Chapter 57: Encountering a Ghost Child on the Road Part 1

If it weren’t for the Ghost Family, she wouldn’t have fallen into such a miserable state. Even now, the Ghost Family refused to let her go. If she didn’t give them a taste of her own medicine, it really wouldn’t be in Wang Ya’s character. Wang Ya still held a grudge about the last time she charged toward the Ghost Family but failed to even reach the front gate before being forced to flee into the Yellow Springs. Looking back on it now, she could only describe it with four words: too heartbreaking!

After returning to her room, Wang Ya opened the bag Old Tang had given her and saw some common materials for making talismans and blessings, as well as talisman paper. She set the bag aside and headed straight to the green belt outside the hotel, where she dug up a large pile of soil from under a big tree and carried it back to her room.

Wang Ya first laid out a formation array and drew a large stack of talisman paper. Then, she made several talisman plaques from peach wood and jujube wood respectively. Only after that did she roughly filter and select the soil she had brought back earlier, mix it with water, cinnabar, incense ash, and various other materials, and mold it into mud dolls.

Wang Ya sat cross-legged on the hotel carpet, busying herself until five in the morning when someone knocked on the door. Only then did she stand up. She opened the door and saw Old Tang standing there. Old Tang had just said, “It’s time to set off,” when he glanced at Wang Ya’s clothes, which were covered in mud. A strong scent of sandalwood wafted from the room. He poked his head inside and was shocked to see three rows of dozens of mud dolls on the carpet, arranged like soldiers in formation. Each doll was no taller than a fist and covered in talisman patterns. He exclaimed, “You didn’t sleep all night?” He looked at Wang Ya with a strange expression, wondering what this girl was up to.

Wang Ya checked the time and said, “Please go wake up my dad. I’ll pack up and we’ll head out.” With that, she closed the door, ignoring Old Tang and Zhang Qingshui’s urging and knocking. It wasn’t until 5:40 that Wang Ya emerged, refreshed after a shower and changed into clean clothes, carrying her little leather bag. “Let’s go!”

Zhang Qingshui eyed Wang Ya suspiciously and reached out to hold the door open just before it closed, peeking inside. The room looked neat and tidy, except for the pervasive sandalwood scent and mud stains on the carpet. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Just as she was about to step inside, Wang Ya said, “Zhang Qingshui, if I were you, I definitely wouldn’t go in.”

Zhang Qingshui asked, “Wang Ya, what are you up to?”

Wang Ya’s lips curved into a smile. “I’m literally stirring up ghosts.”

Huang Qi said softly, “Wang Ya, this hotel belongs to my family.”

Wang Ya let out an “Ah” and said, “Perfect then, Huang Qi. You should instruct the person in charge of managing this hotel to never open this door. This door separates the worlds of the living and the dead. If someone barges in and dies, I won’t take responsibility!” With that, she happily walked out carrying her little bag.

Old Tang followed behind Wang Ya and asked, “Wang Ya, what exactly did you do?”

Wang Ya replied, “I hung a Concealment Talisman Plaque on myself and set up a Substitute Doll in the room. If they try to divine my whereabouts, they might end up tracking the Substitute Doll instead. As for the room—don’t worry, it’s not connected to the Yellow Springs. I don’t have the ability to keep the Yellow Springs open for a whole month!” She winked slyly at Old Tang and headed straight to the elevator, pressing the button for downstairs.

Old Tang uncomfortably shifted his gaze away from Wang Ya. He touched his nose and inwardly cursed, This demoness!

After going downstairs, Wang Ya saw a Toyota off-road vehicle parked at the hotel entrance, with several people who looked like hotel staff standing nearby. A man in his thirties with a very elite demeanor hurried over to Huang Qi upon seeing her and greeted her, “Miss Huang, everything has been arranged as per your instructions.”

Huang Qi politely said, “Manager Gao, thank you for your trouble.” She paused, then continued, “From now on, no one is allowed to enter Room 1712. If anyone from the company enters Room 1712, you’re fired immediately. You’ll bear full responsibility for any incidents. If any employee enters without authorization, they bear the consequences, and the company will provide no compensation.” She paused again and added, “If someone tries to force their way in, let them break down the door themselves! Warn them that unauthorized entry is at their own risk. Remember to record audio and video.”

Manager Gao responded, “Yes.” He carefully asked, “May I ask why?”

Huang Qi walked past him expressionlessly.

Old Tang got into the driver’s seat. Zhang Qingshui sat in the passenger seat. Huang Qi sat behind the driver, Wang Ya in the middle of the back seat, and Wang Cheng’an to her right. Once everyone was in the car, they drove straight out of the hotel toward the outskirts of the city.

Zhang Qingshui, from the passenger seat, said, “Wang Ya, I’ve arranged for people to urgently search for the exact location based on the blueprint you drew. I believe we’ll have leads in a couple of days.”

Wang Ya softly hummed in acknowledgment and closed her eyes to rest. After a night of high-intensity, extremely draining “work,” she was starting to feel it.

Old Tang glanced at Wang Ya through the rearview mirror and asked, “Wang Ya, even if we leave, they can just ask the hotel staff. Is the setup you left in the hotel still useful?”

Wang Ya said, “I don’t know about others, but the Ghost Family will definitely go in to check. Before the Ghost Family people go in, they’ll send little ghosts to scout for safety.”

Old Tang asked, “What exactly did you leave in the hotel room?”

Wang Ya replied, “Won’t we find out in a few days when the hotel notifies Huang Qi?”

Huang Qi muttered dejectedly, “I shouldn’t have arranged for us to stay in my family’s hotel.”

Wang Ya didn’t ask where they were going. She nestled comfortably in the car to catch up on sleep. It wasn’t that she wasn’t worried about Zhang Qingshui and Old Tang plotting against her; she knew that even if they had schemes, they wouldn’t act now. If they were going to strike, they would have done so earlier.