Chapter 57.2 Ominous Steps 04
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The little girl suddenly pointed at the young mother, startling her. “As a mother, she didn’t watch her own child properly but chatted with others. If she had been attentive to her child, that girl wouldn’t have been bullied by other boys. Those boys wanted to take her ball, and in her anger, she threw the ball away. They all got away with it, but not me, right? Serves me right for getting hit by the ball, and the truck ran over my upper body, leaving me to die miserably! I won’t let you off! I absolutely won’t let you off! You are all at fault, all responsible for my death!”
Chen Yang pounded the table. “Calm down. Let me ask you first. What were you doing when the ball hit you?”
The little girl’s face turned dark and gloomy. “Are you also here to defend them? Dirty Daoist, despite claiming to be a celestial master, don’t you know that the seventh day after death is the day for settling scores?”
“I know. But you have to tell me, what were you doing when the ball hit you? Probably playing with your phone.”
The little girl’s expression soured, but she didn’t argue, evidently acknowledging Chen Yang’s accuracy. Chen Yang continued, “Undeniably, your death is related to this girl, but it’s not her fault. She, her mother, the boys who bullied her, the driver who ran you over, and you, absorbed in playing with your phone without paying attention to the road – all contributed to your demise. Or, you can call it an accident. You want to blame them for your accidental death, but they don’t owe their lives as compensation for your death.”
“Are you speaking up for them?” The stubborn little girl insisted that Chen Yang was biased toward the mother and daughter. “If it weren’t for them, would I have suffered this accident?”
The evil spirit attributed all the reasons for its tragic death to the mother-daughter duo, those boys, and the driver. If the young mother hadn’t coincidentally passed by the location of its death today, the evil spirit might have sought revenge on the boys and the driver first, but its greatest resentment was towards the little girl. It believed that the ball hitting it, causing the fall, was the fundamental reason.
Chen Yang: “Are you determined to seek revenge?”
“If it were you, wouldn’t you want revenge for such an unjust death?” After throwing away the crayon, she picked up a pencil, pointed it menacingly at her eye, and made a stabbing motion. The young mother screamed and cried, the pencil stopped, and the little girl giggled. The young mother apologized, pleading for mercy for her daughter. She offered herself for retaliation.
“I will certainly come for you. You are also at fault, and you deserve to die—”
Chen Yang frowned, “Stubborn and unyielding!” With these words, he brought out the Five Thunders talisman concealed in his palm, placed his hand on the little girl’s head, smacking the evil spirit out, embraced the girl, and handed her to the young mother. Then he thrust the Five Thunders talisman into the evil spirit’s body, tied it with the red string from his wrist, and sealed it into a dice.
After tossing the dice twice and holding it in his palm, Chen Yang declared, “Originally, I wanted to give you a chance, but you turned out to be so stubborn. However, considering that you indeed died unjustly, in half a month when the Ghost Portal opens wide, I will send you to a Daoist ritual for conversion and repentance, facilitating your early reincarnation. Once a year, on the day of the amnesty by the local officials, Daoism holds a large-scale ritual, establishing the Heavenly Medicine Department specifically to treat ghosts like you who died untimely.”
The so-called Heavenly Medicine Department was dedicated to treating ghosts who died tragically, and was presided over by the Daoist deity, Supreme Clarity Heavenly Doctor. Such ghosts, due to the extreme fear experienced before death, had difficulty reuniting their three souls and regathering their seven spirits. As a result, it was challenging for them to undergo reincarnation. Over time, they might develop delusional thoughts, transforming into malevolent ghosts, burdened with karmic sin. Therefore, some large-scale Daoist rituals established the Heavenly Medicine Department to petition the Supreme Clarity Heavenly Doctor for assistance. Following the principle of ‘Ten Paths and Nine Doctors,’ practicing medicine to treat illnesses not only aided humanity but also extended help to ghosts.
Chen Yang turned around, glanced at the just-awakened little girl, and saw her holding onto the young mother’s neck with curious, wide eyes, showing no signs of fear. When she noticed Chen Yang looking at her, she gave a big smile and crisply called out, “Big Brother.”
“Good girl.” Chen Yang took out Daoist talismans for dispelling evil spirits and calming the mind, handing them to the young mother. “Get a small bottle and make her wear them. Wearing them for one or two months should suffice. This evil spirit is relatively mild, not deliberately harming children. Although it was an accident, you are involved in its death, so during the Ghost Festival, perform charity and fasting for the spirit, helping it to reincarnate sooner.”
The young mother took the two talismans, expressing profound gratitude and repeatedly thanking Chen Yang.
The whole incident unfolded when the little girl was playing with a ball alone in the sand. The mother, engrossed in conversation, failed to notice a group of boys attempting to snatch the girl’s ball. The girl threw the ball, hitting a pedestrian on the sidewalk across the green belt. Typically, with the girl’s limited strength, the person wouldn’t have been seriously injured. Unfortunately, that person was immersed in playing a game, reacted strongly, stumbled, and fell onto the road just as a truck sped by.
When the little girl rushed out to see the horrifying scene, her already introverted nature turned into withdrawal.
The evil spirit did indeed die unjustly and miserably, but there were multiple factors contributing to its death. It couldn’t be solely blamed on any individual. It was an accident.
As the mother and daughter escorted Chen Yang and the homeowner to the door, the young mother continued to express her gratitude. The little girl left her mother’s arms, shyly hugged Chen Yang, and softly said, “Thank you, big brother.”
