Chapter 008: The Evil
Given the current situation, it seems that Sun Qing's family has likely been possessed again. Possession, also known as "being haunted by a ghost," typically refers to the phenomenon where a "ghost" attaches itself to a normal person, which is referred to as "being haunted by a ghost."
He listened to what I said, shot me a glare, and huffed. As the saying goes, one should not strike a smiling face, which probably captures the essence of the situation. Given that I was speaking to him in this manner, he surely wouldn't continue to be angry with me, as that would seem rather petty.
I immediately took a pair of chopsticks from the kitchen and aimed them at Sun Qing's fingers. Sun Qing's eyes suddenly opened wide; I saw that his eyes were filled with bloodshot veins, and the pupils had turned blood red. With a loud roar, he lunged towards me.
The last time we dealt with the zombies, the Taoist altar did not play much of a role. Later, I learned that the altar was actually prepared for the purpose of guiding Yang's mother to the afterlife. The altar is only suitable for capturing ghosts; for zombies and the like, it is better to engage in direct hand-to-hand combat. This is what the Qingfeng Daoist told me
At this moment, I am reminded of the stories told by my master during my childhood about the practitioners of yin and yang. In one story, a child from a certain family was possessed by a fox. As a result, his family discovered that the child would frequently get up at night, holding a piece of cloth in his mouth, crawling on all fours, and spinning in circles, with an expression resembling that of a fox. He would also curse at people and foam at the mouth, demanding things from his family.
However, these were merely thoughts. After hailing a taxi, we arrived at Sun Qing's home in no time. Once we entered, Daoist Qingfeng furrowed his brows tightly and asked, "What on earth is going on? There is a heavy aura of resentment here."
The Qingfeng Daoist and the librarian glanced at me and coldly remarked, "It might not just be a minor trouble; otherwise, this little fellow should still be able to handle it. Let's get in the car first and talk on the way." After saying this, they walked out of the station. I chuckled softly and immediately followed along with Sun Qingjia.
Fortunately, Sun Qingjia sensed that the atmosphere was somewhat off. He stepped forward to change the subject and said: "You must be Daoist Qingfeng. I am Sun Qingjia. The main reason I invited you here is that I have encountered a small problem."
I rubbed my eyes and took out my phone to check the time. Damn, it was 12 o'clock. Suddenly, the temperature around me dropped a few degrees, and I sensed something was amiss. At this hour, a sudden drop in temperature indicates what? There must be something sinister approaching us.
The Qingfeng Daoist was preparing something alone when, unexpectedly, a package arrived at noon. It turned out that he had asked a friend to send him some 'tools.' He looked down on those Daoists who carried such items with them all day; if discovered by the police, they would be thought to be engaging in superstitious practices. It would be much better to do as he did, clarifying the address and sending it directly by courier. After all, he had quite a lot of items sent, and he set up the Daoist altar just like last time.
In fact, from certain perspectives, I still have a considerable admiration for Master Qingfeng. For instance, his skills in Taoism; I witnessed the strength of that zombie last time, and if I had gone up against it, I would have surely met my end. Master Qingfeng managed to handle it all by himself. So, speaking from a personal standpoint, I do respect him quite a bit. However, on a private level, this old fellow holds grudges and is quite lecherous. Unfortunately, I still need his assistance; otherwise, I would have to confront him directly. So, truly from a personal perspective, I still admire him, but privately, this old man is particularly vengeful and lecherous. It's a pity that I still need his help; otherwise, I would have to go up against him.
Drawing talismans is a physically demanding task; it is not as simple as just making a few strokes. Therefore, I need to restore some energy in advance. This afternoon, I managed to complete a total of five "Exorcism Talismans." Some may say that is a bit few, but for me, it is actually quite good. In the past, there were times when I could only draw three in an afternoon, so today has been an exceptional performance.
However, upon seeing the muscles on Qingfeng Daoist's arms and then looking at my own, I shook my head; in a melee, I would just be delivering food. After Sun Qing accompanied me to buy the materials, he followed Qingfeng Daoist around, bustling about, and drawing talismans, which made the time pass quickly. Finally, by seven o'clock in the evening, I stopped.
However, when it comes to the ghost baby, I am reminded of the story that my master often told me, the story of my father and mother. Since they both had already found the master, what happened to them later? What ultimately became of that ghost baby?
I do not know why the usually bustling city appears unusually quiet today, creating an even more eerie atmosphere. Sun Qing and I are still somewhat worried, after all, we have witnessed the power of this ghostly entity. In contrast, Qingfeng Daoist seems quite relaxed, having set up a small karaoke session at Sun Qing's home, singing endlessly.
I do not remember which deity was invited in the story to negotiate with the child possessed by the fox, but I recall that it seemed the negotiations did not go well, as the fox demanded too much. In the end, the true deity that was invited became angry and asked the host for two sections of a poplar branch. Then, he pinched the child's left middle finger and forcefully twisted it, driving the fox away. After that, the child recovered.
