Chapter Nine: Business Arrives

When the elder thief said that, everyone on Fengshui Street smiled. This street was filled with fortune tellers, geomancers, and name consultants. These people could predict fate and alter luck, but they weren’t necessarily skilled at exorcising ghosts. Even those who could handle spirits typically dealt only with stray wandering souls; none dared to confront truly malevolent or vengeful ghosts.

The elder thief was essentially telling them: “My family isn’t here to steal your business. If you refer clients to me, I owe you a favor.” Such a mutually beneficial arrangement left no room for objection—who could resist? And so, somewhat muddled but triumphant, I ended up claiming the title of “Little Third Master” of Fengshui Street.

After the guests had left, the person I had scared unconscious earlier quietly slipped into my house to settle the remaining payment with the elder thief, repeatedly urging him to hurry and handle the matter behind him. The elder thief had promised to open the door for a major client—if this deal went through, that person could live comfortably for seven or eight years. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have risked getting involved in something that might ruin his standing on Fengshui Street.

I asked the elder thief, “I thought you’d retired. Are you still willing to get involved?”

He shrugged dismissively. “You don’t understand. I have to help him openly and grandly—that shows our family’s generosity and righteousness. Otherwise, who will carry your sedan chair in the future? Besides, I’m just acting as a consultant. Most of the work has to be done by that person himself. What do these wealthy clients really understand? If I open the door and just let out a fart inside, they’d take it for some kind of divine aura.”

“Enough of this. Don’t worry about it. Just focus on being the Little Third Master.”

I was about to ask how to find someone from the Thirteen Ghost Gates when, a few days later, the elder thief brought me a client. He said this young man was probably a descendant of the Thirteen Ghost Gates.

He led in a boy of about seventeen or eighteen. “I’ve retired for good. If you have anything, talk to my grandson. I’ll go pour you some tea.”

As the elder thief turned away, he winked at me, signaling me to coax information from the boy.

I gestured for him to sit. “What do you want me to do?”

The young man eyed me cautiously. “Can you help me? I heard that experts know what someone’s here for without being told.”

I smiled. “If you came to a fortune teller or a spirit medium, maybe they could tell. I’m not in that business. Otherwise, why don’t you ask around Fengshui Street who can take your case?”

He hesitated for a long moment before turning to leave. The elder thief gave me a thumbs-up. “Well played.”

Everyone on Fengshui Street either obeyed our Yuan family or spoke in our favor. Without me saying a word, they would talk him into coming back. I just had to wait and convince him.

Soon enough, the boy was brought back by a good-natured old man from the street.

The old man bowed slightly. “Little Third Master, this kid doesn’t understand things. He offended you. I think he’s quite pitiful. Please be merciful and help him. If you don’t intervene, no one here can handle it.”

Before I could say a word, the boy dropped to his knees. “Little Third Master, please save me! I’ll work like a beast to repay you.”

“What’s going on here? Such a big boy, and he’s just kneeling like that?” The elder thief pulled him up and sat him down.

The boy began to cry, gasping for breath. The elder thief comforted him and gave me a knowing look.

I ignored the boy’s sobs and went to see the old man out. When I returned, I overheard the elder thief say, “I’m taking charge of your case. Whether my grandson wants to or not, he will take it.”

“But there’s one condition: you have to tell the truth. If you lie, not even the gods can help you.”

The boy wiped his tears and choked out, “My name is Qin Qing. I live in Sandaohezi Village. A few days ago, during my sister’s wedding, she suddenly disappeared.”

I frowned. “Your sister? Your real sister?”

“Yeah.” Qin Qing nodded. “It wasn’t a real wedding. I was doing it to save her.”

Hearing this, I began to understand. “Don’t panic. Calm down and tell me everything slowly.”

Qin Qing took a sip of water and gradually steadied himself as he spoke. “My parents died when I was young. It’s just been my sister and me, depending on each other. She quit school early to support me. To me, no one was more important than her.

“She was known as the most beautiful girl in ten villages around. Anyone who saw her couldn’t take their eyes off her.

“Boys from neighboring villages often loitered near our house just to catch a glimpse of her from afar.

“I planned to go to university, earn money, and give her a grand wedding.

“But then she suddenly went mad. She’d either sit blankly in a corner or crawl into the firewood pile. Sometimes, she’d lie face down in the wash basin drinking water.

“I even quit school to take her to see doctors everywhere. Several hospitals later, the doctors said she had hysteria. They prescribed many medicines, but nothing worked.

“The village elders told me to find a great sorcerer or spirit medium. They said she might have an evil illness.

“My sister’s symptoms did seem like an evil affliction.

“In the Northeast, ‘evil illness’ means someone is possessed by something. The symptoms resemble hysteria, but regular doctors can’t cure it. Only a powerful sorcerer can.”

Qin Qing continued, “I took her to the village chief’s house. The chief used to be a respected spirit medium but stopped practicing due to age.

“When my sister entered, she sat on the kang stove and sneered coldly at the chief. After a few words, the chief kicked us both out.

“I left my sister in the yard and returned alone to ask the chief for advice.

“He told me a great sorcerer had taken a liking to my sister and wanted to marry her. No matter who else we saw, it wouldn’t help. He said to prepare for the worst. On an auspicious day, my sister might be gone.

“I broke out in a cold sweat. I’d heard stories about those chosen by sorcerers or spirits: first they suffer an evil illness, then one day they vanish without a trace.

“My sister crouching in corners and hiding in the firewood pile—that was the work of the immortals grinding her down.

“Instinctively, I looked at my sister again. She turned her head and locked eyes with me. Her gaze was inhuman, enough to send chills down my spine.

“I knew I wouldn’t get any answers here, so I hurried home with her.

“I didn’t tell anyone what the chief said. I just said I was going to buy medicine and left my sister with a neighbor for a couple of days.

“But in truth, I went back to the chief and asked how to save her.”