Fighting Ghosts 014

"Yes, pay up!" Fang Zhiyi reached out his hand directly.

The family was dumbfounded. The old man, clearly the head of the household, even poked his head out to look behind Fang Zhiyi, confirming there were only two of them. "Child, are you a beggar?"

"Beggar my ass, I'm here on business!"

"Business?"

Fang Zhiyi couldn't be bothered to explain. His current life wasn't easy either; he had to earn money during the day and deal with ghosts at night. The resentment emanating from him was even more terrifying than that of a ghost. He directly slapped the talisman in his hand onto the old man's palm.

The old man was a bit dazed, but when he looked up again, he froze.

Before he could even speak, Fang Zhiyi took the talisman away.

"Understand?"

"Understood! Understood!" The old man immediately scrambled to get the money.

The rest of the family had faces full of confusion, until Fang Zhiyi collected the money and handed each of them a talisman. Immediately after, they saw the ghost tied up with a red string behind Fang Zhiyi.

"Husband!" The hostess immediately covered her mouth.

"My son! You, how did you..."

Fang Zhiyi didn't say much. He turned around, walked outside the door, and sat down, leaving Little Bai to watch the scene unfold.

Little Bai remembered that they had stumbled upon this ghost by chance. At the time, it was trying to shove its foot into a passerby's sole, clearly attempting possession. After Fang Zhiyi taught it a lesson with a talisman, the ghost had been crying ever since.

"See that? The fierce ghost that everyone fears is sometimes the beloved family member someone dreams of seeing just one more time," Fang Zhiyi remarked.

Little Bai nodded.

"Once you understand that, I'll leave those in the house to you."

Little Bai looked at Fang Zhiyi in surprise.

"What are you looking at? Isn't it only right to work for your master?"

"Daoist Master, you mean..."

Fang Zhiyi looked at this rat spirit, frustrated by its slowness. "How did a brain like yours ever manage to become a spirit? Huh?"

Little Bai was instantly overjoyed. "Master!"

"Damn it, you are the worst among all my disciples!"

"Master, you have many disciples?"

Fang Zhiyi looked up at the night sky. "Yes, many."

"Are they all very powerful?"

Fang Zhiyi suddenly thought of a certain idiot. "Uh... more or less."

"I definitely won't disgrace you, Master!"

"Work hard!" Fang Zhiyi thought to himself, if you don't work hard, your master won't be able to leech off you.

It wasn't until the sky began to brighten that those talismans lost their effectiveness, and the family's joyful reunion gradually turned sorrowful. The old man even offered money to let his son stay, but the supposedly greedy young Daoist waved his hand. "This is not a matter of money. Keeping a ghost in the house will eventually lead to a disaster."

"Then, then young Daoist Master, my son, where will he go?" The old man stammered.

Fang Zhiyi glanced at Little Bai. "To the place he should go."

Little Bai took the red string. The ghost followed reluctantly behind it, but it was no longer struggling, and its face carried a hint of relief.

"Master, how should we deal with it?"

"Perform a transcendence ritual for him, of course."

"Oh, then I'll go back and find a few more spirit tablets..." As soon as it finished speaking, it received a smack.

"Why would you need spirit tablets for a transcendence ritual?"

"Yesterday, you..."

"That was sending them away!" Fang Zhiyi scolded in annoyance, but he also frowned. This matter was indeed tricky. The main issue was that he wasn't familiar with the Underworld system here, and he couldn't even speak to those deities.

Forget about the black bear, too. With that guy's brain, if he sent a ghost over, the bear would probably just keep it as a pet.

"Fine, fine, let him go back and stay there for now!"

Word of Fang Zhiyi's ability to communicate with spirits quickly spread. In Jiang Town, people called such individuals Yin Walkers. However, ever since the blind old woman who could walk the Yin path died, this craft had been lost. No one expected that the young Daoist selling talismans would also be a Yin Walker.

This made Fang Zhiyi rather busy. But he knew that he couldn't walk the Yin path at all. Walking the Yin path required establishing connections with the Underworld, and he had no avenues for that. He was simply fulfilling the last wishes of a few wandering ghosts.

But the more Fang Zhiyi refused, the more unfathomable the outside rumors about him became.

Most importantly, the talismans he sold were indeed effective, which made Fang Zhiyi's business boom a little.

Having made money, he didn't forget the black bear spirit. He kept his promise, having Little Bai make two trips to deliver more talismans he had drawn to be consecrated.

Old Master He of the He family was growing more haggard by the day. His daughter was missing, and no matter how hard they searched, she couldn't be found. He spent his days either staring blankly or smiling bitterly. He heard from the servants that his worthy nephew Fang was now playing tricks pretending to be a spirit medium. In the past, he would have definitely intervened, but now he had no mind for it.

It was that very night when the butler knocked on Old Master He's door, howling like a ghost.

After Old Master He opened the door, the butler's first words were, "Terrible news, Master! Ghosts! We're haunted by ghosts!"

Old Master He didn't believe it. The old madam believed in such things, but he did not, until he heard the intermittent crying.

The servants began to run around in a panic. Someone saw a woman sitting and weeping by the well.

In the blink of an eye, someone else saw a ghost squatting on the stove in the kitchen, wolfing down food.

Even more terrifyingly, someone saw a bizarre man clinging to the butler's back, yet the butler seemed completely unaware.

Old Master He nearly fainted.

Had all the ghosts in Jiang Town run to his house?

"The He family, what sins has the He family committed!" Old Master He raised his hand tremblingly. The butler suddenly thought of something: "Master, why don't we... why don't we invite Young Master Fang to come and take a look?"

Old Master He froze for a moment. "Invite him!"

Upon receiving the news, Fang Zhiyi hurried over. Old Master He noticed that after not seeing him for just twenty days or so, his nephew clearly looked the part of a Daoist. Even his demeanor had taken on the air of an otherworldly expert.

Fang Zhiyi first accurately divined the forms and appearances of those ghosts by pinching his fingers, and then he sighed and shook his head.

"Speak, Young Master Fang, no, Daoist Master Fang?" The butler was frantic.

Fang Zhiyi looked at Old Master He. "I'm afraid, Uncle He, you all will have to temporarily move somewhere else for a while and give me some time to deal with these fierce ghosts."

"I, He Zhendong, have acted with a clear conscience my entire life! Why have they come to my He family to cause chaos!"

Old Master He heavily stomped his walking stick.

Just as Fang Zhiyi was about to start his bluff, a voice suddenly came from outside: "Such dense ghostly aura, a place of great peril..."

Turning around toward the voice, Fang Zhiyi froze. Oh no, how could he have forgotten about this?

A wandering Daoist was squinting his eyes, examining the surroundings.

The butler went up and exchanged a few words with him before leading him over as well.

Fang Zhiyi felt a headache coming on. This Daoist actually had some real skills; he was exactly the Daoist from the original plot who had given the original host the ghost-repelling talisman.

Of all the things he calculated, he never expected that this man would come to Jiang Town today and even end up at the He family's house.

"Should we just..." Little Hei made a throat-slitting gesture.

"Do you think I'm some notorious bandit?"