Chapter Twelve: The Gate of Death

“Qian! He’s possessed by a ghost! Quick, exorcise it!” Zhao He desperately struck the female ghost with a cutting board, all the while trying to wake his sister Zhao Qian.

Only then did Zhao Qian come to her senses, frantically rummaging through her bag for tools. She had never encountered a vengeful spirit that could possess someone during the day—let alone heard of such a thing! The resentment needed to manifest in daylight possession must be immense. Moreover, she was only skilled at exorcising ghosts, not banishing powerful spirits.

Zhao He’s fingers were deeply embedded in Zhang Kaifu’s muscles, blood pouring profusely.

“Brother... Qian can’t help... sorry, sorry...” Zhao Qian whispered, retrieving a peach wood sword. Finding it insufficient, she pulled out an old, tattered book and threw it aside.

After a long while, unable to find anything useful, Zhao Qian burst into tears, her face streaked with tears and snot—not because she couldn’t find anything, but because she simply had no effective tools at her disposal.

I sighed. Zhao Qian was merely a feng shui practitioner, inexperienced in exorcism. She could set up incense tables and manipulate feng shui to fool spirits, but Zhao He seemed to expect her to be omnipotent. Asking her to drive away a powerful ghost was simply unreasonable, especially since she was just a young woman.

It was clear that Zhao Qian had been forcing herself at home, bearing immense pressure. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have broken down like this.

“Quick, unlock it!”

At the crucial moment when the female ghost was entangling Zhao He, I immediately ran toward Huo Dadong, stretching out my hands for him to unlock the restraints.

“You!” Huo Dadong, clutching his bleeding neck, was stunned, suspecting I intended to flee amidst the chaos, his eyes filled with disdain.

“What are you standing there for? If you don’t want to die, let me go!” I shouted, startling Huo Dadong into fumbling for the key, which slipped to the ground once as he nervously unlocked it.

Freed, I swiftly took out the soul urn, bit my finger, and let the blood drip inside. “Come out, blood eater!”

The little vengeful spirit immediately poked its head out, its black eyes full of greed.

Yuxiaoxue, seeing the little female ghost, screamed and fainted. It seemed the earlier scene of the ghost crawling out of the coffin had left a deep impression on her.

“Finish her off!” Ignoring Yuxiaoxue, I fed the blood to the little ghost and ordered her to deal with Zhang Kaifu.

Huo Dadong’s eyes widened in confusion, unable to understand why I was mumbling to a mere urn and boldly claiming to take down the terrifying Zhang Kaifu. After all, he couldn’t see what was inside the urn.

The little ghost fully emerged, and suddenly a chilling wind swept through despite the daylight. Her sharp teeth clattered fiercely as she twisted her body, then lunged toward Zhang Kaifu with a gust of cold wind.

Huo Dadong felt an icy chill all over but saw nothing.

Then something strange happened. Zhang Kaifu seemed to be strangled by an invisible force, his body lifted off the ground before collapsing weakly as if all his strength had been drained.

Though Zhao Qian and Zhao He hadn’t truly developed spiritual sight, they could clearly see the strong ghostly aura of the vengeful spirit. They were both stunned when I summoned such a spirit.

After the white-eyed ghost was pulled out, she struggled in terror, but the little ghost was relentless. Grabbing her by the hair, she opened her blood-red mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth and began to bite fiercely!

The white-eyed ghost in red screamed as half her face was devoured, clearly on the verge of losing her soul.

I didn’t know their hierarchical relationship, but seeing the little ghost tearing the white-eyed spirit apart like a hawk catching a chick made me realize just how powerful the black-eyed ghost must be.

Then it dawned on me—the blood-eating little ghost was no ordinary spirit, but one the grandmother had raised for decades.

As the little ghost feasted, the red-robed spirit was devoured more than halfway, no longer able to scream or struggle.

---

“Ghost...raising...arts,” Zhao Qian murmured as if entranced, watching the ghost devour another. She glanced at me, unable to finish her sentence.

I looked at Zhao Qian, who thought I was glaring at her and fell silent in fear.

Zhao He’s mouth dropped open wide enough to fit a fist, his fear of me palpable.

“Go back!” Seeing the little ghost had finished her meal, I barked. Who knew what tricks this spirit might have? It couldn’t be left out in the open. Yuxiaoxue was still nearby, after all.

The little ghost reluctantly returned to the urn. I quickly sealed it with a lid and placed a talisman over it, slipping it back into my pocket.

The once tumultuous forest fell into a heavy silence.

I exhaled and stretched out my hands. “Come on, Captain Huo, shall we restrain him again?”

Huo Dadong hesitated, then looked at the dead Zhang Kaifu on the ground, and then at Zhao Qian and Zhao He, his face sour.

“No way! You just pulled that off—it must mean you’re the granddaughter’s grandson. That incident at Tunkou didn’t seem like your doing. Even if our eyes are poor, we can’t restrain the granddaughter’s grandson, right? Daytime ghost possession is tricky, you know, brother?”

I smiled but sighed inside. Zhang Kaifu hadn’t even swallowed the ghost-avoidance talisman, so his death was inevitable. But Huo Dadong and Zhao He’s injuries were largely my fault. Though I had swiftly eliminated the white-eyed female ghost, this lesson was harsh. Next time I face a powerful or vengeful spirit, I dare not be so careless—or I might never know how I die.

