Chapter 12

I have never considered the cost when I perform rituals; if I deem it necessary, I will do it.

Just like the ritual I am performing now, once it succeeds, the cost will be three years of offerings to the wandering spirits who provide the information. I also cannot neglect to hold a ritual for the other wandering spirits.

Whether it's providing sacrificial food or sending them spiritual energy, these matters are very serious and cannot be taken lightly. If anything goes wrong, the karma will be on my head.

But I have never given this much thought. If I feel it should be done, I will do it. This is what my master often refers to as not considering the cost, and why he and my senior brother call me "Three Stupid" for always acting without hesitation.

Actually, it's hard for me to explain to my master and senior brother that this isn't because I'm stupid, but because my spiritual senses are not sharp. I cannot predict or sense the good or bad outcomes of things, just like a person with severe myopia who can't see the pit ahead and has to get closer to see it.

Who can blame him for falling into the pit?

The initial communication was my biggest challenge, but I do have some spiritual senses, especially when communicating with wandering spirits. When the subtle sensations appear, my powerful soul energy takes effect.

This is like a community committee auntie announcing news. In this case, I kept the image of Old Zhou in my mind, and with the help of my powerful soul energy, I became like a high-power speaker, quickly spreading the message among the wandering spirits.

Of course, this was under the condition that I promised a cost. When I felt it was about right, I stopped the ritual.

After all, I don't have a clear idea of how powerful my soul energy is. My master often says I need to control it, but I have poor spiritual senses. If I let it spread without limit, it wouldn't be a good thing.

Why wouldn't it be good? After I stopped the ritual, I thought about another of my master's cryptic sayings: within a certain range, not only wandering spirits exist. I must control the range of the announcement to avoid disturbing entities that shouldn't be disturbed, which could lead to unnecessary trouble.

But it's hard for me to imagine what other unknown entities could exist within the city besides wandering spirits. Since I'm the type of person who won't let a question fester, I asked about it at the time.

That was the first time I saw my master and senior brother look at me with complicated expressions, and it was also the first time I felt the silence of avoidance.

After the ritual was complete, I felt tired. Thinking about these things made me feel gloomy, and I couldn't help but take out a cigarette from my pocket and put it in my mouth.

I have two wounds in my heart that I cannot avoid, and the more I try to avoid them, the more I think about them in every detail of my life.

This is why one shouldn't force oneself to face one's inner wounds but should naturally face everything. The more one forces it, the more counterproductive it becomes. Whether it's desire, pain, or something else, such persistence is the root of obsession.

The taste of the cigarette was bitter, but I knew the truth, even though it was hard to put into practice. Since it's hard, I can only train myself.

The room was quiet, with only the ticking of Old Zhou's clock. My thoughts were chaotic, but I knew that by the time I had smoked half a cigarette, I should go and observe the water bowl.

According to the speed of the message's spread, the water bowl should show some subtle reaction in one or two minutes. However, there was no specific answer in the textbooks, but the person involved would definitely understand.

But after five minutes, the water bowl showed no reaction at all.

I thought I was too impatient, so I waited patiently. But after ten minutes, I gradually lost my composure and lit another cigarette out of frustration.

Fifteen minutes, twenty minutes, the water bowl still showed no reaction. This far exceeded the time it should take for the ritual to receive a response. Did it fail?

My face turned grim. It couldn't have failed. I carefully recalled every detail of the ritual, including the communication with the wandering spirits and the spread of the message. I didn't do anything wrong, so why was there no response?

If I had to explain, there could only be one reason: the cost I offered was not enough to entice the wandering spirits to provide the information.

But I was just looking for a lost fragment of a soul, not asking them to do something that would cost them. Why would it be so difficult? Another possibility, which I didn't want to consider, was that the wandering spirits had no information, so they gave no feedback.

But this possibility was very small. Why? Just like in life, there are always prying eyes and ears, and as long as Old Zhou's soul fragment didn't stay in Zhang Yang's house, there should be some information, unless it was an extremely coincidental situation.

