I have a ghost diary

"As for the rest, I can't guarantee that."

Chapter 174 Seventieth Birthday

Chu Jiang's words gave Fifth Concubine a glimmer of hope.

She nodded repeatedly, "Then I won't bother Mr. Chu any longer. Also, if Mr. Chu needs anything, you can come to me anytime in the next couple of days. I'm willing to do anything."

After Xu Lan finished speaking, she also wanted to leave behind a handkerchief that she had embroidered herself, saying that they could use it to keep in touch.

However, Chu Jiang firmly refused.

After finally getting rid of the woman—no, the female ghost—Chu Jiang reluctantly lay back down on the bed.

This is troublesome. Before the theory of incense offerings has even been proven, some people involved have already realized the truth and started asking him for help.

The only thing Chu Jiang can do now is to see the old man as soon as possible.

......

For the next two days, Chu Jiang stayed home and refused all invitations from the young masters and ladies of the Lin family. He stayed in his room and patiently waited for the old master's birthday banquet to begin.

Lin Mohua originally wanted to take Chu Jiang out for a walk to clear his mind, but in the end, seeing that she couldn't persuade him, she could only come to his house to sit idly from time to time.

She chatted with Chu Jiang about life, ink painting, and her experiences and observations outside, basically acting as if she had become attached to Chu Jiang.

Of course, Chu Jiang was also well aware that this was not love at first sight. Lin Mohua was more like someone who could fill the emptiness in his heart.

If Chu Jiang were a woman, Lin Mohua would also be eager to come and chat with him.

During these two nights, the fifth concubine also sneaked over once or twice. She even went naked and wore new Western-style underwear in an attempt to seduce him, but she was always scared away by Chu Jiang's threat to call for help.

After enduring this torment, the third day finally arrived. It was the 70th birthday of the Lin family patriarch, and the mansion gradually became lively again.

......

Chu Jiang had originally thought that, given the situation at the Lin residence, the birthday banquet would be held during the day.

But to my surprise, it was still scheduled for the evening, and late at night. Moreover, the location was in the open-air garden of the Lin residence, not outside the Lin residence.

When Chu Jiang accompanied Lin Mohua to the garden, there were thirty or forty tables of food and drink, all made of large mahogany wood; red lanterns were hung everywhere, creating a festive atmosphere.

There were quite a lot of guests, including most of the prominent figures from the local area and even the provincial capital, such as warlords who controlled large armies, military governors, and police chiefs.

Other figures from the underworld also showed great respect to the old man; gang leaders, boat guild bosses, and wealthy merchants all brought birthday gifts.

Finally, there were also some people with eerie demeanors, clearly ghost masters, who filled several tables.

Of course, after taking a few glances and realizing that these people were all numb "fake people," Chu Jiang stopped caring about them.

Lin Mohua was clearly not interested in these guests, and simply pulled Chu Jiang to sit down at the table with the Lin family.

The Lin residence was unusual tonight. Chu Jiang didn't notice anything strange about it, as if the place had become safe and was no longer in a state where evil spirits and supernatural phenomena were hidden everywhere.

Moreover, there were many servants and maids coming and going at the banquet, so it was clearly not the time when they were confined.

This time, the Fifth Young Master sat to Chu Jiang's left and asked curiously, "Brother Chu, what are you looking at?"

"It's nothing. I just felt that the atmosphere in the mansion was different from the nights a few days ago; I also wanted to see when the old master would come out."

Lin Xinghe smiled and said, "The old master will come out in a little while. The banquet will officially begin after he comes out."

"As for the atmosphere, it's normal. You'll understand in a moment." He left everyone a little in suspense.

Looking at the shy boy, Chu Jiang suddenly remembered something.

The five Lin brothers' names end with the characters: Tian (天), Feng (风), Yu (雨), Shun (顺), and He (和).

