Chapter Forty: Too Much Even for a Ghost

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On the way back, torrential rain came pouring down, and the bright headlights illuminated the road ahead. Fatty drove with extreme caution. Much of the road was unpaved, and after such a heavy downpour, the muddy surface made it very easy for the tires to skid.

Liu Jun sat quietly in the car, gazing out the window. Suddenly, Fatty slammed on the brakes and wrenched the steering wheel. The car spun around like a top and ended up lying sideways across the road. The little fox sleeping in Liu Jun’s arms slipped from his grasp and slammed into the door with a bang.

The little fox opened its eyes, looking utterly bewildered—as if wondering who it was, what had just happened, and why it was hurting.

“Fatty, what are you doing?” Liu Jun asked, turning around.

Fatty was usually a very steady driver. He had been driving for seven or eight years, so unless something unusual had happened, there was no way he would handle the car like that.

“Brother Liu, someone just crossed in front of the car. They looked incredibly strange.” Fatty’s expression was grave. He clearly was not joking.

Liu Jun took out his phone and checked the time. Two ten in the morning.

At this hour, in a mountain village on an unpaved road, with rain pouring down outside, someone passing by was certainly suspicious.

He took the umbrella Fatty kept in the car, set the little fox down on the seat, and got out. He switched on his phone’s flashlight and slowly searched the road ahead, starting from the spot where Fatty had braked.

Fatty and Li Xin got out as well and hurried over to Liu Jun.

“Fatty, which way did the person you saw go?”

Fatty pointed to the side.

Liu Jun looked where he was pointing and saw muddy footprints. Someone really had passed by just moments ago. In such heavy rain, footprints on a dirt road would soon be washed away. These had to be fresh.

They followed the muddy tracks forward. The surrounding mountains and woods were so dark that not even a trace of moonlight could be seen. The night wind howled through the forest, the wild grass swayed, and the sound of the downpour pounding against the leaves rang out without end.

They had not gone far when they reached the vicinity of a desolate graveyard. After thinking for a moment, Liu Jun headed toward it. Fatty and Li Xin followed a short distance behind.

“Oh, my God!”

Liu Jun suddenly cried out. A person had abruptly risen from behind a grave in front of him.

He was indeed a Taoist exorcist, but the suddenness of it still startled him.

Fatty and Li Xin immediately rushed to his side, thinking something had happened.

Liu Jun shone his phone light at the figure. The man was wearing camouflage clothing—the sort many ordinary farmers wore while working in the fields. He was middle-aged, with a deathly pale face. Only the whites of his eyes were visible, and he stared fixedly at Liu Jun.

Liu Jun took out some ox tears, rubbed them over his eyes twice, then tossed the bottle to Fatty and Li Xin. There was definitely something wrong with this man. Yet even after applying the ox tears, they still could not see anything unusual. All they could detect was a trace of ghostly aura clinging to him.

In all likelihood, a ghost had possessed the man. They had merely applied ox tears; they had not opened their Third Eyes. The man’s own living energy concealed the possessing spirit, making it impossible to see.

“By jade, let the seal be flawless; by gold, let the seal endure the flames; with humanity as the foundation, let demons and monsters be barred. Go!”

After reciting the spell, Liu Jun threw a talisman at the man.

The talisman fell to the ground and did absolutely nothing. The rain had probably soaked it through and rendered it useless.

My ancestral masters, did you never have to deal with ghosts and monsters on rainy days? Even if you couldn’t use magic to make talismans waterproof, you could at least have invented one made of waterproof material! What was he supposed to do now? Say hello to the ghost and ask it not to run away, promising to come back and deal with it when the weather cleared?

Liu Jun lamented inwardly.

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The moment the man saw Liu Jun take out the talisman, he realized that Liu Jun was a Taoist and immediately tried to run.

Liu Jun threw aside his umbrella and gave chase, but Fatty pounced on the man like a hungry tiger and knocked him to the ground.

“Brother Liu, hurry! Just stick the talisman on him!” Fatty shouted.

Liu Jun was about to take out another talisman when he froze.

Damn it. The pockets weren’t waterproof. Every talisman was soaked through.

“Fatty, keep him pinned down for a while. Don’t worry. With your weight on him, he won’t be going anywhere,” Liu Jun calmly reassured him.

He rummaged through his pockets again and again. Since all the talismans were soaked, he could only draw one directly on the man’s body—but what could he use to draw it with?

