“Never mind, it doesn’t matter if you believe me or not. Just take me back to your temple to see Shifu,” Wuzhen naturally addressed the master as Shifu, in line with Lang Jun’s identity.
Lidong, the young Taoist, stared at her uncertainly for a long while, unable to say anything. Perhaps the idea of ‘Young Shishu’s body being inhabited by Young Shishu’s wife’ was too far beyond his imagination.
Although he didn’t believe it, Lidong immediately became more reserved towards Wuzhen. He thought Young Shishu might have some mental issues—given how formidable Young Shishu was, he couldn’t believe any demon or ghost could possess Young Shishu’s body. It must be a problem with his mind.
Lidong didn’t dare to say this but respectfully offered to lead Wuzhen back to Changxi Temple—to let Shizu treat him. Changxi Temple was on Xiling Mountain, not too far from here. They could reach it in a day on horseback.
Unfortunately, just as they set out, Lidong received a paper bird plea for help from a fellow disciple.
Reaching out to catch the paper bird, Lidong frowned. Wuzhen also reined in her horse to wait for him, asking, “What’s wrong?”
Lidong hesitantly said, “A fellow disciple nearby is asking for help. Seems they’ve encountered some trouble.” He looked like he wanted to go help, but glanced at Wuzhen, hesitating.
Seeing his expression, Wuzhen raised an eyebrow and asked, “Is it urgent?”
Lidong answered honestly, “There’s not much information on the paper bird. It seems to have been sent out in a hurry.”
Wuzhen said decisively, “Since it’s nearby, let’s go take a look.”
With the thought of resolving this quickly and moving on, Wuzhen and Lidong changed course towards Xiangshui City. Following the guiding aura left by the paper bird, they stopped outside the Tao residence in the city.
This area was full of wealthy households. The other mansions along the street had clean, shiny door plaques, and the fallen leaves and dust in front of their gates were swept clean. But this Tao residence had a layer of unswept dust at its entrance, and the main gate was tightly shut. Lidong knocked for a long time, but there was no response from inside.
Wuzhen watched his polite knocking method with some annoyance. She clicked her tongue, then grabbed Lidong by the back of his collar, moved him aside, and smiled slightly at him, “Let me handle this.”
Then she raised her foot and kicked hard. The heavy gate burst open at her kick.
Wuzhen lowered her foot, thinking under Lidong’s dumbfounded gaze, “Lang Jun’s strength is truly impressive.” Meanwhile, Lidong followed Wuzhen into the Tao residence in a daze, thinking that Young Shishu’s condition seemed quite serious indeed.
As the door was kicked open, Wuzhen heard a few suppressed gasps, as if the gatekeepers were hiding in nearby small rooms and were startled by this scene. However, they quickly fell silent again, not daring to make any more noise.
Wuzhen paid no attention to these people and strode in confidently with Lidong.
“Where’s your fellow disciple? Find them quickly.”
Lidong snapped out of his daze and immediately sent out a paper bird to lead the way, turning this way and that through the Tao family’s large mansion. Logically, such a big mansion should have many servants bustling about, but after the two entered, they didn’t see any servants of the Tao family moving around outside. Occasionally they would glimpse a hurried figure, but only to see them quickly retreating into a room and slamming the door shut, impossible to call out to. These servants hid in their rooms, not daring to come out freely, peering at them from behind doors as if there were some terrifying monster outside.
Wuzhen had initially thought the person who sent the distress message might have encountered some formidable evil spirit, but upon arriving at the Tao residence, she couldn’t detect any evil spirit aura at all, just a courtyard full of terrified servants.
This was indeed strange.
Soon, the paper bird stopped on a window frame. Wuzhen’s mouth twitched as she saw the exquisite small building before her, now covered with a large circle of yellow talismans. Looking up, she saw that the second-floor windows and doors were similarly plastered with countless yellow talismans, densely packed.
This ‘strict’ defense not only looked ugly to Wuzhen but also startled Lidong. He frowned, stepped forward, and pushed open the door to enter first.
The people hiding inside the small building heard the sound of the door being pushed open and immediately let out a scream. It was the master of the Tao residence, Lang Jun Tao. Compared to his previously prosperous appearance, Lang Jun Tao now looked as if he had suffered greatly, his chubby face having lost considerable weight. He looked at the newcomers in panic, one hand tightly gripping the robe of the person next to him, crying out, “Second Uncle, they’re here again, they’re here again! Save me!”
The person whose clothes he was gripping was also a Taoist priest, somewhat aged, his face originally showing some fear as well. But upon seeing Lidong enter, his face immediately lit up with joy. He bowed to him and said, “Senior Brother Lidong, thank you for coming to help.”
Just as he finished speaking, he caught sight of Wuzhen sauntering in with her hands behind her back. He became even more overjoyed, excitedly taking two steps forward, causing Lang Jun Tao, who was still clinging to his robe, to stumble forward as well. But the middle-aged Taoist didn’t notice, bowing deeply to Wuzhen and saying, almost in tears of joy as if seeing a savior, “I never expected Young Shishu Guyu to be here as well. With you here, surely nothing will go wrong. This, this is truly wonderful!”
Wuzhen maintained a profound expression, thinking to herself that while her Lang Jun had kept such a low profile in Chang’an, who knew he was so respected among these Taoists?
