Chapter 22: Ghost Marriage (Part 5)
“You need to sleep,” Hai Di said. His hands continued doing Jiang Si’s work, his eyes fixed on the video progress bar as he dragged the mouse back and forth.
“After all that chaos, I’m long past being tired.” From Jiang Siās angle, he could only see Hai Diās back. The glare of the computer screen outlined his silhouette, while the colorful RGB lights from the keyboard scattered across the desk, accompanied by the constant, powerful whir of the cooling fan.
After zoning out for a moment, Jiang Si stood up to check the content on the screen. He reached around Hai Di and tapped the spacebar lightly. The semi-finished video began to play.
Jiang Si watched it all the way through before speaking. He rested his elbow on Hai Diās shoulder, bent down, and chuckled, “You’re good. You pick things up so fast. I really didn’t feed you for nothing.”
“As long as you know it,” Hai Di replied, long accustomed to his praise. Jiang Si had a knack for sweet-talking people into working for him; as long as it got him help, heād say anything.
Seeing that Jiang Si looked ready to jump back in and take over, Hai Di grabbed Jiang Siās twitching fingers, pushed his chair back, and forced the man onto the bed. “You need to sleep,” he repeated helplessly.
“I can’t sleep…”
“You don’t have a boss oppressing you anymore, so why are you pushing yourself?” Hai Di kept a straight face as he lectured him. “Besides, it’s three in the morning. are you in that much of a rush to reincarnate?”
“Talk about a reversal of order,” Jiang Si muttered a critique. “The world has truly turned upside down.”
To think Hai Di, the freeloader, dared to lecture him now.
“You!” Jiang Si poked Hai Diās shoulder. “Iām the one who picked you up and brought you home. Do you live in my house or do I live in yours? Can we get straight on who calls the shots here?”
“I saw your liver supplements,” Hai Di stated flatly.
“…You win.” Jiang Si clasped his hands in defeat; that one sentence was a fatality. He rolled over, pulled the quilt up to wrap himself like a burrito, and stared at the ceiling. After a long pause, he offered a weak defense, “Thatās preventative. Itās not like Iām actually dying.”
“Mmhmm.” Hai Di didn’t even look up. He floated back to the desk and continued typing away. After a while, he glanced back at the bed and found that Jiang Si was already asleep.
His face was buried under the quilt, leaving only his eyes and a mess of fluffy curly hair exposed. The tuft of blue hair rested against his forehead, making him look obedient and tranquil.
The corners of Hai Di’s mouth curved up slightly. He turned off the air conditioner. Since he was staying in the room anyway, running the AC was redundant. Might as well save on the electricity bill.
Early in the morning of the Hungry Ghost Festival, Jiang Si dragged himself out of bed, eyes bleary with sleep. He stumbled out the door in a daze and nearly walked face-first into a wall, saved only by Hai Di pulling him back at the last second.
“Do you want to go back to sleep for a bit?” Hai Di asked, unable to watch the struggle.
“Can’t. I have things to do.” Jiang Si splashed water on his face and washed up, which woke him up considerably. Hai Di stood by, watching. “Whatās so important?”
“I need to make some offerings for my parents and grandfather,” Jiang Si said through a yawn, heading toward the kitchen, which barely saw a flame once in a blue moon. He had specially prepared food beforehand, including meat dishes like fish, shrimp, and crab.
Curious, Hai Di followed him. He was immediately conscripted by Jiang Si to help tie his apron strings. Hai Diās movements were clumsy; his fingers fumbled with the knot several times without success. Jiang Si didn’t mind, taking the opportunity to close his eyes and rest for a moment.
Just as the knot was finally tied, Hai Di was about to speak when a sarcastic voice chimed in: “Oh my! Hugging and cuddling so early in the morning?”
Jiang Si was startled awake. He rubbed his eyes and saw Xiao Feng Xian standing there with Xu Lanyue. They had likely come to consume incense. But the meaningful smirk on Xiao Feng Xianās face felt entirely wrong.
“What nonsense are you spouting? I just asked him for a favor.” Jiang Si felt helpless, but only received a knowing look from Xiao Feng Xian.
“I get it, I get it. Right, Lanyue?”
Xu Lanyue nodded along.
What exactly do you get? Jiang Si felt baffled. He looked at Hai Di, who simply changed the subject. “You do your thing. I’ll step out.”
Jiang Si decided not to dwell on it. He took out the ingredients and began the clatter of cooking.