“Master, what are you looking for?” Li Xin stepped forward and asked.

“Something I can draw with. Preferably something waterproof.”

“Master, will this do? It’s waterproof.”

Li Xin pulled a pile of things from her handbag, rummaged through them, and handed him a tube of lipstick.

Liu Jun stared at the girl’s bulging bag in astonishment.

They were hunting ghosts, and she had brought an entire collection of cosmetics. Was she planning to put on makeup for the ghost?

He grabbed the lipstick and rushed over to Fatty, then stopped and began inspecting the scene.

“Brother Liu, draw the talisman already! Are you checking whether the way I’m pinning him looks good?” Fatty turned his head and shouted anxiously.

“I’m checking nothing! You’ve pinned him so thoroughly that only his feet are sticking out. Am I supposed to draw the talisman on his feet? Move over a little!”

Fatty shifted to the side.

Liu Jun lifted the man’s shirt and began drawing the talisman on his body. As soon as he finished, he immediately began reciting the spell.

“By jade, let the seal be flawless; by gold, let the seal endure the flames; with humanity as the foundation, let demons and monsters be barred.”

The instant he finished reciting the spell, a mass of gray mist burrowed out of the man’s body. It slowly took the shape of a person—a middle-aged ghost with a face full of resentment, glaring venomously at Liu Jun.

“What are you staring at? Keep staring and I’ll deal with you. How dare you possess a human!”

Liu Jun could tolerate being glared at by a vengeful spirit, but even an ordinary ghost was giving him that look? They were showing far too little respect for a Taoist exorcist.

Liu Jun was furious.

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“It wasn’t my intention to possess him,” the gray-haired-looking middle-aged ghost replied. “He went too far in offending a ghost.”

“Tell us your story. Ah, no—tell us both your stories.”

And so, in the pouring rain, three people stood there listening to a ghost tell his tale.

The man possessed by the ghost was named Rong Daji. He was also a man who loved alcohol more than life itself.

One night, after drinking far too much, Rong Daji passed by the graveyard. He suddenly felt the urge to relieve himself and, unable to hold it in, stopped by the roadside.

Unfortunately, the spot he chose was directly beside the grave of the gray ghost.

Rong Daji not only urinated on the man’s gravestone, but also on the offerings in front of it. The gray ghost immediately lost his temper.

He followed Rong Daji all the way home and, while the man was sleeping, possessed him outright. During the day, the ghost remained inside Rong Daji without revealing himself. At night, he took control of Rong Daji and made him come clean the gravestone.

This continued night after night, until Rong Daji encountered Liu Jun and the others.

Liu Jun glanced toward the gravestone and saw that there really was a rag lying beside it. So that was what the man had been doing when they arrived—crouching there and scrubbing the stone.

“Rong Daji was certainly in the wrong, but you can’t harm him,” Liu Jun said to the gray ghost.

The ghost’s actions were understandable. If someone came to your front door, urinated on it, and then peed into your bowl, you would want to beat them senseless too.

“I never intended to take his life. I only wanted to teach him a lesson.”

Liu Jun believed him. If the ghost had really wanted to kill Rong Daji, he could simply have taken control of him and made him jump into a river. That would have settled everything.

“You didn’t intend to kill him, but the living and the dead belong to different worlds. You’ve remained inside his body too long. If this continues, he’ll soon fall seriously ill and die. When that happens, his death will still be attributed to you. Once you reach the underworld, you’ll be held accountable for it.”

“Then what should I do? Besides, I can’t go to the underworld now.”

“Rong Daji has learned his lesson. Let him go. Then I can send you to the underworld—free of charge.”

When the gray ghost nodded, Liu Jun took out the Decree of Good and Evil and waved it at him.

A mechanical voice sounded: “One ordinary ghost escorted onward. Three points added.”

For some reason, Liu Jun always felt a strange ache in his groin whenever he heard that mechanical voice after escorting a ghost onward.

He ordered Fatty to carry Rong Daji back to the car. The moment they reached it, Rong Daji woke up. Liu Jun and the others told him that he had been possessed by a ghost.

At first, Rong Daji refused to believe them. But when they mentioned that he had drunk his fill and urinated on someone’s gravestone on the way home, he believed them immediately.

After thanking them profusely, he left.

Once Rong Daji had gone, Fatty tried starting the car and discovered that it would not start. They called for a tow truck, but the company said it could not come until the next day.

In the end, Liu Jun and the others simply stayed in the car to rest.

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