Taking on a job

After returning to Zhang Jinya's house that night, I lay in bed all night, unable to sleep, my mind filled with the words of the female ghost from the desolate grave — according to her, it seemed like I had become the forbidden fruit in her mouth, and that "miss" was very fierce, so the lonely souls and wild ghosts in the desolate grave avoided me like the plague. They wouldn't even accept offerings three times a day, even if a living person was present.

I had a sudden urge to think about that marriage letter.

Could it be that the marriage letter was sent by that "miss"?

My mind was particularly chaotic, feeling like I had fallen into a foggy pit, with every step taken being a risk of no return! At the same time, there was some irony; just because I received a Hundred Demons Banishing Blade, how many dirty things did it provoke? And each one was worse than the last!

So, I lay awake until dawn. Around seven o'clock, Zhou Jing finally woke up. Without a word, I grabbed him and asked him to tell my fortune.

"Are you sure you want me to do this?" Zhou Jing looked at me skeptically. "You've always complained about my pessimism, haven't you? Let me tell you, I always start with the bad news when I do divinations!"

"Do you think there's any bad news I can't handle in my current situation?"

I gave a bitter smile. Maybe it was because Zhou Jing was too clever, so most of the time, I didn't treat him like a child. I told him the truth, "I've encountered a bit of a problem now, and I need you to help me figure it out."

"Okay, then I'll help you with a divination!"

Zhou Jing agreed after thinking for a moment. "What do you want to ask?"

"Marriage!"

"Marriage?"

"..."

I nodded and said solemnly, "Last time, Zhou Grandpa said the red light in my marital palace appeared, and recently there's been a marriage proposal. So, this time, I'm asking about marriage!"

"Alright, but I have to tell you beforehand, my skills are limited now. Some things I can predict, and some I can't. Unless it's something with a strong omen that threatens your life, I generally can't predict it accurately!"

Zhou Jing reminded me before taking out a box from the bedside, pulling out the tortoise shell divination pieces inside. He said, "Write a character."

I thought for a moment and wrote the character "live."

Zhou Jing glanced at the character I wrote and sneered, "Common! So common! Why do you always write this every time you divine? Can't you change it?"

"No!"

I shook my head and said something heartfelt to Zhou Jing, "Right now, I'm concerned about whether I can survive. Don't make fun of me being scared. If you encounter something like that, you might be even more scared than me."

Zhou Jing didn't say anything but gave me a disdainful look, then scattered all the tortoise shell divination pieces on the ground, sitting down and continuously moving the pieces, seemingly calculating something. After a long time, he looked up and said, "You do have a recent marriage proposal, and no matter how I look at it, it's a good match. The woman is very prosperous, and I don't know what you want to ask. If you want me to see how the woman is, I can tell you now that she's your ideal match. Although because of the uneven terrain of your destiny, your marriage will be full of obstacles and difficulties in the future, there will absolutely be no infidelity."

While he was talking, Zhou Jing continued to move the divination pieces, but his brow gradually furrowed, and he exclaimed, "Strange, usually, once a man and a woman are connected in marriage, their destinies are also connected, and I can fully predict her fate. But now, I can only predict your married life, but not hers!"

Zhou Jing said in a deep voice, "It's like... there isn't such a person in this world, or... "

At this point, Zhou Jing looked at me strangely, "She's not even human!!!"

Zhou Jing's divination subtly confirmed some of my suspicions. Suddenly, I felt like half of my strength had been drained — could it be that what Zhou Grandpa said was true, and I would be entangled with Yin people for the rest of my life?

For the whole morning, my mind was occupied with this matter. I lay in bed all morning, feeling sleepy but unable to sleep, my mind filled with chaotic thoughts.

It wasn't until noon that Zhang Jinya came. He gave me some white powder-like substance and told me to take it three times a day with water. I asked him what it was, and he said it was something to dispel corpse qi. Although the corpse qi left by the Smiling Corpse on me wasn't much and wouldn't take my life for the time being, it wasn't good for me as a living person. It was better to remove it early. However, Zhang Jinya reminded me to avoid going out at night recently. It was safer to stay with him during this time, because removing the corpse qi would take some time, and until it was completely removed, the Smiling Corpse might come for me at any time!

