Chapter 30 Part 2
One netizen, thoroughly spooked, was about to go to sleep. Remembering Wu Heng’s warning during the live stream, he quickly hung a string of red chili peppers by his window.
Just as he reached the window, a piece of yellow joss paper drifted in, sticking firmly to the glass! If it weren’t for the screen window, it would have blown inside.
Was someone burning joss paper downstairs, and it happened to be blown up by the wind, or…?
Remembering the wedding red packet, the netizen screamed, “Ah—!!”
Countless netizens all over the country screamed in terror.
The 4.44 yuan from the wedding red packet wasn’t deposited into their Shark platform wallets, it was cash!
Doctor Wu Heng’s prediction was right. Midnight on the Hungry Ghost Festival, when the gates of hell closed, was truly a time for malicious ghosts.
Some things were best avoided.
He Yunxiao and his friends were glad they didn’t have the habit of grabbing every red packet they saw, but they were also anxious.
“It’s been five minutes, I wonder how Doctor Wu Heng is doing.”
Wu Heng could usually save patients from the brink of death remotely, yet there was no news even after he went there personally.
Shi Xuan was still sitting inside the circle, quietly looking at his chat with Wu Heng on his phone.
Green Hair rubbed his arms and nudged Yellow Hair with his elbow. “Are you feeling cold?”
Yellow Hair looked at him with disdain. “It gets colder at night, don’t you know that? Did you get a zero on your geography test?”
Green Hair said, “Huh? But I didn’t choose geography for the college entrance exam.”
With that, the two, along with White Hair, huddled closer to Li Hao and Wang Dong, staring at Shi Xuan inside the circle and He Yunxiao surrounded by two snakes.
They had given up on getting the same treatment as Shi Xuan, the Tang Sanzang.
As for He Yunxiao…
Li Hao stared at He Yunxiao, who flicked the fawning little white snake away with his pinky, holding only the little gray snake, and muttered, “If only I could give birth to snake babies too.”
Wang Dong and the others nodded, murmuring, “Yeah, everyone can give birth, why can’t we?”
Guo Jiang continued screaming, running blindly with his eyes closed. He didn’t know where he was, but when he finally couldn’t run anymore and opened his eyes, he saw a dilapidated City God Temple.
Guo Jiang bent over, panting, and muttered, “How did I get to the City God Temple? This seems to be the abandoned one at the east gate, scheduled for demolition.”
He had heard of the City God Temple, the City God inside was a local deity of the underworld. But he wasn’t sure if an abandoned one still had any power.
As Guo Jiang hesitated whether to enter, a familiar chill ran down his spine.
As he tensed, the coldness reached his ear, a soft, giggling voice saying, “Jiang Jiang, perfect timing, let’s go in and register our marriage.”
“Let’s go.”
Guo Jiang didn’t even have the courage to turn around. This was his girlfriend, Zhao Li’s voice.
So, he hadn’t managed to escape her after all. He had been led here like a dog, and this was Zhao Li’s destination. All his efforts were in vain.
Registering their marriage here, what kind of marriage certificate would that be? A ghost marriage certificate?
Zhao Li affectionately took his arm, her head leaning against his stiff shoulder. “Let’s go in, hubby.”
Guo Jiang screamed again. He didn’t understand why ghosts enjoyed hearing the screams of the living.
He didn’t dare to enter, running around frantically outside the temple, unsure where to escape.
Zhao Li stood in the center, watching him with an amused smile, her demeanor relaxed.
“Help! Doctor Wu Heng, help!”
Guo Jiang cried out in desperation, but only the cold wind answered.
Suddenly, Guo Jiang saw a well near the entrance. Yes, City God Temples were traditional places of worship, and such buildings usually had a well!
Marrying a ghost was death, drowning in a well was also death.
Wu Heng dared to say that during the live stream, he must be able to take responsibility for his words. Besides, he had already doubted him once, why doubt him a second time?
With a desperate cry, Guo Jiang jumped into the moss-covered, almost dry well. Water splashed, a chilling wave engulfing him.
Water rushed into his mouth and nose, and Guo Jiang, fighting his panic, forced himself to hold his breath.
The female ghost, staring at the well, her expression changing slightly.
The existence of deities relied on people’s worship. This dilapidated, abandoned City God Temple’s deity had lost its power.
And the well in the temple usually had an owner, the water snake inside was the Well Dragon King.
Although well water was Yin, they, as female ghosts, wouldn’t dare approach a well with an owner.
However…
The female ghost didn’t approach the well, instead sitting down nearby, chuckling softly, “Guo Jiang, you’ll drown if you don’t come out. We can still register our marriage even if you’re dead.”
Guo Jiang despaired completely: “…”
She was waiting for him like a spider waiting for a fly.
Guo Jiang’s face turned red from holding his breath, he was reaching his limit. He tightly covered his mouth and nose.
