Wang Ya also knew the ghost had noticed her earlier but left her alone, signaling a desire to stay out of each other’s way. This was clearly a Ferocious Ghost, and tonight’s full moon amplified Yin Spirits’ savagery. Rash action might trap her too.
Earn money and save them? Or preserve herself wisely?
Wang Ya recalled wasting her schooling for these skills. Others scored over six hundred on the high school entrance exam for top schools; she scored just over two hundred, landing in the Nearby Town’s worst general high at the bottom of her class, eventually dropping out to venture forth. She deeply felt these skills couldn’t go to waste; only by this path of mastery did she have prospects. So, for prospects, tonight was opportunity and test of her decade-plus of true learning.
The Yin Qi around the car thickened. The Taoist Priest pushed open the door, rolled out, and began invoking a deity mid-way, only to be wrapped by a black shadow, collapsing and clutching his throat, convulsing like an epileptic seizure.
Wang Ya knew disaster struck. She swiftly opened her bag, took out ancient bronze coins, and laid them on the ground—exactly seven forming a Big Dipper Seven Stars Formation. She stood at its center, bit her fingertip, and drew a talisman on her palm with blood as ink, chanting: “Kui Star suppresses evil, lotus opens the path, slay demons and retreat, follow me and proceed!” The Rune completed, transforming into a golden lotus that pierced the dense Spiritual Qi. She shouted: “Yellow Springs of the underworld, mortals turn back, Golden Bell leads the way!” As she hooked her finger, her pinky drew out a Red Thread tied at the other end to a golden bell. She yelled “Rise!” The Golden Bell rang toward the Yin Qi ahead. Her index finger hooked the Red Thread, swiftly twirling and pinching spells to control the bell, pulling the thread straight to the open car door. The faint golden light from the bell parted the dense Spiritual Qi, hovering at the door, shaking and ringing wildly. Wang Ya shouted: “Follow the golden light, don’t look back! Hurry!”
The woman in the car slightly turned her head toward Wang Ya without fully twisting, as if gazing intently. Instead, the bodyguard in back helped her out, pulling her along the Red Thread toward Wang Ya.
The driver’s bodyguard also shoved open the door, glanced toward Wang Ya, then down at the Taoist Priest on the ground—face swollen purple-blue—and moved to help him. Wang Ya yelled: “Hurry and go, too late and you won’t escape!” She saw Yin Qi oozing from underground toward the Red Thread. Wang Ya bit her finger again, smearing blood on the thread; beads slid along it, forcing the encroaching Yin Qi back a foot.
The two Bodyguards flanked the woman, rushing along the Red Thread to Wang Ya. The three lanes took mere seconds to cross.
When the three reached Wang Ya, the Bodyguards froze, surprised their savior was such a young girl.
Wang Ya’s gaze skipped the suited men, sweeping the Retro Tang Suit Woman’s face with a twinge of oddness, prompting a second look. She realized the woman faced her with wide eyes as if staring, yet they lacked focus, godless. Wang Ya thought: “Could she be Zheng Yanxia?” Suddenly, she glimpsed the Taoist Priest by the car, no longer convulsing, crawling up in an unnaturally twisted pose. Yin winds swirled around him, ghost qi thick on his body—clearly possessed.
The Taoist Priest looked toward Wang Ya, revealing his face: dead-fish eyes with a grinning, fang-baring maw, hideous and eerie. She felt malicious eyes upon her—not the priest’s, but the troublesome entity’s inside. Wang Ya, never facing a Fierce Ghost before, shivered from feet to spine. In that chill, her vital energy faltered; the bell and Red Thread lost power, clattering to the ground. Startled back to focus, she shoved the woman blocking her aside, confronting the Ghost-Possessed Taoist face-to-face.
“Why meddle?”
The voice came from the priest’s mouth, but in a shrill, piercing female tone, somewhat aged.
Wang Ya “uh”ed, pointed at the seemingly blind woman beside her, and said: “I’m short on cash.”
The priest howled: “I think you’re missing a brain!” He lunged at Wang Ya.
Wang Ya knew ghost-possessed people had immense strength. Seeing him charge desperately, she grabbed her suitcase and bolted. After a few steps, her right hand yanked tight; the force nearly toppled her backward.
The Ghost-Possessed Taoist missed, sprawled on the ground, spotted her trailing the bell-hung copper rope, snatched the bell bouncing before him, and yanked Wang Ya back.
Wang Ya reached to untie the bell while noticing the Bodyguards shielding the Retro Tang Suit Woman and dodging aside. Enraged, she barked: “What are you dodging for? Rush him and pin him down!”
The Bodyguards glanced at Wang Ya, then at the Ghost-Possessed Taoist springing up for another kill. One yelled: “Expert, hold on!” He shielded the Retro Tang Suit Woman and ran for the car.
The other dashed to the driver’s seat, ignited the engine, floored it. With a “bang” of the door, the car roared off far away.
Wang Ya untied the red rope from her hand just as the priest lunged. She dodged agilely with a sidestep, about to call: “Hold him while I form the seal…” when she heard the engine revving. Glancing back, the car was already two hundred meters gone. In that instant, “fuck” erupted in her mind like a volcano. Next moment, the Ghost-Possessed Taoist was upon her, claws raking her face. Though her grades sucked, her face rivaled the school beauty’s—too poor for that title, but she outshone them all. Imagining ghost claws plus Yin Qi poisoning ruining it to ugliness—Wang Ya wanted to tear this Ancient Old Ghost apart. As claws neared, she sidestepped, sweeping a leg at his lower body. Her calf hit his like steel pillar, iron-hard with icy chill. She grunted, half her leg numb. He kicked back; she rolled aside. Springing up two or three meters away, she saw the car vanished and shouted: “Hey, the VIP escaped!” Before finishing, he charged again, fast and ruthless as a shadow.
Wang Ya twisted away, realizing the truth: she tanked their disaster; they fled, leaving her alone against this Ancient Old Ghost.
