Here Lies The Wicked - Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Do You Know What Incense Is Afraid Of?

After he investigated the Human Skin Scripture, Fang Zheng planned to properly replace the piece of paper that was left by the Paper Mache Man.

Suddenly!

The small piece of paper floated toward a certain direction without wind. Fang Zheng’s facial expression changed drastically. He quickly held the piece of paper with his hand and covered the small piece of paper with the Nine Yang Essential Qi.

Hall of Four Season Pharmacy.

The pharmacy owner, who had a small Minion apron tied around his waist, was a little flustered. He was stewing soup, braising fish, and frying Kung Pao chicken with a frying pan as dinner for both himself and his daughter. Suddenly, the frying pan in his hands stopped as he stared into the void of a certain direction. It was as if his eyes could penetrate the walls and gaze into faraway places.

The next moment, the pharmacy owner hesitated; he wore a puzzled expression. He frowned and fell into deep thought.

Until… a burnt smell and black smoke filled the entire kitchen. Little Xue, who was looking after the shop at the outer hall shouted toward the kitchen, “Dad, you burnt the food again!”

The pharmacy owner looked down toward the fish that was burnt on the pan, and the chicken cubes that fell on the floor because he failed to move the pan. He said in embarrassment, “Little Xue, it seems like we can only have instant noodles for dinner today.”

At the same time, in the neighborhood, Fang Zheng exhaled lightly and secretly rejoiced, ‘Fortunately I responded in time.’

A few moments ago, a cold and abnormal fluctuation of energy appeared on the piece of paper in his hand. Fang Zheng who was already very familiar with ghosts naturally understood what this energy fluctuation meant.

At that moment, although it was covered by the Essential Qi in order to cover up the breath of ghosts, the small piece of paper in his palm still persevered and wanted to float toward a specific direction.

Fang Zheng hesitated for a bit before he grabbed the piece of paper, about three or four centimeters in size, and hurried out the door.

He was curious and wanted to know what was going to happen.

Zhou City.

The neighborhood of Tao Huamian Garden.

Panicked footsteps broke the peacefulness of the deserted corridor. A young girl in high heels ran out of the elevator in panic and rushed toward the way of her house.

Her face was abnormally pale, her expression terrified, and she was extremely nervous. From time to time, she would turn around and look behind her, as if she was hiding from something she was afraid of. Her pale and trembling hands could not hold on to the keys and they fell to the ground a few times, causing ear-piercing noises.

It took half a minute and over ten tries before the key was successfully aimed at the keyhole. The young girl’s face showed signs of delight before she pushed the door open and hurried into the house.

After the lights in the house were switched on, the young girl was so relieved that she dropped herself onto the sofa. She greedily sought warmth and security from the tight coverage of the sofa.

When she thought about the experience tonight, she still felt afraid…

Pit-a-pat!

Suddenly, the sound of a man’s footsteps, like a quartz clock that broke, shattered the silence of the misty world. It had come from the direction of the bedroom and struck the young girl’s heart.

The young girl’s body turned stiff. She was desperate and looked towards the direction of the bedroom in panic. She wanted to scream for help, but fear invaded her body, disallowing any sound.

Pit-a pat! Pit-a-pat! The footsteps gradually walked toward the bedroom door…

Creak… The door of the bedroom made a soft sound, cracking open to a dark slit. The interior of the bedroom was dark…

‘Why!

‘Why!’

Fear engulfed the young girl’s body like cold seawater…

Knock, knock knock, a knocking sound came from the door at the main entrance while she panicked. “Hi, I am here to deliver a package.”

Ten seconds, twenty seconds… Nobody answered the door.

Knock.

Knock knock.

The sound of fingers gently knocking the door came from the main entrance once again.

“Hi, I am from the management office. There are tenants downstairs that are complaining about a water leakage in your house. The ceiling downstairs is currently raining.”

Still, nobody answered the door.

