Mu Yuxin's heart shook. It was the ugly hour, one o'clock in the morning. If he could hold on for another two or three hours, the sun would rise.

Mu Yu added two or three paper money into the brazier again, keeping the fire from going out, while a black mist loomed not far away from the opposite side of the brazier.

He asked carefully, "It's almost dawn. Will you leave or not?"

"The ghostly creature sniffed the incense and said, 'Having obtained what I wanted, I will naturally leave.'"

"Mù Yùhuán looked around the bamboo house for a week, there was nothing that shouldn't be there, 'So, what do you want?'"

"The evil spirit just gazed at him quietly without speaking."

Mu Yuzhuo couldn't figure out his meaning. After carefully recalling for a moment, he realized that he hadn't picked up anything in the past few months. Other than receiving some vegetables and fruits from others, no other items were given. It seems that he can only find his aunt and ask her. After all, he is just an ordinary person who doesn't understand the mysteries of magic, not a Taoist priest or shaman who specializes in dealing with ghosts and monsters.

If he kept asking, he was afraid of accidentally offending this demon.

"Time passes by every minute and every second."

"The last piece of paper money burned to ashes in the brazier."

Mu Yu looked up at the sky and saw a faint light, which was the first light of dawn.

"The...sun is up..."

"The black mist slowly disappeared from sight, and I don't know where it went."

Mu Yu collapsed on the ground, wiping the sweat from her forehead. Her whole body felt weak, as if she was drained of energy, and soon drowsiness began to creep over her.

He shook his head and forced himself to feel more energized as he slowly got up from the ground. Then he pulled out his sword and rushed out the door.

The people in the village always wake up exceptionally early, some even as early as three in the morning, to prepare the pig feed for the day and cut the cow grass before picking some vegetables from their land. They take them back home to cook a pot of vegetable porridge.

By the time Mu Yu stumbled to the entrance of the old house, it was already bright daylight.

A middle-aged woman with a slightly thin face and her hair in a bun, dressed in a cotton floral shirt and holding a bamboo basket, was getting ready to feed the chickens. As soon as she saw someone coming, she put down the basket and helped Mu Yu into the house.

Her name is Zhang Yanyang, also known as Zhang Erniang. She recently married into the Li family. All the men in this family have been cursed to death. There used to be an elder sister-in-law on her side, who got remarried ten years ago and no one knows her surname now. She is a famous widow and a renowned shaman in this village.

"Zhang Erniang saw that he was completely soaked in sweat, and asked straight away: "What's happened to you? Why are you in such a miserable state? Did you get trapped overnight in that chaotic burial mound over there?""

With a furious clap of her hands, she exclaimed, "Mother of mine! Why did you go there? Didn't I tell you not to go out after 5 pm? You child, why aren't you obedient? If something happens to you, how am I going to explain to your parents?"

After catching his breath, Mu Yu quickly explained, "No, Auntie, let me tell you."

"What are you saying? You think you can go to the Disorder Burial Mound? You are intentionally trying to cause trouble for me, child..."

Mu Yu shouted loudly, "It's not just a burial mound for the destitute! There was a ghost in my room last night!"

The incessantly chatting Mrs. Zhang abruptly stopped talking, "Ghost! How did you manage to bring a ghost back to your room again? Weren't you instructed to feed the starving ghost with offerings instead of provoking it?"

Mu Yu took a breath and said, "It's not the starved ghost from the west of the village, a new one came, I've never seen him before."

Note: The term "starved ghost" is a colloquial expression in Chinese, referring to someone who is extremely thin and malnourished.

"Isn't it? And there's a new one now? Who the hell is that? Talking to you is such a waste of effort!"

Mu Yu was silent for a moment and sighed, "Aunt, please let me finish. I saw a ghost in the house while I was eating last night, and I burned paper offerings all night, too afraid to sleep. It was not until dawn that the ghost finally left."

"Zhang Erniang furrowed her brow and became serious. 'Did he say anything? Why did he come to you for no apparent reason?'"

