Chapter 102
A small child, who had never met his father, followed closely behind his father’s ghost. Seeing his father effortlessly dispatch the ghost that broke through their window, he jumped up and down excitedly in the living room, shouting, “Dad! You really are a sharpshooter, like Mom said! I’ll tell my classmates I do have a dad!”
From this day forward, countless children would eagerly anticipate New Year’s Eve.
A young person, estranged from their parents, prepared to spend this terrifying New Year’s Eve alone in their rented apartment when the ghosts of their friends, who died in a car accident, floated in. Seeing them frozen in fear, they quickly dispatched the approaching malicious ghost, then shouted, “What are you waiting for?! Support!”
“You were the only survivor, how lucky! Now you can burn offerings for us! We’re not broke anymore!”
Tang Xueshan, wielding a paper weapon, coordinated with Yuan Song while wailing dramatically, ‘I caught these for you! Don’t share with 014! Not even one!’
Yuan Song chuckled, swinging his soul-snatching rope, “I know.”
Whether human or ghost, love empowered them.
The malicious spirits were bewildered. This… wasn’t how it was supposed to be!
Weren’t the living easy prey? How did they suddenly have weapons?!
They were caught off guard.
[My mom made dumplings the night before she passed, we had a fight, I didn’t eat them, my biggest regret, and just now, she protected me from a ghost like she used to protect me from stray dogs when I was little, she said she would never be angry with me.]
[My grandpa said he came through the Eastern Gate, no white bag, but he protected our family, that kind old man, he was so fierce, threatened to drag those ghosts down with him and complain to Yama!]
[Why only those from the Southern Gate get gifts? What about us?! Our windows are covered in bloody handprints!]
Then a netizen explained, [Those paper weapons are from Yang Xing. Limited production, that scholar did his best.]
Many initially thought it was the shoe tycoon, but then they remembered Doctor Wu’s other patient.
So it was him.
Someone even went to the Beijing University of Science and Technology page, asking them to burn a degree certificate for Yang Xing, he deserved it.
But Yang Xing’s inventions weren’t for everyone, many families defenseless as their windows cracked, despair creeping into their hearts.
“Dou Bao, don’t! I’d rather die and become a ghost! You’re just a dog! You’ll be destroyed fighting them!” a netizen shouted, holding back their dog, who was barking fiercely at the ghosts outside, his fear masked by his resolve.
Once a protected child, now a protector.
Inside a house, a family screamed, waving talismans, throwing chopped ginger, garlic, even protective herbs, retreating as bloody handprints appeared on their white tiles, watching in horror as a blood-soaked ghost crawled towards them, its movements slow, deliberate, toying with its prey.
A loud bang, someone kicking their door.
Hopeless, a ghost inside, more outside?
Then the door opened, familiar uniforms, several police officers engaging the ghost, easily subduing the Sadako impersonator, binding her with her own hair.
Then they turned, smiled reassuringly, then, as if remembering, showed their IDs – Special Events Management Bureau.
The stunned family, after the officers dragged her away, immediately posted about it online.
[What just happened? Aren’t police officers human? They touched the ghost! Even fought it! I thought I was hallucinating!]
[+1, my family came through the Western Gate, no gifts, we were doomed, then special police officers appeared! So cool!]
[Police officers have merit points, reincarnation priority. Family protects us because of blood ties, but police officers, risking their lives for strangers, they’re heroes!]
[I knew it, the government wouldn’t just abandon us!]
Wu Heng, glancing at the Xuanmen leader, heard him deny any involvement. “We know nothing about this,”
He thought of his grandfather, still not back, a quick calculation…
“Those officers must have taken a temporary Yin vision potion, that’s how they can interact with ghosts,” he explained, human weapons useless against ghosts, but enhanced by talismans, it was a different story, a powerful combination, and only shaman doctors or Taoist doctors could create such potions, the officers risking their lives.
After eighteen years of subtle supernatural occurrences, this recent escalation, the government had clearly been making preparations.
They were determined to suppress these evil spirits.
Wu Heng knew that a supernatural resurgence couldn’t be stopped by just him, it required a collective effort.
The Xuanmen leader was despondent. “They don’t trust us anymore.”
That potion, enhancing Yin vision, they knew nothing about it, must be another sect, or independent practitioners.
