Volume 9 – Chapter 44: Imbecile (Part 1)
Luo Zheng’s capacity for liquor did not match up to what he proclaimed – Of course, it might have to do with the fact that most of the beer was drunk by him.
It was almost midnight. Luo Zheng was already drunk and a little unconscious.
Luo Qiu did not intend to wake him up. He just put a quilt on Luo Zheng and then began to clean up the things in the living room.
“Brother-in-law…What happened to you…”
Luo Qiu stopped and took a look at Luo Zheng. Luo Zheng was just drunk and was talking in his sleep. Then, he moved his body again and fell into a deep sleep.
A loud rumbling sound came from outside the house. It was the sound of thunder from afar. Luo Qiu opened the front door and cast his gaze on the night sky.
There were thunder rolls. Perhaps, it might rain soon. The wind became cool all of a sudden… On the other side of the distant mountain top, a blast of blue and black gas was turning into a beam of light at this time and hit the night sky.
It was an aura that could not be seen by ordinary people… It was a powerful aura of resentment, the source of which was the reservoir built on the mountain top for decades.
Boss Luo could even clearly see dozens, hundreds, or even ten hundreds of pale, stiff, painful, and even distorted faces in this blue-black aura of resentment. Finally, they converged and turned into an enormous face.
Round pupils, round mouth… Behind it, it seemed that everything had been emptied. All that was left was a face shell with nothing left.
It was galloping towards Luo Qiu, with its end dragging a long blue-black air. It instantly passed over the top of the mountain and descended over Village Luo. Then, it rolled down like a tornado. In an instant, it was tangling around the entire area of Luo Qiu’s old house.
“You take a fancy on Dazhe. I didn’t do anything to you. Of course, it was because you didn’t do anything that I allowed you to wander around my house before. But as for now…what are you thinking of doing?” asked Luo Qiu calmly.
These blue and black air was seen spinning more and more rapidly at this moment.
“Do you want to buy something from me? You are…customers?” Luo Qiu asked a second time.
However, the surrounding wind erupted violently all of a sudden. The piercing scream, seemingly crying and roaring along with the flying sand and rocks squeezed towards Luo Qiu at the same time.
“It seems that there was only an aura of resentment left propelling…” Luo Qiu shook his head. “If you are not buying anything, please go back. Please come back when you need something.”
However, those blue and black auras were shrinking. Instead, they turned into countless faintly discernible arms. At the same time, all of them were grabbing at Luo Qiu.
“I told you. If you are not here for business, please go back. As for how you died in the reservoir, whether you drowned or died of persecution, it is not something I am interested in. So, please don’t disturb the people here. Also, please do not shake the Osmanthus flower trees near my house… A lot of Osmanthus flowers have already fallen off.”
Luo Qiu shifted his gaze. Looking at the arm that was about to touch him, he said calmly, “Please don’t even touch me.”
The arms that were stretched out in the air trembled frantically and shrank one by one under Luo Qiu’s gaze. Finally, it retracted into the seemingly drenched ‘giant face’ one by one.
It uttered a mournful cry as if it had been severely injured. It rolled up into the night sky, fleeing towards the distance.
Luo Qiu sighed and waved. Everything here returned to its original appearance…The branches that were damaged also reverted to their original positions.
Luo Qiu closed the door. At this time, there was a drizzle outside the house. Luo Zheng, lying on the bench, suddenly sat up, in a daze, “Luo Qiu! Drink some more… hehe.”
Then, he fell asleep again in a daze.
Luo Qiu smiled and waved his hand to make the fallen quilt cover Luo Zheng again. Then, he sat down, picked up the light of a lamp, and drank a cup of tea.
He was reading through the old photo album at home again.
…
Faint sounds of thunder were heard. Lord Jin walked into the Buddhist hall with a solemn expression. When he heard the footsteps, Dazhe stood up. He did not look good.
“Lord Jin, I felt a sense of anxiety, and I don’t know why.”