All sorts of strange thoughts crossed his mind.
He would be Zhao Li’s husband after death anyway, might as well be now, it wouldn’t be as painful.
In his daze, a hand grabbed the back of his shirt collar.
A clear, soothing voice whispered in his ear, “Hold your breath for thirty more seconds.”
That voice…
“Hubby, are you coming out?”
The female ghost waited for a while but didn’t see Guo Jiang emerge. She cautiously approached the well and looked inside, her eyes widening in shock.
“Huh? Where is he?”
Wu Heng dragged Guo Jiang out of the well, seeing him lying motionless on the ground, his body covered in scratches.
Wu Heng pressed a point on Guo Jiang’s throat, and the man coughed up a mouthful of well water, finally waking up.
Guo Jiang sat up, dazed, and stared at the young man in ethnic clothing, the snake-shaped earring in his left ear gleaming under the moonlight.
“D-doctor Wu Heng?”
Seeing Wu Heng, Guo Jiang felt a surge of relief, his tense body relaxing as he burst into tears.
“We, we escaped?”
Wu Heng said, “About a kilometer away from that abandoned City God Temple.”
Wu Heng looked at the scratches on Guo Jiang’s body, caused by their journey through the nearest underwater channels. Even if Guo Jiang was good at holding his breath, he was still an ordinary person, Wu Heng could only bring him this far.
But his ancient shamanic powers seemed to be recovering, probably due to the merits he accumulated from treating patients.
Guo Jiang didn’t know how Wu Heng found him, even the police hadn’t been able to.
He had called Wu Heng a quack before, yet he still came to save him without holding a grudge. A benevolent doctor indeed.
Guo Jiang placed all his hopes on Wu Heng, ignoring his injuries. “Can we go back now? Have we truly escaped?”
Wu Heng looked at the sky. “The gates of hell are about to close. I can ask an Yin messenger to send her back.”
Guo Jiang was shocked, Wu Heng really did have connections in the underworld?
Hearing Wu Heng’s solution, Guo Jiang quickly said, “Then please send her back.”
Wu Heng looked at Guo Jiang. “Are you sure? She can still come back for you next Hungry Ghost Festival.”
This was just treating the symptoms, not the root cause.
Wu Heng thought for a moment, then said sincerely, “Another year, and you’ll be considered an older single man.”
Guo Jiang: “…”
Guo Jiang touched his face. Was he so handsome that he wasn’t even aware of it, making the female ghost so obsessed that she would come back next Hungry Ghost Festival to marry him?
He remembered Wu Heng mentioning during Wang Qiang’s consultation that spirits were different from humans, they had obsessions, and they were stubborn.
If this happened again next year, he might not be so lucky to be rescued by Doctor Wu Heng.
Guo Jiang wiped his tears, gritted his teeth, and said resolutely, “Doctor Wu Heng, I’ll do whatever you say, I’ll listen to you.”
Wu Heng smiled faintly. He liked patients who followed his instructions and didn’t self-diagnose.
Zhao Li was furious. She hadn’t expected to lose her husband, right under her nose!
Could it be the work of the dying City God Temple’s Well Dragon King?
No, the current Well Dragon Kings were just spirit snakes, not even Jiao Dragons, they couldn’t even defeat ordinary malicious ghosts, how could they possibly take Guo Jiang away?
Zhao Li sniffed the cold air, her eyes narrowing.
She immediately followed the scent, floating and floating, until she finally saw a familiar figure, and an unfamiliar one.
The female ghost shouted, “Guo Jiang, hubby!”
Zhao Li descended from the sky, her pale claws reaching for Guo Jiang’s arm.
“Smack—” Wu Heng slapped her hand with a thermometer. “Stay put, fill out this form first.”
Zhao Li recoiled from the hot thermometer, staring blankly as the young man handed her an A4 paper. She looked down and saw the words “Premarital Medical Examination Form for Ghost Marriages,” with a list of examination items below.
Zhao Li was dumbfounded, exclaiming, “Who are you? Since when does the underworld’s Civil Affairs Bureau require premarital checkups for ghost marriages? It’s not mandatory! It was only mandatory when I was alive!”
The young man said confidently, “Yes, it is. Today is the Hungry Ghost Festival, the gates of hell are open, many single ghosts are out looking for partners. To improve marriage and birth rates, and to increase the underworld’s population, a new premarital checkup department has been established.”
Wu Heng calmly introduced himself. “Hello, I’m the newly appointed doctor for ghost marriage premarital checkups. You can call me Xiao Wu or Doctor Wu.”
Zhao Li’s mind was still muddled, unable to keep up. Guo Jiang, his hand trembling, placed it on Zhao Li’s shoulder and said firmly, “If you’re not proactive about premarital checkups, there will be problems with the child. Get checked!”
