IMMFBCG Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Countering the Move as It Comes

It was hard to tell if the haunted events in Fengyang Village had cast a big shadow over Bao Wenxuan, but lately, he would often come to Xuanzhen Temple to offer incense.

At first, Ye Xue thought he was worried about vengeful spirits appearing in the residential area and had reassured him that there was nothing to worry about, that the place was safe.

But Bao Wenxuan continued to come to the temple anyway.

Ye Xue realized that no matter how many times she reassured him, it didn’t help, so she stopped saying anything. If he wanted to come to the temple, it was better than going to tourist attractions to scam people. At least here, he could benefit from the influence of the temple’s teachings.

One day, Bao Wenxuan arrived again, but this time, it wasn’t to donate incense oil. He had come to tell Ye Xue that the new railway line in Shili City was about to be completed. The region had been underdeveloped, and for many years, the only transportation was a highway where buses traveled long distances. But once the rail tracks were finished, the transportation system would improve, and the county would attract more tourists.

Ye Xue was delighted to hear the news. Although it wasn’t clear when the line would open, she knew that with better transportation, her hometown would become more prosperous, and everything was slowly improving.

In a good mood, Ye Xue gave Bao Wenxuan a few more talismans.

Bao Wenxuan instinctively reached for his phone to scan the payment code, but then remembered that Ye Xue didn’t have WeChat. The rare and highly sought-after talismans just lay quietly in his hands—over a dozen of them.

His admiration for Ye Xue deepened, and he repeatedly promised to bring any good news back to her in the future.

Just as Ye Xue was sending him off, Bai Liu walked in.

Bai Liu had not been at the temple last night. Instead, he had been working overtime with Wei Xingteng, dealing with matters like guiding new souls to the underworld and capturing escaped vengeful spirits.

It had been a busy week with little rest.

Bai Liu slumped into a chair, cursing the grueling “007” overtime system.

Ye Xue was about to comfort him when she saw that despite being exhausted, Bai Liu had pulled out his Switch to play a game. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Looks like you’re not busy enough if you’re playing games as soon as you come back.”

Bai Liu gave a reasonable reply: “Shishu, this is called balancing work and rest.”

Ye Xue shot him a side-eye. “If it’s truly work-life balance, why don’t you play games in front of your dad?”

Bai Liu chuckled awkwardly.

Whenever Bai Liu wanted to slack off, he would sneak into Ye Xue’s room to enjoy some rare moments of peace.

Other people wouldn’t casually enter Ye Xue’s room and would knock first when coming in.

Even Wei Xingteng, when gathering people, wouldn’t come to Ye Xue’s side.

However, Bai Liu knew his limits and would never take advantage of Ye Xue’s kindness to avoid work completely. If he did, she would be the first to punish him.

So, for now, when Ye Xue saw Bai Liu playing games, she just decided to leave him be and joke around with him a bit.

“How many vengeful spirits are left to catch? Does the underworld have a count?” Ye Xue suddenly asked.

Bai Liu was distracted but responded, “I heard from Old Wei that there are probably only a few left. I didn’t ask for specifics, but it definitely won’t be more than ten.”

Ye Xue thought for a moment. “It seems like we’re almost done catching them.”

However, while most of the vengeful spirits were being dealt with, there was still no sign of the man in black. But there was no need to rush; it was a matter for the underworld and the Taoist association to handle.

Ye Xue glanced over at Bai Liu and saw that his game character had just fallen into a trap and died again. She couldn’t help but shake her head—Bai Liu was terrible at every game he played.

Ye Xue opened the door. “I’m going out for a walk. You stay here and play.”

Bai Liu grunted in response, waved at her, and then lowered his head to continue playing.

As soon as Ye Xue entered the backyard, she saw Su Xinghe sitting in the pavilion, carving something with a carving knife.

Curious, she walked over to see that Su Xinghe was carving a small wooden figure out of peach wood. His movements were clumsy, and he even accidentally cut his hand several times.

Ye Xue stood there for a few minutes, and by then, Su Xinghe had already cut himself several times. Yet, he didn’t seem to care, simply wiping away the blood and continuing to carve the peach wood figure.

Ye Xue couldn’t help but ask, “What are you making?”

Su Xinghe heard her voice, put down the carving knife, and looked at her. His expression showed a hint of embarrassment. “Nothing much, just carving for fun.”

He then carefully hid the injured hand behind his back, concealing the peach wood figure.

Ye Xue noticed his movements but didn’t point them out.

Su Xinghe, at times, spoke with the maturity of someone much older than his age, but in this moment, he seemed to carry a youthful energy.

Xu Zhou walked over hurriedly. When he saw the two of them in the pavilion, he changed direction and approached them.

