The moment the scream rang out, I sensed something was off. The sound was muffled, as if it were trapped in a small box. It seemed that only I could hear it.
At the same time, my limbs began to act on their own. I felt like a marionette, completely controlled by another soul.
“Such a racket!” Gu Yuan's voice came from within my body. So he was still here. He could hear me, and for some reason, I felt a bit more at ease.
“Old beggar, I understand your hardships. I'll handle the follow - up matters for you. Let go of your grudges and stop disturbing your family...” This voice came from my mouth, but it was Gu Yuan's.
At that moment, I understood why Gu Yuan had disappeared. When the old beggar turned around, he had possessed my body.
I didn't understand a single word of the conversation between the two of them. It was said to be the so - called corpse language, a language specifically used to communicate with the dead.
Although the old beggar was my savior, having a conversation with a dead person at such close range still made me feel a bit scared.
After their conversation, Gu Yuan controlled my body. He picked up a wine cup from the offering table with one hand and pinched a yellow paper with the other. With a slight flick of his finger, the yellow paper caught fire without a flame.
He twirled the burning yellow paper inside the glass and quickly pressed it onto the old beggar's mouth.
Strangely enough, after the wine cup sucked out a white gas from the old beggar's mouth, his body gradually softened. His eyes and mouth closed, and his face looked much more serene.
Gu Yuan supported the old beggar and laid him flat. This time, instead of using yellow paper to suppress his forehead, he covered his face with the yellow cloth on his body.
This meant that Gu Yuan had dispelled the old beggar's grievances. When he turned to leave, the old beggar's son knelt on the ground and said thank you.
This kid was named He Bi. He looked eighteen or nineteen years old. After the old beggar's death, he inherited the spiritual altar. But due to his limited abilities, many of the spiritual beings had left.
Before his death, the old beggar had also reminded He Bi that his time was up. When that happened, his body would surely have an imbalance of yin and yang, and the spiritual beings in the altar would leave one after another to find other fated people. At this time, there would surely be vengeful spirits seeking revenge, full of grievances, and they would disturb the family every night.
If He Bi couldn't handle it, he should ask Gu Yuan for help. Gu Yuan wouldn't decline because the old beggar was my guide. Only when his soul could rest in peace without any worries could he guide me, and only then could I officially become a disciple of the spiritual medium.
At first, He Bi thought he could solve the problem, but he failed. So he had no choice but to ask Gu Yuan for help.
Actually, He Bi had seen Gu Yuan as soon as we entered. The respectful way he behaved had nothing to do with me. I had just been being self - indulgent.
After learning about the general situation, He Bi sent us out of the door and promised that he would help me set up a spiritual altar here when we came back.
Not long after we stepped out of the door, I suddenly felt extremely weak. Faintly, I saw Gu Yuan's face. My body went limp, and I fell into his arms. Then I lost consciousness.
When I woke up again, it was already evening. My head still felt a bit dizzy. When I got up from the bed, I found that all my clothes were gone.
“Awake.”
That guy Gu Yuan was sitting by the floor - to - ceiling window opposite me. When he saw me wake up, he turned his chair to look at me. The black shadow brought a chill that enveloped me, making me feel uneasy.
I looked around for my clothes but couldn't find them. I asked anxiously, “Where are my clothes?”
“Too ugly. I threw them away.”
Those clothes were newly bought by me. I had just worn them yesterday, and now they were thrown away. What the hell! I grumbled in my heart but didn't dare to refute. I just sat on the bed, feeling a bit wronged.
“The new clothes are on your bedside. Wear that set.”
His voice was cold, without a trace of tenderness. It was completely a commanding tone. I took a look at the clothes. It was a casual outfit. It would indeed be more convenient to move around in.
But with him in front of me, how could I change clothes? So I just sat on the bed and asked a question that I was very concerned about.
“Why... why did I faint?”
Gu Yuan put down the cinnabar pen in his hand and replied, “Because you haven't set up a spiritual altar yet. You're not my disciple of the spiritual medium. And I suddenly possessed your body. It's normal for you to feel unaccustomed.”
I just said “oh” and didn't dare to say anything more.
“But you have to get used to it in the future because I might possess your body at any time.”
Huh? Was I overthinking? Why did his words sound so strange?
“Get dressed. We're leaving.”
“Leaving? Where are we going so late?”
“To find the old beggar's soul. His physical body is dead, but his soul has been taken away by his enemy. We're going to bring him back tonight.”
“But where can we find him?” Because I didn't understand, I did ask a lot of questions. Fortunately, Gu Yuan wasn't angry, so I asked a few more.
“Just follow me and you'll know.”
It was obvious that he was a bit impatient. If I asked any more, he would surely get angry with me.
“Could you... could you please turn around? I'm going to get dressed...” When I said this, I felt extremely ashamed. I really wanted to ask what had happened after I fainted, but I didn't dare to.
“What's there to turn around for? What part of you haven't I seen?”
“But... but...” I blushed, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything.
At this moment, Gu Yuan was looking at me against the light. His cold eyes made me instinctively afraid.
I still had a strong sense of fear towards him. I was afraid that if I said something wrong, I would anger him, and I would surely be in trouble.
Seeing that I didn't move, Gu Yuan ignored me. He turned his back and picked up the wine cup on the table, looking at the moon outside.
Seeing that he was no longer looking at me, I jumped out of bed, picked up my clothes, and ran into the bathroom to change. After tidying up my appearance, I walked out of the bathroom.
Gu Yuan tapped on the table and motioned for me to come over. He emphasized that this mission must succeed and there was no room for failure.
Since that vengeful spirit was somehow related to me, I needed to be the bait this time.
To avoid being discovered by the enemy, he couldn't follow me closely. So he told me to be alert and not to run no matter what happened.
Otherwise, if we couldn't lure out the vengeful spirit or let her escape and couldn't save the old beggar's soul, I would bear the consequences.
This “don't run” was the most difficult part, but I didn't dare to refute. I could only obediently nod and agree.
Before we left, he tied a red string with a silver bell on my hand. The bell wouldn't ring normally, but if I was in danger, I could shake the bell and shout his name, and he would appear.
I held the silver bell in my palm. The cold touch was just like his body temperature. At this moment, instead of feeling the coldness of this little thing, I felt a bit warm - hearted.
It was already a little after eleven at night. According to the address Gu Yuan gave me, I rode my electric bike to an abandoned dilapidated temple. I rode the electric bike because taxi drivers didn't dare to come to such a place.
The taxi driver told me that it was said that there were ghosts here and many people had died. So he advised me not to go there because no living person had ever walked out of there.