Beside him were two paper figures that had already been made, and their clothes and expressions were exactly the same as mine and Luo Tianhe's.
What he is holding now is Li Huai's paper figure.
I rubbed my chin. This old man is something else; it seems he had anticipated our arrival.
When the three of us came in, he acted as if he didn't see us at all, and continued to slowly and methodically make paper figures.
His fingers were dry and withered, yet his movements were exceptionally agile; the slender bamboo strips seemed to come alive in his hands.
"Hey, grandpa, stop pricking me."
Li Huai finally couldn't hold back any longer and said to the old man.
Upon hearing Li Huai's words, the old man raised his head, his narrow eyes scrutinizing Li Huai before turning his gaze to the three of us.
"Didn't you see the couplets on my door? Why did you come in?"
"We saw it. If that girl could come in during the day, why can't we?"
I responded, trying to keep my voice calm.
"Hehe, she's different from you. You could call her dead or alive. And you three, although you have a lot of yin energy, you're clearly not out of life yet. I advise you to leave here as soon as possible."
The old man chuckled and continued making paper figures while speaking.
Bai Yang had indeed been here.
A look of delight crossed my face. This old ghost seemed quite easy to talk to. Then I continued to ask:
"Sir, tell me where that girl went? We need to leave right away!"
"Heh, why should I tell you?"
The old man asked a question in return, then continued what he was doing, carefully pasting the cut-out white paper onto the skeleton.
He moved with the gentleness of someone handling a precious work of art, and soon, a paper figure identical to Li Huai appeared, with only the final facial details remaining.
At that moment, the three of us were speechless for a moment. After thinking for a while, I spoke first:
"We can give you money."
"Hehehe, young man, are you joking?"
At this moment, the old man suddenly burst into unrestrained laughter, seemingly unable to straighten up, then abruptly turned his head to look at me, his eyes sharp:
"I won't keep you in suspense. I don't need money from the mortal world, but I have as much money as I need from the underworld. Why would I need your little bit?!"
"If there's nothing else, the three of you should leave as soon as possible. After all, this is not a place for you."
The old man once again ordered me to leave, but I was speechless.
Just then, Li Huai took a step forward.
"Sir, the three paper figures you made clearly used our portrait rights. We have the right to demand compensation from you. However, we are not short of money. We just want to ask you one question: where did that girl go during the day?"
Hearing Li Huai's words, I couldn't help but give a wry smile.
This kid must be crazy, talking about portrait rights with a ghost, and an old ghost at that! Does he even know anything about the law?!
But to my surprise, the old man actually fell into deep thought. After a long while, he actually agreed to Li Huai's request.
I couldn't help but widen my eyes in disbelief. I turned to look at Luo Tianhe and found that he had the same reaction as me.
"Where did that girl go? I really don't know. She just came this afternoon to ask some questions and then left."
The old man stopped making paper figures and spoke slowly.
"What did you ask?" I pressed, my unease growing stronger.
It's unusual for a girl like Bai Yang to come to a place like this alone to inquire about things, let alone now that she's gone missing.
The old man stared at me with his cloudy eyes and smiled:
"She asked about the Ghost Pact."
Ghost contract?
Why would Bai Yang ask that?
For a moment, my brain felt like mush, and I just couldn't figure it out.
The so-called "ghost contract" does not refer to a simple contract between the living and the dead, but rather to an extremely ancient and dangerous evil art!
A living soul signs a symbiotic contract with a specific vengeful ghost, sharing both glory and ruin.
But more often than not, living people become nourishment and puppets for vengeful ghosts!
Why would Bai Yang sign a ghost contract with his sister? It clearly wouldn't benefit her at all.
Moreover, after signing the ghost contract, Bai Yang will likely become half-human and half-ghost.
Seeing my expression suddenly turn ugly, Luo Tianhe and Li Huai, although they didn't know what this ghost contract was, realized that something was wrong.
"That girl is very special."
The old man suddenly spoke, his voice as hoarse as a broken bellows.
"The one on her body harbors deep resentment; that young girl isn't as comfortable as she appears on the surface."
"She asked me if there was any way to make her sister more stable."
"She said her sister has been becoming increasingly agitated lately, sometimes even affecting her mental state."
The old man raised his eyelids, looked at me, and said quietly:
"She was afraid that one day she would fall asleep and never wake up again, or that when she woke up, she would have become 'her'."
I felt a chill run down my spine as I realized that I had been so busy with other things lately that I had completely neglected Baiyin!
Bai Yang never showed it, but endured it in secret.
Her acting was excellent; I didn't notice it at all, partly because I never even considered that possibility.
The condition of Baiyin is deteriorating!
The balance between the sisters sharing one body is being broken!
"But even so, we cannot use the Ghost Contract. Once that is signed, we will go further and further down the path of the ghost."
My voice was low and filled with deep regret.
I haven't cared enough about Bai Yang.
"Where did she go? Is she looking for the things necessary to sign the ghost contract? Did you tell her what she needed to prepare?"
I pressed him urgently, insisting that we must stop Bai Yang; it was a very urgent matter.
The old man nodded, then shook his head.
Then I picked up the paintbrush to draw the paper figure.
"I simply told her the main means and precautions needed to sign the blood-related ghost contract, and then she left."
My heart sank.
My grandfather told me that the blood-related ghost contract is the most special and dangerous type of ghost contract.
Using the bond between blood relatives to forcibly bind vengeful spirits has a slightly higher success rate, but the backlash is also more terrifying!
Given the ferocity of that white yin, it would almost certainly turn against her!
"What is the primary medium?!" I almost shouted.
My grandfather only briefly mentioned it to me and didn't tell me what the main medium I needed to prepare was.
The old man was so startled by my sudden increase in volume that his hand trembled, and the bamboo strips almost pierced the Xuan paper.
He glared at me with some displeasure, but still said:
"The bones of the closest relatives, preferably the heart bone. And an extremely yin place that can gather yin energy and isolate yang energy, to hold the ceremony at midnight when yin and yang meet."
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