“Mao Mountain Daoist...”
The voice in the darkness stretched out, hoarse like fingernails scraping across wood.
“You’re too late.”
Hạnh Nhi stood motionless.
One hand held a red talisman, while the other slowly reached toward the peachwood sword on her back.
The air in the basement was so cold that her breath turned into a wisp of white mist.
Behind her, Trần Minh was still standing there.
At least...
Whatever was standing behind her still had Trần Minh’s appearance.
Hạnh Nhi looked down at the floor.
There was no shadow.
She let out a quiet breath.
“Ghost possession without a shadow.”
“Looks like you’re not an ordinary thing, either.”
The figure behind her chuckled.
“Do you want to know who I am?”
Hạnh Nhi didn’t answer.
“Turn around.”
“I’ll show you.”
“No need.”
Hạnh Nhi spoke in an utterly calm voice.
“I’ve already seen you in the mirror.”
The smile behind her vanished at once.
Hạnh Nhi suddenly spun around.
Three talismans shot out at the same time.
“Heavenly Fire!”
Whoosh!
The three talismans burst into flame in midair.
Pale blue firelight illuminated the entire basement.
The thing standing behind Hạnh Nhi finally revealed its true form.
It wasn’t Trần Minh.
It was a woman.
Long hair hung down around her.
Her face was deathly pale.
Her eye sockets were pitch-black.
Her neck was twisted to one side, as if it had once been broken.
A dark purple rope mark still circled her neck.
The woman let out a scream.
A surge of yin energy roiled violently through the room.
The three talismans were blown away at once.
Hạnh Nhi took two steps back.
“A vengeful ghost.”
She looked at the mark around the woman’s neck.
“Died by hanging.”
The woman opened her mouth.
A scream unlike any human sound burst forth.
“AA——!”
All the oil lamps in the basement shattered at the same time.
Hạnh Nhi immediately drew her peachwood sword.
Clang!
A sharp impact rang out.
The sword blocked the female ghost’s claws just inches from her face.
Its strength was greater than she’d expected.
Hạnh Nhi was forced backward.
Her heel slid across the floor.
“As expected, it’s not an ordinary vengeful ghost.”
She twisted her wrist, using her opponent’s force to knock the claws aside.
Then she drove the tip of her sword straight toward the female ghost’s forehead.
“Break!”
A burst of golden light flared.
The female ghost shrieked.
Her body was sent flying into the wall.
But before a breath had passed...
It vanished again.
Hạnh Nhi immediately went on guard.
She turned her head and looked around.
There was nothing there.
The basement fell silent in a way that was terrifying.
“Daoist master...”
Trần Minh’s voice rang out.
This time, it was his real voice.
Hạnh Nhi turned around.
He was sitting on the floor, his face deathly pale.
“Save me!”
Hạnh Nhi looked at him.
“You’re awake?”
“Yes!”
“Do you remember what you did just now?”
Mr. Trần shook his head.
“No... I only remember when we came down here. After that...”
He suddenly looked behind Hạnh Nhi.
His expression changed.
“Daoist master.”
“Don’t turn around.”
Hạnh Nhi spoke.
“But behind you...”
“I know.”
“There... there’s someone there.”
Hạnh Nhi tightened her grip on the sword.
She didn’t turn around.
Because she had already seen it.
A pair of legs stood directly behind her.
Both feet were deathly pale.
The tips of the toes touched the ground.
But there was no upper body at all.
Only two legs.
Hạnh Nhi slowly closed her eyes.
“It’s not her.”
Mr. Trần trembled.
“What?”
“The thing standing behind me is only a shadow.”
Hạnh Nhi slowly raised an old coin in front of her face.
“The real one... is beneath my feet.”
The instant she finished speaking, the ground beneath her feet began to shake.
Boom!
A deathly pale arm burst through the floor.
It seized Hạnh Nhi by the ankle.
She immediately slashed downward.
Thunk!
The peachwood sword plunged straight through the wrist.
A shrill hiss rang out.
