Chapter 37

"Back then, I thought I had seen a mistake and was startled to sit up. At that moment, there were still people around me playing mahjong and chatting. I was sure I wasn’t dreaming, but I still saw Old Qian standing there. Wasn’t his body supposed to be in that ice coffin (cryogenic coffin)? He was lying there properly, yet he was standing there, looking very sad, gazing at his eldest grandson. His eldest grandson was just like my grandson, not ambitious and not studying well, wanting to mix in society. Looking at Old Qian’s expression, I suddenly wasn’t afraid anymore. I felt that Old Qian must be worried about his eldest grandson, so he had that expression."

While I was thinking, the old lady continued, as if she had already gone off-topic. But since Lao Zhou and I didn’t mind the time, and perhaps the old lady had been lonely and calm for too long, she couldn’t help but talk more, and we could be patient.

After all, it was quite interesting to listen to.

"So, at that time, I muttered to Old Qian, 'Old Qian, don’t worry. Your descendants will have their own blessings. Besides, life is suffering, and you’ve already endured your share. Go in peace.' Strangely, as I whispered, Old Qian seemed to hear me. He suddenly looked at me and smiled, then disappeared. The next day, after I returned from the memorial hall, I fell ill. After this illness, I often saw things. I’m not kidding."

Grandma Wen’s expression was particularly serious.

I frowned slightly, feeling the yin energy in the room, looking at Zhao Ying’s portrait. The black aura was becoming more and more pervasive. I felt that I would definitely need to come back to this house later.

"Third Brother, what do you think?" My deep thoughts made the conversation temporarily fall silent. Grandma Wen seemed worried that I didn’t believe her, while Lao Zhou was reminding me of this point.

"Um, Grandma Wen, can you tell me your birth date and time?" I cautiously asked, as asking someone’s birth date and time is taboo. Young people today might not understand or care, but the older generation might.

"You’re asking this?" Indeed, Grandma Wen’s expression changed. In her time, if someone knew your birth date and time, the most common belief was that you could be cursed. If they believed in this, they would definitely be wary.

"Grandma Wen, don’t misunderstand me. I think it’s understandable for an old person to occasionally see spirits, as people get older, their yang energy decreases. But if it happens frequently, it might be related to your constitution. Although I have many ways to determine your constitution, asking for your birth date and time is the most convenient. I just suspect that Zhao Ying’s death might be related to this. After all, certain constitutions can be hereditary." I patiently explained to the old lady, not intending to hide anything.

"Is that so?" Grandma Wen’s eyes suddenly showed a glimmer of hope, and she said repeatedly, "You young people might really understand. Our Ying Ying could see things before she was five. Later, I had to get a talisman from the temple and put it on her for her to be fine."

"Hmm." I pondered, feeling like I was grasping something. People who can easily see spirits often have strong spiritual energy, like Lao Zhou, who also has strong spiritual energy. If so, could Zhao Ying’s death give me a clue?

Why would they target someone with strong spiritual energy? I couldn’t figure it out at the moment.

On the other side, Grandma Wen wrote down her birth date and time for me. I glanced at it, but didn’t really understand much. I put the paper in my pocket. If it weren’t for the methods to determine constitution potentially harming the old lady, I wouldn’t have asked for her birth date and time. Since I couldn’t understand it, I would have to find someone.

This person is the one I couldn’t figure out during my five years of solitude. For a long time, she was my hope, showing me the shadow of a cultivator. But she was too unpredictable, and I couldn’t be sure. Later, she seemed ordinary, and I gave up hope.

Now, life has unfolded a new chapter for me. I thought of her again, and her sometimes accurate, sometimes inaccurate fortune-telling. I fell silent for a moment, wondering if I had missed another cultivator.

"Did you see anything?" Grandma Wen seemed to have great hope.

"Grandma Wen, I know very little about birth dates and times. Not every Taoist knows everything; there are divisions of labor. Since we’ve promised to help, we might come more than once. I’ll ask someone to look at this birth date and time. Don’t worry." I comforted Grandma Wen.

Lao Zhou looked at me in surprise and suddenly said, "You’re not going to ask—"

The person I thought of, Lao Zhou naturally knew. I nodded at Lao Zhou, signaling him to be quiet. Lao Zhou pointed at me but didn’t say much in front of Grandma Wen, instead signaling her to continue.

