Put away your magical powers now!.

Chapter 283 [The Vengeful Ghost] (6600)

Chapter 277 [The Vengeful Ghost] (6600)

wrong!

It's not just incense ash!
Chen Yan smelled an unusual odor coming from it.

After a moment's thought, he immediately recognized it: it was the smell of paper burned to ashes, and... it was...

"Talisman paper?"

Chen Yan didn't recognize it at first because there was so little residual ash powder, and the residual smell was minimal.

In addition, the smell of incense ash is masked by the presence of a large amount of incense ash.

However, his physical constitution had been modified and enhanced, and his five senses were exceptionally sharp.

Upon closer inspection, I could still recognize a familiar scent – ​​the smell of burning talisman paper!
The talisman paper mostly has a light yellow color.

However, this yellow color was not achieved using any ordinary yellow paper dyeing process.

It's turmeric!

This is one of the most basic materials for talisman paper.

For higher-grade talisman paper, if the material is more refined, then top-quality cinnabar should be added to the pulp. If the effect is to be even better, it is best to add high-quality soot ink as well.

For example, the talismans Chen Yan carried were the highest quality talismans he obtained from Chu Keqing.

Of course, a family like Li Guohua's in the countryside couldn't afford the best talisman paper—a single piece of top-grade talisman paper would cost several yuan.

Li Guohua's family was so poor they couldn't even afford to eat, let alone such nice things.

But Chen Yan would never mistake the smell of turmeric.

There is no cinnabar, and no smell of soot.

Only turmeric.

This is the lowest quality talisman paper, made in the crudest way.

·
As night fell, the chirping of insects could be heard from the paddy field ridges behind the house.

Chen Yan sat on the roof next to Li Guohua's house, quietly watching Li Guohua's house.

At midnight, when the yang energy between heaven and earth is at its weakest, Chen Yan suddenly opened his eyes wide and stared at Li Guohua's house.

With his Heavenly Eye and the supernatural power of "Breaking Illusion," he could see faint wisps of black mist swirling from the roof of Li Guohua's house.

It's very light, not the kind of black that's eerie.

But a kind of...

“Resentment,” Chen Yan muttered, frowning.

The little girl returned home around 8 p.m., quickly washed up, went to her room to rest, and didn't have any interaction with Li Guohua.

It's clear that the relationship between the father and daughter is somewhat awkward.

In the middle of the night, the light in Li Guohua's room suddenly turned on. A moment later, the light went out again. Li Guohua limped out, carefully turned off the light, and quietly walked into the yard.

"Why, why... You've already taken your revenge, why are you still clinging to me... Why, why..."

Li Guohua paced back and forth in the courtyard, muttering to himself.

After a while, as if he had made up his mind, he suddenly turned around and went back into the house. A few minutes later, he came out again carrying a bag of things.

This time, his steps seemed much firmer. He quietly pushed open the courtyard gate, carefully closed it behind him, and walked towards the back of the village...

·
Li Guohua walked with a limp, but he moved very quickly in the dark.

After walking for more than forty minutes, he followed the river upstream until he reached the end, where he found himself on a hillside.

After going around the bottom of the hillside, I arrived at the south slope, broke off a tree branch from the side of the woods to use as a walking stick, and limped up the mountain like that.

On the southern slope, halfway up, hidden behind a sparse grove of trees, gradually, clusters of graves come into view.

In the darkness, Li Guohua pulled a flashlight from his pocket. After looking around, he saw burial mounds scattered everywhere under the halo of light, a sight that made one's heart skip a beat.

Li Guohua had walked a long way and was panting heavily. He was momentarily dazed, but then he lowered his head and looked at each grave, counting and identifying them.

Finally, Li Guohua stopped at the very edge of the right side, not far from an old, withered tree, in front of a grave mound.

He stared at the grave mound for a while with a complicated expression.

Soon, Li Guohua knelt before the tombstone, his hands trembling, as he rummaged through the bag he had brought and took out the items one by one, arranging them neatly.

A white porcelain bowl was placed neatly in front of the tombstone, with two handfuls of white rice sprinkled inside and gently pressed down.

Li Guohua, trembling, took out three incense sticks and stuck them between the rice in the bowl, then took out a lighter and lit them.

