Part-Time Taoist Priest 25

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Crimson Bane

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The hanged ghost tilted her head. Due to her posture, her hair completely covered her face, but for some reason, Xie Lingya felt that they were staring straight at each other.

It was as if her stare was a physical substance. It was cold and wet, lingering on Xie Lingya’s body for a moment. Then suddenly, the ghost lunged towards the bed. Clearly the target was Director Gao.

Shi Changxuan had spotted the ghost too. He stood up from the sofa and threw his sword at her.

Originally Xie Lingya wanted to throw his sword too, but the Three Treasures Sword was old and he was afraid that he would damage it. He only hesitated for a moment when Shi Changxuan already took action.

The peachwood sword pierced the ghost’s waist and she let out a scream. The lights in the room flickered wildly.

The four bodyguards could faintly hear the scream. In addition to the unusual sight of the flickering lights, they quickly went on alert and surveyed their surroundings. The bodyguard who said he would hack whatever showed up rushed to Director Gao and pulled him up to better protect him.

Director Gao was woken up in surprise. “What happened? What’s going on?”

The bodyguard hauled him out of bed and shielded him.

At this moment, the ghost howled. Her tongue elongated and extended, then with a smack stuck to the bodyguard’s neck and coiled around it. Yin energy flared and her figure appeared before everyone’s eyes.

Director Gao saw the bodyguard stumble backward and hold his own neck. The bodyguard’s eyes widened as if they were going to fall out of their sockets. The situation was immediately apparent as soon as the ghost became visible. The bodyguard was being strangled by her tongue!

The scene was too creepy. Everyone was cursing “Fuck” in their hearts. The bodyguard who had felt the water dripping on him earlier shivered and fervently wiped his hands on his clothes.

The bodyguard who was being strangled saw the ghost’s face startlingly appear in front of him. The ghost was so close to him that he could clearly see the bloody face behind the curtain of hair. He cursed loudly and punched at the hideous face.

His yang energy was full of vigor from his bravery. Unlike normal people, he was trained in martial arts and his punch made the ghost loosen her tongue. 

The ghost’s glare became even more venomous. She opened her mouth—

At this moment Xie Lingya rushed over and yanked Director Gao to his side. At the same time, he cut the ghost’s tongue with his sword before it could retract back into the opened mouth.

The wet dripping tongue fell on the floor with a splat and dissipated in a wisp of black smoke. The hanged ghost wailed and covered her mouth.

Xie Lingya let out a sigh of relief. He was worried that the ghost would try to lick him as well. Looking at the bodyguard’s neck wet with saliva, it was just too gross!

The ghost leaped into a corner on the ceiling and stared at Xie Lingya viciously. Unexpectedly, her tongue started growing again and became longer and longer.

Xie Lingya cussed out loud, “Fuck! That tongue can regrow?”

The regrown tongue lashed out and coiled around Xie Lingya’s waist. Xie Lingya’s face turned green with disgust.

Shi Changxuan pulled Director Gao away from Xie Lingya and the bodyguards immediately formed a protective circle around him. Although they couldn’t help with the situation at hand, they still demonstrated professionalism and stood behind Shi Changxuan.

Shi Changxuan could see Xie Lingya’s pain from being restrained and the additional suffering caused by disgust. Shi Changxuan moved forward, hacked the tongue, and said, “This is the hanging rope of the hanged ghost, not a real tongue.”

The grasp around Xie Lingya’s waist loosened. Xie Lingya sighed with relief. A hanging rope was still okay, but the visual effect was too nauseating.

The ghost had also learned from her mistakes. She could tell that these two were tough nuts to crack. The peachwood swords in their hands were effective against supernatural beings like herself, especially Xie Lingya’s sword which had been handed down for generations. The sword had accumulated the virtues of the grandmasters who’d banished evil and it was normally venerated on the altar of the Three Pure Ones.

The hanged ghost’s purpose was to strangle someone to join her in the afterlife, but since she couldn’t defeat them, she gave them a spiteful glare, especially Director Gao. Then she turned to leave.

Director Gao paled under the glare and his limbs went cold with fear at the thought she would come back one day…

“Hey, who said you could leave?” Xie Lingya slashed at her with his sword. “All-encompassing Dao, heed my call!”

