Maiyi Onmyoji

Ghost Calls

The tigress and Huang Rong were both taken aback, seemingly surprised that even a child could show such temper.Huang Rong was left in an awkward position. Before she could speak, the tigress stepped forward, reaching out as if to strangle me.This couldn't be allowed!I don't bully others, but no one will ever bully me.In an instant, I turned around and grabbed the kitchen knife, ready to fight to the death with the tigress.With head held high and chest out, the tigress marched toward me, pointing at my nose and taunting, "You little bastard, if you have the guts, go ahead and chop me! If you don't, you're nothing but my grandson!"She provocatively pointed at her temple, glaring at me with defiant eyes.Was she really that arrogant?I couldn't tolerate it anymore!Seeing her loathsome face and haughty demeanor, I truly wanted to slice off her head and use it as a ball.Seeing me raise the knife, Huang Rong rushed over to stop me, "Da Lei, calm down. My mother isn't herself today. Don't take it to heart."The tigress roughly grabbed Huang Rong and pulled her aside.Huang Rong clung to me, refusing to let go.As I watched the tigress's thick arm yank on Huang Rong's frail one, I couldn't suppress my anger any longer."Whoosh!"I swung the knife fiercely at the tigress's arm!Seeing that I meant business, she quickly retreated in fear, dodging away.She fled the shop, pointing at me in panic, "You brat, you actually dared to strike me! Just you wait, I'll bring someone to kill you! If you have the guts, don't run!"In a fluster, she hurried back to her car and drove away.Who would've thought, even the tigress had moments of fear?The elders in the village often say, "The timid fear the bold, the bold fear the reckless. When a person has nothing to lose, they're truly invincible."Huang Rong took the knife from me and hid it under the counter.I walked to the doorway, watching the white sedan drive off."This evil spirit is so troublesome!"It was the voice of the uncle from the neighboring funeral shop.Immediately after, his wife scolded him in a low voice, "You old fool, get over here and work. If you keep talking, don't expect lunch today."The uncle returned inside.This uncle might have seen a ghost; perhaps he saw something just now.I quickly leaned over to eavesdrop.I heard the uncle whisper to his wife, "In this life, it's best to do good deeds whenever possible. It can't be wrong.""Bullshit, who can meddle in their family's affairs? Do you think you're a living Buddha? Even if you're kind, at most, you're just a clay Buddha. A clay Buddha crossing the river can't even protect itself. If you don't listen to me and keep meddling, I'll tell you, that evil spirit will surely kill you.""Sigh..."The uncle sighed and fell silent.As I turned around, I noticed Huang Rong was also eavesdropping.She quickly pulled me inside, whispering, "Da Lei, I suspect my mother is possessed by something unclean.""That's impossible!" I shook my head immediately, "Your mother is as strong as a bull; what ghost could possess her?"Huang Rong blushed, "No, it's not like that!""My mother may seem tough and strong, but it's all an act because my dad divorced her. When I was young, I often saw her possessed by unclean things. Today, she might have been possessed again. She's usually a very kind person; she would never act like this."Huang Rong spoke earnestly, without a hint of deceit.But I didn't believe a word of it.A person's appearance reflects their heart; the tigress's look matched her fierce personality.Moreover, her style of dress clearly indicated a domineering nature.I felt Huang Rong was too naive, unable to judge people, and foolishly mistaken.After a pause, I said to Huang Rong, "Let's talk about something else. For example, your parents' relationship and why they divorced. Remember, don't mix in your feelings; just tell what happened."I found myself entangled in the affairs of Huang's family.Given that, I decided to get to the bottom of things.Huang Rong stared at me blankly, then thought for a moment before speaking, "Actually, my mother is a bit domineering, but my father is too flirtatious. He was always messing around with other women and never cared about the family. They fought a lot because of this.""Later, my parents divorced. My father opened a fortune-telling shop here, while my mother returned to the village to farm. A few years ago, when the village was redeveloped, our family got three apartments. Since my father was a live-in son-in-law and divorced, he didn't get anything.""As for other things, I don't know much; I was away at school."Huang Rong's words were brief.I pondered for a moment and raised three fingers, "First, who raised you and gave you more money?""This..."Huang Rong hesitated, "To be honest, my dad treated me better. All my money came from him. My mom only took care of my meals and didn't bother with anything else."Could it be that Huang Rong was actually an illegitimate child of her father?A thought struck