Chapter 63: The Yin Hall Gathering (Part 8)

“Secretly loves me…” Yu Xiao reacted for a moment, then corrected herself: “Secretly loves the female lead?”

Chen Ba advised her: “Don’t overthink it. You can’t have anything happen to you before this drama wraps filming.”

Regardless of Chen Ba’s reasons for saying this, Yu Xiao felt somewhat comforted hearing it.

“Mm, thanks.” Yu Xiao turned over, facing away from his direction, speaking softly.

Chen Ba raised an eyebrow, scratching his eyebrow with his finger, assuming he had heard wrong.

When Chen Jiu returned to her own room, Su Xiaoyu was already sound asleep. Chen Xiaoxuan saw her return, circled around her once, sniffing her scent while wagging his tail.

Bingbing also opened his eyes, trotting over to find her, frantically wagging his tail and making whimpering sounds.

“What’s wrong?” Chen Jiu asked softly.

However, Chen Xiaoxuan showed no other unusual reactions. After his mother spoke, he stopped circling and ran back to play with his own toy plush ball.

After experiencing this night’s sudden incident, Chen Jiu didn’t plan to wait any longer. Previously she had twice intended to use the method of luring the enemy, but last night’s active mistake on Yu Xiao’s side had already startled the snake. That yin evil would not be fooled again.

Sorting out her thoughts, she picked up her compass and peach wood sword, going to the underground parking garage.

Since luring the enemy wouldn’t work, she could only actively trace it. She hadn’t used this method before because it was too damaging to her spirit, but having taken such a large sum of money, with all aspects of pressure genuinely placed upon her, if she dragged on any longer it would damage the reputation of the Wanshi Studio. She must settle this quickly.

This place was spacious and empty, with dense human presence, suitable for performing rituals.

Yin follows yin, yang seeks yang. Things that cannot see the light反而更容易 leave traces in these places.

Night fell. Chen Jiu drew out a Divine Tiger Soul-Chasing Talisman, placed two bowls on the ground filled with clear water, then lit the talisman paper, burning it to ashes, and scattered them into the water.

This was a simplified method of the Divine Tiger Yin-Yang Altar. Water is yin; using water to form an altar, souls have nothing to rely on, using water as a guide.

Chen Jiu concentrated, staring at the water surface, waiting for the talisman ash to settle.

When the clear water turned turbid, she took out another black-background red-character Divine Tiger Soul-Chasing Talisman, pasted it on a two-foot-long bamboo pole, making a false soul banner, letting that yin evil know a ghost messenger was here to guide the way.

After arranging the formation, Chen Jiu sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, formed seals, and rapidly recited incantations.

“By the laws and orders of Shangqing, I summon the great gods. Chase souls and capture spirits, quickly come and manifest.”
“By the command of the Heavenly Emperor, without pause at any hour. By the jade talisman of the Most High, swiftly execute and uphold.”

Chen Jiu abruptly opened her eyes, bit her tongue, and sprayed a mist of blood onto that talisman paper already turned to ashes.

“Three divisions give birth to spirit, the eight scenes are already clear. I now summon you, return spirit and restore soul. Yang does not bind the soul, yin does not control the spirit. The two souls quickly arrive, the seven spirits urgently descend. From nothing into being, clearly return to form!”

The surrounding air suddenly became extremely turbid. The soul banner moved without wind, making rustling sounds, as if some invisible thing hurriedly brushed past it.

“I command you to follow the talisman’s guidance, quickly go forth, chase and capture the three souls and seven spirits of the departed soul, gather them all in the talisman, and imprison them in heavenly prison!”

The instant her words fell, the originally calm water surface began to violently shake!

In the left bowl, black patterns rapidly spread like blood vessels. In the right bowl, a mass of gray-white mist slowly condensed, vaguely revealing a blurred man’s face.

Chen Jiu thought it had worked, her eyes coldly watching that face in the bowl. Her hands formed seals, and she spoke the final decree word by word: “Urgent, urgent, as ordered by law!”

The water bowls shattered in response!

That mass of mist rose from the water surface, transforming into a snake-like gray mist, writhing as it tried to flee.

Still not giving up?

Chen Jiu sneered, flinging out a talisman. The golden light net covered it without suspense.

“Stop struggling.” She raised her sword and walked over leisurely, these steps taken with relaxed ease, appearing very comfortable.

In reality, this major technique had consumed quite a bit of her mental energy. Right now there was some element of putting on a show for this yin evil, hoping only that it would understand the situation and not harbor any more ghostly schemes.

Chen Jiu tapped that mass of gray mist with her sword body: “Hey, who exactly are you? Why are you haunting Yu Xiao and won’t let go?”

Hearing the two words Yu Xiao, the yin evil’s struggling movements clearly paused. It gradually transformed into a semi-transparent human form, its voice could only be described as hoarse and unbearable to hear.

“Wan’er…” it called out foolishly once, then looked at Chen Jiu: “Where is Wan’er? I want to find her.”

Seeing it temporarily had no attacking intent, Chen Jiu relaxed slightly. Following its words, she asked: “What is your relationship with Wan’er? Are you her lover?”

“I am her husband, her man.” It laughed a few hehe sounds: “Even in death we must die together. If she is not buried with me in one place, I will not be satisfied.”

A movement stirred in Chen Jiu’s heart. Previously those two unlucky ghosts both relied on obsessive murmuring, and listening to their fragmented chatter for half a day yielded no key information. This male ghost in Yu Xiao’s dream actually had some logic, clearly explaining the character relationships and karmic obsessions in just a few sentences.

Wan’er’s husband, wasn’t that the male lead?!

