Chapter 199 Chapter 194 Agitation
“Master, please help me take a look, this ghost is very powerful.” Fang Shijun’s voice was both sincere and worried, which could stir a man’s desire to perform.
A steady male voice came in: “There’s no need to panic, the house has a heavy evil presence… the deceased must have died with great resentment.”
His speech was not standard Mandarin, mixed with a thick accent from Hong Kong, which made Ji Ma concentrate on listening to discern what he was saying.
“The master is impressive; he couldn’t catch me and jumped off a building to haunt me… occupying my house.”
Ji Ma took a deep breath, reflecting on how kind she had been, even not troubling Fang Shijun directly, leading her to think she could only operate in her own home.
The phone was still vibrating; her biological mother seemed angry and had been calling continuously.
Calm down, Ji Ma, you have a bit of the chosen one of the master of deception. Think of a way to teach these two a good lesson, causing them pain while making Fang Shijun desperate enough to return the money.
Ji Ma forcefully transformed the “branch axe spear” back into a straight twig.
The Taoist had reached the study door, wearing a Taoist hat, robe, and shoes, holding a compass, sporting a white goat beard and an ethereal demeanor. Next to him stood a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old little Taoist boy with a whisk.
This outfit made Ji Ma stand up from her computer chair, squinting at him.
Would she encounter supernatural forces from her hometown today?
The old Taoist turned directly towards Ji Ma, holding out the compass, raising a hand, and pointing two fingers at Ji Ma, sternly shouting, “Evil worshiper! Where are you trying to escape to?”
“Have I been discovered?”
Ji Ma’s straight twig transformed back into the branch axe spear, wings sprouting from her back, squinting as she instinctively pulled him into a dream.
Unexpectedly, it was too smooth. So smooth it was like reaching out to grab a tissue, exhaling with ease.
The old Taoist immediately froze in place, his gaze flickering.
He was just a mortal! He had no supernatural powers at all.
“Master?” Fang Shijun gently pushed the stunned old Taoist.
Ji Ma quickly dragged the old Taoist back from the dream and slightly distorted his perception, so the old Taoist still thought he had just been momentarily dazed.
“I was in the middle of a duel just now, at a crucial moment.” The old Taoist puffed his beard and glared: “Can you please be a bit more patient?”
Fang Shijun immediately bowed her head, retracting her neck, and said, “I’m sorry.”
The old Taoist turned his head, with the blood-red tip of the branch axe spear less than a centimeter from his eyes. But he didn’t blink and took a step forward; if Ji Ma hadn’t jerked her hand, he would have died on the spot.
Ji Ma grumbled, “He’s really just a fraud; I wasted 3% of my magic power.”
The old Taoist walked into the study, mumbling strange things full of accents.
Ji Ma sat at the computer desk, deep in thought.
Fang Shijun approached her, hearing the old Taoist say he could resolve “a resentful spirit that cannot pursue and who committed suicide,” her face showing genuine delight.
Ji Ma almost wanted to chop her with an axe.
After scaring this mere mortal so many times, she actually thought of exorcising evil?
The branch axe spear was already resting against Fang Shijun’s neck.
Be lowkey about doing magic, be lowkey about doing magic. You are now the chosen one of the master of deception, not the chosen of the blood god; you should have the demeanor of a grand schemer.
Ji Ma retracted the branch axe spear.
“Buzz, buzz, buzz.”
The phone vibrated.
“The night gives me black eyes, but I use them to seek the light♪”
The phone rang; it happened to be the time when the mute function on the phone ended.
After all, the other party was still her biological mother; she should answer the call.
Ji Ma reached out, picked up the phone, and as soon as she answered, a murderous female voice came through:
“Hello, is this Wan Ziqi?”
“It’s me,” Ji Ma said, “I’ve been very busy these days (busy cursing online and harvesting pain power), and sometimes I couldn’t answer the phone.”
“Do you know how offending it is not to answer calls…”
Ji Ma heard the sound of teeth grinding. She really wanted to say that she had offended many people, out of hatred for stealing wives, stealing daughters, stealing grandmothers, stealing treasures—plenty.
After nagging about the rules everyone in society should learn, her mother Wan Yapin asked, “Are you listening?”
Ji Ma glanced at the old Taoist who was still fighting her, and said, “I’m listening, Mother.”
“Why do you sound so strange when you talk now?”
“Oh.”
“Then repeat it back.”
Ji Ma felt like she had been hit on the head with a mallet, but being a diamond-level extraordinary being, she still had a crown fragment floating over her head.
Ji Ma immediately responded: “The phone needs to be answered promptly; if not answered immediately, it needs to be called back. If it’s inconvenient to call back, we need to reply on WeChat.”
“You must do what you say in the future,” her mother Wan Yapin said. “Has your girlfriend paid you back?”
“What girlfriend? At most, she is an ex-girlfriend.”
Hearing the anger in Ji Ma’s tone, her mother Wan Yapin said:
“Regardless, she was once your girlfriend. She agreed to pay back; her essence isn’t bad. What’s the use of hating her all day? Forgiving her is also forgiving yourself; let’s all have a meal and part amicably…”
Ji Ma felt her blood vessels swelling; she had been thinking about how to use her brain to perfectly solve the current situation, and now everything was in chaos; what method could she possibly come up with?
She raised her eyes and saw the three people who completely didn’t notice her presence. Suddenly, a thought arose.
Why? Why, if I am so strong, do I have to go around in circles when I can directly punch them instead of trying to read minds and design schemes? Why don’t I just hit them directly?
“Hmm, hmm, hmm.” Ji Ma said, clenching her fist and punching Fang Shijun in the side of her face, knocking her straight to the ground. “Mother, I’m waiting in the restaurant for Fang Shijun; she’s here…”
Fang Shijun was startled, just about to stand up when she looked up and saw Wan Ziqi, her face pale as if she had just crawled out of the morgue, exclaiming, “Master, he’s come out.”
