Chapter 105

I'm not stupid; Hong Nainai's words made me understand her meaning. When I subdued Hong Nainai to be my soldier, I once promised her I would find a disciple to help her accumulate incense cultivation and ascend to immortality early. Hong Nainai is a ghost, and the disciple she takes a liking to naturally becomes what people call a yin granny, a spirit medium.

However, I said before that people capable of this profession are extremely rare.

Some say these people are born with incomplete souls, the more deranged, the greater their abilities. Others say their constitution is extremely yin, which is why yin masters of ghosts and gods seek them out.

I don't know the exact details, but I know such people are extremely hard to find, and they have exceptionally high talent, easily moving between yin and yang realms and communicating with ghosts and gods.

"Are you saying she's suitable to be your disciple?" I reached into my bosom and took out that piece of Hong Nainai's jade pendant.

Not long after, Hong Nainai's figure also appeared.

"Yes…… Earlier when you were talking with her grandmother in the park, I had already noticed. This girl keeps getting possessed because she has this extremely yin constitution; many ghosts and gods want to snatch her as a disciple, but……" Hong Nainai hesitated for a moment.

"But what?" I and Pangzi asked in unison.

"It's just that her Spiritual Aperture is injured; ghosts and gods can possess her but cannot form a contract with her." After a pause, Hong Nainai frowned again and said: "Of course, one could force a contract, but that shouldn't be called a contract—it should be called possession."

Hong Nainai meant that if a certain yin master spirit possesses Shishi for a long time, over time Shishi's soul will be corroded, and then the spirit can directly control Shishi's body, becoming the new master of this body.

Because Shishi's constitution is special, she is the ideal vessel for long-term residence of ghostly evils. Put another way, to spirits her body is undoubtedly like the Tang Sanzang meat that demons in Journey to the West fight over—except this meat isn't for eating, but for dwelling.

This also explains why, after exorcising evil again and again, with Daoist after Daoist coming, Shishi merely gets better then sick, over and over without end. Because she constantly attracts spirits—maybe she's normal one moment, possessed the next; driving away ghosts only treats the symptom, not the root.

"The urgent thing is to first drive away the spirit possessing Shishi; other matters can wait," Pangzi said to me and Hong Nainai.

"You want..."

Pangzi raised the sandalwood box in his hand and said, "Thirteen Needles of Ghost Gate."

I and Pangzi walked toward Shishi; on the other side, Silijing and Yao Yirong each supported the weeping Granny Zhao in front of Shishi.

When I and Pangzi reached the table, we each grabbed one of Shishi's shoulders and pulled her down from the table.

After pulling her down, I pressed Shishi onto the chair. At that moment, Granny Zhao also walked toward us, supported by Yao Yirong and Silijing.

"Two immortals, please save Shishi! She… she was fine just now, but now those things have found her again, please." As she approached, Granny Zhao begged us in tears.

"Granny, don't worry; they're now using needles to drive away whatever clings to Shishi, and it's very effective. We shouldn't disturb them—let them administer the needles in peace." Yao Yirong and Silijing each comforted Granny Zhao in a gentle tone.

Although I don't know medicine, I also know that when performing acupuncture the doctor must be focused; especially for the Thirteen Needles of Ghost Gate, the angle of rotation and depth of insertion must be just right, and mental concentration demands are extremely high.

Now Granny Zhao's emotions have been soothed by Yao Yirong and Silijing, my heart has steadied considerably; after pressing the struggling Shishi onto the stool, I urged Pangzi to administer the needles quickly—who knew… at that moment Pangzi did something that made everyone's eyes pop out.

"Sigh, I say, auntie, whether you're an old lady or an old gentleman, where do you come from and where should you go? At most I, Little Fat, will burn you extra paper money so you have something to spend down there—no worries about food or clothing." Pangzi first pleaded with Shishi in a gentle tone for a long time.

"Are you male? If you are, I'll burn you a few big‑breasted beauties, with huge chests." After saying that, he gestured twice in the air; the two women nearby, hearing his lewd words and seeing his action, blushed with embarrassment.

