Chapter 39: Ghost Village Disgrace (Part 2)
The next morning, Sang Jing packed her things and temporarily entrusted the little black snake to Cui Wangshu’s care.
Xie Yu attached herself to the small paper effigy and sat on Sang Jing’s shoulder, swinging her legs.
In the Sang family, Xie Yu had discovered that Sang Jing’s so-called neat-freak tendencies might not be real. After all, when that child’s saliva had gotten on her hand, she hadn’t even frowned. She probably just didn’t like having too much contact with others, which was likely related to her childhood experiences.
Xie Yu knew that even if she asked, this reserved person, Sang Jing, wouldn’t say.
“Have you remembered anything about your past life?”
The paper effigy’s leg-swinging paused for a moment, then continued. “No, it’s still the same.”
Sang Jing looked up and saw Tan Wei waving at her from not far away. “Alright, take your time.”
Tan Wei took two steps forward to meet her.
“Vice-Chairman Tan.”
Tan Wei nodded at her, looking at Sang Jing with a strange expression. “Just call me Tan Wei.”
Sang Jing is Ji Zhi’s student, and Ji Zhi is the founder of the Ghost Dao. If we really count, she might even have to call Sang Jing ‘Little Master Ancestor’.
Sang Jing looked at the empty road. “What is the content of today’s assessment?”
“Let’s get in the car first and talk on the way.”
“Alright.”
After getting in the car, Sang Jing saw Ah Qing sitting in the front passenger seat. There was also a sticker in front of the passenger seat that said: Ah Qing’s Exclusive.
Sang Jing: “…”
Strange.
Xie Yu looked at Tan Wei and Ah Qing in the front. The more she looked, the more she felt that Hei Wuchang was right. Ghost Masters raised ghosts as their wives.
Tan Wei fastened her seatbelt. “Let’s go find the other chairmen first.”
“Other? Several?” Sang Jing’s eyes were filled with question marks.
A rare smile appeared on Tan Wei’s tense face. “You don’t think the Xuanmen only has one chairman, do you?”
Sang Jing pursed her lips.
She had actually thought so.
“The Xuanmen has three provinces and one association, with a total of seven chairmen, corresponding to the seven stars of the Big Dipper. Each branch has two vice-chairmen, for a total of fourteen,” Tan Wei said, putting her phone away and starting the navigation. “About what you said last night, I’ve asked. The current head of the Chu family is the chairman of the Xuanmen’s Yaoguang branch. She has agreed, but she needs to see you in person to help you make a magical artifact.”
Sang Jing nodded.
A Xuan Master’s magical artifact was not something that could be used casually. If a person couldn’t suppress the magical artifact, it was very likely they would be devoured by it instead.
“Then this assessment… are you testing me? Or that chairman?” Sang Jing asked again.
Tan Wei glanced at the rearview mirror and didn’t say much, only, “A total of three chairmen have come.”
Sang Jing: “…”
Is it such a big deal?
After driving for over two hours, they had already left Xianling City. Xie Yu was looking at the scenery outside the window, while Sang Jing was leaning against the back seat with her eyes closed, resting.
After a while, feeling bored, Xie Yu turned to look at Sang Jing. She seemed to be asleep. She quietly leaned over and finally stood on Sang Jing’s shoulder to smell her face.
And so, she smelled that scent of white pear blossoms again.
“Vice-Chairman Tan, what do you do if you encounter a pervert?” Sang Jing suddenly asked.
Xie Yu flinched and quickly sat up straight.
Tan Wei answered her very seriously, “A pervert? Call the police. If they’re too perverted, and you can’t stand it, you can drag them to a deserted place and teach them a lesson.”
“What if it’s a very perverted ghost?”
“Hmm?” Tan Wei was puzzled.
Ah Qing opened her eyes, glanced at Tan Wei, and said very directly, “Her ghost was just sniffing her.”
