Chapter 45.2 Playing to Death 01
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Zhang Qiudao took the case and arrived at the home of the affected family. Upon entering the house, he immediately noticed the lingering Yin energy, a clear sign of evil spirits invading and endangering lives. The homeowner’s surname was Qian. Mr. Qian had a tired and sorrowful expression on his face as he said, “I don’t know which evil spirit I provoked, causing the death of my two children and now afflicting my wife and mother-in-law. Are they going to harm me once my wife and mother-in-law are also dead?!”
Mr. Qian was in an agitated state. Zhang Qiudao said, “Mr. Qian, please calm down. What has already happened cannot be undone. We must do our best to prevent any further harm. Let me first locate the presence of the evil spirit.”
Mr. Qian: “Please, Celestial Master Zhang.”
Zhang Qiudao took out a compass. The pointer on the compass, affected by the magnetic field, started to swing erratically but gradually stabilized, pointing in one direction. Zhang Qiudao proceeded forward, and the pointer followed, indicating one of the bedrooms. He then asked, “Mr. Qian, whose bedroom is this?”
Mr. Qian looked puzzled and replied, “It’s my mother-in-law’s.”
“May we open it?”
“Yes.” Mr. Qian quickly opened the bedroom door and said, “My mother-in-law and wife are critically ill in bed. I took them to the hospital. Initially, I thought it was a common illness, but I never expected it to be the work of an evil spirit.”
Zhang Qiudao entered the bedroom and asked, “Mr. Qian, how did you know it was an evil spirit?”
“Ah, a friend of mine who is into these things believed in them. When he heard about the troubles in my house, he came over and immediately said that there was an evil spirit hiding in my house. So he urged me to seek the help of a celestial master. At first, I didn’t believe it, but if it weren’t for my critically ill wife and mother-in-law… and the fact that even my two children were… killed.” Mr. Qian’s expression was filled with great sorrow and self-blame. “It’s my fault. If only I had listened to my wife from the beginning instead of thinking it was nothing serious. I was too busy with my business and work, too busy to even see my children one last time—!”
Zhang Qiudao offered some words of comfort to Mr. Qian and noticed the compass spinning wildly inside the room. Looking up, he saw a small shrine with a wooden-carved Bodhisattva statue. Approaching the wooden Bodhisattva statue, he observed it carefully and had the urge to take it down.
Mr. Qian walked over and said, “My mother-in-law is a devout Buddhist. She had this wooden Bodhisattva statue specially carved and consecrated, faithfully offering prayers day and night. Celestial Master Zhang, could there be something wrong with it?”
Zhang Qiudao took down the wooden Buddha statue and opened the back, revealing a hollow compartment inside. “There is a significant problem here.”
Upon hearing this, Mr. Qian’s expression changed. “What? Are you suggesting that the woodcarver used my mother-in-law to harm my family?!” His face filled with intense anger. “It must be our business competitors. If they want to harm me, they should come after me. Why target my family?”
“The wooden Bodhisattva statue itself is not the issue. It’s what’s inside the hollow compartment,” Zhang Qiudao said with a serious expression. “Did you put spiritual creatures like snakes and turtles inside? Or were they alive when placed in there?”
Mr. Qian was taken aback. “No, is that wrong? My mother-in-law said that the wooden Bodhisattvas lack spirits, and if easily worshipped, it may allow evil spirits to possess our bodies, harming our family. That’s why the heart of the wooden-carved Bodhisattva must be hollow, and then a spiritual object is placed inside. By borrowing their energy, we bring the Bodhisattva to life, worshipped day and night, blessing our Qian family.”
Zhang Qiudao exclaimed, “Absurd! The compassionate Bodhisattva would never take life! When a woodcarver completes a wooden Bodhisattva, they do indeed create a hollow space in the back. Later, the Bodhisattva is taken to the temple for consecration, where monks place sacred instruments, talismans, and other spiritual items inside the Bodhisattva’s heart, not living creatures. What you have here is clearly sorcery! This is not about consecrating the Bodhisattva. Instead, you have unwittingly nurtured a malevolent creature and ominous energy!”
Mr. Qian was horrified, his face turning ashen. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that the devoutly Buddhist mother-in-law unintentionally caused the death of his own children. In his heart, resentment arose, but even if he blamed her, he had to save his wife and mother-in-law entangled by the evil Bodhisattva.
