Chapter 529: with translation of chapter title

"Are you crazy? Have you forgotten the rules of the trade?" I immediately shouted, without hesitation lunged forward and snatched Han Duo's peach wood sword.

A practitioner can cast a spell only once; if someone undoes it, it is predestined karma. A sorcerer may not cast a second spell on the same person, otherwise they will incur the five flaws and three deficiencies retribution, bringing disaster to their six relatives and vital energy.

"Do you want to live alone and die old, or do you want to have your hands and feet cut off? Have you considered the consequences?" I glared at her.

Han Duo's peach wood sword was blocked by me; at first she froze a moment, but hearing my rebuke, the stubborn she snatched back her peach wood sword and coldly said to me: "None of your business."

"What do you mean it's none of my business? Even if you're rushing to raise money for Xiao Binbin's surgery, you can't gamble with your own life like this. Don't you know what you're doing is pure suicide—like a longevity star hanging himself—disliking a long life?" Seeing Han Duo continue preparing the ritual, I quickly spread my arms, blocking the altar to stop her.

"Move aside..." Han Duo's face was ice-cold, her pretty visage like frost,

"I won't move..." My attitude remained resolute.

Han Duo and I stalemate for a moment; seeing that I still refused to move aside, she suddenly shoved me away, picked up the doll labeled with Zhou Zhenzhen's eight characters, swept everything off the table, and prepared to leave.

"Wait a minute, are you helping someone collect debts? I can help you; if we succeed we'll split the profits fifty-fifty, how about that?" As Han Duo's steps were about to leave the temple, a flash of inspiration struck me, and I blurted out.

My guess was not wrong; Han Duo is indeed helping someone collect debts. I don't know who the creditor is, but the debtor must be Zhou Zhenzhen. Given Zhou Zhenzhen's stingy, rascal nature, who knows how many creditors have gritted their teeth at him yet could do nothing, so hiring someone to hex him is hardly surprising.

Seeing Han Duo stop her steps, I added more pressure.

"You know, when it comes to harmonizing souls with bamboo poles, breaking soul locks, and attracting wealth to collect debts, my Yin Mountain School claims to be first in the magical teachings; no one dares claim second place. Rather than you blindly sending troops like a headless fly, why not tell me the actual situation so I can retrieve the money for you?"

Since ancient times, within the Five Ghosts' Qimen, there are harmonizing and bewitching, as well as hanging and soul-hooking; of course, there is also debt-collecting soul-locking. Harmonizing mediates cold wars between spouses; soul-hooking calls back prodigal sons and husbands who have left home; debt-collecting helps others recover bad accounts.

However… the conditions for these yin arts are very strict. First, for debt-collecting, you must know the other party's situation: whether they have money but refuse to repay, or are truly destitute with nothing to repay. If it's the former, debt-collecting poses little problem; but if it's the latter, it's tantamount to driving them to their death—even if you recover the debt, you will also incur retribution.

After learning the details, the second step is to cast divination before the altar, i. e., to ask the ancestral master. If the ancestral master permits, you may set up the altar and perform the rite; if the ancestral master forbids, proceeding anyway is tantamount to defying heaven and will likewise bring retribution.

This retribution, needless to say, is the five flaws and three deficiencies—either it brings disaster to siblings, children, parents in traffic accidents, or it results in oneself missing limbs.

Moreover, even if the conditions allow debt-collecting, Daoists who practice this line dislike taking on such arts. Because to help someone collect debts, you must weaken the three fires of the debtor's enemies, bring misfortune upon them, so that the Five Ghosts can draw near. Besides, the more money you collect, the more merit and vital energy the Five Ghosts absorb from you; performing such a rite once, you wouldn't know how many good deeds are needed to compensate.

If one merely relied on harmonizing souls and debt-collecting to make a living, that would be like a longevity star hanging himself—disliking a long life. However, even if I break the rule this once, I think it wouldn't matter much, since I hardly ever perform such rites, and this time I'm also helping someone. Zhou Zhenzhen's temperament really needs a good correction.

After I added pressure, I clearly felt Han Duo's heart stir; however, her heart may have stirred, but this girl's stubborn nature remained unchanged.

She coldly asked: "Why are you helping me?"

"Hehe, I'm not helping you; I'm just broke lately and can't get work. As for you, you got the job but used the wrong method. Why don't we cooperate once? You hand the job over to me, and you take fifty percent of the earnings as a brokerage fee." Dealing with someone like Han Duo, I have plenty of tricks.

"Are you serious…?" Han Duo's eyes still held wariness.

"Of course…" I stuck out my thumb, flashing a row of bright white teeth: "Brother Sheng keeps his word worldwide, cheating fathers and mothers but not you!"

…………

Han Duo stared at me like I was an idiot for a long time, her contemptuous gaze fixed on me for nearly five minutes. Five minutes later, she finally snorted, tossed her peach wood sword aside, and placed it on the table.

This gesture probably means she agreed…

Regardless of whether she agreed or not, anyway there's a saying: silence implies consent.

I picked up the peach wood sword, arranged the items on the altar properly, though in Yin Mountain practice we use the lower altar, especially for yin arts like debt-collecting, which demand closer contact with the earth.

I placed the incense oil, candles, and other items from the jar directly on the ground, sat cross-legged, drew several debt-collecting soul-hooking talismans with black ink, and began to summon the soldiers.