"Sigh sigh… I say, can't you stop this? Just tell me what you want; if you don't, how would I know what you need? If you tell me what you want, I'll certainly try to make it happen. If you don't tell me, I won't know, and that's no good for you; if you do tell me, I'll know, and that benefits everyone." Pangzi babbled on like a gossip, a living fat Tang Sanzang reincarnation.

I was annoyed at his antics, about to speak up, when he instantly switched to another act.

"You bastard, dog egg, bird egg, salty egg, salted duck egg—your past‑life grandma didn't love your grandpa, as a ghost King Yama you don't take judges seriously; alive you're like no person, dead you're like a bird, and now you're still utterly depraved, occupying someone's body and refusing to leave—do you think you're not a scoundrel?"

Seeing that flattery didn't work, Pangzi switched to another expression, rolled up his sleeves, hands on hips, pointing at Shishi and scolding her wildly—like a market‑shrew auntie, or a poetic scolding auntie who speaks in verse.

Everyone was stunned, jaws nearly dropping; I pulled Pangzi aside and whispered, confused: "Hey, what are you up to?"

Pangzi quietly said, "This is procedure," then stood up again and continued to harangue Shishi.

After that, Pangzi's face changed again, his anger rising; his copper‑bell‑large eyes glared ferociously at Shishi, and he said in a grim tone: "Get back to your old lair, or I'll strike you dead with a thunderbolt right now."

Normally I'd think any child would be scared to tears by that ferocious demeanor, but this time there's an exception: Shishi didn't cry, instead she wore a blank, wooden expression, and she clenched a candle tightly in both hands—if I weren't pressing her hands down, she would probably have shoved the candle into her mouth by now.

"Huh‑huh…" Pangzi was tired of scolding, but Shishi still showed no reaction, her face blank as usual.

Seeing this, Pangzi gritted his teeth in hatred and took out a silver needle from the box.

While holding Shishi down, I couldn't help but mutter: "If only you'd done this earlier, why waste half a day spitting nonsense?"

The first needle landed as before on the Lesser Shang point; Pangzi seemed especially fond of that point.

"Hiss…" As the Lesser Shang point was pierced, Shishi's complexion finally changed.

"You Yangjian folks, don't meddle in Yinjian affairs…" a hoarse, vigorous voice issued from Shishi's body—it was an old male ghost.

"Hehe, Yangjian has its Dao, Yinjian has its path. You Yinjian person, abandoning the great Yinjian road to run amok in Yangjian—don't blame me, a Yangjian person, for meddling." Pangzi gripped the silver needle and replied to Shishi.

"Young man, frankly, I've taken a liking to this girl and want to take her as my disciple." The old ghost shamelessly hid his true intent.

"You clearly know her Spiritual Aperture is injured, yet you possess her body—old sir, this looks less like taking a disciple and more like seizing a vessel; aren't you afraid of heavenly thunder?" Pangzi countered.

"Hmph, you're not a Yin transmission disciple, so whether her Spiritual Aperture is hurt is none of your business." The ghost's purpose exposed, he flew into a rage.

No sooner said than done: after the ghost finished speaking, Pangzi swiftly seized Shishi's little hand and drove a needle into her palm.

This point is the Labor Palace point, the ghost path among the Thirteen Needles of Ghost Gate.

Shishi's complexion changed again; after the needle, her body trembled slightly.

"Can we talk properly now? Hey, I, the young master, will spend some money, buy some incense oil and candles to burn for you; you let Shishi go, from now on we each go our separate ways, and I won't hurt you." After saying that, Pangzi gave another hehe laugh: "You like eating candles so much, I'll give you red, yellow, white, black—one of each—how about that?"

"Hmph…… I, this monk, have also lingered in the City of Unjust Death for some days; how could I be so easily manipulated by you, this young whippersnapper?" The possessed Shishi snorted upward.

"Then what exactly must I do to let her go? Anyway, I've taken charge of this matter; if we can't reach an agreement, I can only capture you."

