“Do you guys think he’s sick or something?!”
At a beef noodle restaurant near the hotel, Zhuge Buhuo wiped the table with tissues, gnashing his teeth in anger.
“He just kissed him! Kissed him!! They kissed with deep affection, all lovey-dovey and completely oblivious to everyone around them. Am I air?! Weren’t you just teasing when you said they’re in love? I really thought you were joking. Who the fuck dates a ghost?! Didn’t you say it was a pet? Who the fuck kisses their pet like that?! I was so scared that I ran away immediately. If I didn’t know ghosts didn’t have that function, I would have really been afraid that the two of them were going to do it right in front of me the next second!”
Zhuge Buhuo was going to spend his entire life healing from everything he had seen in Fu Sang’s room today.
Zhuge Fu Sang was kissing a ghost.
And it was not even a female ghost.
It was actually a male ghost!
“Does he have some particularly niche fetish?” Zhuge Buhuo spent a long time trying to process it, but still could not understand.
“If he really wanted to satisfy his mouth, couldn’t he find a living person and properly date someone? If he likes women, find a woman. If he likes men, find a man. How could he even bring himself to kiss a ghost that looks like that?”
“Looks like what? Isn’t he quite good-looking?”
Huo Wei felt sorry for Zhuge Buhuo’s experience, but could not agree with his assessment.
“Being handsome and looking inhuman aren’t mutually exclusive, okay? His skin is so white, and his eyes are both white and red. His face and neck are also covered in all kinds of messy drawings. He definitely doesn’t have much warmth either. Anyway, just looking at him gives me goosebumps! Can you feel an urge toward something that obviously isn’t human at a glance?!”
“Then do you think Zhuge Fu Sang looks like someone who would feel an urge toward humans?”
“Uh…”
“Then what if San You just likes this type?”
“…Then his tastes are quite niche.”
“…Listening to you two talk, I’m actually a little curious about what his ghost really looks like. Unfortunately, I can’t see him.” Chen Wuyue had listened to them chatter for a long time, and the topic had always revolved around “Zhuge Fu Sang kissing a ghost.”
Chen Wuyue had never seen a ghost before and could only make a comparison based on the situation on her side. But the actual situation was that in the spirit path, they occasionally still saw humans and demons falling in love. Although such things could not be called commonplace, they also would not be overly surprising. So she really could not imagine how shocking this matter was to a nether path spirit master.
“It’s really a pity that you can’t see him.” Zhuge Buhuo shook his head. “Just imagine him kissing a paper effigy.”
While they were chatting, the door of the noodle shop was pushed open from outside. The cold wind of more than -10 degrees Celsius immediately rushed into the warm shop, turning into clouds of white mist.
Huo Wei ate her noodles while raising her eyes toward the entrance.
Then her eyes paused slightly.
The old man they had seen in the inn lobby earlier appeared again. He opened the glass door of the noodle shop, then squeezed through the cotton curtain that blocked the wind and unconsciously rubbed his frozen-red hands.
The owner of the noodle shop was a kind-looking middle-aged woman. When she saw the old man arrive, she greeted him warmly.
“Hey! Uncle Liu, it’s cold today. Would you like a cup of hot tea?”
“No need.” The old man’s voice was hoarse, sounding like a piece of withered wood that had bent over and was about to break.
After a pause, he added, “Thank you.”
“Ah, no need to thank me. We’re all fellow villagers. What are you thanking me for?” The owner smiled as she pulled out a pile of packed cardboard boxes and empty bottles from beneath the counter.
“Take these with you. Take care!”
“Thank you, thank you.” The old man nodded and bent down to pick up the recyclables she handed him.
Because they had previously heard Fu Sang’s eerie remark in the elevator, “There isn’t much time left,” everyone’s gaze was intentionally or unintentionally drawn toward the old man.
It was also at that moment that they noticed the large basket on the old man’s back seemed to move slightly.
But they did not see it clearly, because very soon, the old man carried the cardboard boxes and empty bottles away.
Combined with the “Uncle Liu” the noodle shop owner had just called him, Huo Wei suddenly had a bold idea.
She exchanged glances with the other two people at the table. When the noodle shop owner passed by their table, she immediately pulled her over and enthusiastically started a conversation.
“Auntie, do you know that grandpa who was just here?”
