Chapter Forty-Eight: The Five Venoms Formation of Miao Territory

After leaving the hospital, I took out my phone and called Wang Sheng, telling him to hurry over to the vicinity of the Ran Corporation.

Since the two old-timers, Uncle Mao and Uncle Ma, were out of the question, I could only rely on Wang Sheng, the young Taoist priest, to take a look.

To my surprise, Wang Sheng was quite efficient; he showed up in just a few minutes. We circled around the Ran Corporation, and Wang Sheng put on the airs of a true master, pinching his five fingers together like a feng shui expert. The way he looked, he seemed to be begging for a beating.

While Wang Sheng was calculating with his fingers, we unknowingly wandered to the pond behind the Ran Corporation. Wang Sheng looked up and was visibly startled.

“A chance meeting of the Five Ghosts of Wealth, encountering a charming ghost woman—actually seduced by her! What a grand scheme!” Wang Sheng’s words left me utterly confused, so I asked him, “What do you mean? Can a female ghost really seduce the Five Ghosts?”

I wasn’t sure what to make of this ghost woman, but I had heard of the Five Ghosts from my grandfather. He was a well-known feng shui master in our hometown, and when I was little, he’d explained the concepts of the Five Ghosts to me. The Five Ghosts of Wealth: the “mountain dragon” as the seat, the “water dragon” as the direction; each occupies a trigram, and through precise calculation, they are set within the twenty-four mountains. The direction of Lianzhen in the mountain dragon is matched with the water position of Ju Men. In a yang residence, the door and windows open at the Lianzhen position of the mountain dragon, while water is placed at the Ju Men position of the water dragon. This is the method of the Five Ghosts ushering in wealth.

But I still didn’t understand what Wang Sheng meant by such a grand scheme, so I pressed him for an explanation.

He glanced up at the midday sun, saying, “This Five Ghosts method is quite potent, but the Five Ghosts are inherently lustful. I suspect someone deliberately cast a spell to lure those vengeful spirits here, distracting the Five Ghosts and causing them to run amok in the Ran Corporation.”

I used to think Five Ghosts of Wealth sounded like a good thing, but now, hearing this, I felt these Five Ghosts were outright ridiculous—so easily bewitched by a ghostly woman.

Out of curiosity, I asked Wang Sheng, “Are the Five Ghosts really that lustful?”

Wang Sheng shook his head and said, “Not exactly. My master told me, the Five Ghosts are righteous spirits responsible for wealth, not like other sinister specters. Only one school of thought could confuse the Five Ghosts—and that’s the sorcery from Miaojiang. They use the Miao’s unique Five Poisons Formation to block the Five Ghosts, giving the ghost woman the upper hand. If you don’t believe me, walk five steps forward and lift that brick—you’ll see for yourself.”

Half-convinced, I walked five steps ahead and loosened a brick. What I saw shocked me—me, the first generation King of the Monster Corpses. Underneath, I found the Five Poisons: a small snake coiled around a golden toad, the toad clutching a centipede in its mouth, a scorpion facing the snake’s head, and a dead spider hanging from the scorpion’s tail. The arrangement was both intimidating and awe-inspiring.

Wang Sheng’s calculations proved spot on, so I pulled him into the Ran Corporation. After introducing him to Er Peng and explaining his identity, the next day’s ghost-hunting operation began.

However, because of all the commotion outside the Ran Corporation during the day, our dorm mates were exhausted and had long since gone back to sleep. That left just the three of us for the ghost hunt.

The latest incident happened on the twenty-eighth floor, again in a restroom—it seemed the ghost woman had a penchant for appearing there.

With two deaths on its hands, the Ran Corporation was already sealed off by the police. During the day, only staff could work, and by six in the evening, everyone—executives included—had to leave. Even the chairman’s son, Ran Lingpeng, was no exception.

We managed to hide in the restroom before six, and only emerged after eight. The entire building was shrouded in darkness. With police stationed below, no lights could be turned on upstairs, so Er Peng and Wang Sheng each moved around with a flashlight. Fortunately, the moonlight lent the building an eerie blue glow.

Some places still had a bit of light. Wang Sheng pulled out the tools he’d prepared in advance and started making talismans, while Er Peng sat nearby, smoking a cigarette.

I was quite lively in the night. With my corpse-king eyes, able to see both the spirit and mortal worlds, I scanned our surroundings but found nothing amiss. So I started making coffee beside a water dispenser.

We had a long night ahead. I could handle it, but Wang Sheng and Ran Lingpeng were ordinary people. Coffee would help keep them alert—otherwise, if a ghost appeared, they’d be too sluggish to react.

So I brewed a pot and brought it over just as Wang Sheng was chanting and activating his talismans.

To activate a talisman is to unleash its latent power. Only when it emits a glow does it truly become a talisman; otherwise, it’s just scrap paper.

Wang Sheng made over thirty talismans—I couldn’t tell what kinds, but each one sent a needle-like flash into my body, forcing me to step back involuntarily.

Er Peng asked what was wrong. Of course I couldn’t admit I was repelled by the talismans—he’d think I was crazy. So I simply said, “Nothing, just twisted my ankle,” and placed the coffee before them. By then, the talisman’s power had receded. Only the proper incantation could activate them again.

To my surprise, Wang Sheng was quite adept at making talismans—every one of the thirty-four succeeded, not a single failure. It seemed Wang Jingtian hadn’t underestimated his nephew; Wang Sheng was indeed diligent.

Time flowed by like water—the clock ticked from eight to nine, then ten, then eleven, until finally, at midnight, the bell tolled: clang, clang, clang… Each note felt like a step closer to the ghost.

Wang Sheng and I didn’t mind; after all, we’d seen Yin fiends, terrifying zombies, and putrid corpses before. We doubted anything here could be worse.

As for Ran Lingpeng, the pampered heir who’d never seen anything like this—he was in for a challenge.

Before we knew it, it was two in the morning, but the ghost still hadn’t appeared. Normally, it would have been drawn to the living. Was she acting out of character tonight?

Just then, Wang Sheng suddenly clutched his stomach and said, “Oh no, I need the bathroom! Where is it?”

Ran Lingpeng pointed down the east corridor, and Wang Sheng, legs crossed, hobbled off in that direction, resembling Ji Wuli’s awkward gait.

The mention of Ji Wuli reminded Er Peng and me of our past misadventures. We both murmured, “This isn’t good,” and hurried after him.

Luckily, nothing happened—Wang Sheng was simply relieving himself. Seeing that he was fine, unlike Ji Wuli’s past incident, we both relaxed and waited outside.

On second thought, Wang Sheng was a Taoist—an apprentice of the famous Uncle Mao from the south. No matter how foolish the ghost woman was, she shouldn’t dare provoke him.

But things were never as simple as they seemed.

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