Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Showing a Hand

As An Bo continued his story, the conclusion of the old matters in the Chang residence gradually emerged in the minds of the group:

Miss Huang, with her violent temper and jealousy, had finally tortured Liu Shi to death. Liu Shi, after dying, turned into a vengeful ghost. She first killed her enemy, Miss Huang, and then dragged the servants of the Chang residence who had once tormented her into the same fate, making them accompany her in death.

It was broad daylight, yet everyone felt a sudden chill. It felt as though a cold wind had slipped past their necks, raising goosebumps all over their bodies.

Gu Miao rubbed his arms and couldn't help but say, "So, based on what you're saying, isn't your madam getting what she deserved?"

Fu Ming replied, "If my elder brother had married such a woman..." He would definitely have been urged by the ministers to divorce her early.

But then again, one couldn't say that so easily. With his elder brother's esteemed position, there was no need for him to hide the fact that he was already married, like Chang Laoye had done.

An Bo’s face showed helplessness. "The master's affairs are not for people like us to interfere with. Gentlemen, now that you know the full situation, how do you plan to handle it?"

The more he spoke, the more sincere he seemed.

"If you come up with any ideas, please do tell us! Although most of the people have left the Chang residence, there are still some savings in the house. Whatever instructions you have, we will do our best..."

"Forgive me for saying so," An Bo continued, a bitter smile appearing on his serious face, "But after all, who doesn’t want to stay alive?"

The people present: "..." We want to stay alive too, but your strange house won’t let us leave!

Forget it. Since we can’t leave, we’ll have to find a way out from the present situation.

Bai Zhengliu put aside thoughts of Chang Laoye, Miss Huang, and Liu Shi, and directly analyzed, "From what we can see now, Liu Shi appears in the pool during the daytime. Following this line of thought, she might also appear in that well."

Fu Ming and Gu Miao were startled and said in unison, "Then we must avoid the water at all costs!"Mei Yinghan's idea was exactly the opposite: "It would be best to take advantage of the daylight and visit her former residence."

Fu Ming and Gu Miao exclaimed, "Mei Hero!" "Elder Brother!"

Bai Zhengliu agreed with Mei Yinghan: "We should go take a look."

Just looking wasn't enough; the important part was what to do after that.

He gathered everyone's thoughts and asked, "In general, how should we handle situations like this?"

Fu Ming and Gu Miao: "..." We don't know. We've never encountered this before.

Mei Yinghan furrowed his brows in thought.

The group fell into silence for a moment, and it was Wang Shi who hesitated for a moment before speaking up: "In our village, when a child loses their soul, we sometimes call for the shaman."

Bai Zhengliu looked at her, his eyes brightening slightly: "Call for a shaman? And then?"

Encouraged by the blade master's gaze, Wang Shi straightened her back and said, "When the shaman arrives, she offers good meat and wine to the wandering souls and vengeful spirits that have taken the child's soul. When they appear, the shaman speaks kindly and tries to negotiate with them, asking what needs to be done for them to return the child."

Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan seemed to be deep in thought.

Wang Shi continued: "But there are also times when no matter how many good things you offer, those wandering souls and vengeful ghosts won’t agree. In such cases, the shaman must kill the ghost."

Fu Ming and Gu Miao: "Kill the ghost?"A hint of firm admiration, as well as fear of the shaman's abilities, appeared on Wang Shi's face as she said, "She holds the talisman water in her mouth, sprays it into the air, and then slashes! The ghost reveals its true form!"

This kind of scene was very rare, and not every shaman could do it. Wang Shi had only seen it once when she was a young girl, and she had remembered it ever since.

Her face showed longing.

If she had the power of the shaman, she wouldn't have been trapped by the fox spirit now.

At the same time, beside Wang Shi, Bai Zhengliu's gaze flickered slightly.

This "shaman"...

It sounded like a trickster.

When he traveled with his master, his master had told him about these kinds of tricks. It was nothing more than mixing turmeric water in the talisman water in the shaman's mouth. When it touched the alkaline water on the sword, it would turn red.

Similar tricks included things like "dipping your hand in boiling oil" — all relying on borax; or "spitting fire dragons" — turning the turmeric water in the mouth into alcohol...

When Bai Zhengliu was younger, he had been easily fooled. But when he tried to dip his hand into boiling oil and realized that the oil, which looked like it was bubbling and boiling, was actually lukewarm, Bai Zhengliu stopped believing in such things.

Because of this, he had always treated ghost and god beliefs with more respect than belief. But now, faced with an eerie situation beyond imagination, Bai Zhengliu had no choice but to change his mind. While there were certainly frauds like the village shamans, there were also real vengeful ghosts.

After hearing Wang Shi's words, Bai Zhengliu thought for a moment, then chose not to expose the "shaman" trick. Instead, he said, "In the end, it comes down to two options. Either we negotiate, or we eliminate her entirely."

Wang Shi hesitated as she listened, then nodded, "That's about right. But, Liu Shi was also a poor soul. If we can negotiate, we should try."There was one thing she didn't say.

