I couldn't help but furrow my brows.
If this were happening to someone else, I wouldn't care. But when it comes to Xiao Hui, I couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
I remembered the cold wind from earlier in the afternoon, and how I had felt a warm sensation near my waist. Now that I thought about it, it had been coming from the sword's hilt! It seemed like this thing did have some protective properties!
After school, I offered to walk Xiao Hui home, and she didn't refuse. I pushed my old bike and we strolled along the path, while she told me about her life over the past few years.
It turned out that she had moved to the city in third grade because her parents worked there. After transferring schools, she repeated third grade, which put her in sync with me in terms of schooling. Now, she was living in a rented apartment in the "Minghu Community."
The Minghu Community was an old complex, quite far from the city center, but the rent was cheap.
We walked to a quieter part of the road, and I said, "Xiao Hui, wait a moment."
I parked my bike on the side of the road and, without warning, reached into my pants! Xiao Hui gasped, "What... what are you doing?!"
I pulled out the sword hilt and explained, "Don't misunderstand. I need you to help me with something. Can you hold onto this for me overnight and give it back tomorrow?"
Xiao Hui, a bit surprised, hesitantly took the hilt and said, "It feels warm..."
"Probably because I've been carrying it close to me," I said with a smile.
After I sent Xiao Hui to the entrance of her building, I reminded her, "Don't forget to bring it back tomorrow, and don't lose it."
"Got it. Thanks for walking me home. Be safe on your way back," she waved and entered the building. I stayed by the door until I heard it close, then rode my bike off. However, halfway home, I got a flat tire, so I had no choice but to push the bike back, spending over an hour struggling with it. By the time I got home, I was exhausted, feeling like a slave.
Dad was sitting on the sofa, his face serious. "Why are you so late?"
"Got a flat tire," I replied weakly, "Dad, I'm starving. Can we talk after dinner?"
He chuckled and scolded, "Little brat."
I corrected him, "Our teacher told us never to call our kids 'little brat' or 'little bastard.' It's bad for parents."
He laughed and said, "Alright, you little rascal."
I slipped into the kitchen to see what Mom was cooking.
It turned out they had been waiting for me to eat together.
Dad was doing well now, earning 180,000 a year, with some extra benefits. Every year, people came to our house to deliver gifts. Our family was living quite comfortably, with three or four dishes at every meal, including both meat and vegetables.
After dinner, Dad asked if I had been studying seriously. I replied, "You don't even know your son?"
He was a bit stumped by my response and after a few bites said, "Once you get your high school diploma, go join the army. We'll get you a resettlement card, and you'll have a stable job when you come back. These days, it doesn't matter if you go to college or not. As long as you have money, even someone with only a primary school education can become a teacher. But if you don't have money, even a bachelor's degree might not get you a good job."
I said, "Dad, you're being too realistic."
He replied, "This society is all about being realistic. You don't understand anything."
There was no arguing with him, so I took a few more bites and headed back to my room, locked the door, and prepared to continue my research on The Golden Lotus!
As Ximen Da Guanren once said, "People should read more books to enrich themselves."
I pulled out the black cloth bundle, reaching inside, and just as I was about to grab The Golden Lotus, I suddenly felt a chill in the air! No good! A ghost!
I froze in place, then noticed someone had appeared next to me… or rather, a ghost. It was the female ghost!
I quickly grabbed the Book of Charms and started flipping through it, trying to act like I was studying. After flipping through a few pages, I pretended to just notice the female ghost's arrival, smiled at her, and whispered, "Lady Ghost, you're here."
She asked, "Where's the Shadow Sword?"
"Are you talking about the sword hilt?"
"The Shadow Sword has an invisible blade! Although you can only see the hilt, it has a blade, which casts a shadow in the sunlight. The Shadow Sword is one of the top ten ancient swords, worth a fortune! It's a powerful weapon for exorcising evil spirits! Where have you put it? I can sense that it's not in this room."
"Hold on, Lady Ghost! You're saying the Shadow Sword is worth a fortune? So if I sell it, I can pay off my 1.45 million debt, right?" I asked, grinning.
"Shut up! You're a blockhead!" she snapped. "Fine, fine. Since you're so unwilling, I won't force you. Give me back the Shadow Sword, and I won't bother you again. You won't need to pay off that debt either."
I almost agreed, but the Shadow Sword was currently with Xiao Hui, and Xiao Hui was in trouble. I had to help her! Besides, I now knew that ghosts existed, so learning to exorcise them would be useful. I spoke seriously, "Lady Ghost, don't be angry. I'm ready. Come, teach me your ways!"
"Really?" she asked.
"Yes, I realize my master and I have a lot in common. Since my master chose me, it means we're destined to be together. I'll do my best to learn the ways of exorcism! As for the debt, I'll try to pay it off, but I'll need your help, of course."
"That's understood," she said. "Let me introduce myself first. My name is Murong Daiyu."
Murong Daiyu? What a nice name! I thought to myself, from now on, I'll call her Miss Daiyu.
She continued, "I'm from the Song Dynasty. I became a vengeful ghost due to an unjust death, causing havoc until thirty years ago, when a great master helped me. However, I couldn't reincarnate. The master said I needed to find a treasure to reincarnate, so we traveled the world, exorcising spirits while searching for the treasure."
I was curious and asked, "What treasure is it?"
Daiyu said I wasn't qualified to know just yet.
Now that I knew Daiyu wasn't a threat to me, I felt bolder and asked my burning question: "Miss Daiyu, I want to know, is it true that people feel cold when ghosts approach them?"
She patiently explained, "Generally, yes. However, powerful ghosts can hide their aura, so you may not feel cold when they approach. As for me, I've been injured recently and can't control my aura, which is why you feel the cold."
I nodded, then asked, "Miss Daiyu, if a person's forehead has a black aura, and they feel cold when you pass by, what does that mean?"
Daiyu responded, "That's the Yintang point, also known as the upper Dan Tian in Taoist practices. In physiognomy, this is the most important spot for reading a person's fortune. If black energy surrounds it, there are two possibilities: one, the person is practicing dark arts, so the black aura is normal. The other possibility is that the person is haunted by a ghost, and it's been lingering for a long time. The ghost doesn't want to kill them, but being around a ghost for too long will drain the person's energy, making them weak and sick. If this continues, they'll be in danger."
I was shocked that Miss Daiyu knew so much, even about fortune-telling! If I had more time, I'd ask her to read my fortune. But hearing her explanation, I realized Xiao Hui might be in danger, so I pressed on: "Miss Daiyu, as the heir of the Bull Sect, should I intervene if something like this happens to someone?"
"Of course," she replied. "Because that ghost has already threatened the person's life."
I jokingly asked, "But Miss Daiyu, you're a ghost yourself. Why would you want to help humans?"
Her response was simple: "I used to be human too."
I was still full of questions, but I needed to focus. "What should I do if I encounter that ghost now?"
She responded, "Right now, you couldn't even defeat the weakest of ghosts, let alone a vengeful one. Your priority is to train. Start with physical exercise. Wake up at four tomorrow morning and go running. I'll bring you two sandbags."
"Can I skip the running?" I asked with a whine.
"Don't worry. I'll wake you up tomorrow. You won't be able to skip it," she said before vanishing.
A threat! This was an outright threat! Seriously, a terrifying female ghost coming to wake me up.