Chapter 157: Zhang Shimian: Not Hard. Life Is Hard
The young man sitting across from him was entirely hidden in the shadows, only vaguely revealing a delicate chin.
His clearly articulated hand gently brushed away the dust from the chessboard and picked up a black piece, placing it down lightly: “The Ominous Star has entered Shangjing. Find a way to get rid of her. Don’t let her affect our plan.”
The old man looked at him with a strange expression, a low, hoarse laugh coming from his throat: “I thought you would abandon that plan for the sake of her young age. I didn’t expect you to be even more ruthless than I imagined.”
“It’s also Old Ghost Li’s fault for being trash. He lurked for so many years but failed to stop her in S City. Now we don’t know where he’s run off to, and she disrupted our plan. He’s truly damnable.”
The young man sitting across from him chuckled lightly, his voice clear and gentle: “Give Old Ghost Li one last chance. If he can’t kill her, then deal with him.”
“Yes.”
–
On the other side.
Nan Yuanman and Feng Congqian arrived at the airport exit and immediately spotted Zhang Shimian, who was holding a pickup sign, dressed in casual clothes, bouncing and jumping around.
Zhang Shimian also saw Nan Yuanman, a look of delight appearing on his face as he waved vigorously at her: “Perfection! Here, here!”
Zhang Shimian impatiently strode over, nodding slightly to Feng Congqian in a hasty greeting, then reached out to pick up Nan Yuanman who was sitting on the luggage cart: “Quick! Come with me now! My client can’t hold on much longer!”
Feng Congqian instinctively picked up Nan Yuanman first and looked at Zhang Shimian vigilantly: “Where are you taking Perfection?”
Zhang Shimian missed and only then realized he needed to tell the adult before taking Perfection away. He hurriedly explained: “You must be Uncle Feng that Perfection mentioned? Don’t worry, I’m not a bad person. I’m from Sanqing Temple. I have urgent business and need to ask Perfection for help.”
“Of course, I won’t let her help for nothing. This time, my client is from the Luo Family in Shangjing.”
Feng Congqian hadn’t heard of the Luo Family name, but Nan Yuanman had just arrived in Shangjing and was very unfamiliar with the environment here. He wasn’t reassured letting her wander around alone, afraid someone would bully her.
He consulted Nan Yuanman’s opinion: “Perfection, can I go with you? I’ll assist you.”
Nan Yuanman knew Feng Congqian wasn’t reassured. She looked at Zhang Shimian and agreed only after he nodded: “Sure.”
Zhang Shimian rubbed his hands: “Then let’s go? Take my car? I’ll explain the situation on the way.”
Feng Congqian turned to instruct the bodyguard who was following discreetly behind him, then carried Nan Yuanman as he walked with Zhang Shimian.
The car Zhang Shimian drove was a Land Rover. After getting in and confirming Nan Yuanman and Feng Congqian were seated steadily, he eagerly started the car and drove off.
On the way, he briefly told Nan Yuanman about the matter he had come to Shangjing to handle: “The Luo Family are old acquaintances of my master. This time, it was a collateral branch of the Luo Family that invited me. The male head of the household said he dreams every night of his father, who passed away many years ago, standing in water, drenched all over, clutching his chest and looking at him.”
“I had him shake copper coins to divine, and it showed his father’s grave had a problem. When we got there, we found a willow tree growing on his father’s grave, which had collapsed one corner. We opened the coffin and saw the tree roots had pierced through the corroded coffin and into his father’s chest.”
“The feng shui there was already destroyed. I calculated the days and found a new plot of land for him to relocate the grave.”
“When relocating the grave, I repeatedly warned him not to let anyone born in the Year of the Sheep, Dog, Horse, Tiger, or Monkey be present—no adults or children.”
Zhang Shimian felt exhausted just thinking about that day and couldn’t help complaining: “But in the end, his rebellious teenage child snuck over out of curiosity, and it hit him! His soul got rushed out!”
