Go all out

Chapter 11: Finding the Body

Three years—I knew a lot could happen in that time. It could temper a person into someone incredibly powerful, or it could break them down into someone weak and timid. Clearly, over these three years, Tian Zhan was no longer the man who had left three years ago. He had been forged in a way that even surprised me—a surprise born of the confidence he displayed just now as he performed his Daoist magic. Three years were enough to bring him to this level of growth. I truly cannot imagine what Tian Zhan encountered or went through during those three years—perhaps things I’ve never even experienced myself. When I heard Tianzhan spouting a string of nonsense, I instinctively looked down at the rooster in my arms. Can you really never trust what ghosts say? I couldn’t say for sure, but what Tian Zhan had just said had struck a chord with me. “Xiao Tian, you need to remember what I just said—really, I’m asking you as a brother to keep this in mind.” Tian Zhan suddenly turned his head and looked at me earnestly. “You’re too soft-hearted, too compassionate. You need to understand that society is far more treacherous than what you see in the village where you live now. If you don’t change, you’ll suffer greatly in the future.” I nodded with a smile. I was actually a little unaccustomed to Tian Zhan not being his usual goofy self. When he saw I wasn’t saying anything, he glared at me, so I could only “beg for mercy” and say I got it. The two of us continued to follow the burning talisman ahead. As we walked, we arrived at a deserted park with almost no one around, and the burning talisman gradually burned out. I thought the talisman had burned out and that Tian Zhan was going to pull out another one, but to my surprise, he glanced around a few times, and his expression suddenly turned grim. “What’s wrong? Did you find it that quickly?” I asked in surprise. “We did find it, but there’s a bit of a problem,” Tian Zhan said. “A problem?” I wasn’t all that surprised—after all, I knew the reason this female ghost couldn’t report to the Underworld was because of the trouble with her corpse. But why did this trouble seem to pose a challenge even for Tian Zhan? “Didn’t you feel a bit of a creepy, eerie vibe when you walked in here?” Tian Zhan didn’t answer my question directly but asked me this out of the blue. I instinctively looked around. The park had been abandoned for a long time, so it looked rather desolate. There were huge trees nearby; during the day, standing beneath them would probably make you feel like the sky was completely blocked out—I guess that’s what makes it cool? Anyway, I didn’t sense anything eerie. I shook my head. Tian Zhan looked at me with a speechless expression. “Do you know why this place was abandoned?” “No one lives around here anymore, so of course it’s abandoned, right?” “It’s not like that at all!” As Tian Zhan spoke, his gaze swept around the area, a hint of wariness in his eyes. “Five years ago, when we were still in school, someone in the city suddenly died. Have you forgotten about that?” “Of course I haven’t forgotten. Because of that, the school even gave us a special day off back then, telling us under no circumstances to leave the house. But the two of us snuck out on our bikes to town and spent the whole afternoon playing slot machines—you even won over twenty.” I said with a laugh, but as I spoke, I suddenly sensed something was off. “Tian Zhan, why are you asking about this?” “It’s simple. Because the person who died has become a ghost, and he’s hiding right nearby!” Tian Zhan suddenly let out a cold laugh, deliberately raising his voice as if he wanted others to hear. “What did you say? There’s a ghost hiding around here?” I was startled. Could it be that no one comes to the park anymore because it’s haunted? Before Tian Zhan could answer, the rooster in my arms suddenly began to tremble uncontrollably. I knew right then that there really was a ghost lurking nearby. “Was it this ghost that killed her?” I asked hurriedly. “You could say that,” Tian Zhan nodded. “But there’s a deep ligature mark around this female ghost’s neck. How could a ghost have killed her?” I shook my head. Would a ghost even need a rope to kill someone? Tian Zhan shot me a disdainful look. “Hey, kid, could you stop arguing with me?” “Uh…” After saying that, Tian Zhan took a small bottle out of his backpack, poured two drops of blue liquid onto his eyelids, and rubbed it in. I knew what this was—Niu Niu’s Tears, specifically used for seeing ghosts. Tian Zhan scanned the area, and finally, his gaze settled on a large