After doing all this, Li Guohua knelt on the ground and sighed.

He lit a cigarette, took two puffs, and quietly watched as the incense burned gently in the evening breeze, its fragrance swirling around him.

"I'm telling you, that's enough."

Li Guohua's hoarse voice echoed around the grave.

"You were killed by his family, and I helped you get revenge, so why are you bothering me now?"

"They appear in my dreams every day, keeping me awake at night."

"My daughter has started to wonder if I've gone crazy."

"You've avenged your great grudge. I don't ask you to repay me, but you can't harm me either."

"Every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt its debtor. This principle is absolutely true, isn't it?"

"Let's just call it quits, okay? Please let me go!"

“I still have a daughter to raise, I can’t go on like this.”

"I'm becoming neither human nor ghost every day. I have to live!"

"I have to live! I have to live!!"

In the darkness, Li Guohua knelt before the grave, sometimes pleading, sometimes cursing, his face shifting between sorrow and ferocity...

They talked back and forth on and off for a long time before Li Guohua finally stood up again.

A hint of anger flashed in his eyes: "This is the last time I'm telling you! Don't bother me again! Otherwise... I can help you get revenge, but I also have other methods!"

If you continue to harass me every night and cause me so much pain... don't blame me for getting angry and digging up your grave one day!
"I'll make sure you never escape even in death!!"

After saying those harsh words, Li Guohua listened intently and waited in the darkness for a while. When he seemed to hear nothing, he felt somewhat relieved.

He breathed a sigh of relief, and his tone softened considerably: "Let's call it even here. I'll burn some paper money for you, and when my family comes to pay respects at your grave during Qingming Festival, we'll burn some paper money for you as well. Let's just call it even... let's settle this debt."

He took out a stack of yellow paper from his pocket and burned it. He waited quietly for the paper to burn completely before carefully extinguishing the fire.

This guy was very well prepared. He took out a small spatula from his pocket and cleaned up all the ashes from the burned paper money, shovel by shovel. He then went to a nearby place, dug a hole, buried the ashes, and tamped them down.

After returning, he tidied up the bowls and rice he had brought, and even rolled up his sleeves to wipe away any traces on the ground in front of the grave.

Seeing that all traces of the burning offerings had been cleaned up, Li Guohua finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After glancing at the tombstone, he whispered, "Don't forget what I said today!"

After Li Guohua limped away from the grave and walked far away, Chen Yan emerged from the shadows.

He walked up to the grave and looked at the earthen mound.

The tomb was very simple, without any cement, just a mound of earth.

Even the tombstones looked like hastily made, low-quality products.

Chen Yan sighed and stared at the words on the tombstone for a couple of seconds.

·
The name on the tombstone is "Li Xin".

It's a very ordinary and common girl's name.

He died five years ago.

Chen Yan glanced at the birth and death dates on the tombstone—this woman named Li Xin was only nineteen years old when she died.

·
The next day, Chen Yan went to a small shop at the entrance of the village. He made an excuse that he was going to the town to find a hotel and asked the owner for information. After chatting for a while, he learned about this "Li Xin" from the talkative owner.

Li Xin is also from Yang'er Village, and the Li family is a major surname in the village.

My family is quite poor.

Both her parents are from this village. Her father's side of the family has passed away. Her mother's side also has an elderly relative, Li Xin's maternal grandmother.

Her parents left the village to work elsewhere in their early years. Later, they had a falling out and started their own families. They never returned to the village and left her with her maternal grandmother to be raised there.

They would occasionally give me a little money—but later they gave less and less, and eventually they stopped caring about it altogether.

They are typical left-behind children.

Li Xin grew up in the village with her maternal grandmother—locals call their maternal grandmother "Grandma".

This girl named Li Xin had a very difficult life.

She even had trouble starting school at first because... she wasn't born in wedlock.

People in rural areas get married early. Her parents were under the legal age when they got married, but people in the countryside don't care about that. So they just had the couple hold a banquet to announce to their relatives and neighbors that they were now husband and wife.

I had planned to get my marriage certificate when I reached a certain age.

However, the child was born before the legal marriage age.

Later, the couple went to work in another city, had a falling out, and the matter of the marriage certificate was left unresolved.

