I have a ghost diary

For example, in Wu Wenying's "Fragrance of Orchids in Bathing - Lin Zhongyu's Double Fifth Festival in Huai'an," the passage that Lin Mohua recited before the painting was from this poem.

Looking at it now, it doesn't seem to be that simple...

Faced with Chu Jiang's question, Lin Mohua was somewhat surprised, "You don't know?"

Chu Jiang shook his head. "There's no point in pretending to be stupid."

Lin Mo Hua was momentarily at a loss for words. "Since you don't know, it's probably because your family doesn't want you to know right now."

"Then I won't presume to do so. If you want to know more details, you should ask your relatives."

Chu Jiang frowned. "I was adopted by my family, and they know nothing about me."

“This…” Lin Mohua shook her head repeatedly, “Then you should ask the old master. I can’t make the decision myself. You will be able to see him in three days.”

"Does it have to be three days later?" Chu Jiang didn't want to wait that long.

"You can try to see him now, but he will most likely ignore you."

Are they dealing with the Black Sun? Too busy? It's an S-class vengeful ghost, after all; even Old Master Lin probably couldn't just deal with it so easily.

Thinking about the big trouble he had caused, Chu Jiang nodded in agreement, "Then let's do it in three days. I'll stay here for a few days."

Even so, Chu Jiang still didn't quite understand what this ghost realm was all about, and what the "people" in this ghost realm were all about.

If they were truly from the Republican era, they would be close to 150 years old by now, with the older ones probably over 200.

Can a normal person really live that long? And even a maidservant could live that long?

Chu Jiang really wanted to ask if Lin Mohua knew that she might already be dead.

However, after thinking about it, he decided not to do so. If the other party knew the truth and completely lost their humanity, turning into a vengeful ghost, then Chu Jiang would really be in trouble.

Suddenly, Chu Jiang remembered something. He seemed to have seen this "ink painting" among the many memorial tablets in the Lin Clan Ancestral Hall.

Logically speaking, this is abnormal. Only male offspring and their original wives are qualified to enter the ancestral hall; female offspring are considered married daughters, like water spilled from a cup, and in traditional thinking, they should not be qualified.

But that's irrelevant now. The important thing is that this Lin Mohua is very likely a dead person...

Chapter 166 The Whole Family Are Ghosts

Soon, the maid brought the clothes.

Upon seeing this, Lin Mohua went outside to wait.

Chu Jiang changed into a white suit and vest, not a long robe and mandarin jacket. At this time, Western style was still very popular, and many young people liked to wear new clothes to show off their fashion sense.

This also seems to be the young lady's preference.

As soon as Chu Jiang came out of the room, Lin Mohua said, "How about you come with me? You should also pick out some birthday gifts, right?"

"Hold on a minute, I have a question for you. Where did you find me? Did you see a book with a black cover near me?"

"I had just gone out for a walk when I saw you lying on the side of the street, being pointed at and talked about, so I brought you back," Lin Mohua said calmly.

"As for the black book, I didn't see it, and it's unlikely that someone took it. I asked the crowd, and they all said that you fell from the sky and you didn't have anything else with you."

Then it's highly likely that the old man took it. Did he want to study it?

Considering that this was very likely within the old man's ghost realm, Chu Jiang wasn't in a hurry to take it back; he'd wait until he saw the other party.

"Okay, show me around." Taking this opportunity, Chu Jiang wanted to learn more about this ghost realm.

It seems like many people live here, and Lin Mohua doesn't seem to realize it's a closed little world. Could this ghost realm be terrifyingly large...?

And so, Lin Mohua led Chu Jiang away from the side room and headed towards the main gate of the Lin family mansion.

The area here is very large, with a deep courtyard and seven entrances and exits. It has all kinds of buildings, including the main gate, screen wall, back room, hanging flower gate, covered corridor, east wing room, west wing room, courtyard, side room, main room, and rear room.

Chu Jiang was like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden, looking around at the scenery while asking Lin Mohua some questions.

Who are the members of the Lin family? What is the name of this town?

Lin Mohua is always willing to answer common-sense questions.

The head of the Lin family is naturally the old patriarch, a very special figure who commands respect from both the legitimate and criminal worlds in China.

However, the old man is getting old and no longer goes out to make his way in the world like he used to. He usually stays in his own courtyard and doesn't come out to see guests.

The old man's wife was known to everyone as the Old Madam. She was chronically ill and bedridden, and rarely saw anyone.

The old master's only son, who is also Lin Mohua's father, is the master in everyone's eyes.

However, the master has already passed away. Due to certain special reasons, he has not been buried. His body is temporarily placed in a coffin in the main hall of the Lin family.

The master had five wives during his lifetime: the first wife, the second wife, the third wife, the fourth wife, and the fifth wife.

Lin Mohua is the daughter of the First Madam, and she also has an older brother.

The second wife had two sons, the second young master and the third young master.

The third concubine had a son and a daughter, namely the second young lady and the fourth young master.

The fourth concubine has a son, the fifth young master.

The fifth concubine was still very young. Not long after she married into the family, the master passed away, so she had no children.

When introducing these people, Lin Mohua asked Chu Jiang to stay as far away from them as possible.

It is said that due to the influence of the ghosts on them, their temperaments are different from ordinary people. They are easily angered and impulsive, so it is best to avoid unnecessary friction and conflict.

This truly startled Chu Jiang. This entire family—the whole family were ghost masters? Did they all have ghosts inside them?

Lin Mohua found Chu Jiang's reaction quite strange. "It's understandable that ordinary people wouldn't know, but you, as a ghost master, don't even know this? Our [Exorcism and Ghost Suppression, Luohe Lin Family] is quite well-known in the country, isn't it?"

