Chapter 33 - Soul-Capturing Yin House (Part IX)

During the meal, Zheng Lei leaned in and asked, “Shaoxian, why are all the eggs produced by the Zhuo family members bluish-black?”

Chen Shaoxian explained to Zheng Lei, “The Zhuo family members have an overwhelming amount of corpse energy in them. They use eggs to draw out the corpse energy from their bodies. That’s why the eggs turn bluish-black. Oh, and remember to drink more mung bean porridge later; it helps neutralize the corpse toxin.”

After everyone had finished eating, Chen Shaoxian instructed Zheng Lei to fetch the copper basin and burn charcoal in it alone. He then took out the purchased acorus and masks, directing Zheng Ruirui to lead the Zhuo family’s women to boil the acorus in water. He told Zheng Ruirui that once the water was boiled, to soak the masks in the acorus water, wring them out, and distribute them to each person.

Next, he split the Zhuo family’s men into two groups. One group, led by Zhang Xinyi, was tasked with finding tools like pickaxes and shovels, ensuring each man had one.

The other group, led by Zhang Xinming, arranged the mirrors they had taken down earlier at specific angles so that the reflected light would fall precisely on the floor of the hall.

As soon as the light hit the floor, white vapor began to emerge from the cracks, and soon a thick mist hovered over the entire surface of the floor.

At that moment, Chen Shaoxian placed the blazing brazier on a spot marked with cinnabar on the floor. He sprinkled mugwort powder into it, and as the smoke rose and fell, it mixed with the mist and eventually settled on the ground as a thin layer of fine powder.

After moving the brazier, Chen Shaoxian instructed Zhang Xinyi’s group to start digging pits marked by the cinnabar prints, within the area illuminated by the reflected light.

At first, there was nothing unusual, but when they dug about ten centimeters deep, vapor began to rise from the soil again, and the reflected sunlight made hissing sounds on the soil, like a red-hot iron placed on ice.

Additionally, the Zhuo family members digging the pit told Chen Shaoxian that the soil felt sticky, but soon their feet began to feel numb from the cold. Chen Shaoxian then had Zhang Xinming’s and Zhang Xinyi’s groups swap tasks, and he advised those who had come up from the digging to walk to the courtyard, remove their shoes and socks, and use the sun’s warmth to thaw their numb legs.

Chen Shaoxian brought several bags of incense ash and poured them onto a cloth, instructing the digger to wrap the cloth around their feet. Indeed, after tying the cloth, the digger was able to continue for a much longer duration. However, after digging about a meter deep, they encountered numerous bright red bugs resembling large red ants, constantly writhing in the dirt and ceaselessly spitting out hissing white vapor from their mouths.

Chen Shaoxian quickly instructed the person in the pit to come up and squatted by the edge himself, staring at the bugs, and flatted his mouth, saying, “To think we would see such things.”

After climbing out, Zhang Xinming curiously asked Mr. Chen, “What are those bugs in there?”

“I’ve only read about them in books, and today is my first time seeing them too. If I’m not mistaken, these creatures are manifestations of resentful energy,” replied Chen Shaoxian, who then turned around to fetch a bottle of baijiu from the kitchen.

He opened the bottle and poured the liquor over the bugs. The bugs squealed twice and spontaneously combusted, instantly turning into a puff of steam and disappearing.

Onlookers were left stunned, their eyes wide and mouths agape. Chen Shaoxian placed the liquor bottle by the edge of the pit and instructed the Zhuo Family Member to continue working.

As the Zhuo Family Member dug deeper, more of these strange bugs were uncovered, all of which were neutralized by Chen Shaoxian using the liquor, and soon six bottles were arranged around him.

The dug-up soil accumulated increasingly in the hall, and Chen Shaoxian instructed that it all be transported to the swimming pool in the courtyard, advising the Zhuo Family Member to mix the soil with incense ash.

Suddenly, Zhang Xinyi’s shovel hit something hard. He immediately informed Chen Shaoxian, “Mr. Chen, I’ve hit something.”

Chen Shaoxian instructed them to clear the surrounding soil, revealing a coffin to everyone’s eyes. He told everyone to come up while he positioned himself above the coffin, pulling out a Bagua Mirror to adjust the angle, reflecting sunlight back onto the coffin.

The moment sunlight hit the coffin, a layer of black fog emerged on its surface. Chen Shaoxian hastily asked for mung beans from the kitchen to be scattered over the coffin.

