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墨書 Inktalez
Death Apostle shook his head helplessly. "This Soul Burial on your friend, I've only heard of such a thing; I have no idea how to resolve it..."
At that moment, Li Zhisheng, who had been silent, spoke up slowly. "There is fundamentally no solution. This is meant to seal the Evil Spirit and prevent it from escaping; how could it possibly allow it to come out again..."
"So you're saying this Soul Burial is merely a means to confine the Evil Spirit? It has no side effects?" I asked, confused. "If what you say about your friend is true, then indeed there are no side effects. But what I know is entirely the opposite..."
Hearing Death Apostle's words, I pressed on, "Then what do you know about it?!"
"The reason I was startled earlier is that this Soul Burial not only traps the spirit within the body but also allows it to parasitize the human form. Over time, it gradually merges with the host's soul until the Evil Spirit becomes part of the host itself, ultimately being reborn in this world in a physical form." Death Apostle looked worried. "Once the Evil Spirit is reborn, not even a tank could eliminate it."
Seeing the seriousness in Death Apostle's expression, everyone felt helpless and could only place their hopes on the shaman that Meng Zhuang had mentioned earlier. I turned to ask, "Is your shaman really that effective?"
Meng Zhuang nodded vigorously like a chick pecking at rice. "She really is very effective. In our village, there were several abandoned graves that the elders said belonged to the Earth God. One time, while I was following an adult up the mountain to gather firewood, I accidentally passed by one of those graves. Not understanding at the time, I thought it was fun and stepped on it. Even though the adult pulled me away immediately, I still ended up getting contaminated with something unclean."
"That night, since it was still early and my parents were outside chatting with neighbors, I went to bed early by myself. In bed, I tossed and turned but couldn't fall asleep. Suddenly, I heard a woman's voice calling my name from outside the window."
"I didn't think much of it at the time and decided to get up and see since I couldn't sleep. Just as I opened the window, a bloody and mangled ghost face appeared right in front of me, scaring me so much that I fainted."
"When I woke up again, my parents were already surrounding me, asking what had happened. I told them about seeing the ghost. After that, I was taken to the village shaman. She didn't perform any rituals or burn paper; she just applied some oil on my head. After returning home, I felt better—how incredible is that!"
Meng Zhuang finished his story with a proud look on his face as if he had done something remarkable himself. However, upon hearing what oil she used on him, I felt a strange sensation in my heart.
Death Apostle also picked up on this clue and said, "Could it be that this oil you used was Ghost Oil!?" Meng Zhuang scratched his head and mumbled, "I don't know if it's Ghost Oil, but all I know is that after applying that stuff, I slept soundly and never heard that woman's voice again."
"It must be Ghost Oil! As long as it's not used for burning to summon spirits, it can generally be used as an exorcism tool. If that's the case and if this Ghost Oil came from the shaman's hands, then without a doubt she is a Yin Master!” Death Apostle stated firmly.
"Do you think he won't save my friend?" I asked, furrowing my brow. The Death Apostle pondered for a moment and replied, "That's not the issue. Whether she can save her is another matter entirely. Clearing the Soul Burial is no easier than making Ghost Oil."
"We can't worry about that right now; we have to try if there's a chance," I said, turning to Meng Zhuang. "Is that shaman of yours still around?"
Meng Zhuang answered, "She should still be there. I visited the village two years ago and saw her helping a family get rid of some bad energy."
"Great, then let's go visit her... Since we've asked what we needed to and finished what we had to do, we should head back now..." I started to get up to leave.
"Wait!" the Death Apostle called out to me. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a glass vial the size of a thumb, sealed with a wooden cork, containing a yellow-brown liquid.
He handed the vial to me. "Take this. When you get home, apply it in the corners of your house. At the very least, it will prevent Gu Kai from monitoring you for a while."
Although the Death Apostle didn't say it outright, I knew this was Ghost Oil. Despite my reluctance, there was no other choice now, especially since Hu Fang was still at home.
I took the vial from him, thanked him, and planned to leave with Li Zhisheng and Meng Zhuang. Before we left, the Death Apostle mentioned that he would be around for a while and that I could come find him if anything came up.
Afterward, we exited the Death Apostle's underground mansion. We had entered using Ghost Oil to find the mechanism, but leaving was as simple as him pressing a switch inside the room that opened the exit.
Once back on the surface, I thought to myself, "Isn't this mechanism supposed to be in a fixed location? If I remember it, I should be able to open it again. Why did he have to use Ghost Oil to find the entrance? It's really unnecessary..."
As I pondered this, I noticed that Li Zhisheng seemed completely lost in thought and didn't bring it up. Stepping out of the ancient-style mansion and seeing that it was getting late, I said, "Meng Zhuang, since I sent you to pretend to investigate Gu Kai earlier, he probably has his eyes on you now. How about this: you can stay at my place tonight. I'm worried it might not be safe for you to go home alone."
