As the peach wood sword stabbed toward Ruifang's face, her expression became even more ferocious and malevolent. She raised her hand and caught the sword steadily.
Immediately, white vapor rose from her palm. The gloomy aura on her face intensified, and she spat out a few words, "I'm going to kill…"
Then she suddenly opened her arms and lunged at me again.
I cursed silently in my heart—she's not even afraid of the peach wood sword. Clearly, she's not an ordinary spirit.
Her sharp fingernails, several centimeters long, slashed toward my neck. I quickly took two steps back, but my back hit the wall.
Just as the sharp nails were about to pierce my neck, I jerked my head to the side.
"Shhhk, shhhk…" Ruifang's nails stabbed into the wall like eagle talons. Her nails were completely undamaged, but the wall was punctured, debris falling to the floor.
I instinctively touched my neck—so close. If that had hit me, I'd be reporting to King Yama right now.
Sensing the danger, I quickly bent down and ducked under Ruifang's arm.
What I didn't expect was how fast Ruifang moved. Her body twisted rapidly, and she launched herself at me again from a bizarre angle.
I didn't have time to dodge. In desperation, I bit the tip of my tongue and spat a mouthful of blood at Ruifang.
Ruifang let out a piercing shriek and crashed heavily to the ground. Clearly, she was in immense pain.
I quickly dipped my finger in the tongue blood, drew a charm in the air, chanted a spell, and pushed my hands forward. The charm flew onto Ruifang's body.
Immediately, red light flared from her body. She groaned in agony, her face twisting as if something inside her was fighting to stay.
It was clear—the fierce ghost possessing Ruifang didn't want to leave and was resisting.
I dared not be careless. I sat cross-legged on the floor and began chanting. I had to force the ghost out of Ruifang's body before I could destroy it with my tools—otherwise, the ritual might harm her soul.
My chanting grew faster and faster. The black aura around Ruifang thickened from a faint mist to a dense fog.
We battled for over ten minutes. Sweat dripped from my forehead, stinging my eyes, but I couldn't lose focus for even a moment.
Just when I was growing anxious, a blast of black smoke burst from the top of Ruifang's head. It drifted a short distance away and began forming a shape.
The charm on Ruifang's body disappeared. I knew the ghost had been expelled. I quickly dabbed blood on her forehead to seal her third eye and prevent the ghost from repossessing her.
The ghost grew rapidly. Soon, it formed into a towering black figure over two meters tall, with a massive bloody mouth lunging at me.
I sneered and pulled out the wooden bowl.
Before I could act, the ghost halted. It seemed frightened by the bowl and darted toward the window. But the moment it touched the window, it was violently repelled.
I had instructed Ruifang's father to smear black dog's blood on the window to prevent the ghost's escape.
Here's why black dog's blood is used: in the Five Elements of the Chinese zodiac, the dog corresponds to Wu Earth—Yang Earth. Dogs are the most yang (positive energy) of all animals. There's a legend that Erlang Shen's celestial hound was a black dog, imbued with innate Yang energy. Whether that's true or not, black dog blood is highly effective in repelling evil. It terrifies many malicious spirits.
The ghost let out a chilling scream, so sharp it made my ears ache. I rubbed them before feeling a bit better.
Unable to escape through the window, the ghost charged toward the door. But Ruifang's father stood guard there with a knife—I wasn't worried.
Sure enough, the ghost was repelled again and became more frenzied, flailing and charging at me.
"Courting death!"
I raised the wooden bowl and began chanting. As I prepared to strike, the ghost began wailing and begging.
But who knew how many lives it had taken? Showing mercy to such a creature is cruelty to the living. I continued chanting and hurled the bowl.
The moment the bowl landed on the ghost's head, it acted like a vacuum cleaner—sucking the ghost inside. The dense black aura vanished in an instant. The ghost didn't even get a final scream—it simply disappeared.
With the ghost gone, the once-chilly room warmed up. The temperature rose noticeably.
I was exhausted, panting on the floor like a dead dog, silently swearing to wring Man He dry for putting me through this ordeal.
I picked up the wooden bowl. To my surprise, a fine crack had formed on its once-smooth surface—one that hadn't been there before.
