Chapter 34 Night Banquet ⑧ - Instinct: You do it every day, you do it all the time...
“How would I know?” Lan Shuyin smiled lightly, but her eyes held a chill. “Of course, it’s because I saw it. However, she wasn’t wearing those red satin embroidered shoes with horseshoe soles, but rather yellow satin shoes with longevity character patterns and flowerpot soles, right?”
Upon hearing this, Fang Xin abruptly looked up, cold sweat sliding down his pale cheeks. "You...you can really see?"
He had deliberately described the bottom of the longevity character flowerpot as a horseshoe bottom and the yellow color as red, just to test the other party. But he didn't expect that the other party would see right through him.
"Didn't Li Yang mention to you that I also grew up with a 'master'?" — Just a shamanistic master.
Li Yang was taken aback by her sudden use of a profound tone. Only when she was called out did she realize what was going on and quickly nodded in agreement, "Uh, yes, the master who adopted Yin Yin is very famous in their area."
"Oh?" At this moment, Master Yin, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up, "May I ask the name of that master?"
"Smallpox".
Master Yin wondered, "This title sounds like..."
"What?" Lan Shuyin interrupted him before he could finish, asking directly, "Does the Taoist priest look down on our folk traditions?"
Not really.
Lan Shuyin ignored him and turned to the Fang brothers, resuming her aloof demeanor.
“That woman was dressed elegantly but was filled with resentment. This is the root of your problem, the reason why it has been so difficult to cure.” She paused deliberately, satisfied to see Fang Xin’s face turn even paler, before continuing, “If you swear that from now on, in any form, you will never harass Li Yang again, I will help you settle this trouble once and for all, how about that?”
“Young lady,” Master Yin said in a deep voice, “You must not be fooled by falsehoods. You must know that karma is clear and retribution is inevitable.”
Lan Shuyin shrugged indifferently, "Believe in those things, you might as well believe I am Qin Shi Huang."
"..."
This statement came out of nowhere, and an eerie silence fell over the room.
moment.
"I disagree!" Fang Xin, struggling to maintain his strength, objected urgently. His gaze towards Lan Shuyin was filled with a complex mix of suspicion and apprehension.
"We agree!" Fang Huan shouted, his voice decisive and overpowering his brother's.
He looked at Lan Shuyin with the prudence and decisiveness of a businessman, "If you can deal with that... filth, I guarantee that the Fang family will never bother Miss Li again."
"Alright." Lan Shuyin had been waiting for this. She unlocked her phone, which she had been holding, and turned on the video recording function, pointing it at the Fang brothers. "Come on, Mr. Fang, say it again in front of the camera. Make sure your tone is sincere."
Fang Huan's lips twitched slightly, but he still repeated in a deep voice, "I guarantee that as long as Miss Lan can save my brother, everyone in the Fang family, including Fang Xin and me, will never again harass Miss Li Yang in any way." He looked up at the camera, "Is that clear enough?"
"Hmm." Lan Shuyin pressed the stop button, checked the video and synced audio files, and only put her phone back in her pocket after confirming that everything was correct.
In fact, this move was unnecessary. The Fang family is a prominent family in Beijing. Since they made a promise in public, they would never easily go back on their word—after all, face is more important than anything else.
But she always believed that some boundaries should be drawn as clearly as possible.
"What do you plan to do?" Fang Huan asked in a deep voice, his tone filled with suppressed urgency.
Lan Shuyin was about to answer when her gaze suddenly froze.
The "Empress Dowager," who had been resting downstairs, was now gracefully strolling into the room. She was enveloped in an ominous pearly glow, and the wide sleeves of her robe, embroidered with intricate patterns, swayed gently with her steps as she walked straight toward Fang Huan.
“In this room…” Master Yin suddenly looked around alertly, his fingers unconsciously starting to calculate, “The yin energy is suddenly gathering, wait, something’s not right…”
He was wondering what was wrong, but Lan Shuyin didn't have time to pay attention. She just told Fang Huan, "Go find some coarse sea salt, the more the better." Although she had some in her bag, she didn't want to use her own.
There's nothing to it but being petty.
While waiting, Fang Huan looked worriedly at the bed, "Xiao Xin, how are you feeling? Why does your complexion look worse again?"
