Traveling Through Those Years Of Farming (Quick Transmigration) - Chapter 11

After a brief silence, Hua Yingpo speaks. “Deputy Captain Lin, if I tell you I’m just passing by, would you believe me?”

Lin Zhong widens his eyes, studying the calm woman holding the black dog in front of him, mentally referring to her as a “master.”

What a coincidence! Lin Zhong knows that Hua Yingpo lives in the countryside and rarely comes to the city. Moreover, there are no department stores or farmers’ markets on this street. If she’s out buying daily necessities, she wouldn’t have come here.

It certainly isn’t a mere coincidence that she appears at the door of Xu Dafeng’s house!

The more Hua Yingpo denies it, the more Lin Zhong finds his suspicions growing stronger.

After a prolonged silence, Hua Yingpo chooses to give in. “Deputy Captain Lin, I really can’t help you with this matter. My husband and I have decided to retire. From now on, we won’t involve ourselves in matters concerning the Yin and Yang worlds.”

Hua Yingpo isn’t foolish enough to admit to being a fraud in front of the police, so she resorts to telling Lin Zhong about their decision to retire.

“The Xuanmen sect has Five Disadvantages and Three Shortcomings. Over the years, I’ve intervened in many ghost-related matters, and I’ve realized the karma from my actions is affecting my daughter. You’re a parent too, so I’m sure you understand my feelings.”

Hua Yingpo’s tone grows somber. Perhaps her daughter’s ability to see these things is some form of retribution for the couple’s past deceptions.

“Captain Lin, please understand.” Sheng Wukun takes a half step forward and positions himself protectively in front of his wife.

After hearing this explanation, Lin Zhong is speechless. Just days ago, Hua Yingpo was happily selling talismans, and now she’s telling him that she plans to retire?

But their serious expressions leave him with no choice but to believe it. Whether they still engage in superstitious practices in the future is something that can only be confirmed later, so he hesitates to question their decision.

It seems their visit today is in vain. Sheng Wukun hops onto his bicycle and starts pedaling, intending to take his wife to the department store. At least their trip won’t be a complete waste.

As they ride off a few meters, Lin Zhong calls after them.

“Madam Hua, since you’re here, it means you still want to help that poor girl. I know I shouldn’t push you, but I have to ask—please help!”

Lin Zhong shouts, watching as the couple grows farther away. He isn’t sure if they’ve heard him, and his expression turns despondent. He doesn’t know what has happened to Madam Hua’s daughter that makes her so determined to retire, but the fact that they’ve appeared at Xu Dafeng’s door today suggests that their feelings on the matter are still conflicted. Maybe they will still help one last time?

Lin Zhong can’t help but berate himself. After all, he’s the police—his duty is to find the murderer and bring the criminal to justice. Why is he relying on a random witch now? Why is he hoping for her to help despite everything?

He gives a bitter smile and shakes his head. It’s a mistake. Maybe the clues Xiao Ding has provided are right. They can follow the social circles of Wang Youyou and the others to investigate.

However, the police force is limited, and their progress is slow. Meanwhile, someone (or something) is staying one step ahead of them. Could it really be that Yu Caifeng has turned into a vengeful ghost, seeking revenge?

If that’s the case, perhaps there’s no need to ask Lady Hua for help—Yu Caifeng can take care of it herself…

“Pah—”

Lin Zhong slaps his forehead in frustration. What’s he thinking? If it really is a vengeful ghost doing the killings, it might start by targeting the enemies, but after exacting its revenge, a crazed ghost would be uncontrollable. What kind of bloody chaos would that cause?

He pulls a cigarette from his pocket, wondering if he should visit a temple to ask a reliable practitioner for help in calming the restless spirits.

“Goodbye, Baobao. I’ll bring you some sour plum powder tomorrow.” You Xiaomi waves fiercely at Sheng Baobao, who has just hopped onto her father’s bicycle. Bored, she starts counting the ants on the ground.

“Xiaomi, is that the good friend you always talk about?” You Xiaomi’s mother, Lin Yaping, arrives on a bicycle. She sees her daughter waving at a little girl from a distance and asks curiously. “Is that your good friend?”

“Yeah, she and I are best friends,” You Xiaomi replies eagerly. She quickly tosses her schoolbag into the front pocket of the bicycle, then hops onto the back seat by stepping on the wheel axle. “Come on, Mom, let’s go faster!”

