Chapter 56

After leaving the room, I closed my eyes and, relying on feeling, walked step by step up the stairs. Every ten steps, I would chant the incantation of one lunar mansion.

The twenty-eight lunar mansions have twenty-eight incantation characters: Horn, Neck, Root, Room, Heart, Tail, Winnowing Basket, Dipper, Ox, Girl, Emptiness, Danger, Encampment, Wall; Legs, Tie, Stomach, Net, Beak, Beak, Three Stars, Well, Ghost, Willow, Star, Net, Wings, Chariot.

These twenty-eight incantations are usually used together with the Ziwei taboo; the Ziwei taboo is the common talisman head used in drawing talismans (the 'rain gradual ear'), three characters comprising twenty-eight strokes, each stroke representing the power of one of those lunar mansions. The use of this talisman head and these twenty-eight incantations in orthodox Daoism is countless, usable for exorcising evil, suppressing malign influences, subduing demons, and slaughter. Even without drawing a talisman, simply drawing a Ziwei taboo and pasting it on a door will cause all ghosts and sneaky things to flee a thousand li upon seeing it. Ordinary people who regularly recite these twenty-eight incantation characters can also protect themselves and ward off evil.

Although I didn't know how Murong Jia Jia knew about the Ziwei taboo, nor whether this method was effective, I subconsciously chose to believe her. Not for any other reason, but because the feeling in my heart told me she was trustworthy.

In total, two hundred eighty steps, ten steps per incantation. When I finished chanting the final 'Chariot' character, my whole body shuddered, and I felt as if I had emerged from a cramped little room, blown by the wind, refreshed and clear-headed.

At that moment, I actually heard a girl sobbing softly; the sound seemed right before my eyes, and to me it was also extremely familiar.

It was Meng Xue, and also Yao Yirong.

I gave a start, opened my eyes. What came into view was a heavy door; without the slightest hesitation, I kicked it open with force.

"Meng Xue..."

In a corner of the hall, I saw Meng Xue, Yao Yirong, and several girls who had fainted to one side. The girls were still there, but the boys had already disappeared somewhere unknown.

"Brother Hai Sheng..." Meng Xue, upon seeing me, flung herself onto me as if seeing a relative.

I patted her shoulder to comfort her, saying: "Stop crying, quickly tell Brother Hai Sheng where the others went."

"In the room, that girl dragged them all into that room." Yao Yirong, crouched on the ground, timidly pointed to the western room. Though this little girl had been frightened pale, she summoned her courage and pointed to the room to tell me.

Perhaps because she had previously suffered too great a fright, Meng Xue, upon seeing me, soon fell into a faint.

I laid her down, then took up the talisman and prepared to rush toward the room Yao Yirong had pointed to.

"Wait a moment, give me the talisman; I want to go too."

I turned my head, only to find Yao Yirong gritting her teeth and standing behind me, extending a hand toward me.

"Aren't you afraid?" I glanced up and down at her, noticing her feet were still trembling.

"Who said I'm scared? Give me a talisman, and I dare to go catch ghosts with you just the same." She puffed her cheeks, stubbornly declaring.

I initially wanted to refuse outright, but then I thought: now I have no magical power, relying solely on talismans I don't know if they'll work; Yao Yirong's martial arts seem decent, and with a talisman she might still be able to help me.

"Hold it; when you see a ghost, just directly issue this command."

I taught Yao Yirong the hand signs for the command talisman; seeing she had no problem, I turned and kicked the door of that room with one foot.

With a bang, the door didn't open; instead, I was bounced back.

"Damn it, what is this door made of? It's hard to this extent." I rubbed my aching bare foot, thinking without distraction.

"Really useless?" Yao Yirong looked at my cowardly appearance, sneered contemptuously, then immediately assumed a square stance, gave a huh, and kicked the wooden door hard.

In an instant, the door and its latch broke apart, flying inward in a splendid manner.

"... This girl, she's truly a violent maniac; ordinary people should keep away."

The door was kicked open; I instantly jumped up from the ground and rushed in.

"Ah..." Upon entering the room, Yao Yirong screamed and covered her eyes.

Even I, who am said to not blink even if Mount Tai collapses before my eyes, froze upon entering the room.

Inside the room, a vivid, lively spring palace picture was being performed, and moreover it was the moving kind: a woman with blue-green long hair, her body naked and her face unseen, sat upon a man's waist, wriggling up and down. As the two writhed, the room filled with waves of lewd moans.

I recognized the man; he seemed to be from the same school as well. As for the woman, needless to say, she is the ghost in that picture.

Yao Yirong and I, upon seeing this scene, both froze—one because she was shy and covered her eyes, the other because she had never seen such a thing before, her mind momentarily unable to process it.

But I forgot—this was no time for me to lose focus; before me still lurked a man-eating female ghost who didn't spit out bones. We had merely frozen, but she didn't. Within less than half a minute of charging into the room, she immediately regained her senses. She suddenly turned, flung aside the 'boyfriend' on the bed, and reached out to grab me and Yao Yirong.

