Chapter 93

The arsonist was quickly apprehended. As expected, it was none other than Daoist Li and his group, who had fled in a panic earlier. According to their confession, Daoist Li had been hired by the thief Zhao Qing to perform an exorcism.

After Zhao Qing recounted his encounters with ghosts, Daoist Li concluded that he was undoubtedly haunted by a Malevolent Ghost. To regain his former good fortune, he had to address the root cause-eliminate the Malevolent Ghost. Otherwise, his future would only grow bleaker.

For this endeavor, Zhao Qing scraped together five thousand yuan to hire Daoist Li!

He was truly desperate. Ever since being released from prison, his life had been nothing short of a disaster. Every day was riddled with bad luck, as if he were cursed. Unable to return to thievery, he had no choice but to look for work. But in this day and age, good jobs were hard to come by, with fierce competition everywhere. He had no education and no legitimate work experience. As soon as employers saw his record, they’d dismiss him outright. Who would dare hire someone with a criminal past?

He ended up working at a construction site, hauling bricks. After just a few days, he was utterly exhausted and even managed to crush his own foot, leaving him with a limp. Naturally, he had to quit that job. He then tried working as a waiter at a restaurant, but after breaking several plates within a few days, his wages were docked before he even got paid. Frustrated, he quit.

As for other jobs, even when he managed to find one, he’d be fired within days. Worst of all, he kept losing things! If he had a few hundred yuan on him, it would disappear after a short walk outside. Even if he held it tightly in his hand, it would somehow vanish!

He couldn’t fathom how today’s pickpockets had become so skilled. If they were that good, why bother stealing his meager savings? They should aim to become master thieves instead!

He was at his wit’s end. Through a friend’s introduction, he met Daoist Li. Though Daoist Li’s rituals were expensive, Zhao Qing gritted his teeth and scraped together the money, hoping to rid himself of his cursed luck.

But who would’ve thought that performing a ritual and burning some Talismans could cause a fire?!

Initially, Zhao Qing wanted to put out the fire. But before he could act, Daoist Li, who had been fine moments earlier, suddenly looked terrified, trembling all over. With a loud scream, he turned and bolted! His two disciples didn’t hesitate either, their short legs moving so fast it seemed like they were riding on wheels of fire.

Zhao Qing was baffled. Alarmed, he thought something must be wrong and fled as well, completely forgetting about extinguishing the fire.

The incident naturally escalated. Moreover, they had illegally trespassed into a private residence. How could this end well? They were detained that very day. Compensation was inevitable, and they’d also have to undergo further education.

When Aunt Luo arrived after hearing the news, she found her house in complete disarray. The place reeked, and water covered the floor, making it impossible to step anywhere.

Fortunately, the fire had started in the living room. The sofa was half-burned, and the coffee table had blackened scorch marks. Thankfully, the flames hadn’t spread to the bedroom, and the fire was extinguished in time. Otherwise, the consequences would’ve been unimaginable.

However, the damage rendered the house uninhabitable. “Feiyin, why don’t you stay at my place for the night? It’s not convenient for you to go out alone at this hour. Tomorrow, I’ll get someone to clean up and buy some new furniture. Once the smell dissipates, you can move back in.”

Aunt Luo felt quite embarrassed. Her house was already known as a haunted house. The young Miss had finally managed to live there peacefully for a while, only for a fire to break out. Now, rumors about the house’s bad feng shui would surely spread again. Some might even say the house’s feng shui had brought misfortune to the Little Girl. Thankfully, the fire occurred while she wasn’t home. Otherwise, it could’ve been disastrous.

Gu Feiyin was relieved to find that her coffin and the Ghost Money inside were unharmed. When the fire broke out, the little ghosts had helped her move the coffin outside, allowing her to finally relax. She wasn’t too particular about her living arrangements. Besides, she could always stay near the overpass. The weather wasn’t as cold as before, so digging a pit and making do for a night would suffice.

Having just experienced such a harrowing event, she didn’t want to be too far from her coffin. It gave her a sense of security; without it, she doubted she’d be able to sleep. Watching over it herself was the only way to feel at ease.

She thanked her landlord for the kind offer. Aunt Luo didn’t insist and simply told her to call if she needed any help. Gu Feiyin nodded in agreement. Oh, and she didn’t forget to mention what Aunt Luo had casually brought up last time: “I asked around. She said her name is Sun Xia. You two were really close, hehe.”

