Chapter Seventy-One: An Ambush Upon the Road

The little ghost vanished in an instant.

I froze, then quickly looked up—an alluring face flashed me a smile. It was the woman from last night!

Old Ma’s shamanic chant came to an abrupt halt. The woman rose to her feet, swiftly folding the talisman in her hand. With a faint smile, she said, “So, you’re Old Ma’s apprentice. What a pity, I beat you to it~”

Old Ma strode over. For once, faced with a beautiful woman, he showed no sign of being moved. His expression was grave as he spoke: “Is this the woman you encountered last night?”

I stood up, looked at Old Ma, and gave a silent nod.

Narrowing his eyes at the woman, Old Ma’s tone turned cold. “Little girl, whoever you are, your skills are still shallow—you can’t subdue that ghost.”

The woman met his gaze, a trace of disdain flickering in her eyes. “Whether I can or can’t is my business. Now that I’ve taken it, it’s mine. It’s not your concern.”

Old Ma snorted, staring her down. “You think I can’t see where you’re from? No matter how much perfume you spray, it can’t hide the scent of ‘medicine’ on you! You practice medicinal arts—controlling ghosts isn’t your specialty. Don’t try to act tough!”

Medicinal arts? What’s that supposed to mean?

The woman’s composure faltered for a moment at his words, but she quickly retorted, “What I do is none of your business—”

She didn’t finish. Suddenly, her face twisted in pain, as if struck by a jolt of electricity. With a startled cry, she flung the talisman from her hand.

The red talisman she’d so carefully folded burst into flames and turned to ash in an instant. The little ghost reappeared, arms raised, and lunged at her! She was caught off guard and had no time to react.

I yanked her out of the way, stepped forward, and struck at the ghost with my own exorcism talisman.

A shrill, strange cry erupted. The little ghost was blasted backward.

I couldn’t tell if the ghost had grown stronger, or if my talisman was weaker than last night’s. The exorcism charm suddenly ignited, and the ghost, balancing on its toes, darted swiftly into the darkness.

Old Ma and Gu Yangyu took off after it at once.

“Ah!” The woman suddenly gave a cry and tipped sideways.

I caught her around the waist to steady her.

“Your heels are too high—you can’t keep your balance,” I remarked.

She frowned and shoved me away. “Mind your own business!”

She took a step back, twisted her ankle on her heel, and wobbled unsteadily again. I quickly reached out to steady her.

“You’d do better in different shoes. You’re tall enough—you don’t need heels this high,” I told her.

Her boots had heels at least thirteen centimeters high, making her even taller than my own six feet. They weren’t stylish or necessary.

“I like them. Stay out of it,” she snapped, though it seemed her anger was more about the ghost escaping than my comment about her shoes.

“Are you involved in the murder case?” I asked.

She glared at me, her face darkening with anger. She looked me up and down. “Aren’t you that old man’s apprentice? Didn’t he tell you? I practice medicinal arts. I only learned about the murder when I saw the blood last night.”

So, it wasn’t her.

I turned and started walking after Old Ma and Gu Yangyu.

“What’s your name?” she called suddenly.

“Not telling you,” I replied as I walked.

“Hmph! Fine, I don’t care!” The sharp clack of her heels faded into the distance.

It seemed she’d given up on the ghost.

I quickened my pace. With Old Ma and Gu Yangyu in pursuit, I wasn’t worried. If even those two couldn’t subdue the ghost, there was nothing I could do.

Rounding a corner, I found them standing ahead.

“What happened? Where’s the ghost?” I asked, puzzled.

“Strange. It just vanished,” Old Ma muttered. The smoke from his guiding incense was dispersing, no longer pointing in any direction.

“Vanished without a trace? The guiding incense doesn’t work either?” I was startled. Old Ma and Gu Yangyu had chased it directly—how could it disappear so quickly?

“If it worked, would we still be standing here? It’s odd, slipping away right under my nose. Let’s search nearby,” Old Ma said, heading off in one direction.

Gu Yangyu went the other way.

After a moment’s thought, I followed Old Ma.

We searched the area for quite a while but found no sign of the ghost. The guiding incense didn’t react at all. It had simply disappeared.

It started to rain, and in the end, we had no choice but to return.

The next day, the homeowners left for work early. They’d only been home on vacation before. Now only Duan Tianqi remained.

Meng Chengde had business to attend to and left. Old Ma, Gu Yangyu, and I stayed behind—without finding the ghost, the matter wasn’t settled.

With nothing else for me to do, Old Ma sent me to watch the fire in the clearing. It was still burning; last night’s rain had been light and brief and hadn’t put it out. There were still some unburned branches nearby. Old Ma had instructed me that all the wood had to be burned up before the fire could be extinguished.

I spent the day in the clearing, returning only as dusk fell. The homeowners still hadn’t come back. We had to go to Old Ding’s house for dinner, but Duan Tianqi absolutely refused to go, so we had to bring his food back.

Old Ding told us the couple often worked late and came home very late. Usually, Duan Tianqi ate at his place. But after what happened at school, the boy was too scared to leave the house.

Night fell. We still needed to search for the ghost. The homeowners hadn’t returned, and Duan Tianqi didn’t want to go to Old Ding’s. With the murder case unsolved, we didn’t feel safe leaving him alone. In the end, I stayed with him while Old Ma and Gu Yangyu went out to search.

The house was silent and still. Only Duan Tianqi and I remained. He sat in the living room, workbook open, but he was clearly distracted. He hadn’t touched the food we’d brought from Old Ding’s.

“Don’t like the food?” I asked.

He glanced at me, lips pressed together, saying nothing.

“Want me to cook something? How about noodles?” I offered.

He hesitated, hunger finally overcoming his reluctance, and nodded.

I went to the kitchen and was surprised to find instant noodles—cup noodles, no less! I quickly boiled water, made the noodles, and brought them out.

Duan Tianqi barely reacted to the sight of them. When they were ready, he expertly snapped apart his fork and started eating as if he was used to it.

I watched him. When he’d finished, I asked, “Miao Bin is in your class, isn’t he?”

He stiffened violently and turned to stare at me, eyes wide with terror.

Something was definitely wrong.

I took his student badge from my pocket and placed it on the table before him. “Do you know something about Miao Bin? Don’t be afraid—just tell me.”