Mrs. Mei's Survival Diary - Chapter 22

Chapter 22 : Breaking the Five Ghosts Formation

The scene inside the screen wasn’t as weird as Rong Yinshuang had thought it would be. Shopkeeper Yan was sprawled out on the sandalwood embroidered bed, looking really worn out. Other Than that, everything seemed normal at that moment.

As she scanned the room, her gaze landed on a long table by the window. There was a peculiar piece of porcelain on it. It showed a bunch of innocent kids climbing a tree. Rong Yinshuang strolled over to count them. There were exactly five figures, all piled on top of each other, each one tugging and pulling at the others.

Even though they all had cheerful smiles and were adorable-looking, Rong Yinshuang couldn’t help but think they were the root of all her problems.

She pointed at the porcelain and asked the middle-aged man outside the screen, “Where did this come from?”

The man glanced at it and replied, “That’s the fruit-bearing tree she requested from the Goddess of Childbirth. She really wanted a child.”

Rong Yinshuang’s expression darkened, upon hearing that.  “Did she just ask for it recently?”

“…” The middle-aged man was taken aback by Rong Yinshuang’s serious look and said, “I’m not sure.” After Jian Yi said this, as if worried that Rong Yinshuang might not get it, he added, “I… don’t come here every day, so I’m not aware if she got it recently.”

Rong Yinshuang looked at him and understood what he was implying. She had heard the butler refer to Shopkeeper Yan as “aunt” before. ‘Then this is his concubine, and his wife and the family are somewhere else.’

Without saying anything more, she took out a string of yellow paper talismans that had been written long ago from her waist and pasted them on the four sides of the screen. She pinched her fingers with both hands and silently recited the heart formula. The four talismans linked together and emitted golden light, forming a space inside the screen, and isolating all external disturbances. 

The middle-aged man looked at the golden light cover in front of him and was so shocked that he couldn’t speak. However, he also knew that this was not the time to ask questions, so he could only stand outside the screen anxiously waiting for news.

Rong Yinshuang stood in the corner and cast a soul-calling spell on the shopkeeper Yan on the bed. 

The shopkeeper Yan on the bed seemed to feel pain again and kept trembling on the bed. 

Finally, two transparent little heads poked out from her chest and abdomen. Seeing this, Rong Yinshuang continued to increase her strength and finally forced five little people out of the woman’s body.

They were in different postures, floating above the unconscious shopkeeper Yan, baring their teeth and claws at Rong Yinshuang who forced them out of the body. Moreover, they made piercing screams that ordinary people could hardly hear.

Rong Yinshuang took lessons from her last encounter with the red-clothed ghost and decided not to rush into an attack this time. She had picked up some new tricks since then. With her Wu Daozi cultivation, she had a steady flow of power without needing to practice magic. Previously, she was unsure how to harness luck, but now she had figured out a bit of it. While she couldn’t tap into Wu Daozi’s full strength, she was confident that using at least 50% was within her reach.

 Before she could hold her ground for too long, the disturbed monsters came charging at her with eerie cries. Rong Yinshuang unsheathed the money sword from behind her and started to deal with them. 

After a few exchanges, the five little monsters realised they were losing and whimpered, wanting to retreat to the shopkeeper Yan’s body. 

In a hurry, Rong Yinshuang bit her finger, drew a diamond talisman in the air, and struck the shopkeeper Yan’s body. With no escape route, the five little monsters had no choice but to charge at Rong Yinshuang once more, but they were still powerless, and the black mist began to fade away.

Rong Yinshuang felt a bit fatigued, not because the five little ghosts were particularly strong, but because they were all connected. Whenever she struck one, they just merged back together. She thought that if she couldn’t defeat them soon, she might have to resort to using the copper gourd to capture them.

At this time, the five little ghosts didn’t dare to entangle with her anymore, and they scattered and hid in the joyful colourful porcelain. Seeing this, Rong Yinshuang calculated the timing and waited for the black fog to be completely absorbed into the porcelain. Then she drew a sealing symbol exactly and pasted it on the top of the porcelain, reinforcing a golden seal.

At this moment, the strange vibe in the room faded away. Rong Yinshuang held the porcelain in her hand and waved her right hand to lift the protective spells surrounding them. 

The middle-aged man stepped in cautiously and noticed that Rong Yinshuang’s expression had shifted. Her brows were knitted together, and she looked quite strange. Just as he was about to ask something, he heard a soft groan from the bed. He rushed to the bedside, helped the Shopkeeper Yan sit up, and asked, “Fang’er, how are you?”

Shopkeeper Yan pressed her temple with one hand and gradually opened her eyes. When she saw it was him, she felt a wave of relief.  “I’m okay, much better than before,” she muttered weakly after leaning on the man’s body.

The man gently brushed aside the messy hair that had fallen on her cheeks. At that moment, Shopkeeper Yan noticed Rong Yinshuang’s presence and couldn’t help but ask, “Hey, Madam Mei… what are you doing here?”

Rong Yinshuang pointed the porcelain in her hand at her and asked, “Boss, didn’t I tell you to stay in the city these days? Why didn’t you listen?”