“Celestial Master Zhang, what should we do now? Can we dispose of the evil Bodhisattva as soon as possible?”
Zhang Qiudao: “Draw it out.”
“Dr-draw it out?”
“It currently occupies the Bodhisattva and is being worshipped with incense, resembling a minor malevolent deity. If it remains hidden, not even I can capture it. We must lure it out, and the best candidate for that task is you.”
Mr. Qian: “M-Me? How do I lure it out? Won’t it harm me?”
“It initially intended to harm you. By offering the malevolent creature to an evil deity, it wouldn’t show any gratitude. Instead, because you killed it, it will resent you and bring harm to you.” Zhang Qiudao exited the bedroom. “Inside the heart of the wooden Bodhisattva is a snake, which typically emerges and hunts during the night. It considers the entire house its nest, so it will undoubtedly come out of the bedroom at night. Go to the market now and buy some artificially raised frogs. Snakes love to feast on frogs and won’t resist such a delectable treat.
“Once you have the frogs, wait in the living room. I will be in the master bedroom. If anything unusual happens, pull the red string. The other end of the red string is attached to a copper bell. I will come immediately to subdue the malevolent creature.”
Mr. Qian hesitated, “But what if that malevolent creature doesn’t eat the frogs and decides to attack me first?”
“No, it won’t. Despite receiving offerings, malevolent creatures are still just mindless beasts driven by insatiable hunger,” Zhang Qiudao reassured Mr. Qian, who remained fearful. He handed him a Five Thunders talisman and a concealment talisman. “As long as you refrain from speaking and keep your breath concealed, the malevolent creature won’t sense your presence.”
Mr. Qian received the talismans with deep gratitude.
“Lastly, pour the ashes from the incense burner onto the living room floor. It will reveal traces of the malevolent creature. Also, get some realgar powder and realgar wine.”
Mr. Qian followed Zhang Qiudao’s instructions, hanging the frogs in the living room by their legs. Then, he sat alone in the quiet living room, waiting for the malevolent creature to emerge.
The living room was enveloped in an eerie silence, with only the ticking sound of the clock. Soon, it was ten o’clock in the evening. The bedroom door of his deceased mother-in-law slowly creaked open, emitting an unnerving sound that resonated in the silent environment.
Mr. Qian clenched the red string tightly, refraining from taking even a single breath, while his peripheral vision caught a sight of emptiness in the air. Just as he was about to exhale in relief, he suddenly noticed a long, serpentine shape forming in the ash on the floor. The shape continued to elongate, as if an actual snake were slithering across the ground, leaving traces in the ashes.
Nervously, Mr. Qian swallowed hard, watching as the creature crawled past his feet. It seemed to sense something amiss and paused in front of him, testing the surroundings. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see anything and could only rely on his imagination. He imagined a putrid venomous snake stopping in front of him, sniffing the air. He felt a touch on his pants, a damp, slippery, and repulsive sensation.
Fortunately, at that moment, the croaking of the frogs attracted the attention of the creatue, causing it to crawl forward. Mr. Qian breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the invisible mouth swallow one of the frogs. Carefully, he tugged on the red string, but heard no response. He pulled it harder a few more times and felt that something was amiss. When he turned his head, he discovered that the red string had long been severed. Startled, he stood up, intending to retrieve the other end of the red string from the table, but accidentally knocked it, creating a loud noise.
“Hiss!”
Mr. Qian shrunk, his body stiffening as he felt a chilling presence behind him. Without hesitation, he lunged forward to grab the red string, but the creature swiftly flew toward him, wrapping around his neck and tightening its grip. Mr. Qian’s eyes rolled back as he desperately clutched the red string, pulling it forcefully several times, causing the sound of bells to ring from the master bedroom. In the next moment, Zhang Qiudao emerged and sprinkled powdered realgar around Mr. Qian, forcing the creature to retreat.
The malevolent creature, now tainted with the realgar powder, revealed its true form—a decaying, bone-exposed black snake measuring over a meter in length. The snake slithered and leaped around the room, displaying agile movements. However, the realgar powder weakened it, and Zhang Qiudao intercepted its path with his sword.