The owner froze for a moment and stopped.
“Yes. What’s wrong?”
“Oh, it’s like this… We’re here to conduct some research. We want to focus on the current situation of impoverished elderly people in counties, towns, and villages like this and provide some help to improve their lives. I noticed just now that the grandpa who collects recyclables fits our target group, so I wanted to ask you about his situation. We won’t take up too much of your time. We’ll just ask simple things like how many people are in his family, how he usually makes a living, where he lives, and so on.”
“Oh, oh, I see.” The owner was also a warm-hearted and talkative person. Hearing Huo Wei say this, she immediately pulled over a stool and sat beside their table.
“That old man just now is surnamed Liu. He’s a pitiful person, and his life really is quite difficult. You just saw him too. He’s already in his eighties, yet every day he goes around town collecting recyclables to make a living. Even in this freezing weather, he still has to be out running around this late. Everyone in our town knows his situation, so every day, people voluntarily collect paper boxes, cardboard boxes, bottles, and things like that and wait for him to come pick them up.”
“Alas, Uncle Liu has truly had a miserable life. He’s the only one left in his family, living all by himself in this impoverished and remote place with a little granddaughter. The child is still young and can’t be left alone. Summer is still a little easier, but once winter comes, Uncle Liu carries the child around with him wherever he goes. Fortunately, the child is well-behaved and never cries or makes a fuss… He should have been at the age to enjoy his later years in comfort. Sigh… Oh, right, he lives over on West Road. If you want to find him, go out of the shop, turn right, and walk all the way to the end. There’s a small garbage dump there, and inside the garbage dump is a red-brick house. He lives in there.”
“There are still kind-hearted people in this world. You young people should help him. The old man is already so old, and he really is pitiful.”
“I see.” Huo Wei nodded. “Thank you, Auntie. We’ll go take a look later and try to help Grandpa Liu with some more things!”
“Ah, alright. You’re both young and warm-hearted. That’s wonderful. Our little shop doesn’t have much to entertain you with, so I’ll give you an extra serving of braised beef for free. Eat well and have a good time!”
The owner smiled at them and, without waiting for them to refuse, went into the kitchen to bring out the beef.
After the owner left, Zhuge Buhuo lowered his voice to something even quieter than a mosquito’s:
“Not bad. Your ability to lie without even making a draft has improved again. You even managed to scam her into giving us beef.”
“Can you speak human language? What do you mean, scammed? I’ll pay more later!” After scolding him, Huo Wei said:
“Don’t you have any sense of what needs doing? Hurry up and call San You. Tell him the situation has changed. We may have found Liu Xiaoying.”
“I’m not calling. I don’t want to disturb him kissing his ghost. What’s even more terrifying is, what if I call and interrupt the two of them doing the deed? What if a seventh-rank Crimson Evil really does have that function? Anyway, I’m not calling. I’m afraid he’ll retaliate against me. Why don’t you call?”
Huo Wei sneered, “You think I’m not afraid?”
“…”
“I’ll call.”
Chen Wuyue really had no choice and voluntarily took on this dangerous task.
She took out her phone, opened WeChat, tapped voice call, dialed the number, and held it to her ear, quietly listening for a while.
A moment later, under the expectant yet apprehensive gazes of the other two, she hung up. “He didn’t answer.”
……
While the other three went out to slurp beef noodles, Fu Sang, who had stayed behind, also prepared his own beef noodles.
Braised flavor.
After Zhuge Buhuo left, he also went into the bathroom and took a shower. He then changed his clothes and dried his hair before coming out and opening the cup noodles in the room and soaking them.
While waiting for the noodles to finish soaking, he rummaged through his bag and took out a blank talisman paper. Then, he pulled out a section of hemp string from somewhere. He sat at the table and fiddled with them for a while before turning them into a tiny paper crane.
Then he used the snake-bone nail to prick the tip of Qi Changying’s finger and draw out a drop of blood. He used it to soak the body of the paper crane completely. After that, he went into the bathroom, opened the floor drain, and threw the paper crane into the pipe. He washed his hands, went outside, picked up the finished noodles, and ate while watching the movie. The whole process was clear and smooth, without the slightest interruption.
In the movie, the Chaosu spy was loudly conspiring.
