Ghost Messenger

The eerie scene left everyone present dumbfounded. The Zhao Family had practiced feng shui for so many years—what hadn't they seen? Yet even they were speechless for quite a while at the sight before them.

Old Man Zhao's eyes had rolled back until only the whites showed. His thin, bamboo-like fingers curled like chicken claws and trembled wildly, as though demanding a life.

I had already concluded that Old Man Zhao was dead, his soul out of his body and his allotted lifespan exhausted. The Ghost Messenger might drag his soul away at any moment.

But I noticed that the yin qi around Old Man Zhao's soul had grown heavier. It seemed something was coming to take him away. A Ghost Messenger was a soul carrying a ghost talisman from the underworld, so even when seen with yin-yang eyes, it looked different from an ordinary soul, its color somewhat lighter.

The soul that had come this time also looked like a little old man. However, he stayed far off to the side, not daring to approach, shrinking away until even his own soul had grown unstable.

The Ghost Messenger's strength was not much different from that of other dead souls. Most were simply assigned missions by name in the underworld, which made soul-reaping a dangerous job. If they encountered a soul burdened with deep resentment, they might even suffer backlash and find it difficult to return.

If someone deliberately placed one or two ghost-warding talismans, the Ghost Messenger would not even dare reap the soul. It could only watch helplessly and wait for an opening. The little old man who had come to reap the soul was probably in the same situation.

And there was no point expecting the Black and White Impermanence or the Ox-Head and Horse-Face to come help. What kind of status did they have? Unless ordered from above, ordinary people could not summon them at all.

Besides, the underworld had lost too many souls over the years and was not incapable of adapting. Most of those sent to reap souls had some past connection with the one being taken, such as a deceased relative or friend.

Once the person being reaped saw someone familiar, their soul would follow along. It worked every time. That was why an old person's yin qi grew heavy before death. Upon seeing an ancestor beckoning, they would murmur the ancestor's name, saying that so-and-so had come to take them away, and before long, they would pass away as well.

The old man hiding beside the bed was either one of Old Man Zhao's ancestors or a brother who had once stood by him through thick and thin.

Of course, if a dead soul possessed a strong killing intent, it would not care who had come to reap it. It would simply lash out and devour the Ghost Messenger. After killing the Ghost Messenger, such souls would have no ghost to guide them into the underworld. They would become wandering ghosts or earthbound spirits that harmed people. Some particularly ferocious ones would turn into evil ghosts after absorbing enough life force, making them extremely difficult to deal with.

The underworld had plenty of affairs to handle and could not afford to expend so many souls. Normally, if the first attempt at reaping failed, it would not bother trying again. After all, if one attempt failed, sending another Ghost Messenger would usually mean the wandering soul could no longer be found. And if it encountered an evil ghost, it would be a case of losing both the wife and the soldiers. They would not take that risk.

Of course, Ghost Messengers were also registered in the underworld. If an important Ghost Messenger was killed by a human, the consequences would be enormous.

My Ghost-Passing Talisman had long since stopped working. Over the past few days, I had actually thought of several reasons why I could still see ghosts. In the end, I concluded that perhaps it was because my own yin qi was heavy.

I had been unable to see them before because Big Sister-in-Law Ghost had been there. Now that she seemed to have exhausted a tremendous amount of energy, I had returned to the state I was in as a child, when I could see ghosts. Besides, on the road back to the city from Dragon-Carrying Village, hadn't I nearly been used as a vessel by a ghost? That was proof enough.

The Ghost Messenger did not dare approach for a long time, while Old Man Zhao's soul stood at a loss, watching his own corpse thrash about without the slightest reaction.

"Zhao Qian, hurry and remove those ghost-warding talismans!" I urged.

Everyone thought Old Man Zhao was still alive, but now that he was dead, the ghost-warding talismans could very well disperse his newly departed soul. Seeing that his soul was unstable, I no longer had time to worry about why his body could still move.

