The Exorcist

Book 8: Chapter 37: The Fish That Slipped the Net

A cool breeze gave Xiao Xia goosebumps all over. She knew evil spirits were afoot again, but she had no other choice. Gritting her teeth, she headed towards Naman as well.

As Ruan Zhan had said, if you don’t react, they will self-destruct! For the sake of her love, she wasn’t afraid of anything!

Under the night sky one the lonely mountain road, Xiao Xia held a talisman in each hand as she walked step by step. The gravel crunched underfoot, a sound that would be inaudible during the day and ignored even if heard, but at night it seemed particularly eerie.

In front, the woman in black was still walking. She had no shadow and made no sound, yet she kept shifting left and right, blocking Xiao Xia’s path. Sometimes, she would suddenly disappear, and then end up behind Xiao Xia, asking for directions once again.

Xiao Xia knew that the woman in black was here to haunt her, and those black eyes on her pale face looked so soul-stirring, making her feel numb inside. However, she forced herself to endure, letting her repeat the same behavior over and over again, adhering to the principle of ‘if people do not offend me, I will not offend them’ and ignoring it. But after walking for a while, she finally realized that she had been circling around the hill. She had to squat down to pick up a small stone.

Bao Da Tong had told her that the minor magic taught by Ruan Zhan, combined with the earth spell of the Five Elements Forbidden Spells, can break through ordinary barriers such as the ghost-built wall. Normally, spirits built these walls as an act of kindness. For example, if there were obstacles ahead. Xiao Xia had heard that during the major earthquake of Tang Mountain, a driver managed to avoid the calamity because he couldn’t leave the stretch of the road he drove on.

But ever since she started encountering supernatural events, every time she encountered a ghost wall, the other party always had ill intentions. It wasn’t due to bad luck, but because all those she encountered were enemies. Therefore, she didn’t need to stand on ceremony now.

As she walked, she put the talisman in her right hand back into her pocket, then fumbled around, feeling for the earth talisman, and slowly wrapped it around the stone. Luckily there were plenty of stones since it was a gravel road.

“What are you doing?” The woman in black was originally walking slowly ahead, but suddenly appeared behind Xiao Xia at this moment and asked sharply.

Despite being aware of her presence, Xiao Xia was still startled once more. She hurriedly tossed out the wood talisman in her left hand. The black-clad female ghost was too close to her, so the talisman was almost directly stuffed into her hand, the white hand holding the green phosphorescent flame!

The female ghost let out a horrific scream that Xiao Xia had never heard before, and like a gust of black wind, she flew into the air and disappeared.

“Strength from Mt. Tai, stone general, strike!” Xiao Xia shouted the spell, simultaneously throwing out the stone wrapped with the earth talisman, and then started running up the mountain. Even though she felt the wind whistling above her head, as if something was following her, she resolutely did not look back. Sure enough, after running for a while, she saw a small bamboo building appear in front of the road, and behind the building were the three forks, the shortest of which led to Naman Village.

The name Naman flashed in her mind, and her heart immediately warmed. That place meant Ah Bai, and Ah Bai meant Ruan Zhan’s life. But at that moment, the wind above her intensified, along with a wave of cold. A dark cloud swooped down!

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Xiao Xia ducked, unable to use the Five Elements Forbidden Spell in time, and had to pull off the bone necklace from her neck, swinging it upward like a weapon. This bone necklace didn’t have the protective power of an amulet and didn’t react quickly to evil objects. However, because its spell power was stimulated by those people on the tractor just now, a sudden burst of red light really dispersed the black shadow.

But while the attack of the black shadow was repelled, the surrounding roads were quickly shrouded in black mist, with only the bamboo building still visible.

Xiao Xia didn’t know if the woman in black was deliberately forcing her into the bamboo building, but she had nowhere else to go. She steeled herself and ran to the outside of the bamboo building. Before she could knock, the door opened with a bang. A hand reached out, and pulled Xiao Xia in.

“Shh, keep quiet.” One hand covered her mouth, while a strange voice sounded in her ear, “This area is unclean, don’t draw them in here!”

Xiao Xia stood there dumbfounded, momentarily frozen from fear. Suddenly, there was a flash of light as an oil lamp was lit, swaying in front of her eyes before finally settling on the table. She blinked hard twice and then saw clearly that the man sitting by the table was the owner of this rest stop.

He pointed behind Xiao Xia, and she immediately became so nervous that she was about to jump away. But he said, “Do you see the wooden board on the door? The priest gave me that to ward off evil spirits. Otherwise, this small inn of mine wouldn’t be safe either.”

