5: Chapter 5: Master Liu’s Encounter
5 -5: Master Liu’s Encounter
After dinner.
In the backyard.
Zhang Xiaoman looked at the large cart plastered with signs like “Feng Shui Fortune Telling, Lucky Augmentation” and couldn’t help but marvel:
“I didn’t expect your gig to be such a big deal, Master Liu.
It’s way classier than those street stalls and small-table fortune tellers.”
“Isn’t it?
Haven’t you seen the reputation I have around these parts?
The title ‘Half-immortal Pei’ isn’t just for show.
Every time I set up my stall, the line of people is just endless, let me tell you.”
The old man, while caressing the cart, began to boast, as though he were a general who had retired from the battlefield many years ago, reminiscing about his glory days.
Zhang Xiaoman was a bit puzzled.
“Master Liu, if your business is doing so well, then why would you retire?”
Upon hearing this, Sixth Grandpa was initially stunned, then he put on a nonchalant expression and said:
“Hey, why so many questions?
I just got tired of it and stopped fussing with it...”
Zhang Xiaoman just pursed his lips.
“Master Liu, who do you think you’re fooling?
We know each other too well.
You almost cherish your few tricks like they’re your life.
You telling me you got tired of it?
Do you think I would believe that?”
Sixth Grandpa opened his mouth to say something but then swallowed his words and impatiently waved his hand:
“Off you go, young man.
Why all these questions?
Don’t ask nonsense!
You’re not supposed to know about this...”
As he spoke, he turned away and went to tidy up the dishes and chopsticks.
Seeing him like this, how could Zhang Xiaoman hold back his curiosity?
He quickly followed him and began earnestly persuading the old man again.
Eventually, after a mix of dragging, coaxing, and persistent nagging, he finally “moved” the old man and successfully pried his mouth open.
“Oh, you pesky kid!
I really can’t deal with you!
Always curious, always wanting to pry into everything, just like your mother!”
Sixth Grandpa’s face showed reluctance, yet he still spoke:
“These things, I myself felt something off about them.
It’s uncertain!
And don’t you go spouting this off anywhere, do you hear?”
Zhang Xiaoman, of course, readily agreed.
Only then did Sixth Grandpa sigh and slowly begin to speak.
“I’ve been fortune-telling for half my life.
The neighborhood people jokedly call me ‘Half-immortal Pei’ and because of my age, they added ‘Master Liu.'”
“But my tricks, they might fool outsiders, but our own family knows the bottom line, right?
It’s all fake—just a big con!”
Zhang Xiaoman couldn’t help but nod.
That’s right.
Sixth Grandpa had been telling fortunes for half his life.
To outsiders, he projected an aura of profound mystery and Daoist charm.
But to his family, he was merely an old charlatan, a big con man.
He’d start with some fortune-telling mnemonics, then shake his head and pretend to summon spirits, and the unsuspecting laymen would dutifully pay up.
“So, you had a change of heart?
Stopped doing it?”
Zhang Xiaoman continued the conversation.
The old man glared at him fiercely: “Don’t interrupt!”
Zhang Xiaoman chuckled and gestured for him to proceed.
Pei Laoliu pulled over a stool and poured himself a cup of white tea before continuing:
“You see, usually, I go on about things like demons, spirits, and the Three Pure Ones.
But in my heart, I clearly know there’s no such thing in the world.
It’s all made up by people—fake!”
Zhang Xiaoman, listening on the side, also grabbed a handful of peanuts, feeling somewhat like he was in an old tavern listening to a storyteller.
“But as they say, if you always walk by the river, you are bound to get your shoes wet.
Wandering on ghostly paths at night, one is bound to encounter ghosts eventually!”
But the old man suddenly changed his tone, his expression becoming grave:
“I won’t hide it from you...
A few days ago, I really encountered something filthy!”
“What!
Something filthy!?”
At these words, Zhang Xiaoman suddenly exclaimed.
While talking, he mishandled the peanut he was tossing into his mouth, and it smacked right onto his face.
Onto Pei Laoliu’s face.
“What are you doing, youngster!”
Pei Laoliu, startled by him, caught the peanut and immediately tossed it into his mouth.
“I thought you wouldn’t believe it.
I didn’t expect such a big reaction from you.”
Zhang Xiaoman was stunned, then slowly realized his reaction had indeed been a bit exaggerated.
He composed his face to look calmer, but his heart was in turmoil.
If it had been in the past, he certainly wouldn’t have believed Pei Laoliu’s ghostly tales.
He would have naturally taken his words as just another ghost story—after all, the old guy often used to do that.
But this time was different.
Because not only had he obtained the System, but just yesterday he had personally experienced such a terrifying strangeness.
He also understood that Pei Laoliu would not give up his fortune-telling career for no reason at all.
“No, Master Liu, you startled me.
What you said was too compelling.
I couldn’t help but get caught up in it.”
Zhang Xiaoman hurriedly smiled and filled his tea to the brim.
Pei Laoliu rolled his eyes and, unabashedly, took a big gulp.
“I say, how come your nerves seem to be regressing more as we speak?
I haven’t even started my story, and you’re already scared?”
After saying that, he fiercely took another sip of tea before continuing,
“You should know, I, Master Liu, have spent most of my life dealing with Feng Shui and tombs, but I’ve never heard of anything like souls or ghosts, and I certainly don’t believe in them!”
