Gu-Gift

Kapitel 15

At that moment, I suddenly understood what the prince meant. Perhaps "love" and "affection" are not the same thing, at least not in a man's eyes...

He opened the toolbox, picked up two "Hidden Ghost Talismans," and slapped them on Henri's head and chest.

Zuo Weiyang's first rule of "business philosophy" clearly states: The employer's safety is always the top priority, provided it doesn't harm herself. Otherwise, who will pay me?

He then put on a "ghost-concealing talisman" before daring to approach the "Kun shrine." This "ghost-concealing talisman" wasn't for protecting against ghosts, but rather against people.

Although I don't know Qiu Danping's habits, based on my aunt's description and my experience from the last time I returned, it's best to be careful. If she has put some kind of curse on this "Kun Shrine" and finds out it was me, I'm afraid even my aunt will be implicated. So we need to use this "Hidden Ghost Talisman" to cover up our human presence, so that Qiu Danping won't easily discover that someone has tampered with this "Kun Shrine".

I drew the blinds tight, closed the doors and windows, and only began when the entire study was completely airtight and dark. I didn't want to think about the consequences of offending Qiu Danping…

First, light the cinnabar-infused ghost wax at the Azure Dragon position. This ghost wax is called ghost wax not only because it is white, but also because it contains "corpse oil," which, as the name suggests, is the oil from a corpse. It can be scraped off under the crematorium furnace, but this kind of painful process is not fun at all, and the stench left by the cremation of the dead is not something that ordinary people are lucky enough to smell.

Then, a black silk thread was used to connect the spirit, one end of which was tied to the wax candle, and the other end was tied to my wrist. Using the corpse energy released by the wax candle, I had a chance to open the "shrine" without Qiu Danping noticing. However, this only lasted fifteen minutes—not fifteen minutes of actual opening time, but the countdown started from the moment the candle was lit…

"Borrowing the light of the underworld to illuminate, and using the cinnabar to conceal himself, he reappeared after a quarter of an hour. Zuo Shi Weiyang used the ghostly aura to cover his soul and kowtowed to thank the heavenly gods for their grace."

After chanting incantations and kneeling in worship, the candlelight of the cinnabar and joss candle suddenly turned green, which startled Henri. Whether it was the candlelight reflecting off him or not, Henri's face also turned green. If it weren't for his clear blue eyes, if it weren't for his usual endearing expression, I would have thought that this guy had taken the wrong path from the road to the underworld and ended up here.

"Keep your eyes peeled, make sure you see clearly, time is running out," I instructed Henri.

Henri nodded with a green face, but you could still feel him trembling.

This reminds me of the first time I took Prince to Zhang Yiyan's house; he must have been putting on a brave face too.

At the brightest moment of the cinnabar candlelight, I suddenly slammed my hand down on the "Kunshan" (a type of shrine)...

"Snap!" My hand stung from the impact, and the black silk thread on my wrist tightened with the sound of the "Kun Kan." But the "Kun Kan" only twitched; it didn't spring back. I had to slap it a second time…

The silk thread on her wrist tightened suddenly, and the "Kun Kan" sprang open with a jolt. The opening of such a thick metal lid was completely silent...

(V) Spirit Control Chapter 8: Fate is Hard to Defy

The lid opened silently and incredibly slowly. Time ticked by, but the piece of scrap metal was only half open. Henri stood at the opening, his face green, holding his breath as he stared intently.

As the lid was opened, the candlelight of the joss candle grew weaker and weaker, and the black thread on my wrist tightened more and more. Even in the soft green candlelight, it was still visible that the hand holding the thread was turning pale due to slowed blood circulation, and it had begun to go numb...

The lid actually popped open in a split second, but that split second was enough for me to see what was inside.

...

"Have you seen this before?" I asked after blowing out the candle.

"No," Henri replied softly.

I stood there, stunned, touching the red marks left on my wrist by the silk thread. Looking at Henri's expression, I knew I had underestimated Qiu Danping.

"Ancient gods and departed souls flee from gates, Yin money is burned to level the plains, Laozi, hasten as the law commands!" I chopped down at the spiderweb-like thing behind Henri's head, "Sever!"

