Chapter 18: Condolence Guest Ghost Sha

Time gradually shifted toward the Hour of the Rat, and a demonic wind arose.

The temperature plummeted, and frost formed on the flowers and plants in the courtyard.

The dim moonlight spilled weakly through the thin window paper, invading the room along with the cold air.

Xu Jia pulled his quilt tighter and muttered to himself, "Yin Sha condensing into frost; this evil ghost would actually be suitable for use as a refrigerator or air conditioner—best for cooling off in the summer."

That gust of yin wind circled in the room, seemingly searching for something.

"Meow!"

A startled cry of a wild cat with its fur standing on end.

Then came the sound of something shattering, a clattering racket!

During the day, Xu Jia had laid out a simple Feng Shui Array; to a ghost, the flowing Qi was like a river, blocking the path ahead, while the steady and dense Qi was like a mountain, and these mountains and rivers combined to form a labyrinth.

In other words, this ghost had been caught in a Ghost Beating Wall by Xu Jia and was currently trying to brute-force its way through.

A moment later, the various strange sounds vanished, leaving only a deathly silence.

Xu Jia frowned slightly; it seemed this simple Feng Shui Array had already been broken by it.

At this moment, a faint, low muttering reached his ears, a hoarse calling, erratic and drifting, sometimes far and sometimes near.

It was as if the phantom were right outside the window, at the door, by the bed.

"Xu Jia... ~ where are you... ~ hehe... you're playing hide-and-seek with me, aren't you? I'm almost about to find you..."

The ghost clearly had no footsteps, yet Xu Jia heard heavy footsteps approaching step by step.

This was a form of "intimidation," meant to break a person's mental defenses and induce fear.

But Xu Jia was not afraid of ghosts; as the saying goes, people fear ghosts three parts, while ghosts fear people seven parts. If Xu Jia couldn't even handle such a Condolence Guest Ghost Sha, then he would have truly wasted his cultivation.

Since Xu Jia had set up an array in the courtyard during the day, the room was naturally the top priority. At this moment, a Mountain and Water Painting hung on the door. This painting had originally hung behind Xu Mu's desk, representing a "backing mountain," and was a gift from the person who sold his grandfather an Eighth-Rank Scattered Official position.

It represented: from now on, I am your backing.

Although Xu Jia's grandfather was dead, that "backing" was still very active today.

Fearing that this backing painting wasn't intimidating enough, Xu Jia had also painted a "Tai Shan Talisman Diagram" on top of it.

There was no way this ghost could push past "Mount Tai" to enter the room.

As for the bed where he slept, Xu Jia had also tied a Spirit Knot with straw rope.

No matter what tricks the ghost used or what commotion it made, its essence was simply to scare people; if it couldn't scare a person into fear and mental confusion, a ghost couldn't harm them.

As the saying goes, if you do no evil, you need not fear a ghost knocking at your door.

A ghost is essentially a mass of obsession carrying Yin Sha; there is nothing to be afraid of. At its strongest, it can only stir up a whirlwind to blow out the yang fire on a person's body.

Although this hanging ghost was fierce, it was very difficult for it to directly possess or kill a normal person. It required a series of preparations, disturbing a person until they couldn't sleep well—like training a hawk—until a person with weak yang energy would become mentally confused after three or four days, eventually being manipulated by the Ghost Sha.

When Xu Jia taught disciples in his past life, he taught the "Sha-Dispelling Ritual," which was for sending these "Ghost Sha" away.

It was just that Blue Star was somewhat unfriendly to ghosts, while the soil of this world was more suitable for the survival of these supernatural ghosts and monsters, so they might be a bit stronger.

But Xu Jia was even less afraid. If you didn't kill me, you should be glad; if you did kill me, you would be undoing a seal, and it would be my turn to kill you.

Returning to the underworld, Xu Jia was still a minor official of the Dongkong Qingling Gong, a civil servant of the underworld. He might be ridiculed for having a "three-day tour of the mortal world" experience card, but if he didn't return to the underworld, he could find a mountain peak here and establish himself as a Ghost King.

The footsteps soon reached the outside of Xu Jia's room door.

The meager moonlight outlined blurry and twisted shadows. The heavy footsteps stopped there.

