Following Old Tang, we went outside. The Tang family's car was waiting by the roadside. After getting in the car, I asked Old Tang if Tang Ze had been to the graveyard these past two days.
Old Tang told me that they specifically came back this time to pay respects at the Tang family graves. Tang's father had been frequently dreaming of his own father lately. In the dreams, Tang's grandfather pointed at his son's nose, scolding him and even saying he wished he were dead. Tang Ze's father had originally planned to come himself, but due to some sudden issues at work, he couldn't get away and had to send his son to pay respects to the grandfather.
After they finished at the grave, they went directly to the river to fish. But Tang Ze fell in and was swept away. The rest of the story I already knew.
"Ah Ze is a strong swimmer. He even won a swimming championship in the province before. That river isn't very rapid, so he shouldn't have been swept away…" Old Tang sighed here. "At first, we didn't think much of it, but with these things happening one after another…"
"I know everything about the situation. In that case, don't go see your young master anymore. Let's go to the graveyard now," I said directly. Hearing this, Old Tang looked out at the dark sky and gritted his teeth. "Master, it's so late at night, shouldn't we wait until tomorrow?"
Clearly, Old Tang was somewhat afraid. "Going at night will reveal problems faster. If you're scared, you can wait for me down the mountain," I said straightforwardly.
After hearing this, Old Tang looked uneasy, probably feeling I had seen through him. "Master, I'm not scared, it's just that the mountain roads are tricky at night."
"Xiao Ma, go to the graveyard," Old Tang instructed the driver.
There weren't many cars on the road at night. The driver sped up under Old Tang's urging.
After about half an hour, the driver stopped the car.
We got out and a mountain peak appeared before us.
The mountain was completely shrouded in mist, spotty and thick, making it hard to see the shape of the mountain from here.
"Master, the fog is so thick. Shouldn't we come back during the day?" Old Tang seemed hesitant.
"You two wait at the foot of the mountain. I'll go up alone," I said without hesitation and started walking up the mountain.
"That won't do. We'll go together," Old Tang followed, and the driver did too.
They were probably too scared to stay down the mountain alone.
The fog on the mountain was much thicker than down below. I felt something was off. The Tang family grave wasn't as simple as I had imagined.
"This place is not peaceful. Remember, if someone asks questions from behind, don't look back or answer. Don't even think about responding. If you answer, you might lose your life. Also, don't pick up any money or items on the ground—even if there's gold, don't pick it up."
I warned the two.
Their faces turned even paler.
Fear grew in Old Tang and the driver's eyes. Old Tang cautiously asked, "Master, are there ghosts here?"
"I can't say yet. Let's hurry up and go," I said. Actually, I wasn't sure either. Better to be careful.
The three of us walked quickly up the mountain path in silence. The night sky was pitch black, and the moonlight blurred. From the white mist, it felt like hands could reach out at any moment.
I felt my clothes being tugged. The hand pulling on me trembled slightly.
I looked back—it was Old Tang.
At this moment, Old Tang had lost his usual confident demeanor and was hiding behind me. His fear was unmistakable.
As we moved forward, Old Tang suddenly shouted and clung to me. "Master, help!"
Although Old Tang was no spring chicken, his sudden hug almost took my breath away.
"Old Tang, use less force! You almost killed me instead of yourself."
He loosened slightly but didn't let go completely.
I asked what happened. Old Tang's voice trembled. "Just now, a pair of hands reached out from the mist and tried to grab me…"
Before he finished, a cold gust blew past us, lifting our hair and giving us goosebumps. This cold wasn't the biting cold of winter—it was a deep, chilling cold that pierced through the bones.
Not only Old Tang, but even the driver tightly hugged me.
I sensed a heavy killing aura. This wasn't an ordinary vengeful spirit; it had to be a fierce ghost who had died violently and hadn't reincarnated for many years.
"Let go, or all three of us will die here." I thought about drawing the peach wood sword my master had given me but couldn't because the two were still holding on tightly.
I struggled hard, and they finally loosened their grip a bit, though still clutching my clothes.
"Come out! This is your chance. Don't blame me for being rude," I shouted into the mist.
Suddenly, a series of sinister laughter echoed from the fog.
The eerie laughter made my scalp tingle. This was my first time encountering such a thing, and if I said I wasn't scared, I'd be lying. Despite my fear, I kept my tone steady.
"I know you understand me. I'll give you one more chance. If you repent sincerely, I'll find someone to perform a ritual for your soul so you can enter the cycle of reincarnation."
My master had once said my fate wasn't peaceful, and if there were too many karmic ties, the trials of destiny would be heavier.
After I spoke, a woman emerged from the dense fog—not walking, more like floating.
She wore a red burial garment, her hair disheveled. One eye was hidden behind her hair, and the visible eye was deeply sunken. Her face was pale as death, lips as red as smeared blood, with blood streaks flowing from her eyes and nostrils.