“Ahhh—!” The sword attack made the ghost tumble over in the air and fall to the floor.

Director Gao: “……”

Xie Lingya lunged forward and stepped on her face. He then stabbed his sword into her chest.

This ghost had more endurance than the spirits Xie Lingya had beaten up previously. She screamed and the yin energy around her started to dissipate, yet her spirit still kept its form. She howled shrilly and tried to claw at the peachwood sword but got burnt instead.

Her tongue slashed around wildly. Slithering up Xie Lingya’s foot that was planted on her face, the tongue coiled around his ankle. Xie Lingya’s ankle was bare. The cold wet tongue stuck to his skin and tightened its grip…

Xie Lingya was enraged. “Shi Daozhang, help me hold her down! I’m going to pull out her tongue and strangle her to death!”

Shi Changxuan: “……”

Director Gao & the bodyguards: “……”

…She hasn’t made it to hell yet, you are pulling her tongue out here?¹Tongue ripping is one of the tortures/punishments in hell in Chinese mythology

Everyone watched as Xie Lingya tormented the hanged ghost. Suddenly, the cold and wet atmosphere hanging about the room didn’t seem so frightening any longer. Director Gao even pushed away the bodyguard holding him up. He steadied himself and wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.

Shi Changxuan walked over and pasted a talisman on the ghost’s tongue. The tongue immediately released Xie Lingya. The ghost was immobilized except for some twitching at the waist due to the continuous burn from the peachwood sword nailing her down.

Xie Lingya was still gripping the Three Treasure Sword tightly and Shi Changxuan was holding him back as if mediating a fight. Shi Changxuan calmly reminded him, “We still need to ask her some questions.”

Xie Linya took a few deep breaths to calm down.

He hadn’t intended to be so violent towards ladies but this ghost’s actions had crossed his bottom line. When the tongue curled around his bare ankle, he’d felt something snap in his mind.

Xie Lingya sat down on the bed. He was tired and didn’t want to move. “You ask.”

Shi Changxuan pulled the Three Treasures Sword out of the ghost. Then he asked her who gave her orders.

The ghost was very weak. She admitted that she followed Director Gao unknowingly because he had a mark on his neck. Naturally, she remembered him. She needed to find him and kill him.

“Neck hung by a linen rope”, therefore it attracted a hanged ghost?

This ghost wasn’t directly controlled by anyone. Instead, someone left a mark on Director Gao and the ghost was attracted to him naturally.

Xie Lingya had calmed down by now. He asked Director Gao, “This person must have come in contact with you. Where have you been since yesterday?”

“Other than Baoyang Temple, just home and at the office.” The omen of strangle marks on his neck appeared after the joss paper hanging from his ear. Since the person in question needed to come in contact with him, the circle of candidates shrunk. Director Gao went through the possibilities in his mind.

“This person will definitely try to find out my situation tomorrow,” Director Gao said after some thought.

“That’s right. To cast the curse, the person must also have the means.” Xie Lingya considered for a moment. “Don’t go to your office tomorrow, continue to stay here. We will restrain the ghost here as well. The person would definitely find a way to verify the outcome of his work. Rest for now.”

Everyone else looked at each other. There was still a ghost on the floor, the room was turned upside down and they couldn’t get a new room in order to avoid alerting the enemy, how could anyone sleep?

This hanged ghost was too vicious. She was looking for victims every day, so Xie Lingya didn’t dare to put her on Baoyang’s patrol team. They could only restrain her temporarily and bring her back to be purified by Shi Changxuan later.

Although Xie Lingya guaranteed that the ghost could no longer move and even stuffed her into the other room of the suite, no one was fully convinced. It was 4 a.m. before Director Gao fell asleep.

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The next day, following what they had discussed, Director Gao did not go to his office. Everyone remained in the hotel suite.

At 7:30, there was a knock on the door. The bodyguard went over and looked through the peephole before announcing, “Director Gao, it’s your wife.” 

Director Gao panicked. “How does she know I’m here? Didn’t I say I went on a business trip?”

Xie Lingya paused for a second and then laughed. “Director Gao, could it be that your wife has mistakenly thought that you…”

Director Gao: “……”

Director Gao thought of that too. He didn’t know how the cat got out of the bag—somehow women were better than detectives in such matters. He could only grimace and went to open the door himself.