‘Save… Save me…’ The young girl opened her eyes wide in horror and looked toward the door of the main entrance. She wanted to ask for help, but she felt her whole body become ice cold. The out-of-body experience which she had experienced as a child has reappeared… Her brain was obviously sober but she could not make a sound when she opened her mouth to ask for help… Creak, the door of the bedroom closed again, and the person on the sofa had disappeared…

Suddenly, BOOM!

Following a loud bang, the anti-theft door at the main entrance exploded inwards. The huge force caused the wall where the door was to tremble.

“I caught you again.”

Following a meaningful sneer, a man with a blade was seen. BOOM! The man directly split the wooden door of the bedroom with his blade, causing countless pieces of wood to be blasted apart.

The man with a blade rushed into the bedroom directly.

Almost immediately, another booming sound was heard!

The house shook, a wall in the bedroom directly opposite exploded, revealing a large hole. The woman was thrown out of the bedroom without mercy.

BOOM! BOOM!

Several huge explosions came from the bedroom one after another, and the room shuddered from time to time. The momentum was alarming.

“The one that I broke into pieces yesterday was your father or your grandfather?

“Not talking?

“Still thinking of escaping? Have you asked the Ghost Head Blade in my hand? Did it agree to you coming and going as you please?!”

BOOM!

The force caused the bathroom walls to explode, causing a lot of bricks and stones to scatter. Boom! Boom! Boom! Dust instantly filled the entire house.

For that moment, the situation inside the house was unclear. Only the constant explosions were heard.

The police arrived ten minutes later. They found a pile of rubble, like that typical of an explosion, and the homeowner, who had passed out. they found nothing else at the scene.

Soon after, the case was taken over by “professionals” from a certain bureau.

At that moment, Fang Zheng, who had a guilty conscience about the 200-300 thousand yuan worth of renovation fees, had long ran away from the neighborhood of Tao Huamian Garden. He chose a small path for his way back to his house.

While he was on his way, Fang Zheng looked at his palm. There was another piece of paper in his palm.

There were two pieces of paper at that moment.

Fang Zheng couldn’t help frowning. Until that moment, he did not know the purpose of these papers left by the Papier-Mache Man. The only use at that moment was when a Papier-Mache Man appeared, there would be a reaction on the paper.

Just as Fang Zheng was deep in his thoughts, suddenly, he stepped on something.

He lifted up his foot…

Only to discover that he had accidentally stepped on a piece of yellow paper that was used to pay respect to the dead.

Fwoosh, fwoosh… Suddenly a gush of ill wind rolled the yellow papers together with the Hell Currency from the nearby area where there was no wind. The Hell Currency was one billion, ten billion normal Hell Currency.

At that moment, Fang Zheng found out that, in order to avoid street cameras, he chose small paths and actually walked into a dark and eerie path filled with old banyan trees on both sides of the road.

That was an old street. The huge canopy of the banyan trees covered the old street that was not spacious from the beginning. Under the shade of the tree, sunlight and moonlight could not shine through for years, forming a place filled with the aura of Yin.

Once it reached evening, human indication was rare on the street and the shops on both sides of the old street were closed early, leaving only the uninhabited old street that was like a ghost street.

At that moment, Fang Zheng noticed a figure that squatted with its back toward his direction at the crossroad in front of him under the dark night time.

“People are afraid of instances when three longs and two shorts happen[1]. Do you know what incense is afraid of?

“Being burnt into the condition where two is short and one is long[2]…”

[1] The original term of three longs and two shorts is [三长两短] and represents the sound the night watches make on gongs in ancient times. Three long sounds and two short sounds means from 11p.m. to 1 a.m. at night. This is the time when the aura of Yin is most heavy and when ghosts are most active. Nowadays it is used to describe the unexpected misfortune of a person.

[2] When the incense is burnt till one is short and two is long, this is known as the incense of pressing somebody to death. It is believed that someone would die in the family within half a year. Burning three incense is the way used by ancient Chinese to make decisions on affairs.