Chapter 37: Borrowing the Tiger’s Might (Part 2)
“Sang Si! Jinx!”
It was always the same few words. Sang Jing was tired of hearing them and drew a talisman in the air to seal her mouth.
Sang Lingyun’s eyes widened as she struggled, turning her head to glare at Sang Jing. If looks could kill, she would probably have wanted to kill Sang Jing a hundred times.
Sang Jing stomped her foot, pressing Sang Lingyun under her foot, and then began to think.
She wasn’t sure if Xie Yu had come in. If she had, it would be fine. If she hadn’t, would that Sang Lingfei from the main family hurt her?
After thinking for a while, Sang Jing prepared to go and look for her.
Sang Lingyun under her foot was still struggling. As soon as Sang Jing moved her foot, Sang Lingyun scrambled up and raised her hand to slap Sang Jing’s face.
Sang Jing grabbed her hand, and with her other hand, she quickly tapped her glabella, then drew a talisman on her face and recited a few incantations.
Sang Lingyun slowly closed her eyes, her expression contorted, and tears kept streaming down the corners of her eyes, as if she were seeing something terrifying.
“Enjoy it, you bad child.”
With that, Sang Jing walked out of the side courtyard. Between the side courtyard and the main courtyard in front, there was a purple bamboo forest. In Sang Jing’s memory, this purple bamboo forest had long been cut down, on the orders of the head of the family. But here, this purple bamboo forest was growing very well.
The variable in all this was the old lady. This purple bamboo forest was probably also left by the old lady.
Passing through the purple bamboo forest, a figure suddenly rushed over. Sang Jing’s eyes sharpened, and she took a half step back to dodge the grabbing hand.
It was Sang Lingfei. She hadn’t shrunk; she was still in her adult form.
An adult against a malnourished nine-year-old child. Sang Jing was not even as tall as her chest, but her limbs were agile, and she slipped from Sang Lingfei’s grasp several times.
Sang Lingfei used her height advantage to grab Sang Jing’s wrist. Sang Jing used the momentum to jump up and land on her back, instantly turning the disadvantage around.
Sang Jing twisted her arm hard, and Sang Lingfei frowned in pain.
“Do you know what this place is? If you startle the old lady, none of us will be able to get out!” The young face uttered words that did not match her age.
Sang Lingfei was about to speak when a person walked over from not far away, carrying a basket and a small shovel.
It was the old lady.
Sang Lingfei was not from the Sang family’s main courtyard and could not let the old lady see her.
Sang Jing’s legs were clamped around Sang Lingfei’s waist. She twisted hard, and Sang Lingfei lost her balance and fell backward. The two of them rolled down the slope together.
“You!” Sang Lingfei was pinned by Sang Jing and still wanted to say something.
Sang Jing gave her a look. “Shut up.”
The next second, Sang Lingfei opened her mouth but could not make a sound. She looked at Sang Jing with wide eyes and, looking down, found that a talisman had been drawn on her shoulder at some point.
Sang Jing had actually been able to draw a sealing talisman on her without her noticing.
“We’ll talk about it when we get out. Let the old lady fulfill her regret first and send her off properly,” Sang Jing said, looking at the old lady on the side. Seeing that the old lady hadn’t noticed the commotion here, she looked down at Sang Lingfei. “Can you be quiet?”
It was unclear if it was from anger or shame, but Sang Lingfei’s entire face was flushed red. She gestured with her eyes for Sang Jing to unseal her mouth.
Sang Jing put a finger to her lips and “shh”ed. Sang Lingfei nodded.
After the seal was removed, Sang Lingfei moved to the side, still a little wary of Sang Jing. “You’re raising a ghost. You’re a Ghost Master.”
Sang Jing smiled at her attitude of avoiding Ghost Masters and retorted, “Raising a ghost makes me a Ghost Master?”
Sang Lingfei frowned. “What else? What Celestial Master raises a ghost?”
“If you say so,” Sang Jing didn’t want to explain further.
Sang Lingfei immediately moved further away from her.
Sang Jing looked at the old lady not far away and saw her squatting down with a small shovel, clearing the weeds in the purple bamboo forest.
This purple bamboo forest was carefully tended by her.
In the blink of an eye, Sang Jing’s breath hitched.
She saw Xie Yu.
Xie Yu also saw her and waved at her happily, about to shout.
In a moment of urgency—
“Sang Jing!”
“Grandma!”
Sang Jing climbed up the slope and called out to the old lady. Her voice collided with Xie Yu’s.
The old lady looked up in pleasant surprise and saw Sang Jing walking out of the purple bamboo forest. “Eh, Xiao Jing.”
Sang Jing walked over, one hand behind her back, a simple paper effigy between her fingertips. Seeing this, Xie Yu consciously attached herself to the paper effigy.
Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, a warm hand suddenly reached over and wiped the dust from her face.
The old lady’s eyes reddened as she looked at Sang Jing. She stroked Sang Jing’s hair. “Xiao Jing, did they bully you again?”
Sang Jing was stunned and looked up at the old lady.
She knew all along…
“Why are you here? Did you plant this purple bamboo forest?”
The change of subject was abrupt, but the old lady still went along with her. “This purple bamboo forest was planted by your mother. She even said she wanted to build a small pavilion in it. Look, it’s right there.”
Sang Jing followed the direction she was pointing and could indeed see a pavilion deep in the purple bamboo forest. Originally, the purple bamboo forest had been cut down, and there was no such small pavilion.
It seemed this was also the old lady’s regret.
This Sang family was full of past regrets.