It is said that there is a cause and effect to everything, it is impossible for a ghostly creature to simply latch onto someone without any reason.

"Last night he said that he would leave once he got what he wanted, but it seems like I didn't bring anything back home."

"Zhang Erniang shook her head and said, 'Since he's asking you for something, you must have unknowingly obtained it. Think carefully and return the ghost's possessions to him.'"

Muyu pondered for a while, recalling all the events and places that had happened in this period of time. However, he had always been too afraid to pick up things or touch things with unknown origins since he was young. Even this piece of clothing had to be given to him personally by his aunt before he dared to wear it.

"However, Auntie, I really haven't brought anything home during this time."

"Seeing that he really couldn't remember, Zhang Er Niang patted his shoulder and comforted him, 'It's okay. Auntie will ask around for you tonight. You haven't slept all night and you must be exhausted. Go and take a nap first. We'll talk again when you wake up.'"

The string in his mind had been tight all night, but once it was relaxed, he slept until sundown before finally waking up.

"Zhang Erniang saw Mu Yu yawning as he came out of the room, and quickly served him the dishes and urged him to eat faster."

He hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon, so it took him a while to finish his meal. His aunt kept urging him to take a bath, and only then did he remember what he had to do later. He hurriedly took a shower and changed into a set of clothes. However, it was just a gray and white cotton and linen fabric that had been washed, with several patches of various sizes on it.

Mrs. Zhang was still busy doing something - lighting incense, placing candles, arranging talismans, sprinkling cinnabar powder - until everything was ready on the table. By then, the sky had completely darkened.

There is only one kerosene lamp in the room, luckily Zhang Erniang lit the two candles on the table. Otherwise, he would have been scared in this cold and gloomy room. After all, the people who lived here before all died in this room.

She pulled him to sit by the table, lit some incense, lit the paper talisman on fire and waved it over the mirror. After circling it a few times, she inserted it into the rice, picked up one grain with two fingers, chanted a spell, and threw the grain onto the mirror, where it made a faint cracking sound before igniting into flames.

Suddenly, a black mist began to gather in front of Mu Yu.

Mu Yu's forehead was covered in sweat. This ghostly creature... it was actually sitting right across from him. The legs under his table seemed to be touching the black mist.

"He was about to move, but Zhang Erniang pressed him down with her hand."

Actually, Zhang Erniang had never encountered a ghost like this before. The ghostly air was so strong that if she didn't usually deal with these things, she might be as scared as Mu Yu. Based on the aura of this ghost, it was not something she could control. It would be better to be careful tonight.

"There was a hint of respect in Zhang Erniang's tone as she asked, 'May I know which immortal has graced this barren village with their presence?'"

Muyu turned her head to look at Zhang Erniang. The tone she used to speak to this ghostly creature revealed that it had probably been around for quite some time.

The chilling voice reverberated throughout the room once more, "It came from the sea, passed the Yellow River and along its tributaries to arrive here."

"Inside the sea? Zhang Erniang's expression suddenly became more respectful. The objects in the Yellow River are either legendary Immortal treasures or world-destroying demons. She had never seen them in her lifetime, let alone something that came from this vast sea."

"Zhang Erniang tentatively asked again, 'I wonder why did the immortal come to this child's house? Did he take your things without understanding?'"

Teng Yi shifted his gaze onto Mu Yu and slowly said, "No."

Mu Yu felt that a ghostly presence was watching him, so he immediately grabbed ahold of Zhang Erniang's clothes.

Zhang Erniang's body was pulled askew, but she remained calm and asked, "So, what unresolved karma do you have with me?"

Mu Yu clenched his teeth tightly. What karmic connection did he have with this ghost? He needed to quickly send this ghost away.

Who knew, Mu Yu heard him say, "There is karma. This lifetime, I have come to find him."

"Zhang Erniang looked at Mu Yu and saw that there was really some karma involved. This could be troublesome. She came up with an excuse and said, 'What happened in the previous life has already dissipated into the misty Meng Po soup. In this life, he is still a young child. Can you please forgive him?'"