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墨書 Inktalez
With a loud "bang," it was no surprise that I didn't hit a wall; in fact, the Spirit God was pushed back two steps by my kick.
Thanks to the Soul Summoning Array, the Spirit God did not retreat for long. After taking those two steps back, it charged forward again. The Soul-Trapping Formation had not been activated yet, so I couldn't let it break through the Soul Summoning Array. If it were just one of them, it would be manageable, but there was also a fierce spirit that even my master struggled to handle.
As it charged at me again, I pulled out a section of Ink Fight Line and rushed toward it. At the moment of intersection, I yanked the line around its neck and pulled hard to restrain it, successfully halting its advance. However, my palm felt wet and stung; the Ink Fight Line was too thin and had cut into the skin between my thumb and index finger.
Even so, I couldn't relax; its strength was still considerable. I could only barely maintain my position to prevent it from getting close to the Soul Summoning Array, which was meant to deal with the White Shirt Spirit.
I wrapped the rope around my shoulder and pulled hard while facing away from it. With talismans on my back, I wasn't afraid of any sudden attacks. Moreover, it was currently distracted by the Soul Summoning Array and wouldn't pay attention to what I was doing. This reminded me of a lyric from Andy Lau: "Once young and chasing dreams, all I wanted was to charge forward..."
After stabilizing the Death Spirit, I turned to look at my master. He was still entangled with the White Shirt Spirit, seemingly evenly matched. However, the state of the White Shirt Spirit had completely reversed; before, it had been charging forward relentlessly, but now it was being pulled forward by my master's Soul Summoning Spell while occasionally trying to retreat a step or two. My master no longer exerted effort in setting up formations but instead held the Great Seal in his left hand while continuously drawing Soul Guiding Talismans in the air with his right hand, quickly reciting the Soul Summoning Spell.
Seeing this made me somewhat puzzled. The Soul Summoning Array had indeed been activated, but the Soul-Trapping Formation had not yet been initiated. Did my master not see this? This was no ordinary Spirit God; even if lured over, it wouldn't have time to activate the Soul-Trapping Formation. If that were the case, why was my master still putting in so much effort into guiding souls?
Just as I thought my master was about to succeed, the White Shirt Spirit suddenly snorted coldly and turned to leave through a side door next to the shrine. After it left, my master calmly walked over as if nothing had happened. Aside from a bit of sweat on his face, he showed no signs of emotional fluctuation; he must have experienced such situations too many times to be fazed by them.
My master approached and saw me still holding onto the Spirit God. He casually flicked a candle and chanted a spell to activate the Soul-Trapping Formation before telling me, "Let go."
As soon as I loosened my grip, the Death Spirit bolted toward the Soul Summoning Array like a wild horse breaking free. However, contrary to expectations, before it reached the Soul Summoning Array, it was trapped by the Soul-Trapping Formation in front of it. My master casually cast a talisman onto the Spirit God with his right hand while sprinkling incense ash over a gap in the Soul-Trapping Formation with his left hand, sealing it off without even glancing at the Death Spirit. He then took his Flashlight and Great Seal and walked over to where the White Shirt Spirit had escaped.
I looked at the Death Spirit struggling violently within the confines of the Soul-Trapping Formation; it seemed pinned in place despite its frantic efforts.
Walking over to my master’s side, he had already taken out a compass for observation. The door led into a large room filled with straw and farming tools; inside was quite spacious but cluttered with stacks of straw reaching one or two meters high along with threshers and plows. The room felt cramped due to all these items occupying space—an environment perfect for a Spirit God to hide or launch surprise attacks. My master examined this environment seriously before shaking his head and saying, "For now, we can't do anything about it."
"Master," I finally seized an opportunity to ask without hesitation, "you knew I hadn't activated the Soul-Trapping Formation earlier; why did you go through so much effort trying to guide it over?"
My master chuckled softly and replied, "Of course I knew. If I didn't make it seem more convincing, how would it come? Besides, if I truly wanted to lure it into the Soul Summoning Array, it wouldn't have been able to escape so easily either. It's just that since the Soul-Trapping Formation hasn't been activated yet, luring it over would be futile anyway. Let's go; we should ask that Bricklayer next door what’s going on." The Bricklayer he mentioned was that Spirit God dressed in Funeral Garment.
Returning to where the Soul-Trapping Formation was set up, we found that the Death Spirit had vanished—not because it had escaped but because our time for observation had ended; at least mine had run out. My master said, "Call of Souls; we can’t see it anymore." I nodded and set up a Soul Calling Array; this Call of Souls was easy since it had no resistance within the Soul-Trapping Formation.
Once its soul was called out, I remained silent. My master recognized it; having him communicate with it would be best.
"You should have been dead for a while now," Master said, fiddling with the Great Seal in his hand, his expression emotionless. This was a form of intimidation; this soul was a New Soul, yet it had entangled itself with the White Shirt Spirit for reasons unknown. To get to the bottom of it, a firm attitude was necessary, akin to a police interrogation—implying that confession would lead to leniency, while resistance would result in severity.
"I know you, Master X. I never expected to meet you after my death when I couldn't see you in life," the Spirit God said flatly, though his tone revealed much resignation.
Master remained calm as he replied, "Yes, it's me. You have been dead for several months now. Why have you not gone to the Underworld but instead linger here in this old house, frightening those who come to measure it? If I'm not mistaken, that White Shirt Spirit has been wandering for over a century."
