Facing the obsequious faces of the soul - reapers, if it were on a normal day, I would surely burst out laughing.
However, now Si Jiangchen was seriously injured, and as for Uncle Yang and his wife, I didn't know if their souls could return.
I dropped the willow branch and walked up to Uncle Yang and his wife.
"Uncle, Auntie, take off your outer coats and give them to me!"
It was cold at night in the mountains, so the two old people were both wearing coats. Earlier, they had watched me draw talismans on the floor of the main room and "act crazy" with the willow branch. They already knew that I might have trapped some extraordinary "things". Now, hearing that I wanted their coats, they immediately took them off without hesitation.
I took the two still - warm coats, used the compass to determine the southwest direction, and walked out along the courtyard gate.
It was already the second half of the night. The star - spangled sky was a deep indigo blue.
The mountain village was so quiet that only a few distant bird calls could be heard. Except for the light in Uncle Yang's yard, all the other houses were in darkness.
"Yang Liansheng, Li Zizhen, come home!"
I stood at the courtyard gate, facing the southwest direction of the ghost gate, and called out loudly, "Yang Liansheng, Li Zizhen, if you hear me, come back quickly!"
My voice was clear and carried far in the mountain village, but not a single dog barked.
You know, in the countryside, dogs are all free - ranging. If there's the slightest noise at night and one dog starts barking, the whole village won't be able to have peace.
My current calls were no longer in the human world but directly penetrated into the underworld.
This was the "soul - summoning" technique commonly used by yin - yang masters!
While I was summoning the souls outside the yard, Uncle Yang and Auntie Yang stood inside the house and responded in low voices, "We're back! We're back!"
After calling more than a dozen times, faint human figures gradually appeared on the path at the end of the village.
There were no lights on the village path. Only the moonlight like white gauze shone on the figures. Vaguely, it seemed to be Uncle Yang. He was holding Auntie Yang's hand and groping forward. After walking for a while, he would stop and stand still for a moment.
Only after hearing my calls would they confirm the direction and continue walking towards where I was standing.
"Yang Liansheng, Li Zizhen, come back quickly!"
I called out more and more urgently. The two old people also walked faster and faster. When they got close to me, I immediately put the prepared coats over their heads.
With two "swish" sounds.
The two semi - transparent shadows instantly disappeared.
I picked up the two coats and trotted all the way into the house, and let Uncle Yang and his wife put them on again.
"Yang Liansheng, Li Zizhen!"
I picked up the cinnabar brush on the altar and shouted loudly, "Are you back?!"
"We're back! We're back!"
While they were answering in succession, I had already drawn two small soul - calming talismans on their foreheads. Finally, I managed to retrieve all their souls.
"… Little miss, now, can you let us go?"
The two soul - reapers were huddled inside the magic formation, looking at me obsequiously.
"Where is Li Chengxian's lair?"
I always believed that although a monk might run away, his temple couldn't. As long as I found out where he was staying, I could find him at any time.
The soul - reapers showed a hesitant expression on their pale faces. "We only know that he gave us money and treasure houses in a large shopping mall. We don't know where his altar is!"
…
Sure enough, the Du family were as cunning as ghosts. How could they easily expose their hiding places?
Seeing me silent, they flattered me again, "We can take the soul of that little boy back for you and send him to be reborn into a good family. You don't have to trouble yourself."
As they spoke, they pointed at Xiaoshanzi, who was still fixed on the ground.
That poor little soul had lost one eye, and his whole body was swollen, white, and dripping wet. If I were to eliminate his resentment, I would have to perform a large - scale ritual.
Given my and Si Jiangchen's current situation, it would be difficult for us to last that long.
"Swear!"
I pointed at them with the willow branch and said, "You're not allowed to cause any more trouble for the Yang family in the future!"
"Don't dare. We naturally won't cause any more trouble!"
The two soul - reapers nodded and bowed as they got up from the ground.
"Alright!"
I knew that ghosts and spirits would absolutely abide by their oaths.
They believed more than humans that justice would prevail and that the gods were watching. They would never break their oaths like humans did.
I casually wiped a gap in the magic formation on the ground.
The two soul - reapers scrambled out. One of them took the white silk for capturing souls and the ghost of Xiaoshanzi, while the other jumped up and pointed at me and cursed, "Little girl, don't think that just because you've learned a few spells, you can control us. We've sworn not to take revenge on the old Yang family, but can't we deal with you? Just wait. We'll go down and report you for imprisoning ghost messengers and interfering with official business. Wait for the Seventh and Eighth Lords to come and arrest your soul themselves!"
He had been whipped by my willow branch several times before, and now he was even shorter than a child.
Watching him jump up and scold, I felt a bit ridiculous.
"Get out!" I wasn't afraid of their threats. I raised the willow branch again, scaring the two guys into rolling on the ground and disappearing into the bright light.
"Little Master Du, have you guys gotten into big trouble?"
Uncle Yang noticed that blood was constantly oozing from the corner of Si Jiangchen's lips. He was so anxious that he didn't even have time to ask about his own situation. Instead, he anxiously grabbed my hand and asked, "Otherwise, I'll drive you guys to the hospital overnight!"
Hearing her husband's words, Auntie Yang immediately wanted to go outside to get a cushion to put on the seat of the electric tricycle.
I couldn't help but curl my lips.
Si Jiangchen couldn't even bear the bumpy ride on the electric tricycle when he came here. Now that he was spitting blood and injured, sitting in the vehicle might shake his internal organs to pieces.
"No need," Si Jiangchen waved his hand. "Xiao He, help me."
"… Okay."
After hesitating for a moment, I walked over obediently.
Si Jiangchen's well - defined palm wrapped around my shoulder. He leaned on me and slowly stood up, then pointed outside the house and said, "Someone is coming to pick us up. Thank you both for your concern, but you don't have to worry."
I was a bit surprised. When did Si Jiangchen inform his subordinates to drive here to pick him up?
This guy seemed a bit too capricious!
The mountain road was rugged, and it was in the middle of the night. If they weren't familiar with the road conditions and the car fell into a ditch, wouldn't they end up with the car destroyed and the people dead?
Uncle Yang also didn't understand what Si Jiangchen meant, so he just followed us out of the yard.
From afar, the sound of mechanical roaring came from the high sky.
"Ring, ring, ring…"
Si Jiangchen's phone rang.
"General Manager Si."
Since I was close, I clearly heard the voice of Si Jiangchen's assistant, Ji Chen. "We've arrived at the upper village and are looking for a landing spot."
"Airplane?! Helicopter!"
Uncle Yang suddenly pointed at the few flashing red indicator lights in the indigo sky and shouted, "Mr. Si, is it here to pick you guys up?"