“Miss Zuo, I saw…” Henri said excitedly, as if she had just come to her senses.

“Henri, listen to me,” I interrupted Henri, explaining, “Don’t tell me anything. I’ll take you to find Qiu Danping…” because I had already cut off Qiu Danping’s “Wang Gu” spell.

After giving a brief explanation, I forcibly dragged Henri out the door. We had to get there before Qiu Danping found us; that's the difference between turning yourself in and being arrested.

“Miss Zuo, we…” Henri stopped mid-sentence, turning to look out the window at the buildings and people flashing by.

“Henri, since Qiu Danping already knows we touched that box, she definitely won’t let it go unpunished. Let’s go directly to her; maybe there will be a turning point. There are rules in our line of work, and respecting elders is the first rule. Just consider it helping me out. Trust me, I will definitely keep my promise to you.” Although he wasn’t sure, he still pretended to be very confident.

“Okay, I trust you,” Henri replied readily without hesitation. This touched me somewhat; I hadn’t expected this seemingly aloof, artistic man to be so decisive.

...

Pushing open the gate to Qiu Danping's courtyard, I was immediately struck by a pungent, burnt smell. The yellow earth in the yard had been dug into numerous pits, each no more than half a meter in diameter and varying in depth, yet arranged in an extremely orderly fashion. Henri followed closely behind me, walking along this path.

"I can't deny I'm getting old," Qiu Danping said lazily as she leaned back on the sofa after I came in.

The incense in the room was much weaker than last time, which made the sour, rotten smell in the air even stronger.

Standing on "Teacher Qiu's" turf, I always felt a sense of danger.

"Please sit down. I've long heard of the power of your Zuo family's Yin-Yang skills, but it's a pity your aunt retired too early, so I only have the chance to learn from her now," Qiu Danping said expressionlessly, her face gloomy, her tone devoid of any joy or sorrow, leaving me unsure how to respond. "Teacher Qiu, I meant no offense. I'm just doing my job, following my employer's instructions." Finally, I decided to tell the truth, "I'm just here on vacation. I couldn't refuse a friend's introduction, but I truly didn't expect this matter to be your leverage." "Leverage" is our jargon, originally implying stealing business, but later it evolved into a term used to describe anyone involved in a dispute.

"I want to know how Pingru died," Henri suddenly asked, getting straight to the point, which actually gave me a clear answer.

"This is all there is to my business. After discovering your 'deception,' we felt it would be better to come directly to you," I said, trying to sound as humble as possible.

"Little girl, what's your name?" Qiu Danping remained slumped on the sofa, completely ignoring Henri and me.

"Zuo Weiyang," since that's the case, then I'll just stop talking about it. I pulled Henri down to sit and answered Qiu Danping's question.

"How many years have you been in this business?" Qiu Danping's voice was emotionless and flat, just a soft question, which left me somewhat puzzled. The longer I stayed at her house, the more opportunities she would have to take advantage of me.

"I started practicing from a young age, officially entered the profession at seventeen, and it's been exactly ten years now," I answered obediently, while also binding Henri and me together with a cinnabar silk thread.

"Young lady, you've got quite a knack for this," Qiu Danping said with a slight smile when she saw me do this. However, her tone still betrayed no emotion.

"Teacher Qiu is a master. I, Zuo Weiyang, am not very worldly, otherwise I wouldn't have fallen for your 'Wang Gu'. So it's only right that I be careful. Please excuse my presumption." I'm truly scratching my head at Qiu Danping's combination of spirit control with exotic black magic.

“Feng Pingru’s death has nothing to do with me. Since you have already opened the ‘Kun Kan’, you should know that. You came here just because you were afraid that I would make things difficult for you. Don’t worry, I still have my own things to deal with, I don’t have time for that. Go on,” Qiu Danping said wearily. Her straightforwardness really surprised me.

...

"Tell me, what did you see?" I didn't dare to speak until we had driven a full kilometer.

“Something red, like a flame, a plate that looked like it was made of copper, and a face, a flat face,” Henri said calmly.