Isn't this order wrong? If we follow the order of "When the heavens are in harmony, the wind and rain are favorable; when the earth is in harmony, the five grains are plentiful; when people are in harmony, all industries prosper; when the family is in harmony, everything flourishes," then shouldn't the word "harmony" be the second one?

Although he didn't quite understand, Chu Jiang patiently waited for the appearance of a certain old man.

At this moment, the young masters of the Lin family were all greeting guests at their respective tables; only the female relatives and the younger fifth young master were sitting at this table.

It's worth mentioning that the fifth concubine has a red handprint on her face, and no one knows who slapped her, but it hasn't faded yet.

However, seeing that the other ladies and concubines subconsciously kept their distance from Xu Lan and moved closer to the First Madam, Chu Jiang roughly understood what was going on...

Despite the slap mark on her face, Fifth Concubine remained calm and composed, showing little sign of being wronged, only glancing at Chu Jiang from time to time.

As for Chu Jiang, the second young lady and the fifth young master are now both pestering him to tell them stories.

Having no other choice, Chu Jiang had to tell them some foreign fairy tales, since they were much more familiar with some of China's historical stories than Chu Jiang himself.

At this moment, Lin Mohua, unusually, did not "dominate" Chu Jiang, but simply drank her wine expressionlessly, presumably because she felt that the two children would not pose a threat to her.

......

As the moon hung high in the sky, nearing midnight, the guests at the banquet suddenly heard a creaking echo coming from deep within the Lin residence.

As soon as the voice rang out, the group, who had been laughing and joking, immediately fell silent; the young masters of the Lin family also returned to their seats at the head of the table.

Oh right, it seems that the Fourth Young Master's hostility towards Chu Jiang has disappeared, at least on the surface there is no sign of it... but in reality, I don't know.

Not long after the door opened, everyone heard heavy footsteps and the sound of a cane hitting the ground coming from the depths of the darkness.

Chu Jiang suddenly realized that before the black sun was sucked into the mysterious vortex, he had heard a sound like wood hitting the ground.

Looking back now, it must have been the old man tapping the ground with his cane...

The footsteps grew closer, and everyone's anticipation grew stronger, including Chu Jiang.

But in the end, the one who walked out of the depths of the Lin mansion into the garden was just a tall, ordinary old man. At first glance, he did not give people any sense of gloom or eeriness, unlike the ghost master in many people's minds.

The old man looked to be about seventy or eighty years old, dressed in cloth, with a head of white silver hair; although his face was covered with wrinkles and age spots, the dignity he once had was still faintly visible.

His right hand rested on an old bamboo cane, which was six feet long. The second to last section was tied with a piece of blackened red rope.

As the old man approached step by step, everyone involuntarily stood up.

Among them, the eldest son, Lin Xingtian, spoke first: "Welcome, sir! May you live as long as a mountain, as majestic as a hill, as imposing as a mound, as enduring as a ridge, as flowing as a river, as constant as the moon, as rising as the sun, as sheltering as a pine tree, and as long as the Southern Mountain!"

The others also cupped their hands and congratulated him in unison, saying, "May the old master live to a ripe old age and enjoy a long and healthy life!"

Chapter 175 The Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts

The old man simply nodded slightly, and after he stood still, he said calmly, "Let's begin."

As those hoarse, low words fell, something strange happened: not far in front of the old man, on the ground in the garden, a ghost covered in blood suddenly emerged.

Its entire body was covered with countless knife wounds, each one oozing blood. Some wounds were so deep that bone was visible, as if a piece of skin and flesh had been shaved off.

This is a ghost that has been subjected to a thousand cuts and tortures in its lifetime. As soon as it appeared, all the guests in the garden felt a sense of dread.

Chu Jiang's body tensed slightly; this ghost that suddenly emerged from the ground was dangerous. At the same time, he wondered what was going on.

Looking around, Chu Jiang could see that most of the guests at the tables were visibly frightened, some even trembling and instinctively clutching their clothes.

But beneath their fear, there was also a hint of excitement.

Moreover, none of the guests screamed or ran away; they seemed unconcerned about any potential trouble.

