Chapter 8

When I unlocked the door, Wang Junhui started mumbling beside me, and only then did he let me push the door open.

I asked him what he had been muttering, and he said it was a soul-soothing spell to prevent the ghost inside from being startled.

After pushing the door open, I reached out to turn on the light, but Wang Junhui stopped me: "Don't turn on the light. This ghost is of a low rank and is afraid of light. If you turn on the light, you'll scare it."

Wang Junhui's words left me in a dilemma: "How can I see its face clearly and discern its vital energy without the light?"

As I was speaking, I heard the door of the small shop creak shut, which gave me a great fright. I almost screamed, but when I turned around, I saw that Wang Junhui had closed the door.

I let out a sigh of relief and said, "Daoist Wang, what are you doing? Closing the door makes it pitch black in here."

Wang Junhui explained, "There is a kind of light that ghosts are not afraid of, and that is the light from incense and candles. I'll light a candle, and you can use its light to see the ghost."

Then I heard the sound of Wang Junhui opening his briefcase in the darkness. A moment later, there was a "click," and Wang Junhui lit a lighter beside me. The flame illuminated his face, which looked pale and somewhat frightening.

If I didn't know he was Daoist Wang, I might have punched him long ago.

He then lit a candle, and the room brightened up. The shadows of Wang Junhui and me began to sway on the wall with the flickering candlelight.

The desk was right in front of Wang Junhui and me, but I couldn't see the ghost.

I held my breath, not daring to look for the ghost. Wang Junhui held the candle in one hand and made a hand sign with the other, then pointed at the candle flame.

Instantly, the flame seemed to have a mind of its own and tilted toward our backs. Could this mean the ghost was behind us?

The thought made my back chill.

I slowly turned my head to look behind me.

Before I could turn around, Wang Junhui suddenly grabbed my arm and said, "Don't rush. Turn slowly. The ghost is behind us. Don't scare it."

Don't scare it? It has already scared me!

If Wang Junhui wasn't beside me, I would have run out of the room, screaming and jumping.

"Follow me, turn slowly. No matter what you see, don't make a fuss!" Wang Junhui let go of my arm and began to turn slowly.

I quickly followed his lead.

When we turned around, we saw a semi-transparent black shadow standing less than a meter away from us, and it was closer to me.

"Thump, thump..."

My heart raced. Wang Junhui made another hand sign and gently touched my back, whispering, "Don't be afraid. I'm here. It won't harm you. Now you can communicate with it. Remember to take it slow and be gentle, so as not to startle it."

I tried to calm myself, rubbing my chest to steady my breathing.

After a moment, I softly said, "Old man, can you turn around so I can see your face? I need to find the location of your family from your vital energy."

This was the first time I had ever spoken to a ghost, so my heart beat faster with each word. I was afraid it would suddenly turn around with a terrifying face or lunge at me.

The ghost's transparent body trembled slightly at my words, then it slowly turned around.

Its movement was strange, and I felt something was off. After a moment, I realized that only its upper body had turned, while its lower body remained facing away from us.

This scared me a lot. Was it deliberately trying to scare me?

Now I could see the ghost clearly. It wasn't as terrifying as I had imagined. Apart from being transparent, its face was structured like a normal person's, without any distortion or missing parts.

I carefully examined its face. The "Zi" position on the right side of its face had the heaviest yin energy, indicating a deathly appearance. According to the annual fortune, the "Zi" position corresponds to the 78th or 79th year, meaning he might have died at 78 or 79 years old.

The "Disease Palace" between his eyes had a constant flow of yin energy, indicating that he died from a serious illness.

The "Descendants Palace" between his eyes had the least yin energy, indicating that he had good descendants who were very filial to him. If so, what could he still have left unfulfilled?

I observed the weak yin energy in the "Descendants Palace" as it moved in different directions, and I began to arrange the numbers in my mind, repeating the process until I grasped the pattern. The numbers in my mind formed the primary hexagram I wanted to know.

It was a "Yi" hexagram, and calculating the changing lines was more difficult. It required a better eye to discern the changes in the vital energy of the phase being examined.

Unconsciously, I was drenched in sweat.

