Director Zhong said that applying colour once a day was enough. Surely there would be no problem if he applied it a few more times, right? Luo Huai thought.

 

If he was going home, he could not take his wallet with him.

Zhong Jiudao’s purpose in returning home was to visit his elderly father, who had fallen ill and vomited blood, and comfort his wounded heart. It was not to bring a group of powerful ghost actors before his father to show off his power thereby sending the old man straight to his grave.

The thirty-three powerful ghosts had already been brought out of the villa, however, and could no longer be sealed away somewhere else. He had to find someone reliable to keep them safe.

At present, the only people nearby whom he knew relatively well were Qian Duoqun and Pang Xinhao, who were staying at the same hotel, and Luo Huai, who shared his room.

On the surface, Qian Duoqun seemed to be the most suitable candidate. He knew the ghosts’ identities and would follow Zhong Jiudao’s instructions to stick talismans onto the wallet every day.

However, Qian Duoqun was greedy and easily susceptible to the ghosts’ influence. If Qi Wanlian and the others spoke from inside the wallet, telling Qian Duoqun that they were willing to take on acting jobs to earn money and could even share some of their earnings with him, Qian Duoqun would undoubtedly go so far as to massage ghosts and knead their feet. He would certainly forget Zhong Jiudao’s instructions entirely. By the time Zhong Jiudao returned from home, Jiang Fen might still be manageable, but the remaining thirty-three evil ghosts would probably be wreaking havoc in the human world.

Pang Xinhao had already been possessed by Qi Wanlian once, so Zhong Jiudao was even less likely to entrust the wallet to him.

Under the circumstances, Luo Huai was the only person who could help him.

Zhong Jiudao had long since discovered that Luo Huai was an exceptionally capable man when it came to putting things into practice. He was somewhat stubborn, and no matter how something was explained to him, he could twist it to fit his own worldview. Yet it was precisely this aspect of his personality that gave Luo Huai, despite his naivety, a degree of resoluteness that ordinary people could scarcely hope to match.

« Luo Huai, there’s something I’d like to ask you to do for me. » Zhong Jiudao opened the door to the suite and spoke to Luo Huai, who was staying in the outer room.

Indeed, in their room, Zhong Jiudao had always slept in the inner room, while Luo Huai kept watch over the door for him.

Luo Huai had arranged the sleeping arrangements when Zhong Jiudao first moved in. At the time, Zhong Jiudao had refused. He was already imposing on Luo Huai by staying there, so how could he let Luo Huai sleep in the outer room?

But Luo Huai was more determined than Zhong Jiudao had imagined. Even after Zhong Jiudao had lain down on the bed in the outer room, Luo Huai had still insisted on lying on top of him until Zhong Jiudao was forced to move into the inner room.

Zhong Jiudao realized that he simply could not win an argument with Luo Huai. In the end, he had no choice but to give in.

Once Luo Huai had made up his mind about something, it seemed that no one could change it.

For that very reason, Zhong Jiudao considered Luo Huai the most suitable person to entrust with the wallet.

« Luo Huai, I won’t be able to accompany you to your acting engagements tomorrow. My father has fallen ill and lost consciousness, so I have to go home to visit him, » Zhong Jiudao told Luo Huai, who was packing his luggage.

« Of course visiting your father is more important! » Luo Huai immediately grew anxious. He rummaged through his backpack, took out all the cash he had on him, and scraped together two thousand yuan, which he handed to Zhong Jiudao. « I have work and can’t go with you to visit your uncle. Please buy him some fruit and nourishing supplements on my behalf. »

Zhong Jiudao: « …There’s really no need to buy fruit. »

The honey peaches growing on the mountain belonging to his family were there for the picking.

« This is a token of my concern for your father, not a gift for you. Keep it on his behalf. » Luo Huai firmly stuffed the money into Zhong Jiudao’s coat pocket.

When a friend’s father fell ill, it was already embarrassing not to be able to visit him. He absolutely had to send something to show his concern. He and Director Zhong counted as friends, didn’t they? After all, they had lived together for nearly two months. That made them friends. Luo Huai thought this to himself.

« All right. I’ll thank you on his behalf. » Zhong Jiudao accepted the money. « There’s something I’d like to ask you to do for me. »

« No problem. » Luo Huai agreed without even asking what it was.

« This wallet… » Zhong Jiudao thought for a moment, then explained tactfully, « My father and I have never gotten along. This wallet contains one of the secrets behind our strained relationship. I can’t take it home with me, or he’ll get so angry that his condition will worsen. But this wallet is very important to me, so I hope you can keep it safe for me. »

« All right. Even if I lose my phone, I won’t lose this wallet! » Luo Huai declared solemnly.

