Chapter 27 Evil Spirits
On his way to Panlong County, Chen Cheng pondered how to deal with this situation. He had already formed several plans in his mind, and he would ask Cheng Ming's wife in detail which one would be most suitable.
"Will this be difficult to handle?"
Seeing his serious expression, Zhang Qian couldn't help but ask.
"It's hard to say. This evil spirit is different from a vengeful ghost. It has a physical form. If you can't catch its physical form, then you're only treating the symptoms, not the root cause."
"Hey, what's with you doing running around with me instead of taking a proper vacation?"
Not wanting Zhang Qian to feel pressured, Chen Cheng changed the subject and started teasing her again.
"Mind your own business! I'll come find you whenever I have a holiday, and we'll go ghost hunting together!"
"No way, if you come here so often, how am I supposed to find a girlfriend and get married?"
"Pah! Who would want someone like you? Shameless and a pervert!"
Zhang Qian suddenly remembered something: "You still haven't told me who this Xiao Shuang is?"
"Mind your own business. Who are you to me?"
Chen Cheng mimicked her tone with a grin.
"I...I...I am a police officer. I have the right to know and protect the legitimate interests of citizens. I suspect you are a fraudster, so I need to know whether that Xiaoshuang is your accomplice or a victim!"
Zhang Qian started acting unreasonably.
"Oh ho, now you're showing off your official power. Why didn't you do that at Chu Tianqing's house last night? Why didn't you yell 'Don't move! I'm a policeman! Hands up!' when you saw Lü Xiachan's ghost?"
Zhang Qian felt both ashamed and angry when he laughed at her, and couldn't help but pinch his arm.
"Ouch, that hurts! Please, I'm driving."
"Who gave you permission to say that about me?"
She didn't loosen her grip on his hand; instead, she tightened it slightly: "Tell me, who is Xiaoshuang?"
"Oh dear, my lady, please let go first."
Zhang Qian then let go of her hand and said with a smile, "Confess, or I'll pinch you again!"
"This is excessive force by law enforcement. I'm going to file a complaint against you!"
Zhang Qian stretched out her arm again, as if in a show of defiance.
"I'll tell you, I'll tell you. Xiao Shuang was a playmate of mine when I was a child. Back then, her house was right next to my master's old teahouse, so when I wasn't practicing, we would play in the mud together. A few years ago, her family moved to Dongguan District, but she would occasionally come to the old teahouse to help out, so all the old tea drinkers knew her."
"That's it?"
"That's all, what else do you want?"
"Is she pretty?"
Chen Cheng looked at her suspiciously, and Zhang Qian felt her face getting hot: "What are you looking at? Girls are all curious."
"He's alright looking, I guess."
"So you two are childhood sweethearts?"
Zhang Qian said with a hint of sourness.
"Look at what you're saying, it's not that exaggerated!"
Zhang Qian was secretly pleased, thinking to herself, "You know how to talk."
"We call that childhood sweethearts!"
"Ouch, that hurts! Why are you pinching me again?" Chen Cheng cried out.
"Mind your own business!"
Zhang Qian turned her face away angrily and stopped talking to him.
Seeing that she was angry, Chen Cheng teased her a few more times until she burst out laughing, and the matter was considered closed.
An hour and a half later, Chen Cheng followed Cheng Ming's car into a semi-new residential area and stopped in front of a building.
"Master Chen, my home is on the seventh floor."
Cheng Ming closed the car door and quickly came to greet him.
"Um".
Chen Cheng didn't say much, followed him into the building and onto the elevator, with Zhang Qian following closely behind.
Cheng Ming's home is a standard three-bedroom, one-living room apartment. It's not very big, and the decoration is quite ordinary. Because his wife is in poor health, the house hasn't been tidied up and looks a bit messy.
"Master Chen, I haven't been in the mood to tidy up lately, please forgive me."
Chen Cheng smiled and shook his head to indicate that it was alright. Cheng Ming quickly tidied up the clothes on the sofa, let the two of them sit down, and then went into the bedroom to call his wife.
Cheng Ming looked at the family photo hanging on the wall. His wife, Mu Lili, was slightly plump with fair skin and a pretty face. In front of them, a six or seven-year-old boy was smiling mischievously. The photo revealed the family's happiness and warmth.
At this moment, Cheng Ming helped Mu Lili out of the bedroom. Where was her former plump and fair skin? Her skin was dull and yellow, her eyes were sunken, and she was extremely thin. Just as the doctor had diagnosed: excessive indulgence!
"Lili, this is Master Chen. He's here to help us."
"Hello, Master Chen."
"Mu Lili said weakly."
"Yes, sister-in-law, I've told Brother Cheng that I need to understand some things before I can decide how to help you."
"Hmm, what would Master Chen like to know?"
"Sister-in-law, before you had this strange dream, did you go anywhere, such as a secluded mountain forest or a deserted wilderness?"
Cheng Ming and Mu Lili were taken aback, then fell into deep thought.
"Master Chen, two days before I had this strange dream, my husband, child, and I went to Panlong Mountain for a day. My husband drove to the mountainside, we got out of the car and walked along a small path for a while, and we even ate our own lunch there at noon."
Mu Lili pondered for a while and then remembered this matter.
"Yes, yes, that's right."
Cheng Ming quickly echoed.
"So where did you go after lunch? Or did anything strange happen?"
"No, we played there for a while after lunch and then came back. We didn't go anywhere else during that time."
"Nothing else happened there? You finished your lunch and came back?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Master Chen, I... I went to a secluded place to relieve myself..."
Mu Lili interrupted her husband when she thought of this detail.
"Sister-in-law, did you feel unwell that day, or did you have any cuts or bleeding?"
A blush rose on Mu Lili's sallow face as she slowly smoothed her hair: "Those few days, I was on my period."
"So that's how it is. There must be something that can pique the interest of these evil spirits and be used to create a nightmare array," Chen Cheng thought to himself.
"Hmm, so what are the characteristics of the person in yellow in the dream? For example, does he have a body odor?"
Mu Lili's dim eyes lit up again: "Master, you really were right, that man in yellow was with me," she said, glancing cautiously at Cheng Ming.
"Sister-in-law, this is not your fault. This is not something that ordinary people like you can fight against. You don't need to be afraid. I believe Brother Cheng Ming can understand. After all, this is not reality!"
"Well, Lili, just tell Master Chen what's wrong, and I won't blame you."
Mu Lili glanced gratefully at Chen Cheng and her husband and whispered, "When this person is with me, I can smell a foul odor on him."
Chen Cheng glanced at his phone; it was almost six o'clock. He looked up at Cheng Ming and asked, "Can you still find your lunch spot by car now?"
"It's alright during the day, but at night, there are many side paths in the mountains, and it's not always easy to find it. Besides, it's more than an hour's drive from here to Panlong Mountain, and it takes another hour or so to get into the mountain."
Chen Cheng wasn't actually confident that he could find the true form of the evil spirit just like that. He had already figured out what it was, and now there was only one way. This way was very dangerous, but as a member of the Taoist sect, he had to help the human world slay demons and monsters no matter how dangerous it was!
"Brother Cheng, there's only one way to save your lover!"
"What method?"
Cheng Ming asked excitedly, and Mu Lili looked at him with surprise.
"Enter the dream! I have also entered your lover's dream through special means. Only in this way can that evil spirit be completely driven away!"