Chapter Sixty-Two: Sending Off the Spirits

Everyone scrambled back to the hotel, stumbling over themselves in a panic. Behind them, a small boy picked up the ball, his expression both sad and angry as he watched the group fleeing into the distance.

“Phew!”

“This is bad—we broke the ball, and now a little ghost is mad at us. We’re doomed!” Fang Min cried out in terror.

“What do we do?” Fang Yong was also shaken, fear lingering on his face.

“It’s your fault! You just had to play that stupid ghost game. Are you satisfied now that you’ve really seen one?” Zhang Song complained bitterly.

“You were even more eager than we were!” Fang Yong shot back, annoyed at Zhang Song’s attempt to dodge responsibility.

“All right, enough with the blame. Think about how to fix this!” Lin Xue panted, catching her breath. “Actually, I know a pretty skilled young Taoist priest. His name’s Fang You, and he’s supposed to be quite accomplished.”

As Lin Xue spoke, she pulled a business card from her pocket.

“Really? Where is he? Call him and have him come!” Fang Min said, taking the card eagerly.

“But he’s not from around here. His fortune-telling parlor is in the northern city, at East Corner Alley,” Lin Xue explained to the others.

“What use is that if he’s not here?” Fang Yong muttered, disheartened.

“Just our luck!” Zhang Song grumbled, pulling out a Jade Seal cigarette.

“If it weren’t for trying to set you up with Lin Xue, we’d never have played such a scary game in the first place. Be grateful!” Fang Min snapped at Zhang Song, angered by his refusal to take responsibility.

“Enough, let’s just think of a solution,” Zhang Song said, lighting his cigarette and exhaling a long plume of smoke.

“I do have an idea,” Fang Min spoke up again. “There’s a section in this book I bought—‘Supernatural Log’—that mentions ways to send ghosts away.”

“What ways?” The other three asked in unison, their fear making them desperate for an answer.

“There’s a pretty simple one: hide-and-seek,” Fang Min replied, opening her ‘Supernatural Log.’

“Hide-and-seek?” The group was baffled.

“Yes. You need a virgin holding a black cat to hide, while the rest of us search. If there truly is a little ghost following us, he’ll do everything he can to hide the girl with the black cat, essentially joining in the game himself. As long as we find the girl, we win, and the ghost will leave of his own accord.”

“But what if the ghost is devious and hides the girl so well we never find her?” Fang Yong asked worriedly.

“That won’t happen,” Fang Min said confidently. “In the worst case, the girl can release the black cat. The cat will break the ghost’s illusion, and we’ll be able to see and find her.”

“A virgin?” All eyes turned to Lin Xue.

“Why are you looking at me? Fang Min could do it too,” Lin Xue protested.

“Are you out of your mind? I have no idea how many times I’ve already had sex,” Fang Min said, rolling her eyes.

“Uh… well, you have to promise you’ll find me!” Lin Xue said, worried.

“Of course! We’re best friends,” Fang Min declared, brimming with confidence.

“Then let’s start, but be careful,” Zhang Song added.

“All right!”

Night fell. In a small grove, Lin Xue clutched a black cat to her chest, while Zhang Song, Fang Yong, and Fang Min watched from a distance.

“Here’s what happens: the three of us will turn around and count from one to ten. In that time, Lin Xue, you’ll walk deeper into the forest. When we finish counting, we’ll come looking for you. If we can’t find you within half an hour—”

“Lin Xue, remember this—it’s important. After half an hour, you get one chance to release the black cat. The cat will dispel the ghost’s concealment, and we’ll hear its meows and find you. You must stick with the cat—don’t lose it, no matter what!” Fang Min instructed gravely.

“Promise you won’t give up on me—you have to find me!” Lin Xue said anxiously, tightening her grip on the black cat before turning and heading into the trees.

“Don’t worry, we will!”

With that, Fang Min, Zhang Song, and Fang Yong turned their backs.

“One!”

“Two!”

“Three!”

“…!”

“Seven!”

“Eight!”

“Nine!”

“Ten!”

They turned around, searching for signs of where Lin Xue had gone.

Zhang Song, cocky as ever, said, “The soil’s soft here. We’ll find her footprints easily and catch up in no time!”

“Ghosts will shield her, it won’t be that easy,” Fang Min retorted, already beginning the search.

Fang Yong followed closely. “Let’s hope nothing bad happens,” he said.

Together, the three followed Lin Xue’s trail as best they could.

Meanwhile, deeper in the woods, Lin Xue hugged her black cat tightly as she walked on.

“Why did we have to play such a ridiculous ghost game? I just hope we can get rid of that little ghost,” she muttered, complaining to herself as she moved forward.

Unbeknownst to her, a dark shadow was silently approaching, moving beside her, almost like a human figure.

“How long have I been walking? My feet hurt,” Lin Xue said, sinking down against a tree and removing her high heels to rub her aching toes.

“I should have changed into flats—my feet are killing me,” she grumbled.

A chilly night breeze swept through, and suddenly Lin Xue felt the urge to relieve herself. Glancing around to be sure she was alone, she nervously loosened her pants. “No one’s here, it should be fine—please don’t hold it against me,” she whispered.

Beneath her, a small, human-shaped shadow seemed to be sleeping. Just as Lin Xue began to relieve herself, her stream splashed directly onto the shadow, startling it awake and making it cough.

“What was that?” Lin Xue sensed something amiss, but when she looked around, nothing seemed out of place.

But the shadow beneath her, now furious, crawled out. The black cat in her arms recoiled in terror at the sight of it.

The shadow bared its teeth and let out a cry, scaring the cat so badly it darted away at once.

“Where are you going? Don’t run!” Lin Xue, who couldn’t see anything, watched her cat flee for no apparent reason. Remembering Fang Min’s warning not to lose the cat, she quickly fastened her pants and hurried after it.

But in that instant, a small, shadowy hand seized her ankle. Caught off guard, Lin Xue tripped and struck her head on a rock, passing out cold.

“Cough!”