The emerging black fog slowly merged into the mung beans on the coffin’s lid, turning the beans black. Once blackened, the mung beans no longer absorbed the surrounding black fog.

Chen Shaoxian instructed Zhang Xinyi to continue pouring. As the mung beans kept scattering over the area, the black fog gradually faded and was completely absorbed.

Seeing that the black fog no longer surfaced, Chen Shaoxian had someone bring a broom soaked in nectar water to sweep the now blackened mung beans into a container. He ordered the Zhuo Family Members to throw these black beans along with the broom into the brazier and burn them. He also warned the Zhuo Family Members tasked with burning the beans that these beans contained heavy resentful energy. He cautioned them not to touch the beans directly as handling them could be problematic and might even leave chronic health issues, with infertility being the least severe. Frightened by this, the Zhuo Family Members almost lost their balance, carefully carrying the beans to the courtyard to complete this daunting task.

Chen Shaoxian then ordered all mirrors to be removed and had someone cover the coffin with yellow cloth, on which an exorcism spell was drawn. He also asked Zhang Xinyi and others to continue digging around the coffin, and soon the entire coffin was unearthed. As it was being dug out, a gurgling noise came from inside the coffin, but it stopped after a short while.

Hearing this noise, Chen Shaoxian went down into the pit again for a closer inspection of the coffin and cursed, “Damn, this is a coffin made of locust wood used to nurture spirits.” He then had the Zhuo Family Members remove all the yellow cloth and wrap the coffin tightly. They also set up a temporary shelter in the courtyard.

Then, he called everyone over to help move the coffin into the courtyard. Once the coffin was in place, Chen Shaoxian had Zheng Ruirui distribute masks to everyone.

Just at that moment, someone knocked on the door from outside, shouting, “Police, open up.”

This announcement bewildered all the Zhuo Family Members, who looked towards Chen Shaoxian for guidance.

Chen Shaoxian glanced at the coffin and then at the front door before saying, “What else can we do? Open the door.”

The door opened to reveal about a dozen police officers, led by a young officer with three stars on his shoulder, indicating his rank as an inspector.

The young inspector entered, paused upon seeing the coffin in the courtyard, then regained his composure and asked, “Who’s in charge here?”

Mr. Zhuo approached and said, “Sir, I am the owner of this house. Is there something I can help you with?”

A young man replied, “I’m Probationary Inspector Liang Luo. We’ve received complaints that there has been continuous burning of items here since yesterday. We suspect an illegal gathering, so we’ll need to conduct a search. I hope you can cooperate with the police.” After finishing his statement, Liang Luo walked over to a coffin wrapped in yellow cloth, pointed at it, and asked Mr. Zhuo, “What’s inside this?”

Mr. Zhuo was somewhat at a loss for words.

“It’s a coffin, used for holding the deceased,” interjected Chen Shaoxian.

Liang Luo glanced at the young man who spoke, noting the dust covering his clothes, and asked, “Who are you, and what is your relation to this household?”

“I was asked to come help,” Chen Shaoxian answered succinctly.

“Help with what? You’re from the mainland, aren’t you?” He then turned to the people of the Zhuo Family and commanded, “Everyone, show your IDs.” Turning back to Chen Shaoxian, he demanded, “Answer my question, what are you doing here?”

Chen Shaoxian, feeling provoked, blurted out, “I’m here to catch ghosts, Sir.”

Liang Luo, hearing this, actually chuckled and clapped Chen Shaoxian on the shoulder, saying, “You think you can fool me like a child?  Hong Kong has no more ghosts since 1997.” His expression then turned serious: “Show me your ID.”

Chen Shaoxian pulled out his ID from his pocket and handed it over. Liang Luo took it and passed it to an older police officer next to him, saying, “Uncle Hua, check this out.”

It didn’t take long for Uncle Hua to return and inform Liang Luo, “The ID is fine.”

Liang Luo glanced at Chen Shaoxian, handed back the ID, and said, “Just because the ID is fine doesn’t mean he is. Go check the rooms for anything suspicious.”

A group of police officers entered the room, and fifteen minutes later, they came out to report to Liang Luo.

Liang Luo, looking at Chen Shaoxian, said, “Nothing suspicious, huh? What are you doing digging holes in the room? I think you’re not here to catch ghosts; you’re here to bury someone.” Before he could finish,

A police officer emerged from the house, holding a pot wrapped in yellow cloth, and approached Liang Luo, saying, “Sir, we’ve found something suspicious.”

Upon seeing the pot, Chen Shaoxian’s heart sank, and he thought to himself, “This is trouble.”