Chapter 63: Yang Qi

The officer also mentioned that even for bank accounts with unknown passwords, or even accounts yet to be discovered, as long as the inheritance was notarized, all property under Xia Yubing’s parents’ names would be transferred to me.
However, I would need to pay a hefty inheritance tax, but that was a matter for later.

Perhaps because he thought I had amnesia and had lost all my relatives, the police officer felt very sorry for me.
His attitude towards me was very good, carefully explaining the inheritance situation and even updating me on the progress of the investigation.

Simply put, according to the police investigation, the Painted Skin Ghost did indeed act alone, without an accomplice.
The police traced the network of relationships around Xia Yubing and her family and found that it first attacked a servant, then assumed his identity to enter the house.
Its specific origins were still under investigation.

After the officer finished, Yi Zhiqiu looked at my face and frowned, “Your Yintang is dark, and your eyes are bloodshot. It seems you’re still being pestered by a malevolent ghost. Could the Painted Skin Ghost have had an accomplice whose spirit lingers? But it doesn’t feel like a demon, more like being haunted by a ghost, or the effects of resentment erosion.”

The Feng Shui shop owner had to look for a while to see my facial signs, but Yi Zhiqiu saw it in just a few glances.
He then looked at Xiao Qing beside me, “You have a bit of it too, signs of being eroded by resentment. Where did you two go today, and what did you do?”

Xiao Qing looked at Yi Zhiqiu in surprise.
It was only today that she had learned from me that a powerful master had killed the Painted Skin Ghost and saved me.
At first, she was a bit dismissive, thinking Yi Zhiqiu might just be relying on a powerful Dharma artifact.
She never expected his physiognomy skills to be so accurate.

“We went to Fukang Commercial Center to buy clothes today. Unexpectedly, we saw an old grandmother in the central garden who warned us not to get close, but she disappeared in the blink of an eye. Then we saw many figures at the fountain in the middle. It was very scary, and Xiao Qing and I were scared away.”

I had no choice but to recount what happened at the commercial center today, but I held back one detail.
I didn’t mention that I could see the flow of wealth aura or that we knew it was the eye of a Feng Shui formation.
In my telling, it was just an accidental encounter.

“Tsk! Fukang Commercial Center? That’s a troublesome matter. There have been several suicides around that mall in the past year, and all of them had conflicts with the commercial center,” the officer said, recalling the case details.

“Since they saw ghostly figures and were eroded by resentment, it most likely involves evil arts. I’ll go check on the situation tomorrow,” Yi Zhiqiu said, then turned to me and Xiao Qing, “Residual resentment can harm your health. You two, don’t move. I’ll help you purify it.”

As he spoke, he reached out and took both my and Xiao Qing’s hands.
A pure yang light emanated from his hands, and a warm current flowed into my body, instantly dispelling the yin coldness within me, making me feel incredibly comfortable.

Ou Zhiqiu also looked up at Yi Zhiqiu in surprise.
She had originally planned to go home and take a ritual bath to dispel the resentment.
She never expected this master to be able to expel the yin coldness from her body with his own yang energy just by touching her.

Soon, Yi Zhiqiu had completely dispelled the residual resentment from our bodies and let go of our hands.
I felt a bit reluctant to let go.
His aura made me feel too comfortable.
My body was greedily absorbing the yang energy left by Yi Zhiqiu and was reacting with a craving for far more.

I remembered the information the Feng Shui shop owner had told me: the Hidden Yin Physique is naturally deficient in yang energy.
Therefore, he had suggested I find a yang-aspected Dharma artifact to fill the void.
Could Yi Zhiqiu’s pure yang aura also be a kind of supplement?

“If it’s just residual resentment, it should be that you two young ladies accidentally came into contact with some resentment at the commercial center. But Xia Yubing, you still have signs of being in contact with a ghost. Did you encounter some evil spirit?” Yi Zhiqiu asked again.
He was very observant.

For a moment, I considered whether I should ask Yi Zhiqiu to just get rid of Xia Yubing’s parents who were pestering me.
Two lonely ghosts should be no difficult task for him.
But then I thought of the Feng Shui shop owner’s divination and changed my words.

“It’s not an evil ghost, it’s my parents. They didn’t pass away peacefully, so they’re visiting me in my dreams. I want to hold a ceremony for them so they can pass on to the Pure Land. Is that possible?” I inquired.

Thinking about it now, Yi Zhiqiu very likely had a way to communicate with ghosts.
Once he spoke with Xia Yubing’s parents, he would know I was an imposter, and then I would be in danger.
It was a good thing I changed my story quickly.

“Of course, you can. The seventh day after their death is indeed approaching. This matter cannot be neglected. We have also offered incense and burned paper money for the deceased, but it seems we still can’t completely quell their resentment. Do you need the police to help you arrange for a funeral procession?” the officer readily agreed and even enthusiastically asked if I needed help.

“Then this matter has nothing to do with me. I’m not skilled at ferrying souls. I’ll go investigate the matter at the commercial center,” Yi Zhiqiu said.
Although Daoists could also ferry souls, helping them reach the Pure Land was not a specialty of Daoist practitioners.

“Thank you for your concern. I have already hired a master. He should be here tomorrow morning. When the time comes, please allow them to conduct the ceremony here,” I said, following Mo Qingyan’s arrangements.

“Of course, this is Miss Xia’s house. You don’t need our permission to hold a ceremony for your parents. We’ve almost finished collecting evidence here, so don’t worry about disturbing the scene,” the officer readily agreed.

At this moment, a thought struck me, and I said, “Um, I’d like to hold a ceremony to deliver all the victims of this Painted Skin incident as well. Is that possible?”

“Huh?” Both the officer and Yi Zhiqiu looked at me.
They had never heard of holding a joint ceremony for other people like this.

“They were also killed by the Painted Skin Ghost. I feel very sorry for them. And among them, there might be resentful souls wandering the human world, just like my parents. Instead of letting them continue to suffer and possibly harm others, it would be better to hold a ceremony for them as well,” I said.

This was actually because I was thinking of my own parents.
Although they weren’t good to me, they had raised me.
And I was also afraid that they too would become lonely ghosts and follow their bloodline to find me.
So I came up with a reason, hoping to deliver them all at once.

The police officer looked at me deeply, then nodded and said, “Miss Xia is truly as beautiful as she is kind. Yes, you can. The procedure for delivering two people and delivering a group is the same anyway. Holding a ceremony can also reduce the risk of them turning into malevolent ghosts and harming people everywhere. Let’s do it that way.”

“Then I’ll have to trouble you, officer, to help me collect the names of the deceased, and preferably photos or some of their belongings, so we can hold the ceremony for them all together tomorrow,” I said.

“Leave it to us,” the officer said.
Having someone help with the ceremony would save him from a lot of potential trouble.