“Of course, you will feel that way.” Lord Jin sighed. “I’m also anxious. I’m afraid that in this weather, any incoming visitors are with malicious intentions.”
“It is… already here?” Dazhe looked around nervously.
Lord Jin said solemnly at this time, “Dazhe, listen to me. I have just asked Big Head for details. During that year, except for you, Ah Long and the others died one after another. The state of their deaths was abnormal. I thought about it for a day and came out with something. In the reservoir where the child was drowned back then, some people slipped and fell into the water. Of course, some of them have only themselves to blame for, and some were… But, over the years, the reservoir accumulated a huge amount of aura of resentment. I’m afraid it’s a hybrid water ghost…or even a malicious spirit with an even potent aura of resentment. A malicious spirit will never give up if they don’t manage to obtain their target’s life. Also, they will easily despise anyone who is in their way. Last night, I took action to dispel the aura of resentment from you. Probably, this guy will not let me off easily today.”
“Lord Jin, I’m causing you inconveniences.” Lord Jin shook his head. “Enough with this nonsense. When things get to this point, face them straight on.”
“Okay, what do you want me to do?”
Lord Jin suddenly took out a plastic bag that was easily found in a typical kiosk from his clothes at this time, “You put this on.”
“I… put this on?”
“Yes! Put it on. Then, tie it tight.” Lord Jin nodded and said. “I want you to suffocate and experience the sensation of death. Ordinary people can’t see the boundary between Yin and Yang, but there is a situation that ordinary people can also witness. That is when you are about to die. But, you can rest assured that you will not die immediately from suffocation. When your consciousness is waning because of suffocation, that is the moment when your soul leaves your body temporarily. This moment is long for you, but when you see it from the outside, it will only take a while, maybe less than ten seconds.”
Dazhe grabbed the plastic bag in his hand, bit it, and said, “Okay, then I will do as you said. But… is this all I need to do?”
“Of course not,” said Lord Jin. “I have to make your soul move so that you can directly face this malicious spirit. Besides, when you see it, you have to be like this…”
With that said, Lord Jin walked to the Guanyin statue in front of him, moved the Guanyin statue away, and took out a pot made of earth tiles from the bottom of the jar. The pot was about the size of his palm, “I will put it on the roof. I have already set up the rostrum on the lower floor. All you have to do is to provoke the malicious spirit and lead it to the pot. There is no way that I go face-to-face with the malicious spirit, but I should be able to absorb it back into the pot.”
After Lord Jin reminded Dazhe of some crucial details that needed attention, he asked Dazhe to cover his head with a plastic bag, but there was no knot.
Lord Jin took off Dazhe’s shirt at this time. With his fingers dipped with cinnabar, he quickly wrote a lot of Taoist writings on Dazhe’s back, and quickly read, “On this day, He Huifen, the successful wife of the Lin family who was born on Nineteenth of August turned fifty-six years old…The birth of the year is divided into eight characters. The child cries out whooping cough, the deceased Emperor Wen and Emperor Wu, the first seven beats the seven souls of Zhaiwei, the eight characters of Ziping, the book of the third world… [1]”
Lord Jin was seen pressing both his hands on Dazhe’s shoulders at the same time and sang loudly, “…The household surrounded with fine green jade and fragrant mist. Purple orchid knotted with the red Osmunda Regalis. The fairies and the charot did not meet up with each other. Fangqing Sending thanks is absurd. Sugarcane syrup does not drink cold tears and does not understand Qi people and young men’s tricks. If you go to Penglai Palace in the sky, there are horses and ghosts in the world!
Suddenly, a chilly and strong wind blew outside the house. Lord Jin yelled, “For every grievance, someone is responsible. For every debt, there is a debtor [2]. Lin Congping, the successful son of the Lin family. Show yourself now for today is the time where you can demand somebody else’s life!!”
[1] Chinese incantations involving exorcism which tend to appear on other media, including TV, dramas, books.
[2] For every grievance, someone is responsible. There is a debtor for every debt: When settling disputes, one should not involve third parties.
