Mrs. Mei's Survival Diary - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: The First Exorcism

“Madam…”

Grandma Liu shouted for Rong Yinshuang, but the old woman couldn’t get her to stop.

She used her sword to clean the pathway and stepped inside the room. No matter how Granny Liu begged, Rong Yinshuang slammed the door shut without saying a word.

Granny Liu banged the door and shoved it from the outside, but it wouldn’t budge.

As soon as Rong Yinshuang closed the door behind her, she spotted a man and a woman cloaked in black mist.

The man sat on the edge of the bed, looking dazed, while a stunning female ghost in a red wedding dress clung to him. She was playfully flirting with the young man. When the ghost noticed Rong Yinshuang, she didn’t back off; instead, she glared at her with sparkling, menacing eyes.

“Another one comes to meet their end, but too bad it’s a woman.” A woman’s chilling voice echoed in the small room.

Before Rong Yinshuang could respond, Gu Yean, who had somehow slipped into the room, warned her. “We need to leave. She’s a vengeful spirit. She died in a red wedding dress and carries a powerful curse.”

Rong Yinshuang ignored him, walked straight to the female ghost, and said, “You are a pitiful person, but you did evil after death. Does this scholar have any grudge against you? But you hurt him like this! Is it fair?”

“Yes, I have no grudge against him. But what about me? I was really an innocent woman when I was alive. I had no grudge against that evil woman, but she ordered them to break my hands and feet and hang me alive in the bridal chamber. Who can I go to for justice?” The female ghost’s voice became sharp.

“Yes, I know that what you faced was injustice. But what about him? He is an innocent man without any connection to you.” Rong Yinshuang said, pointing at the helpless young man. “You have no place to complain, so you want to harm others. It will increase your sins and drag you deep into hell. But if you stop now, you can find light.”

“Increasing my sins? Anyway, it is this kid who picked up my embroidered shoes, saying that he was going to give them to his future wife. Who can I blame? Hahahahahaha…”

The entire room echoed with a mix of sorrowful and sharp laughter.

Suddenly, the female ghost in red vanished behind the curtain, transforming into a swirling cloud of black smoke that hovered and crashed around the room.

Rong Yinshuang sensed a chilling aura of danger.

“She’s about to make a move. Get out!” Gu Yean shouted.

Rong Yinshuang quickly pinched her fingers and recited a spell, pushing Gu Yean out the door. She then pulled out some yellow paper from her lapel, laid it on the table, bit her index finger, and swiftly drew a talisman on the paper. Closing her eyes, she tuned into the energy around her, feeling the intensity grow. Suddenly, she spun around, gripping the ghost-repelling talisman between her fingers, aimed it at the ghost charging towards her, and unleashed it.

The immobilisation worked, but only for a brief moment.

The female ghost broke free from the spell, ripped the yellow paper off her, and lunged at Rong Yinshuang with a fierce intensity.

Rong Yinshuang yelled and quickly drew her sword to defend herself.

The female ghost, startled by the peach wood sword, pulled back her attack and shifted her focus elsewhere.

Feeling a bit panicked, Rong Yinshuang took a moment to steady herself. She grabbed the yellow paper, ready to sketch a ghost-repelling talisman, but out of nowhere, a ghostly hand appeared behind the paper and ripped it to shreds. The force knocked her to the ground.

In her panic, she clutched the edge of the table, but the female ghost was too strong, sending her crashing into the wall. Just as she was trying to catch her breath, she noticed a swirling mass of black mist forming in front of her.

Ghostly claws emerged from the fog, parting it to reveal the terrifying face of a ghost in red. With a piercing scream, it lunged at her, as if it wanted to rip her apart.

Instinctively, she raised her arms to shield herself. Instead of the expected attack, the room fell eerily silent.

Dragging her aching body, Rong Yinshuang walked to the bedside and took a look. She saw that Granny Liu’s son had fainted, but the bruises between his eyebrows and under his eyes had healed a lot. She walked to the table, picked up the scattered yellow papers, put the peach wood sword on her back, and was about to go out.

But as soon as she reached the door, Granny Liu suddenly rushed in with an anxious look on her face. Seeing the mess in the room and Rong Yinshuang’s obvious injuries, she didn’t know what to say.

Rong Yinshuang smiled at her and said, “Okay. Your son should be fine. Hurry and bury the pair of embroidered shoes beside his bed. Don’t let him see them again.”