These tools lose a bit of their spiritual energy every time they're used. Ten more times and this bowl will be no different from an ordinary one.
Only a master like my teacher could restore its energy.
After resting a while, I opened the door. Ruifang's father stood outside, holding a knife, his face set with grim determination—ready to sacrifice himself if needed.
When he saw me, his expression eased. He peeked inside the room. "Little master, how's it going? We heard a lot of noise just now…"
I waved my hand and gestured for him to check on his daughter.
He rushed in. Ruifang's mother also came running. Ruifang lay there with her eyes closed, face no longer as pale, her breathing steady. She was clearly out of danger.
Seeing she hadn't woken yet, her mother asked anxiously, "Little master, how is my daughter?"
"She's fine now. Get some glutinous rice and apply it to her forehead. If it turns black, replace it. She'll wake up by morning. And let her get more sun," I instructed.
Though the ghost was gone, Ruifang had been possessed for a while. Some of the residual evil energy would need time to dissipate.
Once I recovered a bit more, I left their home. Her parents gave me a huge red envelope, but I only accepted one yuan as a token. They were a bit embarrassed by that.
By the time I got home, it was the middle of the night. Exhausted, I collapsed into bed and quickly fell asleep.
In the middle of a deep sleep, my nose began to itch. I sneezed and woke up. Opening my eyes, I saw Man He sitting at the edge of my bed, brushing my nose with a stalk of dogtail grass.
"The sun's already up—get up!" he said, slapping me.
"So early? What do you want?" I muttered as I pulled on my clothes.
"Did you forget? You're coming with me to see my wife. You said she'd wake up today," he said, clearly anxious.
I was speechless. This guy already forgot his buddy after getting a wife? I nearly died saving her last night and he still had the nerve to wake me up so early.
I glared at him. "Relax, your wife isn't going anywhere."
"She's not, but I just want to see if she's okay. Come on!" he said urgently.
Seeing how anxious he was, I had no choice but to go. If I didn't, he'd never let it go.
My grandparents had gone to help my fourth uncle in the fields and left breakfast for me. I took a few bites before Man He dragged me out the door.
When we arrived at Ruifang's house, her father hadn't gone to work. He greeted us warmly.
"Little master, you're amazing. Last night—" he began.
I quickly coughed.
Ruifang's mother took over, "Ruifang woke up last night, but fell asleep again. Your medicine really works!"
Hearing that, Man He rushed in to see her.
Ruifang's parents thanked me again and prepared a lavish meal for us at noon. Ruifang, though still weak, seemed fine otherwise.
On the way back, Man He said I was his savior and swore to be my servant for life.
I told him seriously that though I'd studied medicine for years, I didn't have a license—so he must never tell anyone I treated her. He assured me he understood and said I should get certified soon since my skills were so good.
I just smiled and told him I would. I said it only to stop him from spreading the word. If someone really came to me for treatment, it'd be a joke.
Man He stayed at home for three days before returning to the city for work. After he left, life returned to its dull routine.
The closer my birthday came, the more restless the strange energy inside me became. Sometimes, it took a great effort just to suppress it.
On my birthday, my grandparents just made a simple bowl of noodles. That's how it always was—my birthday was also my mother's death anniversary.
While we ate, I told them about the Kan Yang Pass and asked them to stay at my uncle's house for the night and return tomorrow.
They understood I was worried about their safety and didn't say much, only urging me to be careful before leaving.
After sending them off, I pasted a talisman on the door and sat cross-legged inside. I knew tonight wouldn't be peaceful. Whatever was buried under our house wouldn't let me pass the Kan Yang Pass so easily.
Kan Yang Pass meant not seeing ghosts on my birthday. If I succeeded, I could dispel the Yin energy of being ghost-born.
By 10 p.m., there was no sign of anything unusual. Just two more hours till midnight—if I made it past that, I'd be safe.
But just when I thought things would go smoothly, someone knocked on the door. My uncle's voice rang out.
"Taiping! Taiping! Wake up—your grandfather is missing!"
My head buzzed.
Grandpa missing?
Something was definitely wrong.