Chapter 21 Sickly Person 3
◎Master, can you cure me? ◎
Inside the Zheng Mansion, Mr. Zheng was eagerly waiting: "Is the Immortal Master really coming so soon?"
The housekeeper nodded and said, "Master, don't worry! The Immortal Master of Qingxu Temple always keeps his promises. If he says he will arrive around noon, he will definitely arrive."
Master Zheng nodded, and the housekeeper said, "Master, you can finally rest assured now. Qingxu Temple has a very high prestige. Not only is it supported and trusted by the people, but even the royal family will invite the immortal master of Qingxu Temple to come to the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the heavens!"
Mr. Zheng said, "I naturally believe in Qingxu Temple. It's just that they are above worldly affairs. I didn't expect that they would invite people here with just a visiting card."
The housekeeper said, "What a coincidence! Master Qi happens to be in Rongshan next door. We regard it as a huge task, but for the master, it may just be a piece of cake!"
Mr. Zheng asked, "Is this Master Qi the one that the Imperial Observatory wants to invite?"
The housekeeper said, "That's right, sir! Master Qi is extremely talented and caught great demons when he was a teenager. The Imperial Observatory originally wanted to invite him to take up the position, but Qingxu Temple said that Master Qi would have to take care of Qingxu Temple in the future and would not have the time to spare, so they politely declined!"
Mr. Zheng quickly straightened his clothes and said, "So, Master Qi is the future headmaster of Qingxu Temple. We must not neglect him! Ask someone to get the latest Longjing tea before the Qingming Festival! Go check on the lunch and ask the kitchen to prepare it. Serve the food when Master Qi arrives. Don't delay!"
Not long after the butler left, the doorman respectfully welcomed Qi Zhaoyang.
He was still young, looking no more than 22 or 23 years old. His moon-white plain clothes did not have many accessories, but he still exuded an extraordinary demeanor. He saluted to Master Zheng calmly and politely: "I am Qi Zhaoyang, polite."
Master Zheng quickly returned the greeting: "Master, you are so polite! Please come in!" Then he said to the maid beside him: "Bring the tea!"
Then Master Zheng personally led Qi Zhaoyang into the hall and said, "Master, you must be tired from the journey. Come and have some tea and rest. Master, you haven't had lunch yet, right? Everything in the mansion is ready, and we can start the banquet right away."
Qi Zhaoyang was in a hurry to get on the road and indeed had not eaten lunch, so he nodded and said, "Thank you for your help."
When he received the invitation and saw that the inviter was the Zheng family from Linjiang City, he accepted without hesitation.
Linjiang City.
Maybe she's still there?
The dishes were very rich, but Qi Zhaoyang did not have a big appetite, so he finished the two dishes in front of him very quickly.
He was in a hurry to finish his work and go find Yan Yue, so when he saw that Mr. Zheng had almost finished eating, he immediately began to ask about the situation of the Zheng family.
Mr. Zheng said: "My wife and I have an only son named Zheng Qian. He has been weak and sickly since childhood and passed away at the end of last year..."
Mr. Zheng's eyes were red as he spoke, and he took a breath and continued, "I didn't expect that a few days ago, a girl dressed strangely came to my house and said she was an old friend of my son. I thought she was here to ask for money, but she said that my son asked her to come and see my husband and me, and that my son's ghost was still there and could not be reborn..."
His tone was somewhat angry. "I guessed that she was a swindler who roamed the world. She came to defraud me and my wife when she learned that we had lost our only son. So I kicked her out! I didn't expect that within two days, she sent this..."
He took a few sheets of paper from the housekeeper, handed them to Qi Zhaoyang, and said, "These records include a lot of trivial things about my son and my wife, as well as the books my son likes to read, the food he likes to eat, etc. Everything is true. I'm really unsure, so I can only invite the Heavenly Master to come."
Qi Zhaoyang scanned the trivial matters recorded on the paper and asked, "The person who knows these things must be a trustworthy old man in the mansion. We cannot rule out the possibility that the people in the mansion colluded with outsiders to commit fraud together."
