Chapter 16: The Wind-Chasing Seal

In Villa 6 of District Three, the living room was brightly lit. Bai Xian sat on the sofa, legs crossed, twirling a willow switch in her hand. Her pale legs dangled, and her feet—rosy and delicate as cherry blossoms—swayed up and down.

Meanwhile, the chubby ghost crouched in the corner, his lips pouting like a wronged bride. Every so often, he would sneak a nervous glance at the girl on the sofa, only to duck his head again in fear. Not only had he been startled out of his wits, but he’d also been pinned to the ground and whipped with the willow branch. If word got out, it would be a disgrace among ghosts.

At this moment, the ghost had tucked away his menacing face, revealing a round, comical visage.

“Talk. Why are you staying here pretending to haunt people?”

“I am a ghost, after all…”

Seeing her raise the willow switch again, the ghost quickly stopped, looking even more aggrieved. “I don’t want to scare people, but if anyone moves into this villa, their living energy will blow me away. That’s why I have to frighten off the tenants.”

“When the lamp of life is out, spirits should move on. Why are you lingering here instead of reincarnating?”

“I want to be reborn too, but when this neighborhood was built, I hadn’t been dead long. Before I could reincarnate, my grave was overtaken. During the relocation, my head ended up crushed under the villa. My corpse is incomplete—I can’t move on…”

After hearing the ghost’s explanation, Bai Xian lowered the willow switch.

“Get up. Since you haven’t harmed anyone, I’ll spare you for now.” She sat upright. “Where is your head buried? Maybe I can help reunite your remains.”

As far as she knew, there were only three ways to resolve a haunting like this. The first: destroy the ghost entirely, as she had done before. That was simple, but this one, though he’d scared off a few tenants, hadn’t really done evil. Destroying him would be a bit cruel.

The second: perform a ritual to help him pass on. But Bai Xian was only a dabbler—she knew neither chants nor prayers. That path was closed.

So only the third option remained: gather his remains so he could reincarnate on his own.

The ghost was overjoyed at her words. He hurriedly led Bai Xian to the cinema room beneath the villa and pointed to a spot on the floor.

“My head is buried right here.”

Bai Xian frowned. Supporting pillars, concrete walls, and flooring—removing his head would mean breaking through the structure. She couldn’t do it alone; she’d need a construction crew. And as just a tenant, she would have to get the landlord’s approval.

After she explained, the chubby ghost slumped again, resentment thickening around him.

“Enough with the act,” Bai Xian said. “I’ll think of something about your head.”

The ghost brightened at once. “My name is Zhou Yang. In life, I was a chef. I hope you’ll look after me from now on…”

Bai Xian waved him off, uninterested. “I’ll live on the first floor, you stay upstairs. Wait—what did you say you were?”

Zhou Yang looked puzzled. “A chef.”

…

Night passed without incident.

***

The next morning, just as dawn broke, the doorbell of Villa 6 rang.

Hearing no response, Chen Xu, as he’d done several times before, took out the spare key. He was all too familiar with this routine. Since the villa had been built, countless tenants had been scared away, and every time it was left to him to clean up the mess the next morning.

But this time was different. As he inserted the key into the lock, the security door swung open from inside.

The girl, her face still clouded by the sleepless night spent dragging it out with the ghost, stood at the threshold, radiating authority despite being just shy of 1.7 meters tall.

“If you can’t give me a reasonable explanation, I’ll file a complaint with the property management,” she said.

Chen Xu nearly popped his eyes out in shock. “You—you… you’re unharmed!”

Bai Xian’s face darkened. “Prepare for a complaint,” she said, starting to close the door.

“Sorry, sorry, that’s not what I meant—I meant, are you alright?” At the edge of her patience, Chen Xu slapped himself to get his words together. “I just came to check if you’re comfortable here, and to see if anything’s missing in the villa.”

With this explanation, Bai Xian’s expression softened. She knew exactly why he was here, but since he wouldn’t say it outright, she chose to play dumb.

“Everything’s fine here. Nothing’s missing.”

“Did anything strange happen last night? Like the TV turning on by itself, footsteps upstairs, or windows that won’t close?”

“Nothing at all. I slept straight through to now.”

Her response seemed sincere, leaving Chen Xu quietly suspicious. Could the place really have returned to normal?

“Well then, Victoria Bay Property wishes you a pleasant stay. I won’t disturb you further.”

Back in his car, Chen Xu mulled things over, finally pulling out his phone. “Hello, Director Li? It seems the villa’s issue is resolved… Yes, yes… It’s a young woman…”

After seeing off the landlord, Bai Xian ignored the ghost peeking from upstairs and yawned her way back to bed for a nap. The lease required at least a year’s stay, so she wasn’t worried about being evicted.

It was nearly noon when she finally got up.

In the kitchen, pots and pans were clattering. Oil shimmered in the air, the spicy, numbing aroma of Sichuan cuisine filling the house and making her mouth water.

Yawning, Bai Xian left her bedroom, detoured to the bathroom, and, after washing up, squinted her way to the table.

Chubby ghost Zhou Yang had just finished setting the dishes in front of her: spicy, tongue-tingling Mapo tofu, perfectly crisp twice-cooked pork, and tomato-egg soup. One meat, one vegetable, one soup—three of the most common Sichuan home-cooked dishes, yet they were enough to set her stomach growling.

***

But in her current state, she could hardly eat much. Half a bowl of rice and her flat stomach was already beginning to swell.

Zhou Yang seized the moment to ask, “Does my cooking suit your taste?”

Bai Xian nodded. The simplest ingredients demand the most from a chef.

“Then please, don’t forget about my head,” Zhou Yang pleaded.

Stuffed, Bai Xian thumped her chest. “Leave it to me.” Then, pointing at the yellow talismans pasted on every door, she asked, “Aren’t you afraid of these?”

Zhou Yang, clearing the dishes, looked completely unconcerned. “After I scared a few people, some monks and priests showed up to draw talismans and perform rituals. At first, I was terrified and hid in the attic. But I soon realized all those charms and Bagua diagrams were fake—completely useless.”

Bai Xian blinked. She’d planned to find a real Taoist to learn a bit about drawing talismans and bring those skills to another world. Clearly, it wasn’t that simple.

After dealing with Zhou Yang, who hummed a tune as he washed dishes, Bai Xian sat on the sofa and began to reflect on recent events.

In just a few days, her life had turned upside down. Looking back, it all still felt strangely dreamlike. She wouldn’t be surprised if she woke up one morning to find it had all been a dream.

She closed her eyes. That ancient, green-covered book appeared in her mind.

The pages turned slowly.

The dog demon, Aunt Yang… The river monster, the water bandits…

Each of the four portraits was now marked with a red cross.

Her last reward for slaying the dog demon was “Dragon’s Emergence”; for Aunt Yang, it was the “Little Treasury.” This time, for defeating the sow-demon, her reward was a one-handed mudra called the “Wind-Driving Seal.”

The great exhalation is called wind; wind is in the form of a phoenix with a high crest and long tail, hence the seal’s other name, “Phoenix-Driving Seal.” When the wind rises, it dispels evil, wards off disaster, cushions falls, and protects the body.

Bai Xian formed the seal with her left hand, her lips softly uttering, “Come, wind!”

Suddenly, in the tightly sealed living room, a powerful gust roared out of nowhere, sending her hair flying and making the chandelier above her head rattle and clink. Frightened, she quickly broke the seal, and the phantom wind gradually faded away.

The other reward was water-related: the “Water-Walking Boots.” As the name implied, as long as she kept moving while wearing them, she could travel atop any body of water, crossing rivers without so much as a drop touching her.