Lin Mohua's words reminded Chu Jiang of a paper he had previously read on a paranormal website, a paper about the resurgence of paranormal phenomena.

The author mentioned that the last global paranormal resurgence was actually not that far removed from the present day.

During the Republic of China period in China, and corresponding to the world during World War I and World War II, there was a small-scale resurgence of paranormal activity worldwide.

The authors of the paper speculate that the previous resurrection was merely a prelude to the current one, caused by global instability, frequent wars, and countless deaths on earth, which led to the premature start of the supernatural resurrection.

At the same time, the impact of that previous incident was not as great as the current one. As wars of all sizes around the world came to an end and the world situation returned to stability, the resurgence of supernatural phenomena was gradually suppressed.

But this time, things are not so simple. This is not a prelude, but a full-scale unfolding. Therefore, if this supernatural resurgence cannot be resolved, the destruction of the world is definitely not a joke.

If this speculative paper is true, then it's not impossible that during the Republican era in China, there was already a group of well-established sorcerers.

These ghost masters even formed families and separatist forces, much like warlords in various regions.

No, even warlords had to respect these people. After all, guns and cannons couldn't deal with ghosts. When they encountered supernatural events, they could only ask these ghost master families for help.

Many of the sealed artifacts possessed by modern exorcists are actually remnants of those from the Republican era. As for sealed artifacts from even earlier periods, due to the distant time of the previous supernatural resurgence, there are not many truly ancient sealed artifacts.

Chu Jiang discovered that he had inadvertently learned many secrets.

Have these ghost master families been buried in history by modern times? Does Research Institute No. 21 possess any information on this? It's just that I don't have the necessary permissions to access it.

By the way, Lin Daosheng's family of ghost masters was probably quite prominent during the Republic of China era, but in modern times, not a single ghost master has been left.

Even his direct descendants are reduced to one family, and they are all ordinary people. They know nothing about their ancestors and even regard Lin Daosheng as a local tycoon and a benevolent landlord.

Was it truly a case of something not being able to be passed down, or did the old man simply not want his descendants to bear the same fate he had...?

After all, becoming a ghost master, especially if the whole family becomes ghost masters, is not a good thing.

Chu Jiang had experienced that kind of drastic personality change, and was still being affected by it. Not to mention, ghost masters had to endure the torment of being tortured by ghosts day and night...

Thinking about this, Chu Jiang suddenly realized that the special nature of his body did not seem to come from the Ghost Diary, but from his bloodline itself, and even from the name Chu Jiang.

Is it possible that the Chu family was also a very special family of ghost masters during the Republic of China period?

Therefore, after Lin Mohua saw that he displayed certain unique characteristics and recognized that he was a member of the Chu family, he immediately changed his attitude and became respectful.

Chapter 167 A Myriad of Human Beings, Bizarre and Extraordinary

Various thoughts arose in his mind. In response to Lin Mohua's question, Chu Jiang simply replied, "Although I have been a Ghost Master for some time, I have only recently started traveling outside, so there are many common-sense things I do not know."

Lin Mohua nodded slightly. She stopped asking questions and continued to answer Chu Jiang's doubts.

The place they were in was naturally still on the banks of the Luohe River. Although the city had been established during the Republic of China era, people still habitually called it Luohe County.

As soon as they stepped out of the Lin family mansion, Lin Mohua's maid waved her hand, and immediately a rickshaw driver eagerly pulled his rickshaw forward.

The driver looked rather thin and pale. He kept his head down and waited respectfully to the side. Only after Lin Mohua and Chu Jiang got into the carriage did he dare to ask about their destination.

"Go to Two Corners Alley."

"Yes, Miss."

Watching the coachman run around, and seeing him occasionally wipe his sweat with the towel hanging around his neck, Chu Jiang felt increasingly strange.

Because the coachman and the maid Xiaoyu are very similar, at first glance they seem to be emotional and intelligent, but they always give people the feeling that they are puppets, as if the dead are acting out a play for the living, which makes the audience feel extremely stiff.

Putting everything else aside, this driver doesn't sweat at all when he's running, but he still habitually wipes his forehead and neck with his dirty towel.

And it wasn't just these two people; Chu Jiang looked at the other residents on the street.

It was morning, and there were people running steamed bun stalls; people selling sugar figurines along the street; cooks carrying loads on their shoulders; and hooligans leaning against walls, basking in the sun and smoking opium.

People are drinking tea in the teahouse; a beggar is squatting in an alleyway begging; children are running and laughing; a young woman is sitting properly in the tailor shop; occasionally, a few old-fashioned cars drive by on the street...

This vivid portrayal of the diverse lives of people during the Republican era is quite remarkable.

But the more Chu Jiang looked, the more bizarre and surreal it seemed. Everyone looked like a dead person to him, with pale faces, lifeless and cold eyes, and stiff and mechanical movements.

They are laughing, they are crying, they are playing, they are making a ruckus, they are "alive".

But their laughter wasn't quite laughter, their crying wasn't quite crying, their playfulness wasn't quite playfulness, their commotion wasn't quite commotion, and their living wasn't quite living...

Relatively speaking, Lin Mohua, standing next to Chu Jiang, was actually the most normal one.

"What's wrong with you?" Lin Mohua seemed puzzled that Chu Jiang was also very interested in some ordinary people, staring at them one after another.

Chu Jiang shook his head. "It's nothing. What kind of gift would you like to pick out?"

Lin Mo Hua thought for a moment, "My grandfather doesn't have many hobbies. He used to enjoy playing with flowers and birds, but now he's mostly indifferent to everything."

"Actually, I'm also having a headache, which is why I wanted to find someone to refer to along with me."