Chen Yang smiled and hugged the little girl back. “No need to thank me.” Afterward, he let go of the little girl. The young mother then took the girl back inside, thanked Chen Yang again, and closed the door.
The owner was quite surprised. “Is that all?” He circled around Chen Yang, puzzled. “No need for a ritual or Daoist artifacts like peach wood swords or copper coin swords? You expelled the evil spirit like this and even captured it? What’s this dice?”
Chen Yang walked forward, explaining, “Every celestial master has a different way of dispelling evil and capturing ghosts. The dice is a magical tool.” He paused, looking at the owner. “Is this the room of the victim?”
The owner nodded. “Yes.” He quickly took out the room card, swiped it to open the door, and courteously let Chen Yang in first. His attitude became much more respectful. Chen Yang’s earlier demonstration made him realize he had underestimated the celestial master.
Chen Yang entered the room, having obtained her prior consent. After a quick inspection, he came out and said, “It’s fine, let’s go.”
“Huh? Oh, okay.” The owner, still puzzled, obediently closed the door. Meanwhile, Chen Yang asked, “Has this apartment been renovated?”
“No. The apartment was built two years ago, all brand new, no need for renovations. Why do you ask?”
Chen Yang smiled. “Just curious. But I heard about an office lady falling down the elevator from the eleventh floor before, is that true?”
“It’s true.” The owner wasn’t afraid that Chen Yang would find out. After all, Chen Yang was a celestial master and must have investigated some things. Moreover, he wasn’t a resident here. “It’s a bizarre incident. Late at night, many people couldn’t figure out what happened. Suddenly, someone died. After checking the surveillance footage, they found that the victim probably returned around 1 a.m., and the elevator stopped on the eleventh floor. She walked out, but just outside the elevator door… at this distance, she stood still.”
The owner gestured, indicating a distance of about 20 to 30 centimeters. “She wasn’t completely immobile. Her whole body could move, but she couldn’t step backward or forward or turn around. Then she raised her hand and started banging — as if there was a door in front of her. She banged on the iron door, screaming for help. Slowly, she couldn’t bang anymore, became very weak. At around 1:30 a.m., the elevator door suddenly opened. The victim was still alive at that time, but she couldn’t control her body and fell backward directly into the elevator shaft on the fourth floor. She fell, shattered into pieces, with one leg folded behind her back.”
Glancing around, the owner lowered his voice as he continued, “I guess she was possessed. You see, for no reason, the elevator suddenly stopped there in the middle of the night, and she just stood there without moving. Then, the elevator doors suddenly opened, even though the elevator car was still on the fourth floor. How did the doors open? Who opened them? Coincidentally, the deceased just fell down stiff. The police, after checking the surveillance cameras, also knew that the case was mysterious. Initially, one could argue that the elevator malfunctioned, but how do you explain the deceased’s behavior before that? It can’t be explained. It’s definitely that she provoked something unclean outside and got entangled, leading to her death.”
“Understood.” Chen Yang then sent a message to Zhang Qiudao, instructing him to visit the hospital at one o’clock in the evening, providing him with the ward number. After putting the phone back in his pocket, he turned to the owner and said, “Since the incident happened around one o’clock, let’s enter the elevator again at that time.”
The owner asked in confusion, “Huh? Go into the elevator? Which… which elevator?”
“The one where the incident occurred.” Chen Yang suddenly remembered something. “Have you ever heard of ‘elevator companion corpse’?”
“Yes.” The owner, still debating whether to follow into the elevator later, absentmindedly replied, “It happened not far from here, in an old building. The facilities weren’t great as of now, but in the past, it was considered advanced and high-end. That apartment had dedicated elevators for the rooms, but a woman once mistakenly pressed the wrong floor and walked out. Coincidentally, the homeowner installed an anti-theft door in front of the elevator, trapping her between the doors, leaving about a 30-centimeter gap. Turning around was difficult, and she couldn’t reach the elevator button. She starved to death.
“After such a frightening incident, many people began to question the drawbacks of such dedicated elevators. Afterward, there were more accidents. A woman got inexplicably trapped and died in the elevator, in a gruesome manner. With two murders occurring in the same elevator, everyone moved out. The story of it being a haunted apartment spread, and no one wanted to rent it. Over time, it became abandoned, but I heard they plan to demolish and rebuild it.”
The owner suddenly realized and felt a sense of horror. “I said, why was the victim’s behavior so bizarre? Clearly, she could move her limbs, but couldn’t step forward or backward, and even turning around was difficult. Isn’t that the way elevator companion corpse victims die? The female victim must have provoked it, leading to her possession.”
Chen Yang nodded. “Probably. When an evil spirit kills someone using the method of their past death, it’s called finding a substitute. The person killed also becomes an evil spirit, unable to reincarnate unless they find a substitute or get salvation. Are you sure you want to join me tonight in the elevator to catch the ghost? Aren’t you afraid of being considered a substitute?”
The owner hesitated. “Master, will you protect me?”
“Yes.”
“Will you ensure my safety?”
“Certainly. But it comes with an extra cost.”
“Master, isn’t exorcism and removing evil your primary duty?”
“It is indeed my primary duty. But some people want to watch the show, and I need to ensure their safety. It takes a toll on my energy. So, an additional fee is necessary. After all, we are running a legitimate business, a small one.”
A two-star order cost a few million, and it was still considered a small business? The owner thought he also wanted to venture into this “small business.” “Alright, I agree to the extra fee. Opportunities like this are rare.”
Being able to observe a malevolent ghost up close was quite a sensation, enough for him to boast about for at least two years.
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Such bravery
Thank you for the update!!!