Leading it into a jar filled with realgar wine, Zhang Qiudao held a Fire Thunder talisman between his fingers, igniting it in a flash before tossing it into the jar and quickly sealing the lid. He somersaulted backward a few times as the jar exploded, showering the room with wine while the malevolent creature burned to death, dissolving into the liquid.
Zhang Qiudao sheathed his sword and said to Mr. Qian, “It’s resolved. As for the wooden statue of the Bodhisattva, would you like to take it to the temple and have a high monk purify it, or shall I take it away?”
“Please take it away, you can take it away.”
“Very well.” Zhang Qiudao nodded, accepted the payment, and departed with the wooden Bodhisattva. “In the future, when worshiping Bodhisattvas, it’s best to acquire consecrated statues from reputable temples.”
Mr. Qian nodded repeatedly, expressing his agreement. After respectfully seeing off Zhang Qiudao, he received a call from the hospital. He learned that his wife and mother-in-law, who had been critically ill and unconscious, had regained consciousness. Overjoyed, he quickly drove to the hospital. Seeing his wife in the ward, he comforted her, who was grieving over the loss of their children, and then informed her about the involvement of the celestial master in warding off evil spirit.
“It turns out that it was your mother who had invited the malevolent creature by housing it in the wooden Bodhisattva. Instead of placing scriptures, ritual objects, and talismans in the statue’s heart, she used objects associated with cult practices. By continuously offering sacrifices day and night, she unwittingly nurtured the malevolent creature that caused harm to our children,” Mr. Qian sighed. “We may have more children in the future, but let’s not blame your mother for this incident, and let’s spare her from knowing the truth. The elderly can’t bear such a tragic revelation.”
Mr. Qian’s wife was overwhelmed with grief as she threw herself into her husband’s embrace, repeatedly lamenting her failure to stop her mother’s foolish actions, which had resulted in the loss of their two children. She blamed herself relentlessly.
Outside the hospital room, the elderly woman, who had unexpectedly learned the truth, was already in tears. A nurse bent down and asked, “Mrs. Li, do you still want to go in?”
Shaking her head, the elderly woman gestured for them to leave. She stopped by the window and said to the nurse, “Go… buy some porridge and take it to my daughter.”
“Alright,” the nurse replied and left.
The elderly woman gazed at the seven-story building, summoning all her strength despite her frail body, unable to contain her tears. She berated herself for her confusion, for believing in that malevolent Bodhisattva, causing the death of her grandchildren and the illness of her beloved daughter. She believed that she had only brought harm to others and herself, with no reason to continue living.
“Ah! Someone jumped off the building!”
Mr. Qian was startled and patted his wife’s hand gently. “I’ll go take a look.”
He left the hospital room and squeezed through the crowd gathered at the window. He noticed that there were many people surrounding the lawn below. It was said that an elderly lady had jumped off the building in a suicide attempt, though the reason was unknown. Mr. Qian returned to the hospital room and informed his wife. Calmly, she said, “I feel like having some porridge. Could you buy it for me?”
Mr. Qian nodded and went out to buy the porridge for her.
His wife covered her face, filled with grief and a sense of despair. Mr. Qian had spent years working outside, so she had the closest bond with her mother and children at home. She regarded her children as her pillars of strength, and with their deaths, her world had collapsed.
When Mr. Qian left, she left as well. She knew that the person who had jumped off the building was her own mother. She felt both grief and relief. It was her mother, but also the enemy who had caused the death of her children.
Unable to bear the pain, she jumped from the window.
Mr. Qian met the nurse who had returned after buying the porridge as he reached the staircase. Upon hearing the nurse’s words, he suddenly realized that the elderly lady who had jumped off the building was his mother-in-law. He hurriedly ran back to the hospital room, but couldn’t find his wife. However, the people coming and going looked at him with sympathetic eyes.
Mr. Qian lost his two children, his wife, and his mother-in-law, becoming a solitary and bereaved man. Facing the sympathetic gazes of others, he took care of the funeral arrangements for his wife and mother-in-law, then returned to his empty home in a daze.
As he closed the door and looked at the once lively living room, now empty without his wife and children, Mr. Qian’s vacant gaze slowly transformed into a smile. A look of satisfaction gradually appeared on his numb face.
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Damn.