Li Xin was born into a family known throughout the surrounding area as a "couple" whose parents had once held a wedding banquet.

However, she became a "child born out of wedlock".

When she was a child, the policies were not as lenient as they are now. Li Xin was raised by her grandmother to the age of schooling, but she did not even have a school registration or household registration.

Because my grandmother didn't understand either, she never did this.

They were dumbfounded when Li Xin was about to start elementary school because they still hadn't registered her household.

Li Xin's maternal grandmother was a kind-hearted woman. Despite her advanced age, she made repeated trips to the village committee to ask for help, and finally managed to register the child's household registration.

It is said that they even went to the county's petition office and made a scene several times.

Finally, it was done.

But... and so it dragged on for two years.

Li Xin was nine years old when she started elementary school.

Actually, it's not good for her to start school at this age—because at nine years old, all her peers are going to school, but she's not. Plus, she's already quite aware of things at this age, and she hasn't developed the right study habits at the right age.

My mind has already wandered off to play; I won't be able to concentrate on my studies when I go back to school.

After struggling through the years, Li Xin barely made it to the first year of junior high school before she could no longer concentrate on her studies.

When Li Xin was in the first year of junior high school, she was already sixteen years old, and had grown into a graceful and pretty young woman.

Unable to concentrate on her studies and already sixteen, Li Xin began skipping school. Eventually, after skipping so many classes, she started hanging out with other people, and eventually dropped out of school.

Then, she said she got a boyfriend and went to work in a big city with him. Later, I heard she broke up with her boyfriend, but it seems Li Xin is doing quite well there.

She is filial to her maternal grandmother and comes back two or three times a year, carrying large and small bags of things.

They are all high-end gift and nutritional supplements from the city.

She dressed herself in a fashionable and glamorous way.

Gradually, some bad rumors started circulating about her in the village, saying that the things she did outside might not be proper.

Li Xin was not one to be bullied. Upon hearing the rumors circulating in the village, she rushed to the door of the house and cursed loudly for a long time, silencing the two country women who had been gossiping about her behind her back. They closed their doors and didn't dare to show their faces.

·
Five years ago, in the summer, a family in the village held a wedding banquet—the groom was Li Xin's distant cousin.

In Yang'er Village, the Li surname is the most common. If you count carefully, all the families with the surname Li in the village are related by blood or marriage.

Even Li Guohua and the three men next door were related in some way.

However, because the groom's family had helped Li Xin's maternal grandmother when she was a child, Li Xin remembered this kindness and returned from the city to attend the village wedding. She even served as a bridesmaid for the bride during the banquet.

That's when the accident happened.

·
Li Xin was beautiful from a young age; her face and figure were among the best in the village, and she stood out from the crowd.

She was a bridesmaid at the wedding banquet that day, and many people asked her to drink with them.

Li Xin was also a feisty person. She drank quite a bit of alcohol that day and was already half drunk.

After the banquet ended, they disappeared without a trace.

Everyone else assumed that Li Xin had gone back to her room to rest with the bride. However, when Li Xin's grandmother, who was ill, came looking for her that evening, Li Xin was not with the bride at all.

At the time, no one paid much attention, assuming that Li Xin rarely came back and might have gone out to play with some classmates.

Li Xin's maternal grandmother waited all night, but the child didn't come home. The next day, she searched everywhere again.

The villagers then realized something was wrong and called the police.

It wasn't until the afternoon of the third day that Li Xin's body was found in the water of a meadow downstream.

It's said that when they found it, the person had been soaked in water and was deformed!
It is said that when the body was found, the police examined it and found that the clothes were mostly intact and there were no external injuries.

The police were preparing to conduct a further autopsy—but the villagers didn't understand, especially Li Xin's grandmother, a rural woman who was uneducated and ignorant. She was already heartbroken, so the police demanded a further autopsy. When she heard that they would have to dissect the body, the old woman fainted on the spot and then desperately refused.

He said he couldn't let his granddaughter suffer again.

After further investigation, it was said that after the banquet, someone claimed to have seen Li Xin heading towards the river...

The final conclusion was that he drowned after falling into the water while intoxicated.

But there was still a loose end to it.

