Chapter 23
Li Shan is a busy person, unlike Shang Tingzhi, who specializes in Feng Shui for luxurious homes. Li Shan not only deals with capturing spirits and ghosts but also takes on various spiritual matters, constantly shuttling around the city and seizing every opportunity to make money.
Before Shang Tingzhi moved into the Gu family mansion, Li Shan had visited once. The tragic Gu family, wiped out, no longer roamed the house, but there was a female ghost of unknown origin.
During that visit, Li Shan didn’t have powerful tools with him, and he couldn’t even see the shadow of the female ghost. This time, he brought a family heirloom, the Soul-summoning Bell. The moment he took it out, Xia Leyang’s eyes lit up.
“Master, can this thing capture the female ghost?” Xia Leyang followed Li Shan like an eager apprentice, moving from the first floor to the third floor of the old mansion, then back down to the first floor.
Shang Tingzhi frowned as he watched Xia Leyang calling Li Shan ‘Master’ incessantly. He felt that Li Shan seemed particularly displeasing today.
“This is the Soul-summoning Bell, it can make the female ghost manifest.” Li Shan walked around the living room, shaking the bell while Xia Leyang closely followed. However, there was no change in the house.
“When will she appear, Master?” Xia Leyang asked earnestly, afraid that the female ghost might suddenly show up and scare him again.
“She will appear when it’s time.” Shang Tingzhi, with a stern face, picked up Xia Leyang by the collar and brought him close. “Don’t disturb him.”
“I’m not disturbing him.” Xia Leyang shook off Shang Tingzhi unhappily, slipped back to Li Shan’s side, and said without even looking at Shang Tingzhi, “Don’t talk, Master is reciting an incantation.”
Shang Tingzhi was extremely annoyed, but he knew that Xia Leyang’s mind was filled with thoughts of catching ghosts at the moment. He could only let him worship Li Shan with admiration.
“Strange.” After wandering around, Li Shan put away the bell, pinched his fingers, and said, “Is the female ghost really still in the house?”
“Yes, Master.” Xia Leyang said seriously. “She scared me last night when she appeared.”
“What does she look like when you see her? Any blood and gore, wide eyes, sticking out tongue or something?” Li Shan asked.
Xia Leyang touched his chin and thought, “No, she’s just an ordinary woman with outdated bangs.”
“It seems she’s not a fierce ghost.” Li Shan nodded thoughtfully. “But she seems to have become more powerful.”
“Oh?” Xia Leyang furrowed his brows. “What do you mean by that?”
“The last time I came, I could feel her presence, but this time she has completely concealed it.” Li Shan said, shaking the golden Soul-summoning Bell in his hand. “According to what you said, she shouldn’t have left, but the bell can’t summon her spirit.”
“Why is that?” Xia Leyang asked curiously.
“The biggest challenge in capturing this female ghost is that we don’t know her background.” Li Shan sighed softly. “Actually, when shaking the Soul-summoning Bell, it’s best to call her name for the best effect. But even without a name, it can still deal with some minor ghosts. However, now it seems that this female ghost should have some cultivation.”
“She’s that powerful?” Xia Leyang asked in astonishment. Considering that he had encountered the female ghost only three times, he hadn’t expected her to be unharmed.
“I didn’t feel her this powerful the last time I came.” Li Shan suddenly thought of something, turned to Shang Tingzhi, and asked suspiciously, “You didn’t intentionally keep her, did you?”
Shang Tingzhi responded indifferently, “Why would we?”
Curious, Xia Leyang asked, “Can ghosts be intentionally kept?”
“Of course.” Li Shan said, “Some people specifically keep minor ghosts to do evil deeds. Haven’t you seen that on TV?”
“I’ve seen it.” Xia Leyang nodded honestly, recalling scenes from movies where people used children’s blood to feed zombies. He asked with even greater curiosity, “Is it necessary to feed them blood or something like that when keeping ghosts?”
“It’s not necessary.” Li Shan wiggled his index finger. “I’ve seen ghosts kept with ashes. That ghost was extremely fierce, almost costing me my life.”