Tan Wei: “…”
Xie Yu: “…”
Sang Jing: “…”
The car fell into silence. Tan Wei’s lips twitched into a dry laugh, and then she turned on the music.
For the latter half of the journey, Xie Yu was well-behaved, lying on Sang Jing’s lap and playing with her hands, which were resting on her knees.
Half an hour later, they arrived at a village. The village was desolate, with hardly anyone around.
Sang Jing opened the door and got out. She smelled the scent of incense in the air. Not just the scent, but the ash in the village was very thick. The flowers and grass on the roadside were covered with a thick layer of ash.
Looking up slightly, she saw a lot of rising smoke. This was all from burning incense.
Sang Jing’s expression was a little grim. “What happened here?”
Today was probably not just a simple assessment.
“Let’s talk inside.”
Tan Wei pointed to a one-story house on the side.
Tan Wei walked to the door and knocked. The door opened, and a young girl with thick glasses poked her head out. Seeing that it was Tan Wei, she opened the door a little wider. “Vice-Chairman Tan.”
Tan Wei nodded at her. “Chairman Fan Yin.”
Fan Yin tilted her head and saw Sang Jing behind her, a flash of surprise in her eyes. “Is this the helper you found?”
Tan Wei hadn’t told them about Sang Jing’s identity yet, only that she was a young person with some skills.
“Come on in.”
To avoid trouble, Sang Jing hid Xie Yu on her before entering the house.
After entering the house, besides Fan Yin who had just opened the door, there were two other people sitting in the room. One was about thirty years old, with heavy makeup, her red lips striking as she smiled. The other was older, looking to be in her forties or fifties, sitting at the table drinking tea. When she saw the visitors, she only gave them a light glance.
These three were all Xuanmen chairmen, but the differences were quite large.
Tan Wei stood in the middle. “Let me introduce you.”
“This is Chairman Fan Yin of the Xuanmen’s Tianquan branch,” she said, referring to the young girl who had opened the door.
“This is Chairman Shen Lan of the Xuanmen’s Tianxuan branch.”
Sang Jing looked at the exquisite and elegant woman in the middle. Shen Lan looked at Sang Jing and blew her a kiss from across the room. “So cute, little sister.”
Shen Lan’s voice had a lazy quality, the end of her words like a small hook, scratching at people.
There was one last person.
“This is the current head of the Chu family, Chairman Chu Minghua of the Xuanmen’s Yaoguang branch.”
After Tan Wei’s introduction, Sang Jing nodded at each of them. “Hello.”
Tan Wei then introduced Sang Jing. “Three chairmen, this is the one I found…”
“I know her, I know her!” Fan Yin jumped out and bounced in front of Sang Jing. Her eyes were highly myopic, and she had to get very close to see clearly.
Sang Jing leaned back, almost doing a backbend.
“She’s Sang Sang!” The thick glasses couldn’t hide Fan Yin’s excitement at this moment. “I’ve watched your livestream! You’re so amazing, I really admire you. Why didn’t you livestream yesterday? I waited for a long time. Did something happen?”
Sang Jing was shocked, and so was Tan Wei.
“Livestream?” Shen Lan knew a little about it. She looked at Sang Jing and smiled. “Little sister, you do this too? Isn’t it tiring? Do you want to come to our Tianxuan? The benefits at our Tianxuan are very good, and the older sisters are also very good at taking care of people.”
Hearing this, Tan Wei had a bad feeling. Shen Lan is trying to poach her! Although Sang Jing hadn’t joined the Xuanmen yet, she was already planning to extend an invitation to Sang Jing after this assessment.
No, Sang Jing must be theirs, Tianji’s.
Tan Wei took a step to the side, blocking Shen Lan’s line of sight. “Everyone, let’s talk about business first.”
Shen Lan raised an eyebrow and smiled at Tan Wei. “Alright.”
Fan Yin looked like she had seen her idol and even sat next to Sang Jing. She rested her chin on her hand and looked at Sang Jing, almost making Sang Jing’s hair stand on end.
