JOS Chapter 132

The Search

 

Jiang Feng’s cold response instantly changed the way the instructor looked at him.

 

Zhang Yangyang stepped forward, positioning himself between the two to mediate: “Alright, arguing now won’t help, right? There are so many people here. Can’t we find a quiet place to sit down and talk this through properly?”

 

The roommate said, “Teacher, not to be disrespectful, but if a child has problems, they should see a doctor. What do you mean by ‘not normal’? Children have psychological issues all the time. You’re a people’s teacher, and this is a university – we need to be reasonable here, right?”

 

With half-pushing and half-persuading, they moved the confrontation from the cafeteria to a small restaurant outside the school, finding a private room with a large round table to sit down.

 

Zhang Yangyang and the others claimed to be mediators, ordering a pot of coconut juice and several small dishes, indicating that each side could now present their case.

 

The instructor asked, “Are you a Taoist priest?”

 

Jiang Feng replied, “No.”

 

“Earlier at the camera shop, when that boss brought out a jade pendant for you, I felt your expression toward me was wrong. Tell me, was there something wrong with that jade pendant?” He became somewhat agitated at this point, pressing both hands on the table. “You said the owner of that jade died a violent death, so did you see that ghost? Why didn’t you tell me? You even said it was some damn good thing! Now I’m being haunted by that ghost. If something happens to my son, how dare you say it has nothing to do with you?”

 

Zhang Yangyang said, “Let me say something fair – you’re just venting your anger on him. He’s just a charlatan. Behind every famous charlatan, there are always a few people who’ve been deceived. He was being deliberately vague and mysterious to fool people – teacher, you actually believed him? Fine, you believed him, but how can you use this to convict him?”

 

The roommate also said helplessly, “So this is what it was about – you’re chasing shadows. If the child is sick, take him to see a doctor. Why does everything have to be connected to ghosts?”

 

The instructor couldn’t hear their voices at all, pursing his lips and glaring fiercely at Jiang Feng.

 

Jiang Feng asked, “Are you being haunted by a ghost?”

 

The instructor insisted. “Yes!”

 

Jiang Feng: “Then why are you perfectly fine?”

 

The instructor was stunned. “What?”

 

Jiang Feng said. “You’re not being haunted by a ghost.”

 

“But I saw it,” he said. “That night while sleeping, around eleven o’clock, he suddenly started screaming. I got up to check on him. He was clearly lying in bed, but when I hadn’t turned on the lights, I saw a black shadow. There was light in the hallway, and the shadow was reflected on the wardrobe door. I’m absolutely certain I didn’t see it wrong! And on my son’s left arm, there were very obvious scratch marks and bruises. What is that if not a ghost?”

 

“And then this time, he kept talking to himself, telling the teacher he was very scared, that someone was always watching him. When class ended and all the other children went downstairs, he squeezed to the edge and climbed onto the handrail wanting to slide down, but it seemed like someone pushed him, and he fell and got hurt!”

 

Jiang Feng showed no reaction. “Your son is your son, so I told you to ask him.”

 

The instructor: “He’s just a child – what could he know?”

 

“Wait a moment,” Zhang Yangyang said. “The destructive power of bratty kids sometimes exceeds imagination – they can drive people crazy. I think you should investigate more deeply. Some grudges are hard to explain in a few words!”

 

Several people nodded knowingly. “Mm!”

 

The instructor asked half-believing, “So it really has nothing to do with that jade?”

 

“It might be related,” Jiang Feng said. “At that time, there was indeed a wandering soul on that jade.”

 

The instructor immediately slammed the table and stood up.

 

Everyone turned their heads in unison, staring at him intently.

 

Zhang Yangyang: “Feng? Are you really crazy?”

 

The instructor pointed at him, his fingertip trembling. “What are your intentions? Oh, you want to make money, don’t you? How much do you want to resolve this matter? Acting like this, aren’t you afraid of retribution?”

 

Zhang Yangyang put his arm around Jiang Feng’s neck, protectively saying, “Our Brother Feng is a man who can donate several hundred million for love – how could he be what you think!”

 

Everyone nodded in unison again. “Mm!”

