CHAPTER 14: CHAPTER 8: YIN WALKER

"Scumbag!"

Closing the Ming Zhang Notes, Sang Que only felt that he deserved to die, without any guilt for deliberately causing his death.

And his master, he’s a scumbag too!

The notes contained a wealth of information, Sang Que needed some time to carefully sort it out, but finally found a way to deal with the Evil Spirits, temporarily ensuring safety at home.

Glutinous rice mixed with coarse salt, broom bound with red string, placed upside down behind the door.

Sang Que immediately took action, simultaneously browsing her phone for relevant information while rushing to the kitchen.

Her attention was entirely on her phone, oblivious to an object beneath the fridge kicked into the corner by accident.

After rummaging around for a while, Sang Que found a ten-pound bag of unopened premium glutinous rice.

In ancient times, a dou was about 12 pounds, mentioned in the Ming Zhang Notes, his master could only save up half a dou a year, which is 6 pounds.

Something hard to buy over there was cheap here, with a market price of less than 4 yuan per pound, easily available.

After searching online, Sang Que found the same Exorcism Technique here.

She took out a large pot, mixed the glutinous rice with stored salt at home one to one, and scattered it along the corners everywhere in the house.

Due to ancient limitations, only coarse salt was available, posts online said fine salt could also be used, with one crucial caveat.

The broom must be a handmade old broom, not a modern manufactured one.

Luckily, Sister Zhang previously swept the yard, found the broom at home ineffective, and brought two from her place, handcrafted old brooms.

If this method proved effective, its cost was far less than a hundred yuan, insignificant to her.

This method worked against Evil Spirits from the Third Layer of Nine Netherworld, those she could see were akin to the Ghost Child, probably on the Second Floor according to Ming Zhang’s inference.

In the Ming Zhang Notes, there’s also a daily record counting the village’s black dogs and roosters; even in modern times, many say black dogs and roosters ward off evil.

The rooster crowing disturbs, raising a black dog would be nice, train it well, let it accompany mom.

Glutinous rice was scattered all the way to the study room, Sang Wan was puzzled, couldn’t comprehend what Sang Que was doing.

Just as she was about to speak, Sang Que promptly responded, "Please don’t ask now, and don’t destroy these items, I’ve indeed encountered something; once I’ve figured it out, I’ll explain to you in detail."

Upon hearing this, Sang Wan smiled and nodded, "Alright, tell me once you’ve thought it through, but don’t take too long. Your elaborate setup is like a haunted house, successfully piqued my curiosity."

Sang Que placed the pot of glutinous rice on the floor, stood up and asked, "Mom, do you believe there are evil... ghosts in this world?"

Sang Wan mused, "Emotionally, I wish there were, but rationally, I doubt it."

Sang Que glanced at the photo frame on the computer desk, understood why her mom emotionally hoped there were.

Sang Wan continued, "A few days ago, I watched a short video asking the same question about the existence of ghosts, there was a response though bleak yet undeniably insightful."

"What was the response?"

"If there were truly ghosts in this world, how could 30 million heroic souls allow invaders to escape unscathed, living long in this world?"

"..."

"According to the book, ghost and god culture emerged from primitive ignorance, using imagination to explain incomprehensible natural phenomena, later flourishing within feudal ethics, combining ghost and god concepts with ancestral spirits, ultimately forming a ghost and god culture passed down the generations.

"Due to various societal reasons and reflections of real life, imagined ghosts had good and evil, before clear divine concepts emerged, humans worshiped ghosts, then gods, over time, benevolent and powerful ghosts became ’gods’ with protective power.

"Ultimately, whether ghosts or gods, they’re all imaginative constructs, used for self-comfort or to intimidate others. I don’t know why you’re doing all this, but if it brings you peace, go ahead, Mom won’t say anything."

Sang Que chuckled bitterly, her mom definitely thought she was scared by Qin Lu’s corpse, overthinking.

Perhaps, precisely because most people don’t believe in the existence of ghosts or Evil Spirits, they don’t see them, aren’t affected.

Believing prompts existence, disbelief negates it.

But she had truly seen, encountered, nearly perished from it, couldn’t afford disbelief.

Sang Que didn’t explain, carefully finished scattering the glutinous rice before leaving the study room.

After Sang Que left, Sang Wan picked up the photo frame beside the monitor and wiped it with her hand.

