Chapter 1 The Ghost in the Imperial City

In the early autumn, the big clock in the imperial city struck three times. Meanwhile, it started to drizzle with coldness. Shortly before dusk, as one side of the gate of the imperial city opened silently, two rows of paper umbrellas and reddish lanterns slowly moved through the gate. The leading middle-aged man, wearing an official suit and an official hat, walked through the gate and then slightly stopped. With a solemn expression, he gazed at the road veiled by the mist and the rain amidst the walled-in compounds. “Mr. Ning, please go inside.” Mr. Ning was a Taoist priest named Ning Qinshui, who was more than 70 years old with gray hair, still wearing a Taoist robe and a Taoist topknot decently. Behind the old Taoist priest were a young man and a young girl dressed in the Taoist suit. The young man was 15 or 16 years old while the girl was a bit younger, both of whom were slim and pretty. They both lowered their heads and occasionally looked up to peep at the magnificent palace in the imperial city. In the drizzle, the imperial city seemed particularly quiet. The middle-aged man walked into a palace with the three people. The palace was not small. The maids holding an umbrella and trimming the flowers and trees bowed slightly when they saw the middle-aged man. After bypassing the screen wall and crossing the corridor, the man led them forward. The door of the wing room at the end was open. The middle-aged man explained, “The owner of this room is not here for the time being. You can wait here with your disciples for now. Regarding the exorcism, a master will come and discuss with you later.” Ning Qinshui suddenly stopped pinching his fingers in his sleeve and turned around to look at the middle-aged man, saying with a grin, “I’m old. It is okay for me to stay here but my disciples are still too young to resist the evil in this room. They can’t live in this residence.” Slightly shocked, the middle-aged man asked with a smile, “What do you mean?” Ning Qinshui smiled slightly. He knew that the middle-aged man was flying a kite. Instead of crossing the threshold, he took out a copper coin from his sleeve and slightly tossed it. The copper coin happened to land on the threshold but rather than stop, it rolled like a living thing. In the end, the old man opened his palm and the coin just jumped back surprisingly. Ning Qinshui closed his palm and held the copper coin tightly with his face getting more serious. After a while, he spoke slowly. “The owner of this residence was killed three days ago. His aura of resentment has lingered for a long time. He was probably bewitched to hang himself to death. Some priests have been asked to conduct a religious rite here but they... died too. All the people in the residence have been somewhat sick. If it were not for our coming, this palace should have been locked, right?” The middle-aged man took a profound look at him with a lot of admiration and appreciation in his facial expression. He raised his hand, the maid beside him together with the women trimming the plants just left. After all the irrelevant people retreated, he made an obeisance by cupping his hands, saying, “The legend has just proven itself. Your skills are different from those of the previous ones. I brought you here today originally to test you. Now it seems that I cannot hide the truth from you indeed. Please forgive me.” Ning Qinshui smiled and said, “It’s okay, I know that several unskilled wandering Taoist priests have died before. You tried to sound out my skills, which is also for the sake of my safety.” “Of course this yard is not suitable for people to live in. Please follow me to the side yard,” the man slightly nodded his head. “I wonder when you can perform the rite.” Ning Qinshui glanced at the dark sky and found that the rain was getting smaller. “At midnight (23:00–01:00),” the old man said with a slightly hoarse voice. “I hope that His Lordship will not forget his promise by then.” “Of course not,” the man smiled. “My name is Song Ce. If you have any questions, just send someone to talk to me.” They talked in a gradually lower voice. A red sparrow at the eave flew away in the rain. ... ... “As I often tell you, we cultivate with righteous vitality, which is like the candlelight at night. Regardless of the darkness, such dim candlelight can’t be buried in oblivion, so you only need to follow me closely and not be afraid. Even if we can’t make it, we may as well escape.” Sitting in a wooden armchair, Ning Qinshui looked at the young man and young girl standing beside him and said earnestly, “When I perform the rite later, you two must remember to keep a clear mind and not harbor any evil intention in case the demon takes the opportunity to bewitch you. Otherwise, I can’t save you. Changjiu, Xiaoling, understand?” The young man