I cherished the white powder as if it were a treasure and quickly put it away. After chatting with Zhang Jinya for a while, he hurriedly left. I was already used to this man's unpredictable appearances and disappearances. Without asking where he was going, he went straight back to my room.

...

In the following days, my once peaceful life, which had been completely disrupted by evil things, finally returned to a bit of normalcy. It was quite safe here with Zhang Jinya. For several days in a row, I hadn't encountered anything strange, which made me breathe a sigh of relief. I took the white powder Zhang Jinya gave me every day, and my spirits improved day by day. I didn't know what the ingredients were, but I could only taste a bit of sweetness, probably because there was some glutinous rice mixed in it. I knew that glutinous rice could suppress corpse qi, so I wasn't surprised to find it in the powder.

When I had nothing to do, I either took care of Blackie, the mastiff living in the courtyard, or read "The Esoteric Methods of Faqiu". I gained a bit more understanding of things like demons and monsters from it, and I also started trying to practice one of the exercises called "Wuqinxi" to strengthen my body. This exercise, created by the legendary physician Hua Tuo, was recorded in "The Esoteric Methods of Faqiu" by my ancestor in the form of illustrations, making it easy to follow.

This exercise was essentially a way to strengthen the body, imitating five types of animals, and years of practice could enhance one's strength, agility, and speed. My grandfather included it in "The Esoteric Methods of Faqiu" because after burying Faqiu, anything could happen. If one practiced this exercise regularly, their body would become stronger, both in terms of escape ability and ability to deal with sudden situations. The chance of survival after burying Faqiu would also be greater. Of course, I also practiced some methods to break evil.

So, I stayed here with Zhang Jinya for seven or eight days. In the blink of an eye, it was already July 15th.

Early in the morning, before six o'clock, I was awakened by urgent knocking on the door. When I opened it, it was Zhang Jinya. I couldn't help but say, "Isn't disturbing someone's sleep a bad habit?"

"It's almost six o'clock, and you're still sleeping."

Zhang Jinya rolled his eyes and said, "Hurry up and get dressed. We're going out to do something."

I suddenly became alert. "Could it be that your friends have arrived, and we can solve the problem on my body in the Qinling Tomb Group?"

"No, my friends are a bit far away, and they're still on the way. It'll take a few days for them to come." Zhang Jinya said, "There's an incident in a nearby village these days. They say it's haunted. I'm going to solve it for them. I thought about it and decided to take you with me."

Why does all the good stuff happen to me?

Hearing this, I got a little annoyed. Did you forget that I have a weak Yang fate? I'm terrified of those dirty things. Running over without sincerity would only make me feel uncomfortable. So I said, not without some irritation, "You're the one making money, not me. Why should I go with you to suffer?"

"Look at you, so grumpy. I'm taking you with me for your own good. The corpse qi on your body hasn't completely dissipated yet. If I don't bring you along, what if the Smiling Corpse comes for you alone?"

Zhang Jinya rolled his eyes and said, "Hurry up and get ready. Also, bring the kid you've been staying with. He's Zhou Half-Immortal's grandson, so he might be useful."

Hearing him mention the grandson and the Smiling Corpse again, I couldn't help but feel a little worried. But if I were to go find those dirty things that bring bad luck, I wasn't too keen on it either. So I said with some dissatisfaction, "Can you be a bit considerate of my situation? We're almost at the end of the month, the day written on that marriage letter. If I don't go to the Qinling Ancient Tomb Group before then, I don't know what will happen. How can I have time to go exorcising in the nearby village?"

"It'll only take three or four days. It won't delay anything. Besides, this matter is urgent. Several people have died in that village. If it's not solved soon, who knows what trouble will arise? After all, these dirty things become more troublesome as they kill more people. What's more, you're too cowardly. I need to broaden your horizons. When you start sleeping in graveyards by yourself, then you can say you've grown some courage, just like a true Ge descendant."

Zhang Jinya said seriously, "As for the Qinling Ancient Tomb Group... if my friends don't arrive, we definitely can't go. Even if we do go, we won't come back. That tomb is too strange, with grievances soaring. There are many masters who have stumbled there!"

I felt powerless after being scolded by Zhang Jinya. Reluctantly, I let him drag me onto this adventure and went back to pack my things. In my heart, I silently prayed that I wouldn't encounter anything too sinister this time. Otherwise, with my weak Yang fate, going there would be like throwing meat to a dog, with no chance of return!