Lan Shuyin glanced at the figure clinging to Fang Huan like a koala, the jeweled "Empress Dowager" scratching at his skull with her long, sharp nails.
She scoffed inwardly: The yin energy is so strong it's practically wrapping people up like dumplings; no wonder your brother looks pale.
At this moment, Li Yang gently tugged at her arm, her eyes filled with worry, "Yinyin, do you really have a way?"
"Don't worry." Lan Shuyin squeezed her slightly cool hand back, giving her a reassuring look. "When have I ever done anything I wasn't sure about?"
Li Yang sighed softly, "You do it every day, and you do it all the time."
These words left Lan Shuyin speechless for a moment.
She knew, of course, that in Li Yang's view, "adventure" itself was an adventure full of variables, but at this moment, she already had a plan in mind—since the "Empress Dowager" was only focused on Fang Xin, she was most likely a wandering soul whose obsession had not yet subsided. A basic spiritual body was a relatively easy existence to deal with.
"The coarse sea salt is here!"
Before long, the butler rushed in carrying a basin full of coarse sea salt. He ran so fast that a few glistening grains of salt splashed onto the ground with his movements, making a soft, crackling sound.
"Everyone, stand to the side." Lan Shuyin, her hands covered in crimson cinnabar, walked step by step toward Fang Huan.
Her imposing manner caused Fang Huan to instinctively step back and make way.
Lan Shuyin's original plan was to pull the spirit off Fang Huan's body and purify it.
But when her fingertips touched the brocade dress, the Empress Dowager suddenly looked up, and the cold resentment in her eyes almost pierced her soul.
Her heart skipped a beat—the malevolent energy was solidified, and the resentment and malice were manifest.
Could it be...?
Is this a vengeful ghost?!
The moment the thought arose, the jeweled figure suddenly twisted! The "Empress Dowager's" exquisite face peeled away, revealing her true form beneath a bluish-black, swollen skin. Her eyes turned into two bottomless black holes, and her fingernails swelled up, piercing the air with a shrill scream as she aimed straight for her throat!
Holy crap!
Lan Shuyin leaned back abruptly, a sinister claw brushing past the tip of her nose, the cold wind stinging her cheek.
Having narrowly dodged the attack, Lan Shuyin was still shaken and abruptly turned to Fang Xin, demanding, "What did you do?!"
Being possessed by a vengeful ghost is no ordinary occurrence!
Fang Xin was so frightened that his face turned pale.
However, Lan Shuyin couldn't ask any further questions, because the vengeful ghost missed its first attack and instantly closed in again, its ghostly claws aimed straight for her heart!
Lan Shuyin dodged awkwardly, and in her haste, she grabbed a handful of coarse sea salt and threw it with all her might.
The salt grains made a soft "hissing" sound upon contact with the black mist, and the ghost's figure indeed froze for a moment.
However, this respite was fleeting. The coarse sea salt had limited effect on such a ferocious creature, and in no time, the ghost adapted to the slight obstruction, its actions becoming unpredictable once again.
A chilling wind swept over them, and the ghostly claws, carrying a deadly coldness, attacked once again, aiming straight for their hearts!
At the critical moment, a deep and cold instinct made Lan Shuyin roll over and without hesitation use coarse sea salt to cut her palm. Using her blood as ink, she quickly drew an ancient circle on the floor, completing several rune trajectories in one go!
With the final stroke completed, Lan Shuyin almost instinctively slammed her blood-stained palm hard into the center of the blood array!
Buzz—
The next second, the blood array burst forth with a dazzling golden-red light!
The vengeful ghost couldn't stop its momentum in time and crashed headfirst into the light barrier, letting out a shrill scream. It then transformed into a twisted black shadow, instantly passing through the wall and disappearing without a trace.
The light gradually dimmed, and the room returned to deathly silence.
Only the acrid smell in the air and the bloody handprints on the ground testified to the thrilling battle that had just taken place.
Fang Huan and the others were still in shock, and their gazes toward Lan Shuyin were filled with disbelief.
Although they couldn't see the hideous ghostly figure, at the moment the evil spirit appeared, they witnessed a surge of black mist and felt the temperature in the entire room plummet to freezing point.