"Earlier, I said that after my serious illness, I often saw those things. Occasionally, I saw them wandering by. At first, I wasn’t used to it and thought they were just passersby. Later, I knew they were ‘good friends.’ Especially when someone in the neighborhood died, I always saw them. At first, I was scared, but later, I got used to it and found that as long as I didn’t pay attention or provoke them, there was nothing to worry about. Speaking of Ying Ying, why do I think she was murdered? It’s because I sleep lightly. Before she died, wasn’t it winter break? At night, I often heard Ying Ying calling out."

As she spoke, Grandma Wen seemed nervous, as if that memory also made her uncertain.

Lao Zhou quickly handed the water the middle-aged woman had poured to Grandma Wen. She took a sip and said, "That calling wasn’t loud shouting. It was like someone was having a nightmare and calling out without knowing it. At first, I didn’t pay much attention and just asked Ying Ying if she had nightmares and didn’t sleep well at home. This child, probably not wanting to worry me, told me she slept well. But after a few times, I noticed her looking unwell. One night, she called out particularly loudly. Her younger brother, who lived next door, came back that day and couldn’t help but complain. I got up to check."

"What did you see?" Lao Zhou seemed eager, as the clue we needed might be here.

"I—" Grandma Wen hesitated for a while before saying, "I actually didn’t see anything, or rather, I couldn’t tell what it was. I just saw a black aura enveloping Ying Ying. I was so scared that I shouted. I felt a pair of eyes in the black aura looking at me. I was really scared and fell to the ground. Then, Ying Ying’s brother came over, and Ying Ying woke up. The black aura dispersed."

"Black aura?" I habitually took out a cigarette and put it in my mouth but didn’t light it immediately. Instead, I closed my eyes and felt the yin energy in the room. I roughly understood that something had been here, and it was definitely not an ordinary wandering spirit.

"Go ahead, I don’t mind." Grandma Wen saw that I hadn’t lit the cigarette and kindly said.

I scratched my head, feeling a bit embarrassed, and lit the cigarette. Then I asked Grandma Wen, "Did you only see it once?"

"Yes, I only saw it once. It’s not that Ying Ying slept well after that, but I couldn’t get up." Grandma Wen’s expression turned bitter.

"What do you mean?" Grandma Wen said she couldn’t get up?

"From that day on, I was ‘pressed by ghosts’ every night. No matter how I cursed or shouted, it was useless! Every night, a group of wandering spirits would come and press on me, making me unable to get up. I had no choice but to go to the temple for a talisman, but it didn’t help much. The spirits didn’t press on me as tightly, but they still came every night. Then, I found a Taoist. He killed a chicken on my bed, sprinkled chicken blood, and gave me a bowl of talisman water. That night, it was a bit better. I felt the ‘good friends’ didn’t come close to my bed, but they still surrounded me, not letting me get up." Grandma Wen spoke calmly about this past event, perhaps because she had seen so much that she wasn’t as scared anymore.

At least compared to ordinary people, she clearly knew what was happening. This clarity really reduced some of her fear.

"Then what happened?" Lao Zhou was engrossed, just like me. Initially, we only thought Zhao Ying’s body had been ‘desecrated,’ but we didn’t expect so many hidden details behind her death. How could we not be engrossed?

"What else could I do? Being pressed by these ‘good friends’ every night, my body became weaker day by day, but Ying Ying’s reaction didn’t seem as strong. I thought, maybe those ‘good friends’ were originally after Ying Ying, but then came after me. If so, what was there to be afraid of for this old body? Ying Ying had a bright future, obedient, and sensible. I did nothing and let them press on me. This continued until Ying Ying went back to school." Grandma Wen told Lao Zhou and me.

Poor Grandma Wen, her deep love for her granddaughter. Lao Zhou and I sighed. This whole incident was probably filled with a sense of conspiracy, but as ordinary people, how could Grandma Wen and Zhao Ying know?

"Since that’s the case, how did you determine that Zhao Ying was murdered?" I asked, as Grandma Wen seemed to have accepted her fate. She shouldn’t have suspected that Zhao Ying was murdered, at most just thought that being pressed by ‘good friends’ had weakened her body.

"That’s because a few days before Ying Ying fell ill, she came back once, and I saw it again." Grandma Wen’s expression turned angry and vengeful.

After all, it was the one who had killed her granddaughter.

"Did you see the black aura again?" I asked subconsciously.

"No, I saw a man!" Grandma Wen told Lao Zhou and me.

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