Chapter 25: Summoning the Soul

"What?" Boss Hu's face changed drastically. "Summon... summon the spirit?"

Ma Wenwen nodded. "At the Hour of the Rat tonight, I will summon Master Zhao's spirit to ask him myself."

Steward Ma suddenly interjected, "That... that doesn't seem appropriate, does it? Master Zhao has just passed, his soul has not yet found peace..."

"Precisely because he has just passed, his soul has not yet wandered far, making it easier to summon." Ma Wenwen turned to Boss Hu. "Who is this malevolent spirit causing harm? Don't you want to know, Boss Hu?"

Boss Hu looked hesitantly at Steward Ma. The latter gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head, but Boss Hu gritted his teeth. "Fine! As long as the grave relocation goes smoothly, whatever it takes!"

"Then what does Master Ma need to prepare?" Seeing Steward Ma thwarted, Le Dong chuckled, anxiously tossing away his cigarette butt as he asked.

"Hmm..." Ma Wenwen took a cloth bundle from his suitcase. "I have the incense, candles, and spirit money, but I need something Master Zhao used during his lifetime. Something personal would be best."

"His room is on the third floor."

Cai Kun joined in; with a 'patron' now present, his rolls of fat trembled with excitement.

"The Madam is resting on the third floor. Not everyone should go up; just one person can follow me." At Boss Hu's signal, Steward Ma said reluctantly.

Unsurprisingly, the one following him was Le Dong. The two walked in silence. Upon reaching the third floor, Le Dong noticed that the door to Boss Hu's bedroom was slightly ajar, and he could vaguely see Madam Hu lying on the bed without the slightest movement.

"It's this room."

Steward Ma's dull tone made Le Dong withdraw his gaze.

Le Dong was no stranger to Master Zhao's room. The room was kept very tidy, and that black training uniform hung by the head of the bed.

"This will do." Le Dong took down the training uniform and headed straight out. He had wanted to take a look at Boss Hu's bedroom on the way back, but with Steward Ma following closely behind, he couldn't afford to linger.

After handing the training uniform to Ma Wenwen, the latter fiddled with the ritual implements in his suitcase and said, "Also, I need people to guard the perimeter during the spirit summoning tonight." He pointed to Le Dong and Cai Kun. "Just those two."

Steward Ma frowned. "I also..."

"You? You're too old, your vital energy is insufficient." Ma Wenwen refused flatly.

Le Dong noticed a flicker of malice in Steward Ma's eyes, but it quickly returned to calm.

"By the way, wandering ghosts may appear nearby during the summoning. It's best if all living people stay near me to avoid being entangled by wild spirits." After saying this, Ma Wenwen looked at Boss Hu. "Your wife, who is recovering... it would be best for her to come down as well."

Boss Hu's face changed. "Master Zhao said she had yin energy clinging to her; after he performed the ritual on her, she needs absolute quiet and rest..."

Ma Wenwen frowned and didn't ask further.

Night fell, the moonlight hazy.

Inside the villa, everyone except Madam Hu gathered to wait for the ritual to begin.

As the time drew closer to the Hour of the Rat, the atmosphere in the villa became oppressive. Le Dong stood by the window, watching the moon slowly climb above the treetops, and crushed the last cigarette in his pack.

"Dong..."

A dull bell tolled. Everyone's expression shifted suddenly, their eyes turning in unison to Ma Wenwen, who stood in the center of the living room.

"The Hour of the Rat has arrived..."

Ma Wenwen muttered, reaching out to draw a complex formation on the floor with incense ash, placing Master Zhao's training uniform in the center.

He summoned Le Dong and Cai Kun to stand on either side, holding incense and candles.

"Remember, the incense in your hands is to appease the wandering spirits. No matter what you see later, do not leave your positions," Ma Wenwen's voice was exceptionally clear in the silence. "Otherwise, the things summoned might stay in the world of the living and haunt you!"

Le Dong felt a layer of cold sweat break out on his back. He regretted agreeing to guard Ma Wenwen, but since things had come to this, he had no choice but to bite the bullet.

"Yin spirits lead the way, the living ask of the soul. These incense and candles are for the passing spirits to enjoy freely. Once finished, if any dare to linger or refuse to leave, do not blame me for being merciless!"

Ma Wenwen’s expression was stern. He shook a bell in his hand while holding a palm-sized compass, his tone severe.

Just as everyone was analyzing Ma Wenwen's words, the villa's tightly closed doors and windows suddenly blew open. An inexplicable, freezing wind swirled through the villa like a swarm of locusts.

This caused everyone's faces to turn pale, swaying unsteadily. However, Le Dong caught a glimpse of the fact that the cold winds were intentionally or unintentionally avoiding Steward Ma, and the same was true for Hou Kui and Xiao Zhang.

Steward Ma's background was mysterious, so the wind avoiding him made sense, but what was going on with Hou Kui and Xiao Zhang?

