Chapter 185 - 157: The Paper Man Comes to Life! (Please Subscribe)
As “Master Lin” entered the cemetery, the “bgm” played by the troupe changed again.
Master Lin raised his hand.
The master playing the suona immediately stopped, and the sound of gongs and drums also came to an abrupt halt.
In the troupe, a man with a painted face quickly approached, whispering a few words in Master Lin’s ear. Master Lin’s gaze first fell on Li Si and the “three ghosts” at the “Yin feast” table not far away, and then on Xu Yang, Officer Wang, and the others.
Clearly.
This troupe was also under “Master Lin,” and they must be reporting on the recent situation.
Hearing this, Master Lin became furious, shaking the dust off his hands and said: “I told you, this matter must not be leaked. Why did you bring outsiders here? If something goes wrong and it affects the geomancy, this Yin marriage will be rendered ineffective. Can you bear the responsibility?”
With a wave of his hand, he was about to call the troupe and the four men carrying the paper man to leave.
The host of the event hurriedly stepped forward to intervene: “Master Lin, please don’t be angry. I followed all your instructions, and these people came uninvited… and they are not human, they are… ghosts!”
His voice lowered significantly when he said the word “ghost.”
Master Lin sneered in his heart.
Are there really ghosts in this world?
He couldn’t say such words out loud… After all, his current identity was a “master,” a respected figure who could read geomancy and help people with their problems. If he said it outright, wouldn’t he be ruining his own career?
As for his true identity, it was all fake!
Just like Ren Yuandi, he was jailed for “pyramid scheme fraud” and was only released two years ago. Due to his age and his experience in prison, he encountered many obstacles in re-entering society. So, he decided… to go back to his old trade!
However, the previous “pyramid scheme fraud” methods were definitely not viable anymore.
People now are smarter, and with everyone having a fraud prevention app, it’s become much harder to swindle money.
By accident.
He found a book called “Geomancy” at his hometown and recalled that his grandfather had once said that his great-grandfather was a “geomancer” who served wealthy dignitaries and enjoyed a comfortable life. It all changed, however, after being labelled a “landlord” & their family fortune went downhill!
And so, he transformed into “Master Lin.”
With the help of the family’s book “Geomancy,” he managed to accidentally solve two troublesome issues, and his reputation spread from then on!
After making money, Master Lin’s greed was ignited.
He wanted to make big money, a lot more!
Thus, he went down the path of “fraud and deception”…
He soon discovered that compared to the “pyramid scheme fraud” he was involved in before, this was as easy as picking up money!
The key is, there’s nothing to worry about!
If he’s successful, it’s thanks to his skills as Master Lin; if he’s not, it’s because the client isn’t sincere!
In rural areas, people who “can read” like him are not to be trifled with!
In the end, he’s just a swindler, just an ordinary person… otherwise, how could he not have detected the anomaly in the paper man?
From the depths of his heart, he didn’t believe there were ghosts in this world.
So, with an inscrutable expression, he smiled faintly and said, “Just pretending to be supernatural. Do you think you can deceive this master?”
The host hesitated, “But… but we all saw him twist his head off to play with.”
“It’s just a sideshow!”
Master Lin calmly said, “Some martial world tricks that ordinary people can’t see through are quite normal.”
He had heard about this incident from the troupe members… But, as he hadn’t witnessed it himself or experienced it firsthand, he didn’t believe it. He said, “Today, with outsiders meddling, I’m afraid it will disturb the geomancy… ’ We’d better choose another auspicious day.”
“Master Lin, Master Lin!”
The host was almost crying, “It’s not easy for us to do this. Master, please be tolerant… Otherwise, can you think of a solution for us?”
However, Master Lin was determined to leave.
After all, if outsiders got involved, the matter would be publicized, and if it attracted the attention of the “authorities,” he would probably end up in jail again, and he didn’t want to spend another day in that kind of life!
“Master Xu, what should we do?”
This time, Officer Wang, Xiao Zhang, and Chen Ruolin all looked at Xu Yang.
They knew this was the best time to take action.
Otherwise, once that swindler “Master Lin” ran away and destroyed the evidence, trying to catch him again would be quite troublesome!
Xu Yang didn’t answer but looked at the paper man.
Although his eyes were closed, he could clearly feel the changes in the paper man under the scrutiny of his spiritual power.
Over time, the Yin energy on the paper man grew heavier and heavier!
The traces of blood spread rapidly, dyeing the entire paper man in a strange blood-red color!
However, this scene was only visible to Xu Yang alone. To everyone else, the paper man was still just a paper man… No, even Li Si’s three ghostly souls felt something abnormal at this moment and looked at the paper man with astonished expressions!
Suddenly, the wind picked up.
The cool breeze rustled by, causing many people at the scene to shiver involuntarily.
However, no one paid much attention, as it’s quite normal for the wind to feel cooler at night in the rural countryside with the fields having been watered recently!
