Chapter 7

Rage?

Antonio looked at Chen Yaozu with some confusion, waiting for his explanation.

"Yes, if ordinary people want to see ghosts, they can work themselves into a rage.

Burning with anger — to put it in more modern terms, maxing out your rage meter — allows you to see things you normally cannot see."

Chen Yaozu's explanation was an eye-opener for Antonio; he never knew there was such a method to let ordinary people see ghosts.

The others also felt as if they had learned something incredible.

"But how do I work myself into a rage?"

Antonio had a bit of a headache.

At this moment, a slightly dark-skinned, thin young man among his companions suddenly blurted out: "Antonio, Haena is getting married next week!"

The others immediately realized — it could be done like this? Because Haena was Antonio's ex-wife; they were already divorced, and she had taken their daughter and left their little group.

So the others quickly chimed in: "Right, Antonio, Haena's getting married next week; the wedding invitations have even been sent to me.

Also, I heard that little Sally is going to change her name too."

Basically worldwide, in 99% of countries, a woman changes to her husband's surname after marriage; likewise, children who go with her must also change their surname.

This might, in the eyes of many Eastern people, seem like Westerners don't care about such trivialities.

But actually, Westerners are the ones who value family and surname the most — far more than Easterners.

Precisely because of this, when men encounter this kind of thing, they usually feel stifled, but stifled is not rage.

Right now Antonio felt stifled, and very displeased, but it truly wasn't rage, nor burning anger — it was sadness.

Yet even this emotional turbulence stirred by stifled sadness let him see the concrete outline of the ghost clinging to Cindy's back at this moment; though not clear, he could see a bit of it.

The ghost lay lightly on Cindy's back in an almost transparent posture.

Resentment Qi like black ink seemed to coil around her long hair; upon discovering she could see it, her eyes naturally reacted with an extremely deep hatred.

In that instant, struck by the hatred in her eyes, Antonio felt a simultaneous surge of self-doubt.

The ghost seemed to sense the tremor and shock deep in his heart, and slowly raised its head, its ghostly blue eyes staring at him full of hate.

Immediately, from her barely audible throat came a long, shrill scream — a sound others could not hear, but which struck straight into the deepest part of Antonio's soul.

In that instant, Antonio felt as if someone had slapped him hard on the soul; he collapsed rigidly on the spot.

But fortunately, this was a newly born ghost; its danger to people wasn't that great yet, and Antonio had already regained consciousness the moment he fell.

When he opened his eyes, the anger and emotional turbulence caused by stifled feelings were gone; all that remained was fear and confusion from the soul impact.

"Mr. Wizard, I recognized her, I know this person!"

Although it was only an illusory, transparent outline, it was already enough for Antonio, who had just caught a fleeting glimpse, to see the ghost's appearance.

"We didn't kill her; she was one of our clients. When crossing the Panama Strait, she wouldn't listen to advice, fell off the boat and died."

Antonio explained seriously: "Although we're a gang, we don't actually threaten people, so we usually don't kill.

We're a rule-abiding guide gang; we stick together just to avoid being bullied.

Our work is guiding — we take money to handle business.

If you must say her matter has something to do with us, it can only be called an accident on the road! That's a completely different matter from us killing her!"

This time, his companions finally confirmed there really was a ghost clinging to Cindy's back, and they all felt a bit numb.

Especially Cindy herself; her hair stood on end right now: "Antonio, what do we do? Explain clearly!

She was the one riding the speedboat; she wouldn't listen to warnings, stood up herself and fell into the sea — it has nothing to do with us."

Antonio shook his head: "I can't see her anymore now!"

Cindy and the others hurriedly told him once more about his ex-wife and child remarrying and changing names.

Antonio shook his head: "That method works once; saying it now, my emotions aren't fluctuating much anymore." Most importantly, his ex-wife and child had rebuilt a family, changed names, and called another man dad — just now he fundamentally didn't feel it was rage, but stifled sadness.

But now he was shocked by the ghost's appearance; he fundamentally couldn't be sad anymore, couldn't be angry either.

So he could only look to Chen Yaozu: "Wizard, do you have a way? Please help me explain clearly to her; if that really doesn't work, help me ask what she needs to let us go.

Please! If this problem is solved, besides guaranteeing safe passage to the US-Mexico Border, I'll also pull strings to get you a Work Permit.

For people like you walking into America on foot, without having served prison time, without a background check, without spending a fortune, a Work Permit can't be obtained.

But I have connections that can exempt you from prison and arrange a legal illegal immigrant status and a Work Permit that lets you find work normally."

When in a rage or just now when his emotions were intensely turbulent, he could vaguely see the ghost's appearance and hear the ghost's voice.

But now, with his emotions shocked and no longer boiling, he couldn't see or hear, so communication wasn't possible either.

He could only pin his hopes on this Eastern Wizard before him.

Since he had named his price, Chen Yaozu thought for a moment and accepted.

He didn't need rage to see that Resentful Ghost, so after nodding in agreement he walked over and persuaded her in a very gentle tone.

"You heard it too; your death wasn't at their hands, but because you wouldn't listen to advice and fell from the ship into the sea.

So you're hating the wrong people.

Why not give face and let them go."

The Resentful Ghost's spiritual intelligence wasn't very clear, but she could roughly understand the meaning, so she shook her head blankly, meaning she couldn't accept it and would still cling to them.

This is instinct.

This is the resentment from before the Resentful Ghost's death, driving her instinctive actions; moreover, this ghost's mind isn't very clear right now — there's simply no negotiating.

Now only one last method remains.

That is to scare her, threaten her, intimidate her, berate her.

Lushan School's methods — ordinary people can use them.

So Chen Yaozu prepared to move her with emotion and enlighten her with reason; his opening words carried the rich tone of Western Clergy: "Madam, allow me to speak frankly.

As you have heard with your own ears, your passing stemmed from failing to heed their counsel, unfortunately slipping from that ship… ah no, from that vessel of fate into the deep sea; this is no one's fault, but the caprice of destiny.

Blaming the resentment of your passing on the one who guided you and offered sincere advice at the time is like searching for a non-existent lighthouse in the fog; it neither aids your liberation nor does anything but add to their troubles.

He paused for a moment, trying to let his gaze reveal deep sympathy and understanding, and continued: "In this endless reincarnation, entanglement and resentment are but shackles binding the soul; for both parties, it is an endless suffering.

I believe you can also feel that this world is not very friendly to ghosts; letting go is the bridge leading to the peaceful shore.

They should continue forward on their own life trajectories.

And you, too, should embark on your own journey of reincarnation, to find the starting point of the next life."

Chen Yaozu felt that he had said every single good word he could think of in English, appealing to emotion and reasoning with logic.

This ghost actually remained completely unmoved.

Even when looking at him, her face was full of blankness; she hadn't listened to a single bit of it! He had racked his brains for nothing, dug out every usable word he could think of, and it turned out to be completely useless.

Persuasion being useless, then according to the Lushan School's method for ordinary people to deal with resentful ghosts, it was time to threaten and intimidate her.

"Fine, fine, fine, a tough nut to crack, huh! Since that's the case, don't blame me for killing you!"

Although she clearly knew Chen Yaozu was talking to the ghost on his back, he had been facing her the whole time he spoke, so there was always a feeling he was talking to her; precisely because of this, Cindy, whose expression had been a bit weird the whole time, suddenly interjected an explanation: "Mr. Wizard, I remember now, this female ghost can't understand too much English!

Vocabulary that's too complex, she can't understand!"

(Chapter End)