His voice filled with resentment, “Ancestor, oh Ancestor, you’re destroying us! We finally reached this status, and you’re throwing it all away, dragging us down with you!”
He even wondered if they suspected the entire Xuanmen, all accomplices, enemies of the state.
Reputation was everything to them.
Like a family of decorated soldiers being suddenly told they were descendants of the enemy, how could they bear such shame?
He had never seen their ancestor’s true form, even in his dreams, only a shadowy figure.
The statue? A millennium since his death, how accurate could it be?
He longed to see his ancestor!
Wu Heng said, “He won’t come out so easily. But I can force him.”
He went to the nearest well, took a green leaf from a nearby tree, cast a spell on it, and tossed it down, into the swirling, dark water, who knew where it would end up.
After an unknown amount of time, it resurfaced, slightly wilted now, in another well, and Da Bai, curled up like a snake pretzel by the well, seeing it, its anxiety growing, muttered its mantra,
‘I’ll be the Well Dragon King of all the wells! Uncle He will be proud! I want to go home,‘ it stared at the water, then, its tail flicking, grabbed the leaf, leaped into the air, shouting, ‘I will ascend!’
At that very moment, the special police officers, battling the ghosts, saw a small, silver-white snake rise from an ancient well in the city center, its eyes gleaming as it hissed, its cry echoing.
Simultaneously, the Well Dragon Kings in other wells throughout the country responded, emerging from their watery homes, hissing and roaring, their power amplified, it was almost the Year of the Snake, after all, blessed by Heaven.
Instantly, their collective power formed an invisible, yet impenetrable net, connecting all the wells and waterways.
They were just water snakes individually, bullied even by weaker demons, but united, and with Wu Heng’s power, their strength magnified.
Da Bai, looking at the dark, bubbling water in the well, its fangs bared, its body seemingly larger, almost like a python, under the moonlight, declared, “By the authority of the Well Dragon King, I command, seal all waterways!”
The well’s entrance was instantly covered by a net of spiritual energy, a seal.
A ghost, peeking out from below, its claws reaching out, recoiled with a scream of pain, not daring to try again.
Da Bai couldn’t believe it. Was… was it really that powerful?!
It turned to the special police officers, their faces a mixture of shock and awe.
Wow, just like in those dramas You Jin watched! The hero! The chosen one!
The officers, truly amazed, hadn’t expected a spirit’s intervention, there really were deities in the wells, after all.
Their leader shouted, “The wells are sealed, they can’t escape through here!”
A renewed surge of hope. The ghosts, realizing they couldn’t escape through the wells, some even hiding in the sewers, a relentless tide from the underworld, now trapped.
Wu Heng watched as the whirlpool in the well gradually subsided, a faint smile on his face.
He looked at a malicious ghost peeking out, its expression sinister. “What’s the point of all this? No reinforcements, not even a proper salary.”
The ghost shrieked, ‘That’s impossible! Our ancestor gave us all his descendants’ money, burnt as offerings, he’s paying us!’
Chen Zhao, hearing that, wanted to slap this ghost, that was their money!
Ghosts were even greedier than humans, driven by profit.
Wu Heng, his voice calm, “Did you even get paid this month?”
He tsked. “So pitiful, unpaid wages at the end of the year? Not even for New Year’s?”
The ghost stammered, ‘Perhaps… the part-timer in the Finance Department isn’t very… efficient?‘
It thought for a moment, its limited brain capacity struggling.
Weren’t they all supposed to be highly educated, a top student from a prestigious university among them, still inefficient?
Perhaps it wasn’t their specialty?
A professional job should be handled by a professional… A beast of burden for every task, right?
This… wasn’t what their ancestor had promised. They were told that the living were easy prey, but these humans, with their paper weapons and those empowered police officers,
Now, the wells sealed, their wages unpaid.
Seeing other ghosts captured, its heart sank, it wanted to run,
Then it heard a deep, benevolent voice from within the well, ‘Why scare a mere child, Doctor Wu?‘
An elderly man with white hair, in ancient attire, emerged from the well, easily bypassing the seal.
He was kind and gentle in appearance, like a harmless old grandpa, and he looked at Wu Heng, smiling faintly, ‘Long time no see, Doctor Wu. I am the elder of Xuan…’
The Xuanmen leader screamed, “What Xuanmen?! We have nothing to do with you! You can say anything, but not that! Don’t drag us down with you!“