Her expression was extremely distorted and unnatural. From her throat came low, guttural sobbing, as if she had phlegm stuck in her throat she couldn't spit out or swallow.
To clarify, not all women in red become vengeful ghosts. Only those whose souls carry heavy killing intent after death have their clothes turn red.
The ghost's arm suddenly floated up, and a pale hand stretched out from her wide sleeve, grabbing at my neck. Her fingers emitted a blood-red dark glow. The foul stench coming from her open mouth nearly made me vomit.
I quickly took out a yellow talisman from my bag—one I had drawn on the mountain during idle time—and pressed it on her chest with my forefinger and middle finger.
"Heaven has heavenly generals, Earth has earthly deities, wise and upright, impartial and just, sever evil and eliminate harm, relieve distress and ensure safety, urgent as the law commands."
The talisman stuck to the ghost's chest and immediately stopped her movement. Her body started to spin in place, becoming somewhat insubstantial. But only for a moment, then she returned to her original form and the talisman flared up and burned away completely without a trace.
I frowned—this talisman didn't suppress her. Clearly, this ghost was very powerful. I had underestimated her on my first try.
"I'll kill you…" The female ghost spat these words and spread her arms to grab me again.
The talisman was useless. I had to use other means.
Thinking quickly, I stepped back to a large tree and tilted my head—her hand stabbed into the tree trunk, nails piercing the wood.
At the same time, I bent down and slipped under her arm. Rummaging in my bag, I found three old coins and threw them at the ghost's "heavenly spirit" and "heavenly yang" acupoints as she turned around.
Then I slapped another talisman on her chest.
A sharp, ear-piercing scream came from the ghost, chilling to the bone.
She struggled violently. I sat cross-legged on the ground, forming a Taoist hand seal and reciting incantations.
Her features twisted further, even more horrifying than before.
Old Tang and the driver were so scared, one of them even wet himself, and a foul smell spread.
The talisman on her chest seemed to ignite.
I squinted and pulled out a piece of black wood about the size of an ancient judgment block from my bag, then swung it at her head.
With my continuous chanting, the black wood struck the ghost's head.
At that moment, a sudden bright flash and a thunderous roar sounded.
The lightning struck the ghost. She didn't have time to scream before dissolving into black smoke and vanishing.
At the same time, the surrounding mist slowly cleared, and many shadowy figures hurriedly fled.
Lightning is the bane of all ghosts and evil spirits. No matter how powerful a practitioner is, once struck by lightning, there's no escape.
With the ghost's soul scattered, the air grew warmer.
I exhaled deeply. Without the spirit-wood my master gave me, today's situation might have been much worse.
I picked up the spirit-wood. A faint crack had appeared on it. I felt a sting—such a powerful talisman loses its strength each time it is used.
"Master, is it over?" Old Tang asked with a trembling voice, noticing the calm around us.
I nodded, telling him it was temporarily safe. But another worry arose—how could such a fierce ghost exist on this mountain? This didn't make sense.
Also, judging from earlier, there was more than one ghost here, but my spirit-wood scared the others away.
"Old Tang, the Tang family graveyard is more complicated than I thought," I said directly.
Old Tang broke into a cold sweat. The recent events had shocked his worldview. Hearing me say this, he was likely terrified.
"Master, please help the Tang family. I will report to the head of the family. Name your price, just help us," Old Tang pleaded.
"Money aside, let's check the graveyard first." I stepped forward to continue.
The Tang family graveyard was halfway up the mountain. After about ten minutes, we arrived.
There were many graves, mostly made of gray bricks, some special ones made of black bricks, and some shaped like domed mounds. The special ones looked quite old.
"This graveyard must have been selected by a Feng Shui master for the Tang family. That master must have been very skilled," I observed.
"Master, you're right. I heard from my family head that the grandfather was obsessed with Feng Shui. This graveyard was chosen by a famous master called 'Kaikou Jin' back then."
"Kaikou Jin said that as long as the Tang family descendants followed his instructions, the family would be prosperous for three generations."
I nodded. Although I didn't know who Kaikou Jin was, the site was indeed an excellent burial spot.
Soon, I saw a grave that looked newer than the others.
A tombstone stood before it, carved with the birth and death dates of the deceased.
I didn't pay attention to the birth date, but when I saw the death date, my eyes narrowed.
The person died on the Gengzi day of the first lunar month, exactly on a "heavy mourning" day.
"Heavy mourning" means the family is likely to suffer another death soon.
Birth, aging, sickness, and death are uncontrollable, but those who die on a heavy mourning day require special rituals; otherwise, the family will have troubles.
From the Tang family patriarch's grave, it seemed no special measures were taken.
Moreover, there was another problem: there wasn't a single blade of grass on the grave mound—it was completely bare.
It's summer now, and unless the grave was freshly buried, there should be grass growing on it.