Chapter 103: Bait

How could I not recognize them? They were the people from that mysterious courtyard in the town.

As I grew older, I was no longer as ignorant as I had been as a child. I vaguely understood that these people were probably like Old Man Jiang, working for the state in some capacity. But even though they wore military uniforms, they were definitely different from ordinary soldiers.

Nonsense. If they were ordinary soldiers, how could they be entangled with an old fraud like a mystic and even take orders from him?

Over the years, Old Man Jiang would occasionally go to town. Not often, maybe once every two or three months. Very rarely, he would even take me along. I went mainly to play in town, sneak off to watch movies when I had the chance. I had interacted with the people in that courtyard. Some left, some arrived, and some stayed the same all along.

They never talked to me about sensitive topics like identity, but that did not affect how friendly they were to me. As soon as I opened the door, the leader, a big bearded man who had been the one to open the door for me the first time we met, greeted me with a grin.

“San Wa, long time no see. You have gotten fairer and more delicate again. Tell me, why are you not a girl?”

I gritted my teeth. This bearded man was called Hu Xueman. He was always teasing me. I took a deep breath and smiled sweetly.

“Sister Xue Man, long time no see. Why have you grown a beard? You should shave it off.”

“This little brat.”

The name Xue Man sounded somewhat feminine, so it had become my weapon to fight back against him. He gave an awkward laugh and led the others inside.

I had never seen so many people in that courtyard before. I secretly guessed where Hu Xueman had gathered all these extra hands.

A group of them entered the courtyard and went straight toward Old Man Jiang. A young boy who did not look much older than me became so excited when he saw Old Man Jiang that he almost tripped. After finally steadying himself, he stammered.

“Master Jiang, I am from xx Dao xx lineage…”

Old Man Jiang chuckled and waved him off, interrupting him.

“As soon as you start introducing your sect, I already feel embarrassed. We are loose practitioners, no need for all these formalities.”

The boy’s face flushed red with excitement.

“My master said you are a man of great ability. To finally meet you today, I, I…”

Old Man Jiang smiled at him and patted his shoulder, signaling him not to be so agitated. Then he turned to Hu Xueman.

“Why did you bring this young kid here?”

“This child has some talent. His master wanted him to gain some experience,” Hu Xueman said respectfully from the side.

“Nonsense. Is this the place for training? Our department can be quiet for ten or twenty years, but once something happens, there is trouble all year round, and it is extremely dangerous. You do not understand, and you brought a child here to train?” Old Man Jiang snapped angrily.

The young boy became a little scared but also anxious. He hurriedly said, “Master Jiang, no, no, it is not like that. My master said his abilities are limited. Coincidentally, there is an uncle from our lineage working in this department. This department has many experts, so he sent me here. He said, he said he hopes I can gain real skills and truly come into contact with the world he cannot reach, and with the Dao.”

Old Man Jiang did not bother arguing with the child.

“How old are you this year? What is your uncle’s name?”

“I am eighteen. My uncle is named Cao Xing’an, Dao title…”

“Enough. Once you enter this department, there is no need for Dao titles. Cao Xing’an does have some ability. Hu Xueman, no matter what, take care of this kid. Do not let him participate in operation number five.”

Hu Xueman nodded in agreement and then looked at me, as if wanting to ask Old Man Jiang something. But Old Man Jiang continued.

“Go deal with the cow carcass in the cattle pen. Be careful. That worm’s movements are strange. My rough calculation says it is under this courtyard, but it is not a human thing, hard to say for sure.”

“The cow carcass should be…” Hu Xueman asked.

“Burn it, but bury it properly as well. Do not perform any ritual. That would only add karmic burden. It might even prevent it from reincarnating as a human. Do not mess with that,” Old Man Jiang instructed.

At that moment, Hui Jue said sourly from the side, “Oh look at you being so impressive. Why do I not see anyone from our Buddhist sect here? So unlucky. Not a single one of ours in this group. Otherwise, how could you act so mighty alone?”

Old Man Jiang glanced at him and cursed in a Shaanxi dialect, “Gua pi!”

Hui Jue instantly exploded like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Without another word, he jumped up and kicked Old Man Jiang, sending him face first onto the ground.

“Tiger does not show power, you think I am a sick cat.”

I helplessly slapped my forehead and turned away to admire the flowers and plants very carefully.

Then a wave of coughing broke out across the courtyard. All the dozen or so newcomers ran straight toward the cattle pen without looking back.

Su Rou stood there grinning foolishly. “Master Jiang, Master Hui, you two are really fun.”

“Fat boy, what do you know? Go study. Believe it or not I will beat you up?”

“Fat kid, your skin is itching again?”

I walked along pretending to admire the flowers, laughing inside until I almost died. Su Rou, weren’t you usually so clever? So you have a day like this too?

That night was especially dark. There was not a single star in the sky, and even the remaining crescent moon was occasionally swallowed by clouds.

In the courtyard, there was only one dim oil lamp hanging, swaying as the cold northern wind blew, making a creaking sound.

At the entrance of the courtyard, a ritual altar had been set up. Paper figures and paper horses had pale faces under the dim light of the lamp, giving off an indescribably eerie feeling. Occasionally, the yellow cloth draping the altar would be lifted by the wind, making it feel as though the worm might crawl out at any moment.

The courtyard was silent and heavy with darkness. I was the only one sitting in the middle. The bench beneath me was ice cold. I had been sitting for half an hour, but I could not warm it up because my entire body felt cold too.

In front of me was a strange dish filled with a red liquid. A white object, similar to a candle, stood upright in the liquid and burned. It gave off a smell similar to sweat mixed with the heat and blood flow of a body after intense exertion, hot and slightly fishy.

Around me, complex formation patterns were drawn densely on the ground. A few glowing black and white stones were placed seemingly at random at several points in the formation.

I looked up at the oil lamp hanging above my head, creaking continuously, and cursed my cheap master for the thousandth time in my heart.

“Let San Wa be the bait. He was born with strong spiritual sensitivity and nearly unbalanced yin and yang. I have been strengthening him all these years. Whose yang body among you has as much blood energy as his? Understand? Only strong blood energy can lock his three souls and seven spirits so they do not scatter due to overflowing spiritual perception, and also prevent the situation he had as a child where his soul could not be contained.”

This was Old Man Jiang’s order to everyone. Tonight, I was the bait to lure out that hungry ghost worm. I was the bait.

He was afraid others would not believe it, so he even brought up my childhood affairs, almost outright saying that my soul used to leave my body at any moment, attracting a hundred ghosts possession trying to take over my yang body, and that it was only his great intervention that saved me.

Right, and he just happened to be the one who insisted on taking me as his disciple.

So much for my cheap master. I had been sold out.

No matter how Hu Xueman emphasized the danger, no matter how Hui Jue showed concern, no matter how Su Rou insisted on staying to replace me, I was still placed on this bench in the middle of the courtyard without any right to refuse.

At that time, Old Man Jiang had glared and shouted, “If he cannot handle even this, he might as well have not followed me. His skills? Has he been training for nothing since he was seven? Let him sit there. Whoever objects, I will deal with them.”

And so, I ended up sitting here in misery.

After so many years under his training, respect for a master was already carved into my bones, even if on the surface we constantly mocked each other.

But even so, this feeling was unbearable. It was so unbearable that it did not stop me from cursing him a thousand times in my mind. The feeling of someone who is shot instantly is not the same as someone who knows the bullet is coming but must wait and endure it.