Chapter 106: 106
The sudden remark made everyone's head turn . It was Xiao Qi and the rest of the Seven Sisters . She approached us, patting on my shoulder before patting on Zhang Zhigui's shoulder as if wanting us to back down, saying, "We will buy everyone a meal for the trouble today . We'll have it no other way; our brother-in-law's life would have been in danger if not for all six of you!"
Zhang Zhigui was flabbergasted to find six women appearing around him suddenly . With a dumbfounded look, he bowed to them . "My greetings . You are . . . " In what seemed to be a fit of magnanimous profusion, Xiao Qi began introducing her sisters proudly . "Greetings to you too, Brother Zhang . I'm Xiao Qi . This is Xiao Liu, and that's Xiao Wu . . . That would be Xiao San . . " And Xiao San hissed with great annoyance, "Off with you!" With an impish chuckle to Xiao San, Xiao Qi continued again, "Mr . Zhang's wife is the eldest of us Seven Sisters . That is why we are thankful for your help today . But you three are powerful indeed . We have tried everything, still, we could do nothing to hold down our brother-in-law . It's fortunate we have you three here to display your formidable skills!" Zhang Zhigui's face immediately flushed with doubt as he peered at Xiao Qi . "B-but . . . There was only Shiyan and his two companions earlier . . . From where did the six of you . . . " Finally I realized, Zhang Zhigui and his friends were unable to see ghosts! Xiao Qi too was surprised by this and was too bewildered to respond . I took over the conversation and smiled at Zhang Zhigui . "The rest of the Seven Sisters including Xiao Qi are no humans, Brother," I explained tactfully, "They have been in the house all along, although you can't see them . " Out of nowhere, Yan Jishi gasped suddenly, "Damned! Wh-what the!" My head turned immediately, and there was Xiao Si, with a tentacular tongue sticking out of her gaping mouth to frighten Yan Jishi!
"Come on now," I said to her, "What if somebody outside were to witness this! All of us will be on the papers tomorrow!" Xiao Si scowled at me and stretched her tongue out at me . Being accustomed to the antics of the Seven Sisters, I was hardly perturbed by her long tongue, but Zhang Zhigui and his friends were visibly shaken . Possibly due to Xiao Si's intimidation, Zhang Zhigui and his friends finally relented to allowing Xiao Qi to foot the bill for the meal .
Apparently all thanks to Aunt Fen's ceaseless badgering of my father, Father had finally agreed to forge physical bodies for the six of the Seven Sisters . They were then taught how to use their physical bodies to manifest themselves like ordinary human beings and were cautioned to avoid the Three Sources of Lights—the luminescence of the Sun, the Moon and the stars—at all times . Only fellow mediums or witchdoctors would be able to see through their guise . With their newfound physical forms, Xiao Qi and her sisters were able to go out at night, and they had been squandering Mr . Zhang's wealth lavishly like vampires upon blood, with an endless spending spree of handbags, clothing, and even the latest mobile phones! But there was another matter of note: cameras were not being able to capture any images of them . Hence, it was also fortunate that the six Sisters could not drive, otherwise, news might appear one day carrying the headlines, "Speedtrap in Wu Zhong County captures driver-less moving vehicle!"
With Xiao Qi leading us, we adjourned to a restaurant and ordered a table full of food . Lin Feng, Yuan Chongxi, and I barely dabbled at the food, since we had already eaten before coming . Zhang Zhigui and his companions, on the other hand, wolfed down everything they saw like a pack of hungry wolves . As they inhale with such speed that I could only stare in amazement, I asked Xiao Qi, "Wait a minute, you guy can eat too? I thought you only need to inhale the fumes of incenses?" Xiao Qi took a bite off her fried shrimp and mumbled through the food . "Of course . But the food is too tempting, see?" I shook my head with an exasperated smile . "So what are you guys doing on most time at night?" I asked her again, "Surely not on the streets scaring off innocent passersby, I hope!" "Of course not!" Xiao Qi quipped with a light-hearted chuckle . "We have been spending time like normal humans again basically, ever since your father created these forms for us, although there is also an exception . . . " Her voice faltered at the end of her sentence, and I eyed her warily with narrowed eyes . "Exception?" Xiao Qi nodded, and gestured at Xiao San with her chin . "She's the exception . She does nothing else but sits by the road every day to look at cars," she muttered . Then I remembered, Xiao San's cause of death was a terrible road accident . I turned to Xiao San at once . "Surely you are not beside the road waiting to cause havoc!" With a seething glare, she hissed, "Hmph!"