Since she knew everything, if she had just spoken up for her once, she wouldn’t have ended up in a position where everyone could bully her.
Sang Jing took a deep breath and smiled politely at the old lady. “It’s getting late. I’ll go back first.”
The old lady looked at her reluctantly, then slowly nodded.
Sang Jing went back the way she came, and the old lady watched her leave.
Returning to the side courtyard, Xie Yu jumped out directly. She stood beside Sang Jing, drew a line above her head, and finally drew it to her chest, even raising an eyebrow at Sang Jing.
Sang Jing: “…”
I shouldn’t have looked for her.
“Who is this?” Xie Yu noticed Sang Lingyun in the courtyard. At first glance, she only found the child familiar and didn’t recognize her.
Sang Jing walked to Sang Lingyun’s side and patted her on the back. “Go back.”
It was getting dark. If Sang Lingyun didn’t go back, the Sang family’s main courtyard would be in an uproar again. Her mother doted on her very much.
“Who is she?” Xie Yu asked again.
Sang Jing: “Sang Lingyun.”
“What!?” Xie Yu’s voice rose a little. “Sang Lingyun!? Her?”
After her surprise, Xie Yu circled around Sang Jing and said nervously, “What did she come to you for? Did she bully you again?”
She had figured it out. Sang Jing had no one to love her here as a child and was always bullied. The elders didn’t like her, and the younger ones didn’t welcome her.
Sang Jing tilted her chin and looked at her. “Do you think the current me can still be bullied?”
Xie Yu bent down to look at her and subconsciously asked, “What about before?”
The current Sang Jing could protect herself, but what about the one from before?
Sang Jing lowered her eyelashes. “The past is in the past.”
Xie Yu knew she wouldn’t say. She reached out to pinch her face, but seeing that her face was thin and pitiful, she could only pinch her cheek. “Reserved person.”
Sang Jing’s mouth involuntarily pouted from the pinch. She glared at Xie Yu. It was unclear if it was because she was still young, but this glare had no deterrent force and even looked a little pitiful.
The reserved person was quite cute as a child, just too thin.
Thinking of this, Xie Yu’s dislike for this Sang family grew even stronger.
“Let… go…” Sang Jing said vaguely, her eyes curving as she looked at Xie Yu.
Seeing her like this, Xie Yu quickly let go and also smiled at her.
Sang Jing glanced at her, then said to the outside of the courtyard, “Come in.”
Xie Yu also craned her neck to look and, seeing Sang Lingfei, she quickly hid behind Sang Jing.
Such a large figure, bending over and hiding behind Sang Jing, couldn’t be hidden at all.
“Reserved person, it’s her. She wanted to catch me.”
When she had just arrived here, Xie Yu had been looking for Sang Jing everywhere. She hadn’t expected to run into Sang Lingfei. This person had thrown her horsetail whisk at her without a word. If she hadn’t dodged quickly, she wouldn’t have been able to see Sang Jing now.
Sang Lingfei walked into the small courtyard, a little surprised. “You live here?”
This place was not only remote, but the house was also old. It would probably leak when it rained. It was unclear if it was even habitable.
Sang Jing didn’t answer her but just said, “Why did you try to catch her?”
Xie Yu, borrowing the tiger’s might, glared at Sang Lingfei from behind Sang Jing. With her backer found, she was not afraid of anyone.
Sang Lingfei had a look of self-righteousness. She looked down at the two people who were a head shorter than her. “She has malevolence on her. What’s wrong with me trying to catch her? A ghost with malevolence is a fierce and evil ghost seven or eight times out of ten.”
“Seven or eight times out of ten. Then there are still two or three times out of ten. How can you be sure that every ghost with malevolence is an evil and fierce ghost?” Sang Jing retorted.
Sang Lingfei was at a loss for words and finally said dryly, “Then where did the malevolence on her come from?”
Sang Jing: “There’s no need to tell you.”
Xie Yu followed from behind, “Exactly! Why should I tell you!”
Sang Lingfei: “…”
This ghost is so annoying.
The night was dark above, but there were faint lights twinkling in the distance.
“Someone’s coming,” Sang Jing said, squinting her eyes, then looked at Sang Lingfei.
Sang Lingfei flicked her horsetail whisk and turned to hide in the house.
Xie Yu attached herself to the paper effigy.
Soon, a group of people came to Sang Jing’s side courtyard. The head of the family and Sang Ciyun were in the lead, with Sang Lingyun following beside them.
“Head of the family, Sang Si secretly learned metaphysical arts!” Sang Lingyun pointed at Sang Jing with a triumphant expression. If one ignored the two black and blue panda eyes, she really looked a little smug.
Sang Ciying’s face was stern as she looked at Sang Jing coldly. “Did you secretly learn metaphysical arts?”
It sounded like a question, but Sang Jing knew that it didn’t matter if she admitted it or denied it. Because at this time, she had indeed secretly learned it, and the evidence was in the house—those discarded talisman papers.
The metaphysical book had been given to her by Granny Lin. Later, Sang Jing found out that the book belonged to her teacher.
Sang Jing still remembered the punishment the head of the family had given her that night. She had been made to kneel outside the Sang family’s ancestral hall for a whole night, without food for a day and a night.
After that, Sang Jing hadn’t dared to touch that metaphysical book for a long time, thinking that as long as she was obedient and didn’t make any mistakes, she would be liked by these people.
Recalling the past now, Sang Jing only found it ridiculous.
Sang Jing looked up at Sang Ciying, about to speak, when an old voice came from outside the courtyard.
“I taught her. If you have anything to say, say it to me.”