Aunt Luo stared at Gu Feiyin, who grinned, revealing a gap where a tooth was missing. Her pale face wore an eerie smile. What was even stranger was that she had mentioned Sun Xia’s name. Sun Xia, or Sister Sun, was Aunt Luo’s old neighbor and a fellow square-dancing enthusiast. But Sister Sun had passed away years ago.

Aunt Luo scratched her head in confusion. Was she talking about Sister Sun? No, it couldn’t be. Maybe it was someone with the same name.

Gu Feiyin added, “She also said you used to go square dancing together all the time. You two were really close.”

Aunt Luo replied, “…So, you’ve known her for a long time?”

Gu Feiyin counted on her fingers. “Not really, just a few months.”

Aunt Luo: “…???”

She scratched her head again, feeling more and more baffled. She wanted to ask more questions, but her husband and son were calling her, so she didn’t press further. After exchanging a few more words with Gu Feiyin, she left.

Standing by the roadside, Gu Feiyin waved her oddly twisted arm. Aunt Luo, peeking from her car window, saw the eerie Little Girl with long hair draped over her shoulders, standing in the darkness. She couldn’t help but shiver.

Her husband asked, “What’s wrong?”

Aunt Luo shook her head. “Nothing. It’s just that Feiyin seems a bit strange. But I can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe I’ll ask Sister Sun’s husband in a few days if they know a Little Girl with the surname Gu.”

When the little ghosts heard that the landlord was going to stay near the overpass for a few nights, they enthusiastically dug a pit under the overpass, placed the coffin inside, and even decorated the area with wildflowers. It looked quite lovely. Lying inside, Gu Feiyin felt her mood improve significantly.

However, Wei Xu couldn’t stay at the overpass. The young boy wasn’t as sturdy and might fall ill. Fortunately, he wasn’t home when the fire broke out. Jumpy and the Old Lady had taken him out for a walk. Otherwise, the Little Boy might’ve been hurt, which would’ve broken the Old Lady’s heart.

Gu Feiyin took him to a nearby motel, spending a hundred yuan to book a room for him to stay the night. The house would likely be ready in a day or two. With no other options, she had to splurge a little-thankfully, the Old Lady had given her some money.

After settling Wei Xu, Gu Feiyin returned to her pit under the overpass to sleep.

The Ghost Lady, watching from her window, shook her head. What was the point of owning several Ghost Houses or wielding power in the Ghost realm? When trouble arose, she still had to sleep under an overpass.

She chuckled darkly, humming a tune as she closed the window and went to sleep.

Gu Feiyin dreamed again that night.

She dreamt of herself starving in a pit, sneaking out in desperation to find food, only to discover that the local Earth Temple at the foot of the mountain was on fire!

A fire breaking out in the middle of the night was anything but normal. She immediately drifted down to take a look, and sure enough, she saw three shifty-eyed men arguing with the Handsome Monk. In their struggle, they knocked over an oil lamp, which lit the red cloth and started the blaze!

It turned out these men had come to steal the incense chest. Because the Handsome Monk’s Buddhist attainments were profound and he had many followers, people from all walks of life came to offer incense-both the poor and the wealthy. The incense chest held plenty of money, enough for them to live luxuriously for years without worry. But just as they were about to make off with the chest, they ran right into the Handsome Monk.

How could the Handsome Monk possibly let them steal the offering? Of course, a fight broke out, startling Liao Yuan, the little monk sleeping in the next room. The young monk rushed over in a panic, saw his shifu being bullied, and without a word, rolled up his sleeves and threw himself into the fray to help! But he was far too small-no match for the strong and tall men. One of them flung him aside with a sweep of his arm; Liao Yuan staggered back several steps, fell heavily to the ground, and hit his head on the wall, the pain leaving him dazed for a long time.

“These funds are not for you,” the Handsome Monk said. “If you’re in trouble, you may take enough for three days’ meals. Everything else must stay.”

“Heh,” one of the men sneered, “Now that it’s in our hands, there’s no giving it back! Bald donkey, you’re nothing but a liar. If there really were a Buddha, why hasn’t he heard our cries? Why do so many still die?”

“Exactly! The Buddha can’t use this money anyway, so I’ll use it for him first!”

“And even if we don’t take it, won’t all this money just end up with you bald donkeys? You talk pretty, but you’re just greedy for money!”