“Shishu, Xinghe,” Xu Zhou called out.

Su Xinghe nodded lightly.

Ye Xue noticed the direction Xu Zhou had been heading and asked, “Did you need something, Shidi?”

Xu Zhou nodded seriously. “Yes, Shishu. A client has come…”

He hesitated for a moment before continuing, “I observed this person’s face and noticed a strong aura of blood and misfortune. I’m worried about handling it improperly, so I came to consult you.”

When Ye Xue heard “blood aura,” she had a sudden guess. “Take me to see him.”

Xu Zhou led Ye Xue to the side hall.

As soon as Ye Xue entered, she heard footsteps, and the person inside turned to look. The two of them locked eyes.

Ye Xue saw the man’s face and confirmed it was the young man she had met earlier, the one with the blood curse.

Yu Minghe, too, was surprised to see her. “It’s you.”

He then added, “Thank you for the talisman.”

Without the talisman Ye Xue had given him, Yu Minghe wasn’t sure if he would even be standing there today.

Xu Zhou asked, “Shishu, do you know each other?”

Ye Xue explained, “I met him when I visited the Yu family’s villa. His blood aura was already quite intense back then, but I didn’t expect…”

Ye Xue looked at the man’s face, now almost completely obscured by a powerful aura of blood, and frowned. “I didn’t expect it to be even worse now.”

No wonder Xu Zhou had been cautious about accepting the job and had come to her for help.

Xu Zhou, still puzzled about when Ye Xue had been to the Yu family’s home, glanced at Yu Minghe again, furrowing his brows.

It was clear to him that this was a sign of an impending death, something that usually occurred when one’s end was near.

After everything that had happened, Yu Minghe was no longer concerned with the distinction between ghosts and science. He shared with Ye Xue and Xu Zhou everything that had been happening to him recently.

Finally, Yu Minghe said, “My mother’s health isn’t good. To avoid worrying my family, I haven’t mentioned these strange occurrences to anyone. If the Master comes to my house, I hope you can keep this secret.”

Ye Xue was experienced in this kind of thing. “We’ll say we’re your friends when we go.”

Yu Minghe smiled, the exhaustion from his late-night ordeal starting to lift a bit. “Thank you.”

Ye Xue went back to her room to grab her things, noticing Bai Liu was still playing games, so she didn’t bring him along.

She sent a message to Yu Qi, explaining the situation, then grabbed her bag and left Xuanzhen Temple with Xu Zhou and the others.

When they arrived at the Yu family home, the butler was somewhat surprised to see them.

It was the first time he had ever seen Yu Minghe bring strangers to the house.

Yu Minghe introduced, “Zhao Uncle, these are my two new friends, Ye Xue and Xu Zhou.”

The elderly butler nodded with a smile. When he saw Ye Xue, his gaze lingered on her a bit longer, and his expression became even more amiable. “I’ll bring some tea and snacks.”

Yu Minghe noticed Zhao Uncle’s gaze and seemed a little helpless. After the butler left, he explained, “Sorry, I rarely bring friends home. Zhao Uncle must have misunderstood.”

Ye Xue didn’t think much of it and casually replied, “It’s fine. Misunderstanding this is better than thinking we came here to perform a ritual.”

Xu Zhou: “…”

Yu Minghe couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re quite amusing.”

After Zhao Uncle brought the tea and snacks, they stopped talking about that topic.

Ye Xue and the others weren’t there to visit, so after sitting in the living room for a while, Yu Minghe led them upstairs.

Without needing to be reminded, Ye Xue and Xu Zhou stopped in front of one of the bedrooms.

Xu Zhou glanced at the room, which had a faint aura of Yin energy. “Mr. Yu, this must be your bedroom, right?”

Yu Minghe nodded. “Yes.”

Ye Xue sniffed the air, noticing the faintly ominous smell. The Yin energy wasn’t too strong, and judging by its intensity, the ghost troubling Yu Minghe didn’t seem to be a very troublesome one. So why did he exude such a powerful blood curse?

Yu Minghe opened the door and turned on the light.

Once Ye Xue and Xu Zhou entered, he gently closed the door behind them.

Ye Xue looked around at the simple furnishings and suddenly spoke, “Mr. Yu, may I see that talisman?”

Yu Minghe took the talisman he kept close and handed it to her. “Of course.”

Ye Xue looked at the yellow talisman paper.

As she had suspected, the talisman had only been partially burned.

The female ghost Yu Minghe had encountered had weak abilities, so the talisman had only partially worked, enough to drive her away.

Xu Zhou, noticing this too, thought for a moment before saying, “Could you take us to the bathroom?”

Yu Minghe had mentioned feeling something unusual in the bathroom that night, though he hadn’t noticed anything at the time. However, his intuition told him that something had happened there, but he hadn’t paid attention to it.

