19. The Son-in-Law Is About to Die

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“So it’s that simple?” Chen Linyu asked skeptically.

“First, tell me something,” Lin Guichen said, gazing at her. “Since there are so many wandering evil spirits and their numbers change regularly, I suppose neither the Chen family nor the ancestral gods really know exactly what’s lurking in the ancestral residence, do they?”

“Of course not.” Chen Linyu nodded slightly. “I’ve witnessed the ceremony many times. Each time the five ancestral gods meet with the evil spirits, they patrol the mansion at night with all the ancestors in tow, reciting phrases like: ‘Those under our protection are not to be harmed; to do so is to become a mortal enemy of the Chen clan.’”

Lin Guichen suddenly understood.

A vast procession of ghostly gods patrolling by night—no wonder the evil spirits honor the agreement.

“That’s good. Then I’m relieved.” Lin Guichen rose with a smile. He reached into his robe and withdrew an item, walked to the window, opened it, and tossed the thing outside.

Chen Linyu was momentarily stunned.

She had seen clearly—it was a pale rib bone.

She knew what it was: the protective token provided by the ancestral god responsible for the eastern sector of the mansion, meant for outsiders.

Chen Linyu frowned at him. “Why did you throw the token away? Without it, the wandering evil spirits in the east wing will come after you.”

“I want to draw them in,” Lin Guichen replied calmly. “Next, I’ll need your help. Once I remove the sound barrier, I’ll send Xiaocui to fetch Third Master Chen. Before he arrives, do your best to eliminate as many evil spirits as you can.”

Chen Linyu paused, then realized what he intended.

“You want to pretend you’ve been attacked by evil spirits—implying it was orchestrated by Grandpa’s enemy, ‘Old Drumstick’?” she murmured. “And since the wandering god behind Old Drumstick is the ‘Drum Yama,’ a subordinate of the Mother of Darkness, you’ll have grounds to ask Grandpa to take you to the Black Lantern Temple, make an offering, and beg for a protective talisman from the Mother of Darkness. That way, you can take the chance to offer prayers and pay homage?”

With the Mother of Darkness’s talisman for protection, no one from the Black Lantern Temple would dare harm the bearer while it’s in effect. It was a logical request.

“Clever,” Lin Guichen smiled. “But I don’t know if simply making an offering at the Black Lantern Temple will get me a talisman. I’ll have to rely on you for that.”

“…Alright.” Chen Linyu looked at him deeply.

Lin Guichen pressed his hands to his waist, producing several small pouches, all containing the white ash from the bottom of the sun furnace.

He allowed himself a faint smile. “Luckily, I have sun furnace ash.”

“You’d best be careful,” Chen Linyu warned. “Sun furnace ash only works on certain wandering spirits and has limited effect on ghosts. It’s nearly useless against the living—otherwise you couldn’t hold it in your bare hands. It mainly harms those neither alive nor dead, who exist by a thread of spiritual power, unable to stand up to sunlight’s blaze.”

Lin Guichen nodded.

That last wandering spirit, the ‘Human-faced Serpent,’ was such a creature—no wonder two handfuls of ash reduced it to dust.

He said nothing more and released the bone flute’s sound barrier.

Instantly, the night wind and the chorus of insects seeped into the room. But there were also strange rustling noises and the sound of something scraping, emanating from outside—sliding along the walls, crawling across the roof tiles.

With both spiritual apertures open, Lin Guichen was acutely aware of the malice lurking outside in the darkness, as if countless perils hid there. Just looking toward the window made his entire body break out in cold chills; his scalp tingled.

An instinctive terror, born of spiritual sensitivity, was warning him.

“My, you really are never at peace…” came a spectral sigh from above. The little Daoist child, silent for several days, was now sprawled lazily across the rafters, shaking her head as she watched him.

He didn’t have to ask—he knew she must be restless. The intervals between her alchemy sessions must have grown very long.

No matter. It would only be for a short while. Soon enough he could reclaim the rib token and peace would return.

Suddenly, a woman’s low sobbing drifted in from outside—a mournful, lingering cry full of unspoken grievance, sorrowful and sharp.

“A wraith,” Chen Linyu muttered, frowning. “I’ll go see.”

Being a ghost herself, she drifted through the wall like mist.

She returned swiftly.

“The wraith isn’t powerful. Give me a pouch of sun furnace ash and I’ll handle her,” Chen Linyu reported briskly. “Other spirits are lurking as well—I saw a human-headed spider, but it shrank back when it saw me. The human-headed spider isn’t dangerous—only attacks from behind, weaving webs to bind its prey alive. A handful of sun furnace ash will kill it.”

She frowned again. “But there’s also a headless corpse. Sun furnace ash won’t work on it. But as long as I—”

She was interrupted by a heavy pounding at the door, so forceful that the door nearly burst open.

Then a dull, hollow voice pleaded from outside: “Please…can you help me find something?”

By the moonlight, a shadow cast through the door frame, falling to the floor.

But there was no head—just a headless silhouette!

A headless corpse.

Lin Guichen’s pupils contracted. On his very first night at the Chen ancestral home, he’d glimpsed the shadow of this thing.

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“Don’t answer,” Chen Linyu whispered, her face shifting. “The headless corpse is asking about its form. If you respond, it’ll latch onto you.”

She inhaled sharply and sent out a gust of ghostly wind, her voice riding it: “Alright, I’ll help you. What are you looking for?”

The hollow voice outside brightened with surprise. “I’m looking for my head…please, give me a head…”

A pair of thick, raggedly clothed legs stepped into the room. In the dim moonlight, it was clear—this was a headless corpse.

As it spoke, only its navel moved—it was speaking from its belly.

“Give me a head!”

In a heartbeat, the corpse lunged at Chen Linyu, its hands reaching for her neck as though plucking fruit from a tree.

She didn’t dodge; with a mocking laugh, she allowed it to seize her by the throat.

“Thank you for the head,” the corpse croaked, yanking off her head and immediately fixing it atop its own neck, shouting gleefully from its belly, “Ha ha ha! I have a head! I have a head!”

Lin Guichen was momentarily stunned.

But as soon as it released her, a cold smile spread across Chen Linyu’s fac