Then, the sound of the door being pushed began.

"Creak."

But the painting hanging on the door did not move at all.

"Creak!"

"You're inside, aren't you, Xu Jia... ~ You're inside, aren't you? I've found you... come with me quickly, I've come to take you to a good place..."

The ghost couldn't push the door open, so it peered through the crack in the door, one eye staring fixedly inside.

It blew a gust of Yin Sha from its mouth, which turned into cold air, and the water in the air condensed into frost.

Its gaze shifted and swayed up and down.

But it discovered nothing. From its perspective, it could see nothing at all; Xu Jia seemed to have turned invisible.

The straw rope knot tied to the bed was an "Altar Field Barrier"; Japan's Shinto had once learned this method and used it in shrines and to tie up places where demons and monsters were sealed.

The Condolence Guest Ghost Sha was unwilling to give up; it puffed out its cheeks and blew the yin wind inside.

The door creaked and groaned, as did the windows.

But they just wouldn't open.

The ghost couldn't force it open; although it knew Xu Jia was inside, it could do nothing about it...

"It seems Xu Jia is not inside; I must go look elsewhere."

The suppressed voice drifted away.

A moment later, the sound of the wind dissipated, the cold air weakened, and the footsteps began to head toward another place.

The black shadow visible outside the window also dissipated, and the dim moonlight shone in once again.

Xu Jia did not get up to check; Ghost Sha are treacherous and cunning, as the saying goes, "Ghost talk is full of lies."

Sure enough, an hour later, a voice came from outside the door: "It seems he is not in this room."

Another black shadow appeared, looking as if it had just changed from a crouching position to a standing one, and wandered off elsewhere.

Xu Jia did not know if the Ghost Sha had actually left or not.

However, he was not particularly worried about the situation of Xu Mu and his father; their room was in the main house, and the side room next to the main house was a Buddhist hall where Xu Mu often worshipped Buddha.

No matter how bold this ghost was, it would not dare to approach that.

Moreover, his father was the head of the household, possessed the foundation of a hundred acres of fertile land, was the head of the family, and had passed the exam to become a scholar; if the ghost didn't fear him and instead scolded and cursed him, the ghost would have to retreat three times over.

Xu Jia guessed correctly; this ghost bullied the weak and feared the strong, heading straight into the "lower rooms" and "side rooms" where the old maids and servant girls lived.

This time, it pushed open a door very quickly.

A black shadow stood in the corner; this Ghost Sha opened its mouth and blew out cold air.

It also made a strange creaking sound.

But the old maids were snoring like thunder, and the mischief could not wake them.

This hanging ghost felt bored instantly, so it looked toward the young one.

There was only one young servant girl in the Xu household, and that was Xiao Hong.

Xiao Hong was trembling with fear at this moment; the old maids' snoring had kept her awake in the first half of the night, and in the second half, there were gusts of eerie wind outside, along with the chilling cries of wild cats... plus the strange instructions Xu Jia had given her during the day, making it hard not to overthink...

"Cluck! Cluck-cluck!"

The old hen by the bedside had started making uneasy calls the moment the ghost entered the room.

Xiao Hong held her breath and focused, not daring to move at all. Her hands were tightly clenched, her fingernails digging deep into her palms; the pain, instead, made her all the more clear-headed.

The soles of her feet were already covered in cold sweat, chilled to the bone with fear, dreading that she would see a terrifying and horrific sight the next moment.

For instance, the ghost lifting her quilt.

At this moment, time seemed to slow down, and every sound was amplified to the extreme, becoming a sharp weapon that tortured Xiao Hong's nerves.

The narrow space inside the quilt was filled with an increasingly intense atmosphere of horror.

The old hen tied to the bedpost was even more terrified, flapping and jumping about, wanting to escape this place.

Xiao Hong only felt the icy cold penetrating through the quilt onto her body. She was almost scared to the point of crying; a large patch of goosebumps had already risen on her neck and back.

She had already recalled what Xu Jia said during the day: "If you don't want to die, then obediently do as I say."

She did not want to die, and she was also glad she had obediently listened to Xu Jia's advice.

But she did not know if it would be useful.

At this moment, she was just like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, curled up in her quilt, waiting for the final outcome.

Life or death.

(End of this chapter)