"Are you mixed race?" I asked a question unrelated to what he was saying.

“Yes, my mother is Italian and my father is Chinese,” Henri said, puzzled by my abrupt question. He turned to look at me and his clear blue eyes made me feel more favorably toward Italy.

"Then go back to Italy," I said, focusing on driving and not looking at him.

"Huh?" Henri didn't seem to understand what I said.

“Feng Pingru died because of greed. At first, she only relied on small tricks like ‘Five Ghosts Transporting Wealth’ and had a master to guide her, so she had always been successful. It’s just that the price was a bit high, or perhaps it was a bit high in my opinion…” Henri interrupted me.

"What price?"

"Feelings, she used all the love she had received in her life to feed the evil spirits she summoned." I parked the car near the entrance to the airport road. The roaring sound of planes flying overhead made my mind go blank.

"Later, she didn't want to feed the Yin spirit with her feelings anymore, but she couldn't bear to part with her property, so she bought a 'Yang spirit' from Qiu Danping. You don't need to understand what that is..." Henri didn't seem interested in knowing what it was. Hearing me say this, he nodded and then turned to look out the window.

“Yin spirits are ghosts, yang spirits are spirits, immortals. In mythology, they are called mountain gods. These things cannot be controlled by humans. Feng Pingru went against the heavens, and you know what the final outcome will be…” As soon as I finished speaking, tears welled up in Henri’s eyes. Clear tears streamed down Henri’s angular face, leaving behind clear blue eyes. It was heartbreaking to see.

"The red flames you see are actually Feng Pingru's soul, and the bronze plate is the compass that sealed the spirit of Yangling Mountain. Because it is you, you can see Qiu Danping's soul and appearance." I turned my head and looked to the other side until I finished speaking.

"You mean Pingru raised a mountain spirit to gain love, and then suffered what you call divine retribution?" Henri's understanding wasn't wrong, but to him it was a mistake. Because he would think that Feng Pingru did it because he longed for his love...

“Don’t think too much. I will help Feng Pingru release her soul in the ‘Kun Kan’, and then you can leave. I don’t know Qiu Danping, and I don’t know whether I should trust her or not.”

“Okay, I’ll transfer the money to your account tomorrow, and then send me back, okay?” Henri’s expression was as calm as the blue sky above him, with tears still clinging to his face.

...

I don't know if time is passing too slowly or things are happening too fast, but in just one week, it seems that everything has come to an end.

Henri sold all his assets and flew back to Italy. As payment for relieving Feng Pingru's soul, he gave me extra money.

Qiu Danping disappeared the night after we left. After hearing this news from my aunt, I was stunned for a long time. The reason remains unclear to this day; perhaps she, like Feng Pingru, encountered something...

As for me, I suddenly realized that I really am still a little bit short!

(VI) The Morgue, Chapter One: Peaceful Yet Not Peaceful

"Zuo-Wei-Yang," I heard someone shout my name before I even reached the exit.

It was Lü Hantian, standing outside the glass door holding a large bouquet of roses. The roses in his hands were made even more beautiful by his white coat.

"Ah-ha—", I laughed and ran over. Lü Hantian's peach blossom eyes were still misty, making one's heart itch with desire.

"Welcome home," said the prince. Standing not far behind Lü Hantian, he held a large bouquet of lilies. He was still as exquisite as ever, still as nonchalant as ever. The fragrance of the lilies filled the air, making me want to cry.

These two men, one a rose and the other a lily, were both tall, handsome, and exceptionally striking. Standing together, they attracted even more attention, and I had to pull them away as quickly as possible.

"I didn't tell you I was coming back," I said, feeling both happy and puzzled by their actions of picking me up at the airport.

"Yes, Grandma said so," the prince replied with a faint smile, opening the car door for me.

"My grandma?" The prince's answer was so natural that it puzzled me. After asking, I regretted it. Wasn't that obvious? The prince's grandma had passed away long ago.

“Your grandma has been completely won over by us,” said Lü Hantian, who was sitting on my other side, patting me with a smile.

Actually, this is a minivan with a huge amount of space, but the three of us insisted on sitting on the same side. Although it didn't feel cramped, it still felt a bit strange...