So, when Xu Zhou asked about the details, Yu Minghe gave them all the information.

Ye Xue was the first to enter the bathroom. After surveying the room, she suddenly raised her hand and cast a talisman.

The yellow talisman ignited in flames and flew straight toward the mirror above the sink.

Yu Minghe watched in disbelief at what was unfolding before him.

But the next second, what was unbelievable quickly turned into something bone-chilling.

The fogged mirror, upon meeting the flames, gradually lost its misty haze.

On the smooth surface of the mirror, several blood-red fingerprints appeared, as if someone had gently caressed the mirror.

The fire from the talisman quickly slid down the mirror’s surface and, upon reaching the sink, a row of delicate skincare products suddenly appeared in front of them.

However, unlike what one would expect in the living world, these cosmetics were made of paper money.

Seeing this, Ye Xue couldn’t help but show a strange expression.

Xu Zhou was also at a loss for words.

Yu Minghe only saw the bloody fingerprints and didn’t notice the items on the sink. Seeing their silence, he couldn’t help but ask, “Is there something wrong?”

Ye Xue decided not to tell him about the female ghost living with him. She changed the subject. “Uh, let’s go outside and talk.”

No wonder Yu Minghe looked so drained—being targeted by a ghost for so long had suppressed his yang energy.

They then went to check the mirror in the bedroom and, as expected, found more ghostly cosmetic products.

Ye Xue, looking at the mirror with the strongest Yin energy, glanced at her phone and then the time. “It’s getting late, let’s wait until midnight and see if she shows up.”

While checking her messages, Ye Xue saw that Yu Qi had sent her a few texts asking when she would finish, as he planned to come pick her up.

Perhaps because he knew she was busy, Yu Qi didn’t call but chose to text instead.

Ye Xue replied, telling him that it would be late, and then, with her bag in hand, she began waiting for midnight in Yu Minghe’s room.

The bedroom was very quiet, and to avoid disturbing the female ghost, Ye Xue had asked Yu Minghe to turn off the lights.

Only the moonlight illuminated the room, making the atmosphere eerily cold.

Yu Minghe gripped the new protective talisman Ye Xue had given him, glancing at the two other practitioners beside him.

But then he saw Ye Xue pull out a device from her bag and, to his surprise, start playing a game.

Yu Minghe froze, staring at the Nintendo in her hands, his expression turned confused.

Ye Xue, noticing Yu Minghe staring at her, thought he also wanted to play and pulled out another Switch. “Do you want it? Here.”

After all, they had nothing else to do.

Yu Minghe stood there stunned, momentarily forgetting to refuse as he took the Switch from her.

Xu Zhou couldn’t hold back and asked, “Shishu, how many Nintendo consoles do you have?”

Ye Xue thought for a moment. “Maybe ten or twenty? But I only brought three with me so they wouldn’t take up too much space.”

Xu Zhou fell silent.

So, during their wait for the ghost to appear, the three of them started playing games in Yu Minghe’s bedroom.

Ye Xue seemed to excel at everything she played, even taking the time to give them advice. “Press this, if you don’t jump now, you’ll die!”

Yu Minghe followed her instructions and, sure enough, cleared the level. “Thanks.”

Xu Zhou fell silent again.

As the clock neared 1:30 AM, Ye Xue put away her Switch and took out the Exorcism Sword.

A gust of cold wind swept through, and the temperature in the room dropped sharply.

Ye Xue drew the sword and spoke calmly, “Come out.”

The cold wind suddenly stopped, and the temperature returned to normal, as though nothing had happened.

Xu Zhou, surprised, looked toward the mirror, but all he saw were their reflections.

Yu Minghe, confused, looked at them but didn’t notice anything unusual.

Ye Xue sniffed the air, and the faint Yin energy was still present; it had just hidden itself.

She turned her gaze toward the mirror and walked toward it with the sword in hand.

Ye Xue urged, “Come out.”

The room remained eerily silent.

Ye Xue brushed the dust off her clothes. “I didn’t want to do this, but you forced my hand.”

Xu Zhou, hearing this, thought Ye Xue was about to destroy the place. He was about to remind her to be careful and not disturb anyone, but then Ye Xue reached out and placed a talisman on a cream-colored bottle, lifting it from the sink.

She shook the SK-II bottle in her hand, speaking in a tone that carried a hint of threat. “If you don’t come out now, I’ll smash this bottle of ‘divine water.’”

Xu Zhou and Yu Minghe both almost thought they had misheard.

Xu Zhou, bewildered, wondered if this tactic would work.

But the next second, the female ghost crawled out from the mirror, panicked, and cried, “Ah! Please, leave the bottle alone!”