But how many coincidences can be called miracles?

My face was grim, and my fingertips were cold. The heaviness and tension were overwhelming. For entities like wandering spirits, if the cost offered is not enough, there are other methods, such as invoking a deity they fear to forcefully demand information. But doing so would harm the natural order, and the consequences afterward are unpredictable.

Although I am called "Three Stupid," deep down, I am unwilling to do such things. It's not that I fear the consequences, but that I find it dishonorable.

But some people are rational, and some are emotional. I appear rational but am very emotional inside. Old Zhou is my brother, and if it's for my brother, I won't hold back. I will bear all the consequences and pay the price afterward.

I haven't thought about what the price would be.

With this in mind, I was about to perform the ritual again, but at that moment, the room suddenly became inexplicably cold. A candle in the northeast corner started to sway without any wind, tilting toward the water bowl.

I felt a surge of joy and quickly approached the water bowl. Water can provide protection for spirits, so it easily gathers yin energy. By setting up the water bowl, I can communicate without restraining my yang energy.

As for the candle, it had fulfilled its mission by telling me that a "knowledgeable" entity had arrived.

Everything finally made sense. When I approached the water bowl, it began to ripple slightly without any vibration, indicating that a spirit had entered. I quickly sat cross-legged in front of the water bowl.

I began to communicate with the spirit in the water bowl, but my less-than-outstanding spiritual senses were a hindrance. After a while, I barely sensed the presence of the spirit in the water bowl, but it was still vague.

I vaguely knew it was a female ghost, but the first thing I felt was not the information it wanted to tell me, but a sense of panic, fear, and terror.

What was it afraid of? I felt a mix of amusement and frustration. Could it be that I was looking for information about Old Zhou, but instead found a female ghost seeking protection? But then, perhaps because of the intense emotional fluctuations, the water bowl began to shake violently.

In this, I felt a very clear sense of resentment. If this resentment was not resolved, it might turn into a vengeful ghost.

I frowned, wondering what this meant.

But in the next moment, I finally communicated with it. Due to my spiritual senses, the communication was still vague, and I couldn't have a word-by-word conversation, but I could feel its meaning. The first sentence made my frown deepen.

Its meaning was that all the wandering spirits in the city were unwilling to get involved in this trouble. It came to tell me this so that I would take revenge for it.

Revenge? Revenge for what? I conveyed my thoughts, as I couldn't easily agree to such a request. If it wanted me to kill someone, I couldn't do that.

Just find it, you only need to find it. You are a cultivator, a practitioner of the Dao, and it is your responsibility. It communicated with me, but it was mysterious, saying it was my responsibility. Was it my responsibility to find it, or something else?

I had many questions, but I felt the female ghost was very anxious and panicking. In the next moment, it directly communicated with me, saying that it knew where Old Zhou's soul fragment was, in the hospital.

But before it could finish, a piercing cat's cry suddenly echoed outside my window. This time, it didn't sound like one cat but a group of cats in heat, calling from below Old Zhou's building.

Even though Old Zhou lived on the 16th floor, the cat's cry sounded as if it was right next to my ear. I felt my hair stand on end, and the female ghost let out a piercing scream. The water in the bowl began to ripple violently, and I clearly felt it was about to leave.

But it hadn't finished speaking yet. Hospital, hospital for what? I quickly took out the soul-capturing talisman from my pocket, thinking that since it was so afraid, I could capture it into the talisman for temporary "residence" to get the information.

It seemed unwilling to leave, but before I could form the hand seals, I heard another, even more piercing cat's cry, which was clearly inside the room.

Then I felt a strong wave of yin energy. Before I could react, I felt a pain on my face.

This pain was not a physical one but a deeper, more profound pain. I broke out in a cold sweat, and the ritual was forcibly interrupted. I watched helplessly as the female ghost left.

I suddenly opened my eyes and saw a dark, indistinct presence in the corner of the room, looking at me with an abnormally cold gaze.