Mr. Zheng said, "But I have questioned them carefully and didn't see anyone suspicious. Moreover, the servants have all signed contracts to sell themselves. They colluded with outsiders to deceive the master. They have a life to earn this money but no life to spend it!"
Qi Zhaoyang asked: "How much does she want?"
Mr. Zheng was stunned and looked at the butler in confusion. The housekeeper recalled: "The first time, she was kicked out before she even asked for money. The second time, she was not even allowed in..."
Mr. Zheng quickly made up for it, "We couldn't tell the truth at the moment, so we left her address and asked her to wait for news. We thought we could wait for Master Qi to come and call the woman over. By then, no matter how she pretended to be a ghost, Master Qi would be here to expose her tricks!"
Qi Zhaoyang frowned slightly.
He had only heard of the "Yin-Yang Eyes", but after traveling all over the country over the years, he had never seen anyone who actually possessed the Yin-Yang Eyes. Most of them are just swindlers who use the name of ghost-eyes to take advantage of the dead and defraud money from the living.
The Zheng family was skeptical as it concerned their son, but they were also afraid of being cheated, so they spent a lot of money to invite him. This way, no matter whether it is true or false, they can finally feel at ease.
Well, now I’m here.
So Qi Zhaoyang said: "Then invite the people over!"
*
Mr. Zheng talked about the rough life of his only son, Zheng Qian, and also said that after his son died, Mrs. Zheng was so sad that she fell ill.
Qi Zhaoyang was forced to listen to how smart, sensible, and considerate Zheng Qian was, but in his heart he only wanted to get the matter over with as soon as possible so that he could go find Yan Yue.
Just as I was daydreaming, I heard the butler say, "Master! Immortal Master! Someone is coming!"
A black umbrella as dark as night ink came into view.
The person was holding an umbrella to block the sunlight from overhead, with the forward-tilted edge of the umbrella blocking his face.
A black dress that looked like a dress made of crow feathers, with a faint light soaking the brocade, flowing like ink. The embroidery threads are subtle, like stars in the dark night hidden in the lapels and sleeves, and the white ribbons hang down, creating a cold and noble aura that makes people dare not underestimate it.
Qi Zhaoyang stood up involuntarily, and Master Zheng did not dare to sit alone, so he stood up as well.
In addition to the black umbrella in his hand, the man also held another black umbrella in his other arm, which looked mysterious and weird.
When the man in black stepped onto the stairs and revealed his face under the umbrella, Qi Zhaoyang was stunned.
"Miss Yan?"
Mr. Zheng was shocked and asked, "You...know each other?"
Yan Yue was also surprised. She put away her black umbrella and asked, "Qi Zhaoyang? Why are you here?"
Qi Zhaoyang glanced at Mr. Zheng awkwardly and said, "Zheng family, please let me come and exorcise the evil spirits..."
Yan Yue was naive and didn't think about herself at all. She just asked Master Zheng in amazement: "Exorcise the evil spirit? That's your son! He didn't hurt you, why are you exorcising him?"
Several people in the hall looked at each other. Qi Zhaoyang didn't want to remind them in public that it was her who was driven away. But if we drag him out and tell him about it now, will the Zheng family think that the two of them are connected?
Just as he was thinking about how to respond, Mr. Zheng asked suspiciously, "Have you two known each other for a long time?"
Before Qi Zhaoyang could speak, Yan Yue said, "It's not too early. We were on the way, so we traveled together for a few days."
Qi Zhaoyang said silently in his heart: Thirteen and a half days.
Mr. Zheng's eyes moved back and forth between the two of them. Qi Zhaoyang could only ask Yan Yue tentatively: "How do you know the young master of the Zheng family?"
Yan Yue was a little hesitant. She didn't want too many people to know that she had seen a ghost. After all, it meant something ominous, and she didn't want people to look at her strangely.
Qi Zhaoyang said: "Miss Yan, don't worry. I'm here, just tell the truth."
Qi Zhaoyang originally thought that even if Yan Yue was lying, he would be able to protect her with his identity as the Immortal Master of Qingxu Temple.
