Chapter 26

Chapter 26

◎A Ghost Unlike a Ghost◎

Ji Nanxing brought the female ghost back home. The female ghost, for some reason, clung tightly to his back like a back-attached spirit.

Although Ji Nanxing couldn't touch these lingering ghosts when they normally restrained their yin energy, he could see them. So, even if he couldn't touch the female ghost, he would instinctively avoid her when he turned around. This meant that every time he moved or turned, he had to pause involuntarily.

Ji Nanxing looked at the female ghost following him, and she looked back at him, tilting her head slightly and blinking innocently: "When are you going to deal with me?"

Ji Nanxing simply rolled up his sleeve, and the rosary beads wrapped around his wrist immediately emitted a spiritual glow upon contact with the yin energy emanating from the female ghost.

This spiritual artifact was far more powerful than talismans. Being so close, the female ghost felt as if she had been burned by fire, let out a scream, and jumped away, hiding in a corner.

Only then did Ji Nanxing gently wipe the rosary beads, sealing the aura they emitted: "Still want to stick close?"

The female ghost shook her head pitifully.

Ji Nanxing: "Still want to be dispelled?"

The female ghost shook her head again. No one had told her that being dispelled would hurt so much, boo-hoo.

Ji Nanxing unzipped his jacket, took off his school uniform, ordered delivery on his phone, and then grabbed a change of clothes to take a shower.

The female ghost tentatively stuck out a foot from the corner after a while.

By the time Ji Nanxing finished his shower, the female ghost was already sprawled out on his sofa. Seeing him come out, she sat up straight in an instant.

Ji Nanxing ignored her, tossed his school uniform into the washing machine, and checked his class group on his phone. The class monitor would post the daily homework in the group, and since the homeroom teacher was also in the group, no one chatted—only the word "received" filled the screen.

Ji Nanxing scrolled up to find the homework. He didn't reply in the group but directly grabbed his backpack, took out the homework he needed to do, and tossed it onto the coffee table.

The female ghost saw him in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, his hair still slightly damp, sitting on the carpet and leaning over the coffee table to do his homework. He looked fair and tender, just like an ordinary high school student.

The female ghost, forgetting the pain from earlier, leaned over to glance at his homework and chuckled: "High school freshman, huh? How about it, do you need big sister to teach you? My grades were really good, you know."

Ji Nanxing ignored her and quickly finished the simplest English homework. Just as he took out his math homework, his delivery arrived.

A plate of Xinjiang stir-fried rice noodles, some grilled lamb buns, and a signature big plate chicken soon filled the coffee table with delicious food.

The female ghost couldn't eat, but that didn't stop her from craving. Having been dead for several years, she could only enjoy offerings during Qingming Festival. Normally, she couldn't eat anything.

Now, she couldn't take her eyes off the food on the coffee table: "Is this your late-night snack or dinner? Isn't it too much? You know, before people die, they get a final meal. So, before you deal with me, can I have a final meal too? I want barbecue, hotpot, fried chicken, milk tea..."

Ji Nanxing cut off her list: "I'm not the one dealing with you, why should I give you a final meal?"

The female ghost widened her eyes: "What do you mean?"

Ji Nanxing: "When the Cold Clothing Festival comes, the Taoist community will hold a Cold Clothing Ceremony. You'll be sent for salvation then."

The three major annual festivals are Qingming, Zhongyuan, and Cold Clothing.

Qingming is the day for ordinary people to worship their ancestors, clean and repair graves. Over time, it has merged with the Shangsi Festival and Cold Food Festival, becoming a single day for ancestral worship. On this day, the spiritual community also prepares for ceremonies, both to deliver wandering souls and to worship unworshipped ghosts.

Many unworshipped ghosts can have a full meal on this day.

Zhongyuan Festival, also known as the Ghost Festival, is called the Triple Yuan Festival in Taoism—Upper Yuan, Middle Yuan, and Lower Yuan. The Upper Yuan Heavenly Official bestows blessings, the Middle Yuan Earthly Official pardons sins, and the Lower Yuan Water Official relieves misfortunes.