The yin energy circulated, following the natural order, forming a yang line. The number of changing lines was determined by the vital energy: 9, 3, 5...

It was 5, the number of the 95th changing line.

According to the interpretation of the hexagram, the family lived in someone else's house, likely a relative or friend, not a hotel or inn.

Furthermore, based on the changing line, I could see that someone in the family had poor health, and they were staying at someone else's house to recuperate.

Based on the vital energy and the primary and changing hexagrams, they should be living in a residential area in the southern part of the city.

However, this area was still quite large. If I only told Ning Haoyu this information, he would surely be frustrated.

With my current divination skills, I could only deduce this much.

I was somewhat disappointed as I retracted the hexagram. Wang Junhui asked me how it went, and I told him everything I had deduced.

After hearing my explanation, Wang Junhui didn't say anything, but the ghost moved. This time, its lower body also turned around, and it no longer looked awkward.

The ghost's movement startled me, but Wang Junhui held me down and said, "Don't be afraid. It wants to talk to you."

I tried to calm myself and asked what the ghost wanted to say.

Wang Junhui mumbled a spell and touched my spirit gate, saying, "I'll stabilize your mind so you don't lose your wits when you hear the ghost's words."

My grandfather had once said that if you hear a ghost speak, you should quickly seal the phase gate of your hearing, or you might start to believe and even become obsessed, eventually being controlled by the ghost.

With Wang Junhui's protection, I could now listen to the ghost without fear.

"Go ahead," I said to the ghost.

"Ugh, ugh!"

The ghost made a sound that ordinary people couldn't understand, but to me, it became clear words.

The ghost asked, "Is my son sick? How is his health?"

I understood. He wanted to talk to me because he heard my divination.

I told him, "Don't worry. Since he didn't go to the hospital but is recuperating at a relative's house, it's not a serious issue. It's likely a mental problem, like not being able to accept your passing."

Hearing this, the ghost made two more "ugh" sounds: "My youngest son has suffered. After I got old, I lived with him. My eldest son and daughter, though they treated me well, worked far away and rarely visited..."

Seeing that the ghost was about to ramble, I said, "First, tell me about your relatives in the southern part of the city who could be hosting your youngest son's family. We'll find them, and then you can talk more."

The ghost paused, then gave me an address, saying it was his sister's house, where his youngest son's aunt lived. They were close, and the house was large. The ghost said if his youngest son was in the southern part of the city, he must be there.

With the address, I didn't waste any more time and told Wang Junhui it was all set. Wang Junhui mumbled a spell and said to the ghost, "Stay here and don't cause trouble, or I won't be lenient."

The ghost nodded respectfully at Wang Junhui.

We then left my shop, and Wang Junhui extinguished the candle.

I took a deep breath after closing the shop door.

Wang Junhui said, "Send the address to your friend. It's best to resolve this at night, as it's harder during the day."

I nodded and sent a text message with the address to Ning Haoyu, then called him to confirm. Hearing the detailed address, Ning Haoyu was surprised: "You're amazing!"

I smiled bitterly and said, "I'm not amazing. The ghost told me. I was scared to death. Anyway, don't waste time. Go find them, and we'll talk more when you bring them back."

After hanging up, I invited Wang Junhui to my home. He thought for a moment and agreed. It was dark, and there were many mosquitoes at the shop entrance. If we stayed there, we'd just be feeding the mosquitoes.

We went around to the main gate and entered the yard. Wang Junhui stopped in front of my grandfather's room. I asked him what was wrong, and he looked inside and said, "Nothing."

I clearly saw him looking at my grandfather's room with great surprise. Could there be something in there?

Before I could ask, Wang Junhui suddenly said, "Your grandfather is a great man."

Inside my room, I made a pot of tea for Wang Junhui. I had learned this habit from my grandfather, so we always had tea at home. Of course, with my means, I couldn't afford expensive tea, just ordinary Tieguanyin.

Wang Junhui sat down and drank a few sips of tea, then asked, "Did you learn to read the fate of ghosts from your grandfather? You're Li Chuyi, right? Then your grandfather must be Li Nanshan, the famous 'Divine Phaseman'!"

I nodded and said, "Yes, that's right."