The custom in Rong City was to offer six meat dishes and six vegetarian dishes, plus dim sum and fruit. However, given Jiang Siās mediocre culinary skills, he simply cut two dishes from each category and added a basket of steamed crabs.
He chose dishes that were very easy to make, so everything was ready in just over an hour. The fragrant steamed crabs, paired with a saucer of seasoned dipping sauce, had meat that was firm, bouncy, and incredibly fresh.
Jiang Si arranged the dishes on the altar table one by one. Facing the three black-and-white portraits, he respectfully washed his hands, lit incense, and kowtowed.
When he walked out of the room, he found Xiao Feng Xian and Xu Lanyue sitting side-by-side, cupping their faces in their hands, waiting to eat.
If one didn’t know they were old ghosts aged several decades or centuries, one would think they were overgrown children in kindergarten.
“Can’t you just take it yourselves?”
“I’m lazy.” Xiao Feng Xian was so lazy she barely moved a muscle, only her eyes rolling symbolically.
That was typical of her, but what surprised Jiang Si was Xu Lanyue. She actually nodded in agreement with Xiao Feng Xian.
“It’s like I’m running a shelter,” Jiang Si said, utterly speechless. “You come here to mooch food when you’re hungry, and take money when you’re broke.”
“Speak clearly, please. That is our salary.”
“You say that as if labor laws protect you.” Jiang Siās tongue remained sharp. “The delicious food you eat and the money you spend rely entirely on my conscience.”
Xu Lanyue raised her hand. Jiang Si signaled for her to speak, and she didn’t hold back. “Strictly speaking, the money I spend is what Jingjing burns for me.”
Jiang Si was silenced. He realized she was right. Xu Jing was wealthy and spent money on Xu Lanyue without restraint, ordering a batch of ingots and paper money from Jiang Si every few days just so Xu Lanyue could live the life of a rich second-generation heir down below.
“Fine, fine. You make it sound like I’m stingy.” Jiang Si rubbed his nose and set out incense and candles for the three ghosts, one by one.
“On the Mid-Year Festival, souls return to their homeland. Yearning grows with each passing year; may both Heaven and Earth be at peace.”
Jiang Si opened the shop for business as usual, only to receive a call from Luo Yan, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time.
She asked, “Boss Jiang, do you have time these next few days?”
“Something up?” Jiang Si asked.
“Actually, yes. It’s the Zhongyuan Festival, isn’t it? We plan to revive the culture of ancestor worship. Coincidentally, the Taoist temple in Nanyuan District is holding a ritual ceremony, so weāre going to help promote it. Are you free? Come take a look with us; maybe you’ll find some inspiration.”
Jiang Si understood. It was indeed a traditional festival, and it was clear that Luo Yan and her team genuinely wanted to explore traditional culture.
“Sure. When exactly is it?”
“It lasts four days, just pick a day to come.” Luo Yan seemed to be working, so she hung up after a few brief sentences.
Lin Nan, unable to sit still at home, had come to the shop to find Jiang Si and overheard the invitation. “Isn’t Zhongyuan the Ghost Festival? Why are they holding a ritual to celebrate it?”
“You said it yourself, it’s a Ghost Festival. Of course, it’s for the ghosts to celebrate.” Jiang Si shook his head and explained, “As the saying goes: The Upper Origin is for the Heavenly Official to bestow blessings, the Middle Origin is for the Earthly Official to pardon sins, and the Lower Origin is for the Water Official to resolve adversity. In ancient times, when an emperor granted amnesty, the whole world celebrated. Naturally, the Earthly Official pardoning sins is worth celebrating too.”
“‘Banners swaying, the Zhongyuan Ritual is established in the seventh month.’ It has been this way since ancient times.”
Lin Nan only half-understood, so he stopped thinking about it. He squatted at the doorway to bask in the sun, attempting to increase his yang energy to make himself impervious to evil.
Eventually, Jiang Si couldn’t watch anymore. Afraid the kid would get heatstroke, he dragged him into the shop, cleared a space, and let him sit there and zone out.
This continued until Jiang Si finished burning paper money and closed up shop. Lin Nan parted ways with him reluctantly. Before leaving, he touched the paper doll in his pocket and said to Jiang Si, “Brother Jiang, I’ll be waiting for youā”
His posture was just missing a little handkerchief waving in the wind.
Jiang Si, with a dark expression, shooed him home.