Zhang Zhigui had been watching our banter with interest as he gobbled his food . "You're so close with them," he observed with a smile on his face and said, "It's a blessing to be able to see ghosts!" Xiao Qi giggled, looking at Zhang Zhigui then she asked him suddenly, "So . . . Brother Zhang . . . How did you find our house actually?" Zhang Zhigui wiped his mouth and explained, "Well, it's a long story actually . We had been pursuing a lead . . . "
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As it turned out, Zhang Zhigui and his companions were from the Yishui of Yi County in Hebei . A string of strange cases had begun happening six months ago and the local police force had commissioned Zhang Zhigui and his companions to help with the investigations . In the course of their observation, they found that a mysterious organization was suspected to be responsible for the crimes where the victims of the crimes all died in terrible and gruesome manners consistent to the torture methods used in ancient times . Until now, Zhang Zhigui had fought head-on with members of the mysterious organization, which they temporarily labeled as the Order of Pain, for numerous times and the trio later found that the souls of all victims would be tainted by an infectious and diabolical curse so potent that the victims' souls were turned into malevolent spirits like the one that Lin Feng had seen coiling itself to the rear shaft of the truck in the accident before . The curse was able to completely despoil the Yin energy of dead spirits and used the corrupted energies to turn simple souls into spectral monstrosities that contained nothing but intense hatred and grudge . This was why my Spirit Sight had failed to find out what was wrong with Mr . Zhang when he was possessed .
It was only this morning when Zhang Zhigui and his friends had caught another "malevolent spirit" created by the Order of Pain . But with no method or vessel to contain the captured soul, it escaped their clutches and coiled itself to the bottom of a passing pickup truck . Zhang Zhigui and his friends sought for the help of the Yishui police force and the pickup truck was identified to be from Wu Zhong County and it was indeed moving towards that direction . Hence, the trio immediately hopped on the next bus to Wu Zhong and rushed here as quickly as they could . But four hours had passed when they finally reached here, only to find nothing but a heap of wreckage in place of the truck they were locating and the malevolent spirit had already fled . It was already dark and the gravity of the situation permitted them not even the time to eat . They conducted some simple rituals to summon any available Guards or Wardens of the Underworld and finally one of them pointed to them that the malevolent spirit had lodged itself into Mr . Zhang .
These malevolent spirits usually targeted only rich people, Zhang Zhigui added . Nevertheless, the true purpose of the Order using ghostly slaves in such ways was still unknown .
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As Zhang Zhigui was explaining his story, Yan Jishi quipped, "You might not know! It was lucky that we made it there on time lest Mr . Zhang would have ended up like the driver of the pickup truck! The evil men controlling these mindless fiends are capable of any savagery! Surely the pickup truck driver had already been pronounced dead by the authorities, no?" I nodded . Seeing my reaction, Yan Jishi went on, "The curse might not affect humans directly; but the spirits can possess humans, and the host spirit will die in two hours! Whenever these malevolent fiends entered a person's physical body, there will be a fit of deranged madness as the host spirit struggles against the pervasive intrusion of the evil fiends . But in two hours, the actual soul of the person will die and the seizure ends . Anyone would think that the person had finally recovered from his sudden streak of insanity but no one will realize that the actual person is already dead!"
I was doubly shocked to hear this . Even I too, I realized, would have fallen for the ruse and mistake Mr . Zhang to had recovered if not for the timely appearance of Zhang Zhigui and his companions .
But just as we were still talking and eating, the doors of our room opened suddenly . Two men came into the room together; one was Father, while the other was Old Man Xie, Xie Bingyi!
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Zhang Zhigui was still chatting happily with us when the newcomers entered suddenly and he peered at them, only to nearly spit his food with astonishment . He sprang to his feet and bowed so deeply that he almost fell over . In a meek and respectful voice, he said, "My apologies to not have sought for you and greeted you earlier, Granduncle . . . " At first, I was confused . Was he referring Father as Granduncle, I thought, until I realized that he was speaking to Old Man Xie . The old man regarded Zhang Zhigui with evident contempt and hatred and spat . "Leave . "
With the same deferential tone, Zhang Zhigui replied, "Yes, Granduncle . Thank you so much . . . "
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