A few days later, a young man came to Yang Er Village, saying that he was Li Xin's boyfriend who worked with her in another city and had come after hearing the news.

Although the boyfriend was heartbroken, he strongly demanded that the case be reinvestigated.

But it was too late; the bodies had already been cremated and buried.

Helpless, the man stayed in the village for two days, went to Li Xin's grave to cry, left some money for his grandmother, and never returned.

·
Midnight.

Li Guohua lay on the bed in his room, tossing and turning.

He had become as thin as a stick. When he took off his coat and lay on the bed, his thermal underwear was too big to cover his body.

The person was twisting and turning in bed, eyes tightly closed, brows furrowed tightly, as if they were seeing something extremely frightening in their dream.

But the person just wouldn't wake up!

The room was dark, with the doors and windows tightly shut.

A vague shadow gradually enveloped Li Guohua's bedside, slowly coalescing into the shape of a figure.

Her long skirt fluttered in the wind, and her hair danced in the air.

A pair of slender, pale hands, with long, thin fingers, reached out towards Li Guohua, who was writhing on the bed.

Fingertips, little by little, seemed to be about to touch Li Guohua's neck!

Suddenly, Li Guohua opened his eyes and sat bolt upright in bed!
He sat up, staring blankly ahead, his eyes lifeless.

Slowly, he got out of bed, without putting on shoes, and stood on the ground, seemingly lost in thought.

In the darkness, Li Guohua's body stiffened. He turned around on the spot and walked straight to the cabinet in the room. He opened the drawer, rummaged through it, and pulled out a large pair of scissors.

He raised the scissors high in his right hand, the pointed end facing him.

At this moment, a blank, yet tragic smile appeared on Li Guohua's face.

Extremely bizarre!

·
The scissors slowly pierced downwards, finally striking Li Guohua's chest. The sharp point even pierced through his old autumn shirt, the tip digging into his chest skin...

At that moment, Li Guohua suddenly shuddered!
He gritted his teeth suddenly, and his unfocused eyes instantly cleared!
The sharp pain in his chest made Li Guohua cry out softly. He then abruptly let go and threw the scissors far away!
In that instant, the shadow in the room vanished without a sound.

A ferocious expression twisted Li Guohua's face as he shouted at the empty room, "You!! It's you again!! You still won't let me go!! Why! Why did you hurt me!!!"

There was no response from the room, only Li Guohua's heavy breathing.

"Then...then...then..." Li Guohua's face twisted, and he said in a low, fierce voice, "Neither of us will fare well!! I'll dig up your grave right now!!"

Li Guohua seemed to have lost control of his emotions. He quickly put on a coat and shoes, opened the door, and strode out. In the corner of the yard, he picked up a shovel!
But just as he turned around, his body suddenly stiffened.

In front of Li Guohua, in his own courtyard, stood a young man he didn't recognize.

·
Chen Yan looked calmly at Li Guohua, then at the shovel in his hand.

Chen Yan sighed: "This shovel will save you trouble. Alright, come with me."

"Who are you? Who are you?" Li Guohua asked in a trembling voice.

"If you don't want to wake your daughter, speak to me in a low voice," Chen Yan said calmly, slowly walking towards Li Guohua.

Li Guohua took a step back, his face filled with deep fear: "You...are you a human or a ghost?"

Chen Yan took two steps forward and arrived directly in front of Li Guohua. With a flick of his wrist, he slapped an "Immovable Mountain Talisman" onto Li Guohua's shoulder.

Li Guohua's body stiffened, and he was immediately unable to move. The shovel in his hand also fell to the ground, but Chen Yan caught it and held it in his hand.

Seeing that Li Guohua was about to shout, Chen Yan sneered: "Think about your daughter."

Li Guohua swallowed back the shout that was on the tip of his tongue, but his eyes remained fixed on Chen Yan.

Finally, his voice trembled as he said, "You, you've hurt me, don't hurt my daughter, she, she's still so young..."

Chen Yan shook his head, then slapped another talisman on Li Guohua and beckoned to him with his finger. Li Guohua was immediately distracted and followed Chen Yan without thinking.

After leaving the courtyard, but not far away, Chen Yan led Li Guohua directly into the neighboring courtyard.

