After learning that Zhao Liu had fled, the clan elder sought out Blind Zhao, who gathered a few young men and began making wild, haphazard attempts. First, they pickled vegetables and delivered them to Wang Zhu at the county hospital, but Grandma Wang's lingering obsession remained. Next, they hoed the soil and planted the greens scheduled to be sown that day, yet Grandma Wang's obsession persisted.
Then they gave Grandma Wang's natal family a sound beating; they hunted down photographs of Grandma Wang from her youth; they changed her mortal remains into ten different outfits. Yet nothing succeeded in dispelling her lingering obsession. In the end, everyone else gave up, leaving only Blind Zhao, who craved karmic merit more than his own life.
Blind Zhao said, "I've decided to shadow her tonight and see what she's actually after."
Ding Shi nodded. "Understood. See you tomorrow, Uncle Zhao."
Blind Zhao grabbed Ding Shi by the clothes. "You're a clever kid. Roll with your Uncle Zhao tonight, and I'll split half the karmic merit with you."
Ding Shi chuckled. "Uncle Zhao, besides karmic merit, isn't there something a bit more tangible you can throw in?"
Blind Zhao produced a paper talisman. "A Breath-Concealing Talisman. It fools weak ghosts and monsters so they won't sense your presence."
Ding Shi unfolded the paper talisman, took a look, and said, "Fake."
Blind Zhao was stunned. "How do you know that?"
Ding Shi had seen a brief overview of paper talismans in On Ghosts, so he said, "Every talisman must be drawn in a single continuous stroke. Yours is completely fractured, breaking apart in a messy jumble."
Blind Zhao let out an awkward laugh and tucked the counterfeit talisman back away. His eyes darted around, and he said, "Help me tonight, and I'll tell you where San Niang is."
Ding Shi asked skeptically, "Why would I want to know where San Niang is?"
She was a boss. Besides, the village annals stated that San Niang was buried beneath San Niang Temple.
Blind Zhao lowered his voice. "San Niang possesses a great treasure—an immortal artifact left by that immortal Daoist. Otherwise, how do you think a zombie was kept suppressed before the temple was built?"
Ding Shi replied, "What, am I supposed to dig up San Niang Temple?"
"Not at all," Blind Zhao said. "San Niang's true body isn't beneath the temple."
Ding Shi asked, "Then where is it?"
Blind Zhao replied, "You help me, I help you."
Ding Shi remained unconvinced. "If I take the great treasure, won't San Niang slaughter the whole village?"
Blind Zhao said, "As long as you're bold enough and only take the treasure, there won't be any trouble."
Ding Shi was still dubious, so Blind Zhao pressed further: "The treasure is on the underside of San Niang's coffin lid—a jade tablet about the size of a playing card."
Ding Shi's pupils constricted. He recalled the Three Short of One skill card. To the three aunties, that card had appeared as a jade tablet roughly the size of a playing card. But to him, a player, it was a skill card.
Only when the three aunties went bankrupt did Ding Shi obtain Three Short of One. Because it had been won through mahjong, the Three Short of One skill leaned toward entertainment. Following that logic, a skill card retrieved by crawling into San Niang's coffin would nine times out of ten lean toward combat.
Was Blind Zhao lying? Ding Shi felt there was at least some truth to it—at the very least, the card's location was genuine, or he wouldn't have mentioned a jade tablet the size of a playing card.
Damn it. Two days ago, he had cursed Li Si for recklessly messing around; yesterday, he had cursed Zhao Liu for recklessly messing around; and today, it looked like he was about to recklessly mess around himself. Could he really do this? Was this really alright? Wouldn't his conscience hurt?
Blind Zhao added, "San Niang's coffin isn't underground—it's inside a grotto."
That even spared him the digging?
Ding Shi asked, "How do you want me to help?" If Blind Zhao dared play him, Ding Shi wouldn't hesitate to pay him a violent visit.
Blind Zhao took out a brass bell. "I need to follow Grandma Wang at close range. She won't attack me unless I block her path, take something she wants, or carry something similar to what she's after."
