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墨書 Inktalez
After leaving the cemetery, Sister Li hurried along. There were few cars in the outskirts at night, so there was no traffic. I kept close behind Sister Li until she finally stopped by the roadside in the center of a town. At that moment, there were only a few scattered pedestrians, which is why she chose this spot.
Sister Li parked her car to the side, and I parked behind her. I took out my compass, got out of the car, and walked straight over.
I opened the passenger door and sat down without saying a word, immediately focusing on observing the compass.
Sure enough, on this first night, we had encountered something. Besides me and Sister Li, along with her daughter, there should be one or two spirits in the car. I frowned, my face pale, unsure of what to do. It was late at night; I couldn’t just follow Sister Li home. Moreover, here, I had no way to deal with them. If they had received the Joss Paper with the summoning symbols drawn on it, I couldn’t force them away within twelve hours. Even if I wanted to force them out, the conditions here wouldn’t allow it. And even if they did, Sister Li would likely become suspicious of me.
Sister Li asked, “What’s wrong, Xiao Liu? Did you really attract something?”
I nodded, confirming that there were spirits inside, but I didn’t know how to explain it to Sister Li. After thinking for a moment, I glanced at the little girl in the back seat and said, “Sister Li, let’s talk outside.”
I opened the car door and walked to the driver’s seat. Sister Li also got out of the car and closed the door behind her. I whispered, “There are spirits in the car because you burned Joss Paper.”
Sister Li frowned but then smiled and said, “Xiao Liu, thank you for your concern. What you’re saying is getting more and more absurd; it’s hard for me to accept. If there are spirits, that’s fine; it could be my husband’s spirit wanting to come home with us. That would be a good thing.”
I replied, “But this spirit is not your husband; I’m sure of it. And that expert Wang you mentioned is definitely trying to deceive you. If you don’t deal with the spirits in your car, they will settle in your home after you return. That will lead to a lot of trouble.”
Seeing how serious I was saying this made Sister Li start to feel a bit annoyed as she said, “Xiao Liu, we don’t know each other well. I believe what you’re saying isn’t baseless, but when it comes to you and my friend, I choose to trust my friend instead. Thank you for talking with me for so long; if there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way.”
I felt frustrated; Sister Li truly was fickle. Just moments ago she was surprised by my judgment; now she thought I was trying to deceive her. She must have called that expert or her friend while driving earlier.
However, I didn’t want to let this matter develop any further. I had come out tonight for Feeding the Hungry Ghosts; encountering such an event surely meant something significant. It seemed like fate was telling me not only to honor the spirits but also to help others.
As Sister Li reached for the car door to get back in, I quickly stopped her and said, “Sister Li, you have to believe me. If you really take those things home with you, I'm afraid you’ll be frightened and harmed. Plus, I don’t know what that expert's intentions are. This matter could escalate; please think carefully.”
Ignoring my warning, Sister Li pulled out a designer handbag from her car and took out her wallet from inside it—her intention was clear: she planned to pay me off.
The moment she took out money, I decided to stop persuading her further. Surely these spirits wouldn’t do anything too outrageous; when she finally realized that what I said was true, she could come find me later.
Sister Li took several hundred-dollar bills from her wallet and handed them to me saying, “Xiao Liu, whether what you say is true or not, thank you anyway. Meeting you tonight is also fate; consider this a reward.”
I chuckled lightly as I took the money that Sister Li handed me. I pulled out a bill from the middle and tucked it into my pocket. Then, I took out a pen and wrote my phone number on the top bill before handing it back to Sister Li. "I'll take a hundred as a consultation fee. Keep the bill with my number; you'll definitely need it tomorrow," I said before turning and walking back to my car, ignoring her as I drove away.
I had already given the little girl a red string, so I didn't have to worry about her being harmed for now. Although there were spirits in their car, they wouldn't interfere with her driving; their only purpose was to follow Sister Li home. Therefore, there wouldn't be any danger on their way back. However, tonight was another story.
...
The next morning, as expected, I received a call from Sister Li. What surprised me was her first sentence, which left me feeling bewildered: "You bastard Liu, what did you do to me last night?"
I was taken aback by her harsh words, feeling a bit annoyed. But in an instant, I understood the situation. It must have been after Sister Li got home that some spirit-related incident occurred. She probably called an expert right away to report what happened last night, and that expert started shifting the blame onto me. That’s why Sister Li called to confront me. From her tone, it seemed she didn't regard me highly; clearly, that expert had promised to help her resolve the issue.
So this call wasn't for help; it was an accusation.
I replied calmly, "Sister Li, please don’t rush. There were ghosts at your place last night; I told you before, but you didn’t listen. Now you’re coming to accuse me—what’s the meaning of this?"
Sister Li continued to raise her voice on the other end of the line. "Don’t pretend to be kind! Do you think I'm a fool? I just spoke with Master Wang; he said you deliberately approached me and put a red string on my daughter, claiming it was hiding ghosts. Is this how you act without any morals? I now believe you know about spirits, but isn’t this going too far?"
Her words became increasingly aggressive, and I had no choice but to say, "How about this, Sister Li? Let’s discuss this face-to-face. Where are you right now? I’ll come find you."