"Hmm, this monk thinks," the possessed Shishi rested her chin on her hand and pondered for a long time; then the corner of her mouth curved into an arc. Seeing that smile of his, a bad thought flashed through my mind—this smile was too treacherous, as if there were some conspiracy.

As expected, not long after, he said to Pangzi: "You just offended this monk; first kowtow to this monk—if you kowtow enough to make this monk happy, maybe this monk will let this girl go."

"Damn……" Pangzi said nothing, and I cursed first; I said why I felt uneasy seeing his smile—it turns out he's hatching such a vicious plan, making Pangzi kowtow—this isn't just outright trampling his dignity?

"Don't listen to him, just stab his ghost seal directly, so his soul flies away and spirit scatters." I pried open Shishi's mouth, letting Pangzi insert the needle; I know this acupoint is the deadly point of a possessing spirit—once pierced, the spirit will instantly have its soul fly away and spirit scatter.

"Wait…… I'll kowtow, Hai Sheng, let him go."

In everyone's stunned gaze, Pangzi dropped to his knees, palms together over his head, bowed to the ground—with a bang, he gave this old ghost a loud kowtow.

"Hahaha…… a hoarse yet hearty laugh emanated from Shishi's body."

"Interesting, truly interesting, let this monk kowtow once more to see."

With a bang, Pangzi kowtowed again.

"I say, you damn well have had enough, playing with my brother like this—believe it or not, I'll use the command flag to beat you until your soul flies away and spirit scatters." His repeated teasing made me unable to suppress my anger any longer.

"Shishi" gave me a sideways glance and said coldly: "This monk didn't force him; he volunteered to kowtow."

"Don't go too far." I scolded.

Pangzi stood up from the ground, interrupting me: "Now, can you let Shishi go?"

"Let… why should I let go?"

When he uttered the first word, everyone's hearts were still quite glad, but once the whole sentence was finished, a fire of anger rose in everyone's chest, especially seeing him laugh so arrogantly, making everyone furious beyond measure. Even Yao Yirong, watching from the side, couldn't help but shout a rebuke at him.

"You bastard, even as a ghost you might not be this lacking in credibility? Your speech is so incoherent, you're basically bringing shame to the ghost realm."

Grandma Zhao knelt down, weeping as she pleaded: "Oh mighty ghost, I beg you, show mercy and spare my granddaughter. She has suffered enough at your hands since childhood; now she only has half a life left. Please, out of kindness, spare my granddaughter." As she spoke, Grandma Zhao kept kowtowing, her hands planted on the ground, continuously knocking her forehead.

Pangzi's repeated concessions and the earnest pleas of an elderly old man failed to move this old ghost in the slightest; instead, he grew more arrogant, pointing at Grandma Zhao and laughing loudly: "Kowtow, kowtow harder— the more you weep in sorrow, the happier I am… hahaha."

"Damn it…" I could no longer hold back, and I pried open his mouth again.

I shouted at Pangzi: "Pangzi, stop dawdling, quickly stab his ghost seal and obliterate this bastard to ashes."

Meanwhile, Pangzi had already picked up a silver needle, his expression solemn and reverent.

He calmly asked the old ghost possessing Shishi: "Do you know what consequences my needle will bring?"

"I know—I'll have my soul scattered." The old ghost showed no tension, instead laughing arrogantly with impunity: "But do you dare? If you pierce my ghost seal and scatter my soul, you'll bear the karmic consequences, possibly even shortening your life and harming your children. Can you bear that?"

The old ghost's words made me shudder—how could even the Thirteen Needles of Ghost Gate have side effects?

Pangzi showed no hesitation, instead holding the needle with a solemn expression: "My father once said that cultivators must not only accumulate blessings, but sometimes must bear sins; for the greater good, we must make choices. Although our Daoist Sect advocates non-action, we Daoists also have the duty to subdue demons and eradicate evil."

Speaking, the silver needle in his hand flashed, slicing a swift arc of light through the air and piercing into Shishi's tongue tip.