In the photo, she sat in a wheelchair, holding the one-year-old Sang Que, behind them was her radiant smiling elder sister.

In Little Que’s chubby hand was a wooden bow and wooden sword from the grab, baring baby teeth in a gesture of aggression.

"If there truly were ghosts in this world, sis, why don’t you ever pay me a visit? Your training Little Que in martial arts, were you forecasting your departure, preparing her to protect me?"

"Now Little Que is obsessed with martial arts, neglecting studies, skipping homework; if you were here, you’d definitely knock some sense into her, I could even envision you tutoring her, while she daydreams, enraging you into book-flinging fits."

Sang Wan’s smile grew increasingly bitter, "Sis, Little Que and I both miss you so much..."

Outside, Sang Que labored for nearly an hour, finally covering every nook and cranny with glutinous rice, ensuring a complete circle with no gaps.

The broom was bound with red string, placed upside down behind the security door, the house fully illuminated, instilling a sense of safety.

Not seeing anything unusual, Sang Que stretched and yawned, finally able to relax, take a nap, and recover her energy.

A peaceful night’s sleep, Sang Que wasn’t sure how long she’d slept, vaguely felt herself searching for a toilet in her dreams.

She slowly woke but didn’t want to get up, curled her body, flipped over, as the pungent odor of blood accompanied by a chilling wind hit her face, Sang Que abruptly opened her eyes to find a Ghost Child standing listlessly by her bedside.

"Ah!!"

Sang Que sat up in bed in shock, heart pounding, drenched in cold sweat.

Complete silence, the room’s only noise was the air conditioner humming.

Sang Que surveyed the surroundings, no Ghost Child, she was still at home, thankfully only a dream.

After breathing deeply twice, Sang Que got out of bed and headed to the bathroom, sitting on the toilet as she recalled the dream, feeling it seemed excessively real.

Was she too tense, or was there an issue? Could the Ghost Child still be lingering?

The sky hadn’t brightened, the clock in the living room showed only half past five, Sang Que planned to go for a morning run, while asking the exercising seniors about any experts in Yu City.

Regarding yesterday’s bizarre experience, along with now seeing Evil Spirits, she had too many questions requiring a ’professional’ for answers.

Before changing clothes, Sang Que inspected the glutinous rice throughout her house again, saw no blackened spots.

The house seemed ’clean,’ didn’t see the previous female ghost, nor the Ghost Child.

It’s the weekend, Sister Zhang’s off, wouldn’t be coming to cook or clean, Sang Que headed to the kitchen, planning to turn on the soy milk machine first, then buy some fried dough sticks and xiao long bao for breakfast after the run.

Passing the fridge, Sang Que backtracked.

The God of Stove?

Other fridge magnets were intact, but only the God of Stove was missing?

Suddenly, the sound of metal rusting and scraping emanated from behind, Sang Que turned around to see an empty wheelchair creaking toward her.

Sang Que’s hair stood on end, instinctively stepped back twice, why was the glutinous rice ineffective?!

"You... saw it..."

How could I pretend not to?! Sang Que cursed inwardly!

Bang!

The overhead light bulb exploded, in the darkness, a bloody red-robed female ghost with disheveled hair appeared behind Sang Que from thin air.

Without looking back, Sang Que sprinted toward the garden, but the door refused to budge!

Turning around, the ferocious female ghost lunged at her, while Sang Que’s one hand struggled with the door, poised to chant the spell with Yansheng coin once more.

In the nick of time, an icy chill burst from within Sang Que, a shriveled, pale hand suddenly emerged from her abdomen, seizing the woman’s neck.

Sang Que watched in disbelief as the ghost’s head was twisted off, dissolving into a mournful black smoke, crashing into her.

Her right palm burning, the door behind her swung open, Sang Que’s eyes widened, struck by the black smoke, she stumbled backwards, taking a step into thin air and falling.

It dawned on Sang Que why the Ghost Child appeared in her dream.

Because she had harnessed the Ghost Child, becoming a Yin Walker!

Bang!

Sang Que hit the ground heavily, gusting cold wind carried the scent of earth, the rustling sound of wheat wafted in her ears, raising her head to survey the surroundings, her complexion went pale.

A blood moon hung diagonally in the sky, distant villagers’ dogs barked incessantly, amidst the wheat field, tattered scarecrows swayed in the wind.

She had, surprisingly, returned!