“Is that classmate’s mother surnamed Hua?” Lin Yaping asks, recalling that one of her daughter’s classmates has a mother who is a well-known fortune-teller. That classmate seems to be You Xiaomi’s deskmate.

“Yep, Auntie Hua is amazing. All the kids in our class know her,” You Xiaomi confirms with a nod.

She smiles as she remembers how delicious Auntie Hua’s food is, especially the spicy, salty fried eggs she eats at noon. The edges of the eggs are crispy and delicious.

Lin Yaping is more curious now. How can children know whether Auntie Hua is truly “amazing”? It must be that the parents talk about it so much at home that the children pick up on it. Lin Yaping doesn’t realize that she and her daughter are thinking about two different kinds of “amazing.”

Lin Yaping works in a department store, and people often see her as someone of status. However, she knows she’s just a small clerk. She has been working there for quite some time and has always hoped to get promoted to a higher position—at least to team leader.

It just so happens that the previous team leader has been promoted, which makes Lin Yaping even more eager to get the vacant spot. But now, there’s a colleague who can compete with her—someone who is the cousin of the former team leader. With that kind of connection, Lin Yaping’s chances are much lower. So, she decides to bypass the former team leader and try to get in good with the female supervisor of their foreign trade zone.

Unfortunately, the female supervisor has a solid family background. She’s a small manager at the department store, but her husband is the secretary of the county magistrate. Some of the foreign goods her husband brings home are likely not that rare for her.

Lin Yaping decides to find out more about the supervisor’s family and stumbles upon a possible breakthrough.

The supervisor’s mother-in-law has a strange illness, with dense red spots often appearing on her skin. After several visits to the hospital, no clear diagnosis is made. The woman frequently cries out in pain, claiming she feels as though someone is stabbing her with needles. Because of this, the supervisor’s family has been extremely busy, traveling to cities like Beijing and Shanghai to seek treatment. The couple appears visibly worn out.

They’ve tried various medicines for skin diseases and Chinese remedies for internal issues, but nothing works. It’s said that the woman can’t even wear clothes now, as her skin feels painfully pierced whenever she lies or sits. The neighbors can hear her wailing at night, and some have started to complain.

Eventually, someone suggests that the woman’s condition might be caused by evil spirits. It’s recommended that the family visit a temple and seek the help of a reliable practitioner to determine if the old lady has offended any spirits.

When Lin Yaping hears this, she immediately thinks of her daughter’s classmate’s mother—rumored to be capable, Lady Hua. Lin Yaping believes that if Lady Hua can help with this, it might secure her promotion to team leader.

Lin Yaping begins to think about when to visit Lady Hua and what kind of gifts to bring. Little does she know, Lady Hua is already planning to retire.

“Dad, where do you go today?”

Sheng Baobao sits on the back seat of her father’s bicycle, wrapping her arms around his waist. Her tone is light and cheerful, though from the angle that Sheng Wukun can’t see, her expression is more serious.

There’s a faint layer of yin energy around Father Sheng’s body. Sheng Baobao, though inexperienced, can tell they’ve encountered something unclean today.

She fans her nostrils and takes a few deep breaths. The smell isn’t quite like Hua Xiaolian’s, but instead carries a sharp, fishy, rotten scent, along with a hint of blood. It’s definitely the lingering scent of a fierce ghost who has committed murder.

“Your mother and I went to the county to buy you some delicious food,” Sheng Wukun explains, not wanting to scare his daughter by mentioning the encounter with the dead.

“How about we move to the county in the future?” Sheng Wukun continues, changing the subject. “We could open a small shop on the first floor of our house. It’ll be full of all your favorite foods. You can take whatever you want without ever having to look at other people’s shops and get tempted.”

That seems to be every child’s dream. Although their first attempt has failed, Sheng Wukun and Hua Yingpo aren’t discouraged. Buying a house is no small feat. During their trip to the county, they’ve connected with a few middlemen. Once a suitable house comes up, they’ll be notified immediately.

“Wow, really?” Sheng Baobao cheers, happily patting her father’s back. As she does so, the faint yin energy around Kun seems to dissipate.