"That's not really..." Meng Zhuang began to refuse but seemed to reconsider when he remembered our encounter with ghosts. A hint of fear crossed his face as he awkwardly said, "Well then, I'd better accept your offer. Hehe~" He chuckled sheepishly.
With that settled, we made our way back to my district. Throughout the journey, Li Zhisheng remained silent. The more despair he felt, the more worried I became; I feared he might do something drastic in his moment of hopelessness.
As soon as I stepped through the door, a delicious aroma of food wafted towards me. "You’re back! I’ve been waiting for you..." Hu Fang cheerfully ran over, but as she reached the entrance and saw Meng Zhuang behind me, she froze in place.
"What is this...?" she pointed at Meng Zhuang. While changing my shoes, I explained, "This is Meng Zhuang, an employee from my company. Due to some special circumstances, she’ll be staying here tonight..." Since it was difficult to explain everything in just a few words, I decided not to elaborate to Hu Fang.
Hu Fang scrutinized Meng Zhuang for a moment. "But... I didn’t make that much food. Should I go make some more?" Upon hearing this, Meng Zhuang quickly smiled and said, "No need, no need! I feel bad for bothering Shen; I wouldn’t dare trouble you any further. You all just eat; don’t worry about me."
When Hu Fang heard this, her face flushed bright red. She lowered her head slightly and mumbled, "Who’s your sister-in-law? You must be mistaken."
I was taken aback by her response and quickly turned to Meng Zhuang, making exaggerated gestures and whispering, "No! No! You got it wrong; don’t say that!"
Realizing her mistake, Meng Zhuang clapped her hands over her mouth in embarrassment.
Once inside the house, I changed out of my outdoor clothes. As I walked into the room, I noticed Li Zhisheng sitting at the dining table without having taken off his outerwear, looking dazed. Meanwhile, Meng Zhuang sat alone on the sofa in the living room, staring at the dark television screen.
At that moment, Hu Fang untied her apron and leaned closer to me, asking in a low voice, "Hey, what’s wrong with Li Zhisheng? He’s been like this since we got back. When I tried talking to him, he ignored me. Did you do something to him?"
I sighed softly. "It’s complicated; I’ll explain later. Let’s eat first." Then I called out to Meng Zhuang sitting on the sofa, "Don’t just sit there! Come on over and eat with us; don’t be so polite!"
Hearing this, Meng Zhuang still seemed a bit hesitant. She smiled at me and walked over to sit at the dining table.
"Stop worrying; there will always be a way out. If you keep starving yourself like this without anything happening, you’ll end up hungry before anything else..." With that, I picked up a bowl of rice and placed it in front of Li Zhisheng.
Li Zhisheng took the bowl and said, "You don’t understand; it’s not about living or dying. It’s about wanting to die but being unable to do so while wanting to live but finding it impossible..."
Upon hearing this, Hu Fang set down her chopsticks and asked in confusion, "What do you mean by wanting to die but being unable to? Wanting to live but finding it impossible? What’s wrong with you? You’ve been like this since we got back... You don’t have any terminal illness or anything; why act like you’re on the brink of death?"
I saw that Hu Fang had gone a bit too far, so I raised my hand to stop her and took over the conversation with Li Zhisheng. "I know you might be well-versed in Soul Burial, but you may not fully understand Yin Master. Those people might have ways to help you."
Meng Zhuang, looking like he was starving, had food in his mouth and mumbled, "Shen is right. The shaman from my hometown has died and come back to life; she can definitely heal you. Don't be so down; have a little faith..."
Listening to him, I thought, "When you were in trouble, you were even worse off than this. How can you still say that to others?"
Li Zhisheng spoke in a low voice, "You really don't understand. This matter isn't that simple. Even what the Death Apostle knows is just the tip of the iceberg..."
At that moment, I was genuinely a bit angry. He clearly knew everything about this matter, yet he refused to share it and insisted on acting like everything was about to collapse.
I raised my voice slightly, "How did you comfort me when I was in trouble before? Now that it's your turn, you're acting like this? If you won't tell me what’s going on, how can I understand? Everyone wants to help you, but look at how you're acting. What do you expect us to do?"
Despite my agitation, Li Zhisheng's expression remained unchanged. He said slowly, "You don't understand Yin Master. If I don't tell you... then let me be straightforward. My ancestors were actually one of the forebears of Yin Master! I didn't tell you before because I thought it wasn't something to be proud of, and since you didn't know much about Yin Master or Yang Master, I felt there was no need to share it. But now that we're at this point, I think you should know..."
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