There was silence on Old Li's end, and all that could be heard was the sound of him puffing on his cigarette. After a long while, Old Li finally said, "Seven days after Fang Lei died, people from the funeral home came to the factory looking for Zhao Lijuan, but Zhao Lijuan wasn't there at the time, and she didn't answer the phone."
The funeral home staff asked me to tell Zhao Lijuan that they were looking for her and to call them immediately. Before they left and got into their vehicle, I overheard them say something along the lines of, "A perfectly healthy body suddenly disappeared. They were supposed to cremate it after the seventh day after death." When I saw the two funeral home staff members discussing this quietly, their faces were pale.
"What did you say? Fang Lei's body is missing?" I asked excitedly, my eyes wide open.
"No mistake, I can still remember the panicked look on the faces of those two funeral home staff," Old Li said with certainty over the phone.
"Since the body is missing, why didn't he just burn something and put Zhao Lijuan's ashes in a container?" I asked.
"No, according to the customs of Zhao Lijuan's hometown, close relatives must be present to view the remains before cremation," Old Li explained.
"Alright, I understand, Uncle Li, you can go about your business."
My mind is a complete mess right now. If Fang Lei's body is missing, is the person in the small house him?
"Changming, now that he's contacted you, what are you planning to do?" I thought Old Li was about to hang up, but he suddenly asked me again.
"What else can we do but find a mage to kill her?" I said through gritted teeth, my voice filled with hatred.
“Changming, we must find a reliable sorcerer. Back then, it took seven masters to subdue him in that little hut,” Old Man Li continued.
"Okay, I'm hanging up." Old Li seemed to want to say something more, but I had already hung up the phone.
It's already 2:30 PM, and I guess Hu Ergou is back by now. I plan to go to his house later, but I'll call him first to confirm.
I found Hu Ergou's phone number on my phone and dialed it. I didn't originally have Hu Ergou's phone number. It was on the day I sent the ghost away for Zhong Lingui's son that Hu Ergou called me, and I saved his number.
The call was answered quickly, and Hu Ergou asked on the other end, "Changming, what's up?"
"Uncle Hu, are you home? I've encountered something evil and would like to ask for your help," I said, getting straight to the point.
"Yeah, I just got back this morning." After saying that, Hu Ergou was silent for a while before continuing, "Changming, why do you always run into these kinds of things?"
I was also very puzzled and had no way to explain it to myself, so I said, "I don't know either. I'm in Dafeng Village now. I'll go down to find you and we can talk about it when we meet."
"Okay, come down here and we'll talk." Hu Ergou said and hung up the phone.
I put my phone in my pocket and rode my electric bike toward Hu Ergou's house.
When I arrived at Hu Ergou's house, Hu Tudao was standing at the door. As soon as he saw me, he rushed over to greet me. His face, covered in pimples, was all smiles. He handed me a cigarette and said with a smile, "Changming, I heard from my dad that you've encountered something evil again?"
Seeing Hu Tudao's smug look, I really wanted to slap him. I thought, "I've encountered something evil, and you're still so happy about it." I took the cigarette, completely ignored Hu Tudao, and walked into his house.
Hu Ergou was sitting at the coffee table drinking tea. When he saw me come in, he waved to me.
I sat down in front of Hu Ergou and asked, "Did Tong Liu go back?"
"Yes, I just got back not long ago." Hu Ergou placed a teacup in front of me, poured half a cup of tea, and continued, "Changming, this is a top-grade Tieguanyin tea that someone gave me. Try it."
I wasn't really in the mood for tea, but not wanting to offend Hu Ergou, I picked up my teacup, took a small sip, and said, "I know too little about tea, but this tea is very fragrant."
"Haha, actually I don't know much about it either. It's mainly expensive. I heard it costs several thousand yuan per kilogram!" Hu Ergou laughed heartily, then picked up his teacup and took a sip, looking completely intoxicated.
I really can't stand Hu Ergou's attitude, but I need his help right now. Otherwise, I would have turned around and left immediately to ask you for a favor. You're here showing off your fine tea to me.
"Uncle Hu, I wonder if you're free tonight?" I didn't want to continue discussing tea with Hu Ergou, so I asked directly.
"You're free tonight, Changming. Tell me, where exactly did you encounter this evil spirit, and why is it haunting you?" Hu Ergou slowly put down his teacup, glanced at me, then frowned and asked.
"At the courier station where I work." I asked, puzzled. "Uncle Hu, does something evil need a reason to harm people?"
“I felt something was off last time. The yin energy was too heavy, and even the yin spirit cat appeared. There should at least be a vengeful spirit to make sense, but that little girl wasn’t a vengeful spirit. I didn’t expect there really was one hiding.” Hu Ergou poured me another half cup of tea and continued, “As for the reason you mentioned, there is indeed one. Every cause has its effect. Some things won’t bother you if you don’t provoke them, but there are exceptions, such as vengeful spirits and evil spirits, or even more terrifying malevolent spirits.”
"Uncle Hu, are there differences among these dirty things?" I don't remember ever bothering him, but he still pestered me. Is it because he thinks I'm easy to bully?
Thinking about everything that has happened to me recently, I feel very angry.
"Of course there are!" Hu Ergou handed me a cigarette and said slowly, "There are many kinds of evil spirits: some are conscious, some are unconscious, and some retain a little bit of their former consciousness. For example, that little girl at the courier station, she belongs to the category with a little bit of consciousness. And that infant spirit, it belongs to the category with consciousness."
"I never imagined there were so many intricacies to this filth," I said, lighting a cigarette and taking a deep drag.
"Hmm." Hu Ergou took a sip of tea, stared at me for a few moments, and said, "Changming, your face looks dark. Have you been having some bad luck lately? Why do you keep running into evil spirits?"
"Sigh." I sighed softly and said, "I don't know what's been going on lately."
Hu Ergou frowned, looked me over carefully for a few more moments, shook his head, and said, "After we've dealt with this matter, I'll give you a blessed talisman that will guarantee these evil spirits won't dare come near you in the future."
"Uncle Hu, thank you." I said gratefully, then, remembering something, I added, "Uncle Hu, I heard that the culprit at my courier station is quite powerful, no..."
Before I could finish speaking, Hu Ergou reached out and interrupted me, "Changming, don't worry. No matter how powerful the evil spirits are, they'll tremble like cowards when they meet me. You go back first, I'll come find you around 8 or 9 pm tonight."
Seeing that Hu Ergou had said so, I felt relieved. I stood up, bowed slightly to Hu Ergou, and said, "Then I'll go back first."
"Oh, right, should we send this dirty thing away or what?" Hu Ergou suddenly called out to me and asked.
"Can we take him down?" I asked.
"Of course I can," Hu Ergou said confidently.
"Then kill him," I said fiercely.
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