Chapter 57: Hezi Xinniang 8 part 1
Lin Nan suspected there was something wrong with his ears. Not even caring about being afraid anymore, he tried to find traces of a joke on this strange man’s face. Somewhat uneasy, he looked toward Jiang Si again: “Jiang Ge, you—you guys are just male friends, right?”
Although Jiang Si hadn’t expected Hai Di to be this direct, since the words were already spoken, there was nothing to deny. He simply admitted it openly and generously, stepping forward to hold Hai Di’s hand. “It’s like this.”
In an instant, it felt like a bolt from the blue, five thunders striking the top of his head. Lin Nan was in complete disbelief.
Not far away, the receptionist jiejie, who had pricked up her ears to eat the melon, wore an equally shocked expression. Her fingers clattered away so fast they left afterimages as she live-relayed the gossip to her friends.
“What is with that expression of yours?” Jiang Si’s expression was complicated, secretly reflecting in his heart: was his coming out of the closet really that sudden?
Or was the other party homophobic?
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Lin Nan clutched his chest, took a deep breath, and forced out a smile. “I’m very good, I’m fine.”
“…” Jiang Si nodded. “Alright, since you’re already here, let’s go upstairs and talk.”
Lin Nan originally wanted to go to the front desk to book a room, but was stopped by Jiang Si. “We’re only going up for a bit. We won’t be sleeping at the hotel tonight, so there’s no need to book one.”
“Then where will I sleep? No, wait, where are you going?”
“There, we’re going to his house, his house has plenty of rooms. Plus, you cannot be alone outside tonight,” Jiang Si said, leading the person all the way back to the room.
Lin Nan silently looked toward Hai Di, who stared back expressionlessly. He belatedly realized that the other party’s appearance seemed a bit familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before.
Had it been anyone else, with his thick skin, he would have already sidled over to strike up a familiar acquaintance. But, inexplicably, Lin Nan just felt uncomfortable, and even less inclined to show him a friendly face.
His hostility leaked out faintly. Hai Di, having noticed it, didn’t take it to heart at all. He followed closely behind Jiang Si into the hotel room.
Opening the door and inserting the card for power, Jiang Si told them to sit wherever they liked. He himself went to the desk and picked up the leftover yellow paper from last time. He divided it into two halves, placing one half aside, and with his bare hands, folded the other half into various shapes of paper cows and paper horses.
“What are you making Zhizha for?” Lin Nan found it strange. “Can this also be used to help me?”
Jiang Si didn’t lift his head. His fingers, almost gleaming white, shuttled nimbly through the yellow paper. “Tell us what happened on the road. How did you end up looking so wretched?”
Every time he finished folding one, he handed it to Hai Di, who placed it to the side. The two of them had zero verbal communication, yet their coordination was incredibly tacit.
It was as if they had long been accustomed to this mode of interaction.
Lin Nan averted his gaze, letting it fall onto the floor, and cleanly recounted the series of unlucky events he had encountered.
Just as he finished speaking, Hai Di suddenly let out a light chuckle. Lin Nan thought he was mocking him, only to hear him say: “To think you’re actually still alive, your life is quite resilient.”
“This counts as resilient? I haven’t encountered a single good thing all afternoon!”
“We even encountered a multi-car pileup today,” Hai Di raised his palm. “That is what you call a near-death experience.”
Jiang Si was baffled by their secret rivalry. He looked up at each of them. “If you two feel that was too light, you can jump down directly from here. This is the twelfth floor, it will definitely achieve the effect you want.”
“…” Lin Nan hurriedly refused: “I still want to live.”
“The fact that you didn’t have a major accident on the way is because setting up the bowl of water and chopsticks in Rongcheng suppressed a portion of the bad luck. Now, the things attached to you will at most cause you some minor injuries, they won’t cost you your life.”
Jiang Si finished folding the last one, stretched his hands, stood up, and tipped his chin toward the table full of Zhizha. “These are all tribute offerings. I will be burning them for the ghosts down below later. Living people cannot watch; go hide in the restroom in a moment.”