In Wang Shi's view, the most despicable person in the whole situation was clearly Mr. Chang.

He had wronged Liu Shi first, and then deceived Miss Huang. Moreover, it was Miss Huang who tormented Liu Shi later, but wasn't it also Mr. Chang who "failed to stop her"?

Fu Ming and Gu Miao could only sigh at Miss Huang's cruelty, completely forgetting about Mr. Chang. But Wang Shi felt that she and her daughter would never meet someone like "Miss Huang," but would likely encounter someone like "Mr. Chang."

However, Fu Ming and Gu Miao were from prestigious backgrounds, so Wang Shi didn’t dare to express her thoughts and risk offending them. Furthermore, the numerous reminders earlier about "saying less and not offending the fox spirit" seemed to have had some effect.

She could only think to herself in silence: "Liu family's eldest daughter, you're so foolish, sigh!"

"Older sister is right," Bai Zhengliu said from beside Wang Shi. "We should discuss this with Liu Shi. In that case, An Bo, could you please prepare some yellow paper for us? We'll burn it for her and see if she’s willing to accept it."

An Bo sighed, "These common things, we've burned a lot already, but..." He didn’t seem optimistic, but still agreed.

Bai Zhengliu continued, "It’s not just yellow paper. Bring other types of paper, brushes, ink, and glue as well."

An Bo nodded again.

He led the group to a courtyard outside, then hurried off to prepare the materials.

As soon as he left, the people outside the courtyard immediately began a heated discussion.

Fu Ming and Gu Miao did not agree with Bai Zhengliu's decision to enter Liu Shi's courtyard. However, with An Bo present, they were officially there to "resolve strange matters," so they didn't want to directly oppose Bai Zhengliu. Now, they finally spoke up: "If Liu Shi comes again, what will you do?"

Bai Zhengliu thought for a moment: "We'll see if we can communicate with her."Fu Ming was both angry and amused: "Communicate? You still want to communicate? Zhengliu, you’ve never faced that female ghost... never faced Liu Shi directly, so you don’t know how terrifying that thing is! We should still stay as far away as possible. After all, she’s angry at the people in the house, it has nothing to do with us, right? Just be careful and avoid the water, and she won’t come after us."

Bai Zhengliu furrowed his brows, as if he was contemplating.

Fu Ming thought he was just considering his words. He sighed inwardly and thought, “Zhengliu is still naive, he doesn’t know how cruel these poisonous women can be...” He didn’t notice that Gu Miao was staring at him.

After realizing Fu Ming had been saved from the water, Gu Miao’s attitude towards Bai Zhengliu had become much more friendly. His gaze darkened slightly.

At this point, Bai Zhengliu finally spoke: "If it were that simple, wouldn’t the people in Chang Mansion have already figured it out? But they still keep dying one after another."

Mei Yinghan added: "After you both left the main hall this morning, a maid rushed over to find Ping Ge, her expression panicked and fearful. I think, even though we didn’t encounter anything last night, it doesn’t mean that others in the mansion haven’t had incidents."

Bai Zhengliu didn’t look at Fu Ming and Gu Miao anymore. He turned to Mei Yinghan to discuss: "But during the days when the Taoist priests and monks came, Ping Ge never mentioned any servants dying in the mansion."

Mei Yinghan furrowed his brows, a bold idea emerging in his mind. He whispered, "Perhaps Liu Shi kills someone every day. If not them, then us."

Everyone was shocked by these words, and Gu Miao’s face turned pale.

Fu Ming held on, muttering, "Impossible! We have no grudges with her..."

Bai Zhengliu said dryly, "Those monks and Taoists had no grudges with her either." However, perhaps Liu Shi saw ‘exorcising’ her as a form of vengeance?

Fu Ming fell silent, and Gu Miao no longer had the energy to think about love or affection.

He forced a smile, not knowing whether he was comforting himself or the others, and said, "But still, if we don’t approach the water, we can hold on a bit longer, right?"

Bai Zhengliu replied, "Oh, I forgot to tell you."Others: "What?"

Bai Zhengliu: "Last night, Mei Xiong and I had dealings with Liu Shi."

Others: "What???"

Mei Yinghan: "In other words, once night falls, her range of activity will no longer be limited by the water source."

"..." Everyone froze, their faces turning pale and grim.

In other words, they couldn’t escape?

They couldn’t leave, and staying would only mean being killed one by one by the female ghost, just like the servants in Chang Mansion!

Now, even Fu Ming, who was most afraid of the female ghost, no longer opposed Bai Zhengliu’s plan. Burning some offerings and saying some kind words, although it would probably be useless, was still better than doing nothing.

...

...

An Bo was quick in his actions. Soon, he came over with the items Bai Zhengliu requested.

Fu Ming originally wanted to burn paper directly. But Bai Zhengliu stopped him and first folded the yellow paper into ingots, while the red paper turned into small red fruits.

