Chapter 109: Wife [2]

Seeing the cowardly and sleazy expressions on Fatty and Hao Zhuang’s faces, Yan Yu couldn’t help but say, “With an attitude like yours, you still want to join the Department of Special Affairs?”

“Boss, we’re just flesh and blood, ordinary people. How could we compare to you?” Fatty’s eyes darted around. “How about this… Boss, why don’t you teach us a few tricks? That way, if we run into trouble, we won’t embarrass you.”

Yan Yu thought for a moment and said, “Teaching you isn’t impossible. Listen closely… In fact, ghosts are a form of energy. Everything in the world is divided into Yin and Yang. If life is Yang, then ghosts are a negative life form belonging to Yin. Life is one form, and negative life is another.”

“Boss, I don’t quite follow. What does this have to do with teaching us skills?” Hao Zhuang scratched his head and asked.

“If you want to learn, you must first overcome your fear of the unknown. I’m telling you this so you know that ghosts aren’t actually scary. Furthermore, ordinary minor ghosts are afraid of the living, especially the ‘Yang energy’ that living people possess; they avoid it whenever they can,” Yan Yu explained. “Therefore, the best way to deal with ghosts is to use things infused with your Yang energy to strike them and cause them harm.”

“Things infused with our Yang energy?” Fatty and Hao Zhuang looked at each other and simultaneously broke into lewd grins. “Boss, is that really appropriate? It might be fine if it’s a female ghost, but if it’s a male ghost, wouldn’t that be… awkward?”

“…” Yan Yu.

Zhao Qingqing: “Hubby, what are they talking about? Why don’t I understand?”

Yan Yu shot them a disdainful look. “Do you still want to join the Department of Special Affairs or not?”

“Boss, please continue,” the two said, nodding quickly.

“The Yang-infused items I’m talking about are not the disgusting things you have in mind, but rather things like blood from the tip of the tongue or the middle finger. Additionally, rooster heads, black dog blood, chopsticks, and rice are all quite effective against common minor ghosts.”

Fatty raised his hand to ask, “Boss, those are all too superficial. Do you have anything more advanced? Like flying on a sword, projecting your soul, or turning stones into gold…”

“Have you been reading too many fantasy novels?” Yan Yu retorted, speechless. “If I had those kinds of powers, would I have needed to sneak into the internet addiction treatment center last time? I would’ve just used the ‘Ten Thousand Sword Technique’ to strike Yang Yongsheng down directly.”

“That makes sense…” Fatty and Hao Zhuang nodded sheepishly.

“In short, if you truly want to learn, I will teach you slowly, but how much you grasp depends on your own potential. Also, once you’ve learned these skills, remember to keep a low profile… Fatty, stop watching those adult movies. If you drain your Yang energy, your tongue-tip and middle-finger blood won’t work anymore. Besides, the weaker your Yang energy is, the more conspicuous you become in the eyes of ghosts. You might end up looking like a giant lightbulb to them.”

Hearing this, Fatty felt a chill down his lower body and swallowed nervously.

“You lot, what are you whispering about instead of working!” Lin Xuan acted like a landlord, looking as if he were about to light a pipe.

“Get to work first, we’ll talk more later,” Yan Yu said.

…

Master Cao was awakened by the creaking of the wooden door and saw a man with a hideously ugly face and a fleshy tumor on his neck walk in.

“Don’t hit me, don’t hit me! I’m really not a reporter!” Master Cao was so terrified he woke up instantly.

“Drink.” The ugly man held half a gourd of water and placed it in front of Master Cao.

Master Cao was stunned, then quickly stretched his neck to drink it dry. “It’s a bit salty…”

“Be glad you’ve got something to drink at all!” The ugly man kicked Master Cao.

Just then, a hunched figure walked into the woodshed and whispered, “There are outsiders in the village these days. We should probably gag this fellow.”

Without a word, the ugly man grabbed a handful of straw from the floor, balled it up, and stuffed it into Master Cao’s mouth.

“The madwoman caused trouble again today. I heard her crying for help to the visiting students,” the ugly man muttered.

The hunched old man’s expression darkened. “You should have kept her under control.”

“She’s too filthy.”

“You were the one who wanted them both! We spent so much money, and they haven’t produced a single thing! How do you have the nerve to complain?!” The old man said, annoyed.

“One jumped into the river, the other went mad. Is it my fault they can’t bear children?” The ugly man snorted coldly. “I want to replace her.”

“Replace her again?!” The old man slammed his cane on the ground in anger. “Times have changed! If you’re caught, you’ll end up in prison!”

“If the madwoman and I can’t produce an heir, maybe you’ll have a chance if we get someone else. Otherwise…” the ugly man threatened.

“You scoundrel… Of the three unfilial acts, having no descendants is the worst. If our Wang family line ends with your generation, how am I supposed to face our ancestors after I die?!”

“The choice is yours.”

The old man remained silent for a long time before finally saying, “Fine. I’ll take out my funeral savings so you can marry a widow from the next village.”

“I don’t want a widow.”

“What exactly do you want?!”

“There are plenty of female students in the village today…”

“Are you insane? Those students are from wealthy families in Rongcheng. We can’t afford to mess with them!”

The ugly man sneered, “That madwoman was a college student too, wasn’t she? And she was still sold to us by her own parents.”

“You… In any case, this is out of the question!” The old man was firm. “We’ll talk about replacing your wife another time!”

The ugly man glanced silently at the old man, picked up the water gourd, and left the shed.

The old man looked toward Master Cao, who was tied up in the corner.

“Mmph! Mmph-mmph!” Master Cao shook his head frantically, signaling that he knew nothing.

The old man walked over to Master Cao, raised his cane, and aimed it at his head. A flicker of fear crossed Master Cao’s eyes.

But the cane never came down. After a moment of hesitation, the old man sighed and left the shed.

…

After a busy morning, the students had set up their tents, and the girls returned with clean spring water. Under Lin Xuan’s guidance, they started a fire and made a simple meal.

In the afternoon, they held various activities in the village. Lin Xuan acted only as a supervisor, while class monitor Yang Xuefei and vice-monitor Ji Mengjie took charge of the organization.

While the students were having fun, they suddenly noticed someone taking photos of them.

It was a man in his thirties with a small ponytail. He carried a mountaineering backpack and two cameras around his neck: one was a modern DSLR, and the other was an old-fashioned film camera.

Vice-monitor Ji Mengjie, seeing that he was a stranger, stepped forward and asked, “Excuse me, may I ask who you are…”

“Oh! My name is Zhang Qi, a travel photographer. I happened to be passing through Fengmen Village and decided to stop by for some inspiration.” A guileless smile appeared on Zhang Qi’s face.

Hearing that Zhang Qi was a photographer, a group of girls gathered around, chirping and asking him to take beautiful photos of them. Zhang Qi gladly agreed.

Lin Xuan, who had been playing “Eagle Catches the Chick” with the girls, saw them all run over to Zhang Qi and couldn’t help but darken his face. “Hey, hey, hey! You young ladies, stop chatting with strange men! What if you run into a bad person?”

Yan Yu thought to himself: You’re the biggest bad person here…

(A quick note on the previous content: My previous mention of Yan Yu’s mother Tang Xinyi’s two roommates, Ye Han and Zhang Weiwei, suggested both were from Fengmen Village. I am correcting this now: Zhang Weiwei is from Fengmen Village, but Ye Han is not. This detail is important for the upcoming plot.)