As Wu Mingyu recounted, I naturally knew who had been protecting her during this period.
Grandma Wu was still worried about her only relative in this world. She had traveled all the way back from the underworld to help her granddaughter.
"You just kept Grandma Wu here like this?!" I pointed at the small memorial altar on Wu Mingyu's bed and asked her, "Do you know that you're delaying her chance of reincarnation?"
"She's already dead. What's wrong with her helping me? I'm her granddaughter. Even if she doesn't reincarnate, she can just stay in the underworld for a while longer. I can burn more paper money for her so that she can enjoy a good life down there!"
Wu Mingyu looked at me defiantly and said, "If it weren't for her guarding my room every day, I would've been taken as a substitute by Zhou Wei's dead wife long ago."
I was so angry that I almost went crazy. I took a deep breath to suppress my anger and looked towards the corner. "Grandma Wu, why do you have to do this for such an unfilial child?"
In the shadow of the corner, Grandma Wu's faint figure stood there indistinctly. Hearing my words, she turned her head, let out a soft sigh, and said, "Since I've already missed the chance of reincarnation, I might as well wait a little longer... Girl Xiaohe, it's all my fault for not educating this child well... Her parents passed away early. Sigh... Could you please help her one more time?"
On the floor in the corner, there were many red fine powders scattered.
It was cinnabar, specifically used to trap souls. I didn't know who had taught Wu Mingyu this method, but I knew that these bright red cinnabars could not only prevent the vengeful female ghost outside but also confine Grandma Wu's soul in this small room of less than twenty square meters.
"I'm here today to help." Looking at Grandma Wu's hunched figure, I lied without changing my expression. "The female ghost's husband is planning to absolve her soul, so he asked Wu Mingyu to go and help."
"Really?" Grandma Wu finally showed a faint smile on her wrinkled face. "That's good, that's good... Don't carry the grudge of this life into the next life!"
"Grandma Wu, you can't stay in the human world any longer!"
I didn't know how much debt Grandma Wu owed Wu Mingyu in her previous life that she had to protect her from the vengeful ghost even after death.
Ghosts that have been registered in the underworld will be constantly tortured by the gale in the human world. This is to punish them for running back to the human world without permission. Their souls will be wiped out three times a day. Grandma Wu had been by Wu Mingyu's side for God knows how long, and her soul body had become so thin that I could hardly see it.
I reached out and wiped a passage in the cinnabar powder. I took three incense sticks from the small memorial altar on Wu Mingyu's bed, lit them, and held them up with both hands in the direction of Grandma Wu. "Grandma Wu, I'll send you back."
"Girl Xiaohe..." Grandma Wu shook her head gently and said, "I'm afraid I don't have a chance. Could you do me a favor?"
"Grandma Wu, don't ask me to take care of Wu Mingyu. I'm not her elder, and I have no obligation to interfere in her life!"
I roughly knew what Grandma Wu wanted to ask me to do.
However, intervening in someone else's life would involve karma.
Right now, I couldn't even figure out my own situation. How could I possibly interfere to correct Wu Mingyu's life trajectory?!
Call me cold - hearted or self - interested!
Anyway, I didn't want to get involved in their affairs...
The lit incense rose slowly, emitting a faint blue light in the dim and lightless space.
"By the edict of the Supreme, I absolve your lonely soul. All ghosts and spirits, may you receive the grace of the four realms!"
I pinched the incense stick between two fingers and made a hand gesture for the incantation of the unjustly deceased. Grandma Wu had probably missed a chance of reincarnation. I didn't know how long it would take for her to get another chance. I had to send her back to the underworld now. If she stayed in the human world any longer, she might really vanish into thin air!
"Wait a minute. My grandma's leaving! What if that female ghost comes again?"
Wu Mingyu had been haunted by the female ghost and had not seen sunlight for a long time, so she could naturally see ghosts. Seeing that I was about to send away her "protective charm", she immediately came up and tried to grab the incense stick from my hand.
"Get out of the way!" I kicked Wu Mingyu on the front of her calf. She squatted on the ground, crying out in pain.
"Departed soul, be free from thoughts and anger. Go quickly!"
The three red tips of the incense sticks touched Grandma Wu's glabella. The old woman still wanted to say something to me, but her thin soul was like a piece of thin paper and was ignited by the three faint flames. A faint green light slowly melted her, and she gradually scattered into countless pale - green light dots and disappeared into the air...
"Aaaaah..."
Wu Mingyu watched as Grandma Wu gradually disappeared in front of her eyes. She reached out to grab the light dots, but that was the only remaining attachment of the old woman to her relatives in this world. The incantation of the unjustly deceased I recited had erased all of Grandma Wu's memories of this life. She didn't even need to drink the Mengpo's soup!
"Du Xinghe!! Do you want me to die?!"
Wu Mingyu went crazy again. She was originally a selfish person. After being intimidated by Zhou Wei's wife for so long, every time she was about to have her soul taken away by the female ghost, it was Grandma Wu who had brought her back in time.
Now, like a person who had lost her umbrella, she was afraid of everything. She even worried that my body would suddenly split open and the female ghost would crawl out and take her life!
"Come with me! I'll keep you alive!"
I pushed open the door forcefully. I saw Aunt Xu and several other neighbors cowering outside, looking as if they were eavesdropping. The door was suddenly pulled open by me, and they immediately looked embarrassed and stepped aside with awkward smiles.
"Xiaohe, what should we do with this room?" Aunt Xu pointed at the dirty and smelly room and asked, "There's nothing... there, right?"
"Nothing's left." I shook my head. "Aunt Xu, please find a housekeeping service to clean it up. It's too dirty in here. Remember to light some aged wormwood to dispel the evil after cleaning."
"Okay, okay!" Aunt Xu nodded hurriedly.
In China, there has always been a tradition of hanging wormwood leaves on the door in May. It can not only prevent snakes, insects, rats, and ants but also strengthen people's righteousness. For coughs caused by wind - evil entering the body, frying aged wormwood and eggs without any seasonings on a tile and eating them can quickly cure the cough.
Aged wormwood is also excellent for dispelling the gloomy and evil qi in a room!
"Xiaohe, where are you guys going?"
Aunt Xu's gossipy mind was even more important than tidying up the house.
"Wu Mingyu has a marriage to fulfill. I'm here to help her!"
Of course, I wouldn't say that this girl had instigated another man to kill his own wife... It would be better for her to explain this to the police in the future!
"I don't want to go. How can I trust you? That bastard Zhou Wei could even kill his own wife. He must just be looking for me as a substitute!"
Wu Mingyu tried to close the door behind me.
I was annoyed by her. I reached into my pocket and quietly opened the small express bottle I had just received from Aunt Xu with my thumb.
A cold breath rushed straight towards Wu Mingyu's shoulder.
A half - naked little ghost with a head as big as a bucket bared its sharp teeth and got face - to - face with Wu Mingyu!!