Zhang Xiaoman couldn’t help but break into a sweat.
This fortune-teller, who dealt with such things daily, didn’t believe in them, whereas his floating clientele were deeply convinced.
“You don’t know how shocked I was when I saw that thing with my own eyes.”
Pei Laoliu seemed to recall the scene, and a hint of fear gradually emerged in his eyes.
“A few days ago, while I was setting up my stall at Bianmin Bridge, a young man with gold wire glasses came by.
He straight up asked for an exorcism.”
Pei Laoliu reflected on the memory.
“You wouldn’t know, but the young man’s expression was anxious—he wasn’t faking it—and he was dressed in a suit and a designer watch.
When I saw him and heard his address, Fat Fish Villa District, what do you think?
Such a big fish—could I let him just slip away?”
Zhang Xiaoman, familiar with his grandpa’s style, nodded in deep agreement.
“So, Master Liu, what did you charge him?”
Pei Laoliu’s face lit up with a smile, gesturing a figure-eight with his hand.
Seeing that, Zhang Xiaoman was at first stunned, then chuckled understandingly, not forgetting to give him a thumbs-up.
Pei Laoliu continued:
“This young man drove me down from the bridge in a luxury car—the style of it, tut tut...
He told me on the way that their basement was haunted!”
“Not only were there strange noises every day, but there was also a continual stench wafting out, and the appliances stopped working.
They called the police several times to no avail.
Whenever someone stood in the basement, the noise would stop immediately, and they couldn’t even locate the source of the smell!”
“When I heard that, I immediately suspected it was probably some rats making a ruckus.”
“I’ve encountered many similar cases before.
Each visit, I’d perform the same routine: draw some talismans, chant some mnemonics, and finally, discreetly sprinkle some Rat Poison.
It was sure to solve the problem!”
Pei Laoliu said this but then hesitated, reaching for the cup on the table, yet fear began to fill his eyes.
Zhang Xiaoman noticed that Sixth Grandpa’s hands seemed to be slightly trembling.
“What happened next?”
he asked.
By now, Pei Laoliu was no longer as relaxed as he initially was, and his tone became heavy and slow.
“Later I realized, I really shouldn’t have gone!”
Pei Laoliu slapped his thigh, expressing regret:
“When I got there, I realized that their place was truly bizarre.
That smell, it wasn’t something a rat could cause—it was the stench of a corpse!”
Seeing the somewhat puzzled expression on Zhang Xiaoman’s face, he explained:
“When I was young, I helped to relocate graves in the surrounding villages and opened coffins.
That smell was exactly the same as back then!”
Zhang Xiaoman nodded.
Pei Laoliu continued:
“So I asked him.
You said this smell was from the basement initially, so how come it has spread throughout the house, even the yard?
The young man told me he didn’t know and was hoping I could figure it out.”
“Actually, my first reaction was an opportunity to ask for more money, but I couldn’t say that directly.
I had to come up with a pretext during the exorcism process.”
“When I reached the basement door, I heard a ‘woo-woo-hoo-hoo’ sound inside, as if someone were continuously crying.
At that moment, I felt something wasn’t right, but then I thought it might just be the wind leaking through somewhere and making that noise.”
“Did you go in then?”
Zhang Xiaoman perspired a bit, recalling his own eerie experiences from the day before, and couldn’t help feeling a tingling on his scalp.
Pei Laoliu again showed a regretful expression, saying:
“You don’t know.
When I opened the basement door, good lord!
The stench was practically turning into a poisonous miasma, as if it was burning down there.”
“Although I felt like backing out, I had taken people’s money to solve their problem, and there was no turning back.
If I ran off then, wouldn’t Master Liu’s reputation be stinking forever?”
Pei Laoliu’s face showed his inner conflict.
“So, I braced myself and went in.
But feeling alone made me somewhat nervous, so I told the young man that his basement happened to be on a natural array eye and that the evil spirit was cultivating there and had gained some Daoist skills.
To exorcise it, the presence of the homeowner wielding righteous energy was essential to suppress it, or else, as an outsider, I feared I couldn’t persuade it to leave.”
“Did he believe it?”
Zhang Xiaoman asked.
“Whether he believed it or not, he had no choice.
If not for their house, where would they live later?
So we both went into the room, set everything up, and while performing the ritual, I took the opportunity to walk around the basement.
After a thorough search, I couldn’t find anything, not even a vent or a rat hole!”
“Seeing I had been walking around for a long time but to no avail, he asked if I couldn’t drive it away.
To avoid his suspicion, I told him the ghost was too strong.
I needed to close the door, seal up the space and create a ‘Ghost Extermination Array.'”
Upon hearing him mention the ‘Ghost Extermination Array,’ Zhang Xiaoman suddenly felt the chill from before dissipate and almost laughed.
Pei Laoliu, however, didn’t notice Zhang Xiaoman’s expression, continuing:
“Guess what?
I didn’t need to close that door, but once I did, it almost scared me to death!”
“What happened?”
Zhang Xiaoman asked curiously.
“Behind that door, a human face was stuck to it!”
Pei Laoliu’s eyes were filled with terror.
“And the appearance of this human face was exactly the same as the person standing next to me!!”

Comments

Loading...