The ultimate master in the city

Chapter 18 Zhong Kui

The faint sounds of passersby could be heard in the distance, while in the dark kitchen, only the panting of five people could be heard.

Ten minutes later, the power came back on, and the kitchen became bright again. Old Li and the two female helpers, who were huddled together, greeted each other and ran out.

The proprietress carefully lifted her head from Zhou Fengchen's embrace, looked around, and then let go with a "Ah!" Looking at the small bump on Zhou Fengchen's head, her face turned red to her neck.

"Natural reaction, natural reaction!" Zhou Fengchen coughed and turned to the side.

"Hehe, your sister isn't blaming you."

The proprietress blushed, then flirtatiously tossed her hair aside and said, "Don't just stand there, it's time to go home!"

The two came out together, and seeing the proprietress lock the door, Zhou Fengchen couldn't help but ask, "What exactly happened just now?"

"Be at work at nine tomorrow morning, don't be late!" The proprietress's expression changed slightly, and she gave an irrelevant answer. She picked up her small handbag, got into a car next to her, started the engine, and drove away.

Zhou Fengchen stood there, feeling completely bewildered. After thinking for a moment, he reached out and pressed his hand against the roller shutter, closed his eyes, and felt a faint, very cool sensation in his palm.

Was it an evil spirit that has already left?

But why is that? It's a busy downtown area!

He wandered around for a while but couldn't see anything. He shook his head and went back to his rented room. He was still thinking about the mother and son ghosts from last night. On the way, he bought a porcelain jar and a piece of yellow cloth.

When they arrived at the rented apartment, there were still lights on in several apartments upstairs, and a faint light was also coming from the apartment of the old lady on the first floor of Zhou Fengchen's building.

When he got downstairs, he glanced inside and saw that the glass was old and the surface was a bit blurry. He could vaguely see the figure of a little girl inside, with an eye-protection light on, as if she was doing her homework.

Zhou Fengchen secretly wondered what kind of family this was. It was just this mother and daughter; where were the other family members?

Just then, a burst of laughter came from behind, and a man and two women walked over from a distance.

The three people looked to be around the same age as Zhou Fengchen. They were carrying a bunch of plastic bags, which seemed to contain snacks and drinks. They were heading towards the stairwell behind Zhou Fengchen.

Upon approaching, one of the short-haired girls glanced at Zhou Fengchen and said, "Hello, handsome! We're new here. If you live here, then we'll be neighbors."

"Uh!" Zhou Fengchen had never experienced this kind of greeting before. He opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

The three nodded and smiled politely before going upstairs.

Zhou Fengchen glanced at the old lady's house again and followed her upstairs. The three people were indeed new residents, living in the right room on the second floor. After slamming the door shut, unrestrained laughter and noise came from inside.

Zhou Fengchen felt extremely envious. He seemed to have very few friends. Otherwise, he could live with them, drink a little wine, and chat. How fun would that be?

Back in his room, he took out cinnabar and a brush from his bag and began drawing inscriptions on the jar.

The register, also known as the magic register, is a Taoist document that records the names of celestial officials and deities from all directions, used to summon divine officials and perform magic.

For example, if the signature and portrait are of the Peach Blossom Immortal of Penglai, then theoretically this Peach Blossom Immortal will come, but he will not be visible to the naked eye.

When it comes to talismans, most people associate them with talismans. Talismans, also called edicts, are a kind of certificate. Taoists usually use yellow paper and yellow cloth, and their shape and size are very particular.

Recording the talisman on a talisman is called a talisman, a Taoist magic with a wide range of uses. It can inform the gods, impeach the earth gods, mountain gods, and water gods, summon gods to the mortal world to kill ghosts, cure diseases and avert disasters, and also care for the underworld and guide the souls of the dead, etc.

There is also a story about talismans. It is said that in ancient times, there was a young man who had no skills and could not find work, so he went to learn Taoist arts from an old Taoist priest. The old Taoist priest asked him what he wanted to learn, and he said he wanted to learn medical skills to save people and help others often.

The old Taoist priest was very happy and made him a talisman, saying, "Take this, it will cure all diseases and also enslave the evil spirits within a hundred miles to do things for you."

The young man accepted the talisman and went down the mountain. At first, he did a lot of good deeds, but later he gradually felt that he was omnipotent, and his thoughts changed. He began to enslave evil spirits to make money for himself to squander or to play tricks on people.

From then on, he rose to prominence and became a local tyrant, but later he accidentally lost the talisman and was beaten to death by those vengeful ghosts that very night.