Chu Jiang then looked at the Lin family. Most of them were calm, as if they had experienced this many times before and there was nothing surprising about it.

Only the second young lady and the fifth young master harbored some expectations, occasionally stealing glances at Chu Jiang.

Chu Jiang only looked at the old man, because he moved.

As soon as the tortured ghost was released from underground, it slightly raised one hand towards the old man who was closest to it.

But the old man raised his cane expressionlessly, and the end of the cane struck the stone slab in the garden with a "thud".

With this soft sound, countless chains of black mist emerged from the ground, binding the Lingchi Ghost that had just raised its hand tightly, rendering it unable to move, and even temporarily sealing its supernatural powers.

Just as the Lingchi ghost was bound, another ghost appeared in the scene, this time a ghost living in an unclean alley.

Its body was swollen and filthy, and it emitted a nauseating stench. This ghost was found in alleys and filthy places.

As soon as the ghost appeared in the unclean alley, it opened its blood-red maw, trying to swallow a young woman nearby who was wearing perfume, which terrified the woman into screaming.

But with a "thud," the old man's cane rang out again, and the filthy ghost was also tightly bound by the black mist chains, so that even its stench could not pass through the seal and escape into the outside world.

The guests dared not utter a sound, watching with a mixture of fear and excitement. Although their expressions were rather stiff, the emotions they were meant to convey were clearly visible on their faces.

And that wasn't all; one ghost after another appeared! And they were moving faster and faster.

Those ghosts truly broadened Chu Jiang's horizons:

There is a ghost that howls in the wind and whose form is completely invisible; there is a ghostly fire, eerily green, that makes people feel uneasy; there is a string of heads, strung together like a centipede, emitting mournful cries, coiling around the entire garden.

Furthermore, a stage inexplicably appeared in the garden, where actors and performers in theatrical costumes were performing, their voices low and melodious, accompanied by the sounds of gongs, drums, erhu, and pipa...

As soon as the opera began, many people became engrossed in it. Some clapped, some cheered, some offered tips, and some even sang along, performing a segment from the Chaozhou opera "Splitting the Mountain to Save Mother".

Moreover, this stage was quite peculiar; countless black mist chains emerged and shot out, disappearing piece by piece into the air, their destination unknown.

Chu Jiang gazed at the stage, his eyes gradually becoming mesmerized. He knew perfectly well what he was doing and could control his emotions, but he still began to sing softly to himself:

"Charging forward fearlessly through Tiger Mountain, parting the clouds to reveal the light. In dreams, flowers bloom at the Peony Pavilion; illusions come true, and peace and prosperity reign."

Upon hearing this, the fifth concubine trembled and looked at Chu Jiang with some surprise.

Of course, her behavior also made the First Madam frown and become even more displeased.

No matter how special the stage was, it ultimately couldn't escape the old man's grasp. After he tapped his cane one more time, the black mist chains successfully broke through some invisible barrier, binding all the performers on stage, and even binding the entire stage itself.

At this point, the guests in the audience suddenly realized what was happening and felt a sense of lingering fear; they had actually been supporting a group of ghosts.

Chu Jiang was alright; he just wondered in his heart if there was any connection between this stage ghost and the small theater he had sealed away.

Could they also be the same kind of vengeful ghost? Like the imitative ghost Chu Jiang encountered before, and the infinitely multiplying vengeful ghost mentioned by psychologist Zhou Wenshan.

If that's the case, the stage ghost should be significantly stronger than the small theater.

In addition, Chu Jiang discovered something else: the black mist chain that the old man used seemed to be somewhat similar to the Nether Iron Chain in his Ghost Diary.

These chain-type supernatural powers seem to share some commonality, with their main function being sealing.

However, unlike Ghost Diaries, the black mist chains all emerge from underground.

In other words, it seems to be immovable, only able to seal these numerous ghosts underground in the Lin Mansion, unable to carry the diary around like Chu Jiang did.