“But you have found the wrong person.” Chen Jiu immediately narrowed her eyes suspiciously and asked: “If you truly love Wan’er, how could you mistake someone else for her? And still want to drag away an innocent woman? Do you truly want to be inseparable from Wan’er for all eternity, or are you using the excuse of devoted love to abandon your old love, so you can fly wing to wing with someone new?”

After hearing this string of questions, the yin evil first stood stunned, then suddenly roared in furious rage, madly crashing about within the net.

“You speak nonsense! You lowly servant! How dare you humiliate me this way!” It still thought of itself as a warlord famous throughout the region, furiously wanting to tear Chen Jiu into ten thousand pieces.

Seeing it showed signs of going berserk, Chen Jiu immediately said no more. Her hands formed seals, tightening the golden threads of the net. Golden light instantly wrapped the yin evil so tightly not a breath could pass through, leaving it only able to rage impotently and make whimpering sounds. She collected the yin evil into a porcelain bottle, adding another sealing talisman on the outside of the bottle.

Now her magical power was imbalanced; adding several more layers of protection was very necessary.

Chen Jiu nodded in satisfaction, tidied up the magical instruments scattered across the ground, and swaggered back to the filming set.

At the set, Ren Dong had searched everywhere that afternoon without finding Chen Jiu’s figure, anxiously spinning in circles.

Only when he saw her did he remember, then pulled out his phone to check. Indeed there were multiple missed calls.

“Little Boss Chen, you scared me to death! I thought this matter was too thorny, and you planned to drop the load and quit, running away halfway!” Ren Dong clutched his chest, wailing to heaven and wiping tears, so anxious his hair came out in handfuls, already showing some balding trends.

Chen Jiu patted his shoulder and said heroically: “Relax Director Ren, the Wanshi Studio takes orders and delivers results. Go online and ask around, zero negative reviews! And how could there be any logic in taking money without doing the work.”

“Yes yes, I was overthinking, that’s good then.” Ren Dong repeatedly cupped his hands, the stone that had been suspended in his heart finally landing.

Under Chen Jiu’s consecutive days of intervention, the hall gathering scenes in the drama were finally able to progress layer by layer. Now they had filmed to the tail end of this section.

Extras entered, opera troupe members took the stage one after another, continuing filming. Idle personnel sat outside the scene watching.

“That girl who previously played the huadan still hasn’t woken up.” Chen Ba said.

Chen Jiu cautiously asked: “This girl is not within my scope of responsibility?”

Chen Ba was startled by her question: “That’s really hard to say…”

He pondered a while, then said: “Actually according to my speculation, as long as we catch the few unlucky ghosts who are the primary culprits, the feng shui of this place will return to normal. That girl’s scattered soul fragments will naturally return to her original body.”

“Mm, now we don’t know where she’s being bullied either.” Chen Jiu cracked melon seeds, chatting as if nothing were wrong, appearing to have little empathy.

Chen Ba felt quite gratified by his junior sister’s attitude of only recognizing money and not people. He unfolded his fan and fanned twice. He was still wearing his opera costume, looking elegant and graceful.

Of course, the truth was that Chen Jiu’s mental energy consumption still hadn’t fully recovered even now. She had no strength left to care about that girl she had never met, and could only wait until this matter was concluded before resolving it.

The old sheng in the opera troupe had basically recovered the use of his legs, no longer feeling pain. The new huadan’s scenes progressed smoothly. The yin peach blossoms haunting Yu Xiao were also sealed in the yin-yang bottle. Next, they only needed to wait for the mysterious Yellow Springs Gathering on the playbill to open, to see what kinds of demons and gods would take the stage.

The sun sank toward the western mountains. During this period, Ren Dong had become extremely sensitive to the sun setting, because once night fell it meant new supernatural incidents would appear in the production team. But fortunately, Great God Chen Jiu sat steadily outside the scene, suppressing the four directions so that minor ghosts didn’t dare approach easily.

Thus Ren Dong’s fear of darkness finally improved slightly.

On stage the drumbeats grew dense. Liu Qing in old dan makeup was escorted by ghost messengers to the Yama Hall. Seeing Mulian in young male lead makeup, she was greatly shocked, her eyes gradually filling with tears.

She sang loudly: “Having traveled a thousand miles to come here, seeing my children my two tears fall. A mother worries as her son travels a thousand miles, it makes my heart feel as if cut by knives. Mother and son meet with empty falling tears, the mother approaches human death, suffering without end, my son!”

Mulian hurriedly stepped forward, his eyes also rimmed with red: “Seeing my mother fallen to the dust, cannot help but feel pain in my heroic heart. Mother and son reunite today, this is truly bitterness ending and sweetness coming.”

The Lord of the Desk Yama was deeply moved by this heaven-shaking mother-son love, permitting the mother and son to recognize each other, permitting Liu Qing to return to the world of the living. He sighed: “Within three feet there are gods and spirits, one thought the heavens will witness. Sigh that time flies swift as an arrow, good deeds must be moved to early. When a person grows old, how can they ever be young again!”

Chen Jiu watched somewhat entranced, thinking that this opera was originally performed in the underworld, with the Yellow Springs Gathering immediately following on the playbill. There was actually nothing unreasonable about it.

“Wandering Garden,” “Startled Dream,” “Longing for the Mundane World,” “Descending the Mountain,” the Yellow Springs Gathering.

Chen Ba said half-jokingly from the side: “When the opera opens, ghosts and gods from all directions also come to listen. Our director has people singing opera here every day, who knows how many invisible ears are pressed close.”

Chen Jiu nodded, the vague thought in her heart gradually becoming clear: “Senior brother, what you said makes very good sense.”

Chen Ba showed confusion: “What sense? What did I say?”