Le Dong frowned, watching the incense in his hand burn rapidly. He suddenly recalled what Xiao Zhang had said: Ghosts are also afraid of people with blood on their hands!

One worked part-time at a slaughterhouse, and the other was likely a murderer—that would explain it clearly.

In the interval of Le Dong's analysis, the incense had burned to the bottom, and the speed had clearly slowed down.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, Ma Wenwen shook his bell and shouted:

"The incense is spent, disperse at once! If you delay my work, I shall show no mercy!"

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

The chilling wind dissipated, even closing the doors and windows on its way out. The villa fell silent once more.

A moment later, Ma Wenwen, standing in the center, let out a sigh of relief. He lit three peculiar incense sticks. The scent was not like the sandalwood found in typical temples, but rather carried a pungent, sickly-sweet odor.

The smoke rose straight up, then suddenly dispersed about a meter off the ground, forming a thin mist.

"Zhao Shouyi, return your soul to me!" Ma Wenwen gave a low shout, his bronze bell shaking gently.

The candle flames dimmed abruptly, and the temperature in the living room plummeted. Le Dong saw the white vapor of his own breath condense in front of him, and the flame of the candle in his other hand turned an eerie green.

"It's here." Ma Wenwen’s porcelain-white eyes rolled as he looked toward the center of the ash formation.

A vague human shape gradually emerged in the incense mist; it was exactly the likeness of Master Zhao.

But what made Le Dong's hair stand on end was that the spirit was not calm like in the legends; instead, it looked as if it were being pulled by invisible hands, its form constantly twisting and distorting.

The appearance of this scene made everyone's eyes widen. Especially Boss Hu—when Master Zhao was alive, at most he performed rituals or danced like a shaman; he had never displayed such arts.

Seeing Ma Wenwen pull off such a feat right at the start caused his trust in the man to skyrocket!

"Who... who is summoning me?" Master Zhao's voice seemed to come from very far away, intermittent and broken.

Ma Wenwen stepped forward. "Zhao Shouyi, tell me, how did you die?"

The spirit suddenly began to tremble violently. That aged face seemed to see something, twisting into an expression of sheer terror. "I'm willing to be punished, don't eat me... save... save me!"

Watching the wretched sight, Le Dong gasped. At this moment, Master Zhao's spirit was fading at a rate visible to the naked eye, as if something were devouring him.

"Who is eating you?" Ma Wenwen asked sternly. "Speak quickly!"

"Gold... gold..." The spirit's voice grew weaker.

Before he could finish, the spirit suddenly let out a shrill, miserable scream. His entire form tore apart like a shredded piece of cloth, dissipating without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Almost at the same moment, the summoning incense snapped in unison with a 'crack,' and the ash scattered across the floor.

"This..." Cai Kun's voice trembled. "What happened?"

Ma Wenwen's face was grave. "Something was preventing him from speaking." He held his compass, listening to the frantic spinning of the needle, and said no more.

Le Dong swallowed hard, observing the complex expressions in the eyes of those around him. As he turned back, his peripheral vision caught a blurred shadow on the stairs.

He turned his head abruptly to see a hunched figure clinging to the corner of the staircase, greedily inhaling the lingering scent in the air. The figure noticed Le Dong's gaze and slowly raised its head—it was... Madam Hu!

"Madam Hu?" Le Dong cried out involuntarily.

This shout made everyone jump. They followed his gaze, but there was nothing there.

"Le Dong... what did you see?"

Ma Wenwen put away his compass, pulled out a sword made of copper coins from somewhere, and asked urgently.

"Just now... Madam Hu was at the top of the stairs, inhaling the incense!"

Le Dong explained, but his words made Boss Hu and Steward Ma look rather displeased.

"Mr. Le... are you sure about what you saw?"

"My wife is recovering from an illness, why would she inhale incense? She isn't dead!"

"Boss Hu... perhaps we should go up and take a look."

Boss Hu's dissatisfaction vanished the moment Ma Wenwen spoke.

Even though Steward Ma still wanted to obstruct them, Boss Hu already viewed Ma Wenwen as an enlightened master, and further protest was useless.

The group hurried upstairs. While passing the room containing the bodies of Hu Dawei and his wife, Ma Wenwen pulled talismans from his satchel and pasted several on the door before moving on. However, passing the temporary memorial hall for Old Master Hu, Ma Wenwen frowned at the ghost-like symbols on the door, thought for a moment, and decided not to meddle.

Upon reaching the third floor, that slightly ajar door was very conspicuous.

"Creak..."

"Yufen?"

As the wooden door pushed open, Boss Hu habitually covered his nose and asked in a low voice.

Le Dong didn't understand Boss Hu's action at first, but as he stepped into the room, a smell of rotting cured meat mixed with heavy perfume made him almost vomit.

"Why is there such a stench of a corpse..."

Cai Kun, who was at the back of the line, voiced the question on everyone's mind.