"Careful..." In the instant the blue-haired female ghost lunged at me, I finally came to. As soon as I spoke to warn Yao Yirong, the ghost's hand appeared before my eyes; I could almost feel the sting of its greenish nails scraping the air.

In that moment, with my latent power exploding, I fell backward to evade the ghost's sharp claws, then performed a lazy donkey roll, landing in a corner to the side.

But Yao Yirong did not dodge the ghost's attack; the moment she rose, the ghost seized her neck and lifted her into the air.

"Damn it, who just said they'd help me catch ghosts? Now the more they help, the more of a hindrance they are." I cursed silently, then rushed forward with the talisman in hand without hesitation.

One spirit, two ghosts, three resentments, four evils... This female ghost doesn't even know how long she's lived; she has definitely become a malign influence. Although I don't know whether the talisman can completely subdue her, I thought it would be good if it could make her feel pain and release Yao Yirong.

"Urgent as law and decree!" I shouted the command loudly and slapped the talisman onto the female ghost. This strike left me utterly stunned—the talisman hitting the female ghost elicited not the slightest reaction.

Even a malign influence that has lived for over a hundred years couldn't possibly be completely immune to talismans, right? I thought that, lowered my head to look at the talisman in my hand, and upon seeing it I felt like dying just to show it to Pangzi's old self.

The deity in charge of the talisman head turned out to be Universal Sound Buddha; upon looking again at the content on the talisman, I was utterly moved to tears without being able to cry. "Damn it, I came to catch ghosts, and you gave me a children's ailment talisman—what does that mean, to heal the ghost? Or to heal her son?"

I had always thought I underestimated Pangzi's unreliability, but I never imagined his unreliability was actually so low as to be beyond my estimation.

In my heart I greeted Pangzi a thousand times, while the female ghost seized the moment to grab my neck and lift me up as well.

Those sharp nails nearly dug into my flesh, causing me pain and making it hard to breathe.

She lifted me, her mouth preparing to kiss my lips; even with your toes you could imagine that this female ghost was about to suck me dry into a husk.

Although I don't deny she looks beautiful, that's merely an illusion she conjured; who knows what her true form is—maybe it's a mass of ants and worms crawling all over.

At the critical moment, I made a decision that was wise yet one I would regret for a lifetime.

Struggling as the female ghost was about to kiss me, I twisted my neck hard to the left, grabbed Yao Yirong's head with one hand, and pressed it toward my head, so that our lips completely stuck together.

With a buzz, my head also felt a bit dazed, but instantly I cleared up; seeing Yao Yirong's face flushed red, tears about to spill, I could only manage a bitter smile with the remaining part of my face.

"You think I wanted this? It's all to stay alive; if I didn't kiss you, today our little lives would be forfeit here."

But just as I managed to show that bitter smile, Yao Yirong suddenly bit down hard on my lower lip with her teeth, the pain nearly making me tear up.

"This crazy woman, what exactly are you doing? I really didn't mean to do that!"

The female ghost seemed to be locked in a struggle with us, deadlocked in pulling on our necks, straining to pry us apart. Thus I could only endure, tears unshed, being bitten by Yao Yirong; I dared not let go, and had to grip her neck tightly with my hand to keep the ghost from separating us.

I could only feel this mix of pain and pleasure; as a man, taking advantage should naturally be a happy thing. But when you take advantage of a woman you would never want to touch in a lifetime, and you're forced to do so in a crisis, that pleasure is entirely built upon pain.

Perhaps Yao Yirong also sensed the ghost trying to pull us apart; although she didn't know why, she instinctively clung to me with both hands.

Just at the moment her arms wrapped around my waist, I suddenly recalled that my waist still bore my command flag. Although I had no magical power, that flag was a Dharma implement I had offered sacrifices to for many years; the Yin Mountain Command Flag strikes ghosts—lightly, the soul vanishes three zhang; heavily, the soul and spirit scatter.

With one hand I clung tightly to her neck, not letting us part, while the other hand quietly moved to my waist. At this point, the female ghost's grip on our necks grew ever stronger; Yao Yirong and I could barely hold on for less than half a minute before the ghost tore us apart with brute force.

In that instant, I also drew the command flag from my waist, without looking, and swept it forcefully toward the ghost.

The blue-haired female ghost let out a shriek and flew backward, while Yao Yirong and I also crashed to the ground with a bang.

I still hadn't caught my breath when I opened my eyes and saw a huge pink fist.

With a bang, that fist struck my nose bridge, hurting so much that tears streamed down.

"You bastard, what did you just do? You actually kissed me."

Yao Yirong, this girl, as soon as she got out of danger, she punched my nose. After punching, she only then remembered there was still a ghost in front of her, and she screamed in fright, grabbing my pant leg.

I can only swallow my bitterness in silence, even if it's bitter, I have to force it down. What do you call this? You hit me, then come crying to me… Do you hate me or miss me?