Zhao Qian failed to react in time, but Old Mrs. Zhao panicked first. She could not believe that the husband who had accompanied her for decades would die at that moment. When she saw Old Man Zhao clawing about like a madman and even standing up, she instinctively ran over to see what was happening.

I frowned, but it was already too late to stop her. Old Mrs. Zhao rushed over and tried to embrace Old Man Zhao.

Old Man Zhao seemed not to recognize her at all. Before she could get close, his chicken-claw-like hand seized her throat and squeezed with all his might!

Old Mrs. Zhao could not breathe. Like Old Man Zhao, her tongue was nearly lolling out.

"Grandpa! Grandma!" Zhao Qian cried out. She had completely forgotten my warning and only wanted to go over and pull them apart.

I immediately ran over and held Zhao Qian back with all my strength. I did not want her to get hurt.

When Zhao Xi, Zhao Yuan, Zhao Zhou, and the other relatives saw Zhao Qian and me reach the bedside, they finally realized what was happening and rushed over as well.

But before they could get close, they heard a sharp crack of breaking bone. Old Man Zhao's hand had been snapped by the sturdy Old Mrs. Zhao!

Old Mrs. Zhao had once been a cadre among the Red Guards' faction during the factional fighting. The Zhao Family had largely escaped being denounced and struggled against back then because of her. Even now, the old woman's body remained strong. She was much stronger than Old Man Zhao, and with his osteoporosis and calcium deficiency, one forceful twist had snapped his hand.

One of Old Man Zhao's arms hung strangely limp, yet his other hand still clung to Old Mrs. Zhao's throat with desperate force. His untrimmed nails had pierced her neck, sending blood gushing out.

Old Mrs. Zhao hardened her heart. Seeing that her two sons and daughter still had not come up, she lost her temper. "What are you standing around for? Save me! You bunch of ungrateful wretches! Can't you see your father is squeezing me to death?"

The whole group immediately pounced on Old Man Zhao and pinned him down. He struggled incessantly, spouting incomprehensible ghostly words.

Old Man Zhao really was dead, and his soul was on the verge of vanishing. These people still thought he was alive. I shook my head, took advantage of the chaos to remove the two ghost-warding talismans and the Soul-Calming Talisman, then silently returned to my place. I could draw talismans like these too, but Master Canyun's were clearly better than mine, and their effects were naturally much stronger. There was no reason not to take them.

Once the ghost-warding talismans were gone, the Ghost Messenger's soul steadied, and it took Old Man Zhao away. Old Man Zhao seemed to harbor not the slightest resentment toward his own death and obediently left. I felt as though I understood something, but I could not put my finger on it for the moment.

Instead, the old master brought by Zhao Zhou glanced at me in surprise. I glared back and frowned. You old bastard. Since you can see them, why didn't you come over and take these talismans? Don't think I'll consider you a good person again. And I haven't settled the score with you for placing that curse on little Zhao Qian yet! You'd better not let me catch you slipping!

The old master seemed to see through my thoughts and did not look at me again. He simply stood to the side, his expression unchanged.

"Old Mr. Zhao has passed away..." Master Canyun sighed and glanced at Zhao Xi.

Zhao Xi froze on the spot. "How could this happen...? How could this happen? Didn't you place a Soul-Calming Talisman and a ghost-warding talisman? How could my father still be possessed?"

"No... Ah! This is bad! My ghost-warding talisman will disperse the old gentleman's newly departed soul!" Master Canyun was not a bad person; he simply had little experience with evil ghosts and lacked practical experience. He had forgotten about it after suffering this setback. When he remembered his ghost-warding talisman, cold sweat soaked through his clothes.

"My heavens! You stinking old scholar with your ox-nose! Give my old husband his soul back!"

When they heard that not only had the man died, but his soul was about to vanish as well, everyone's eyes gleamed with fury. Old Mrs. Zhao began wailing loudly. Without his soul, the dead could not transcend, and reincarnation would be impossible. Her eyes turned green with rage. She grabbed a broom and swung it into Master Canyun's nose.

