Chapter 38, Ghost Summoning

Li Jain was busy in the kitchen cooking dinner when he heard the sound. He turned around to face the entrance to his kitchen and found Li Yujian walking in.  The boy smiled slightly at him  and greeted him as he walked over. 

"Have you brothers done chatting?" Li Jain asked as he began putting dishes into a pan.   

"Chatting cannot be done in a few minutes. We'll catch up again later.  Meanwhile, I came to accompany you,  if you wouldn't mind having me." Li Yujian replied with a smile that didn't light up his eyes.  

Li Yujian's eyes are very dull and lifeless. When he looks at you , it's like staring straight through you; not at you but at something else. It was as if all your inner thoughts, secrets and emotions were exposed before him. There's no life behind them, nothing left of what's there except for an empty shell. 

"I like your eyes, boy. They're very interesting." Li Jain said, as he set the pot on the stove to boil. The water had been boiled for several minutes now and he could already smell the sweet, savory scent wafting towards him from within the pot. "They're very strange yet unique."

"You like my eyes?" Li Yujian laughed as if he had heard the funniest joke ever. "You're a strange man. You know, A person once told me that my eyes creep them out and it is a sign of misfortune. It would be better to dig them out since they're already dead. I thought he was right and I almost dug them out, only to realize that wouldn't change anything." His voice had grown increasingly monotone throughout the statement until it seemed more like someone reading a book. Li Yujian then proceeded to look Li Jain in the eyes and continued, "After escaping death many times, this eyes is lucky, don't you think?"

When Yujian said that someone once told him, Li Jain knew he was talking about the original owner. Since the little ones were able to find out that he wasn't the real person, it wasn't hard to guess that the order ones would find out as well. Li Jain never tried to hide his identity from the beginning, he felt that it'll save him lots of trouble if the children found out sooner than later.

He needed to find his belongings in this world and not to  bring any unnecessary attention or unwanted troubles down upon himself. He wanted things to be easy for his family, too. So, he decided that it was best to let them find out the truth sooner and accept him.

"You should be proud of your eyes. They're unique, not like anything I've seen before. That person might have felt exposed and guilty when looking at them. Which was why he said that to you." Li Jain remarked without a trace of malice in his tone. 

"You are right, he owes us an explanation."  Yujian nodded his head, then stood back from the countertop so that he could sit properly on one of the chairs beside the table. "By the way, when did your poison start wearing off?" Yujian asked. 

"You can tell?" Li Jain asked as he looked at Yujian with some surprise. 

"It's obvious, you've been stuck at the second level of Physical Body for a long time, and suddenly you're a rank higher than me. That can only mean that the poison is no longer in effect." Yujian explained with a smile. He knew all of the details.

"Speaking of the poison, do you know what happened during the accident?"

 Li Jain inquired. 

"I do, and I also know it wasn't an accident. They set up a trap for you , so you were voluntarily lured into it."  Yujian replied with his eyes closed in deep concentration, as if trying to recall something.  

A family as large as the Li family has danger hidden all around them. And those dangers are from people within the family. Everyone wants to be recognized by the old master to have a good standout position amongst their fellow relatives. So, it's only natural that they'll take out everyone in their way and the arrogant and ignorant Li Jain was their right target.

....

After the food was done, Li Jain took it to the table, where  everyone sat and had their dinner.

Now that everything was taken care of so far, Li Jain decided to plan the opening of his restaurant. He needed to hire workers for the restaurant to run successfully, which would be hard enough since he'd just moved into Qingyuan and didn't know people who would be willing to work at a low wage. Even if he finds people, they won't be loyal to him. 

Humans have their greed, and they'll take what's in front of them without questioning anything else. Once his business starts doing well, he doesn't want his secret to get out because there's no guarantee of loyalty. Besides, once he has a restaurant, his life would be much busier and the children might feel left out. He can't have that now, can he? He needs people who would be strong, hard working and loyal.

After thinking about it for a few minutes, Li Jain had the perfect candidate in mind. What if he summons some wandering ghost to help out? Giving them a physical body and a chance to live as humans,  he thought that it would be perfect. A human ghost, with a job to do and living a simple life in Qingyuan. How good that sounds! Besides, what the worst that would happen?

Ghost summoning technique hasn't been spared in the world yet. It is a forbidden technique. It was banned when humans started to use spirits as tools of evil. Humans have their selfish desires and so do ghosts. There are ghosts that die unwillingly. The hatred and unwillingness is buried deep into their hearts, therefore they're always looking for opportunities to get revenge. 

Once you summon a ghost with unfinished business, you'll be at the risk of having your body possessed if you're not able to control them. That's why in Li Jain's previous world, the summoning technique was considered forbidden.

Li Jain wasn't an idiot; he knew if this was to be spared, he won't be able to keep the technique to himself and if it gets into the wrong hands,  things would get ugly. But this was the only way to get what he wanted at this moment. 

Li Jain bites his finger and drops blood in the ink pan, and begins to mix it slowly. He chanted a spell in the process. The mixture slowly turns red until it becomes dark red. When the mixture was done, Li Jain began to draw the summoning circle array formation in the living room. The lines were drawn slowly and carefully, making sure that each stroke of the brush is clean. Then he stood up straight and looked at the array with a satisfied look on his face. This was going to be easy. He didn't really need that many people; his business will be running well and he will manage well.

He wrote the requirements, conditions, and the number of people he wanted. The first requirement was loyalty before hard-working and strength. 

When all was done, he bit his finger and put the blood in the center of the formation and activated it.  The entire array began to glow brightly.

__________

Meanwhile, the underworld was in a  turmoil. Something that had never happened in thousands of years was happening, causing a stir. The sudden appearance of the summoning array,  caused a commotion among the spirits. Everyone could feel the power of the array, it was so pure and powerful. The underworld, where most were trapped inside their vessels, couldn't contain themselves.  

"Elder, could this be the legendary ghost summoning technique?"  asked one of them curiously. 

"Yes, but this summoner has a requirement restriction and only need five ghosts."

"Get the death record. We will pass through the chosen ghost to get into contact with that human. He might be the source of making us see the light again."

"Yes sir, then let's go to the death records now!" The Elder nodded to his assistant before heading out of the chamber where they were waiting for information from the deceased.  

Lots of spirit had been trying to get into the summoning array but the restrictions kept them out. Soon, the five ghosts were chosen and disappeared with the array. Returning the underworld to its darkness.

....

Li Jain stood still, watching the array closely to make sure nothing goes wrong. Three minutes later, five male ghosts appear in the formation.

The five of them were confused and looked at each other before looking at the human that summoned them. They couldn't believe it, that there was someone that was willing to pay a high price to free them from their prison.  

"I summoned those that met my requirements. If you're not satisfied, now is the time to speak up, but if you follow me as your master, your future won't be limited. If any of you have any questions regarding how we should proceed, I'm here to answer them." Li Jain said calmly.  He didn't seem to have any malicious intent toward them. His attitude was peaceful but confident. He seemed calm but stern, not showing any emotions, only giving off an aura of authority.