tree. I instinctively looked over. Tian Zhan was pointing at a very old banyan tree with lots of hanging vines. Could it be that the ghost had used those vines to kill that female ghost? I couldn’t help but shiver. Tian Zhan snorted coldly and walked over; I naturally followed close behind. But it was really strange—the closer I got to the banyan tree, the more I felt a chill running down my spine, as if someone were blowing a cool breeze on my back. The ground was already covered with a thick layer of withered yellow leaves; stepping on them felt as comfortable as walking on a carpet, and they were quite springy. I couldn’t help but hop a little, but Tian Zhan looked at me strangely, as if he were a bit shocked. “What’s wrong?” No sooner had I asked than the female ghost’s faint voice rang in my ear again: “Master, you’re stepping on me.” “I stepped on you? You’re inside the rooster’s belly right now—how could I possibly step on you? Besides, you’re a ghost—how could I step on you? … Huh??” I hurriedly looked down at the soft ground. Could there actually be a corpse buried underneath? At that thought, I nearly jumped up with a scream and scrambled far away. Tian Zhan chuckled softly as he crouched down. He used his hands to forcefully tear aside the nearly rotting leaves, and a putrid stench quickly wafted up. My eyes widened—because as soon as Tian Zhan had dug a hole, I saw him pull a hand out of the ground… It really was here! Overjoyed, I crouched down to help. As I dug cautiously, a person’s clothes, legs, high heels, and a face as pale as paper slowly emerged before my eyes—until a complete figure came into view. Had she been buried here like this? My face fell. When I cleared away the decaying leaves from the corpse’s neck, I froze—a vine as thick as a finger was still tightly wrapped around her neck, as if refusing to let her go. “I’m dead… I was only nineteen…” A soft, sobbing voice echoed in my ears. What else could I do but sigh inwardly? “That ghost has been dead for several years. It has cultivated spiritual power, so it can come out to harm people. Women are excellent nourishment for ghosts, and this woman seems a bit strange…” Tian Zhan said. “Eccentric? What do you mean?” I was taken aback. “If I’m not mistaken, she was born in a Yin year, a Yin month, and a Yin hour. That’s why the ghost targeted her—absorbing her yang energy would be enough to greatly boost its spiritual power!” At this point, Tian Zhan stood up with a grave expression and produced a yellow talisman from his sleeve. “Take the body away,” Tian Zhan said in a deep voice. I hurriedly nodded, because I suddenly felt the air around me grow as cold as a central air conditioning system—so cold it made my scalp tingle. I quickly untangled the vines wrapped around the corpse’s neck, then lifted the body and shouted to Tian Zhan, “Do you need help?” “I do.” Tian Zhan nodded gravely, then pointed in a certain direction and said something heartless that hurt me: “I need you to go a little farther away.” I muttered a few complaints under my breath. Was I really that useless? After all, I still had some child’s urine, didn’t I? Resigned, I clutched the corpse and took off running back. I hadn’t gone even a hundred meters when I heard a chorus of ghostly wails and howls. Tian Zhan let out a loud shout and recited that obscure incantation of his once more. Soon after, I heard the sounds of a struggle. I didn’t know who had the upper hand, but given how grave Tian Zhan’s expression had been just moments ago, I knew that ghost wouldn’t be easy to deal with. All I could do was hope Tian Zhan was okay. I ran half a li in one go, but I was already so out of breath that I had to stop. The rooster, still standing on top of her own corpse, stared blankly at her deathly pale face. I really didn’t know how to comfort her, so I could only say, “The dead cannot be brought back to life. If you died unjustly in this life, why not just come back in the next?” “Thank you for comforting me.” A soft voice rang in my ear. Then the rooster shuddered; a wisp of smoke emerged from its beak, quickly solidified, and transformed into the young female ghost. The rooster let out a mournful cry, collapsed to the ground, and breathed its last. I sighed and set her body down. Looking at the deathly pale corpse on the ground, I felt not a shred of the fear one usually feels at the sight of a dead person, because I knew this was just a young girl who had met an untimely end. She was still so young and innocent, still in school; perhaps she would have had a sweet romance soon, but now, that was no longer possible.