I looked up and saw the hem of my skirt flapping against the glass in the wind, as if someone was struggling inside.
"The yang energy in this neighborhood is too weak."
I took out a sachet of mugwort from my bag and gave it to Xiaoyue.
"There are many elderly people and few young people. The earth's veins are all gloomy. Smell this, it's like a morgue."
She clutched the sachet, holding her breath, her collarbone bulging nervously from the neckline of her white T-shirt.
"So, was Mengmeng... bewitched by this yin energy?"
"More or less, but it depends on the situation."
I kicked aside the old spittoon blocking my way.
"Her yang energy was weak, and she also picked up ghost energy at the psychic shop, which is equivalent to handing a 'VIP card' to evil spirits."
"By the way, who else is in her family?"
Xiaoyue seemed lost in thought. I called her name a couple of times before she snapped out of it.
“Mengmeng has never seen her father since she was a child. Her grandmother said that when she was five years old, there was a rainstorm and he went out to buy rice noodles and never came back.”
"Later, her mother remarried and moved to another province, leaving her with her grandparents. She would only come back once a year for the Spring Festival, buy her a new outfit, and then leave."
She paused, her light blue jeans brushing against the trash bag in the corner, and lowered her voice.
“She once told me secretly that the clothes her mother bought were all discounted items, and the tags were still on. What’s worse, when her mother came to see them again, she took the clothes back a few days later, probably to return them.”
“Last year on her birthday, her mother sent her a box of expired chocolates. Her grandfather ate them and got diarrhea and was hospitalized.”
"Her grandmother is hard of hearing and her grandfather has difficulty walking. When they come home from school, they can't even get a hot meal."
“Once I went to her house and saw her squatting in the kitchen eating cold steamed buns with pickled vegetables.”
I recalled seeing Mengmeng's outfit on the bus that day.
You said she doesn't look as shabby as you described?
Xiaoyue said, "The clothes she wore that day were required by the school, and the reason she wore them was because her mother came to visit her."
"She doesn't want her mother to look down on her, so she dresses herself up nicely. Actually, all those things were given to her by us."
I let out a long "oh".
Xiaoyue suddenly sniffed, kicking a pebble away with her Crocs: "She said her dad might have become a ghost, and he would squat outside the window to watch her every year during a rainstorm."
"I thought she was joking, until she had a fever and started talking nonsense, shouting 'Daddy, don't pull my hair...'"
She looked up at me, her eyes sparkling: "Master, do you think Mengmeng's dad really turned into an evil ghost? Or... is it some other ghost in disguise?"
I took out my cigarette case and lit a cigarette.
"Human hearts are more complex than ghosts."
“But if a ghost wants to harm someone, there must be a reason. If her father really died in the rainstorm, it is most likely a ‘water ghost’. We need to use saltpeter and mugwort to suppress it.”
Xiaoyue clenched her fist and said, "Her grandparents definitely don't have the money to buy these things... Last time she had a fever and went to the hospital, I had to pay for her registration fee."
"It won't cost much."
I exhaled a smoke ring: "This stuff can be kept for a long time. As long as they don't go to those unclean places anymore, they won't attract these dirty things. Let's go to Mengmeng's house first and see what's bothering her."
...
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