me, "Second question, how many women did your dad get involved with? Tell me everything you know about them.""This I know, apart from my mom, there were three others."Huang Rong responded quickly, "Before marrying my mom, he was with Aunt Wang. I used to play at her house often. Aunt Wang treated me very well, but unfortunately, she got cancer.""The second was Aunt Zhang, a kind person who ran a shop in the city. After my mom caused a scene there, my dad broke up with her.""The last one was Aunt Liu, whose family was in the transport business. I met her too; she was also kind, but later, I heard she had a car accident."After mentioning these three women, Huang Rong sighed gently, tears welling up.It was clear that these women were all good people.Huang Rong crying for her father's mistresses spoke volumes.As I pondered, a thought flashed through my mind, and I guessed Uncle Huang's mindset.As a live-in son-in-law with his own biological daughter, his primary concern must have been finding a good stepmother for his daughter.If that's the case, some things make sense.I took a deep breath, "Speaking of which, how is your current mother perceived in the village? Does she have contact with any suspicious people?""Current mother?" Huang Rong frowned, puzzled by the term, then bit her lip, "My mom doesn't seem to have any friends in the village. People seem to fear her, and they avoid her. As for suspicious people, does my second aunt count?"In this day and age, who's afraid of whom in the same village?I felt it wasn't fear but rather rejection from the villagers.This situation could arise for two reasons.First, a terrible personality; second, involvement in something shady, making people avoid her.If both are true, it's no wonder people fear her.I was at a loss, "Never mind what kind of person she is, just say if she's suspicious or not."Huang Rong nodded, "My second aunt is our village's spiritual figure, worshiping animal statues like the Fox Spirit and Snake Spirit... Oh, right, we also have a Rat Spirit in our house!"How strange, worshiping a Rat Spirit!I felt like I was beginning to find the crux of the problem.Uncle Huang's death might be connected to Huang Rong's second aunt.However, a motive was still missing.So I continued, "By the way, Huang Rong, was your dad planning to marry someone recently? Or did he have any serious conflicts with your mom recently?"Huang Rong's eyes widened in realization, "I remember now. A classmate from the village told me she saw my dad come to the village with his head covered in blood. But when I called him, he said it was just a scratch, even sending me a photo to prove it was a minor injury, not at all matching my classmate's description."I felt something was amiss.The culprit might very well be Huang Rong's second aunt.Suddenly, Huang Rong's phone rang.After answering the call, her face turned pale.She started crying, tears streaming down...As I tried to make sense of the situation, Huang Rong suddenly cried out, "Dad..."My heart skipped a beat!I was startled. Hadn't her dad already passed away? How could he call a living person?"He's been gone for over ten minutes..."After saying this, Huang Rong put down the phone, sobbing uncontrollably.Confused, I asked, "Huang Jie, stop crying and tell me what's going on."Huang Rong finally stopped crying and started laughing.Cold sweat ran down my back. Was she insane?No wonder her father had so readily handed her over to me; I couldn't handle someone crazy.Huang Rong took a deep breath, calming herself, "My dad called me. He possessed a friend to make the call.""Is that even possible? What did he say?" I pressed.Still giddy with excitement, Huang Rong said, "He asked if my mom had left."Hearing this, I was speechless and nearly lost my temper.The more I thought about it, the more annoyed I became. Was Huang Rong that foolish? The call connected, and she didn't think to let me talk to her dad.This ghost, Uncle Huang, was just as unreliable. While I was anxiously piecing together the case, he was concerned about whether his wife had left!Wait...Was he so scared of his wife that he fled early?Even my ghost bride wasn't here, perhaps frightened away as well.In that case, maybe Huang Rong's mother was indeed possessed by something malevolent.And if so, it must be a powerful entity, one that even scared my ghost bride away.If that were the case, hadn't I just angered a formidable evil spirit and caused a lot of trouble?Just as I pieced together the gravity of the situation, a white sedan suddenly pulled up in front of my shop.Huang Rong's mother had returned, accompanied by a fierce-looking woman with a long face. They stepped out of the car, radiating murderous intent, and headed straight for my shop.Seeing this, Huang Rong quickly dialed the number from earlier.Damn it, who's afraid of whom!A thought struck me, and I quickly grabbed the kitchen knife again, along with a peach wood sword, and rushed to the door to block the tigress and the long-faced woman.