But Sheng Baobao still doesn’t feel at ease. She thinks that Father Sheng and Mother Hua should be better protected. She remembers the amulet that saved Brother Yu in a car accident. Although her parents aren’t continuing the work of the conman, that doesn’t mean she can’t draw a few amulets herself and give them to her parents.

So, after returning home, Sheng Baobao quietly sneaks into her parents’ room and takes a wooden box that had originally been placed under their bed. She brings it back to her room.

Inside the box are several ancient books, a can of Cinnabar, several brushes, and several stacks of uncut yellow paper.

Here is the text in present tense:

Sheng Baobao picks up one of the ancient books. It should be the secret text of the Xuanmen left by the old Taoist that her father mentioned. The book is written in traditional Chinese characters and contains many incomprehensible ghostly drawings of amulets.

Fortunately, in her previous life, Sheng Baobao was from ancient times. The characters she learned are similar to the traditional Chinese characters in these books. Even though she doesn’t fully understand them, she can make educated guesses and roughly comprehend their meanings.

Sheng Baobao quickly flips through the pages and finds the section on amulets, which features many templates. In addition to the peace charms, spirit-suppressing charms, and exorcism charms she drew before, Sheng Baobao also finds many others that her parents never used.

For example, there’s the peach blossom charm, which can attract peach blossom spirits. However, it varies from person to person, and improper use could lead to attracting peach blossom evil. There’s also the thunder charm, which gathers spiritual energy at the tip of the pen and imprints it on the charm paper. When the thunder charm is torn, it summons thunder, which has the effect of restraining evil spirits. The body-stopping charm, when stuck to a person or ghost, can delay their movements. According to Taoist teachings, the effectiveness of the body-stopping charm varies greatly depending on its depth.

These charms have visible effects, which is why Father Sheng and Mother Hua never used them—if they had, their powers would have become apparent much sooner.

Sheng Baobao is fascinated by these strange charms. Given the yin energy she sensed on her parents earlier, she thinks that drawing a few thunder charms and body-stopping charms for them might give them some extra protection.

“Aw–“

Hua Xiaolian, excited by the sight of the familiar brush, immediately leaps off the mat and runs over.

“Aw–” it cries happily, its legs jumping on the ground.

Usually, the little master doesn’t like it licking her, but whenever she holds a brush, Hua Xiaolian’s tongue longs for the task.

“If you want to lick, then go ahead,” Sheng Baobao says, playfully holding the tip of the brush near Hua Xiaolian’s mouth. She doesn’t pull it back until the brush is coated with a glowing layer.

At first, she draws the basic peace amulet and exorcism amulet. She’s already very skilled at drawing these two and quickly finishes four or five in no time.

But the thunder amulet is more difficult. Since it’s her first time drawing it, she’s not sure how to control the spiritual energy and concentrate it on the amulet. She ends up scrapping several attempts.

Finally, on her eighteenth try, Sheng Baobao begins to feel something click.

Her body seems to act like a reservoir of spiritual energy. She focuses her mind, directing the energy within her to flow into the hand holding the brush, guiding it to merge with the cinnabar. As she writes, the energy flows smoothly. When she finishes the last stroke, a flash of golden light briefly appears on the thunder amulet before it fades, turning the charm into an ordinary piece of paper.

This process is mysterious, and after the first successful attempt, her success rate improves significantly.

The body-stopping charm is easier than the thunder charm, and Sheng Baobao quickly finishes one before turning her attention to Hua Xiaolian.

Spirits and ghosts are both spiritual entities, so the body-stopping charm should work on both.

Unaware that she’s about to become the test subject for a mischievous master, Hua Xiaolian stealthily wiggles her butt, hoping to lick the little master when she isn’t paying attention.

Hua Xiaolian finally reaches the little master’s feet. Just as it’s about to raise its front paws to hug her ankles, Sheng Baobao quickly sticks a body-stopping charm on its forehead. Hua Xiaolian freezes, its movements completely halted.

Sheng Baobao grins wickedly at Hua Xiaolian’s half-spilled tongue. She pulls it out, rolls it like an egg roll, and stuffs it back into its mouth.

The effect of the body-stopping charm lingers for a moment, and then it wears off.

“Woo-tui–“

Hua Xiaolian, confused, scratches at its mouth frantically. It had been about to lick the little master, but now its tongue feels tangled. Why can’t it move the way it wants to?