These items are relatively common, right? With Sun Qing and me together, these are not a problem at all. We gathered everything in less than an hour, and then returned to find a corner to focus on drawing the symbols.
I said with a beaming smile: "Oh, not at all, I was just thinking of you, esteemed elder. Upon hearing that you were coming here to exorcise spirits, I thought I would come and witness your heroic presence."
That filthy thing strangely did not appear, and the situation has reached a stalemate. Not far away, Sun Qing's family is still sleeping on the sofa, and I can faintly hear his breathing as he sleeps
However, I accidentally fell asleep. I woke up feeling cold, not knowing why the temperature had suddenly dropped. I shivered from the cold, squinting my eyes, and saw that Qingfeng Daoist was no longer in the hall, and Sun Qingjia was sleeping beside me.
I was momentarily taken aback and was indeed knocked to the ground by him
From a scientific perspective, possession by a ghost is a form of latent self-awareness, which can be classified as a mental illness. However, in such an environment, who would believe that this is a mental illness
Listening to the ticking sound of the clock, time passed second by second. My cold sweat had long since soaked my clothes. As my nerves remained highly tense, I suddenly felt a momentary dizziness. At that moment, a shadow suddenly lunged towards Sun Qing's house. I immediately recited a spell and threw a talisman at the shadow, but the shadow was extremely fast and dodged it in an instant, then crashed into Sun Qing's body.
I was anxious about the books, and this coward continued to sleep at such a time. I truly admire him for that; however, he remained calm and did not wake up just because of my anxiety.
"Damn it, you bastard, how dare you show your face in front of me?" The Qingfeng Daoist shouted directly at me. As mentioned earlier, I had sent the Qingfeng Daoist to deal with that zombie last time without informing him that it was a zombie, which caused him to suffer a small loss, so he has not been fond of me since then
At that moment, my heart truly felt as if it had fallen into an ice pit in the middle of summer, wasn't this a matter of life and death? Why did Qingfeng suddenly disappear? I didn't dwell on it further. I took out the five 'Evil Suppression Talismans' I had drawn, looking around. Unfortunately, the cow's eye tears were five meters away from me, and I didn't dare to recklessly move closer to retrieve them.
The next day was not so easy. After casually eating something, I went out to buy materials for drawing talismans. The materials for drawing talismans generally have specific requirements; one must use ink and cinnabar, with a particular emphasis on cinnabar. The reason for the frequent use of cinnabar is that ancient people believed it had the power to ward off evil. The most common medium for the talismans is peach wood boards, as it was widely believed in ancient times that peach wood possessed strong divine power to drive away malevolent spirits.
I exchanged a silent glance with Sun Qing's family before sitting down to rest my eyes, no longer needing to concentrate on waiting for that ghostly infant to appear. After all, with the passionate Qingfeng Daoist present, I need not fear a surprise attack from the ghostly infant
Let me digress for a moment. If the temperature suddenly drops while you are alone and someone calls you from behind, do not respond. Generally speaking, when something malevolent is within ten meters of you, the surrounding temperature will drop sharply.
However, this is not the time to dwell on such matters. The Qingfeng Daoist took us out for drinks, and we wandered around for a while. Although the Qingfeng Daoist suddenly felt a surge of desire and wanted to find a place to 'have some fun,' Sun Qing's family was concerned that he might overindulge tonight and be too weak to walk tomorrow, so they firmly pulled him back.
Sun Qing's family originally had little hope for the Qingfeng Daoist, as his appearance did not evoke any association with the legendary, highly respected masters; instead, he behaved more like a local ruffian. However, upon hearing the Qingfeng Daoist speak, their eyes lit up, sensing that this Daoist might possess some genuine skills. Thus, they began recounting the story starting from the suicide of Xu Jinglei, eventually leading to the arrival of the Qingfeng Daoist.
Upon hearing this, Master Qingfeng smiled and said, "Isn't it just a ghostly infant that hasn't developed any significant power? It's no big deal, no need to be so tense. Let's go out for a drink and relax a bit." Upon hearing Master Qingfeng speak with such confidence, both Sun Qingjia and I felt reassured. However, none of us anticipated that Master Qingfeng's carelessness would nearly cost the lives of the three of us
The family found this situation truly unusual, realizing it seemed like "hysteria." They hurriedly invited a man and a woman who practiced shamanism. These two were genuinely skilled; the "great shaman" took one look and immediately knew that the child had been enchanted by a fox. She promptly instructed the "second shaman" to beat the small drum, and then she began to invoke the spirits herself.
I am quite frustrated; is it really necessary? It has been so long, yet I am still angry about it. However, I dare not express it, mainly because I cannot overpower him. If I could, I would have gone up and given him a good beating.