Lidong glanced worriedly at Wuzhen, truly afraid that Young Shishu might suddenly have an episode and ruin his usual reputation. So before the middle-aged Taoist could say more, he asked directly, “Taoyu, what happened that made you send out a paper bird for help?”
The middle-aged Taoist named Taoyu, whose naming style differed from Lidong and the others, seemed to have a different status among the disciples of Changxi Temple. Wuzhen thought silently that out of consideration for Lang Jun’s reputation, she shouldn’t speak casually, and just listened to Lidong and this person talk.
“It’s like this. This Lang Jun Tao is a relative of mine, and recently his household has been unsettled, encountering strange occurrences,” Taoyu pointed at the apprehensive Lang Jun Tao standing beside him. “His wife and three daughters suddenly turned into mice for no apparent reason. Then, various ghostly shadows began appearing frequently in the courtyard, entangling them. Something even enters his dreams at night to torment him, and not just him. At night, all sorts of strange shadows appear in the garden, walking and laughing like people. All the servants in the house have seen them, causing widespread panic. So he sought my help.”
Taoyu smiled bitterly: “Although I have cultivated at Changxi Temple for several years, my aptitude is poor and I’ve only learned some superficial skills, not enough to be of much use. After coming here, I haven’t discovered anything amiss, instead have been tormented alongside them by these unknown entities. With no other option, I sent out the paper bird, hoping to chance upon a senior brother to help.”
Saying this, Taoyu glanced at Wuzhen again, his spirits lifting, “Now that I see Young Shishu Guyu and Senior Brother Lidong have come, I can finally rest easy!”
Wuzhen’s expression had become somewhat peculiar from the moment she heard about people turning into mice, pondering something. Lidong, listening to this, also became serious and asked Taoyu, “Has anyone been harmed?”
Taoyu shook his head: “Fortunately, there haven’t been any casualties yet, but the Tao family’s Madam and three young ladies have turned into mice, and we don’t know what to do.”
He gave Lang Jun Tao a push, who understood and quickly brought over a cage, placing it in front of Lidong and Wuzhen. He smiled nervously and said, “It’s this, they, they somehow turned into this.”
In the cage were four gray mice, one large and three small, all huddled together trembling.
Lang Jun Tao didn’t dare look at them much. After putting down the cage, he stepped back two paces and carefully asked Lidong, “Taoist, do you think, do you think they’re demons?”
At these words, the mice in the cage seemed to understand and began to squeak anxiously, clinging to the cage, frightening Lang Jun Tao into retreating a few more steps.
Lidong looked carefully at the mice and shook his head, answering, “No, they should have been transformed by someone’s techniques.” Though young, he was quite knowledgeable and quickly explained, “I’ve heard Shifu mention this kind of technique before, but I’ve never actually seen it. This isn’t the work of demons or ghosts, but an unusual technique similar to Taoist arts. Very few people practice it, and breaking the spell might be quite troublesome.”
It was at this moment that Wuzhen spoke up. She said, “I’ll go out and take a look.” Without waiting for Lidong’s response, she strode out the door and quickly disappeared into the back courtyard.
At this time, in a certain part of the Tao family’s backquarters, Afu sat on a soft cushion nibbling on a cake, listening to her Master, now a white mouse lying on a pillow, lecturing about shadow ghost techniques. Yes, Pei Jiya had turned back into a mouse. His previous human form was a forced breakthrough of the unusual technique, so his nearly healed injuries had all worsened.
But he didn’t mind, still enthusiastically teaching his disciple. This disciple of his looked rather foolish, only knowing how to eat, but when it came to learning unusual techniques, she was truly remarkable. Whatever he taught her to do, she never disappointed him. These past two days of experimenting in the Tao family courtyard had thoroughly frightened everyone in the household.
“You were able to use the most basic shadow ghost technique last night, but these ‘shadow ghosts’ aren’t ghosts, but rather…” Pei Jiya’s voice trailed off here, his gaze turning towards the door.
A white shadow was floating there, like a white banner fluttering slightly in the wind. It made sounds that Afu couldn’t understand, but Pei Jiya could.
“Two more Taoist priests have come? I didn’t expect this Tao fellow to have some ability after all.” The white mouse’s expression wasn’t very clear, but from his tone, one could hear his indifference. He showed little interest in the two newly arrived Taoist priests.
Afu put down the cake in her hand, looking a bit startled. She understood that people who might pose a threat to them had arrived.
The white mouse Pei Jiya laughed lightly, unconcerned, “They’re just two little Taoist priests, what’s there to fear? We can simply scare them away. If they prove troublesome, we’ll teach them a lesson. Once they know our power, they won’t dare meddle in this business anymore.”
Afu thought her Master looked truly formidable!
Then, this formidable Master quickly became timid.
Afu saw a tall, thin young man walk in. His movements were natural and casual as if he hadn’t noticed any of the strange things outside the courtyard at all. His gaze only swept over her briefly before quickly settling on her Master.
Step by step, with an eerie smile on his face, he drew closer. Afu saw her previously boastful Master size up the newcomer, then suddenly all his fur stood on end. He shifted backward a bit, his voice sounding different.
“Ha… haha, so it’s Cousin.” Master’s laughter sounded rather dry.
Afu looked at the two of them strangely, thinking, Master’s cousin looks an awful lot like a man.