“That child was also unlucky. After his soul was rushed out, he was immediately possessed by lonesome ghosts, and the one possessing him was a child ghost. No matter how I tried to persuade it, it wouldn’t leave. I couldn’t even send the recalled soul back. I had no choice but to seek your help.”
Child ghosts who died young and untimely carry extremely heavy grievance and malevolent qi, but before they harm or kill anyone, they cannot be completely exterminated—only gently persuaded, asked what unfinished wishes they have, what they need, and what it would take for them to leave the client.
Generally, child ghosts are very easy to satisfy—just burn some paper money and give them new clothes, game consoles, and such, and they can be sent off.
But the child ghost Zhang Shimian encountered this time was extremely stubborn, demanding everything but refusing to reveal what unfinished wish it had, stubbornly occupying the client’s body and not leaving.
On top of that, the client’s parents doted on him excessively. Whenever Zhang Shimian wanted to take strong measures, they feared it would harm his body and kept stopping him. If not for the Luo Family being old acquaintances of Sanqing Temple and offering generous rewards, Zhang Shimian would have wanted to wash his hands of it.
He sought Nan Yuanman’s help for two reasons: one, Nan Yuanman is also a child, and child ghosts have little guard against children, making it easy to get information out of them; two, Nan Yuanman has self-protection abilities, so even if the child ghost suddenly acted up, she could protect herself.
If even Nan Yuanman couldn’t solve it…
He would have no choice but to clean his neck, thicken his old face, and go beg his senior brothers for help.
Nan Yuanman listened, but still had no real sense of how much the Luo Family doted on the client until they arrived at the Luo Family home.
As soon as they entered the living room, a sharp, piercing laugh rang out. A woman wearing a purple qipao ran out in panic from the room, chased by a boy about sixteen, tall and fat, holding a toy water gun and continuously spraying water at her: “Hahaha! Fun, fun, so much fun!”
The woman in the purple qipao dodged the water, her face showing helplessness mixed with indulgence: “Alright, Yangyang, stop playing. You’ll get yourself wet too and catch a cold.”
“No way, I want to play! Biubiubiu, take this shot!” Luo Yang continued shooting the water gun at her, making a mess of the living room.
An old woman was also standing at the kitchen doorway. Seeing Luo Yang spraying people with the water gun, she clapped her hands in praise: “Oh my! My grandson is so skilled—every shot hits the target! He’ll definitely have the fate of an official when he grows up!”
Zhang Shimian: “…”
He turned to Nan Yuanman with a miserable smile.
Feng Congqian and Nan Yuanman looked at him sympathetically. Nan Yuanman reached out her short little hand and patted his shoulder: “Brother Shi Mian, you’ve worked hard.”
If she had made the living room all wet with a water gun, Grandpa would have hung her up and spanked her bottom long ago.
This family was truly strange. They knew full well the soul in their child’s body wasn’t his, yet they still doted on it so much. Weren’t they afraid it would really refuse to leave?
Luo Yang heard the childish voice and excitedly turned with the water gun aimed at the doorway. When he saw the three people standing there—Zhang Shimian and the others—his expression froze, and he nervously and fearfully hid behind the woman.
The woman in the purple qipao also saw Zhang Shimian and the others. A flash of unnaturalness crossed her face as she raised a hand to wipe the water from her face: “Master Zhang, you’re back.”
The old woman standing at the kitchen doorway also walked over. Her slightly upturned eyes unceremoniously sized up Nan Yuanman and Feng Congqian from head to toe. When her gaze fell on their ordinary clothes, a flash of disdain appeared in her eyes.
She looked at Feng Congqian, her face showing some suspicion: “Master Zhang, is this the person you brought? Does he really have the ability to send away the doll possessing my grandson?”
As the saying goes, one without a beard can’t be trusted with important tasks. This time, Zhang Shimian was in charge and it caused her grandson to suffer. Now the person he brought was so young—no wonder she suspected.
“Not him, her.” Zhang Shimian expressionlessly pointed at Nan Yuanman: “She’s the reinforcement I brought.”
The old woman instinctively looked where he pointed and met the eyes of Nan Yuanman, who was sucking on a lollipop stick.
Old woman: “?”
