Chapter 5 – The Ghost In The Wealthy Businessman’s Mansion In Yi’an City

Although the people they met on the way were very respectful, you could also see a bit of fear in them.

‘The ghost really made the people in the manor uneasy,’ Xia Zhiheng thought to himself.

At this time, Jiang Wulu was talking to the housekeeper, Xia Zhiheng only heard the Immortal Venerable say “trouble’ and then the housekeeper led the two to a guest room.

Jiang Wulu looked at him and said with concern in his eyes “You didn’t seem to have slept well yesterday, why don’t you take a good rest first.”
Xia Zhiheng was stunned for a moment ‘Eh? Didn’t we come to exterminate ghosts together?’, he asked: ” Then about the ghost…..”
“It’s okay, just take a good rest. If I find out anything later, I will come back to tell you.” Hearing what he said, Xia Zhiheng couldn’t say anything else. He just felt confused and didn’t know what the Immortal Venerable was going to do.

So after Jiang Wulu left, he got up and decided to go outside. He met so many people when entering the manor so no one thought of him as an intruder. So Xia Zhiheng just started to wander around the house.
‘ I have to say that the rich merchant is really rich. There are many courtyards and multiple pathways. The hundred-year-old pines here are lush, strongly fragrant, and elegant, and there are lots of rare flowers here.’ Xia Zhiheng observed while wandering, he didn’t know how long he walked before he came across a foyer.

This is the ancestral hall of the wealthy merchant, but there are no rows of ancestor plaques, only a large and tall statue of the Judge…

This caught his attention.

The Judge is a long-standing folk legend who can exorcise ghosts and evil spirits. He has four arms, a face with a leopard head and a ring of eyes, and thick eyebrows. Snatching wandering ghosts and evil spirits to avoid trouble.

However, it was the first time that Xia Zhiheng saw this statue in an ancestral hall. In the past, he’s only seen its paintings hung in people’s homes.
Xia Zhiheng walked in and saw that there was a lot of incense ash accumulated on the incense ash table, and the color of the incense ash on the top layer looked very new, probably because the master of the house had come to worship for the past two days.

“It can’t frighten ghosts, but it sure would scare a living person.” Xia Zhiheng muttered.

Although the statue is tall and abstract, the whole body is indeed upright. It can only be said that if the hair can be carved backward, it would show a more vivid look of the cracked eyes, making it appear less hostile.
The palms in front are clasped together, which means respecting all beings and showing respect to people, ghosts, and evil spirits. The two arms that grow out of the back are raised above the head, holding a magical weapon, which means to punish those who are insatiable.

Punishment is above, and respect is below. What the God of Judgement advocates is to speak with fists.

The statue is made of clay, and there are not a lot of ashes on the body. At first glance, it showed that it’s often cleaned by someone. There was no difference between the inside and outside of the foyer and what he had seen before.

In conclusion, he found nothing.

Xia Zhiheng walked out of the ancestral hall and wondered where the corpse that Ning Bei talked about was placed. Usually seeing a ghost is not a big deal, but it is not common to encounter a ghost that people. Since he met the male ghost yesterday and started getting curious about what happened to him.

“Hmm… point troops and generals, and they will be on any side.”

Not knowing where the incident happened, Xia Zhiheng looked at the two paths at the door and was resigned.
Pointing to the way he came, he frowned slightly.
” Okay, let’s go in the opposite direction”

Then he happily went to the left, but he did not expect to see Jiang Wulu. Just as Jiang Wulu was about to ask, Xia Zhiheng hurried forward; “Immortal Venerable.”
Jiang Wulu seemed to have expected him to come out, so he nodded slightly and asked, “What did you find when you came out?”

“That judge looks strange. Why does such a rich businessman not respect the god of wealth like Duanmu, who bestows blessings on good people and even Shijun, but the judge who judges ghosts to reward and punish good and evil people?”
Jiang Wulu replied “According to the owner, their family has been engaged in business for hundreds of years, and the family business is huge. Because of the wide range of business, they often do not return home. Their ancestors were once accidentally entangled with ghosts and evil spirits, and the business grew unsteady as the years went by. It was resolved after they invited many Taoists. His ancestors spent a lot of money to buy the statue of the Judge from a folk Taoist priest, and it has been seven years since the merchant family last participated in the yearly offering.
There are many evil spirits in this world, especially more than 20 years ago when the gate of ghosts was suddenly torn apart.
Asking for the way to get rid of ghosts is indeed more effective than begging for the god of wealth who cannot see the mundane world.

Xia Zhiheng said, “Immortal Venerable, I have rested, can you take me to see the two corpses?”
Jiang Wulu hesitated a little, and said, “You are still young, and seeing those things may cause you discomfort .”

“I’ve seen a lot of ghosts.” Xia Zhiheng put on a serious expression, “And didn’t you say I can’t be afraid of this kind of thing?”

“Um……”

Jiang Wulu also realized that his words and deeds were inconsistent at this time, so he told him what happened in the house.

“The deceased Miss Fuzhong was Liu Jinyan, the eldest daughter of a wealthy businessman. Her face also had a cut-off head. When she was found, there was only a headless body lying on the bed.”

“This morning, the bodies of two servants and Miss Liu’s head were found, and that lady’s head was placed on the servant girl’s body.”

Jiang Wulu was always expressionless when he described it to Xia Zhiheng, which made Xia Zhiheng look serious and thought about the whole story. Jiang Wulu said, “Let’s go, I’ll show you.”
Then he led him to a different courtyard with a lotus pond, flowers and trees, and a small pavilion.

But there were several boards covered with a white cloth on the ground, Ning Bei and the housekeeper were standing next to them.

Jiang Wulu asked, “What did you find?”
“Miss Liu’s head was placed on the corpse of the maid for some reason. We searched the bodies of the two and found the marriage sack, which contained their birth dates and tokens. It’s a couple, The two of them went out together with their luggage, so they should have been preparing to leave together. Unfortunately, they slipped down the hillside. The man was covered in injuries, and his clothes were all torn, but the maid had no injuries. When the two were found, he was still holding the maid tightly.”

　　After Ning Bei finished speaking, he sighed lightly.