In the living room, An Ning kept her head lowered, her back hunched and her long hair hanging loose.
But at that moment, the Ninth Concubine had taken over her consciousness.
Assistant He was so frightened that he crouched down on the spot. He kept saying he would take notes, but he never managed to get his notebook out.
"Your junior, Chen Mo, pays his respects to Xu Xiangu."
I hurriedly cupped my fist in salute, raising it level with my nose.
Holding a cupped-fist salute at chest height was a matter of courtesy; raising it to the nose showed respect, while raising it to the forehead showed reverence for a deity.
"You summoned me using a folk ritual master's methods. Are you a ritual master?" the Ninth Concubine asked.
I hastily said, "I've only just begun learning. I wouldn't dare call myself a ritual master. I came to ask you about what happened a hundred years ago, Xiangu."
"A hundred years ago..."
The Ninth Concubine fell silent for a few seconds, then said in a hollow voice, "You want to ask about the Luo Residence?"
I nodded. "That's right. The Luo Residence."
At that moment, she suddenly lifted her head. Fortunately, it was An Ning's face, one I had long since grown used to.
Even so, those white eyes still intimidated me.
She was no ordinary ghost. She had lived for over a hundred years and had been a veteran ritual master for decades, already well versed in matters of yin and yang before her death.
Although everyone became a ghost after death, I could clearly sense that extraordinary aura.
"Why are you asking about the Luo Residence?"
"I mean no harm."
I told her the truth, not daring to hide anything. "The original site of the Luo Residence