Ji Ma stepped on her back, saying, “Do you think he has any ability?”
The old Taoist was still in the duel, and seeing Ji Ma stepping on Fang Shijun, he opened his mouth, “Master, the evil has been exorcised from this house. Please lead me to another room.”
It seemed someone responded to him, and he nodded, saying, “This resentful spirit is not to be underestimated, but I am willing to take 10% less of your incense money.”
“Master, save me!” Fang Shijun raised her hand, struggling to reach the old Taoist, just under twenty centimeters away from him.
Ji Ma grabbed her hair, pulling hard, then kneed her shoulder and tossed her to the ground.
With a thunk, Fang Shijun’s head smashed against the floor, rendering her unable to get up for a moment.
The old Taoist, accompanied by the little Taoist boy, walked over Fang Shijun’s body, one after the other.
The phone emitted Wan Yapin’s voice: “Child, how’s it going?”
“Oh, I’m having a great discussion with her. Mother, you were right; we should be kind to others.”
After saying that, Ji Ma kicked Fang Shijun back down.
“How long did she say it would take to pay you back?”
“I don’t know, probably just over ten days.”
Fang Shijun had already gotten back up; she ran out of the room, stumbling, screaming as she fled down the stairs, as fast as a madwoman.
The old Taoist continued holding the compass, muttering some mystical things in the bedroom, sprinkled with accents, occasionally speaking to the air known as “Master.”
Meanwhile, as Fang Shijun escaped, she reached the underground garage, opened the door of a black sedan, crawled inside, and closed the door securely.
The familiar environment gave her a sense of security. Thinking of the days away from home, no ghost disturbances, she realized the ghosts were only a threat at home, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
A frozen hand pulled out the car keys.
Fang Shijun turned her head and saw Wan Ziqi’s corpse, frightening her so much that she didn’t have time to unbuckle her seatbelt, her upper body leaning out the car window.
“Help! Help!”
Ji Ma tenderly unbuckled her seatbelt, and Fang Shijun tumbled out of the car, scrambling and running towards a male driver on the road, shouting, “Help! There’s a ghost.”
Ji Ma rushed up, delivering another punch to her back: “I’ve had enough; I’m going to beat you to death!”
Fang Shijun fell to the ground, while the male driver seemed to completely ignore her and walked past her.
Ji Ma approached, raining a flurry of punches that knocked Fang Shijun unconscious.
“Schemes, what schemes?” Ji Ma kicked her.
When Fang Shijun’s consciousness gradually returned, she opened her eyes to see the old Taoist’s enigmatic smile saying:
“Master, the exorcism was very successful. As long as you keep these two talismans close, they will not only completely exorcise evil but also ensure your health and peace for the next thirty years.”
Fang Shijun anxiously looked around, discovering she was still in her own home, the pain unbearable, unable to stand up. She touched her face; her cheek was swollen, saying, “Master, the ghost was hitting me earlier—why didn’t you do anything?”
The old Taoist carefully observed Fang Shijun’s face and said:
“Master, your complexion is evidently rosy, healthy, and quite beautiful.”
Fang Shijun, not having time to be afraid, angrily argued with the old Taoist, but she found that even when she looked in the mirror, pointing at her bruises, and even through video calls asking friends and family, they couldn’t see any injuries.
They all said, “Shijun, your face is very pretty.”
In the end, Fang Shijun had no choice but to pay thirty thousand yuan; the old Taoist was unhappy, muttering something about disbelief and lack of effectiveness, and left through the door.
Fang Shijun fled from this eerie home, drove off, almost colliding with other cars on the road, arriving at the hospital, demanding a full-body check-up, which took all afternoon.
The doctor held up the report and said, “Your body is very healthy.”
“No, that’s not right,” Fang Shijun said, “I’m in pain. My whole body hurts.”
“Here, it’s advisable for you to see a psychiatrist…”
After a loud commotion, Fang Shijun ultimately said nothing and slumped weakly into a chair, even doubting whether she was going insane.
What she didn’t know was that she had now become a contagion, spreading Ji Ma’s little curse—everyone who saw her believed she was healthy and uninjured. Even if tests showed her bones were broken, all doctors would think her bones were intact.
She dared not go home but only stayed in a hotel, not sleeping all night, dark circles under her eyes, finally returning home reluctantly. As soon as she entered, she knelt down, saying, “Wan Ziqi, I’m sorry; I will repay you. Please spare me.”
The living room was empty, devoid of anyone.
Really no one.
Ji Ma appeared half-truthfully, seated in a taxi, holding her phone, watching a video she had edited and uploaded.
The comments read: “Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?”
“Bury it; ADC is so dumb.”
“AD’s situation.”
And so on.
Didn’t anyone realize how torturous it was to play Teemo?
Did these people have no sympathy at all? Did they not empathize with the victim and feel the pain?
Uploading game videos was less satisfying than going to the forums to rant.
Ji Ma tucked a lock of black hair behind her ear when the taxi suddenly slammed to a stop. Ji Ma’s knee hit the back of the front seat, but she steadied herself, raising her head to ask, “What’s wrong?”
The taxi driver, who had seen Ji Ma in a daze, said, “It’s nothing, beautiful.”
Ji Ma glanced at the driver through the rearview mirror, deciphering the truth but ignoring his words: “Hurry, I’m in a rush.”
“Understood.”
Ji Ma picked up her phone, putting it to her ear, “Hello, is this Lin Feng? I can give you what you want, but be prepared mentally.”
After saying this, Ji Ma hung up the phone and casually put Lin Feng’s number into her blacklist.