"No need for that; take care of your own character. Master Wang will come help me tonight," she said before abruptly hanging up.
I stood there holding my phone in disbelief; this was a classic case of good intentions gone wrong. I felt quite frustrated—I’m just a normal person who can’t stand being wronged. In that moment, I really wanted to ignore it all out of anger, but after calming down and thinking it through, I realized it wasn’t entirely Sister Li’s fault for accusing me; the real culprit was that Wang fellow whose slander led to Sister Li losing control.
I’m not someone who can silently endure being stepped on without retaliation. Opening my contacts, I began calling acquaintances in Guangzhou's spiritual community one by one to see if anyone knew a Wang in the field.
By the third call, one master told me, "From your description, I do recall someone like that. However, he’s just a half-baked practitioner with no real skills—he's just playing around with tricks and deceiving people."
I asked if he knew Wang's phone number, but he couldn't provide it since he wasn't well-acquainted with him.
After thanking him and hanging up, I felt perplexed. This Wang had quite the audacity; despite having no real abilities, he dared to bring spirits into Sister Li's home without fearing he couldn't control the situation.
According to Sister Li, this Wang was supposed to come over tonight to exorcise the spirits from her house. The most urgent thing now was to find out Sister Li's address. So I reluctantly called her again, but she immediately hung up on me.
After the third call, Sister Li finally answered, almost shouting, "What do you want, Liu? Please, just leave me alone!"
"Miss Li, there's no need for you to sound so hostile towards me. If you don't want to suffer the consequences, just tell me your address. I'll come by tonight to confront that Master Wang you mentioned. You'll see who really won't let you go. If you refuse to speak, then let's end this here and go our separate ways. Don't say I didn't warn you when you regret it later." With that, I hung up the phone.
Sometimes, it's not necessary to always play the nice guy; doing so can make you seem untrustworthy and even suspicious.
Not long after hanging up, I received a text message with Sister Li's address and a time—10 PM.
Putting my phone away, I entered my study, feeling a bit uneasy. What if that Wang managed to capture the spirits? How would I explain it then? Would Sister Li even understand if I told her that the Joss Paper had a summoning talisman on it?
I needed a helper, and this helper was someone I was already familiar with.
That was Liu Bi. Since I met Liu Bi in 2012, we had often interacted. It had come from the Underworld and had been helping Mu Xue's living soul return to her body for quite some time. By the second half of 2014, Liu Bi had made significant progress in helping Mu Xue regain her soul.
During the time I encountered Sister Li's situation, Liu Bi happened to be resting at my home. It would stay in the study during the day and handle its own affairs at night. Occasionally, I would lend a hand.
Once in the study, I called out to Liu Bi. It appeared groggy and clearly had been resting.
"Hey, little brother, can you help me out tonight?" I asked.
It was the first time it heard me ask for help after knowing each other for so long, so it seemed excited as it replied, "Brother, just tell me what you need. I'll do my best!"
I briefly explained the situation to it and said, "If Wang can handle those two spirits, your task is just to scare him a bit. If he can't manage it, just sit back and enjoy the show."
"Is it really that simple?" Liu Bi asked in confusion.
I chuckled and replied, "Yes, it's that simple. Did you think I was asking you to commit murder or arson?"
Liu Bi was different from ordinary Spirit Gods; thanks to the nurturing of the Soul-keeping Umbrella and its unique methods, it had become quite powerful—no less than that Imposter Yincai we encountered back in 2012. So as long as it wanted to, not only could it easily mess with someone without real skills like Wang, but it could also play tricks on me if it chose to. However, Liu Bi maintained its integrity well; it could distinguish right from wrong and never abused its power for wrongdoing. This was one of the reasons I allowed it to stay with me for a while.
However, even though Liu Bi was growing stronger, I couldn't take it along for any serious confrontations with the Spirit God. At most, I could bring it out to help with minor tasks, and even then, the frequency had to be kept to an absolute minimum; otherwise, it would be detrimental for both of us.
Liu Bi said, "Alright, I'll accompany you tonight. I'm heading back into the umbrella for now." After saying that, it vanished before my eyes, and the Oiled Paper Umbrella stirred slightly before settling down again.
I stepped out of the study, my mood instantly lifting. As long as I could get to Sister Li's house and see that Wang person, I was confident I could expose his true nature.
...
At nine o'clock that evening, I left the house with Liu Bi. It no longer needed to rely on objects for travel; its current abilities allowed it to walk confidently beside me without being noticed. It could conceal its Yin Qi very well, and only I could see it. Even if there were people from the industry nearby, they wouldn't sense its presence unless they used magical tools or opened their eyes.
When we arrived outside Sister Li's residential complex, it was nearly ten o'clock—just the right time. After parking the car, I headed upstairs with Liu Bi trailing beside me, seemingly enjoying the spectacle. Occasionally, it would chime in with some random chatter in my ear. I only responded when no one else was around; at other times, I treated it as if it were talking to itself.
Here’s the second update. I initially planned to save this for tomorrow when I would have time to prepare a book about Liu Bi, but surprisingly, I couldn't manage that. So here it is instead; goodnight, everyone.
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