Startling the Ghosts

He was supposed to be a simple, honest farmer, but he died an unnatural death.

In the quiet Xiao Yi Hamlet, where birds seemed to have vanished, Yu Xiao Xue and I sat in the graveyard for a long time before finally deciding to bury Zhang Yi Dan.

Besides, no one would believe us if we reported such a bizarre incident to the police. According to procedure, his body would be dissected by a coroner, his remains subjected to further torment.

Dust to dust, earth to earth. Zhang Yi Dan had suffered enough. It was time to cover him with yellow earth and lay him to rest.

I took a hoe, discarded by someone near the graves, and began digging a grave for Zhang Yi Dan. According to ancient custom, a young man who died before thirty was not entitled to a coffin. He would simply be wrapped in a straw mat and buried hastily under the cover of night. Before being put into the ground, a stone was placed on the corpse to prevent his vengeful spirit from rising to harm others.

However, I decided not to place a stone this time, because Zhang Yi Dan had no soul left. The scissors used by Grandma's Soul Sealing Talisman had already scattered his new soul.

Moreover, Xiao Yi Village's feng shui had been broken. Underworld Emissarys couldn't enter. Even if they knew Zhang Yi Dan had died, they wouldn't be able to retrieve his soul. Missing the time for the Bridge of Helplessness meant he would become a wandering ghost.

"Who are you?! Who told you to bury someone? Hands up, all of you!"

Just as I was digging a pit to bury Zhang Yi Dan, two people dressed as police officers rushed in from outside Xiao Yi Hamlet. One of them, a tall, middle-aged policeman, drew his gun, cocked it, and aimed it at me.

A gun, so he's a detective?

The other, younger officer, though unarmed, looked like an auxiliary police officer. He also pulled out handcuffs and lunged at me.

"Xiao Zhang, be careful. The people in Xiao Yi Hamlet are a bit unorthodox!" The detective, a seasoned veteran, glanced at Zhang Yi Dan's horrifying corpse and knew this was no ordinary case.

I didn't resist, as the gun was aimed at me. Yu Xiao Xue was terrified, trembling all over. This scene should only appear on TV, yet she never expected to experience it herself. She hadn't even been caught by the police before, had she?

Despite being a bit plump, the auxiliary police officer moved with professional training. In a few swift moves, he pinned me to the ground and, with a few clicks, handcuffed me behind my back. He then effortlessly lifted me up.

Seeing that Yu Xiao Xue was pretty and well-behaved, he didn't dare to get fresh with her. He took out plastic zip ties used for restraining people and cuffed Yu Xiao Xue behind her back as well.

"Captain Huo, it looks like these two men fought over this woman and caused a homicide. Do you think we've earned some merit this time?" Auxiliary Police Officer Zhang chuckled, giving me a shove. I immediately knelt to the ground.

"What's your name? Did you kill the deceased?" The detective, surnamed Huo, unloaded his gun and, instead of answering the auxiliary officer, questioned me.

"Xia Yitian. I didn't kill him. A strange contagious flu broke out in the village a few days ago. Those who fell ill first got a cold, then coughed up blood, and then they died. You can investigate to see if I'm telling the truth." I answered honestly, feeling a hint of annoyance towards the auxiliary officer who had pushed me down.

"Really?" Detective Huo asked calmly, looking around and noticing that the village indeed looked eerie, as if devoid of life.

He had been a detective for over ten years and had seen it all. He could tell from the slightest clues whether there were people in the village, if footprints were fresh, if anyone had left the village, or if people should have been in the fields at this time.

The detective tightened his grip on his gun again and gestured, "Zhang Kaifu, let's go take a look. See if what he says is true. With so many households, if they're all dead, it's a major incident for the precinct!"

Auxiliary Police Officer Zhang was taken aback, his heart pounding. This was a contagious disease. He was fine playing tough guy from a distance, but if all the villagers were dead like this, he'd be scared to death, let alone the risk of contagion.

"Uncle Huo... that's a contagious disease. Why don't we just not go into the hamlet? Let's take these two back first and call for reinforcements before we go in?" Zhang Kaifu said, grabbing my back.

"Damn it, stop calling me Uncle or I'll kick you! Your father entrusted you to me, not to mess around! We're police officers, not thugs! Check your phone, do you have a signal!" Captain Huo kicked Zhang Kaifu and motioned for him to escort me and Yu Xiao Xue into the hamlet.

"If you go in, you'll regret it," I said calmly, but Zhang Kaifu kicked me again.

"Stop trying to scare me! Say another word and I'll make you pay!" Zhang Kaifu put away his phone and said fiercely.

Most auxiliary police officers were temporary hires from the local towns. They had extensive connections but hadn't attended police academy, so they often carried the rough manners of local bullies.

"Zhang Kaifu! You're hitting people now? Do you want to quit?" Captain Huo spat on the ground and moved as if to hit him.

Zhang Kaifu forced a smile and dodged, then pushed me towards the hamlet. The corpse of Zhang Yi Dan was left there. Since there was no one around, he wasn't afraid of contaminating the crime scene.

"Kid, you said we'd regret it? Regret what? Whose funeral is that up on the hillside? It's Witch Zhou's family, right?" Captain Huo was quite familiar with the area. He knew about my grandmother's situation, and seeing what looked like a funeral on the hillside immediately gave him an ominous feeling.

"It's Witch Zhou herself," I said calmly. My grandmother's surname was Zhou, but her given name was never mentioned. When I was in school and needed a parent's signature, it was always written as "Witch Zhou." It wasn't until after her funeral that I learned her name was Zhou Ying.

