Sons of Nature

3 The Witch's Dance (3)

The witch faintly raised his brows when he saw that there were more than the ingredients he had actually written down. He raised his gaze to Zhan Cheng, silently asking for an explanation.

Zhan Cheng's ears reddened when he was looked at like that. "That ... Well, as I said, they didn't really seem to be that forthcoming anymore when they realized that the list was written by you. So I had trouble getting some of the ingredients at first.

"I figured I could only go to another town close by but I was worried it might be more of the same so I rewrote the list in case they could recognize your handwriting as well. It worked and, well, I figured that there was a chance the ingredients I already had weren't any good after all. Who knows if they might have given me something of lower quality since they knew who it was for? I wouldn't be able to tell myself so I thought it might be better to get another whole set of everything."

Gongliang Ye made a sound deep in his throat, not bothering to say what he believed. In any case, he wouldn't put it past them to actually try something like this and then say that his treatment hadn't worked.

Little did they know that even without those herbs, he might be able to banish a small ghost. It was just that it was not his style to leave these things up to chance. Since the probability of success was higher if he used them, he would naturally try to get his hands on them. He owed that to the person who had come to him for help.

Gongliang Ye took out the herbs and then chose the best ones among the batch, laying them out on the table quietly. Then he got up and went to get the herbs that he himself had gathered the day before, sorting them into what he already had. When he finished, he looked up at Zhan Cheng, his bony fingers rubbing the top of the table.

"There are a few things that ghosts loathe. That will make it easier to have them reveal themselves and then banish them. At the same time, the place easiest for a ghost to hide is inside a person. I guess that is what the ghost is currently doing: using you as a host that they gain strength from."

Zhen Cheng froze at that and couldn't help but reach up to touch his chest, rubbing it uncomfortably. There was a ghost inside his body? He had thought he was haunted but not to this degree.

Gongliang Ye ignored the movement and just went on with his explanation. "After the ghost is driven out, they might try to return inside. In this case, as we are rather far outside, you're the only possible host they can attach themselves to. We will have to take some protective measures for you to not end up in a worse state than right now."

Zhan Cheng lowered his hand and nodded, his expression taut. It had been bad enough for the last half a year. He definitely didn't want it to get worse. "Just tell me what to do."

Gongliang Ye inclined his head and then got up again. "Well, first of all, we have to prepare a bath." He took another long look at Zhan Cheng, sizing up his arms.

Zhan Cheng tensed and slowly got up, finally clearing his throat. "Do you want me to do something?"

Gongliang Ye's gaze was thoughtful. "You could go and draw some water for me." With that, he pointed at a bucket that stood in the corner of the room as well as a large tub on an elevated platform. "I need enough water to fill the tub."

Zhan Cheng looked at the tub and realized that it was definitely big enough for a tall man to fit in without it feeling cramped. Going with one bucket would require quite a number of times to go back and forth. If it had been anybody else, he would've asked if there was a second bucket to draw more water at a time but looking at the house, he swallowed the question down as soon as he thought of it and nodded. "Of course." He went to grab the bucket and then motioned outside. "Get the water from ..."