng the function of the magic array, but simply told him, "Don't leave, stay right here."
Although Si Mucheng didn't understand why, he seriously agreed.
After setting up the formation, Wen Ya sat down with the little dog ghost inside, and she closed her eyes.
She sensed the magic circle activating. In the chaos, she felt the presence of another spirit, which she knew was the little dog ghost. Just as she was about to get closer to the small light in front of her, the magic circle was suddenly destroyed, and the chaos before her eyes turned into darkness. Her senses returned, and she felt someone grasp her left wrist.
Wen Ya wondered, "Has someone broken in?"
She opened her eyes, but was immediately blinded by the light and frowned. The next second, the light was blocked.
She looked up and saw Si Mucheng standing in front of her, shielding her from the light, but his face was full of disbelief: "What are you doing??"
Wen Ya, unaware of what was happening, quickly looked around: "What's wrong? Has someone come by?"
"No!" Si Mucheng exclaimed as if he had witnessed something unbearable. "The problem is you! You... I see it, your soul! You've become a ghost!"
Wen Ya: ...
So using this magic circle really did cause the soul to leave the body.
She had only learned it from her grandfather and had never used it before, so she didn't know what the visual effects were like. Si Mucheng had the ability to see ghosts, so he could also see her spirit leaving her body.
"What exactly is going on?" Si Mucheng frowned as he looked at her, his expression showing that he was determined not to give up.
Wen Ya sighed and had no choice but to explain the principle of the magic array to him.
“No!” Si Mucheng said immediately after hearing this, his eyes serious. “This is too dangerous. You yourself said that no one uses this kind of magic array anymore. Nobody knows what might happen. I can’t let you take this risk.”
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