 

Jiang Feng said, “The mortal world naturally has many wandering souls. During the day, they might hide in dark places or in suitable objects. That jade was indeed a good thing, so the spirit hid inside it for shelter. After encountering you, it flew out. But it’s not some malicious ghost. Even if you passed by a cemetery or attended someone’s funeral, you might encounter some wandering souls. These ghosts don’t harm people and don’t need to be exorcised – they’ll generally leave on their own when they find an opportunity.”

 

The instructor: “But it didn’t! It even harmed my son!”

 

Jiang Feng nodded. “That shows it came specifically for you. It approached you because you carry the scent of someone it’s looking for. It’s haunting your son, proving your son has a grudge with it. I saw that it was already in a state close to reincarnation, but suddenly started harming people – it might have remembered something from when it was alive. So, please answer me first: what has your son done?”

 

The instructor’s eyes darted around, his expression uncertain, then he looked up and asked, “You… so what do you mean?”

 

Jiang Feng said, “The question should be: what do you want to do?”

 

The instructor: “Destroy it! Don’t all Taoist priests take slaying demons and eliminating evil as their duty?”

 

“Everyone will die. Including you,” Jiang Feng said. “If grievances in life aren’t revealed, after death, there’s still a chance for revenge. It taking revenge and killing people without authorization breaks the rules, but I won’t destroy it – this isn’t called slaying demons and eliminating evil.”

 

The instructor: “So you’re just going to leave it alone? Only act after someone dies?”

 

Jiang Feng: “You can first take me to have a look. If you remember something, you can also think about how to make amends.”

 

The instructor stood up thoughtfully, and under everyone’s gaze, came back to his senses and said, “My car can’t fit so many people.”

 

Zhang Yangyang raised his hand: “Just Jiang Feng and I need to go!”

 

The instructor’s car was parked in the school parking lot. He went to get the car first, then came back to pick them up. When he returned, his expression still showed some hesitation.

 

Jiang Feng and Zhang Yangyang got in on their own. He silently started the engine, set the navigation, and drove toward the hospital.

 

Halfway there, the instructor suddenly asked, “What does making amends mean?”

 

“It depends on the severity. If someone was killed, you can think about how to gain the victim’s family’s forgiveness, sincerely go to the deceased’s grave to apologize and admit fault, things like that,” Jiang Feng said. “Some ghosts won’t listen – in such cases, you can find a Taoist priest or monk to reason with them.”

 

The instructor: “Still reasoning?!”

 

Jiang Feng said tactfully: “Cultivators’ reasoning is generally quite violent.”

 

The instructor muttered, “Mm.”

 

The hospital wasn’t far from the school. After driving for half an hour, they reached their destination.

 

The instructor led them to the inpatient ward.

 

His son was lying in the hospital bed, sleeping peacefully. Grandma was keeping watch nearby, also dozing at the moment.

 

The instructor said quietly, “The doctor said there’s nothing seriously wrong, but who knows if something will happen again?”

 

Jiang Feng: “It’s gone.”

 

“What do you mean it’s gone?”

 

Jiang Feng: “There’s no ghost around him.”

 

“It ran away?” The instructor instinctively looked around. “Will it come back?”

 

Jiang Feng: “That I don’t know.”

 

The instructor was exasperated: “You—”

 

Grandma was awakened by the noise and looked up at them.

 

“Son? How are things?”

 

The instructor: “It’s fine.”

 

He wanted to say more, but Jiang Feng had already turned and left. After hesitating for a moment, he didn’t stop him.

 

Jiang Feng happened to hail a taxi at the intersection.

 

Zhang Yangyang quickly followed and sat in the back seat, closing the door and asking, “Where are you going?”

 

“To find where that ghost is,” Jiang Feng told the driver. “To Antique Street.”

 

Zhang Yangyang sighed in relief, “I thought you were going to abandon this.”

 

Jiang Feng: “Just scaring him. He made me feel uncomfortable. But duty calls – I’ll catch this thing and bring it back.”

 

Zhang Yangyang nodded. “I felt the same way. His temper was really annoying.”

 

“No,” Jiang Feng said. “There’s a black mark on his forehead, judged by the Ninth Hall’s King Pingdeng. If he doesn’t repent and make amends, after death he’ll be sent to hell for severe punishment.”

 

The driver in front heard this and laughed, taking them for delusional young people.

 

Zhang Yangyang: “King Pingdeng… what does he look like?”