Bestowing blessings and relieving misfortunes are beyond the current abilities of Taoist priests, so the focus is on the Earthly Official pardoning sins, which happens on the Middle Yuan day. Offerings of three animals and five fruits are made to deliver wandering souls.

In Buddhism, the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is the Ghost Festival, where offerings are made to Buddha and monks to relieve suffering in the six realms. This coincides with the Taoist Zhongyuan Festival, making July 15th the largest annual ceremony for both Buddhism and Taoism.

But since Zhongyuan Festival has already passed, the only chance to deliver lingering ghosts is during the Cold Clothing Festival.

The Cold Clothing Festival is on the first day of the tenth lunar month. As the weather turns cold, people traditionally cut paper clothes to send to their ancestors, hence the name Cold Clothing Festival.

In ancient times, the gates of the underworld would open on this day, allowing ghosts to come up and collect the clothes offered by their families to ward off the cold. Although few people celebrate the Cold Clothing Festival now, and many don't even know it exists, the Taoist community still continues the Cold Clothing Ceremony, holding salvation rituals on this day.

The female ghost calculated the time: "It's already mid-September, so I don't have much time left?"

Ji Nanxing: "The first day of the tenth lunar month is around November in the solar calendar. You still have over a month to fulfill your wishes and resolve your unresolved attachments to the mortal world."

The female ghost: "What if I don't want to be delivered?"

Ji Nanxing looked at her: "The boundary between yin and yang is clear. Every day you stay in the mortal world consumes you. Eventually, your soul will weaken and eventually dissipate."

The female ghost shrugged: "Then let it dissipate. Being human isn't that great anyway, and reincarnation is just suffering over and over."

Ji Nanxing stared into her eyes for a moment, then indifferently looked away. As he opened the delivery box, he said: "Suit yourself. As long as you don't harm anyone or cause trouble in the mortal world, whether you stay or go is your choice."

The female ghost exclaimed: "Really? What do you call your profession? Taoist? Taoist priest? Don't you have to catch ghosts whenever you see them?"

Ji Nanxing: "Everyone has their own way of doing things. I won't interfere with you, but that doesn't mean other Taoist priests won't."

Lingering ghosts shouldn't stay in the mortal world because staying requires energy. Over time, some ghosts grow weaker and, driven by survival instincts, start consuming living souls to absorb energy. Even if they don't want to harm others, they might end up doing so uncontrollably.

That's why many Taoist priests capture lingering ghosts as soon as they find them, either helping them resolve their attachments or forcibly delivering them, ensuring they don't linger in the mortal world.

Ji Nanxing put down his chopsticks, gently touched the golden bell, and while the female ghost wasn't paying attention, tapped it on her forehead.

The female ghost instinctively stepped back, touching her forehead: "What did you do to me?"

Ji Nanxing: "If you don't want to be delivered, I won't force you, but I can't let you stay freely either. The golden bell has placed a seal on you. If you do evil, the bell's power will activate instantly, dispelling you."

The female ghost covered her forehead in awe: "Impressive!"

Even though she was already a ghost, it didn't stop her from rebuilding her worldview that day. If someone had told her that their world was experiencing a spiritual resurgence with immortals and cultivators, she would have believed it!

Assured that she wouldn't be dealt with immediately, the female ghost immediately switched to talkative mode.

She was curious why Ji Nanxing's home wasn't what she had imagined—no dark, mystical atmosphere, no red-glowing altars like in TV dramas, and no terrifying talismans plastered everywhere.

His place looked like an ordinary, unremarkable residence.

No wonder she had clung so tightly to Ji Nanxing's back when she entered, afraid of stepping on some hidden danger.

Ji Nanxing let her babble on while he quietly finished his delivery, cleaned up the trash, and placed it by the door. When he returned, he opened his homework again.

The female ghost hadn't talked to anyone in a long time because no one could see her. Now that she finally had someone who could see and hear her, even if that person was a ghost catcher, it didn't dampen her enthusiasm.