The host and villagers tried to persuade him.
“Master Lin” was determined to leave, and when he saw the people being unyielding, he gave a cold snort and glared at the man from the host family, saying unhappily, “Mr. Cao, I’ve already said that the geomancy is not right tonight. Do you still want your younger son to be okay?”
At these words, Mr. Cao’s expression faltered, and he took a step back, smiling bitterly, “Please, Master Lin, think of a solution.”
Seeing this, the villagers also retreated.
Master Lin” waved his hand and strode away towards the foot of the mountain.
The members of the troupe also packed up and followed “Master Lin.” However, after walking about ten meters, he stopped again, turned around, and looked at Ren Yuandi and the other three carrying the paper man. Frowning, he said, “What are you doing? You’re walking so slow… Hurry up and get down the mountain!”
“Master Lin…”
Ren Yuandi’s legs trembled slightly and said, “It’s too heavy!”
A paper figure, a human skeleton, and two wreaths, none of these added up to 50 kg in weight.
The four men were supposed to carry it easily.
But suddenly, the weight on their shoulders increased, as if they were not carrying a paper figure but a metal one, which made their legs wobble and their bodies tremble.
Damn it!
These four wastes!
Master Lin cursed inwardly, turned around, and angrily said, “It’s just a paper figure, how heavy could it be?”
However, as he just approached the four, he heard a “snap” sound. The pole they were carrying broke under the weight and fell heavily to the ground.
Ren Yuandi and the others also fell to the ground.
“Ouch!”
Master Lin let out a cry in pain!
This paper figure wasn’t cheap; it cost him hundreds of dollars!
Most importantly, the human skeleton he had painstakingly pieced together fell apart again into a pile of bones!
He bent down to pick up the paper figure and the skeleton.
But…
As soon as he bent down, Master Lin froze as a strong stench of blood filled the air.
“Where is this blood stench coming from, given that the bones have been rotting for more than twenty years?” He thought to himself.
Then, Master Lin saw the paper figure blink at him. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he saw it wrong, but when he looked again, the paper figure returned to normal.
“Damn it!”
“It scared me to death!”
Master Lin was soaked in cold sweat.
He subconsciously raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, but felt as if something was holding his wrist, pulling it tightly, unable to lift it!
He was shocked, slowly lowered his head to see that the paper figure that had fallen to the ground was sitting up straight, its hand gripping his wrist!
The round circles of rouge on the face of the paper figure spread slowly like blood dripped on paper.
Master Lin’s scalp felt numb, and goosebumps appeared all over his body instantly. A chill went from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. He was horrified and didn’t know how to break free from the paper figure’s grasp. He fell on his buttocks and retreated frantically with a look of terror on his face, screaming –
“Ghost…”
“Ghost!”
“There’s a ghost!”
He stared at the paper figure and saw its painted eyes blink at him and it cracked a smile.
Her mouth was filled with rows of tiny, sharp teeth. Combined with the painted eyes and the spreading blood on her face, she looked extremely ferocious and terrifying!
Everyone was attracted by Master Lin’s scream.
They all looked at him in unison.
Then they saw…
The paper figure slowly rising!
From her mouth came strange sounds, different men’s voices, and different women’s voices. Several voices combined into a hoarse, raspy chant: ” Return.,.my…skeleton!”
“Return…my…skeleton!”
“Skeleton…”
“Bone…”
The hoarse, strange sounds echoed in the vast darkness of the night!
Having witnessed the previous scene of a few “ghosts” playing with their hair, the villagers on the tomb hill were surprisingly calm. On the contrary, Li Si and the other three ghost spirits were shivering and standing behind Xu Yang, saying, “Master…Master!”
“We are scared!”
Xu Yang reassured, “Don’t be afraid when I’m here.”
II II
Officer Wang, Xiao Zhang, and Chen Ruolin glanced at each other with weird expressions on their faces.
On the other side, the paper figure moved towards Master Lin, her body now completely red with blood, surrounded by Yin energy, and Yin wind blowing! However, she remained a paper figure after all, and her body was… a bit soft!
She took only one step and fell to the ground with a thud.
Seeing this, Master Lin hurriedly got up, screamed, and yelled at Ren Yuandi and the others, “Run, run quickly…”
However, at this moment, the four of them were enveloped with rotting energy!
They rolled their eyes, their pupils turning completely white. The Yin energy and resentment on their bodies erupted at this moment, making them act like marionettes as they came before Master Lin and pinned him down!
“Are you guys crazy?”
Master Lin yelled, looking at the troupe and shouted, “Save me…save me!”
After a three-second pause, the troupe members turned and ran. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the darkness of the night.
Master Lin was utterly desperate. Turning his head, he saw the paper figure standing up again, her face bearing a horrifying smile, as she picked up the skeleton bones on the ground, one by one…
And stuffed them into her own body.
As she did so, she kept chanting, “Return…my…skeleton!”