Fighting the Ghost 013

"You have no idea, that eldest miss of the He family has amazing fighting prowess! She forcefully scratched Qiu Qing's face into a mess, and even He Chusheng took two slaps!" Little Hei's face was full of excitement. "No one was even watching the play anymore, they were all watching them. I bet if they fought a little longer, people might have even started cheering for them."

Fang Zhiyi asked with a smile, "And then?"

"And then? The Qiu family sent people over. How could they not be anxious when their own daughter was beaten up? They directly arrested both of the He family members and took them back. But this He Chusheng is really lucky; he was immediately bailed out by Qiu Qing. The only one left to suffer is He Yuling, but..."

It looked left and right: "I eavesdropped on this. He Chusheng told Qiu Qing that He Yuling was pestering him relentlessly, blah blah blah, making Qiu Qing stomp her feet in anger. He said he only came to the provincial capital to avoid suspicion... The most crucial part is, he proposed to marry Qiu Qing, but he needs Qiu Qing to cooperate with him in putting on an act."

Fang Zhiyi raised an eyebrow. "He forcefully dragged it back to the main plot."

Little Hei nodded: "Yep, I reckon it won't be long before those two menaces come back."

"What's meant to come cannot be avoided... This paranoid and sick guy is the most likely to become a vengeful ghost, a great omen of misfortune."

"Where are you going?"

"I took their money, so I'm getting ready to go to the river to deal with an evil spirit."

"You know how?"

"I do, but I also don't. However, I have a way."

Night fell. The riverside was very quiet; there weren't even the sounds of insects chirping, only the occasional sound of flowing water.

Fang Zhiyi walked along the river with his head down, stopping every few steps. "This money is really hard to earn, it's freezing."

He had already walked back and forth twice without seeing anything strange. Had he not asked the hanging ghost dangling not far away beforehand, he would have thought the family that hired him was hallucinating.

Fortunately, on his third lap, he noticed something amiss. First, there was the sound of a fish jumping out of the water. Fang Zhiyi stood still and looked at the surface. By the moonlight, he saw what appeared to be a large black fish floating belly-up toward the shore, very close to him. It was important to note that in these times, a pound of meat was precious, and a fish was a delicacy that ordinary families only indulged in once every month or two.

Fang Zhiyi stared blankly at the fish, sighed after a moment, and continued walking with his head down.

Sure enough, the fish soon disappeared.

Not far from him, another figure appeared. That person was also walking with their head down. When Fang Zhiyi walked fast, they walked fast; when he slowed down, they slowed down. Moreover, they seemed very familiar with the area, walking right along the edge of the river without fear of falling in.

"There's a fish," the person suddenly spoke, pointing a finger at the water.

Fang Zhiyi looked in the direction of the hand. Indeed, a fish was floating on the surface, and it wasn't small either.

"Let's catch the fish," the person continued.

Fang Zhiyi rolled his eyes. "These water ghosts' tricks are so overused. Don't they know how to change things up? Who the hell catches fish in the middle of the night."

Seeing that he was about to keep walking, the water ghost seemed a bit anxious. Without thinking, it left the water's edge and moved closer to Fang Zhiyi.

It reached out a soaking wet hand and placed it on Fang Zhiyi's shoulder. "Get in the water."

Fang Zhiyi turned his head and revealed a smile.

The kind that could scare a ghost to death.

The water ghost froze for a moment, and then saw the person in front of him, who had been wrapping his coat tightly, suddenly pull the coat open. In an instant, the water ghost felt a golden light pierce directly into its face! The inside of this person's clothes was completely lined with either talismans or spirit tablets; both sides of the inner coat were packed full!

"Ah!!" The water ghost let out a miserable shriek of pain and instinctively tried to retreat to the water.

"You're already here, and you want to leave?"

A handful of talismans was thrown directly at its face. That's right, a whole handful.

The water ghost instantly fell to the ground, howling in agony.

This commotion made the one hanging on the tree branch not far away overjoyed: "Hehehehe, hehehehehe..." Finally, he finally saw a ghost even unluckier than himself!

Fang Zhiyi was now quite familiar with item warfare. Just as the efficacy of the talismans was about to wear off, he pulled another handful from his chest and threw them onto the water ghost, then proceeded to tie the ghost up firmly with the prepared chicken-blood rope.

When the deed was done and he was about to leave, Fang Zhiyi didn't forget to intimidate the hanging ghost, scaring the previously gloating ghost into a state of sheer panic.

Under Fang Zhiyi's guidance, Little Bai, the amateur Daoist boy, also began his practical training.

That consisted of reciting scriptures every day to the few ghosts trapped in the house. He chanted until he himself wanted to fall asleep, but he had to keep reading; after all, whatever Fang Zhiyi said made sense.

Facing the new face Fang Zhiyi brought back, Little Bai instinctively wanted to tell it to go squat in the corner, and the other ghosts consciously made room for it. But Fang Zhiyi waved his hand: "Not this one."

"Huh? Then how do we handle it?"

Fang Zhiyi revealed a smile that looked utterly terrifying to the ghosts. "To give you some practice."

"Ah?"

"This guy has several human lives on his hands. There's no need to cross him over; just send him on his way directly."

A ritual that made the other ghosts' scalps tingle thus began. Fang Zhiyi chanted a line, and Little Bai repeated it, but the effect was minimal; it only caused the water ghost to struggle in constant pain, making the other ghosts shrink back in fear.

Little Bai thought his comprehension was just too poor and was a bit afraid Fang Zhiyi would despise him for being stupid. Fortunately, Fang Zhiyi was very patient.

In reality, Fang Zhiyi didn't know which incantation worked either. Since none of the spells worked when he used them, he could only rely on Little Bai's hands to get it done.

In the end, Fang Zhiyi simply gave up on the normal procedure and resorted to the most direct method.

Watching the water ghost being strapped with over a dozen spirit tablets, the other ghosts were filled with horror.

This Daoist priest was simply inhuman!

Under the oppressive power of those spirit tablets, the water ghost's body continuously emitted blue smoke until it completely disappeared. The whole process made the other ghosts grimace in fear. By the time Fang Zhiyi turned his head, their demeanors instantly changed, each acting more obedient than the last.

"You, you, yes you!" Fang Zhiyi impatiently pointed at the one who had cried the loudest the night before. "Come out!"

"Spare my life, Daoist Master! I've never harmed anyone! I just wanted to..."

"Get the hell out!"

They watched as their companion was dragged out the door by this tyrant using a red rope.

Little Bai comforted them briefly, closed the door at Fang Zhiyi's call, and followed him.

"Are we going to die?"

"We are already dead."

"No, I don't want to die like that guy did..."

"Leave it to fate..."

"Wuwuwu, I want to reincarnate... I miss my mom..."

Little Bai followed along the whole way. Fang Zhiyi looked left and right, then walked straight toward a household. The family inside was woken up by him and looked at the two people knocking on the door with some panic.

"Um, is there something the matter?" The hostess's eyes were full of vigilance. Even though this was in town, just a few years ago there were still bandits attempting robberies.