"Hiss..." Captain Huo gasped, his eyes darting around the terrain, seemingly considering whether to enter the hamlet.

Witch Zhou had been famous in the surrounding villages and hamlets for decades. If he, a detective team captain, didn't know about her, he'd be a disgrace to his profession.

As the four of us walked towards Si Bridge, a chill suddenly swept up from the stream beneath the bridge. I couldn't help but be surprised: it was daytime, so why was there such a strong yin energy?

When we reached Si Bridge, Yu Xiao Xue began to shiver. Like me, she saw something strange beneath the bridge. Her ears even felt a tingling sensation, and upon listening closely, it sounded like people were talking.

I looked at the two police officers, Captain Huo and Zhang Kaifu. They didn't seem to notice anything unusual.

However, when we reached the middle of the bridge, Zhang Kaifu sneered and looked at me, "Heh, you said everyone in the village was dead. Damn it, didn't you hear them!"

I looked at Zhang Kaifu as if he were already dead, sighing inwardly: Here it comes.

Captain Huo frowned, also sensing something was wrong.

"If you don't want to die, don't look under the bridge," I warned Captain Huo coldly. After all, this detective had stopped the auxiliary officer from hitting me earlier.

Captain Huo paused, staring at me intently, as if trying to discern something from my eyes.

"A thousand flowers, ten thousand flowers, floating, sprinkling... piling up, piling up, building a snowman, not afraid of the cold, not afraid of freezing..."

"Damn it, listen to yourself! There's a bunch of kids over there!" Zhang Kaifu spat on the ground.

I watched as the murky spit rippled and spread outwards, knowing that Zhang Kaifu was doomed.

A person's spit has the power to ward off evil. Adept individuals can condense their yang energy, and even a single spit can scald a ghost. While Zhang Kaifu wasn't an adept, his spit had provoked the ferocity of the "things" below. As the yin energy was dispersed, the yin energy from the river below surged up with even greater force towards us.

"Xiao Zhang! Don't look under the bridge!" Captain Huo lunged to grab him, but Zhang Kaifu, as if possessed, thrashed wildly after seeing what was below.

His eyes wide, he gripped the bridge railing and struggled. His face contorted, and his head twisted at an impossible angle. Finally, as if driven mad, he jumped off the bridge.

Captain Huo couldn't hold him back. However, he wasn't a novice. He immediately cocked his pistol and fired three shots into the sky.

Gunshots can startle ghosts.

I thought he was going to shoot someone, but seeing the deafening sound disperse the yin energy, I realized Captain Huo was no ordinary person. He knew something about ghosts and spirits.

"But you, Captain Huo, can't just fire three shots like that. This isn't scaring ghosts, it's announcing a death!"

As expected, in an instant, countless shadowy ghosts emerged from the river, directly dragging Zhang Kaifu, who had fallen in and was struggling, into the water!

Just as Captain Huo was turning pale with fright, a man and a woman arrived from outside the hamlet. The woman held a Copper Coin Sword in one hand and an iron bell in the other. She chanted incantations while drawing her sword and walking forward.

The man was tall and burly, quite sturdy. He ran onto the bridge in a few steps, scattering paper money towards the riverbed with one hand, and took out a bunch of incense, lit it, and placed it on the bridge.

"To all who pass by, gold and silver for compensation, incense to borrow passage, please be merciful."

After speaking, the man jumped into the river. In less than a few breaths, he dragged Zhang Kaifu out as if he were a dead dog.

Fear flickered in Captain Huo's eyes, and he couldn't speak as he looked at the man.

The beautiful woman in her twenties, holding her sword and shaking her bell, also reached Zhang Kaifu's side. She then placed the sword on Zhang Kaifu's forehead and said, "Imperial Edict of Tai Shang, I implore the Five Emperors of the Five Directions above, and the Ghost Slaying General below. No lingering for any spirits or ghosts! Hundred Solutions, begone! As the Law Dictates!"

With a jingle, Zhang Kaifu woke up, and the woman smiled.

I glanced at the faint black energy on Zhang Kaifu's face that had returned after disappearing, and then at the path that had opened beneath the bridge, which had now returned to its original state. My brow furrowed, and I couldn't help but remind the woman, who was still squatting there examining Zhang Kaifu, "Get away from him quickly, he's beyond saving."

The sturdy man gave me a cold smile, looking somewhat disdainful.

Although the woman didn't mock me like the man, she clearly shook her head and smiled, as if she didn't take my words to heart at all, or perhaps she was just very confident in her own magic.

I felt a bit helpless, but it wasn't me who was going to die. I was still handcuffed, so why should I care? Besides, there were still two grown men here.

My thoughts were correct. After Zhang Kaifu woke up, he had a sinister smile with drool at the corner of his mouth. Then, his eyes instantly widened like copper bells, and he extended his two large hands, grabbing the woman's slender neck with lightning speed.

Zhang Kaifu choked her madly, almost lifting her off the ground as he dragged her.

The woman's feet left the ground, and no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't break free. Even though she instinctively poked at Zhang Kaifu's eyes with her sword, she couldn't escape!

The sturdy man was also stunned for a moment, but then he immediately began to punch Zhang Kaifu with all his might!

"Xiao Zhang! Stop it!" Captain Huo also lunged forward, trying to pry Zhang Kaifu's hands off, but Zhang Kaifu, with some unknown strength, refused to let go. He choked the woman until her eyes rolled back, her tongue lolling out with saliva.