Later, I learned that the white-eyed female ghost was a “Resentful Benevolent Spirit”—a vengeful ghost born from a kind soul who suffered abuse and died. Once she encountered someone with malicious intent, she could possess them in daylight, becoming bloodthirsty and relentless until all around her were dead. Only then would she self-destruct, utterly destroyed.

“Xue, you’re waking up.” I gently patted Yuxiaoxue’s face, but after a long moment, she remained unconscious.

I had no choice but to wear my backpack in front and carry her on my back.

She was slight, likely malnourished. After all, life in the mountains was tough. Her family grew cassava, and she once told me that as a child, she had stealthily dug up someone’s sweet potatoes when hungry, accidentally disturbing their ancestral grave. The old ancestor had apparently pinched her so hard at midnight her backside turned purple.

Of course, I took it as just a joke.

The ghostly maze vanished. Zhao Qian helped stop the bleeding of Huo Dadong and Zhao He. We left Zhang Kaifu’s corpse behind and continued toward the outskirts of the village.

Soon, we reached a cliff path over thirty meters high, from which we could see Kanglong Village below. We were all excited—even Yuxiaoxue stirred awake.

Zhao He and Huo Dadong led the way, Zhao Qian held her feng shui compass, while Yuxiaoxue and I followed closely. At the cliff’s edge, we spotted a troop ahead, seemingly preparing to set out.

We assumed the town or county had learned of the troubles in Xiaoyi Village and sent reinforcements.

“Finally, we made it through. There’s the troop up ahead. Don’t worry, I’m close friends with Commissioner Li stationed in the border town. I’ll go check what’s going on and why so many people came,” Huo Dadong sighed in relief, finally releasing his pent-up frustration.

Zhao Qian and Zhao He exchanged smiles, clearly excited as well.

“Tian-ge, Dan-ge said we couldn’t get out, but here we are,” Yuxiaoxue blinked.

Even Huo Dadong could see this was definitely safe now. I followed them, but soon I couldn’t go on. My wife suddenly grabbed my shirt, and I felt as if taking another step would tear my clothes apart.

“Stop! Don’t go any further!” I suddenly shouted, yanking Yuxiaoxue back.

“What’s wrong, Tian-ge?” Yuxiaoxue looked at me in surprise.

At that moment, the troop ahead had finished assembling and began marching toward us, rhythmically chanting “One, two, three, four.”

I couldn’t see anything wrong but remained wary. “Zhao Qian, do you sense anything unusual ahead?”

“No, why would there be? The compass shows nothing,” Zhao Qian replied, not understanding my concern, thinking I was paranoid.

I shook my head, thinking it was just the Ninth Princess being stubborn. But then, stepping forward, my clothes tore with a rip!

“Xue! Run!”

Without hesitation, I grabbed Yuxiaoxue and sprinted away faster than a rabbit.

Zhao Qian froze, Zhao He thought I’d lost my mind, and Huo Dadong panicked, jumping up and down. “Kid, don’t run! If you run, they’ll think you’re a fugitive! They’ll shoot! Do you understand?”

“Hey! Why are you running? My sister hasn’t even noticed anything!” Zhao He urged Zhao Qian.

Zhao Qian looked at her calm feng shui compass, puzzled. Could this guy also be possessed?

Seeing no one move, I stopped caring about tact and shouted, “Are you all idiots? It’s the passage of the spectral army! Do you understand? You’re all idiots, Zhao Qian! You better run or you’ll die here!”

Being called an idiot made Zhao Qian’s face flush red. She pouted in grievance but, scared of me, glanced nervously at the approaching troops. “There’s no problem. Captain Huo can’t see spirits either. They all see it, so why are you scolding me?”

Then she examined the compass closely. Suddenly, she understood.

The compass wasn’t stuck; the tiny pillars supporting the needle were broken, so the needle couldn’t move.

Shaken, Zhao Qian dropped the compass and joined the frantic escape.

But she had a bit of a large behind, so when she ran, she swayed—looking good but not very fast.

“Spectral army crossing? Spectral army crossing!” Zhao He’s face turned pale as he dashed forward, eventually picking up Zhao Qian.

Huo Dadong was momentarily stunned but lagged behind, and the spectral army seized his soul!

When I turned back, I saw Huo Dadong’s eyes vacant, staring blankly ahead. He walked toward the cliff, circled a few times, and then tumbled down the edge. By the time he hit the river below, the water was stained with blood.

Yuxiaoxue and I didn’t know how long we had run. When we finally stopped, our calves trembled uncontrollably.

Zhao He, breathing heavily, watched the spectral soldiers disappear before lowering Zhao Qian.

I looked ahead, feeling a chill. We had returned to Siqiao. After a day’s turmoil, we were right back where we started.

“We can’t get out...” I sighed. The spectral army’s passage was meant to seize souls. Without their souls, people become mad or foolish.

We had been fortunate to encounter the spectral army while fleeing.

No wonder the road from Kanglong Village to Xiaoyi Village was guarded by spectral soldiers—no ghosts could enter, and no one could leave. It was a death trap.