A beautiful woman stood outside the door looking distressed. When she saw Director Gao and the men standing behind him, she went: “……”

“Honey,” Director Gao explained awkwardly, “I wasn’t lying to you on purpose.”

Mrs. Gao entered the room speechlessly. “What are you doing? You came to the hotel just to play cards?” 

—The floor was still littered with the bodyguards’ playing cards from the previous night.

“It’s a long story.” Director Gao closed the door and made introductions, “This is my wife. Ah Hui, meet Mr. Xie and Mr. Shi.”

Mrs. Gao saw that he was polite to the two young men, so she nodded to them sheepishly, “Sorry for disturbing.”

Xie Lingya was holding back his laughter, “No, you are not disturbing.”

The bodyguards didn’t want to watch their employer go through this predicament, so they made up an excuse to leave the room for breakfast.

Mrs. Gao whispered to Director Gao, “I couldn’t sleep last night and felt anxious the whole time. I felt that something might’ve happened to you, so I called your secretary. He was confused, so I knew you didn’t go on a business trip. Then I found out that you had booked a room here.”

Director Gao was both speechless and moved. This had to be the connection between soulmates. Indeed, he had barely escaped an accident last night.

“I’ll tell you what happened later,” Director Gao consoled. He didn’t want to tell her now so as to avoid scaring her.

Shi Changxuan said observantly, “Mr. and Mrs. Gao have a strong marital bond.” 

Director Gao looked slightly smug when he replied, “We hear that often. My wife and I were childhood friends.”

Shi Changxuan then asked, “Mr. Gao should have a surveillance system at home, can we watch it remotely?”

“Of course, there is an app,” Director Gao said. He thought Shi Changxuan must have some clue to his situation, so he quickly took out his laptop and opened the surveillance application.

Shi Changxuan scanned through the surveillance videos, and after a while, he pointed at the screen, “Who is this?”

Director Gao took a look. The footage was taken at the front door and a man was talking to him. The time was the previous night. Director Gao said, “This is my neighbor, Old Zhang. We have been discussing a project recently. He is quite a nice person. He came over to comfort me when he heard I had an accident. We even had a drink together.” His brows furrowed. “You don’t think… it’s him?”

Mrs. Gao’s sixth sense was very keen. From their actions of checking the surveillance and their conversation, she noticed something was off. She interrupted, “What do you mean by ‘it’s him’? Old Gao, what does your accident have to do with him?”

Director Gao pursed his lips. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know if it really had to do with Zhang, nor how Shi Changxuan had come to this idea. Judging by his reaction, it seemed like Shi Changxuan thought that Zhang Xiao was involved.

Shi Changxuan stared at Mrs. Gao instead. “You think so too?”

This question seemed to have a hidden meaning. Mrs. Gao was caught by surprise. 

She looked at Director Gao, mumbling, “I thought he just made a mistake. But if he is really involved in the accident then I won’t hide it anymore. Zhang Xiao… confessed to me twice, but I rejected him.”

“What?! That bastard!” Even someone as well mannered as Director Gao was enraged. Not only was he furious, he felt he just got slapped on the face. He had just said that Old Zhang was a nice person, and this was how he was repaid! By trying to seduce his wife!

No, not just seducing his wife. Director Gao asked Shi Changxuan with a solemn expression, “Is he involved in this?”

Shi Changxuan enlarged the surveillance footage and pointed at something poking out of Zhang Xiao’s pocket. “Rope.”

Everyone looked closely and it was indeed the end of a linen rope.

“This should be hanging rope. It might still be in your house right now to ‘mark’ you,” Shi Changxuan said plainly.

“……” Director Gao felt his vision go dark with rage. He couldn’t believe that Zhang Xiao could have such malicious intent.

Mrs. Gao’s decent upbringing didn’t allow her to cuss, but she too gritted her teeth in anger. 

Xie Lingya was listening intently by the side. At this moment he asked Shi Changxuan, “How did you suddenly think of checking the home surveillance?”

It was as if he had discovered something and followed the clues.

Director Gao was curious too and glanced at Shi Changxuan.

“Can Mrs. Gao give me her eight characters?” Shi Changxuan asked instead.

