Chapter 83: Two Ghosts

A red-tasseled spear and a small bundle. Inside were paper figurines, talisman paper, cinnabar, Shengxi Pills, and some banknotes.

The distances between the villages of Yulin County were not particularly great. Li Lin only spent half a day traveling before arriving at Pingzheng Village.

Compared to Shangtikou Village, Pingzheng Village was indeed much larger.

Its infrastructure was also far better.

The paths within Shangtikou Village were all dirt roads.

But from the entrance of Pingzheng Village onward, every road was paved with stone slabs, and fairly good blue stone at that.

They really were wealthy.

Li Lin’s arrival attracted the attention of many villagers.

But he paid them no mind. Following the concentration of yin energy, he headed directly to the altar here.

A pig standing upright, complete with an elephant’s trunk, floated there.

Li Lin cupped his fists and said, “Greetings, Shendu True Lord.”

The strange being drifted over. Its long trunk sniffed twice in front of Li Lin and said, “You smell delicious.”

Li Lin instinctively took two steps backward.

“If it weren’t for Liu Zhe, I’d want to eat you right now.”

Li Lin raised an eyebrow. It seemed Her Ladyship was even more formidable than he had imagined.

Both the old ghost from the Qin Family and this long-trunked ghost appeared to fear her greatly.

Moreover, this ghost seemed far more talkative than the Tree Immortal Lady.

“May I ask, True Lord, has anything unusual happened here recently?”

“Let me take a couple of draws from you, and I’ll tell you.”

Li Lin decided against it. Back when Su Huafang had his essence qi sucked away by the Lingti True Lord, the sight had been far too painful to watch.

Seeing that Li Lin had no intention of agreeing, the True Lord snorted and returned to the altar.

Li Lin turned around and saw a group of people approaching him.

At the front was a middle-aged man with a protruding belly and the bearing of a wealthy landowner.

As soon as the man approached, he immediately cupped his fists, bowed, and asked, “Could you be Patrol Hunter Li?”

“That is me.” Li Lin returned the greeting and asked, “Might you be Member Zhao?”

“Indeed, indeed, I am Zhao.” Member Zhao stepped forward and spoke with great respect.

He invited Li Lin into his home, a grand residence with five successive courtyards.

Such a residence was rare even in the county city, let alone in a village.

It was easy to see how wealthy the Zhao family was.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while in the main hall, Li Lin held a teacup and asked, “I heard there is a ghostly disturbance in this village?”

Member Zhao nodded.

Then he stood up and said, “Please follow me.”

The two arrived at the fourth courtyard, a place generally reserved for the women of the household.

Two maidservants then opened the side room on the right.

“Please.” Member Zhao gestured.

The two entered the room. It was very dark, with all the windows shut.

Only a single oil lamp cast a dim glow.

Li Lin also smelled a faint stench.

Not a physical stench, but the stench of evil energy.

So it really was a ghostly matter?

“Over here.”

Member Zhao walked to a bed and carefully lifted the embroidered bed curtain.

Li Lin shifted his gaze and saw a person lying on the bed. The body was that of a woman, but on her face was a man’s face, moving around continuously.

The nose, mouth, and eyes wandered across her face as though playing hide-and-seek.

Li Lin frowned slightly at the sight. This was clearly a case of ghost possession.

Standing beside him, Member Zhao asked expectantly, “Well? Has she been harmed by a ghost?”

Ordinary people could not see that man’s face. Only Spirit Hunters could.

Li Lin nodded. “It is indeed a ghost. However, this matter is rather strange.”

“How so?”

“Who is this woman to you?”

Because he was a Spirit Hunter, he could only see the ghost’s appearance. He could not see the woman’s original face and therefore could not judge her age.

“My concubine.”

“How old is she?”

Member Zhao gave an awkward laugh. “Twenty-one.”

Li Lin nodded. “Ordinarily, with a True Lord stationed here, ghosts should not be able to enter. When did she start showing these symptoms?”

“About ten days ago.”

“Has she left the village recently?”

“No.”

Li Lin pondered for a moment. Nothing unusual had happened recently as far as he knew.

How had this ghost managed to enter a village protected by a True Lord?

But he did not dwell on it. Instead, he took out a talisman from his bundle and pressed it onto the woman’s forehead.

Very quickly, the twisting man’s face disappeared.

In the past, Li Lin would have had no way of dealing with such a thing, but now things were different.

This was a Calming Heart Talisman.

Many people believed that the Calming Heart Talisman was meant for humans, helping them steady their minds.

But that was actually incorrect. The Calming Heart Talisman had originally been used on ghosts.

Its original name was the Calm Nature Talisman.

It was also called the Nature-Fixing Talisman.

Later, because it was used on humans so often, its name gradually became the Calming Heart Talisman.

All ghosts were, in essence, manifestations of “nature,” which was why this talisman could temporarily suppress weaker ghosts.

“Is that all?” Member Zhao asked softly from the side.

Li Lin shook his head. “Not yet. We still need to pull out the possessing ghost... Do you have a large sheet of paper here?”

“How large?”

“Roughly as tall as a person.”

Member Zhao thought for a moment and asked, “Would straw-bamboo paper do?”

“That will work.”

Straw paper and bamboo paper were relatively low-grade papers. Although they could be used for writing, wealthy families generally used them for wiping themselves after relieving themselves.

Very soon, a servant carried over a large sheet of paper and spread it out on the floor.

Li Lin also borrowed a pair of scissors.

He cut the paper into two paper figurines and used cinnabar to draw the appearance of the Tree Immortal Lady on them.

Li Lin infused them with yin energy.

The two paper figurines came to life. One squatted down and kneaded Li Lin’s leg bones, while the other moved behind him and gave him a massage.

They looked just like two gentle wives.

Member Zhao and several servants watched from the side with strange expressions.

Amid their fear, they seemed somewhat envious as well.

Li Lin coughed lightly and directed the two Soul-Guiding Paper Figurines toward the bed.

Under his control, the two paper figurines simultaneously extended their “hands” and pressed them against the woman’s face.

Then they pulled at the same time, dragging out a yellow humanoid mass.

Ordinarily, a possessing ghost would be terrified once it had been pulled out.

But this ghost floated in midair. Its eyes and nose wandered about chaotically, while an eerie giggle escaped its mouth.

The moment Li Lin heard that laughter, he felt that something was wrong.

“Run!” Li Lin shouted at the people nearby.

Member Zhao and the others froze for a moment and tried to flee, but it was already too late.

The ghost suddenly transformed into a cloud of yellow mist and exploded outward.

It became so dark that one could not see a hand in front of one’s face. Li Lin summoned the two paper figurines back to his side.

Then he threw out more than a dozen small paper figurines.

These little things were not obstructed by the yellow mist. They scurried around the area.

Very quickly, Li Lin understood the situation around him.

The yellow mist covered a very large area. Member Zhao and several household servants had already fallen unconscious.

At the same time, the woman on the bed had sat up.

She was smiling smugly within the yellow mist.

Through the small paper figurines, Li Lin saw her face.

It was the old ghost from the Qin Family.

This was not one ghost, but two ghosts.

This was a trap laid specifically for him.

Li Lin found it strange. Hadn’t that old ghost been eaten by the Golden Light True Lord of Feirong County?

How was she still “alive”?