His movements were swift and nimble, his fingers flying as gracefully as butterflies taking flight. The others watched in astonishment, not expecting that the young man who always carried a long blade would have such a delicate skill.Fu Ming and Gu Miao were a bit dazed, while Mei Yinghan observed for a moment. From Bai Zhengliu's actions, he roughly figured out how to fold the ingots and fruits and started helping out on the side.

Then there was Wang Shi. Unlike Mei Yinghan, who still needed to learn, Wang Shi already knew how to do these tasks. During the usual farming off-season, she often bought yellow paper and would chat with the village women while skillfully folding the yellow paper into ingots. She’d then sell these ingots to the paper store to earn a bit of small change, supplementing the household.

At this moment, while folding, she quietly muttered, "Big girl, you're not worth it! Not worth it."

With three people working, the ingots and fruits quickly piled up into a mountain.

Fu Ming and Gu Miao stood by, watching eagerly.

They had actually considered helping. But first, they lacked patience, and second, they were not careful. Not only could they not help, they’d end up wasting the yellow paper.

Bai Zhengliu simply sent the two of them off to write the eulogies.

This was Fu Ming and Gu Miao’s strong suit. Prince Jiuwang had received top-tier education from a young age, and Gu Miao, likewise, came from a wealthy family in Jiangnan. When he was young, his parents had hired the best tutors, with at least one of them being a Hanlin Scholar.

The two of them perked up, exchanged a few words, and then began to write with swift strokes.

Before long, Fu Ming set down his brush and blew on the ink on the paper. "Alright! Everyone, should I read it for you?"

Others: "Go ahead."

The response wasn’t very enthusiastic, but Fu Ming was good at encouraging himself. He lifted his chest and read out a long, elegant, and sorrowful piece of writing.

Gu Miao wiped his eyes, and Bai Zhengliu, Mei Yinghan, along with Wang Shi on the side: "…"

Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan were fine. Although they didn’t quite understand the classical references, they had grasped the general meaning.It was nothing more than: "We were passing through your esteemed land, heard of Madam Liu’s situation, and felt deeply saddened and pained. The poisonous woman, Huang, deserved to die, and those who followed her also deserved to die, but we are innocent."

The main idea aside, Bai Zhengliu turned to Wang Shi and asked, "Sister, how much of it did you understand?"

Wang Shi was confused. "Ah, has the young master finished reading?"

Bai Zhengliu frowned and said to Fu Ming, "Your writing is not up to par."

Fu Ming was taken aback. "Why isn't it up to par?"

He had been thinking about it just now. Growing up, he had studied with his brother’s sons and his academic performance was always average. No one praised him, nor did anyone hit his hand.

There was the intentional low-key approach of Prince Jiuwang, but Fu Ming knew full well how much knowledge he had.

That eulogy just now was, for him, an above-average effort. When he thought about it carefully, it was probably because his will to survive had been strong, thus sparking his creative inspiration.

Yet, Bai Zhengliu didn’t praise him; instead, he outright rejected it?

Fu Ming’s eyebrows furrowed. His feelings for Bai Zhengliu had fluctuated. Initially, they had been high, due to the other saving him. But now, they quickly plummeted, and he vaguely thought: I and Zhengliu truly aren’t on the same page.

Bai Zhengliu didn’t know what Fu Ming was thinking. He glanced at him and succinctly said, "Wang Sister couldn't understand it, how could Liu Shi understand?"

Fu Ming frowned. "This woman is just an old villager. Whether she can understand or not..."

Halfway through his words, Prince Jiuwang fell silent.

He remembered now. Wang Shi was a village woman, and Liu Shi was also a village woman.Unable to do anything else, Fu Ming had no choice but to crumple the eulogy and rewrite it.

No matter how much he wrote, it just didn’t have the right feeling.

In the end, Bai Zhengliu and the others had already finished folding the yellow and red paper, and Fu Ming was almost done wasting the white paper.

Bai Zhengliu couldn't stand it any longer and directly approached Wang Shi. "Sister, is there anything you'd like to say to Liu Shi?"

Wang Shi hesitated. "Is this... appropriate?"

Bai Zhengliu said, "It’s probably only appropriate for you."

With that, Wang Shi no longer hesitated. "Then I'll say a few heartfelt words... but, I can't write."

Bai Zhengliu fell silent. It was a problem. If Wang Shi couldn't write, then Liu Shi likely wouldn’t recognize it either.

At that moment, Mei Yinghan spoke up. "I might have a way."

Saying that, he took the paper and, with a swift stroke, drew a few lively little figures on the paper.

Bai Zhengliu’s eyes lit up and he smiled. "So, Brother Mei also has this skill."

Mei Yinghan half-smiled, half-sighed. "In the past, when we were at the sect, my junior brothers and sisters often complained about the boredom of the mountain. At that time, they were still young, and our master didn’t feel comfortable letting them go down the mountain to explore. A few of them kept pestering me to tell them about things from the world below the mountain.

"Just talking about it wasn’t enough for them, and they found it hard to imagine. After doing it a few times, I learned to draw a few things."

Gu Miao had also been one of them.