Upon hearing this, I felt a sense of relief; no wonder it was so fierce—it had been drifting in the mortal realm for so long. It was only in recent years that it had come to this Old House.
The Death Spirit nodded silently after Master finished speaking. The Blood Hole on its head became particularly pronounced as it bowed, appearing eerie and sinister under the flickering candlelight, like a vessel filled with blood that seemed to seep out faint traces of crimson. If its head dipped any lower, it might as well have been pouring out the blood within.
"Speak up; what hidden truths do you hold? I will advocate for you," Master sighed, his tone softening.
The Death Spirit hesitated before recounting the entire story.
In life, it had been a Bricklayer who never sought work elsewhere but survived by helping villagers build houses nearby. Its last job was constructing a Roasting House for someone preparing for an examination. The site was originally barren land; the Roasting House wasn't large—if estimated, it was just slightly bigger than a large Tomb Mound. The Boss had dug the foundation himself and sealed it with cement before calling the Bricklayer to help with the walls. While building up to about three meters high, it suddenly felt someone push from behind and fell directly off the wooden scaffolding, hitting its head on a blunt object below and dying instantly. Since it was an isolated area with hardly anyone passing by, no one discovered the body in time; there were no guides or anyone to collect the corpse. Confused about where to go next, it wandered aimlessly in that spot.
This manner of death is termed an unnatural demise; souls who die this way are not easily detected and taken away by Yin Chai. Even after its death, it could not comprehend why someone had pushed it and why no Yin Chai came to guide its spirit away. It wasn't until the night before its funeral that the White Shirt Spirit appeared.
The appearance of the White Shirt Spirit made everything clear—the Roasting House was built over an ancient grave that had long been forgotten. The Boss had unknowingly dug into the coffin while excavating for the foundation but chose to ignore it and simply sealed it with cement instead of moving it.
This grave belonged to the White Shirt Spirit. The reason it remained trapped there without seeking Reincarnation or becoming a wandering ghost was due to improper circumstances surrounding its death and burial. It didn't want to stay; it simply couldn't leave. As for why it didn't confront the Boss who disturbed its grave but instead caused harm to the innocent Bricklayer—its reasoning was flimsy and somewhat absurd: the White Shirt Spirit believed that the Boss intended to repair its burial site while the Bricklayer built over it, leading to its furious decision to kill this innocent soul. This anger is somewhat understandable; constructing a Roasting House over a grave would inevitably lead to Soul Shattering once operational.
The Bricklayer's body was discovered half a day later; by then, it was already midnight. When his family noticed he hadn't returned home late at night, they went searching for him and found him cold and lifeless. Such an unexpected tragedy was hard for his family to accept. Watching their grief made him wish he could return to his body, but that was merely a futile desire.
There is a saying in our region: those who do not die naturally should ideally be buried by the next day unless there are significant conflicts with auspicious dates; otherwise, delaying burial can adversely affect both the deceased's reincarnation and their family's fortune. Thus, even amidst their sorrow, his family retained their composure and called my Second Master that night to check auspicious dates and prepare his remains in Funeral Garments. They also summoned a Ritual Team to perform rituals for him; from the Ritual Taoist's words, he learned he needed only to wait here for Yin Chai's guidance.
However, that night he did not wait for Yin Chai but instead encountered the White Shirt Spirit. The White Shirt Spirit arrived with great force and directly took him away from beside his Corpse—of course, an ancient spirit taking away a New Soul required little effort. Any conflict between them would be imperceptible to ordinary people.
Unable to remain at the Roasting House any longer, the White Shirt Spirit took him wandering until they finally arrived at this Old House where it intended to reside permanently.
It took some time for him to share all these events while Master and I listened quietly without interruption. I wasn't sure if he grew tired of speaking, but I certainly felt drained as I had set up this Soul Calling Array myself—it consumed much of my energy. Noticing sweat beginning to bead on my forehead, Master gently tapped my Fontanel with his Great Seal before taking out two talismans—one affixed onto the Death Spirit and another placed on his own chest.
I suddenly felt a wave of relief, as if the Soul Calling Array had nothing to do with me. My master had used some means to forcibly sever my connection with the Soul Calling Array and established a link between himself and the Spirit God using talismans.
Once my master had done all this, he turned to the Spirit God and said, "Continue, what happened next?"
"You all know what happened later. I was living just fine in this house when suddenly a couple came to measure the land," it began, but my master interrupted.
"What I mean is, why did that White Shirt Spirit want to take you away? I want to know the reason behind it."
The Death Spirit replied helplessly, "It brought me here, and I don't know why. But it told me it had a way to find Yin Chai and lead us to reincarnation, so I followed it."
My master said nothing, only letting out a cold laugh. Not just my master; even I found the White Shirt Spirit amusing. Not only did it cause someone's death, but it also deprived them of the chance for reincarnation. It wasn't really trying to take him to find Yin Chai for rebirth; it either wanted to use his New Soul identity to attract Yin Chai or simply didn't want to be reincarnated and was looking for someone to share its fate as a wandering spirit. These two seemingly contradictory ideas seemed quite natural to the White Shirt Spirit. If Yin Chai didn't come knocking, then being a lonely ghost together would at least provide some company.
Just as I was about to reveal the White Shirt Spirit's tricks to it, my master suddenly raised the Great Seal in his hand and smashed it down behind me. I felt a strong force pushing me away from my original spot.
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