Liao Yuan watched helplessly as his shifu fought the three men. His shifu always seemed gentle and weak, but now he was holding his own against three fierce thugs. Sitting on the ground, Liao Yuan fumed and prayed to the Buddha to bless his shifu, hoping he would defeat the robbers.

Unfortunately, when the three men found themselves unable to best the monk, they turned their attention to the little monk nearby. They exchanged glances, and one of them moved toward Liao Yuan-surely, if they caught the young one, the elder would be forced to give in. The Handsome Monk was immediately distracted, and with someone carelessly knocking over the oil lamp, the scattered flames quickly turned into a raging blaze, growing more and more intense…

By the time Gu Feiyin arrived, the little monk had a knife wound on his shoulder and was lying on the ground in a daze, crying in pain, blood pooling beneath him. The Handsome Monk, distracted by his disciple’s injury, took a blow to the back of his head from a club. His vision swam as he collapsed, blood spurting from his wound.

Seeing this, the three thieves hardened their hearts. “Should’ve listened. Now look what you’ve brought on yourselves!”

“Let’s go! No more talking. Let’s get out of here!”

“Right, with all this commotion, the whole village might know by now.”

“But they saw our faces! If they report us, we’ll be hunted down and thrown in jail!”

“So then-”

The three exchanged glances, gripping their machetes and clubs, their gazes cold and murderous as they stared at the two monks. Unspoken but understood: silence witnesses, leave none alive.

Gu Feiyin had never dared to enter a temple before-she feared monks and Bodhisattva alike. Usually, she kept her distance from temples, but now, for the first time, she stepped inside of her own volition.

She didn’t know what came over her. In that moment, it was as if she was possessed. Her fingernails suddenly lengthened into sharp, black talons. The half-healed body she’d been nursing for months instantly recovered-her arms and shoulders grew back, her blood surged, as if something was controlling her.

She didn’t know why she hated them so much, hated them so much she wished all before her would die.

Let them die-if they died, they could harm no one else.

Swelling with Resentment Energy, she let out a shrill scream and dove into the fray, slashing her sharp claws across a thief’s throat. The man’s scream stuck in his throat, blood gushing as his body went limp and collapsed to the ground…

The first fell, eyes wide, face still twisted in excitement and malice-now lifeless, a corpse.

The other two thieves went weak with terror, looking around but unable to see who-or what-was attacking them. They screamed, “We don’t want the incense chest anymore! Please, Bodhisattva, have mercy, spare us!”

“We were wrong, we really were…”

“Don’t kill me! Please don’t kill me!”

But she could not hear them. The fierce flames made her body appear even more translucent and ghastly. Her long hair whipped through the air, hands clawed, she pounced again. The two thieves barely managed a few panicked steps before their throats were slashed. The rich scent of blood filled their nostrils; even clutching at their wounds, the blood would not stop flowing. They staggered, then collapsed to the floor in seconds.

Boom-

A thunderclap crashed from the sky, lightning illuminating the room and the ghastly corpses within.

Liao Yuan was already paralyzed with fear, the Handsome Monk unable to stop what happened, half-collapsed on the ground, staring at Gu Feiyin floating mid-air, her hair wild, her expression cold and fierce, her claws dripping with blood.

From her appearance to the moment she killed all three men, only a few seconds had passed-far too quick for anyone to intervene.

The fire raged on. The Handsome Monk watched as Gu Feiyin slowly turned her head to glare at him, her gaze sinister. In a flash, she was before him. A falling beam crashed onto her back. She cocked her head, straightened, swung the club behind her, then lunged at him, claws outstretched, as if to rip out his throat as well!

She truly meant to kill him.

Liao Yuan cried out in horror, “Shifu!”

His shifu pressed his palms together, murmuring scriptures under his breath. As soon as he began chanting, the Resentment Energy swirling around Sis Gu erupted. She clutched her head and let out a piercing, inhuman wail. She seemed to be in excruciating pain, her voice no longer human but a wild beast’s, echoing from the temple to the mountain beyond. Liao Yuan clung to his shifu and followed Sis Gu as she fled…

Though Liao Yuan lacked spiritual talent, he understood-his shifu was helping Sis Gu regain her senses.

Time passed-how long, he didn’t know. Finally, her crazed state faded. She gradually calmed down, her dazed eyes looking at him, as if silently asking who he was.

“I am Zong Nan.”