An unusually clear and particularly abrupt sound came from inside the pipes in the room.
Fu Sang lifted a forkful of noodles and blew on it.
In the movie, the young general, dressed in red, galloped on horseback.
The ground beneath his feet seemed to tremble slightly.
Fu Sang put the noodles into his mouth and chewed them.
In the movie, the great fire reached Chifeng Pass.
Wisps of smoke emerged from the bathroom.
Fu Sang remained expressionless as he added an egg to his noodles.
Piercing insect cries rang out from the bathroom, and something covered in water was dragged out and flung onto the ground beside Fu Sang’s feet.
Fu Sang moved his foot, avoiding the splashing water. His eyes remained fixed on the movie screen without moving. He silently ate the last mouthful of noodles, chewing slowly and savoring it as he finished the meal. Only then did he finally put down the bowl, pull out a piece of paper to wipe the corner of his mouth, throw away the trash, and lean back against the chair, finally finding a moment amid his busy schedule to look at the thing thrown in front of him.
“Why aren’t you hiding anymore?”
Fu Sang raised his eyebrow slightly and asked.
The large black insect was curled up on the floor, dripping wet all over. Talisman paper and hemp string were stuck to its body. It was lying on its back with all four legs in the air, struggling for a long time but unable to turn itself over.
It was still the same insect he had seen in the Miao village, still just as ugly.
Moreover, Fu Sang noticed that this time, the insect did not have the doll he wanted on its body.
Thus, the plan to swiftly kill the demon and seize the object was forced to be put aside. Fu Sang could only squeeze out a tiny bit of patience and lightly pinch his fingertips twice, severing the talisman and string on the insect’s body.
“Hmm? I’m asking you a question.”
“…”
The insect regained its freedom, wriggled its body, and quickly transformed from an insect into a skinny, four-eyed youth.
He did not stand up. Instead, he pressed his body low to the ground with his hands and feet, staring at Fu Sang. He cautiously retreated half an inch at a time until his back touched the wall, then asked in his less-than-standard Mandarin:
“What you want do?”
“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?” Fu Sang’s tone was indifferent.
“There was a insect crawling inside the sewer pipe in the middle of the night. I was so frightened and afraid that you would crawl out in the middle of the night and poison me to death, so I had no choice but to grab you and pull you out first. And yet you are here putting on the appearance of an innocent victim, pitifully lying there and asking what I wanted to do?”
The gu demon gritted his teeth. He was probably shocked by this human’s shamelessness:
“…What are you talking about? You discovered me long ago, didn’t you? But you didn’t immediately pull me out. Instead, you used your red thread to cast a curse and trapped me down there so I couldn’t move. Did you not want your companions to know that you had discovered me? What do you want to do that you can’t let them know about? What do you want to do to me?”
He was fairly clever.
On hearing the gu demon’s words, Fu Sang sneered.
He finally stood up from the chair, strode over, grabbed the gu demon by the hair, and forced him to raise his head, exposing his vulnerable neck. Then he crouched down and looked down at him from above. His eyes were hidden in the shadows cast by his hair, making his expression impossible to read.
“What do I want to do to you? Do you want to hear?”
He narrowed his eyes slightly and deliberately lowered his voice, every syllable carrying a dangerous undertone:
“My ghost was cursed by that female ghost. If I make you remove the curse using conventional methods, you might not be able to do it, and you might not be willing to do it. And I don’t want to just let things slide so easily…Fortunately, I have another method.”
“For example, while the person who cast the curse is still alive, I can tear her bones apart alive, let her slowly die in pain and resentment, then, while the corpse is still warm, stuff it with incense ash and sew it into a skin puppet. Write the birth date and Eight Characters of the cursed person on the outer skin, use long nails to nail her into the ground and sacrifice her flesh and soul. The two curses will counteract each other, and the original curse will naturally be broken. Unfortunately, the one who originally cast the curse was a ghost, not a human, but that isn’t a big problem either. Using a demon who has a karmic bond with her to perform the curse can barely work… I remember you called her ‘Mama’?”
“You, you dare…”
“Guess whether I dare or not?”
Fu Sang curved his lips into a smile, revealing canine teeth that were especially sharp at the sides.
“If you dare touch my things, you should have thought about the price.”