was Ning Changjiu and the young girl was Ning Xiaoling. Ning Changjiu lowered his head and listened meticulously. When the old man asked the question, he nodded respectfully, “Yes, Master.” The girl also replied respectfully with her head lowered. Her eyes slightly glittered, in which there seemed to a glint of disdain and resentment. Ning Qinshui nodded and said, “Then you should sit in mediation. When it is midnight, you two assist me in subduing the demon.” “Yes,” the two replied in one voice. After giving the order, Ning Qinshui got up and walked outside. After getting out of the door, he waved the horsetail whisk in his hand and the door closed in response. The old man looked back with cold eyes as if glancing at a dead person. The young man and the young girl hadn’t really started cultivating, so they certainly didn’t notice Ning Qinshui’s cold eyes across the door. Following his master’s advice, Ning Changjiu sat down cross-legged, muttering incantations. Ning Xiaoling glanced at him and said coldly, “Blockhead, do you really believe in that old chap’s nonsense?” Ning Changjiu just ignored her and continued meditating. Ning Xiaoling was sitting in the wooden armchair as if her petite body curled up directly in it. She crossed her slender legs, folded her hands on her knees but she did not start meditating. Instead, she tapped her knees gently and snapped, “You may be too silly to notice this. The way that old chap looks at us is getting increasingly weird. Sometimes, it feels as if he were looking at his private treasure, and sometimes, it feels like...” She pursed her lips and did not finish that. Instead, she sighed, “Anyway, maybe we will be sold by him sometime.” Ning Changjiu opened his eyes with dissatisfaction and retorted, “He bought us and besides, he treats us fine. Why do you say that?” Ning Xiaoling sneered, “What has he taught us over the years?” Ning Changjiu said stubbornly, “He must have his own plan.” Ning Xiaoling sneered and sighed, “When you buy some chicken or ducklings and raise them, will you teach them martial arts or the worldly principles? What you want to do is only to sell them or eat them when they gain enough weight.” Ning Changjiu was very uncomfortable with her metaphor. He frowned and wanted to refute, but he was too bad with words to say anything. He just didn’t understand why his seemingly pretty and adorable junior fellow disciple always talked in such a mean way. “Alas...” Ning Xiaoling sighed unhappily. She didn’t pretend to meditate anymore. Sitting in the chair, she swayed her legs gently and rested her head on the back of the chair, staring at the roof in a daze. She also didn’t understand why her seemingly smart senior fellow disciple turned out to be so stupid. “Actually...” Ning Changjiu hesitated for a while before speaking with uncertainty. “Recently, upon approaching the imperial city, I’ve always thought of something weird.” “Something weird?” Ning Xiaoling was intrigued. Ning Changjiu nodded his head. “I often see a Taoist temple, which looks very familiar, as if I lived there since I was a child.” Ning Xiaoling said inexplicably, “What kind of Taoist temple?” Ning Changjiu shook his head. “A very ordinary one. The Taoist temple is always closed, but there seem to be seven... no, eight people inside!” Ning Xiaoling smiled and said, “Blockhead, you have been bewitched even before the rite starts?” “I don’t know.” Ning Changjiu shook his head and laughed at himself, thinking that he was getting more and more muddleheaded. He silently thought about what his master had taught him and then muttered a few mind-cleansing spells. Gradually, his mind was calmed down, no longer occupied by those illusory things. The girl fetched some cold and dry wheaten food and slowly chewed it in her mouth. Looking at the darkening night outside the window, she became even more uneasy with the secret and confidence in her heart. As time passed slowly, Ning Xiaoling smashed the back of the chair with her fists, becoming more and more fretted. When Ning Qinshui came back, it was almost midnight. “The preparations are almost done. Follow me.” Ning Changjiu and Ning Xiaoling followed out. When they closed the door, Ning Changjiu whispered, “Xiaoling, don’t be afraid. I will protect you.” He should be the one who felt afraid... Ning Xiaoling snorted coldly, pretending not to see the sweat on his forehead. She called him as blockhead in her heart and still nodded her head gently. Ning Qinshui took out two yellow talismans from his sleeve and passed them to his disciples separately, saying with a serious face, “These are protective talismans. You must stick one to your body. If any accident happens, it can keep you safe.” Ning Changjiu and Ning Xiaoling fetched the paper talismans and thanked their master together. The night mist gradually veiled the imperial city.