Returning to "Weiyang," I was even more surprised to find that Yufei and Li Guandong had turned my bookstore into a husband-and-wife operation—one handling inventory, the other managing finances. It seems these two single people had developed a deep bond during my two-week absence. Grandma Li was incredibly pleased with Yufei as her granddaughter-in-law, constantly calling her "our Yufei, our Yufei." Of course, since I had indirectly acted as matchmaker, Grandma Li liked me even more; when she bought things for Yufei, she would always buy something for me as well. While this outcome was unexpected, I was happy to accept it.

I still don't know how to deal with Prince and Lü Hantian.

People are always greedy, especially women when it comes to relationships.

"Grandma, I heard you've been bribed by those two guys?" I asked during dinner. Although Grandma had intended to invite Prince and Lü Hantian to dinner, she felt a little uncomfortable, so I denied it.

"How can you talk like that, little girl?" Grandma said with a smile as she put a piece of pork rib on my plate.

"These past two weeks, they've come to see me often. I think they're both quite good," Grandma said, taking a sip of soup. "Judging from their faces, these two are destined for great things. It's just that Xiao Wang might not be as wealthy as Xiao Lü, but he'll definitely be well-off. As for Xiao Lü, although he has captivating eyes, he has a 'heart mole' on his chest, so he's not exactly a womanizer..."

"Grandma, Grandma, Grandma, how do you even know that someone has a mole on their chest? You didn't rip open their clothes to see it, did you?" I really hope this isn't true. I don't want my grandma to ask about a man's entire family history and examine his physical characteristics when she's helping me choose a partner.

"Nonsense, how else would you know?" Grandma seemed to think my question was stupid.

"I'm telling you, you're already twenty-seven, and by the New Year you'll be..." I swallowed the rest of the long rant, but I'm worried about how to apologize to Lü Hantian tomorrow. I'm so sorry...

However, fate was kind to me and didn't give me time to do these things.

After Fang paid the wages and bonuses to the employees of "Weiyang", business came knocking on his door.

This was a middle-aged man in his fifties, of medium build, with a fair complexion and a refined appearance, though he seemed slightly flustered.

"Hello, I am Zuo Weiyang, please have a seat."

"Hello, Ms. Zuo," he greeted me, then seemed a little embarrassed and unsure what to say next. So I poured him a glass of water.

"Thank you. I am the vice president of the city's People's Hospital. My name is Fu Weiping," he said as he took the water.

"Vice President" and "President Fu," what a nice name indeed. I suppressed a laugh, took a sip of water, and said, "Mr. Fu, the New Year is just a week away, and I'm not really keen on doing this business anymore." Since he's the president of the hospital, I naturally want to take the opportunity to squeeze some money out of him.

"But Miss Zuo, things at our hospital are really urgent. Please help us," Fu Weiping said, seemingly getting anxious and rubbing his hands repeatedly.

"Mr. Fu, it's almost the end of the year. Although we're in this line of work, we still have some taboos. Business during the New Year holiday... well, we usually... I hope you can help me out." It seems there's been a problem at the hospital, so naturally I'll squeeze a lot out of you. But what I said is indeed the truth. Absolutely not taking business during the New Year is indeed the rule in our line of work. But if I can finish it before the first day of the Lunar New Year, then there won't be a problem.

"Miss Zuo, Miss Zuo, we searched high and low before finding you. We're willing to pay three times the price, as long as you're willing to help." As the dean, she was indeed reasonable.

"Besides, we are a people's hospital with hundreds of injured patients. If you don't help, they will have to be transferred to other hospitals, Miss Zuo," Dean Fu gave me another way out, so of course I was willing to do him a favor.

"In that case, please tell me what it is, and then we can talk." Seeing that I had agreed, Fu Weiping quickly took over the conversation.

"Here's the thing, it happened in our hospital morgue. Recently, for some reason, patients have been saying they've seen figures in the morgue, and not just one, but many," Fu Weiping said with a wry smile, shaking his head, as if he didn't know whether to believe these things. "And the morgue staff often say they hear cats meowing, and two people have already resigned."