As he spoke, Fu Sang took a folding knife from his pocket and flicked the blade open. Without any threatening process at all, he pressed the tip of the blade against the gu demon’s throat and began carving the strokes one by one.
“…Wait, wait!”
Perhaps finally realizing that Fu Sang was not bluffing, and was genuinely telling him his ending, the gu demon finally panicked.
But with his throat still beneath the human’s knife tip, he did not dare struggle too hard and could only speak rapidly:
“The curse wasn’t intentionally cast by me, nor was it intentionally cast by Mama! We can’t control this! You can’t blame us!”
Fu Sang seemed to have heard a big joke.
He sneered:
“I blame whoever I want to blame.”
“But I cured your companion’s poison!” the gu demon emphasized.
“He took my silver bell. I didn’t know there were insects inside the bell. The insects have their own thoughts, and I have no way to control every single one of them. Biting him wasn’t my intention, so as soon as I found out, I quickly gave you the insect molt to cure his poison! And you, although you treated me very roughly that day and even wanted to take Mama away, I knew you were working for humans, so I never thought about killing you! The curse was only an accident. I didn’t want to kill you or your ghost. You can’t kill me!”
“There is no such thing as ‘can’t.’” Fu Sang emphasized. “I kill when I want to kill.”
“?!”
This human was not only exceptionally powerful, but was also completely unreasonable.
Seeing that all his trump cards had failed, the gu demon could only give up resisting. He closed his eyes tightly and waited for the pain to come.
But to his surprise, when the cold blade once again pressed against the skin above his Adam’s apple, it stopped there for a while, but did not continue forcefully carving the next stroke.
After several seconds of stalemate, Fu Sang dropped the knife and irritably shoved the gu demon away.
After catching this demon, he should have cast a mute curse on him first.
Fu Sang rarely felt a trace of regret.
He did not know who had taught him, or perhaps he really was naturally gifted, but this gu demon had actually broken through the karma between them in just a few words.
Casting a curse and removing a curse, repaying one debt with another, was originally nothing problematic. But if this demon opened his mouth and said he had not known, could not control it, and had not intended it, and Fu Sang actually took those words to heart, then things became different.
Because this meant that this cause did not belong to him. It would have been fine if Fu Sang did not know. The principle that the ignorant are not guilty also applied to karma. But once he knew, he could no longer force him to repay this effect.
If the method of death prepared for him in advance had been ordinary, Fu Sang could still have killed him by force. Afterwards, he could find a way to make up the karma, or simply bear the karma himself; that would not matter either. But the method of having the two curses counteract each other was too bloody and cruel, and the karma involved was too great. It would be too troublesome to deal with, and Fu Sang did not really want to invite such trouble.
Of course, Fu Sang could also gamble that the gu demon was lying.
But reason told him that it did not look like it.
“If you dare tell even one lie, I’ll make you die a hundred or a thousand times more painfully than the method I just described. I mean what I say.”
“I…I didn’t lie. Really, it’s true…”
The gu demon climbed up from the ground and hurriedly explained:
“That doll, that white doll, I picked it up. I didn’t know what it could be used for. I only used it to contain my Mama. Mama is sometimes controlled by the doll. It’s very powerful, and I have no way to stop it…”
The gu demon spoke in a jumbled and disordered manner, giving Fu Sang a headache.
He rubbed his temples and chose a more efficient method:
“Stop talking nonsense. I ask, you answer.”
“Okay…”
“Name.”
“Ah Lang.”
“Age.”
“I can’t calculate it. Maybe I’m a hundred years old.”
“The doll. Where did you find it?”
“…”
When asked the key question, Ah Lang fell silent for a moment, as if trying hard to remember.
“…After Ama died, I had nowhere to go. I didn’t want to return to the Mystic Realm, so I hid in the mountains and forests of the human realm.”
“One day, there was suddenly a very noisy sound above my head. There were continuous ‘bang’ sounds outside the cave. It finally became quiet after a long time. I gathered up the courage to go outside and look, and found that a place in the mountains had been blasted apart. A lot of round pieces of things had come out from inside. I searched through it and found that doll.’
“I took the doll home, and that night, Ama came back.
“But Ama was no longer the same as before. She no longer smiled or spoke. Once, I dreamed of Ama, and Ama said she would always live inside the doll and accompany me. From then on, I kept carrying the doll with me… But I really didn’t know what that doll is for, and I didn’t know why it would cast a curse. I really didn’t know. I wasn’t lying!”
