"I don't want it!"
Although Uncle Yang was good - tempered, he was a determined old man.
This shopkeeper clearly seemed like a heartless boss who wanted to slander his competitors and earn brokerage fees.
Uncle Yang didn't believe him at all.
"Take it! It's free! Take it back and give it a try. Maybe it can save your whole family." The shopkeeper wasn't angry. He grinned, showing two gold - filled teeth, and casually stuffed the talisman paper and one of his shop's business cards into the goods Uncle Yang had bought.
"Also, be careful on the way. Brother, I see that your face looks gloomy. You might encounter some misfortune. If you feel something's wrong, just carry the talisman I gave you. It'll keep you safe."
After saying that, the boss finally stopped pestering Uncle Yang. He waved his hand and retreated into the shop with that creepy smile on his face.
"You're crazy!"
Uncle Yang was furious. Just because the business didn't go through, did he have to curse others? What a shameless scoundrel who only cared about money!
He started his tricycle and drove away from the funeral - goods shop, cursing all the way.
The town in Gu County was very bustling. The streets were full of peddlers selling their wares. People and vehicles crowded on the already narrow road, almost blocking it completely.
Uncle Yang's tricycle was moving very slowly. When passing an intersection, he felt as if the wheels had rolled over something soft, which gave him quite a scare.
Although the shopkeeper of the funeral - goods shop was talking nonsense, Uncle Yang still felt a bit uncomfortable.
He quickly stopped the tricycle and bent down to look under it. All he saw was a tattered piece of clothing that had been caught in the wheels and was wrapped around the axle.
"What bad luck!"
It was a child's sports suit, stained with a lot of dark - brown dirt. Uncle Yang cursed as he forcefully pulled the tattered clothing out from under the vehicle and threw it by the roadside.
In their rural area, there was a tradition. If someone was haunted by evil spirits or suffered from an illness caused by supernatural forces, they would throw the patient's daily - worn clothes onto a busy road. As long as a vehicle rolled over it, the bad luck would be taken away by the wheels and transferred to the driver's family.
Uncle Yang naturally knew about this insidious folk method of transferring bad luck. He spat at the tattered clothing twice and then cursed loudly, "You little brat. There's a master in my family. If you follow me home, you'll be beaten into the eighteenth level of hell and never be able to get out!"
After cursing, he hurriedly drove on.
However, all the way, Uncle Yang could always hear faint sobbing sounds of a child.
He turned around several times to look behind the tricycle but saw no one. It wasn't until he left the town and drove onto the dirt road back to the village that the child's sobbing not only didn't disappear but became more and more intense. It seemed as if the child was right on the tricycle, even blowing cold air into Uncle Yang's collar.
Uncle Yang couldn't help but turn around. In the cargo compartment behind the tricycle, there were only the sacrificial offerings. The paper figures had fallen out of the black plastic bags due to the bumpy ride. They were half - turned, their roughly but vividly painted eyes staring darkly at Uncle Yang.
At the same time, there was a loud thud in front of the tricycle, almost throwing Uncle Yang off.
A child suddenly appeared out of nowhere and slammed into the front of the tricycle. Uncle Yang could even feel some red liquid splashing on his face.
He was terrified and quickly jumped off the tricycle.
But he didn't see any child. Worried, Uncle Yang lay on the ground and looked under the tricycle, only to find it empty. It seemed like it was all just his imagination.
He nervously walked back to the front of the tricycle and saw that the sports suit he had run over in the town was hanging on the front fender of the electric tricycle.
Uncle Yang threw the tattered sports suit into the garbage pile by the roadside again...
This happened three times in a row. Uncle Yang drove around on the empty road until the sun was setting in the west.
The thin sweatshirt on his body was completely soaked with sweat. Uncle Yang desperately realized that he had encountered a ghost - wall in broad daylight!
When he was at his wit's end, he finally remembered the yellow talisman the shopkeeper of the funeral - goods shop had given him. So he got off the tricycle shakily, rummaged through the paper goods and offerings, and found the yellow talisman and held it tightly in his hand...
Now, this talisman paper was lying flat in front of me.
Uncle Yang had held it so tightly that the talisman was soaked with sweat. The red talisman characters on it were barely recognizable, all smeared together, emitting a faint stench.
"Little Master Du, it's not that I don't trust you..."
Uncle Yang explained with a bitter smile, "But... if I didn't use it, I'm afraid... I wouldn't be able to come back today."
I quickly waved my hand and said, "Uncle, don't take it to heart. It's all my fault for not considering things carefully. I should have given you a protective talisman first."
It was truly my fault. I never expected that someone like Uncle Yang, who had nothing to do with me, would be haunted by misfortune!
... However, now it seemed that besides having a face as dark as ink like Aunt Yang, there were no ghosts lingering around Uncle Yang.
Aunt Yang and I helped Uncle Yang back into the main room and sat him down. I took the sweat - soaked yellow talisman from his hand and examined it carefully.
"Little Master Du, just tear it up!"
Uncle Yang, afraid that I might be uncomfortable, said loudly, "I would never put this thing on your head."
After hearing Uncle Yang's words, my originally gloomy mood suddenly brightened. I smiled and picked up the yellow talisman and was about to stick it on my forehead. "Hehe, it's okay to stick it on. Let Uncle and Aunt see a zombie dance..."
"Don't be silly."
Suddenly, a long and slender hand reached out from behind me and grabbed the tattered talisman from my hand.
I turned around and saw that Sijiangchen had carried the big black plastic bags from the vehicle into the house.
"Oh, Mr. Si, thank you so much for your trouble!"
Uncle Yang quickly got up and wanted to take the bags, but Sijiangchen just smiled slightly and said, "You guys go back to your room and rest. Xiaohe will set up an altar in this main room to guide the ghost messengers and send the child back to the underworld to reincarnate."
He was used to being a guide, and his commanding tone didn't seem out of place to Uncle Yang and the others. They nodded repeatedly and went back to their room...
Sijiangchen took out his lighter and casually burned the talisman Uncle Yang had brought back.
"Xiaohe, you're a master. Don't you mind these things?"
He tilted his head slightly. His good - looking features still exuded a ghostly charm in the flickering firelight.
"Why should I mind?"
I knew I was being a bit impudent, but I still stubbornly said, "I'm not a ghost or a zombie. Why should I be afraid of a ghost - exorcising talisman?!"
"Xiaohe, you're so soft - bodied, but your mouth is so hard!"
Sijiangchen wasn't angry when I contradicted him. He just squinted his eyes and casually picked up a Baishi cigarette that Uncle Yang usually smoked and lit it.
His naughty look scared me and I took a few steps back...