"Ah! What is that...?" Xiaoying screamed and hid behind me in terror.
That made me feel oddly accomplished. Even martial arts experts aren't as calm as I am when facing ghosts. Though, to be honest, I wasn't doing much better. Seeing that eerie face made me want to hide behind her instead.
"Don't panic. It might be an illusion. Let's act like we saw nothing, turn around, and walk forward without looking back," I said, hastily turning around. Xiaoying followed suit but extended her smooth, delicate hand to grip mine.
My heart skipped a beat. She's definitely doing this on purpose, taking advantage of me, I thought. Out of consideration for her dignity and a sense of duty to protect her, I reluctantly accepted the gesture. Damn, I'm becoming more shameless by the day.
"Meow..." A sudden cat's meow from behind sent shivers down both our spines. It was the same kind of cry that had led everyone into this underground palace. Wu Long had called it a "cat spirit." That term might need no explanation for many, as there are countless folk tales about cat spirits.
Take my hometown, for instance. I once heard a supposedly true story: A cat was buried beneath a jujube tree, but the jujube wood's protective aura caused the cat's soul to suffer intense torment. Its mournful cries disrupted the household night after night. Eventually, the family called in a feng shui master to dig up the cat's body and toss it into a pond. However, this broke another taboo. Cats tormented after death should never touch water. The yin energy in water would turn the soul into a vengeful cat spirit.
Seeking vengeance, the cat spirit doesn't just target its owner. According to legend, it must kill ten people to stop. It's not just revenge, though; it's seeking substitutes. By taking ten lives, the cat spirit can move on to reincarnation and perhaps return as a human in its next life. Its method of killing is simple—possession. The host stops eating and drinking, slowly wasting away. Eyewitnesses claim they've seen possessed women crawl up walls to ceilings, much like what Moxi did earlier.
In the hometown tale, the cat spirit killed nine people before a master finally exorcised it when it targeted the tenth victim. I used to think these stories were hearsay, but now? I believe. Cat spirits are real. Remembering what I saw in the Samsara Pool—my past life as a butcher who killed cats and my destined death by a cat spirit in this life—made my hair stand on end.
"Why is there a cat here? Is it a cat spirit?" Xiaoying asked shakily.
"Don't worry. I can handle it!" I reassured her, trying to sound confident. Deep down, I was scrambling. My talismans were soaked and ruined, the peach wood sword was left behind as a makeshift raft, and the red thread? Long gone, blocking the door earlier.
"Are you okay? You don't look good," Xiaoying asked with concern.
Embarrassed, I muttered, "I'm fine, just looking for my tools." Thankfully, I still had a bagua mirror in my bag. I drew blood from my finger, wrote a command character on the mirror, and handed it to Xiaoying. "Hold this in front of your chest. It's a protective charm. Don't lose it."
"But what about you? If I take this, how will you protect yourself?" she asked, trying to return it.
"Don't worry. I'm a ghost-hunting master now. I don't need a mere trinket like this," I bluffed. In truth, I silently cursed myself for not bringing two mirrors.
"Meow… meow..."
This time, the meows multiplied, dozens echoing around us. I froze. Even two bagua mirrors might not be enough now. Xiaoying and I turned to see the half-human, half-cat face grinning sinisterly at us from the shadows.
Aside from that grotesque face, nothing else was visible in the darkness. "Damn it," I muttered. "There's no way this is just one cat spirit. It's a whole swarm."
The eerie face slowly opened its mouth, adorned with a few stray whiskers, and spoke in an alluring voice:
"Refuse a toast, take the penalty. You'll pay for the sins of your past life."
Xiaoying and I exchanged a horrified glance. This voice was identical to the one we'd heard at the edge of the pool earlier. It wasn't human; it was this monstrous creature.
"Enough chatter! If you know what's good for you, scram, or I'll scatter your soul to the winds!" I bluffed again, desperately thinking of a way out.
"You talk big. Soon, we'll meet again—though it'll be your spirit meeting mine!" the twisted face sneered before vanishing into the shadows. Suddenly, the cat cries grew deafeningly close, accompanied by an oppressive, icy aura that seeped into our bones.
The mental strain was unbearable. Death by drowning might've been quicker and less agonizing than this. Then, inspiration struck me—the techniques Xiaoning taught me!
Her teachings on Qimen Dunjia included a method to obscure oneself from spirits: the Yin-Yang Dual Escape, which, when combined, could dispel ghosts and create an opening. Though incomplete, the spells didn't require talismans—only written incantations.
Reinvigorated, I grabbed a brush from my bag and turned to Xiaoying. "Lend me some of your blood!"
"How much do you need?" she asked without hesitation.
"Just enough for a few characters." I reopened a scab on my finger, collecting the blood in my palm, and caught her dripping blood as well.
Xiaoning had explained that our combined blood—mine yang, hers yin—would dramatically amplify the spell's potency.
"That's enough!" I said as Xiaoying squeezed out even more blood. Meanwhile, the cat cries grew louder, and the cold seeped deeper into us. She covered her ears, trembling, her face as pale as paper.
With a trembling hand, I wrote the character Escape (遁) on my left forearm, chanting as I went:
"Yin and Yang combine, hidden in three-five. Among yin spirits, within ghostly forms. I summon the Eastern Envoy, General Dazhong Tiangang, and the Great Green Emperor, Jia Yi Deity. Descend to guard my body!"
As I finished the incantation, I waved my arm, and the cacophony of cat cries abruptly stopped. The oppressive chill eased slightly. Though we were hidden for now, the effect wouldn't last long. My meager skills could only partially mask us. To leave safely, I'd have to drive the spirits away entirely.
"They stopped!" Xiaoying exclaimed in surprise, glancing around.
"Shh!" I hushed her. Then, on my wrist, I wrote the character Disperse (散) and whispered:
"I beseech the gods to scatter these spirits!"
With that, the freezing aura dissipated entirely, replaced by a comforting warmth.
Relief flooded me. First, I marveled at the efficacy of Qimen Dunjia techniques. Second, I felt pride in successfully dispelling the cat spirits with my own skills.