‘A bunch of useless nonsense.’
Fu Sang frowned irritably.
“Why kill people?”
On hearing Fu Sang’s words, Arang gritted his teeth, his reaction intense.
“That’s because they deserved to die! As long as I killed them and used their resentment to feed Ama, Ama would no longer be weak! If Ama knew I did this, she would also be proud of me!!”
Hearing this, Fu Sang raised an eyebrow slightly.
He was right.
A ghost spirit absorbing the blood qi and resentment of a dying person would indeed become stronger.
The rank of an underworld spirit is determined at the moment it becomes a ghost after death, but there were also ways to increase its rank later. That was to harm living people. The principle was very simple: since its own resentment was insufficient to increase its rank, it would find a way to obtain it from other people and use it to strengthen itself.
He didn’t expect that this kid, as a demon spirit, could still use that fingernail-sized insect brain of his to figure out a method for increasing an underworld spirit’s rank, and he had actually figured it out correctly.
“I don’t care whether she’ll be proud of you or not. I’m not interested.”
Unfortunately, Fu Sang was too lazy to know his story and had no obligation to provide emotional value to an insect.
“I’ll give you one chance. Tell me where the doll is. Since you said you didn’t cast the curse, fine, I believe you. But this matter ultimately began because of you. The problem still has to be resolved. You and your ghost don’t have the ability to do it, so hand the thing over to me and I’ll deal with it myself.’
“One thing in exchange for another. The doll in exchange for your life. Otherwise, I don’t mind gritting my teeth, bearing a great karma, and using my own method to resolve this damn curse.”
“…”
Perhaps because he had experienced the chills and fear Fu Sang had brought him too many times, Ah Lang instinctively felt afraid of the human in front of him.
He tentatively asked:
“I can lend you the doll to remove the curse, but you’ll return it to me after you use it, right?”
After asking this question, he saw Fu Sang curve his lips into a smile. There was even a trace of gentleness in that smile.
Then he heard Fu Sang say coldly:
“No.”
“…Then no! Ama is inside the doll. She lives in there. You can’t take her away!”
“You’re thinking too much. Before that, I’ll be responsible for driving her out.”
“Then will she disappear?”
“Maybe. What does it have to do with me?”
Ah Lang hated the human in front of him.
It looked like they were negotiating and giving him a choice, but in fact, every sentence was an order. He did not give others any room to consider or bargain at all.
He felt that hiding the doll and Ama before coming here today instead of carrying it with him had been a very correct choice.
At the same time, he also realized that he was no match for the human in front of him in every aspect.
Looking at the human asking and answering so calmly, without revealing any emotion, as if everything were an expected outcome that had already been designed, a trace of ominous foreboding suddenly rose in Ah Lang’s heart.
The foreboding grew stronger and stronger, making him unwilling to say another word to him. He decisively exploded into tens of millions of tiny insects that surged toward the bathroom, escaping through the sewer pipe.
Yet Fu Sang showed no intention of stopping him.
He merely watched coldly as the four-eyed brat transformed into a pile of disgusting insects in front of him. Only after all the insects had scurried away in a panic did he slightly curve the corner of his lips.
He reached down and picked up the folding knife he had thrown onto the ground. A sticky patch of blue-purple blood was still standing on the blade.
For this curse, he had proposed a new method of resolving it, but unfortunately, the other party had not agreed.
Actually, it was not particularly unfortunate.
Because this meant that he could take it himself.
Fu Sang carried the knife and took another piece of talisman paper from his bag. He folded the talisman paper in half and used it to wipe the blood from the blade.
Then he took out a copper compass and placed the bloodstained talisman paper on the compass and burned it. The compass needle then slowly began to turn.
The needle swayed left and right, slowly turning in circles. After searching for a while, it finally stopped and quietly pointed in a certain direction.
Seeing this, Fu Sang picked up his coat from the sofa and put it on. Then he took the compass from the table and was about to leave.
Before leaving, he held Qi Changying’s chin and kissed him. He received his gentle response, but when Qi Changying wrapped his arms around his waist, he pulled his hands away.
Fu Sang kissed from his lips to the corner of his mouth, bit his face twice, and finally moved to his ear.
