Li Yunsheng treated Zhang Laifu. This time, he put on a particularly grand display, swinging an axe so vigorously that the wind howled around it. Anyone in the know could tell that this was real skill!
When he finished the first verse of the incantation, the onlookers standing in the distance marveled:
"That Zhuyou doctor is performing magic again!"
"What's he doing with an axe?"
"Has he gone mad? Let's stay back so we don't get chopped!"
After the second verse, the crowd moved closer, shouting their approval.
"Bravo! What an aura!"
"This doctor really has talent. He'll definitely cure him this time!"
By the third verse, the spectators were clenching their fists, cheering Li Yunsheng on with all their might.
"Fight! Damn it, fight the bastard!"
"Under broad daylight, why fear some evil spirit? Today we'll blast it into dust and ashes!"
Li Yunsheng chanted the incantation back and forth a dozen times. Veins bulged across Zhang Laifu's forehead, and blood rushed into his eyes.
The talisman paper clutched in his right hand seemed to turn into a battle-axe. In that moment, he felt as though he were astride a warhorse, fighting a bloody battle amid thousands of enemy troops.
*Chop the bastard! Aim right for that old ghost's head! I refuse to believe I can't hack him to death!*
Zhang Laifu let out a roar, sweat pouring from him like rain.
The sweat clung to his skin, then vaporized rapidly as his body temperature spiked. Seen from afar, he looked like a lamb skewer on a barbecue grill, smoke rising from every inch of his body!
The crowd cheered continuously, their own blood boiling in excitement.
After gasping for breath for a long while, the chill in Zhang Laifu was gone.
Li Yunsheng wiped his brow, looked at Zhang Laifu, and smiled. "Friend, you're cured."
The bystanders erupted in applause. Zhang Laifu carefully checked the changes in his body.
That bone-deep chill had indeed vanished.
He took out three silver dollars and placed them on the table. "This is for the consultation."
Li Yunsheng waved his hand. "We're friends. I can't take this."
"I value our friendship, but this is your livelihood. You have to take it." Zhang Laifu pushed the money into Li Yunsheng's hand, and Li Yunsheng accepted it.
"Brother Li, about the business we spoke of earlier..."
Li Yunsheng signaled for him not to say more just yet. Once the crowd dispersed, he lit three sticks of incense, letting the smoke envelop the stall.
"With these three incense sticks, people won't pay attention to us. Even if they hear what we say, they won't be able to make it out clearly."
Zhang Laifu glanced at the three sticks in the incense burner. "Is this a magical artifact?"
Li Yunsheng shook his head. "No, this is called an obscuring setup, or a bewilderment layout. It's leagues below an artifact. Friend, leave the aggrieved spirit in the Lin mansion alone. Don't take that job anymore."
He could drop the job, but he couldn't leave the hat behind!
Zhang Laifu said, "Brother Li, I left something in that spirit's hands. I have to get it back."
Li Yunsheng shook his head. "If you take my advice, let it go. But if you're set on getting it back, I can't help you with it."
Zhang Laifu pondered for a moment. "Is it because the deceased spirit in that old manor is too difficult to deal with?"
Li Yunsheng nodded. "He is indeed tough. You should find an expert to help you, but that expert isn't me. If you want to catch ghosts, save your money for a Heavenly Master. That's their line of work. Every trade eats its own bowl of rice. Don't put me in a bind."
Business required willing parties on both sides. Since Li Yunsheng had no interest in this venture, Zhang Laifu didn't press the matter. "Setting that aside, then, could you sell me a few talisman papers?"
Holding the talismans, Li Yunsheng thought it over. "Brother Laifu, I'd gladly give you a few, but doing so would only hurt you. You're not of this trade. You wouldn't know how to use them, and even if you did, they wouldn't work for you."
Saying he wouldn't know how to use them was one thing, but these were ghost-warding talismans—why wouldn't they work?
"Forget the talismans, then. Could you teach me a few incantations?"
Li Yunsheng gave a wry smile. "Incantations would be even more useless!"
Zhang Laifu could no longer hold back. These were clearly fine tools for dealing with spirits—why did he dismiss them all as useless?
"Brother Yunsheng, how could incantations be useless? Even if I can't cast any spells, reciting a few lines ought to at least scare him!"
Li Yunsheng sighed, looking helpless. "You can't scare him. He's a departed spirit. Even if you chant an incantation, he won't understand a word you're saying. How are you going to frighten him?"
"How could he not understand?"
"Could the spirit you met understand your speech?"
"Of course he could!" Zhang Laifu answered confidently.
After thinking for a moment, his confidence waned. "He... probably could..."
During their first meeting in the ancestral shrine, Zhang Laifu had been certain Lao Duozi could hear him, and their conversation had gone fairly smoothly.
During their second meeting at the entrance of the west wing-courtyard, the exchange had been somewhat strange. No matter what Zhang Laifu said, Lao Duozi had merely replied, "Hurry up and go to sleep."
During their third meeting inside the west wing's inner room, things had been stranger still—the two of them seemed to be talking past each other.
Recalling every word in detail, Zhang Laifu gave a more accurate answer: "Sometimes he could, and sometimes he couldn't."
"Sometimes he could? That makes no sense. The living and ghosts aren't creatures of the same dimension." Li Yunsheng pondered for a moment and came to a deduction. "That spirit must have used a fierce vessel."
"What's a fierce vessel?"
Li Yunsheng explained, "A fierce vessel is also called a dharma vessel. Scholars call them treasured blades, orthodox practitioners call them hall-quelling vessels, veteran rovers call them anchor pieces, and top-tier fierce vessels are called blood vessels. The 'magical artifact' you mentioned earlier is just another name for a fierce vessel. Do you understand now?"
Zhang Laifu nodded. "I understand that part, but why would he need a fierce vessel to hear sounds? Is the spirit I met deaf?"
"He isn't deaf, but what he hears is different," Li Yunsheng explained in the plainest terms he could manage. "When a soul leaves the body, it has no eyes, no ears, and no other sensory organs. The way it perceives the world undergoes a dimensional shift.
"To them, mountains, rivers, flowers, and birds might look like a patch of mist or a puddle of mud. An orchestral ensemble and a roar of cannons might sound no different to their ears.
"In terms of Wansheng Prefecture's theories, this is called the divergence of the living and the dead—every perception between them is fundamentally different.
"In terms of the Outer Prefecture's theories, once consciousness detaches from the body, it triggers an orderly collapse of spacetime, which in turn causes spacetime to fold and form a micro black hole.
"This black hole is the deceased spirit's manifestation in the three-dimensional world. Its fundamental characteristics have already exceeded normal concepts of physics. You're from the Outer Prefecture and have received higher education, so you should understand now."
Zhang Laifu hadn't understood a thing about spacetime collapses or black holes, but for the dignity of higher education, he nodded vigorously anyway.
Li Yunsheng said, "I'm telling you all this just to let you know that the other party is a very powerful spirit, and he has a fierce vessel in hand. Why throw your life away trying to fight him? Won't you take my advice and just let this go?"
Zhang Laifu was still hesitating when a sudden gust of cold wind blew through, snapping one of the incense sticks in the burner.
Li Yunsheng hastily replaced the broken incense. Looking in the direction from which the wind had snapped it, his expression grew increasingly grim.
"Brother Laifu, you need to leave. We have an uninvited guest."
Chapter 24