Granny Liu remembered the embroidered shoes that her son had been holding in his hands for the past few days and asked Rong Yinshuang in horror, “Madam, are you saying that my son has become like this because of that pair of embroidered shoes?”

Rong Yinshuang nodded and replied, “It was originally a dead woman’s thing. Your son picked it up and let the wolf enter the house. She bewitched his soul and sucked his essence.”

Granny Liu’s face was full of horror.

Rong Yinshuang hurriedly said with a comforting smile, “She is gone. You take good care of him.”

After Rong Yinshuang wrapped up her chat, she stepped out of the room with the Golden Money Sword slung over her shoulder, feeling like she had just dodged a bullet.

Gu Yean, with his arms crossed, looked at her pretty annoyingly. He shot back coldly, “You’re not scared of death! You dare to exorcise ghosts with such basic skills?”

As she left Granny Liu’s yard, Rong Yinshuang let out a sigh and admitted. “I had no idea I was this bad. I thought learning those talismans would be enough, but who knew… I almost ended up as someone’s dinner!”

Rubbing her shoulders as she walked, she brushed off Gu Yean’s nagging, determined to practice her magic harder when she got back.

But Gu Yean couldn’t help but scold Rong Yinshuang all the way.

“Alright, alright! Can you just chill for a second? You sound just like my husband, always lecturing me!”

Her husband used to be like that too—super caring but would go on and on whenever she was in trouble, blaming her for being reckless and scolding those around her.

Gu Yean was taken aback by her words. He stopped talking and trailed behind her back to the Taoist temple.

Once there, Rong Yinshuang handed the candied haws she bought on the way to the kids and headed to the kitchen to whip up lunch.

Gu Yean followed her in. “You are injured. Don’t cook. Go and have a rest.”

Rong Yinshuang looked at him while picking vegetables. “If I don’t cook, what will you eat?”

Gu Yean was stunned again. “But your injury…”

“My injury is not serious. Don’t make trouble here. Go out and come back when you are ready to eat. I will bring you a bowl of the hottest food.”

“…”

Gu Yean looked at Rong Yinshuang for a long time without saying anything. After a while, he walked out of the wall dejectedly.

Rong Yinshuang noticed his lost expression and felt a bit odd but soon got caught up in her work. She was busy tending to the fire behind the pot and cooking at the stove. While she was sweating and focused on cooking, she didn’t expect Gu Yean to walk in again and say, “You, a mother of two, shouldn’t be doing this. Just hire a servant.”

Rong Yinshuang initially ignored him. But after thinking for a while, she turned to him and replied, “I’m a widow whose husband has passed away. It’s hard enough for me to feed myself, let alone hire help.”

Gu Yean pressed on that matter again. “But you just sold Zhao Qian’s house and made a good amount of money, right?”

Rong Yinshuang: “That money is meant for my eldest and youngest sons to go to school. They were thrown out with a useless widow like me, and I have no idea what their future holds. I can’t just waste that money.”

After hearing her, Gu Yean frowned, pondered for a moment, and then fell silent again. He left the kitchen looking downcast, and this time he didn’t return.

Even when Rong Yinshuang set the food on the table, he was nowhere to be seen. Although she was confused, it didn’t bother her too much.

After lunch, Rong Yinshuang spent some time with her two sons. The older one expressed a desire to learn writing, so she cleared off the stone table in the yard, gathered some supplies like pen, ink, paper, and an inkstone, and showed him how to write a few basic characters. Since her husband had previously taught the little boy how to hold a pen, the eldest son quickly picked it up and was able to practise on his own after just one explanation from her.

While the older son was busy writing, Rong Yinshuang played spinning tops with the younger one. After a bit of fun, she let them take a nap. Then, she cleaned up the stone table and pulled out a book on Wu Daozi to study it closely.

Zhao Qian had shut down her money-earning source. If she tried to find a job elsewhere, it would likely end the same way. So, she figured she had to explore other options. By mastering Wu Daozi’s teachings, she could learn to predict fortunes, avert disasters, exorcise spirits, and safeguard homes, ensuring she and her two children wouldn’t go hungry.

She used to view these practices as dubious and misleading, but now that she wanted to make a living from it, her perspective had changed. She wouldn’t deceive anyone, and if she genuinely helped someone avoid misfortune, then it seemed fair for her to earn a little money for her efforts.

End of chapter 18

Have a nice day!