Wu Xin: The Monster Killer

Chapter 42 Ghostly Souls

In the afternoon, Yueya bought two unusually large carp from the alley entrance. The carp were half-dead from the cold, so she slammed them onto the cutting board, scaled and gutted them, washed them clean, and threw them into a large pot. Once the fish soup had turned milky white, Master Gu used a rag to line the pot's handles and carried it to the small stove in the west wing. Following closely behind was Wuxin, who held a handful of bright green cilantro in both hands. As soon as Master Gu set the pot down, he reached over and let go, sprinkling all the cilantro into the boiling fish soup.

Behind the crescent-shaped hall, the steamed rice was brought in. Three large bowls of rice were ladled out, and the three people, some standing and some sitting, began to eat and drink around the large pot.

With the help of the small fire in the stove, the fish soup remained bubbling hot. Master Gu ate with gusto, sweat dripping down his neck, his head almost steaming. Wu Xin quietly squatted beside the stove, reached down with his chopsticks, and scooped up a piece of plump fish tail from the bottom of the pot. He scooped the fish tail, soup and all, into his bowl, then stuck out his tongue and licked off a layer of meat.

Upon seeing this, Lord Gu immediately retorted, "Crescent Moon, you'll regret this! Damn it, he's always hogging the spoils!"

Crescent Moon was sucking on a large fish head with relish, making smacking noises as she said, "Sigh, do you think I can compete with him for a bite?"

Wuxin smiled at the two people in front of him, his face flushed, offering a completely insincere expression of shame, with a large fishbone still stuck to his face.

The three of them ate a large dinner. Although Lord Gu was a strong and robust man, he was so full he could barely move, lying on the bed burping. Wu Xin, with his large belly, thoughtfully drew on the wall with his finger. Yueya returned from the kitchen, peeled a piece of fruit candy and put it in her mouth after entering: "There's a pot of fish soup left. Tomorrow, I'll put some noodles in and cook a big pot."

Yueya's thinking is simple; cooking and washing clothes are her natural duties. She does housework from morning till night, and although she is tired, she is at peace and content. It's just a pity that she doesn't have a stable little family yet, and even if she does have one in the future, she won't have a bunch of children, which is different from her ideal life.

Crescent Moon understood the situation perfectly, so she refused to delve into the details. Thinking about it was pointless anyway. She wrung out a hot towel, knowing she couldn't live without Wuxin. She pulled Wuxin close, pressed his head down, and wiped the sweat from his brow. Wuxin lowered his hands and head, appearing obedient at first glance, but secretly he kept nudging Crescent Moon with his large belly. Crescent Moon couldn't stand up, stumbled back a few steps, and slapped him, laughing and scolding, "You want a beating, huh?"

Without a word, he bent down and buried himself against Crescent Moon's chest, limp and unable to be pushed away. Crescent Moon helplessly rubbed her cheek against his bald head: "Shameless, you're clinging to me again!"

Lord Gu chuckled on the bed, but then a hint of unease crept in: "Sigh, once I'm settled, it'll be time to start a family!"

Unable to shake off Wuxin, Crescent Moon turned to look at Lord Gu in surprise: "Didn't you used to have five concubines?"

Lord Gu sighed deeply: "So what if there are a hundred? As soon as they saw I'd lost power, they all vanished without a trace!"

Lord Gu didn't want to sleep in the east wing, finding the west wing more interesting. He took out several paper talismans hidden in his old cotton-padded coat, and he and Wuxin picked out a few to use for exorcising demons the next day. Wuxin found a piece of paper and pen in the main room and drew a page full of strange patterns from memory, then asked Lord Gu, "How can we send a letter to Chenzi?"

Lord Gu replied, "Chuchenzi doesn't live deep in the mountains, so why not just mail him directly from the post office?"

Wuxin suddenly realized what was going on, then folded the completed drawing and handed it out: "Go out tomorrow and mail it to Qingyun Temple."

Lord Gu unfolded the paper and glanced at it: "What is this?"

Wu Xin chuckled, "I don't know what it is either. Chu Chenzi probably knows a little bit. Let him study it!"

Lord Gu added, "When you arrive at the Marshal's residence tomorrow night, you must put in extra effort and make a grand entrance so the old Marshal knows how hard you've worked, and also give me some credit for my contribution!"

