"Master, what should I do now? That female ghost said she will keep haunting me and find an opportunity to kill me."
I looked absolutely miserable. Lately, it felt like everything bad was happening to me. At the funeral home, I would wake up in the hallway sometimes, and I was surrounded by strange events every day. Now even a ghost wants my life.
Since I was a child, the worst thing I did was secretly admire my goddess at university and act a little creepy. But why is all of this happening to me now?
"Hmm, now that you have this jade pendant, you can forget about living a peaceful life. Even if you manage to avoid the evil spirits chasing you, if you can't control what's inside this pendant, you'll still die. If you want, you can join my sect, become my disciple, and I'll teach you some ways to protect your life. At least you'll have a skill and won't starve."
Hearing the master's words, I was utterly confused. What was he even talking about?
Because he had helped me a few times without charging me, was he now asking me to become his disciple and deal with ghosts every day? And what kind of skill was fortune-telling? If anything, learning that might make me starve faster.
Seeing the bewilderment on my face, the master added, "You may think I'm just a fortune-teller, but you haven't stepped into this world yet. Once you do, everything you thought you knew about the world, all your knowledge, will be completely useless."
His words made me even more hesitant. At first, all I wanted was to raise enough money for my grandfather's medical bills, and I ended up getting involved with this jade pendant. But now, everything had gone far beyond what I had expected.
When I first got the jade pendant, I knew something would happen. Maybe I would still have taken it, because without my grandfather, I wouldn't even be alive now. If I had to kill to save him, I would have done it.
"Do I even have a choice?"
I was wearing a jade pendant that could take my life at any moment, with a ghost constantly chasing me, and I worked with corpses for a living.
As the master said, if I entered this world, I would be like a newborn, but at least I had the chance to learn. If I died, everything would be over, and my grandfather would have no one to care for him.
"You can choose not to join my sect. I will still try to help you as much as I can," the master said.
After hearing this, I fell silent.
The master's meaning was clear: whether I became his disciple or not, he would do his best to help me, but my survival would depend on my luck.
At this point, I had no other choice.
I nodded slowly. "Master, I've made up my mind. I will become your disciple."
The master nodded and motioned for me to follow him. We entered the villa and went down into the basement. There, I saw a large altar with a portrait of a man dressed in ancient robes, holding a seven-foot sword. His fierce eyes were full of authority.
The master instructed me to kneel on the cushion in front of the altar. He then turned to the counter, lit three incense sticks, and handed them to me.
"Once you offer incense to the ancestor, you will officially be my disciple."
I took the incense sticks and bowed three times in front of the altar.
While I was bowing, the master explained, "I'm not like other Taoist priests. I'm a Yin-Yang successor. This is why, even though I have real abilities, I don't live a luxurious life. I cannot go against my ancestor's teachings. Once I teach you these skills, you cannot use them to make money. Even if you earn money, it must be donated to charity. Otherwise, you'll die faster than you can imagine..."
After the ceremony, the master handed me a book titled "Yin-Yang Transmission" written in traditional Chinese characters.
"Master, I don't understand anything about your world. Even if you give me this book, I won't know how to use it."
Although the master accepted me as his disciple, he didn't want me to call him "Master." I simply followed his instructions.
"Read it on your own. If you don't understand something, come ask me. But I suggest you memorize it as quickly as possible."
As he spoke, the master turned to grab something from another room. He returned with three talismans drawn in red cinnabar. They looked like the scribblings of a child with a pen.
"Master, what are these for?"
"The ghost said she would keep haunting you, and this is no joke. We need to investigate. If everything could be solved easily, we wouldn't need to do this. Once we uncover the truth, she might leave."
I was still confused. "So, after I help her get justice, she will leave me alone?"
"Don't believe in ghosts. If you trust them, you're already too close to death." The master glared at me.
Feeling embarrassed, I realized I was still new to the world and hadn't learned how treacherous things could be, let alone ghosts. I decided not to ask any more questions.
The ghost I saw in the restroom—I had only briefly glanced at her. I didn't even remember her face clearly, so finding her now was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Before I could voice this doubt, the master made a phone call. After a short conversation, he handed me the phone and said, "Tell him about the man you saw."
I hesitated but took the phone. The voice on the other end sounded oddly subservient, which made me wonder just who this mysterious master really was.
I described the man's features as best as I could remember. The person on the other end sounded confused but promised to handle it and hung up.
That night, I returned to the funeral home. I had planned to ask for leave, but by the time I went to find the director, it was already time for work.
Pushing the body around, I couldn't shake the female ghost's words from my mind. Every step I took, I felt like she might suddenly appear to take my life.