Hạnh Nhi quickly backed away.
The ground split open.
A woman’s body slowly crawled out.
Long hair covered her face.
Both hands pressed against the floor.
The rope still hung around her neck.
Hạnh Nhi looked at the two ghosts before her.
One in the mirror.
One beneath the ground.
Their faces were identical.
But their auras were completely different.
“Twin souls?”
Hạnh Nhi murmured.
Then she immediately shook her head.
“No.”
“One soul, two bodies.”
The woman beneath the ground raised her head.
Her hair slowly parted to either side.
Her black eyes stared straight at Hạnh Nhi.
“Smart.”
“But you’re still too late.”
Hạnh Nhi remained completely calm.
“You want to talk to me?”
“No.”
The female ghost smiled.
“I want to talk to him.”
It pointed toward Trần Minh.
Mr. Trần immediately shouted,
“No!”
Hạnh Nhi looked at him.
“You know her?”
Trần Minh didn’t answer.
“You know her.”
Hạnh Nhi’s voice turned cold.
“Don’t you?”
“No!”
“You don’t know her?”
“I don’t!”
“Then why are you afraid?”
Trần Minh trembled.
Hạnh Nhi watched him for several seconds.
Then her gaze shifted to the old mirror.
“Three years ago, your wife died in this basement.”
Mr. Trần fell silent.
“But she didn’t kill herself.”
His face went deathly pale.
Hạnh Nhi continued:
“She was murdered.”
“Then the killer staged the scene to look like a suicide.”
“And you knew about it.”
“Isn’t that right?”
Trần Minh collapsed to his knees.
“I...”
“You knew.”
“I didn’t want to!”
“But you still kept it hidden.”
“I had no other choice!”
Mr. Trần burst into tears.
“They said that if I told anyone, my entire family would die!”
Hạnh Nhi looked at him.
“Who are they?”
Trần Minh didn’t answer.
The female ghost opposite them suddenly laughed.
It was a laugh filled with resentment.
“Three years.”
“I’ve waited for three years.”
“Someone finally came.”
Hạnh Nhi asked,
“You want revenge?”
“Yes.”
“You want to kill Trần Minh?”
The female ghost looked at him.
“No.”
“I want him to tell the truth.”
Hạnh Nhi was slightly taken aback.
A vengeful ghost could retain its reason after three years?
That was extremely rare.
Normally, after dying unjustly, resentment would gradually consume the spirit’s mind.
But the female ghost before her was still conscious.
That proved...
Something was helping it retain its memories.
Hạnh Nhi looked at the mirror.
She stepped closer.
The old mirror was covered in cracks.
At its center was a black talisman.
Hạnh Nhi stared at it.
Her expression changed immediately.
“Impossible.”
This wasn’t a ghost’s talisman.
It was...
A kind of talisman used by Daoist practitioners.
Hạnh Nhi reached out and touched the mirror.
At once, a stream of yin energy ran up her arm.
An image appeared in her mind.
A man wearing Daoist robes stood before the mirror.
He held a black talisman.
Behind him, a woman was crying.
The man turned his head.
Darkness obscured his face.
But on his hand...
There was a ring.
Hạnh Nhi opened her eyes.
The image vanished.
“It was someone from the Daoist sect.”
She spoke very softly.
“You know him?”
“No.”
“But I’ll find him.”
Hạnh Nhi drew a new talisman.
“I’ll help you.”
The female ghost looked surprised.
“You’re not going to capture me?”
“I’m a Daoist.”
“I perform exorcisms.”
“But I don’t kill wronged souls that haven’t yet become evil spirits.”
Hạnh Nhi looked straight at it.
“You want to find the killer.”
“I’ll help you find him.”
“And in return?”
“Once the truth is uncovered, you must descend to the underworld.”
The female ghost was silent for a long time.
At last, it nodded.
“Agreed.”
Hạnh Nhi was just about to continue when a noise suddenly rang out from outside the basement.
Bam!
Someone pounded on the door.
“Is anyone in there?”