Shopkeeper Yan looked at Rong  Yinshuang and recalled her warning from that day. She seemed distracted and replied, “I… I went to the White Horse Temple to pray to Guanyin, the Goddess of Childbearing… Oh, Madam Mei, isn’t the fruit-bearing tree in your hand the one I asked for that day?”

Rong Yinshuang nodded and said, “Yes, you begged for it, but this is not a fruit-bearing tree, but a formation of five ghosts. You see, the lips of these five ghosts are too bright red, and there are evil marks between their eyebrows. Their eyebrows and eyes are weird as if they have spirits and can make eye contact with you to make you happy. After you bring them back, the five ghosts will attach themselves to your body and eat away your energy. If no one drives them away, you will not survive more than three days with your mortal body.”

“…”

Shopkeeper Yan and the middle-aged man exchanged a glance, and the man asked, “Who gave you this? Was it the monk from the White Horse Temple?”

Shopkeeper Yan lowered her eyes and thought for a while, and said, “It seems so, but it also seems not so. I know all the monks around the abbot, but the monk who gave me this porcelain that day was a stranger.”

The middle-aged man frowned and pondered for a bit, feeling a sense of understanding within himself, but he kept it to himself and turned to Rong Yinshuang, saying, “Thank you, Madam, for your assistance. Please let me know what you would like as a token of my gratitude.”

Rong Yinshuang glanced at them, offered a slight smile, and replied, “There’s no need for thanks. Shopkeeper Yan and I know each other, and I can’t just sit back and let someone harm her. I’ll take this porcelain with me. Our business here is done, so I’m going now.”

With that, without waiting for their response, Rong Yinshuang decisively walked out just as she had entered.

However, the butler and other servants rushed outside after receiving their master’s order to find Rong Yinshuang, but at that moment, she had already left  Liu’er Lane and vanished.

Back at the Taoist temple, Rong Yinshuang set the porcelain containing the five ghosts beneath the Taoist statue, then poured the chicken blood she had brought from the market around the porcelain to create a blood circle. She then cast a spell and recited the “Soul-Destroying Curse.” The air was filled with piercing screams. However, the trapped ghosts were merely little spirits conjured by wicked individuals, and since they lacked physical form, it was not hard to eliminate them.

Rong Yinshuang’s magical power was profoundly righteous. After a short while, the five ghosts within the porcelain were entirely destroyed and gathered within the blood circle, transforming into smoke and dust.

Rong Yinshuang let out a sigh of relief. Even though she only managed to gather five little ghosts using her basic Taoist skills, she did it all on her own and saved a life in the process. For her, that was already exceeding expectations.

The joy in her heart was clear as day.

After tidying up, Rong Yinshuang turned around and noticed two kids lying by the door, watching her. The older one approached and asked, “Mom, what were you doing just now?”

Rong Yinshuang patted his head and replied, “Mom was catching monsters. From now on, if you see me doing this again, you mustn’t interrupt, okay?”

The older son nodded, though he didn’t fully get it. As she stepped outside, the younger son ran up. “Mom, I’m hungry,” he said, wrapping his arms around his mother’s legs.

Rong Yinshuang glanced at the sun; it was nearly noon, which explained why the kids were hungry. After cleaning up and washing her hands, she quickly headed into the kitchen to start cooking.

While she was busy at the stove, Gu Yean walked in, circled around a few times, and then said to Rong Yinshuang, “You went to Liu’er Lane today and took in some little ghost?”

Rong Yinshuang didn’t ask how he knew, nor did she want to hide it, so she just replied, “Yes.”

Gu Yean stepped closer and remarked, “How dangerous! Have you really forgotten the pain after the scar healed? Are you seriously considering making a living in this line of work in the future?”

Rong Yinshuang said, “Yeah, I plan to work in this field in the future. Why? Is that not okay?”

Gu Yean exclaimed dramatically, “Of course it’s not! This field is way too risky.”

Rong Yinshuang set the dish aside, wiped her hands on her apron, grabbed the knife from the chopping board, and began chopping green onions while saying, “Then tell me, what job isn’t dangerous? I’m a widow, and I wouldn’t be accepted anywhere else. I don’t have the skills for anything else. I’ve had it easy my whole life. My parents spoiled me at home, and my husband did the same after marriage. I really don’t know how to do anything. If I don’t pursue this, I’ll have no way to make a living.”

“…”

Gu Yean was left speechless for a long time after hearing what Rong Yinshuang said, and just stared at her sadly. “So, didn’t I tell you where the money is? Why don’t you just go after it?”

Rong Yinshuang looked at Gu Yean, who seemed frustrated and replied firmly, “My husband taught me that money gained through dishonest means isn’t right. People should work hard to feel secure.”

Gu Yean was taken aback by her response. After a while, he said, “You’ve hit rock bottom, and you still care about what your husband said… Your husband is really… causing a lot of pain.”

After saying this, Gu Yean walked out through the wall, feeling defeated, without waiting for Rong Yinshuang to respond.

Rong Yinshuang looked in the direction where he disappeared and pouted in confusion. 

‘Is this soul too nosy? Strange!’

End of chapter 22

Have a nice day!