When Jiang Si got home, it was empty. Perplexed, he asked Hai Di, “Wasn’t Xiao Feng Xian’s shoot only yesterday? Where did she go today?”
“There’s a release of water lanterns tonight. The two of them went to join the fun and ride a boat.”
“Right.” Jiang Si knew of this custom. It had an elegant name, “Illuminating the Netherworld,” and was commonly known as the “Voyage of Universal Salvation.” It involved releasing paper lanterns and paper boats into the water to guide the souls of those who died unjustly.
Jiang Si had seen it a few times and lost interest. He ate and drank as usual, then sat down at his computer to work on his video.
Using ghosts to possess paper dolls for filming was more convenient than standard stop-motion animation because he didn’t have to sequence photos one by one or fix bugs in post-production. It saved a lot of trouble.
But no matter how much trouble was saved, the necessary editing and sound design were unavoidable.
He had to do it bit by bit. Jiang Si would stare at the screen for a while, then rest to relax his eyes and neck.
Hai Di read a novel for a while, then noticed Jiang Si was staring blankly at the computer. His fingers weren’t moving on the keyboard or mouse; he was just sitting there, motionless.
“What’s wrong?” Hai Di approached.
His gaze swept over Jiang Si’s screen and found a movie poster. It was in an ink-wash painting style, with two large characters in a red gradient: Escaping the World.
“What is this?” Hai Di keenly sensed that Jiang Si’s mood was a bit off.
“Does it look good?” Jiang Si tilted his head to ask him.
“It’s alright.” Hai Di didn’t know the situation, so he chose a cautious answer.
“Heh… This was the movie I was in charge of before I quit. It was also my graduation project.” Jiang Si fell silent after speaking. Hai Di thought he was feeling sentimental, but then Jiang Si added, “I have to grow in silence and then blind that ex-boss of mine with my brilliance.”
“…Good luck then.” Hai Di patted Jiang Siās shoulder.
Just as Jiang Siās hand touched the mouse, he suddenly caught a faint, intermittent smell of burning paper ash. He knew the smell of his own handiwork best. His expression hardened instantly, and he ran toward the door, not forgetting to call out to Hai Di, “Grab the gear. We’ve got a fight.”
Lin Nan was lying in bed playing games when he suddenly noticed the paper doll on his desk spontaneously ignite. It scared the life out of him. He jumped out of bed to put out the fire, only to see a thin scratch mark appear out of nowhere in the pile of gray-black ash. The scratch was writhing, crawling like a snake.
He immediately realized the Snake Immortal had found him again. Scrambling on hands and knees out of the room, he didn’t even stop to call his parents. He ran to the front door to find Jiang Si, only to swing it open and see Jiang Si right there, hand raised to knock.
“Brother Jiang, Brother Jiang, it-it-it…” Lin Nan stuttered, pointing back at his room.
“Is it inside?” Jiang Si pushed past him and headed for Lin Nan’s bedroom.
Lin Nanās gaze couldn’t help but drift to what Jiang Si was holding. It was a strange-looking stick. Even in his terror, he had the capacity to wonder what it was.
Jiang Si pressed the handle and pushed the door open. He didn’t see a snake. Instead, there was a woman in white lying on her side on Lin Nan’s bed, propping her head up with one arm and playing with her hair with the other. Her flowing, wide robes were spread out casually, a corner of the fabric even trailing onto the floor.
“Xu Langāwait, who are you?” Sensing the scent was wrong, the woman’s originally tender voice instantly changed pitch as she glared at Jiang Si with burning eyes.
Before Jiang Si could speak, the woman’s eyes swept over the mourning staff in his hand. She realized what had happened. “So, you made a substitute for Xu Lang. I was wondering how he had the skill to do that.”
“If I didn’t make a substitute, was I supposed to just let you kill him?” Jiang Si raised the stick like a sword, aiming it at the woman. “Since you have gained sentience and become a spirit, you should cultivate properly. Aren’t you afraid of being punished by the laws of Heaven and Earth for killing the living?”
“What a joke. When did I ever want to kill Xu Lang?” The woman sneered. She rolled off the bed and stood not far from Jiang Si, pointing a finger at Lin Nan outside the door. “He and I are husband and wife who have bowed to Heaven and Earth. Why would I kill him?”
“You’re lying! I was bewitched by you!” Lin Nan couldn’t help but poke his head in to retort. “If things in dreams were real, I’ve dreamed of winning the lotteryāare you going to cash that for me?”
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