He tossed his head dismissively, threw on his cotton-padded coat, and went out. Crescent Moon glanced at him, assuming he was going to relieve himself. But after waiting for a while, he didn't return. Turning to Lord Gu with considerable worry, she said, "Go out and check. It's dark; could he have fallen into a pit?"

Lord Gu reluctantly pushed open the door and walked out: "His eyesight is better than a stray cat's. How could he fall into the toilet while using it?"

A moment later, Lord Gu returned, radiating coldness: "Yueya, go check the kitchen yourself. Your man has mixed the leftover fish soup and rice into a pot and is eating it right now!"

Unwilling to indulge in gluttony day and night, he slept in late the next day, not getting up until noon. After getting out of bed, he was caught by Yueya, who compared his size to his body and found that he had grown more than half an inch taller overnight. His appearance had also changed; not only were his cheeks much fuller, but a layer of short black hair had also grown on his head.

"Wow!" Crescent Moon exclaimed in delight, patting his scalp. "All the hair on top has grown in?"

Without thinking, he bent down and took off his pants: "My lower half is all grown in too."

Crescent Moon immediately gave him a light pinch between the legs. Wuxin dodged backward and then started to flirt with Crescent Moon. The two rolled around on the bed, laughing and joking, becoming more and more affectionate and clingy. Meanwhile, Lord Gu sat in the east wing, craning his neck like a goose, still waiting anxiously for Crescent Moon to call him for lunch.

Winter days are short, and darkness falls quickly. Wuxin had just changed into his monk's robes and cloak when a car horn sounded outside the courtyard. He tucked all the paper talismans into his sleeves, composed himself, and followed Lord Gu outside.

The car sped along, arriving at the Marshal's mansion in the blink of an eye. The old Marshal, dressed in civilian clothes, personally greeted the monk as usual. Wuxin got out of the car and walked up to him, not inquiring about the young master's situation, but simply clasping his hands in a respectful bow: "Amitabha."

As twilight descended, the old general respectfully returned the greeting: "Master, today we must ask you to display your supernatural powers."

Wu Xin said softly, "I dare not accept such praise; this humble monk has no chance of winning."

The more he challenged the old general, the more the old general thought he was a truly remarkable and charismatic man. Leaving Lord Gu behind, he entered the general's mansion and found the air thick with tension, with fully armed soldiers standing guard everywhere. The killing intent could counteract the yin energy, so he reluctantly moved forward. Seeing the old general following him steadily without showing any fear or hesitation, he knew the old general's courage far surpassed that of Lord Gu. Perhaps the old general simply didn't know how to subdue ghosts; otherwise, he would have personally taken to the fray.

When the old general was being polite, he was truly courteous, gently inviting the monk to go inside and rest for a while. Wuxin had no intention of chatting with the old general, so he simply declined and asked the old general to lead the way to the burial site in the back garden.

The old general, one hand on the pistol at his waist, walked along asking, "Master, we have black donkey hooves and black dog blood prepared at home, and we even caught a few roosters this afternoon. We also have cinnabar and peach wood swords and the like. Would you like some?"

Wu Xin shook his head, a strange feeling rising in his heart—the Marshal's mansion was too clean; he hadn't encountered a single wandering spirit along the way, a stark contrast to yesterday. He didn't quite believe that the Twelfth Concubine had run away in fright; besides, her remains were still in the garden. How far could a new ghost like her have wandered?

After bypassing the grand mansion, Wuxin followed the old marshal through a cluster of pavilions and towers, followed by a long line of guards. They finally stopped amidst a fenced-off area of ​​withered flowers and willows. Several soldiers emerged from the guards and, from somewhere, began stringing up electrical wires to attach lights to the branches. Wuxin glanced down and saw bare tree stumps on the ground, indicating that the clearing beneath their feet was newly cleared; when the bodies were buried, this place had likely been a desolate wasteland overgrown with vegetation.

The lights were switched on, illuminating an area of ​​several dozen meters. The adjutant, carrying a shovel, stepped forward, pointed to the ground in front of Wuxin, and asked in a low voice, "Master, shall we begin digging now?"

Wu Xin noticed the slight tremor in his voice and guessed that he was the one who carried out the old marshal's orders back then, and must be trembling with fear right now. He glanced at the old marshal without showing any emotion and found that the old marshal was staring at the adjutant's shovel, looking quite calm.