Master Canyun's nose sprayed blood, but clinging to a final sliver of hope, he could not make one mistake after another. Yet when he ran to the bedside, he saw that several talismans were gone, which immediately shocked him.

"The talisman paper... It's gone!" Master Canyun said blankly. "It was clearly there just now."

I said nothing. After all, I was Lei Feng. Good deeds should be done anonymously, so I certainly was not going to tell them.

Without yin-yang eyes, and without burning incense, one could not see a soul with light yin qi. Unless the others' yin qi was as heavy as mine, nobody—including Master Canyun—could see that Old Man Zhao's soul had already been reaped and taken into the underworld.

"Get lost! You damn well get lost! You killed my father! One of these days, I'll burn your Three Immortals Temple to the ground!" Zhao Zhou had gone mad with rage. He kicked Master Canyun squarely in the butt. The other relatives were all furious too. If Old Man Zhao had not still been thrashing about alive and kicking, they might even have beaten Master Canyun's disciple.

"Brother! Look at the people you found! They're nothing but a bunch of superstitious frauds! Our dad was obviously harmed by his ritual, and he even dares say Dad is dead. Isn't he just a blind man leading the blind, fooling ghosts and monsters?" Zhao Yuan chased after him with Old Mrs. Zhao's broom, intending to beat a drowning dog, but several relatives held her back.

Master Canyun shook his head and smiled bitterly. He had originally wanted to drive away the evil ghost possessing Old Man Zhao, but now it seemed that staying any longer would only get him killed. He left dejectedly with several disciples.

Zhao Xi had no choice but to watch helplessly as Zhao Zhou kicked Master Canyun away. He stood there in a daze. Not only had he failed to secure the position of family head, but his own father had died as well. The Zhao Family was about to undergo a great upheaval!

Old Man Zhao was certainly dead, and his corpse had been possessed by an evil ghost. There was basically no suspense about that. I could have the little evil ghost deal with it, but what I could not understand was that I had not seen when or where the evil ghost had possessed him. Otherwise, I could have stopped it before Old Man Zhao was possessed.

"You took the talisman paper... So Grandpa's soul..." Zhao Qian looked at me through tear-filled eyes. Her grandfather had doted on her since childhood and had even taught her the Zhao Family's ancestral feng shui, a secret passed down only to men. That made her the little princess everyone in the family envied.

"Your grandfather was a kind man. He went safely to the underworld, and he'll be reincarnated," I comforted her. Although I had no idea what would happen to Old Man Zhao in the underworld, saying this would at least ease Zhao Qian's grief. Perhaps her grandfather's spirit in heaven would agree with me.

Zhao Qian immediately began crying. She wanted to go over and see her grandfather, but I grabbed her. "There's still something on him. Wait until Master Wu over there gets rid of it before you go over."

I had saved Zhao Qian's grandfather's soul, so she trusted me completely now. Since I had not acted, I naturally had my reasons, and she could only wipe away her tears and watch.

"Too much time has passed. Brother Zhao has already departed. The dead cannot be brought back to life. Little sister, you should accept your grief. The little fellows holding Brother Zhao now are only holding his body—the person inside is no longer him. Little sister, surely you understand?" The old master entered through the door. He had brought no disciples, carrying only a bundle on his back. He looked like an immortal, and he spoke with such certainty that people could not help believing him.

"Brother Wu... Brother Zhenghua, since the old man is already dead, please take a look and tell us what to do. I truly regret not letting you come first. I had wanted you to hold the fort, thinking you could step in after the children failed, but I never expected those two useless youngsters to ruin everything..." Old Mrs. Zhao immediately began sobbing. In the middle of it, she glared at Zhao Yuan and Zhao Xi, making her blame obvious. The monk brought by her third daughter had tormented the old man all day and nearly killed him, while Master Canyun, brought by her eldest son, had caused even more trouble than Monk Jishi and directly killed his own father.

If she had known this would happen, she should have trusted the great Daoist master of the Wu Family, Wu Zhenghua, from the beginning.