“There’s this kind of thing?” Xia Leyang asked in astonishment. Li Shan’s stories were more interesting than horror movies. He became interested, fully engrossed in listening, completely unaware that Shang Tingzhi was darkening his face on the side, signaling him not to ask any more questions.
“However,” Li Shan dramatically finished telling his thrilling ghost-catching experience, then changed the subject, “this female ghost in your house doesn’t need to be so troublesome. You two, big men, especially Mr. Shang here, who exudes Yang energy, just letting her absorb some essence energy will deepen her cultivation.”
Xia Leyang nervously hiccupped, “Absorb absorb absorb essence energy?”
“Absorb essence energy, similar to your vitality.” Li Shan added thoughtfully, “Perhaps, when you two were sleeping, she quietly absorbed your essence energy.”
“Is that so?” Xia Leyang, relieved, sighed deeply. He thought that Master Li was an honest person who wouldn’t think about weird things. However, just at this moment, Li Shan suddenly frowned and said, “Huh.”
“What’s wrong with us?” Xia Leyang nervously asked.
“If the female ghost really absorbed essence energy from both of you, didn’t you feel anything?” Li Shan inquired.
Fortunately, the topic was still about essence energy rather than something else.
Xia Leyang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was about to casually explain, but heard Shang Tingzhi calmly say, “It feels great.”
Li Shan:?
“No no no.” Xia Leyang quickly waved his hand, “It doesn’t feel good at all!”
The two individuals’ statements were completely opposite. Logically, Li Shan should have been suspicious, but fortunately, he was a metaphysical master who could explain everything. So, he calculated with his fingers and explained on behalf of both: “I understand. It should be a matter of constitution.”
“Constitution?” Xia Leyang cautiously continued.
“Old Shang’s Yang energy is too strong, absorbing just the right amount,” Li Shan pointed at Shang Tingzhi, then turned to Xia Leyang and said, “As for you, you lack Yang energy, so you feel uncomfortable.”
Xia Leyang applauded in agreement, “Master, you’ve analyzed it perfectly!”
“Heh, just look at who I am,” Li Shan proudly smiled, “I’ll set up a barrier in your room later, so you shouldn’t be affected by that female ghost when you sleep.”
“Thank you, Master,” Xia Leyang said, “But can’t you just directly capture her?”
“That would require knowing her name or birthdate,” Li Shan didn’t want to admit his limitations and emphasized, “Once you figure out who she is, I’ll capture her in no time.”
Li Shan took out some strange objects from his bag and then went to the second floor to set up the barrier. The stairs to the second floor were closer to Xia Leyang’s room, so Li Shan came here first. Just as he was about to open the door, Xia Leyang, without much thought, reminded him, “Master, we sleep in the room next door.”
“Ah, okay,” Li Shan withdrew his hand from the doorknob, continued forward, but quickly realized a problem. He turned to Xia Leyang and asked, “You both sleep in the same room?”
“Uh…” Xia Leyang realized he had slipped up, hadn’t figured out how to explain yet, and before he could, Shang Tingzhi coldly raised an eyebrow, saying, “Any problem?”
“No, no, I should have thought of that earlier,” Li Shan said with a wry smile, glancing at Shang Tingzhi.
He thought his previous analysis was foolproof, but unexpectedly overlooked the relationship between the two. If the two had a high “activity frequency,” wouldn’t the female ghost benefit for nothing?
After setting up the barrier in Shang Tingzhi’s room, Li Shan kindly reminded the two, “I mean, after your activities, remember to clean up thoroughly, not leaving a single drop.”
Xia Leyang was confused and asked, “What cleaning?”
“Your offspring, of course!” Li Shan said sternly, “If that thing gets on the female ghost, she’ll have a feast.”
Xia Leyang was still puzzled, not fully understanding Li Shan’s meaning, when Shang Tingzhi embraced his shoulder and said to Li Shan without much expression, “He’s very good at cleaning, never leaves a drop.”
Li Shan’s expression first showed contemplation, then realization, followed by complexity, and finally, a hint of envy, “Having a partner with good skills, that’s great.”
Xia Leyang had countless question marks over his head and looked at Shang Tingzhi, “What is he talking about?”
“Nothing,” Shang Tingzhi said casually, “He’s praising you.”