She leaned on the coffee table, looking at the books Ji Nanxing had placed aside, and said: "Ji Nanxing, your name is Ji Nanxing, right? How about I call you Young Taoist Master? I feel like if I call you by your name, you might just casually dispel me if you're in a bad mood. My name is Xie Paner."

"Young Taoist Master, can I play with your tablet? You don't even have a TV at home, I'm so bored! I want to see how many seasons the reality show I was following has reached. It's been so long since I last watched TV!"

Ji Nanxing asked: "Didn't you watch it at Teacher Liang's place?"

Xie Paner instantly fell silent, then after a while, she realized: "That animated paper doll was yours? I didn't harm anyone, I just... had nowhere to go. I just wanted to visit my teacher sometimes. Teacher Liang was my homeroom teacher, she was really kind to me. I promise I won't go there again, I'll stay far away from the living, really, I promise!"

Ji Nanxing glanced at her but didn't say much: "The tablet is on the sofa."

Xie Paner's face lit up with a bright smile: "Alright!"

Ghosts don't need to sleep and aren't particularly afraid of light. What they're scared of is the blazing midday sun and the yang energy from living people.

When Ji Nanxing woke up, he saw Xie Paner sitting on the bay window ledge in his living room.

His west-facing living room gets no direct morning sunlight, but with its many large windows, it's still very bright. Xie Paner sat in the bright, spotless room, and if not for her ghostly pale skin, she might have been mistaken for a living person from afar.

A sweet, innocent girl of seventeen or eighteen, who should have been a flower blooming in the morning light, but instead withered and died.

Ji Nanxing lowered his gaze, went to the small inner room to pay respects to his ancestors, lit an incense stick, and placed it before Xie Paner.

Xie Paner instinctively took a few whiffs and felt a wave of bliss, even whimpering: "Is this what it's like to be offered sacrifices? I feel like a stray ghost turned into a pet!"

Ji Nanxing ignored her, put on his school uniform, pinned his ID badge, and got ready to leave.

Xie Paner grabbed his arm: "You're going to school?"

Ji Nanxing flicked her hand away: "I'm not keeping you here. You don't have to stick around."

Xie Paner: "Can I come to school with you? I'm so bored by myself."

Ji Nanxing: "The school environment naturally restrains lingering ghosts. Since you didn't die at school, you'll have to stay in a wooden token if you want to come with me. It's better to just play with the tablet to pass the time."

Seeing an opportunity, Xie Paner quickly said: "No, take me with you! Let me soak up some culture and relive the joys of school!"

Ji Nanxing glanced at Xie Paner, then went to the small ancestral room and retrieved a wooden token. The small token, about an inch square, was carved with talismans and had a red string through a hole at the top: "This is refined yin wood that can hold a ghostly body. It's worth more than gold. I'll let you use it, but what's in it for me?"

Xie Paner, as a lingering ghost, never thought she'd have to spend money even after death. Her pockets were emptier than her face, and after years of being dead, she hadn't even changed her clothes. But she really wanted to go to school, so she bargained: "What if I clean your house to pay you back?"

Ji Nanxing: "I already have a cleaner."

Xie Paner: "I can do shady stuff for you. Anyone bullying you at school? I can scare them!"

Ji Nanxing: "Do I look like I get bullied?"

Though Ji Nanxing had been accommodating and hadn't used force, he clearly wasn't someone who could be easily bullied.

Xie Paner racked her brain but had nothing to offer.

Ji Nanxing wasn't running a charity. Seeing it was getting late, he took the token and headed for the door.

Xie Paner panicked and grabbed him again: "Then I'll do your homework for you! I'll take care of all your homework! Please, I want to go out and have fun."

Ji Nanxing looked at her clasping her hands and rubbing them together, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth: "Fine, let's try it for a day. If you mess up my homework, tomorrow you can go wherever it's cooler."

Xie Paner cheered, tugging at Ji Nanxing's sleeve and jumping up and down: "I get to go to school again! Let's go!"