Xiao Xia turned her head and saw a square wooden board about a foot wide hanging behind the bamboo door. The board was painted with strange characters and patterns. Even in such a dim environment, a faint silver light could be seen.

“Don’t worry, they’ve been making a fuss for a while. With this divine tablet, they can’t get in.” The innkeeper saw Xiao Xia was still somewhat uneasy and quickly reassured her.

Xiao Xia felt doubtful. She looked at the innkeeper once again and confirmed he was the person she knew. Moving closer, she saw his shadow cast by the oil lamp. Recalling the earlier sensation, the hand that had grabbed her seemed to be warm. He should be human.

However, she remained on edge. Gripping the bone necklace tightly, she moved a little closer and sat at the table facing him.

“What happened here this time?” She asked, keeping a safe distance.

The innkeeper sighed deeply.

“I heard you were the one who donated money to Naman to build the road. Doing so is a virtuous deed.” He said, “At that time, when the village chief of Naman mentioned this matter, the nearby villages were very happy. After some discussion, they raised some more money and contributed labor to build a simple gravel road. But not long after the road was completed, something happened. That day, a few young people from Najin Village had to go down the mountain to run some errands, so they took the newly purchased tractor from the village to go down the mountain together. After they finished their business, it was already dark. However, because they were in a hurry to return to the village, they rushed back overnight since the moon was bright and the road was new. Tu Shui’s uncle, who was driving the tractor, might have been too tired, and with one careless move, the entire tractor flipped into a crevice. Alas, it was really tragic. Everyone in the car died, not just from the fall, but also from being smashed to pieces by the falling rocks and the tractor.”

“Things stopped being peaceful here afterwards?” Xiao Xia asked in confusion. From what she knew, the people here were kind and honest. Even if they died violently, they wouldn’t come out to harm others!

But the innkeeper nodded and said, “Yes, after burying those poor souls, it didn’t take long for things to start getting noisy here. Every night at this time, the sound of a tractor passes by the shop entrance. Sometimes, they would come knocking on the door, saying: Boss, can I have a bowl of water to drink?” As he spoke, he tapped on the bamboo table. His pronunciation was already odd due to his lack of fluency in Chinese, and now he was pinching his throat to mimic speech, which frightened Xiao Xia into a cold sweat. She glanced at the boss with some reproach.

But with this glance, Xiao Xia suddenly sensed that something was wrong with the boss. He had a corporeal body, but was he really human? Why does Xiao Xia feel that his eyes are the same as those of the woman in black and the eyes hidden behind Tu Shui? Black and shiny, lively and shifting. Although they appeared very beautiful, they contained a mixture of excitement, hatred and eeriness, making them seem creepy.

“Miss Yue, would you like a bowl of water to drink?” He suddenly asked.

Xiao Xia sat up straight, one hand aching from gripping the bone necklace, and the other hand holding the talisman was soaked with sweat. She looked at the him warily and nodded.

“Okay, I’ll ask my wife to bring it to you. She has always been the one to entertain guests.” He stood up as he spoke, slowly walked upstairs, muttering something under his breath, and his footsteps made the stairs emit a sharp, prolonged groan.

Xiao Xia had been here before and knew that the family lived upstairs. So, as soon as the shop owner’s figure turned the corner, she quickly jumped up and ran towards the door. She understood that something must have happened to the innkeeper’s family. She felt very sympathetic and wanted to help, but she was currently dried mud in a river, unable to even keep herself safe. Besides, Ruan Zhan was more important to her than anything else. Even if everyone in the world were to die, she would save him first!

But the door wouldn’t open!

Xiao Xia reached out to grab the wooden sign, but her hand passed right through it. It was actually an illusion. With a sweep of the talisman in her hand, the illusion disappeared. As the illusion vanished, the entire bamboo building also disappeared, revealing a large open space in front of her. Only then did Xiao Xia realize that she was still in a dense forest at the foot of the mountain. She had never gone up the mountain at all.

“Where are you going? Didn’t you want to drink water?” Behind her, a woman’s voice said.

Xiao Xia turned her head in horror and saw the landlady standing there with a bowl of water, glaring at her fiercely. “I hate customers like you the most, thinking you can boss people around just because you spent a little money in the shop. Are you going to drink it or not?” From what she remembered, the lady didn’t speak mandarin, but she was currently speaking very fluently.