Qi Changying still could not hear anything.
Fu Sang had not originally intended for him to hear.
With his lips pressed against Qi Changying’s ear, he told him in a very soft voice:
“Wait for me.”
His voice was solemn, and the sentence sounded a lot like a threat.
Then he raised his hand and made a simple hand seal, returning his ghost to the magic artifact.
Using blood to search for a person or an object was the most basic of spells, applicable to both humans and demons.
Most spirit masters’ object-searching spells could only help them find a general direction or area. But Fu Sang was extraordinarily gifted in curse techniques, and his abilities were also strong. As long as the inanimate object he wanted to find had not been completely destroyed, and as long as the living thing he wanted to find was still alive or still intact, after casting the spell, he could directly trace the specific location of the target. His success rate for helping the owner recover a lost item was as high as 99%.
As for the remaining 1%, Huo Wei said he was not humble and took the initiative to deduct it from him.
With such a terrifying success rate, word spread from one person to ten and from ten to a hundred. Whenever someone within a ten-mile radius of Blind Cat Alley lost a cat, dog, or valuable item, they would come and ask him for help.
His highest achievement to date was helping a young married couple find their missing child. Not only did he find the child, he also traced it back to the traffickers and sent the entire gang to prison. The banner presented by the victims’ family was still hanging in his shop to decorate the wall.
Now, using demon blood to find a doll was naturally no problem.
The compass kept guiding him westward.
It was late. The temperature in the small town was even colder than when he had just gotten off the bus. Snow had accumulated on the ground and had already been trampled into a grayish-black color, making a “creak creak” sound underfoot.
The small town was not very large to begin with. After walking a few steps, he was almost at the end.
Finally, the compass pointed toward an ordinary little courtyard by the roadside.
The courtyard wall was built from red bricks, with a rusty iron gate blocking the middle. A sign hung above it. It should have had something written on it, but it was completely covered in frost, making the writing impossible to see. Fu Sang was too lazy to scrape it off and investigate.
Seeing that the gate was unlocked, he used his foot to push it open and was about to enter, but the next moment, a familiar voice came from behind him:
“San You?!”
Fu Sang raised an eyebrow slightly and looked back. He saw Huo Wei, Chen Wuyue, and Zhuge Buhuo standing behind him, the three people who had said they were going out to look for food.
Fu Sang looked them up and down.
Actually, he was more puzzled about why these three people were not returning to the inn to sleep in the middle of the night and were instead standing here carrying a pile of rice, flour, meat, cooking oil, milk, and eggs.
“Why are you here?!” Huo Wei had spotted someone who seemed to be Fu Sang from far away and told Zhuge Buhuo. Zhuge Buhuo had not believed her, but when they approached and called out, it really was him.
“I have the same question.” Fu Sang’s tone was indifferent.
“It’s not strange that you’re puzzled. We called you but you didn’t answer, so we didn’t get the chance to tell you. We found Liu Xiaoying!”
It was so cold that when Huo Wei spoke, hot breath kept pouring from her mouth.
“Remember the old grandpa we met in the hotel lobby? He’s Liu Xiaoying’s grandfather!”
“Oh.”
Fu Sang did not look surprised by this at all.
He merely followed his original plan, using his foot to push open the iron gate and turning sideways to walk inside.
“What about you? What are you here for? Are you also here to look for Liu Xiaoying? How did you know this was her home?” Huo Wei jogged a couple of steps to catch up beside him.
“Huh? I didn’t know.”
“Then why did you come?”
“To look for something.”
“You came here to look for something?”
Huo Wei craned her head to look at the compass in his hand.
Coincidentally, the compass needle swayed three times and then stopped moving.
Fu Sang also stopped walking because he knew this meant the thing he was looking for was within a ten-meter radius of this place.
Seeing him stop, Huo Wei also stopped, then followed the direction of the needle and looked ahead together with Fu Sang.
“Uh… Are you sure you want to look for something in here?”
“…”
The needle was pointing toward a pile of discarded items that rose considerably higher than the two of them.
“Clang!”
A soda can rolled all the way down from the top of the pile and stopped at Fu Sang’s feet.
Fu Sang kicked it away, raised his eyebrow slightly and spoke with a hint of displeasure:
“Search.”
