Chapter 2
The housekeeper said: "We can only perform this ritual once. What if the evil spirit comes back again? It would be better if Taoist Wang could perform it again at night."
It was getting dark, and Wang Sheng was getting anxious. If he didn't go back...
He said in a negotiating tone, "If you're worried, can I come back tomorrow evening? Something's waiting for me back home. Tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll definitely come!"
The steward winked at the side, and immediately many servants surrounded them with sticks in their hands. Wang Sheng stared at them, swallowed his saliva, and stepped back repeatedly, waving his hands: "I don't want the money either! Is it okay if I don't want your money?"
The housekeeper crossed his hands in front of him, his eyes fixed on the top of his head. "That's not how you calculate the account. If you still want to make money by catching ghosts and fortune-telling in Zhang County, you have to do it today, whether you want to or not."
These bandits! Now this one hundred taels of silver has become a hot potato for Wang.
He exhaled, reached into his sleeve pocket and touched a piece of cloth, and his heart immediately calmed down. He thought for a moment, looked at the butler again and said, "Okay, but I have one request. As soon as I finish the ritual at night, you let me go."
"No problem."
Until it was completely dark, there were still many people in the yard watching Wang Sheng with a fierce look in their eyes. He hadn't even had a sip of water until now. He looked at them speechlessly. They were so tactless. Didn't they see that there was someone hungry here?
There wasn't even a stool. Really? Even a wealthy family couldn't do this. Wang Sheng waved his hand, swept the things off the table, sat down on it, and then lay down on it with his legs crossed.
The servants looked at him with amusement and whispered, "Look at him! Isn't it said that Taoist priests value incense the most? Why is he like this today?"
"Don't you understand? Where do ghosts and gods come from in this world? If these things existed, I would have become rich by making wishes a long time ago."
After all, we are all just trying to make a living and as long as we can make money, that's enough.
The man at the beginning nudged his brother with his shoulder and said, "So, what's wrong with the master? I can hear him screaming many times at night. Are those...those things really back?"
The man made a gesture to silence the other person: "Shh, keep your voice down, are you trying to kill yourself?"
The people at the counter twitched their ears. "Those things?" What were they? Why were these people only talking halfway through, whetting people's appetite?
He stretched himself, calculated the time was about right, and leaped down with a somersault. "You adults should be asleep by now, right? Let's begin the ritual, then?"
The servants looked at each other, and the leader nodded at him, "Let's get started. The brothers are waiting to go back and drink if we finish early."
After saying this, Wang Sheng immediately conjured up a fire stick in his hand like a magician, and quickly prepared incense, candles and other items, muttering to himself: "Heaven and earth, please help the Taishang Laojun to appear and possess me!"
The ghost-painted talisman paper on the table suddenly moved as if possessed by spiritual energy, leaving those people stunned. Could it be that this fake Taoist priest was actually a real one?
Wang Sheng closed his eyes tightly and shook them left and right, occasionally ringing a bell, looking quite impressive.
Seeing that some people were really frightened, someone said disdainfully: "That's it! My great-grandfather crawled out of the earth and did better than him. Believe it or not?"
The night was bright with stars and a moon, the sky was clear and windless, and the shadows of the trees slanted down, casting their claws and teeth on the ground.
Just when everyone thought everything was safe, the white smoke from the incense and candles began to sway upwards without wind. The weather suddenly turned cold, the moonlight was blocked, and the shadows of everyone in the yard became blurred.
In the bamboo forest to their left, there was a dark shadow "standing" there, with long hair hanging down, covering most of its face, making it impossible to see its features clearly. It was facing them.
"Ah! Why is the lantern out?"
"What's going on? Mine is out too."
"There's no wind tonight. The candles in the mansion are really terrible. They suddenly went out a few days ago. Stop arguing and just light them up. There's nothing to worry about."
Wang Sheng was reciting the mantra with great concentration when the people behind him kept interrupting his train of thought. They had agreed to leave after reciting it fifty times, but now he didn't know how many times he had recited it.
He could no longer bear it and was about to turn around and scold the servants when suddenly a hand touched his spine from behind.
Wang Sheng stood up, and a chill surged from the soles of his feet to his head.
The hand was as soft as boneless, and it gradually touched his neck like a snake. The touch was damp and sticky, and the long nails poked into his skin from time to time. Wang Sheng's legs and feet were shaking constantly, and if it was any later, he would have knelt on the ground.
A wisp of hair curled around his shoulder. Wang Sheng's eyes narrowed, and he nearly fainted. He suddenly lifted the incense burner frame and dumped the ash backwards. A woman's shrill cry came from behind him.
"Brothers, look, what happened to this fake Taoist priest?"
"He, what is he doing?"
Everyone was frightened by Wang Sheng's actions and took a few steps back. It looked like they had seen a ghost!
Wang Sheng: "There's a ghost!"
The restraints on Wang Sheng disappeared, and he collapsed to the ground. He didn't dare look back at all, and he rolled and crawled out of the yard, shouting for help. The servants also scattered in an instant, running out of the yard.
Wang Sheng ran all the way to the gate relying on his memory of the way here. There were more servants in front of him. Seeing Wang Sheng's face full of fear, they all looked at him curiously. Didn't they say that they would perform a ritual tonight?
"Make way, please make way!"
What a ghost! What a ghost! How could he really have encountered a real ghost?
Wang Sheng, a charlatan, has become quite famous in Zhang County, relying on some tricks and mostly luck. If he encounters a ghost, he will run away faster than anyone else.
Seeing the gate right in front of him, he suddenly stopped.
No, his money! He had to get it back before he could leave.