When the incense was lit, a number of solitary wild ghosts heard the news and came, gathering before the altar. These solitary wild ghosts were of the type with little resentment, possessing little destructive power.

"Heavenly and earthly spirits, I implore the Five Ghosts to manifest their numinous power; the Five Ghosts possess vast divine abilities, talismans of ghosts frighten evil people; I send forth the Five Ghost troops to cause mischief, heading to xx place, to press the debtor Zhou Zhenzhen into compliance, urging his three souls and seven spirits to find no peace, to repay debts, to repay money quickly; I obey the edict of the Three Mountains and Nine Marquises, the Yin Mountain Dharma Lord..."

After burning the talisman paper, I brushed the ash onto the peach wood sword, then lightly pointed the sword tip at the straw figure inscribed with Zhou Zhenzhen's name, chanting the edict; the solitary wild ghosts moved at the command. This is the commanding arrow that guides the way; by placing it on the straw figure's forehead, the solitary wild ghosts understand the route and can find the place.

When dispatching the troops, one should avoid the door gods; however, since Zhou Zhenzhen lives in an upscale residence, there is also no such thing that outsiders might mistake for superstition—there is no earth before the door, no door gods at the entrance, and no guardian deities in the home to suppress evil. Thus the step of avoiding the door gods can be omitted.

As for Zhou Zhenzhen's vital energy, the three fires, I think given his current state, he has already been battered and weakened beyond measure by Han Duo; how could he possibly resist the confusion of these solitary wild ghosts?

In conducting troop operations, the greatest taboo is interference when the command is issued, or unexpected circumstances, or being affected by consecrated objects on the target's person, or a backlash from deity images.

So, when the sword point descended and the troops were truly dispatched, only then did I truly relax my breath. Unexpectedly, at that moment Han Duo snorted, looked at me with disdain, and said: "I thought you had some great ability, but I didn't expect you'd still be calling upon these laughable troops. Even the yaksha forces can't handle him; you really think these solitary wild ghosts can actually work?"

"Wrong, it is precisely these solitary wild ghosts that can effect debt-collection. Your……" I firmly shook my finger: "No."

Seeing Han Duo's unconvinced expression, I could not deny shaking my head.

"Do you know what the twenty-four directional troops are used for? Do you know how debt-collection works?" I asked Han Duo with a smile; after she didn't answer, I jumped in to answer for her: "No, you don't know; although your original magical power is higher than mine, and your troops are of higher rank, …… you don't grasp the purpose of the troops, so even if you have greater strength, it's merely brute force."

Han Duo furrowed her brows, hands on hips, unconvinced: "Fine, since you say you're so formidable, then tell me, what are the uses of the twenty-four directional troops?"

"Yo, little brat, still not convinced" I seemed to enjoy Han Duo's anxious look; seeing her ask, I naturally wasn't stingy with sharing what I knew.

The scope of the twenty-four directional troops is too broad; no one can accurately know the origin and purpose of each direction's troops. However, when it comes to debt-collecting and soul-hooking, the best troops are undoubtedly those low-cultivation, lightly resentful solitary wild ghosts.

Because such solitary ghosts, though they have resentment, it is not deep; moreover, since the Gates of Ghosts are not open, they cannot enter the underworld nor await rebirth. Ghost nature, after all, loves to lie, posing as relatives of certain people; thus these ghosts are especially adept at lying and deceiving people.

Debt-collection is not really about going out to frighten, sending a ghost at midnight to scare someone, scaring them senseless so they dare not refuse to pay. If that were the case, those subjected to debt-collection would already have their souls scattered, and those who have undergone it would surely, at the time, spread the story in many versions.

But… who has ever heard someone say to you, "I was dunning for debt by a ghost, and I almost got scared to death"?

I wouldn't say it never happens, but it's absolutely rare. Because this debt-collection proceeds silently and unnoticed, mainly it is a mental confusion.

As previously stated, ghosts are spiritual bodies that easily affect the human mind, producing guilt, world-weariness, and other negative emotions. When a person's magnetic field resonates with that of a spirit, the spirit's thoughts will influence the person's brain.

For example, Zhou Zhenzhen—I don't harm him, but the ghosts will bewilder him so that he feels guilt, recalls his past deeds, feels guilty about his character, and in his mind magnifies the consequences of his not repaying money, branching into countless possibilities. The creditor, because he hasn't repaid, has his whole family going hungry, himself owing too much money, being hacked to death by random blades,

In short, it is to make him think wildly, unable to find peace, finally unable to withstand the chaotic emotions in his mind, unable to withstand the guilt rising from his heart, fear, and various emotions; ultimately he will repay his overdue debt to the creditor and obtain tranquility.

After I finished explaining all this, Han Duo's eyes widened a bit, but her expression was no longer as disdainful as before. Evidently, my explanation was still quite persuasive.

"Hehe, now you finally know where you went wrong. It's not that greater power makes things easier; the key is whether you can grasp the crucial point, choose the right method, and apply it there. Solitary wild ghosts are first-rate at bewildering people; as for your underling's five rebellious troops being so high-level……" I rubbed my nose, curled my lip at Han Duo, and said: "Fighting is fine, bullying ghosts is top-notch, but the talent for bewildering people is like those old madams in a third-rate brothel—putting on makeup doesn't make them anything special."