Zhou Fengchen didn't know much about talismans; he had learned them by secretly following Zhou Daoxing and Zhou Linglong. However, he still knew these simple tricks. He immediately engraved the Zhong Kui talisman on the jar and wrote the "Ghost-Sealing Curse" on the yellow cloth.

After finishing, he put the jar away, left the door slightly ajar, lay down on the bed, and fell asleep in a daze.

In the dead of night, when all was quiet, Zhou Fengchen was sleeping soundly when he suddenly felt a chill on his neck. He opened his eyes abruptly and found a noose slowly hanging down from above his head, being placed around his neck.

Here it comes! He sneered inwardly, remaining motionless.

When the noose was around his head, a pair of cool little hands gently lifted his head, and his entire head slipped into the noose.

He remained motionless, letting the noose slowly tighten and pull him upwards. His head slowly rose, and he struggled to breathe.

At this moment, the disheveled woman appeared on the ceiling, her face contorted with malice, and she kept grinning evilly, while the child standing at the head of the bed also had a wicked look on his face.

Zhou Fengchen held his breath, half of his body was pulled up, but he didn't react at all. Now it was the female ghost's turn to be surprised. She let out a clear "Ah" to express her doubt!

"You beast! Don't you even know who your grandfather is?!"

Seeing that the desired effect had been achieved, Zhou Fengchen sneered, flipped backward in mid-air, and leaped to the ceiling. "Xuan Er, Long Congyun, extend your claws!"

With a single grab, he tore off a chunk of flesh from the female ghost. The ghost screamed and fell to the ground. Seeing this, the children nearby cried out and rushed over. Zhou Fengchen grabbed the children by the neck and slammed them to the ground.

"what!"

The child tumbled over several times, screaming in pain.

The female ghost realized what was happening, glanced at Zhou Fengchen in a panic, picked up the child, and floated away.

"Do you still want to leave?"

Zhou Fengchen casually picked up the jar and lightly tapped it: "A plea to the netherworld, Zhong Kui to capture the ghost! So be it! Receive!"

call out!call out!

The vengeful mother and son transformed into two wisps of black smoke and instantly disappeared into the jar.

Zhou Fengchen immediately took a yellow cloth and sealed the mouth of the jar, then placed it aside and turned on the light.

Under the light, the jar could be seen shaking incessantly, and from inside came the heart-wrenching screams of a mother and child.

Zhou Fengchen moved a stool and sat opposite the jar, smiled and said, "You can't get out, so stop resisting!"

The jar fell silent instantly, from which came the woman's pitiful voice: "Please, Master, spare my life! Please, Master, spare my life! I won't do it again!"

Zhou Fengchen said, "Tell me your background, and I might consider it."

Killing the mother and child was too easy for Zhou Fengchen; it was just a matter of lifting a finger. However, he felt that Monk Yuanzhi was right: committing murder would damage one's virtue.

"My name is Sun Hong. Five years ago, my husband and I came to Donghai City with our child and rented this house," the female ghost said. "My husband went out to work, and I stayed at home to take care of the child. At that time, the three of us were very happy. But three years ago, my husband had an affair and abandoned us. I couldn't think straight, so I drowned the child first, and then hanged myself."

"Idiot!" Zhou Fengchen couldn't help but curse, "He doesn't want you anymore, you can raise the child yourself, why commit suicide? If you're going to die, die yourself, why kill the child?"

"I was wrong!" the female ghost sobbed.

"Stop crying!" Zhou Fengchen sneered. "Tell me, how many people did you kill?"

"I haven't killed anyone!" The female ghost stopped crying and argued, "I just couldn't find that damned man, and I had nowhere to vent my anger, so I kicked out all the tenants. I didn't scare you last night, so I was planning to do something drastic today. I didn't actually intend to kill you! If you had begged for mercy and run out the door, nothing would have happened..."

Zhou Fengchen nodded: "So, is there anything else you haven't fulfilled?"

"That's all!" the female ghost sighed softly. "If possible, please send my daughter and me to the underworld, Master!"

Zhou Fengchen asked curiously, "Don't you want to see how your husband is doing now?"

The female ghost said, "I don't want to think about it anymore. I've figured it out over the years! He didn't want me, but he still loved the child very much. I was also at fault!"

"You're really open-minded!" Zhou Fengchen shook his head, picked up the jar, opened the door, and went downstairs.

He found a four-way intersection outside the residential area and recited the "Sutra of Rebirth in the Pure Land" seven times in a row until the evil aura of the mother and child in the jar completely dissipated. Then he casually smashed the jar.

Under the cover of night, the female ghost appeared, holding a child, and kowtowed three times to Zhou Fengchen. Then, in a flash, she vanished, but in that instant, she uttered a single sentence:

"Watch out, mage! There's a really powerful guy in the neighborhood!"