“Sang Sang, our Tianquan is not bad either. If you come, I’ll give you this chairman’s position.”
Sang Jing: “…”
Tan Wei: “…”
Chu Minghua, who had been silent on the side, knocked on the table. Fan Yin and Shen Lan both sat up straight.
Chu Minghua was the oldest and had a high prestige in the Xuanmen. In addition, the ancestors of the Chu family had learned from the founder of the Dao, Yun Zaiqing. Although there was no hierarchy among the seven chairmen, they all had a certain respect for Chu Minghua.
“Let’s talk about business.”
“Alright,” Shen Lan said, becoming serious. “Nowadays, young people all go to big cities for development. Li Family Village gradually became deserted. In the end, the old people died one by one, and this place became a deserted village. A few days ago, a few bold young people heard that there was a ghost village here and wanted to come and see what a ghost looked like. They even filmed a video and posted it online. In the end, some were scared silly, some went crazy, and one was directly lost.”
Sang Jing: “Lost?”
Fan Yin nodded. “Yes, it’s so scary. I heard that two girls were sleeping together at night. One of them liked to sleep with a doll. At night, she would hold that girl and talk to her until the middle of the night. When she woke up in the morning, she found that she was holding a memorial tablet. She went crazy on the spot.”
Sang Jing: “…”
Who wouldn’t go crazy?
As Fan Yin spoke, she moved closer to Sang Jing and finally managed to hold her arm.
“Are you scared?”
Fan Yin nodded shyly.
“Then you can hold on to me.”
Fan Yin was touched. She turned her head to thank her, but found that the person sitting beside her looked different.
She looked closer and saw a ghost face. “Ahhhhh!!!!”
Fan Yin was so scared she fell to the ground. Xie Yu hadn’t expected to really scare her. She quickly went to Sang Jing and said in a low voice, “Isn’t she a chairman? Why is she so timid?”
Tan Wei helped Fan Yin up. Fan Yin was still in shock. She secretly glanced at Xie Yu and blinked a couple of times. “So it’s Assistant Xiao Xie.”
Xie Yu reattached herself to the small paper effigy, using Sang Jing’s hair to block herself. “She’s really watched your livestream.”
“I’m sorry, I’m really a coward,” Fan Yin said, blushing a little.
Shen Lan smiled and pulled Fan Yin to her side. “Oh, little Fan Yin, although you’re timid, your divination skills are second to none.”
Shen Lan’s words provided an explanation for how Fan Yin could become a chairman.
The seven chairmen each had their own strengths. Fan Yin was good at divination, Shen Lan was good at talismans, and Chu Minghua had inherited the family business and was good at refining magical artifacts.
Sang Jing didn’t plan to let Xie Yu play dead and directly put her on the table. “Apologize to her.”
Xie Yu was in the wrong. She faced Fan Yin and bent the paper effigy’s waist. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
Fan Yin waved her hand. “It’s fine, it’s fine.”
Shen Lan looked at the small paper effigy and asked Sang Jing, “Little sister, you don’t seem to be a Ghost Master, but you want a puppet thread as a magical artifact. May I be so bold as to ask, what are you best at?”
Metaphysical arts were complex. Many Xuan Masters would only focus on learning one or two or three of them. Any more, and they would not be proficient, which would be a waste of effort.
“I’m good at…” Sang Jing thought for a moment.
The metaphysical books her teacher had left her covered a lot, and she had read and learned them all. As for what she was best at, she was good at both divination and talismans, but with Fan Yin and Shen Lan present, it was not appropriate to say so.
“Formations.”
Shen Lan nodded. “Not bad.”
Formations cultivated the mind and also depended on talent. She was a talent. This person belonged to their Tianxuan.
Tan Wei’s brow twitched slightly. Seeing the satisfied expression on Shen Lan’s face as she looked at Sang Jing, a sense of crisis rose in her heart.
It’s over.