Mrs. Gao was still confused but seeing Director Gao’s nod, she revealed them.

Shi Changxuan nodded, “Time of Jia-Wu, Intersection of Lu-Ma. The crimson bane clashed with Taisui in the eight characters. The effects became more obvious after the age of 30. Your destiny is tied with the crimson bane, the signs of excess passion.”

His words were allusive. “Excess passion” was putting it politely, in other words, it meant promiscuous.

Director Gao immediately refuted, “Ah Hui and I have no children but our relationship is strong. Zhang Xiao’s feelings must be one-sided.”

Mrs. Gao was unhappy with Shi Changxuan’s words. She didn’t understand why her husband was suddenly superstitious, but when she heard his words she held his hand tightly.

Xie Lingya saw Director Gao’s conviction and thought that he really trusted his wife a lot. If it were anyone else, they would have at least some sliver of doubt.

Shi Changxuan gave them a glance and said coldly, “I didn’t say their feelings were mutual.”

Director Gao: “……”

It was as if Director Gao himself had suggested the idea that his wife cheated on him. Director Gao could only feel dispirited.

“The physiognomic features of Director Gao show a loving marriage,” Xie Lingya interrupted. There was nothing bad about Director Gao’s features. He had the face of someone with a good life and fortune. Perhaps he would not have many children, but judging by his face, he should have offspring even if a bit later. “But since Mrs. Gao’s destiny is entwined with the crimson bane, no wonder your fate developed in the direction of love rivalry.”

With Director Gao’s good fortune, it was unlikely that he would make enemies. It was a different case with his wife.

The crimson bane was a type of peach blossom luck or romantic luck. People with crimson bane had good luck with the opposite sex, but they were also prone to promiscuity.

The saying “Even daughters of the rich and powerful have affairs under the moonlight and blossoms” described how romantic the people with crimson bane were. Naturally, this would cause many problems in their love life. 

Mrs. Gao was a housewife. For this reason, it was logical to check home surveillance first.

“Mr. Gao’s own good fortune is suppressing Mrs. Gao’s bane…” Shi Changxuan explained why as a person with crimson bane, Mrs. Gao was able to have a happy marriage with her husband. “Zhang Xiao has some knowledge of divination. It is likely that he knows of Mrs. Gao’s crimson bane. Was he very lecherous in the beginning?”

Saying that Zhang Xiao only had some knowledge was because he couldn’t control spirits directly.

It wasn’t clear if Mrs. Gao really believed what he said, but she was cooperative. She suddenly remembered something and said, “Yes, when we first met he was rather… but that time he said he mistook me for someone else. After that, he was more reserved.”

Zhang Xiao might have thought that Mrs. Gao was promiscuous in the beginning and wanted to flirt with her. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Gao had a strong relationship with her husband. He had probably never met anyone with crimson bane that had a good romantic relationship. After all, not everyone with crimson bane had a husband like Director Gao, who had such good fortune.

In other words, even if Zhang Xiao had no knowledge of divination, just by his actions and willingness to destroy another’s marriage and harm the lives of others, he was despicable.

Xie Lingya scolded, “Abusing his knowledge to fulfill his personal desire. Shameless!”

—Someone as genius as himself started out by diligently selling snacks! This Zhang Xiao was too shameless!

Director Gao did not know much about divination, but it was a fact that Zhang Xiao had a linen rope in his pocket. If he hadn’t had the luck to meet Xie Lingya and Shi Changxuan, he would’ve died in an “accident”. There had to be some clues in Zhang Xiao’s house that could prove his involvement.

Director Gao was silent for a moment. He then said, “Thank you both. I will deal with this matter.”

Although it was not possible to convict Zhang Xiao for using these occult tricks to harm people, Director Gao was not just any person. Since he said he could deal with it, he must have some surefire way to persecute Zhang Xiao. He could also prevent Zhang Xiao from using similar methods to harm him again. After all, these tricks required the victim to be unaware.

If push came to shove, Xie Lingya would also be happy to continue providing his services.

But at this moment, both Xie Lingya and Shi Changxuan were certain that Director Gao had his ways and didn’t speak further.

Shi Changxuan tilted his head towards Xie Lingya. “Did you get your luck-changing talisman to work?”

