Chapter 17: Humans Are Fiercer Than Evil Ghosts Part 1

That ghost, light as a feather, was struck heavily and miserably by Wang Ya’s talisman paper. It reverted directly to its ghostly form—its face ashen, long fangs protruding from its mouth, its body much smaller than before, only about one meter fifty tall. Its eyes glowed green, its skin was bluish-black, its hands resembled beast claws rather than human ones, and its feet were similarly claw-like, somewhat like monkey paws but with even sharper nails! The talisman paper Wang Ya had struck it with was plastered to its chest. No matter how desperately it struggled, it couldn’t get up, as if the feather-light talisman paper on its chest were not a mere slip but a boulder weighing a thousand catties.

Wang Ya took one look at the ghost’s appearance and, without a word, stepped into the Tai Chi Array, walking the Four Symbols Positions while chanting incantations under her breath. She pinched a Vermilion Bird Burns Evil Talisman and slapped it onto the ghost. The talisman transformed into a blazing Vermilion Bird that struck the ghost, which immediately burst into flames as if doused in oil and set alight. It writhed in agony, clawing at itself endlessly.

Just as it seemed the ghost would burn away to nothing, Wang Ya turned to the kitchen, ladled a bowl of clear water, chanted a spell, and drew a Clear Water Talisman in the air with her finger before spraying it onto the ghost, extinguishing the flames.

The ghost had already been burned formless, reduced to a mass of faint black Black Qi hovering over the floor beside the sofa. The moment the fire went out, that mass of Black Qi lunged straight at Wang Ya!

Wang Ya stepped through the Tai Chi Array positions, circling the ghost while drawing out her Ghost-Capturing Copper Bell and steadily wrapping up the mass of Black Qi. In the past, she would have simply used the Ghost-Capturing Copper Bell to obliterate it, ensuring it scattered to smoke and could harm no one again. However, though this ghost had embarked on the Evil Ghost Path, it was still just a new ghost that hadn’t killed anyone yet. Moreover, Wang Ya had promised the Landlord that she would perform Soul Delivery on it. So she used two more talismans: the first, an Evil-Suppressing Talisman to suppress its ferocity; the second, an Illuminating Spirit Talisman to awaken the remnants of its human intelligence and memories, which had been eroded by the Yin Wind Cleansing every new and full moon.

As mentioned before, ghosts did not belong to this world. Those that lingered here underwent Yin Qi cleansing every first and fifteenth of the lunar month. Weaker ones dissipated outright, while survivors accumulated more and more condensed Yin Qi, growing ever more ferocious and losing their humanity until they became Ferocious Ghosts or Evil Ghosts that knew only to harm the living. Fortunately, this ghost hadn’t been one for long, so it should still retain some memories and intelligence from its life—otherwise, it wouldn’t have appeared on the sofa earlier, sitting in that pose of anguish.

Wang Ya went to some trouble but finally subdued the ghost. After her handling, however, it was formless, and since it hadn’t been a ghost long enough to speak, Wang Ya had no choice but to set out the pen, ink, and Yellow Paper the Landlord Wife had bought, placing them on the coffee table. She then unsealed the Ghost Collecting Bell into the pen. Dragging over a chair, she sat by the coffee table and addressed the Ghost Pen standing on it, which seemed to be inching away as if trying to flee: “Your sister asked me to help you. Let’s have a proper talk. Of course, you can choose not to talk, which would save me some effort—I could just scatter you to the winds! If you’re willing to talk, write down what you want to say. Talk or dissipate—your choice. Write your answer on the paper.”

The pen floated to the ink bottle, dipped itself, and scrawled a crooked character on the coffee table: “Talk.”

Wang Ya saw that the ghost had written directly on the coffee table and immediately grew displeased—she’d have to clean it later! She called out, “Write on the Yellow Paper! Didn’t you see the stack right in front of you? Clean up the room for me afterward!”

The Ghost Pen wobbled crookedly to the Yellow Paper, dripping ink along the way, which made Wang Ya roll her eyes in exasperation.

Wang Ya asked, “Did you commit suicide?”

The Ghost Pen wrote a single character on the Yellow Paper: “Yes.”

Wang Ya asked, “Why?”

It wrote three ugly characters: “Couldn’t think straight.”

Wang Ya pressed, “If you couldn’t think straight, why didn’t you leave after dying? Why linger here?” She saw it about to write on the now-full sheet of Yellow Paper and quickly pulled it away, revealing a clean one underneath.

The ghost wrote: “Reluctant.”

Wang Ya asked, “What made you unable to think straight?”

The Ghost Pen trembled, its tip stabbing and thrashing on the Yellow Paper, mangling the hairs at the end!

Wang Ya slammed the coffee table hard. “I’m asking you a question—what’s with the agitation!” The slam shook the table, jolting the Ghost Pen into the air, where it froze motionless, as if terrified. In this ghost’s eyes, Wang Ya was fiercer than any ghost. Wang Ya snapped irritably, “Smooth out the hairs and write properly. Decide if you want to resolve your regrets and reincarnate peacefully, or scatter soul and all!”

The Ghost Pen dipped in the ink to straighten its hairs, then returned to the Yellow Paper. Wang Ya removed the inked sheets, leaving clean ones for it to write on.

The ghost wrote: “Reincarnate.”