Li Guohua saw Chen Yan grab his shoulder and lift him up into the air.

His vision went black!
After a short while, when Li Guohua opened his eyes again, his consciousness returned to his body, and he was horrified to find himself in a pitch-black room!

The sheets and blankets on the bed frame were covered in dark stains.

That faint smell of rust...

A creepy feeling...

"What, don't you recognize me? This is your enemy's bedroom. It's not like this is your first time here."

Chen Yan's cold words rang out from behind Li Guohua.

Li Guohua's body was stiff and he couldn't move, but he said in a trembling voice, "What are you saying? I don't understand."

Chen Yan smiled and stuck a talisman on Li Guohua's mouth, rendering him speechless.

Chen Yan walked to the bedside, put on a pair of disposable gloves, and then reached out and gently lifted the large bed board, moving it to the side and placing it against the wall.

The cement surface under the bed board was mottled and covered in dust.

Chen Yan remained silent, and with a flick of his wrist, a gleaming longsword suddenly appeared in the young man's hand, much to Li Guohua's astonishment!
Chen Yan's sword originated from the realm of magic. Although it is not considered a magical artifact, it is inlaid with iron essence, making it extremely sharp—for a mortal item.

He was very strong. With a sword in hand, he thrust it downwards and plunged it into the floor under the bed. In just a few strokes, he cut through a section of cement.

Chen Yan also pried open the bricks that were underneath...

Soon, Chen Yan sneered, reached under a pile of bricks and rubble, picked up something, and gave it a light shake in his hand.

It was...

Red dress!
"Li Guohua, you buried this under someone's bed, didn't you!"

·
The skirt was dug out from under the bricks and gravel. It was covered in many stains, but they still couldn't hide its bright red color!

Especially on this night, with the faint light filtering in from the window, this touch of red appears even more vivid, eerily red!

"The dress belongs to... Li Xin, right?"

Chen Yan walked up to Li Guohua and gently tossed the dress in front of him, while casually tearing off the "Immovable as a Mountain" talisman from Li Guohua's body.

With a thud, Li Guohua's body went limp and he sat down on the ground!
Chen Yan sighed, squatted down in front of Li Guohua, looked closely into Li Guohua's eyes, and said coldly, "When a mortal dies, if he is wearing red, and if he harbored hatred and resentment in life, his malevolent energy will not dissipate after death, and he can become a vengeful ghost to seek revenge!"

Li Guohua remained silent.

Chen Yan continued, "Li Xin's death wasn't due to drowning after drinking; it was... murdered by the father and son next door! Is that right?"

Li Guohua raised his head and looked at Chen Yan.

Chen Yan nodded and continued, "Li Guohua, the only thing I'm curious about is that Li Xin wasn't wearing a red dress on the day she died. How did you manage to make her become a vengeful ghost to collect her debts?"

Finally, Li Guohua reacted this time.

He swallowed hard, a ghastly, eerie smile spreading across his face—a smile that looked worse than a grimace.

“The dress belonged to Li Xin… After she died, I went to her grandmother’s house, secretly entered her former room, found this red dress, and stole it.”

Well, the dress the deceased wore before her death has been imbued with her scent, so it's... barely usable, though the method is rather unusual.

Chen Yan nodded: "Then... how did you become a vengeful ghost? How do you know these things?"

Li Guohua trembled and lowered his head: "I... during the years I was driving a truck, I met a capable person. I stole a piece of paper from that person, on which several talismans were written."

I thought it was just a joke, but I never expected it to actually work!
I secretly practiced a couple of moves...

As for vengeful ghosts... the clothes the deceased wore in life aren't enough, they also need... they also need..."

Chen Yan sighed, then suddenly said softly, "It's really not enough!"
So... you dug up Li Xin's grave! You stole her ashes, and then used a spell to smear them on this red dress!
Right?

Li Guohua's face turned ashen as he stared at Chen Yan in disbelief.

"You, you know!!"

After a pause, Li Guohua said with a mournful face, "I... I only stole a handful of ashes, I only took a handful... I reburied the rest..."

She, she just became obsessed with me!

Not content with killing her enemy, she also wants to harm me!
I was helping her get revenge! Why did she have to hurt me?!

(End of this chapter)