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墨書 Inktalez
The night was shrouded in mist, and the further east I went, the thicker the fog became. Although the humidity in the mountains was heavy and fog was a common occurrence, this mist felt particularly sinister, as if it were concentrated around Village East.
I could hear Fo Zhang chirping incessantly in the fog, and my heart raced with worry. I feared for his safety. I bit down on my middle finger until it bled, then smeared the blood across my eyelids. Instantly, the mist before me seemed to dissipate.
I saw Fo Zhang standing beside a plump figure, waving his claws at the air. The blood from my middle finger was infused with strong yang energy, and given my current state, its power was extraordinary.
Before me hung a baby covered in a slimy substance mixed with blood, completely naked and tinged with a bluish-purple hue. This ghostly creature let out a piercing cry directed at Fo Zhang but made no further move.
I squeezed out more blood from my middle finger and threw it at the ghost while chanting the Buddhist Six-Character Mantra: "Om, Ma, Ni, Padme, Hum."
I clearly saw my blood shoot like an arrow toward Gui Ying's body. Gui Ying emitted a sharp and painful wail that nearly shattered my eardrums. I had to temporarily block out my hearing and said to Gui Ying, "Life and death are predetermined; why cling so stubbornly to this existence? You foolishly attempt to use the yang energy of the living to linger in this world."
The spot where my blood struck Gui Ying began to emit hissing white smoke, and he writhed in agony. Unable to maintain his form in mid-air any longer, he scurried away like a frightened young beast into the darkness.
Fo Zhang attempted to chase after him with bravado but I stopped him. Though I couldn't understand ghost language, it seemed that Gui Ying's cries contained a plea for help.
If there was a plea for help, there must be an even more powerful Gui Wu lurking nearby. I couldn't let Fo Zhang go after it alone.
"Hey, wake up!" I said as I slapped the face of Sun Er Pangzi, who lay on the ground. Surprisingly, his face was soft and plump; slapping it felt oddly satisfying as it jiggled under my hand.
"Ghost! Ghost!" Sun Er Pangzi flailed about wildly, eyes shut tight as he screamed.
I stepped back a few paces to avoid collateral damage and crossed my arms over my chest, looking down at him from above. Once he calmed down, I said, "Open your eyes and take a look. Have you ever seen such a handsome ghost?"
Slowly, Sun Er Pangzi opened his eyes. Upon seeing me in monk robes, he reacted as if he had seen his mother. He flipped over and clung to my leg, pleading, "Master! You must save me! There’s a ghost trying to harm me!"
"The ghost has already been driven away; now let go," I replied helplessly. How could this Sun Er Pangzi—who must weigh at least two hundred pounds—have such tiny courage?
Besides, unless it was a corpse causing trouble, ordinary Gui Wu were incorporeal and couldn't harm living beings.
To my surprise, although Sun Fatty was scared silly, his mind was surprisingly clear. Upon hearing me say "I drove it away" instead of "I killed it" or "I scattered it," he tightened his grip around my leg even more.
At a loss for what to do, I could only promise, "Don't worry, I won't leave for now. I'm a bit hungry too. It would be good to rest at your place."
Only then did Sun Er Pangzi release his hold, saying, "A monk must not lie."
I nodded as Sun Er Pangzi tugged at the hem of my clothes, refusing to let go. It wasn't until we reached a two-story house that he finally loosened his grip and knocked on the door, shouting, "Wife, open the door!"
After a moment, the lights inside the house flickered on, and a woman with sleepy eyes opened the door, complaining, "What are you making such a racket for at this hour? You've nearly broken the door!"
As soon as Sun Er Pangzi heard the word "ghost," he tensed up again, covering his wife's mouth as they entered the house while muttering, "No blame for the strange, no blame for the strange."
Once inside, Sun Er Pangzi's wife noticed me, an outsider, and pulled his hand away to go change clothes.
Perhaps because it was dark earlier, Sun Er Pangzi hadn't seen my face clearly. Now that he could see me properly and realized I was just a young man, he was taken aback and said, "I didn't expect the master to be so young. Come on, have a seat."
He then called out into the house, "Chun Yan, go to the kitchen and make two bowls of noodles. Help me calm down the master."
Leaning closer to me in a lowered voice, he asked, "Can the master really handle that ghost?"
I had only seen Gui Ying's true form after pricking my finger for blood; how did Sun Er Pangzi know about it? Curious, I asked him, "Can you see that thing?"
Sun Er Pangzi took a big gulp of water and replied with lingering fear in his voice, "I can't see it; I just keep hearing a baby's cries that sound like a cat meowing. It makes one's heart feel uneasy."
Normally, it's not easy for a deceased infant to become a ghost. If it does turn into one, it would be a Li Gui—difficult to deal with. I frowned and asked seriously, "Has anything strange happened in the village recently?"
Sun Er Pangzi thought for a moment before responding, "Nothing particularly strange happened; it's just that Lao Wei's daughter-in-law was buried yesterday. According to the midwife, she committed suicide while eight months pregnant and about to give birth. Poor Lao Wei—his son just died not long ago, and now his daughter-in-law has died with her grandchild too. Life is going to be tough for him from now on."
“Are you saying that this grandson of Lao Wei died in the womb?” I repeated the question. Seeing Sun Er Pangzi nod, I felt a sense of dread. The unborn child had already developed a sense of self; it was no wonder that it would harbor resentment and seek vengeance after such a tragic fate.
Sun Er Pangzi's wife, Chun Yan, who appeared to be in her thirties, placed two bowls of noodles in front of us and joined the conversation. “The daughter-in-law of Lao Wei used to be such a good person. But after her husband died, she became unhinged. Lao Wei even invited a Taoist priest to their home to exorcise evil spirits. But now it seems that was just a scam; otherwise, Lao Wei's family wouldn’t have been left without heirs.”
She sighed regretfully. When the steaming chicken noodles were served, I couldn’t care less about anything else; filling my stomach was more important than anything else at that moment.
After I finished my noodles, Sun Er Pangzi cautiously asked, “Master, I noticed something seemed off with you earlier. Could it be that the ghost will come out again?”
I nodded. “The child has become a Gui Ying, filled with resentment. It won’t be easy to subdue it. Tomorrow morning, take me to Lao Wei’s house; I have a feeling there’s something strange about this matter.”
Sun Er Pangzi quickly arranged a place for me to stay and then hesitated at the doorway, not wanting to leave. I said, “You can go to sleep peacefully. I’m here; that ghost won’t dare to come.”
Only then did Sun Er Pangzi relax and say, “Then I’ll rest easy.”
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