Ding Shi said, "And you'll test different items to determine what her obsession is."
Blind Zhao nodded. "Right. For instance, if I hold a jar and she turns hostile toward me, then her obsession involves a jar. You keep watch from a distance. If I'm attacked, ring the bell to lure her away."
Ding Shi asked, "And what about me?"
"She will only go toward where the bell rings," Blind Zhao said. "She won't chase you."
Ding Shi said, "Deal."
...
Deep into the night, not a single light could be seen throughout the village except at Grandma Wang's house. The villagers had already heard about Grandma Wang; tonight, everyone had locked their doors tight, and even the night patrol had canceled its routine duties.
At eleven at night, Grandma Wang's ghost appeared in front of the Wang family's front gate. Blind Zhao suddenly remembered something and whispered, "I forgot she still has a grandson. She'll go looking for her grandson first."
The ghost turned her head toward Blind Zhao and Ding Shi. The two hastily leaned back against the outer wall of Cuihua's house to stay out of the ghost's line of sight.
After waiting a moment, Blind Zhao and Ding Shi poked their heads out together to look toward the Wang gate, only to find the ghost right before their eyes. Ding Shi was scared out of his wits, nearly crying out in terror.
Blind Zhao reacted remarkably fast, hurling the brass bell in his palm behind the ghost. The ghost seized Blind Zhao by the throat, but hearing the chime of the bell behind her, she immediately released him and drifted toward the sound.
Ding Shi hoisted Blind Zhao onto his shoulders and ran, ducking behind a tree. "What happened? Why did she attack you?"
Blind Zhao caught his breath. "Something on me is connected to her obsession."
Ding Shi looked at Blind Zhao: a bag, a set of gray clothes. He looked at himself: aside from lacking a bag, he looked no different from Blind Zhao.
Blind Zhao peeked out, then waved for Ding Shi to follow the ghost while he went to retrieve the bell first. The moonlight was good tonight, offering clear visibility. The two followed twenty meters behind the ghost, watching as she drifted toward the school.
Ding Shi felt like cursing. Sun Qi, you idiot! I laid everything out so clearly for you, so how did you still dare take Zhao Liu in?
The elementary school faculty dormitory was a single-story row of four brick rooms; Sun Qi's room was the fourth.
The ghost drifted neither fast nor slow up to Sun Qi's room and stood quietly at the doorway. If anyone were to open the door and walk out right now, it would be quite a pleasant surprise.
While waiting, Ding Shi pointed at Blind Zhao's neck where the ghost had choked him and raised an eyebrow: Is she strong?
Blind Zhao found a small twig on the ground and snapped it with one hand, letting Ding Shi know that his neck was like this twig in the ghost's grip.
Blind Zhao held the bell in one hand, pressing a finger against its clapper. Ding Shi did likewise, glancing at Blind Zhao to convey a question with his eyes: How long is she going to stand there?
Blind Zhao shook his head, and the two remained crouched behind the cotton rose tree, watching on.
After standing before the door for about ten minutes, the ghost raised her right hand and knocked four times. She waited a moment. With no response, she knocked four times again. The sound of an overturning chair came from inside. The ghost's hunched back instantly straightened, and her face turned an eerie, ghastly green.
Ding Shi whispered into Blind Zhao's ear, "Will she leave if they just keep the door shut?"
Blind Zhao whispered back, "Kin and the object of obsession. Not a chance."
Ding Shi nodded. Blind Zhao meant that with a direct relative inside along with whatever Grandma Wang wanted—a double buff—the door wouldn't be able to hold her back.
The ghost suddenly turned her head and looked toward the cotton rose tree. The two behind the tree ducked their heads instantly, as if believing that so long as they didn't look at her, she wouldn't notice them.
Perhaps fixated on Zhao Liu, the ghost paid them no mind and resumed knocking on the door, noticeably with greater force.
Ding Shi felt a pang of sympathy for Sun Qi; that girl had to be terrified out of her wits right now.
Chapter 14