A woman’s voice rang out.
Very young.
Very clear.
“Is anyone there?”
Hạnh Nhi frowned.
Mr. Trần raised his head.
“At this hour... who would come to my house?”
The pounding came again.
Bam!
“Is anyone there?”
“I heard a noise!”
Hạnh Nhi looked at the female ghost.
It was also looking toward the door.
But this time...
Its expression became terrified.
“No.”
Hạnh Nhi asked,
“You know that person?”
The female ghost shook its head.
“Not a person.”
The moment those three words fell, the basement door...
Slowly opened.
Creeeak...
A girl stood outside the door.
She looked about twenty years old.
Her long hair was slightly mussed from the rain.
She wore a red jacket.
One hand held a flashlight.
The other...
Held a long wooden stick.
The girl looked down into the basement.
She saw Hạnh Nhi.
She saw Mr. Trần.
Then she saw the female ghost.
The girl stayed silent for exactly three seconds.
Then...
“Ah!”
She screamed.
“There really is a ghost!”
Hạnh Nhi: “...”
The female ghost: “...”
Mr. Trần: “...”
The girl immediately turned and ran.
But after only two steps, she turned back.
“Wait!”
She pointed at the female ghost.
“You’re a ghost, right?”
The female ghost nodded.
The girl swallowed.
Then she looked at Hạnh Nhi.
“And you?”
“Hạnh Nhi.”
“A Daoist?”
“Yeah.”
The girl’s eyes lit up.
“Then you know how to catch ghosts?”
“Yes.”
“Teach me!”
Hạnh Nhi looked the girl up and down.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“You ran the moment you saw a ghost.”
“But I came back!”
“Why?”
The girl thought seriously.
“Because... I wanted a better look.”
Hạnh Nhi fell silent.
For some reason, she had a feeling...
Her peaceful life would be over starting today.
The girl walked down the stairs.
“Oh, right. My name’s Mạnh Ái.”
“My house is in the neighboring town.”
“My dad said there had been ghosts around here lately, so I came to take a look.”
Hạnh Nhi looked at the stick in her hand.
“You use that for exorcism?”
Mạnh Ái looked down at it.
“Yeah.”
“What is it?”
“A dog-beating stick.”
Hạnh Nhi: “...”
Mạnh Ái grinned.
“But it can beat ghosts too, right?”
Hạnh Nhi stared at her for a long time.
“No.”
“No what?”
“You’re not allowed to follow me without permission.”
Mạnh Ái immediately asked,
“Then what do I have to do?”
“Go home.”
“No.”
“I want to follow you.”
“No.”
“I have money.”
Hạnh Nhi fell silent.
Mạnh Ái continued:
“A lot of money.”
Hạnh Nhi remained silent.
“I’ll cover food and lodging.”
Hạnh Nhi looked down at her wet shoes.
“Even the travel expenses?”
“Everything!”
Hạnh Nhi turned to look at Mr. Trần.
“I’ll deal with your matter tomorrow.”
Then she turned back to Mạnh Ái.
“And you.”
“Yes?”
“Start following me tomorrow.”
Mạnh Ái immediately beamed.
“Okay!”
Hạnh Nhi sighed.
She didn’t know that the seemingly arbitrary decision she made that night...
Would bring two inseparable people into her life.
One with enough money to spend a lifetime trying to use it all.
And one who would later become someone she couldn’t easily bring herself to abandon.
But at this moment...
None of them knew that on the roof across the way, beneath the icy curtain of rain...
Someone was silently looking down into the basement.
He wore black Daoist robes.
A silver ring adorned his finger.
It was identical to the ring Hạnh Nhi had just seen in the memory.
He raised his hand.
A black talisman burned between his fingers.
He chuckled softly.
“Finally...”
“The little Mao Mountain Daoist is here.”
The flame on the talisman suddenly went out.
The figure vanished into the rain.
Only a very soft whisper remained.
“Let’s see...”
“Will you choose to save people...”
“Or protect the Daoist sect.”