My words have become law; I truly have no desire to display my divine power before others.

Just then, the two people at the outer table suddenly moved.

It's not about standing up, nor is it about raising your hand.

Instead... their heads slowly turned towards Pu Songlin.

Pu Songlin finally saw their faces clearly—or rather, he saw that they had no faces.

It wasn't that they were wearing a mask or covered by a cloth; they genuinely had no facial features.

Her entire face was like a sheet of white paper that had been soaked in water, completely smooth, except for two shallow indentations where her eyes should have been.

Deep within the crater, something seemed to be watching him.

Pu Songlin felt the hairs on the back of his head stand on end!

He stood up abruptly, almost knocking over his book box.

"Shopkeeper!" he whispered, "When did those two... arrive?"

Wang Laosan was also startled: "Just... just now..."

Have you seen them before?

“No, no…”

Pu Songlin took a deep breath and pulled a copper coin from the side pocket of his book box—not an ordinary copper coin.

I got this "amulet money" from an old Taoist priest two years ago; it's said to ward off evil spirits.

He held the copper coin, slowly sat down, and forced himself to calm down.

But the two people seemed to have no reaction to the copper coins.

Their "gaze" remained fixed on Pu Songlin, and the feeling of being watched grew stronger and stronger, like cold needles pricking his skin.

To make matters worse, the lights in the teahouse started to dim.

It wasn't the gradual dimming of a lamp as the oil burned out, but rather the light being swallowed up by something.

The oil lamp flame, which was originally a warm yellow, had now turned into a ghostly green, making the entire teahouse seem eerie.

"Shopkeeper..." Pu Songlin's voice tightened, "Has anything... unclean been going on at your tea stall lately?"

Wang Laosan's legs went weak: "No, no..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

Because those two people stood up.

Their movements as they stood up were bizarre—they didn't use their legs to support their bodies, but rather seemed to be lifted up by invisible threads, "floating" straight up from the stools.

The hem of his long robe remained perfectly still, and his feet were still an inch off the ground.

Pu Songlin finally realized: This is not human!

He grabbed his book box and was about to run, but as soon as he turned around, he found that the door to the teahouse... was gone.

It's not that the door was closed or blocked, but rather that the spot where the door used to be has been replaced by an earthen wall.

There wasn't even a trace of a door on the wall, as if this teahouse had never had a door at all.

"Ghost...ghost wall..." Wang Laosan slumped to the ground, his face deathly pale.

The two people began to float towards them.

It's slow, but it's definitely getting closer.

The tables and chairs they passed were covered with a thin layer of white frost.

Pu Songlin's hand trembled as he held the amulet coins, but the coins didn't react at all—either they were fake, or the two ghosts were too fierce to suppress.

"It's over..." he thought in despair.

I traveled all over the country collecting stories, but I never expected to become a supporting character in one, and one who died under mysterious circumstances.

The two faceless ghosts had already floated to the center of the teahouse.

They were less than ten feet away from Pu Songlin and Wang Laosan.

Pu Songlin could even smell a faint stench of decay, like something that had been buried in the ground for a long time being suddenly dug up.

He closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate.

At this critical moment—

"Snapped!"

A crisp sound!

It wasn't the sound of a slap, but rather a crackling sound like a whip striking the air!

Pu Songlin suddenly opened his eyes and saw a scene he would never forget:

Wang Laosan stood up at some point, holding a... feather duster in his hand?

It's the kind of duster that ordinary households use to sweep dust, with a wooden handle and a colorful chicken feather tied to one end. It looks like it's been used for many years, and some of the feathers are bald.

But it was this tattered feather duster that made that crisp sound just now—it was Wang Laosan who used it to pull out the feather duster!

Even more bizarrely, the two faceless ghosts were actually forced back three feet by this slap!

Although their smooth faces were expressionless, their bodies were clearly stiff, as if they were very wary of the feather duster.

"You, you all stay away!" Wang Laosan gripped the duster with both hands, his voice trembling, but he held the duster very firmly.

"I...I possess a magical treasure bestowed upon me by the gods!"

The two faceless ghosts exchanged a glance—although they had no eyes, Pu Songlin could sense that they were "looking at each other."

Then they floated back, this time even faster!

"Slap! Slap!"

With his eyes closed, Wang Laosan waved the feather duster wildly, and the feather duster drew two arcs in the air, hitting the two ghosts with remarkable accuracy!

"Awooo—!"

Two piercing screams, so shrill they were inhuman!

Where the feather duster struck, plumes of black smoke billowed from the ghost's body! The black smoke had a pungent, fishy stench that made one want to vomit!

The two ghosts retreated frantically, and painful, distorted lines appeared on their smooth faces.

Wang Laosan was stunned. He looked at the feather duster in his hand and then at the two ghosts huddled in the corner.

"This...this thing actually works?"

He grew bolder, took two steps forward, and brandished the duster: "Get out! Get out!"

The two ghosts let out low whimpers and began to back away.

Wang Laosan gritted his teeth and rushed forward, lashing out wildly!

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

Each time the feather duster struck the ghost, a large plume of black smoke rose from its body, and its form faded slightly.

By the tenth or soth stroke, the two ghosts had faded to the point of being like two shadows.

"Spare me... Spare my life..." one of the ghosts actually spoke, his voice hoarse like a broken bellows.

"We...we were just passing by...wanting to absorb some yang energy..."

"Just passing by?" Wang Laosan gasped for breath. "Just passing by and you want to kill us?!"

"I won't do it again... I'll never do it again..."

"Get out!" Old Wang slapped him hard!

"Bang!"

The two ghostly figures exploded completely, turning into two wisps of black smoke that quickly dissipated into the air.

The temperature inside the tea stall rose instantly.

The flame of the oil lamp also returned to its normal warm yellow color.

And that earthen wall... somehow transformed back into a door.

Outside the door, the sky was already beginning to lighten.

Wang Laosan plopped down on the ground, his feather duster lying beside him, panting heavily.

Pu Songlin slumped onto the stool, and it took him a long time to recover.

"Shopkeeper...shopkeeper..." his voice was still trembling, "your feather duster..."

"Oh, this." After regaining his senses, Wang Laosan carefully picked up the duster and stroked the wooden handle.

"It was a gift from a Taoist priest."

"Taoist priest?"

Wang Laosan nodded, his face showing some excitement, and recounted the story of Ye Qingfeng's visit to the teahouse that day.

How to use "shrinking the earth to an inch" to travel, how to use a consecrated feather duster to repay a meal's kindness, and how to demonstrate the art of "drawing water".

"...The Taoist priest said this duster can remove dust and ward off evil spirits. I thought it was just to make the duster more useful, but I didn't expect..."

Wang Laosan looked at the duster with awe in his eyes, "I never expected it to be a true magic weapon that can fight ghosts!"

Pu Songlin's eyes lit up as he listened.

He immediately took out his notebook and pen, and by the light of the oil lamp, he began to jot down notes.

"That Taoist priest... what's his name? Where did he come from? Where is he going?"

"I don't think I ever mentioned it," Wang Laosan recalled.

"Oh, by the way, he was wearing a blue Taoist robe. He looked very young, but he spoke and acted with remarkable composure, as if he had lived for many years."

"Shopkeeper, what else did that Taoist priest do? Tell me in detail."

Wang Laosan then recounted some details: Ye Qingfeng's posture while drinking tea, his tone of voice, and the supernatural power that allowed him to take a ten-zhang leap before leaving.