Nodding to the adjutant, Wuxin immediately stepped back a few paces, making way for the open space.

The adjutant, along with several guards, got out of their shovels. It was the dead of winter, and the ground was frozen solid; each shovel stroke only unearthed a little loose soil. Finding this difficult, the adjutant ordered a pickaxe to be brought, removed his hat, and led the others in a frantic digging. After digging to a certain point, they switched to shovels. The adjutant plunged one shovel into the ground, and as he pulled it out, he suddenly jumped back. A patch of white had appeared on the black earth—they had struck a cotton quilt.

Wuxin tucked his hands into his sleeves and stood silently to the side with his eyes closed. The ghost of the Twelfth Concubine still hadn't appeared; in fact, her absence was worse, as it was impossible to say where she had hidden herself. Just as they were waiting, a metallic clang suddenly rang out from ahead. Wuxin abruptly opened his eyes and heard a guard panting, "They've hit a stone slab."

Without thinking, he asked suspiciously, "How come there's a stone slab?"

After digging out the quilt, the adjutant stepped back and stopped working: "Master, this place used to be a pretty big pit, with a well in it. The well was in an inconvenient location and useless, so we filled it in, covered it, and planted flowers and trees on top of it."

Upon hearing this, Wuxin couldn't help but smile bitterly. He thought to himself that back then, Chuchenzi's great-grandfather had gone to great lengths to bury Yue Qiluo next to a well in order to suppress her. But you guys are so careless, burying people in the most yin places without any choice. It would be strange if it didn't become a haunted place.

At this moment, the guards' movements gradually became more meticulous, and a large cotton quilt roll with a red satin surface appeared in the large pit. It was tied tightly with hemp rope, and a tuft of messy long hair was sticking out from the top of the quilt roll.

The old general stopped everyone from digging any further, and instead asked Wuxin, "Master, what do you think? Would it be alright if I poured a bucket of kerosene into the pit and set her on fire?"

Wuxin nodded and replied, "The remains must be destroyed, but..."

He hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to tell the old general the truth: "The soul of the twelfth concubine has suddenly disappeared. I'm afraid that simply burning her remains is not enough."

The old general raised an eyebrow: "That's it? My house is big, could you please look again more carefully?"

Wu Xin watched as the guards, under the adjutant's command, poured kerosene into the pit, a vague sense of unease creeping in. The twelfth concubine's unexplained disappearance was suspicious; the ease with which her remains were unearthed also seemed odd. The twelfth concubine had merely borrowed the yin energy of the earth, thus elevating her power above that of ordinary ghosts, but she was, after all, a new ghost; how much higher could her power truly be?

The adjutant stood at the edge of the pit and pulled a box of matches from his pocket. A sudden surge of yin energy rose, and Wuxin instinctively flicked a paper talisman from his sleeve. However, before the talisman could be thrown, the adjutant had already dropped the matches into the pit.

Flames shot up more than a meter high with a "whoosh," and at the same time, a heart-wrenching scream of a woman came from the pit. The old general paused for a moment, then shouted, "No, no, it's Ninth Concubine's noise—Little Nine, Little Nine!"

Upon hearing this, the faces of the surrounding adjutants and guards all changed. Suddenly, a woman sat up in the raging fire, attempting to climb out, but her legs were wrapped in a quilt, her body was engulfed in flames, and no one was willing to lend a hand. How could she possibly climb out? She stretched out her hands wildly, her voice hoarse as she screamed, "Old Marshal..."

Seeing that she was burned beyond recognition, the old marshal simply pulled out his pistol and pulled the trigger, aiming it at her head. After the gunshot, the pit immediately fell silent. The Ninth Concubine, her muscles convulsed from the flames, sat upright, leaping at the fire. Meanwhile, Wuxin pulled the old marshal away from the heat of the flames and whispered, "Does the old marshal usually favor the Ninth Concubine?"

The old general remained unmoved, only frowning slightly, as if he only wanted to throw a little tantrum: "Yes, my little Jiu is the most lovable."

Suddenly realizing he hadn't been able to catch his breath for a while, Wuxin took a deep breath and sighed, "The twelfth concubine just possessed the ninth concubine—the women of the household are in danger!"

(End of this chapter)