However, there really is something fishy going on in the prefectural governor's mansion now. He has the money but not the life to spend it. No matter what, money makes the world go round. As long as he finds the housekeeper, gets the money and leaves, there should be nothing wrong.
Wang Sheng gritted his teeth and turned back inside, trembling as he pulled out a stack of talisman paper from a corner of his body. He'd copied it from a painting he'd bought from a master, and he had no idea if it would work if he came across the real thing, but now he had no other choice but to give it a try.
He ran as fast as the wind and found his way to the prefect's bedroom. It was pitch black inside and he thought no one was there. When he was about to leave, he heard the housekeeper's shouting.
"My lord? My lord! You are having a nightmare again. Wake up, my lord!"
Wang Sheng poked a hole in the window and looked inside. He saw the butler grabbing Zhang Wei's shoulders and shaking him continuously. Zhang Wei's face was distorted, his whole body was shaking, and he was bowing with his hands as if begging for mercy. No matter how the butler called him, he would not wake up.
Behind the butler, a female ghost with disheveled hair was floating in the air, her hands gradually moving towards his neck.
Wang Sheng stood there in a daze, covering his open mouth and not daring to make a sound.
The ghost stopped and turned her head sharply to look over here, revealing a face half skinless and bloody. She sensed that Wang Sheng seemed to be able to see her, and her mouth began to stretch open, stretching and stretching until her jaw dislocated, and the muscles on her face were densely packed together.
Wang Sheng fell to the ground exhausted. His mind was still filled with fear, but his body reacted first and started running backwards. Before running, he did not forget to stick a piece of talisman paper on the window.
The familiar scream echoed from behind him. Wang Sheng covered his ears and half-knelt on the ground in pain. He struggled to turn around and saw the female ghost burst out of the bedroom and attacked him ferociously. The talisman paper had no effect on her.
Wang Sheng: ...
Those who deceive others will eventually harm themselves.
The distance between them was getting closer and closer, and the face in Wang Sheng's pupils kept getting bigger and bigger. Just when Wang Sheng thought he would die here, a clear bird cry was heard in the sky, like an auspicious sign from heaven, and then a burning yellow talisman fell on the female ghost.
White smoke rose from the female ghost's body and she screamed miserably on the spot.
Wang Sheng patted his chest and gasped, he was so scared that he thought he was really going to die here.
The bird that saved his life landed on the flower bed next to Wang Sheng and flapped its wings a few times, "Grandson, call me grandpa quickly."
Wang Sheng: "What is it?"
The female ghost was extremely angry. This talisman only aroused her deeper resentment. She roared to the sky and then stared at Wang Sheng with eyes full of hatred.
Seeing that something was wrong, Wang Sheng grabbed the fat bird and rushed forward. Behind him was the female ghost who rushed towards him without any restraint.
Wang Sheng and the fat bird had only run a few steps before they could react when they suddenly bumped into a broad embrace. The man didn't say anything and hugged Wang Sheng and put him back, and the two men and the bird exchanged positions.
This person threw out a yellow talisman, "Thunder, break!"
The yellow talisman made such a powerful sound that the light it emitted almost blinded Wang Sheng. He held the fat bird in front of his eyes to block it. The fat bird was extremely angry, and its neck was struggling forward to break free. "Grandson! Grandson!"
Wang Sheng didn't catch any of them. He didn't expect the fat bird to be so strong, which might be why he almost couldn't catch it with one hand.
He opened his eyes and saw the residual power of the yellow talisman. The man in front of him was dressed in black robes, which rustled in the strong wind. He was so tall that he couldn't even see the female ghost standing in front of him.
The man had a sword on his back, and a bell carved with intricate hollow patterns hung on the end of the hilt, which was magically swinging and making sounds.
The fat bird landed on the man's shoulder and looked at Wang Sheng with a domineering look, "Waste, waste."
"Father-in-law."
A steady voice sounded, and the fat bird stopped fighting on the spot and squatted on his shoulder obediently.
The man was sure that the female ghost was trapped, so he turned around and looked at Wang Sheng who was lying on the ground in a mess.
What is more surprising than his elegant figure is his half-cold, impeccable face with distinct features.
Especially the man's disgusted look made Wang Sheng feel like a discarded object, and he was not satisfied with anything.
Wang Sheng smiled awkwardly, "Thank you very much, fellow Taoist. I have no way to repay you, and I can't even offer myself to you, but thank you very much."
The man calmly withdrew his gaze and, with a deft movement of his fingers, the ghost transformed into a palm-sized paper figurine that flew towards him. After putting the figurine away, the man walked towards the bedroom.
When Wang Sheng saw that the female ghost was gone and came back to life, he quickly got up from the ground, tidied himself up, and followed the man in.
The housekeeper was still lying on the door crack peeking at the situation outside. Seeing Wang Sheng and the other two approaching, he opened the door and bowed to the men.
"Master, may I ask, what did you do just now?"
Man: "The person inside is possessed by a ghost. His soul is not complete and he will die soon. If you still want to save him, get out of the way."
"Oh, great! Please come in, Master."
As the housekeeper walked in, he told the man about what had been wrong with Zhang Wei in the past few months. At this point, he was completely convinced that his master was harmed by a ghost, so he started to tell him everything, big or small, and didn't dare to hide anything.
Zhang Wei was now in a deep sleep, no longer trembling, but his flesh and blood were less than during the day, his skin stuck to his bones, and he was on the verge of death.
"Master, my master is the governor of Zhang County. He holds a high position and can't afford any mishaps. Please help me save him. The price is negotiable. When my master wakes up, I will definitely give him a huge amount of gold and treasures."
Wang Sheng, who had been mute in the background, slowly stretched out his hand and interrupted them.
"Well, I haven't received my reward yet..."
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