 

Jiang Feng thought for a moment. “He wears a square crown and holds a bamboo flute. He has gray-white long beard and appears kind and benevolent.”

 

“Sounds pretty good?”

 

“If you actually met him, you wouldn’t think so.”

 

Good people go directly to the First Hall to look in a mirror, then get sent to the Tenth Hall for reincarnation. Those who encounter the judges of the second through ninth halls can quietly reflect on why they didn’t live properly in this life.

 

The driver suppressed his laughter. “We’re here, you two!”

 

Jiang Feng paid and got out, with Zhang Yangyang quickly following.

 

The antique shop owner saw him and said happily, “Oh, Jiang Feng! What brings you here?”

 

Jiang Feng: “I came to ask about that jade’s owner – who he was, where he lived, and whether we can contact him.”

 

The owner put down what he was doing and looked at him seriously. “What happened? Did something go wrong?”

 

With the owner’s help, they got the specific address from the cleaner, then obtained the property owner’s name from a nearby real estate agency. Using the pretext of wanting to view the house, they arranged to meet the owner.

 

The person who came was a middle-aged man who looked somewhat haggard but still mostly presentable. His family situation seemed decent, and the house was in a good location with a high price.

 

“You’re buying a house?” The man looked at them with some surprise. “So young. Aren’t your parents coming? Why didn’t the agent come either?”

 

Jiang Feng asked, “Why are you selling this house?”

 

The man opened the door with his key and invited them in.

 

Zhang Yangyang said, “A place of sad memories, right?”

 

The man agreed. “Indeed, I don’t want to be reminded of things by seeing objects.”

 

The house had been emptied. The man gave them a brief introduction to the situation.

 

After saying much, the man finally confessed. “This isn’t a haunted house. I’ve been the original owner since it was built. But sometimes it is indeed a bit strange, so I can sell it at a discount.”

 

Zhang Yangyang immediately became alert. “There’s a ghost here?!”

 

“Not exactly… I don’t know,” the man said. “Sometimes when I came home, someone would have already laid out slippers for me. Things that fell on the floor would also be picked up. But things stored in the warehouse would also be messed up, and the TV would constantly change channels by itself. Anyway, there were good and bad things, but it never harmed us.”

 

Zhang Yangyang: “You’re so brave – you dared to live with a ghost?”

 

The man smiled bitterly. “This house is full of memories – it’s what my wife and I worked hard for together. We really didn’t want to sell it unless absolutely necessary. And at that time, my son had just died, my wife was in very bad shape, so this kind of thing actually became our psychological comfort. Of course, initially we found a master to look at it. That master was very famous and said it was fine, that it might get better after a while. I don’t really understand what he meant by ‘might,’ but I assume it meant there was no danger. Anyway, we gradually got used to it, and it appeared less and less frequently. After my daughter died, it never appeared again. Later I found another master to check, and he said it had already left.”

 

Zhang Yangyang was stunned listening to this.

 

“Son… then daughter?”

 

The man nodded.  “We’re really tired and want to start fresh somewhere else.”

 

Zhang Yangyang solemnly bowed. “I’m sorry, please accept my condolences.”

 

Jiang Feng said, “There’s indeed no ghost here. The house is very clean now.”

 

The man: “What… what exactly are you people?”

 

The sudden sound of the doorbell interrupted their conversation.

 

The man apologized and went to open the door.

 

Little Mountain God stood at the door carrying a red backpack, shouting loudly: “Daddy!”

 

“Daddy?” The man was bewildered by being called that, crouching down helplessly. “I… son? You are…”

 

Zhang Yangyang: “???”

 

“I wasn’t calling you daddy,” Little Mountain God waved his hand. “You can find another one for yourself.”

 

Jiang Feng came out from behind and asked, “How did you get here?”

 

Little Mountain God said, “Zong Ce took the phone away.”

 

Jiang Feng hesitated, “Should I buy you one?”

 

Little Mountain God shook his head. “Zong Ce… ah, no. Zong Ce left with the phone.”

 

Jiang Feng: “Zong Ce is gone?”

 

“Mm-hmm.” Little Mountain God nodded. “She had Big Ghost go down the mountain to buy things for her. Big Ghost brought back a little ghost, then she ran away.”