Unexpectedly, Yan Yue glanced at Qi Zhaoyang, Mr. Zheng, and the housekeeper in the room and said, "Then don't be afraid!"
Then she lowered her voice and said, "I can see ghosts."
Without waiting for them to respond, she continued to say to Mr. Zheng, "Zheng Qian is not an evil ghost, he didn't mean to harm you. Madam Zheng's illness was caused by excessive grief, not Zheng Qian! You turned gray overnight because of his death, didn't you love your son very much? Then why did you ask someone to exorcise him today?"
Mr. Zheng looked at Qi Zhaoyang helplessly.
Qi Zhaoyang pursed his lips tightly, thinking: If you keep making trouble, I won't be able to help you!
He did not respond to Yan Yue's question, but instead asked: "How can you see ghosts? Do you have yin-yang eyes?"
Yan Yue blinked and didn't dare to ask what the Yin-Yang eyes were like. She just said, "Originally, there were no Yin-Yang eyes. After dying once, you can see ghosts when you wake up."
"Died once?" Qi Zhaoyang was stunned.
Yan Yue said: "Yes. My family arranged a ghost marriage for me. I woke up from a coffin, and then I found that I could see ghosts. I don't know what happened, and I didn't dare to tell anyone."
She asked Qi Zhaoyang, "Hey, you are a fairy master, can you cure this?"
Qi Zhaoyang didn't react: "Ah? What treatment?"
"To cure the Yin-Yang Eyes!" Yan Yue said in distress, "I don't want to see ghosts! They walk in a floating manner, without making any sound! It's useless to close the windows and doors, they can still come in! It's so scary!"
The butler got goose bumps all over his body and looked around as if he was afraid that there might be a ghost around him.
Yan Yue comforted him, "Don't worry! They can't see the light, they won't come out during the day!"
The housekeeper breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, that's good."
Unexpectedly, Yan Yue pointed at the black umbrella on the table and said, "They can only stay here during the day and come out at night."
The housekeeper took a step back in fear: "Who, who is there? A ghost?"
Yan Yue said in a brisk tone: "Of course it's Zheng Qian! If not for his repeated pleadings, and... one of his friends begging and pestering me for help, I wouldn't want to come again!"
Mr. Zheng's tone of voice changed a little: "Are you saying that my son's soul is in this umbrella?"
Yan Yue nodded: "Yes. He comes back to see you at night, and can only hide in dark places during the day. This umbrella was specially customized by me. It is made of several layers of black oil paper and ink-colored cloth. No light can penetrate at all, so they can stay more comfortably."
Master Zheng looked at Qi Zhaoyang for help, "Master, is what this girl said true or false?"
Qi Zhaoyang hesitated and said, "There are indeed records about the Yin-Yang Eyes in the temple, but I can't be sure now. I will know after dark."
Mr. Zheng's eyes were red, and he asked, "If what this girl said is true, can you let me see my son?"
Qi Zhaoyang hesitated for a moment and said, "Using external objects to help you see a shadow that looks like smoke or fog."
"That's enough, that's enough..." Mr. Zheng was very grateful, his voice choked a little.
He changed his attitude towards Yan Yue, ordered the servants to prepare fruits and snacks, and asked the two of them to rest and wait.
Yan Yue ate the sweet snacks and sighed: "You can only see a cloud of smoke..."
Qi Zhaoyang asked curiously: "Then what did you see?"
Yan Yue gestured: "Just like real people! The nose is the nose, the eyes are the eyes, and at first glance they look no different from ordinary people. But they don't have shadows, and they walk by floating, not shaking."
Qi Zhaoyang couldn't help but say: "How bizarre. It turns out that ghosts don't exist in the world in the form of smoke, but in their original form."
Yan Yue nodded: "I didn't know how to tell whether it was a human or a ghost before, and I got scared several times!"
"The ghost looks scary?"
"No, it's just that, someone is standing right in front of you and asking you in a sinister way, 'Can you see me?' Can you imagine how that feels? Just, my hair would stand on end!"
"That's true. It's quite scary."
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