CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 31: MOUNTAIN GOD (2)

Sang Que could see the sadness in Xu Shufen’s heart. She paused for a moment, then asked, "Grandma, may I ask you some questions?"

"Go ahead."

Sang Que took out her phone, opened the photo album, and held a screenshot from Xu Yichao’s video in front of Xu Shufen.

"Can you... see it?"

"Isn’t this Xu Qingshuang’s eldest grandson, Xu Yichao?"

"Take a closer look, here."

Sang Que used her fingers to zoom in behind Xu Yichao’s right shoulder. Xu Shufen put on her reading glasses, took the phone, squinted, and looked carefully, suddenly shivering all over.

"This... this this... Didn’t I clean it up back then? How could it still..."

Sang Que found Xu Yichao’s video and sat by Xu Shufen in the courtyard to watch it.

After watching, Xu Shufen silently shook a woven fan, her face looking even older, only speaking after a long while.

"The matter back then was nearly as this boy said. He entered a dead person’s house, became a burial object, and had a soul hooked out. When his grandparents found him at the paper shop, he was unconscious."

"I had his grandma call his soul from the rooftop. I personally carried a lamp to the underworld... hmm... similar to what you young people call the otherworld, to bring him back."

"Everything was fine on the way, but at the final moment, something still happened. I used a Mountain God Talisman to break up the owner of that house and saved him. Changing his name afterward was also to make sure that house owner could never find him again, letting him grow up safely and peacefully."

"Is there a solution now?" Sang Que asked.

Xu Shufen looked at Sang Que for a moment, thinking that she herself was already caught up in an evil influence and had little time left, yet was still concerned about her classmate. She was a kind-hearted girl, which made people feel sorry for her.

However, Sang Que was concerned about her classmate for one reason, and on the other hand, it was out of self-protection, not wanting to reveal her own secret, and so she used Xu Yichao’s matter to indirectly probe.

"I saw some folk exorcism methods online before..."

"Useless."

Before Sang Que finished speaking, Xu Shufen interrupted her.

"If it were seventy or eighty years ago, in my mother’s or grandmother’s time, those methods would have some effect, but now, most folk exorcism methods can only deal with wandering souls that can be repelled by one’s own yang energy. For malicious yin spirits and fierce ghosts, they are very limited."

"Why?" Sang Que pressed on.

"People respect the gods and offer incense, then the gods can manifest their power. It’s the same with folk exorcism methods; they require the belief of many people to have divine power. Now people believe in science, so these things naturally lose their effect, which is quite normal."

"Actually, thinking carefully, this era is quite good, with fewer yin spirit ghost disasters than in the past. Although we have gradually lost our roots, and many things are forgotten, the reason we exist is for a peaceful world, which is quite good."

"Then what about the talisman you just gave me?" Sang Que continued to ask.

"That relies on us believers, or rather practitioners, using our own cultivation to request a bit of power from the gods we serve through rituals."

Sang Que pressed her lips together; it was indeed similar to Yan Daozi’s Ghost Soldier Talisman, but the power was far inferior.

"Grandma, if Xu Yichao gets rid of the paperman, can he return to his previous way of life?"

Xu Shufen sighed one after another, "In reality, some people may never encounter evil their whole lives and don’t know there are malicious yin spirits in the world, just muddling through their lives."

"But some people, once they encounter evil and believe in these things, find it difficult to return to the time when they didn’t believe. It’s like they say, ’If you believe, there is; if you believe in evil, you’ll attract evil,’ so the end result for those who have encountered evil is often not good."

Just like Yan Daozi said, once experienced, it will continue, until eventual death.

Sang Que suddenly regretted telling her mother about these matters. Now her mother had also begun to believe, meaning the future would inevitably not be peaceful.

Therefore, she should not exorcise the evil influence on her but should suppress and tame it, making the evil influence serve her.

"I will think of another way for the Xu family boy." Xu Shufen still thought Sang Que was worried about Xu Yichao, "Actually, I told his parents back then that he had already been recognized as a child by the owner of that house. As long as he never marries in the future, he can live a long life without trouble, but if he were to..."

Xu Shufen didn’t finish, but Sang Que understood that Xu Yichao had already become the designated companion of that evil influence, which explained why women who got close to Xu Yichao would always encounter bad luck.

Looking at it this way, that evil influence wasn’t too bad, not killing people recklessly and having patience, willing to wait until Xu Yichao dies a natural death.

But what would happen if Xu Yichao liked men in the future? Would that be considered a bug?

In that case, would Xu Yichao’s situation be another form of taming evil spirits?

"Grandma, can people make ghosts do things for them?"

"You mean taming yin spirit fierce ghosts for oneself, right? I heard there were such people in ancient times, who, after being possessed by ghosts, became living ghosts. There might still have been some in my grandmother’s days, but not anymore. These are all evil techniques, and no one knows exactly how to do them. Those possessed by ghosts don’t live long, and their end is miserable, often bringing disaster to their families."

Sang Que stood up; with this query answered, she basically didn’t put too much hope in the power of this world anymore.

Instead of wandering all over, wasting time looking for unknown experts or praying to gods that may or may not respond, it was better to face her fears directly, and whatever she wanted, just go to the Mysterious World to obtain it.

Praying to gods is not as good as relying on oneself!

"Grandma, thank you for today, I’ll take my leave now."

Sang Que bowed, preparing to leave.

"Wait, dear girl."

Xu Shufen looked back at the location of the shen kan in the house.

"You are a good girl; I can’t bear to see you harmed by an evil ghost. Do you want to join the Xu family temple and serve the Mountain God with me? As long as you are devout enough, the Mountain God will surely do his utmost to help you suppress the evil ghost. At the very least, it could help you live a few more years."

Before Sang Que could answer, there was a clang from the inner room.

Xu Shufen turned around and saw the Mountain God Statue had fallen from the shen kan, but the red cloth was still neatly covering it.

Xu Shufen was stunned, and Sang Que gave a bitter smile.

"It seems the Mountain God has already given his answer."