Xiao Xia didn’t speak. She quietly observed the area and prepared to flee.

“Not drinking?” The landlady glared angrily, “I’ll feed you!” She rushed over, the liquid in the bowl spilling all over the place, emitting a nauseating smell. It was actually blood. However, although she pounced fiercely, her movements were clumsy as her legs thudded around. The clearly human body was being controlled by something else.

Xiao Xia ran a few steps and shook her off, hiding behind a big tree. She peeked out and saw that the woman had lost sight of her. She held the blood bowl, standing in the moonlit forest clearing, her eyes darting around rapidly, but she couldn’t spot Xiao Xia hiding in the shadows. She stood there for a long time, long enough that Xiao Xia could hardly bear it before she finally left angrily.

Xiao Xia breathed a sigh of relief and almost sat on the ground.

If they merely had shadows, they could be zombies. But the innkeeper and his wife were still warm and breathing despite their clumsy movements. They didn’t seem to be living corpses, but might just be possessed. In that case, if those black eyes behind the scene were targeting her, the couple might recover if she left. Even if they didn’t, Ruan Zhan could come help them once he was better. Even Bao Da Tong could handle it.

The problem was that she had to leave quickly, and find Ah Bai. Also, the innkeeper had a cute little daughter. Where was she?

“Come with me.” A hand grabbed Xiao Xia’s ankle, almost startling her to death. Afraid of attracting the innkeeper and his wife’s attention, she swallowed her scream back down her throat.

Looking down, she saw a pair of small, white, tender hands reaching out from the green grass, grabbing the hem of her pants. In the grass was a delicate face with a blank expression, staring intently at her. Behind that human face, those black eyes appeared once more.

“My father and mother were bewitched by ghosts. I’ll get you out of here!” Little girl slowly got up, and curled up like a snake next to Xiao Xia. Because Xiao Xia was seated, she couldn’t run away immediately and had to watch her slowly approach.

“Who is big sis looking for? I’ll go search with big sis.” Those eyes were full of laughter.

Xiao Xia really couldn’t stand the feeling of numbness spreading from her shoulders to her whole body. She suddenly pushed her away and jumped up, “Stop messing around! I have no grievances or enmity with you, so stay away from me!”

“What are you talking about, sis? I just want to help.” The little girl approached Xiao Xia again.

“Stop!” Xiao Xia screamed. She had a sudden flash of insight. The owner of the black eyes should only be able to possess one person at a time. The innkeeper and his wife had appeared separately. Since she only had to face one physical body being controlled by a ghost, she didn’t need to be too frightened.

“Sis, don’t aim that at me. I’m scared.” The little girl looked very scared, pointing at Xiao Xia’s hand. She had the bone necklace extended and it was emitting a faint flow. However, although Xiao Xia sensed the other party was wary, it also wasn’t very afraid.

“Cut the crap, what do you want?” Xiao Xia’s anxiety outweighed her fear, and she said loudly. “Don’t mess with me, or else…”

“Or else what? What will you do with your paltry methods?” The little girl suddenly stopped putting on the act and changed her tone. She sounded completely like a mature woman. “Besides, I’ve checked. You’ve come by yourself. That powerful man did not come with you. What, did he abandon you? Haha, like I said, how could anyone like a mundane woman like you?”

Xiao Xia was taken aback. From the other party’s tone, it was clear that they knew about Ruan Zhan’s existence and their relationship. Who was she? Could it be an acquaintance?

“Do you think I’m afraid of you?” They continued speaking. “I was just probing to see if that man was hiding somewhere. Since he hasn’t shown up after scaring you to this extent, it’s clear he isn’t here. Even if he was, he no longer cares about you!”

“So you were afraid of Ah Zhan!” Xiao Xia sneered and cautiously retreated to a relatively safe distance, “Are you so sure he didn’t come? If he did, would you still be the fish that slipped the net? Even if he really didn’t come, can’t I have other powerful friends? Otherwise, how would I know magic?”

“I saw it. Minor tricks not worth bragging about. I haven’t made my move while you’ve already shown all your cards.” Her opponent sneered. “Now that I want to kill you, it’ll be easier than squishing an ant.”

“Then why haven’t you made your move yet, Hong Hao Hao?” Xiao Xia took another step back, leaning against a tree for support.

The other party burst into wild laughter, a stark contrast to their delicate and refined body, “Smart, you actually figured out it was me!” Since her disguise had been seen through, she no longer acted mysterious and abandoned her vessel!

…….