“Yes, Huang Jinyang tried it. Ah, are you saying that the talisman can break the crimson bane?” However good Director Gao’s fortune was, it was still difficult to suppress this type of malignant fortune. Scum like Zhang Xiao could still be attracted, so it was better to resolve the crimson bane.

If it wasn’t for Shi Changxuan, he wouldn’t have thought that the luck-changing talisman could be used in this way. He told Director Gao he would draw one and send it to him later by courier.

Director Gao had full trust in the two of them. After all, he had seen with his own eyes how Xie Lingya tormented the hanged ghost. When he heard that the crimson bane could be dealt with by a talisman, he quickly agreed.

Director Gao promised to visit the temple again and left in a hurry. He needed to explain what happened to Mrs. Gao and deal with Zhang Xiao.

Xie Lingya lamented Director Gao’s ordeal.

Destiny was ever-changing. Especially in relationships, people would affect one another like Mr. and Mrs. Gao. Those who were close to each other would have their fates entwined and changed. There were endless possibilities.

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Director Gao kept true to his promise. After he went back, he even asked Xie Lingya if he should pay him cash or directly look for craftsmen to build the gold statue.

Building a god’s statue was no small matter. If they were careless and made a mistake, it would become an evil idol.

A brass statue was one thing. A gold statue being so valuable, Xie Lingya was worried that the people he would hire would be unreliable.

When Director Gao offered to donate a gold statue, it was as payment for Xie Lingya’s services. This was why he asked if Xie Lingya preferred cash instead, but Xie Lingya was earning money to build a statue anyway, therefore he requested Director Gao’s help instead.

Director Gao had friends who were religious, so they had some contacts. He engaged an old craftsman renowned in the field. However, the statue was expected to take half a year to be completed and delivered.

“I think you shouldn’t be in a hurry? I saw that the statue in the temple was also new,” Director Gao asked. He didn’t think Xie Lingya would choose to have the statue instead of cash. But on the other hand, he felt it was reasonable, it was real piety after all.

“I… am not in a hurry,” Xie Lingya thought—but whether the venerable founder was in a hurry, it was another matter.

When Xie Lingya burned incense for Spirit Official Wang, he reported that someone would be donating a gold statue. The statue would be completed in half a year and he emphasized that the statue would be made by a famous craftsman.

When he threw the jiaobei, Xie Lingya was slightly worried that Spirit Official Wang would throw a tantrum and not show up for half a year. To his surprise, the jiaobei stood erected with the corners pointed upwards.

Xie Lingya’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest. The two corners pointing upwards were a bad omen. Was the venerable founder unhappy again or just hesitating?

Then Xie Lingya discovered that the jiaobei revolved in place for a few circles, before falling to form a shengbei, indicating the god’s approval.

“What’s the meaning of this…” Xie Lingya mulled over it for some time. Last time, when he said he could only make a brass statue, the jiaobei also stood erect before falling hesitantly. That was because the venerable founder felt upset over his haggling. This time, the jiaobei revolved a few times before falling, what did it mean?!

Ai, it wasn’t easy being a Taoist priest. The mere job of communicating with the gods required good comprehensive skills. He wasn’t even a priest. He was just a part-timer. He felt that his hair was going to fall out from the stress.

But it was a shengbei in the end anyway, so Xie Lingya picked up the jiaobei and put them away.

Stepping out of the side hall, Xie Lingya saw Zhang Daoting picking vegetables in the yard. He walked over to complain, “Next time, you do the jiaobei throwing. I just can’t understand what these gods are thinking?”

Zhang Daoting asked puzzledly, “What’s the matter?”

Xie Lingya said, “I read the notes about the jiaobei interpretation, but none of it could tell me what it meant when the jiaobei stands in place and spins around a few times before falling down to form a shengbei. The last time I could still make out something, but this time I’m totally clueless. Do you have any ideas?”

Zhang Daoting knew what Xie Lingya was divining about. He thought about it for a moment before saying hesitantly, “Do you think maybe it is a sign that is even happier than shengbei… The venerable founder is so happy that he is spinning and jumping…”

Xie Lingya: “…Well, damn it!”

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Translator: Velvet
TL checker: Darkchocolatesan
Editor: Miiya
Proofreader: Taalia, Eques
QC: Eques

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