“Then what about him?” Lin Nan looked at Hai Di with a face full of indignation.
“He’s different from you.” Jiang Si replied without a second thought. “He’s seen a lot of these things. You haven’t dealt with ghosts before, getting tainted by Yin energy will be even worse for you.”
His clear, sharp eyes looked toward Lin Nan, leaving no room for refusal. “Have you forgotten how you promised me you would obey?”
Lin Nan reluctantly walked toward the restroom. Taking advantage of Jiang Si not looking, he rolled his eyes at Hai Di.
This guy looked familiar; maybe he was his nemesis from a past life.
Hai Di completely ignored him and asked Jiang Si, “Paper cows and paper horses as tribute offerings. Ordinary people cannot endure such heavy and precious tributes. Are you summoning a deity?”
“En.” Jiang Si nodded, his eyes fixed on these paper cows and paper horses. “Yesterday I promised to burn tributes for the Yinchai, and I’ll conveniently summon him up to ask some questions. I don’t know if our Difu can govern the ghosts of Dongying.”
Hai Di chuckled. He watched Jiang Si ponder for a moment, then lit a white candle. Taking the untouched stack of yellow paper, he placed it between his palms and rubbed in a half-circle to fan it out. He ignited them one by one, and then lit the paper cows and paper horses as well.
With a flick of his arm, the paper ashes scattered like butterflies.
“Paper figures and paper horses act as straw dogs, a drop of blood paints the eyes to invite the divine. Deaf to human cries and horse neighs, descending to the Yellow Springs to summon Yan Ming.”
As soon as the deity-summoning incantation was cast, the surrounding air instantly dropped seven or eight degrees, and the lights cut out completely with a snap.
Only the myriad lights of the towering skyscrapers outside filtered in through the window.
The faintly discernible curtains lifted a corner out of thin air, and a ghastly voice entered Jiang Si’s and Hai Di’s ears.
“Why are you looking for this Emissary again! What is the matter this time?”
The familiar Yinchai appeared, dragging long chains. Although his tone was impatient, his actions were extremely honest, tucking all the things Jiang Si burned cleanly into his robes.
Seeing his duplicitous behavior, Jiang Si had a good idea of where he stood.
“Sorry to trouble Your Excellency for a trip. I do have a question I’d like to ask.”
“Speak,” the Yinchai said coldly.
“I’ve heard that the Difu system still follows ancient categorizations. So, can the Difu govern the ghosts of Dongying?” To prevent him from not understanding, Jiang Si specifically added: “That is, the former Fusang Guo.”
Hai Di thought he was just making an offhand comment, but he didn’t expect it to actually hold some truth. Going back a few hundred years, Dongying had always been a vassal state, and its various etiquette systems were identical. Although there was no relationship now, it was truly hard to say for the Difu, which still operated under ancient systems.
The Yinchai froze for a moment, hesitating as he said: “What you say holds some reason. However, I have been on duty here for a long time and have never encountered a foreign ghost, so I am not very clear on this.”
Jiang Si goaded him, “Then Your Excellency should go back and ask your colleagues. This matter is quite important. Now that the visa-free policy has opened up, there will be more and more foreigners entering the country in the future. If one of them happens to die here, you guys will have to process them anyway, won’t you?”
“…” The Yinchai weighed the money in his hands, smacking his lips a couple of times. Rarely, he felt a bit indebted after taking someone’s gifts. He nodded and replied, “Alright then. I will go back and ask. If there is news, I will send you a dream.”
Jiang Si smiled. “Tomorrow, I’ll buy some more yellow paper and burn it over together, treat it as buying tea for you comrades.”
The Yinchai let out a rare smile. “This Emissary just likes sensible people like you. Yin and Yang cooperating, this Emissary understands. You just wait.”
After saying that, the paper ashes swirled into a circle and floated in the air once more. In an instant, the Yinchai had vanished.
Everything returned to normal.
“Done.” Jiang Si stretched lazily, unable to hold back a yawn. “We’re all finished, let’s go back and sleep.”
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