Ghost King 010

The things these few had gotten mixed up with were indeed fierce.

As soon as Liu Xiaohua entered, she saw a burly man sitting on the table of this household, greedily sniffing the fragrance of a jar of wine on the table.

Seeing someone come back, the ghost didn't even turn its head, just stared at the wine jar with greedy eyes.

"Um, um, great immortal, can you take a look and see what's going on?" one man said, clearly frightened, even hiding behind Liu Xiaohua.

Liu Xiaohua fixed her gaze on the ghost that kept trying to pry open the wine jar. "I see... a big fat man sitting by the wine jar."

When she said this, the men behind her exchanged glances with each other, and then one of them became excited.

"You mean you, you can see him? A big fat man? Is it Wang Wu?"

Liu Xiaohua said, "I don't know if it's Wang Wu, but he looks a bit dirty, and right now he's right by that wine jar..."

"It must be Wang Wu!" the man broke out in excitement. "Brother Wang Wu, we're all friends, what, what are you doing..."

Their experiences were also bizarre. They all loved drinking, but recently whenever they gathered to drink, strange things happened. The wine just poured into their cups was tasteless, and even after drinking all night, they left completely sober. At first, they thought it was a problem with the wine, but after swapping out the wine several times, the outcome was the same.

If it were just that, it wouldn't be much, but what happened next was even more chilling.

Having no joy in drinking, these men had no choice but to give up on alcohol. But right after that, one by one, they began to fall ill—listless and drained. And whenever they lay down to sleep, someone would whisper "drink, drink" in their ears. Later on, some started having hallucinations: while driving, they'd suddenly feel drunk, nearly causing a disaster if not for the screams of the passengers in the back seat. Another, who hadn't touched a drop, suddenly passed out drunk in the restroom; if his family hadn't noticed, he might have drowned in the toilet.

Afterward, they compared notes and found that each had encountered the same thing. So they went around asking if anyone could handle this matter. It just so happened that one of them knew Lin Bin, and hearing that an old woman's madness had been cured by a young girl, they rushed over that very night.

"Who's Wang Wu?" Fang Zhiyi asked.

Liu Xiaohua cooperatively repeated his words. "Who's Wang Wu?"

The man who had spoken earlier seemed reluctant to elaborate. Another man behind him said, "He's also our friend. He loved drinking too..."

Seeing that he was hesitating to speak, Liu Xiaohua looked helplessly toward Fang Zhiyi.

Fang Zhiyi said, "Tell him that if he doesn't explain clearly, this matter can't be handled."

Liu Xiaohua relayed this truthfully. The men hesitated for a while before finally telling the whole story.

Wang Wu was also a heavy drinker, but he had very poor manners when drunk. He'd either point at others and curse their mothers or kick over their motorcycles, sometimes even kicking children he saw. They all had some complaints about him, but more than that, they despised how Wang Wu would go home and beat his wife and kids when drunk.

Because of this, they had wanted to cut ties with Wang Wu, but he had a thick skin. Even if he wasn't invited, he'd follow the scent of the wine and come anyway, and when he came, others couldn't bring themselves to drive him away.

After it happened a few times, someone finally couldn't stand it anymore. While drunk, they laid into Wang Wu. Wang Wu was furious, but the others also started piling on with criticism. That day, Wang Wu drank a lot—some might even say they forced the drinks down his throat.

The next day, they heard the news: Wang Wu had died. He drank himself to death, and was found lying in a ditch by the roadside.

Normally, if someone dies from drinking, they'd all bear responsibility, but Wang Wu's family immediately chose to forgive them. Everyone knew what kind of person Wang Wu was, and so the matter was quietly settled. Wang Wu was buried hastily and that was the end of it.

But no one expected that even as a ghost, he would still come to beg for wine.

Liu Xiaohua finished listening and looked to Fang Zhiyi for help. Fang Zhiyi stared back at her.

"Didn't Liu Sandao and the others tell you what to do?"

"What to do?" Liu Xiaohua looked bewildered.

Fang Zhiyi rolled his eyes. "You're the master now—don't you need to act like one?"

"Act like a master?" Liu Xiaohua was a bit confused.

"Of course! Strike a pose! Play the high and mighty guru! Chant some spells! If you just stand here, who's going to know once the job is done?"

Liu Xiaohua's eyes lit up. "Oh, oh, right!"

She suddenly stepped forward. The nervous men, seeing her make a move, looked at her with great anticipation.

Liu Xiaohua cleared her throat, raised both hands in a bizarre pose, and began to mutter, "Heaven dings earth dings, spirits everywhere, show yourselves..." She swayed her head, looking utterly ridiculous.

The ghost seemed to be attracted by her antics, slowly turning its head to glare fiercely at Liu Xiaohua.

Liu Xiaohua's heart leaped with panic, and she almost lost her posture, but she stiffened her back and kept up the act. She raised her voice, "Wang Wu! You are already dead—stop clinging to your friends and go where you belong!" The ghost, however, remained unmoved.

"Ancestors, bless me to get better grades every day and get into a good college in the future..." Liu Xiaohua mumbled on, having run out of things to chant, so she just pulled out grandmother's ancestor-worship prayers.

Fang Zhiyi felt helpless but didn't hesitate any further.

The ghost seemed angry at being unable to open the wine jar. Hearing the girl's ramblings again, it turned its head fiercely to glare, but the moment it turned, a slap cracked across its face.

By now, the families of the men had gathered at the door. Hearing that a great master had been invited, they'd come to see, only to find a little girl striking ridiculous poses while chanting at an empty room.

"Isn't she a con artist?"

"What does a kid know? Boss, did you get the wrong person?"

"Shh... keep quiet. The master has already seen Wang Wu!"

"Wang Wu?"

Just then, the lights in the room began to flicker—on and off, as if someone was playing with the switch. Everyone fell silent, their faces carrying a hint of terror.

Only Liu Xiaohua could see it: the bulky, fat ghost was being grabbed by the hair by Fang Zhiyi, repeatedly slammed against the light fixture. The fierce expression on its face had now lost all its temper.

"Fuck, I give you face and you take it as an insult? Want me to do this the hard way? Have you had enough of living?" Fang Zhiyi cursed loudly.

Liu Xiaohua stood there dumbstruck. Could it be that Brother Fang's own spirit was more vicious than the ghosts? She was almost afraid this fat ghost might get beaten to death.

Meanwhile, as she paused, one of the men behind her felt scared and reached out to pat her shoulder to ask what was going on. But the moment his hand touched Liu Xiaohua's shoulder, he suddenly saw it: in the originally empty room, there were now two people standing there!