"Yinyin!" Li Yang was the first to snap out of her daze, turning to Fang Huan and shouting sternly, "A pack of hemostatic packs!"
She rarely spoke so sharply, and the murderous intent in her eyes made Fang Huan shudder. He then seemed to wake from a dream and ordered the housekeeper to bring a first-aid kit.
...
Li Yang lowered her head to clean the wound on Lan Shuyin's palm, her movements delicate and gentle, but her brows were tightly furrowed.
Looking at her hand wrapped in gauze, Lan Shuyin felt a lingering fear creep into her heart.
I was careless.
She doesn't consider herself an impulsive person, but this time, she was indeed careless.
Who would have thought that the "fierce ghost" recorded in "The Strange Tales" and almost a legend in the world would actually be something they would run into?
According to the book, possession by vengeful ghosts often involves deep-seated grudges and karmic debts. Once entangled, it's like being parasitized by a highly poisonous vine, relentless and with no possibility of self-exorcism. Ordinary exorcism rituals are simply ineffective against it.
No wonder Fang Xin was still tortured to the point of being emaciated and surrounded by death energy, even though he relied on the Blood Orchid of the Breath of Earth to forcibly prolong his life.
"Ouch, that hurts!"
The sudden stinging pain in her palm made Lan Shuyin gasp. When she looked up, she met Li Yang's gaze, which was filled with suppressed anger.
"You still feel pain?" Li Yang deftly tightened the gauze, glaring at her. "Weren't you quite brave just now?"
"How could I have known it would turn out like this..." Lan Shuyin wanted to explain, but swallowed the words back and let out a soft sigh, "Never mind, it's my fault."
It was indeed a case of poor judgment; she rushed forward in a moment of impulsiveness. Now, calming down and reflecting, if it weren't for the critical moment when a certain magic circle pattern from "The Strange Treasure" suddenly flashed into her mind, the consequences...
"Miss Lan."
At this moment, Fang Huan helped Fang Xin walk over. Surprisingly, Fang Xin's complexion improved considerably in a short period of time, as if a great burden had been lifted.
"Thank you," Fang Huan said solemnly.
"Don't rush to thank me." Lan Shuyin's tone was indifferent, directly pouring cold water on the situation. "That vengeful ghost just ran away, it wasn't resolved."
"What?" Fang Huan immediately panicked. "What do we do now?"
“Spirits of that level wouldn’t bother ordinary people for no reason.” Lan Shuyin’s gaze passed over him and landed on Fang Xin’s face. “President Fang, why don’t you ask your brother what he did or what he touched before that attracted such a deadly thing?”
Fang Huan subconsciously looked at Fang Xin.
He trusted Fang Xin. Not long ago, he had deeply doubted Lan Shuyin and agreed to her request only as a last resort.
However, having witnessed her mysterious methods firsthand, he was more inclined to trust Lan Shuyin's judgment in matters of life and death.
However, Fang Xin frowned and shook his head firmly, "No, I can't think of anything."
"Then think about it seriously." Lan Shuyin said in a deep voice, "Being possessed by a vengeful ghost is a life-or-death situation, and it is not something that you can get rid of by asking a few monks and Taoist priests to perform a ritual. Think about it yourself, before you were possessed, what things you should not have touched, what places you should not have gone. Every detail may be related to your life."
“Impossible,” Fang Xin retorted, even with a hint of self-righteousness. “I’m not like my brother, who has to worry about so much business. I just laze around every day, playing racing cars and polo, right, brother? Brother?”
He turned to Fang Huan for approval, only to find his brother standing there blankly, his eyes glazed over, as if his soul had wandered off into the distance.
"Huh? Hmm." Fang Huan snapped out of his daze, his smile slightly forced.
Fang Xin didn't delve into the matter further, but continued, "Besides, it's not like I won't attract trouble just because I don't actively provoke it. Could it be that... those things are inherently evil?"
Although these words came from Fang Xin, carrying his usual evasiveness, they stirred a ripple in Lan Shuyin's heart.
Indeed. There are many undeserved disasters in this world.
Sometimes, even if you do nothing, conspiracies and schemes will come uninvited.
Perhaps touched by this matter, Lan Shuyin was silent for a while, and when she spoke again, her tone was a bit softer, "That thing is a bit tricky for me, but someone might be able to solve it."
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