Lanxi County had been lively yesterday, but today was even livelier. Every street and alley was abuzz with talk of the haunting at the county yamen last night.
This time, every clerk and runner in the yamen had experienced it firsthand, so even more people knew about it. In a private room at a certain restaurant, one man was recounting his own experience from the night before to the others at his table.
"Late at night, when everything was quiet, we heard the rumble of cart wheels. No one knew why there would be a cart at that hour. Later, we found out it was a dung cart—and the barrel was filled to the brim."
"That vicious ghost was incredibly fierce. With a casual wave, it sent the dung cart flying into the air. Master Kumming didn't realize it was a trick and struck it with his palm. That was a disaster. Everyone there got drenched from head to toe in dung slurry, what an utterly miserable sight. I was standing on the outermost edge, but some still splashed onto me."
"That foul stuff broke Master Kumming's golden body in an instant. Then a cart shaft flew up and knocked the master unconscious. When those Luohan disciples saw things had gone bad, they carried Master Kumming away and fled. They left for Lantuo Temple overnight, and I heard he still hadn't woken up."
"Everyone else was so terrified that they scattered and ran. Anyone who could run did. The magistrate wet himself again from fright and clutched the Earth God statue while crying for help. In the end, he simply moved into the Earth God Temple, saying that unless the evil ghost was eliminated, he would rather die than come out. He was staying inside the temple now."
"Now the