Chapter 18
Chapter 18
“A living human? He’s alive!”
“Hee-hee, how unusual. A living person has come to Master Zhao’s birthday banquet.”
“What’s so unusual about that? Master Zhao must have invited him.”
“There are so many guests today. I wonder whether one living person will be enough to share.”
The guests below the stage erupted in excitement, whispering and discussing me among themselves.
I heard every word, and goose bumps rose across my skin.
The question of whether I was “enough to share” made my legs especially weak. Were they planning to divide me up and eat me?!
What could I do?
What was I supposed to do?!
Should I charge the old ghost and fight him directly?
My mind raced through countless possibilities in an instant, but my body seemed bound by a paralysis spell. Every muscle was rigid, unable to move.
I knew this was the body’s natural response to terror.
I had thought myself brave beyond reason, yet here I was, still afraid!
Too much confidence, it seemed, was not a good thing.
Master Zhao made a pressing gesture with one hand. Every “person” below fell silent.
“This distinguished guest possesses the lightest possible bazi, weighing only two liang and one qian. He is a Featherborn and extremely important to me. So this time, I will not share him with everyone.”
The old ghost cupped his hands toward the audience, his manner imperious.
Then he turned to me with a false smile.
“Honored guest, it seems you haven’t eaten. Are the dishes in my Zhao Manor not to your liking? You should eat your fill so you can experience our hospitality.”
He walked slowly toward me, sinister light shining from his eyes. I could even see the nails on his hands growing before my eyes…
“Go to hell!”
At last, I conquered my fear. With a roar, I lifted a chair used in the opera performance and hurled it at the ghost.
Whoosh!
The chair passed straight through his body as though striking empty air.
The old ghost froze.
He probably had not expected me to resist.
Then his mouth split into an eerie grin. “Oh? Our living guest may be young, but he possesses considerable courage. Ha-ha-ha!”
The guests below joined his laughter, mockery written across every face.
They probably believed a living human surrounded by ghosts had no hope of survival.
“No! I refuse to let ghosts kill me like some helpless coward.”
Perhaps my fear had reached its limit. Instead, I began to calm down.
I remembered something Aunt Qin once told me: ghosts, spirits, and other evil entities all bullied the weak and feared the strong. Retreat one foot, and they would advance thirty!
Some evil entities even survived by feeding on the fear in a person’s heart. The more courage you gathered, the better your chances of surviving their attacks…
That thought rekindled hope in my despairing heart.
Once I thought calmly, it seemed impossible that every entity here was powerful.
Otherwise, how could anyone in the nearby villages still be alive?
Most likely, only a handful were truly formidable. The vast majority were probably similar to the weasel spirit that had tried to harm Second Uncle’s family.
Some might be even weaker!
Having reasoned this through, I felt bolder.
“As long as I don’t fight this old ghost directly, I may be able to carve a path out.”
Before, I had planned to take matters one step at a time. Now that I had been driven into a corner, I could only risk my life.
I spun around and ran toward the edge of the stage!
As the saying goes, squeeze the soft persimmon. Against evil entities, I should naturally target the weaker ones.
I had taken only several steps and was still some distance from the edge when wind roared behind me.
I did not dare look back, but I knew the old ghost had caught up!
Something tightened around my neck. I could not breathe, and my feet left the floor.
He was incredibly fast and strong. His hand–or rather, his claw–had grown enormous. It reached around from behind, encircled my entire neck, and lifted me into the air.
Hack, hack…
My face turned scarlet as I coughed violently and kicked my legs. I used both hands to pry at the old ghost’s fingers, but they would not budge.
“Honored guest, I invited you to visit. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?”
His grip gradually tightened. He turned me around until I faced him.
Then I remembered Aunt Qin saying that a young boy’s urine could ward off evil. Shame no longer mattered. If I wanted to live, I had to try.
I dropped both hands, loosened my belt, and urinated directly at the old ghost.
Hiss!
The stream splashed across his head and face, sending up curls of blue smoke and a scorched stench.
To my horror, his skin seemed to melt.
“Aaaah!”
The old ghost shrieked in pain and flung me to the floor.
“Now’s my chance!”
I scrambled and rolled toward the edge of the stage.
“Seize the living human!”
Servants of the haunted mansion shouted. Some guests hesitated, while others rushed at me.
I still had some urine left and used it as a weapon once more.
Splash…
Any creature at the front touched by even a drop screamed as blue smoke rose from its body. Its clothes vanished, revealing an evil toad, snake, rat, or some other entity that fled across the floor.
Tables and chairs struck by the urine became paper funeral offerings. The magnificent dishes on them turned into mud, rotten meat, or assorted insects–all disgusting enough to make someone vomit.
Fortunately, fear had kept me from eating. Otherwise, I might have vomited bile at the sight!
I drew a sharp breath.
Just as I thought!
There could not possibly have been so many ghosts. Much of it was a glamour spell, illusion upon illusion.
The urine broke those illusions and revealed the true scene.
It really was powerful!
Then my face crumpled… because I had run out.
There was nothing left. Not a single drop.
My present mental strength was nowhere near enough to break Zhao Manor’s glamour spell by itself. Without breaking it, the crowd of evil entities before me might as well have been a mob of human attackers.
I had not run far before they surrounded me.
The old woman who had sat beside me now had glowing green eyes, and the vague outline of a furry tail flickered behind her. In a shrill voice, she said, “Weren’t you arrogant just now, brat? Wait until Master Zhao drains every drop of your flesh and blood.”
With so many “people” blocking the way, I could not break through. The old ghost’s furious voice sounded behind me.
“Move! Get out of my way! I meant to let this brat die peacefully in his sleep, but now I’ll eat him alive!”
Master Zhao’s skin looked as though someone had splashed sulfuric acid over it. His eyes shone bloodred, making him terrifying to behold.
“Am I really going to die here today? I’m only thirteen. There are so many things I haven’t done…”
Looking back now, when I believed death was upon me, the strongest feeling was not terror. It was unwillingness and regret.
The surrounding creatures parted, allowing Master Zhao to approach.
At the final moment, a cool, crisp laugh came from the doorway behind them.
“Heh. You’re nothing but a ghost with a body almost rotted away, not even an evil spirit yet, but you certainly talk big. Eat Little Wu alive? Ask whether I’ll allow it first.”
My entire body jolted.
That voice was… Aunt Qin!