« That’s not all, » Zhong Jiudao continued. « Looking after this wallet is a troublesome task. First of all, there are several sheets of paper inside. They record the greatest secret of my entire life, and I don’t want anyone to discover it. You must not open the wallet, nor let anyone else open it. »

Luo Huai immediately rummaged through his suitcase, pulled out a clean, old garment, and casually tore a long strip of cloth from it. He then tied the wallet up securely.

Zhong Jiudao: « …There’s really no need to be so solemn about it. Just don’t open it or lose it, and that’ll be enough. Second, this wallet is very old and needs regular maintenance. I’ll give you some pigment and a brush. Just trace the patterns on the wallet once a day, then leave it to dry. The pigment dries quickly; it’ll be dry after a minute or two. »

Zhong Jiudao took out a calligraphy brush and a box of red pigment. It was made from the finest cinnabar mixed with a little of Zhong Jiudao’s blood and combined with magical power. The patterns on the wallet were talismanic inscriptions that Zhong Jiudao had carved into it. Tracing them with cinnabar every day would reinforce the seal and prevent the thirty-three ghosts from repeatedly breaking through it.

« I’ve got it. I’ll remember it even better than my lines! » Luo Huai nodded earnestly.

Seeing how trustworthy Luo Huai seemed, Zhong Jiudao could not help smiling in satisfaction. He raised his hand, ruffled Luo Huai’s hair, and reminded him, « Third, don’t keep your phone and the wallet together. »

Jiang Fen was different from the thirty-three ghosts. He posed less of a threat, so Zhong Jiudao had kept him hidden in his music app all along. Now that Zhong Jiudao was leaving, Jiang Fen would naturally be transferred to Luo Huai’s phone. If the phone and the wallet were kept together, there was no guarantee that Jiang Fen would not secretly open the wallet.

« Does the wallet contain any cards that might be demagnetized? I’ll be careful, » Luo Huai replied, offering a perfectly reasonable scientific explanation.

« I’ll be back in a day or two. We still have to attend interviews together, after all, » Zhong Jiudao said.

« Your father is ill. Don’t you need to look after him? » Luo Huai asked.

« It’s fine. The old man is in excellent physical condition. He’s just suffered a fit of anger that upset his internal balance. He’ll recover after drinking some soup to clear heat and dispel internal fire. »

He was in such good shape that he had spent several months filming on location with the crew of The Record of Upholding Integrity, travelling all over the country and even playing the lead role. He probably would not suffer any serious harm.

« Call me if anything happens, » Zhong Jiudao said.

« All right. »

Zhong Jiudao left the hotel carrying a small suitcase. Luo Huai watched him go, then looked around the now-empty room and suddenly felt rather uncomfortable.

Why was it that Director Zhong had only just left, yet Luo Huai was already reluctant to part with him?

Luo Huai sat in a daze for a while. Somehow, the wallet slipped out of his coat pocket and fell to the floor.

Hearing the sound, Luo Huai lowered his head and picked up the wallet. Involuntarily, the image came to mind of Director Zhong looking solemn and serious as he entrusted the wallet to him.

Thinking about all the activities he would have to attend the next day, Luo Huai found himself unable to sleep. He simply sat down at the desk, picked up a brush, dipped it into the red pigment, and carefully traced the patterns again and again, following the faint, almost imperceptible outlines that remained on the wallet.

Director Zhong had said that applying the pigment once a day was enough. Surely there would be no problem if he applied it a few more times, right? Luo Huai thought.

While Luo Huai, missing Zhong Jiudao, repeatedly drew talismans and tormented his colleagues at the company, Zhong Jiudao boarded the high-speed train home.

The Zhong family’s main residence occupied an enormous area. It was a genuine luxury estate, and the land was also an excellent feng shui site. However, because the orchard was so vast, the estate lay a considerable distance from the city centre. After getting off the train, Zhong Jiudao still had to take a two-hour bus ride to reach home.

There were no buses running so late at night. Zhong Jiudao was just preparing to part with some of his precious, meager savings when someone called out to him at the station exit, « Jiudao, over here! »

His older male cousin, Zhong Hongyan, had known he was coming home and had driven over to pick him up.

« When did you get your driver’s license? » After getting into the car, Zhong Jiudao noticed there was no chauffeur. The person sitting in the driver’s seat was actually Zhong Hongyan.

The old-fashioned members of the Zhong family believed that, in ancient times, driving carriages had been work done by ordinary people. Celestial masters had to maintain the proper dignity of their station, so the legitimate heirs of the Zhong family were forbidden to drive. They would hire professional chauffeurs instead.

« I got it while I was out on a mission. Why do you think the younger members of the family have to spend a month or so away from home just to exorcise a single earthbound spirit? They’re simply taking advantage of the opportunity to do a few things they enjoy, » Zhong Hongyan explained.

« There aren’t any ghosts that powerful nowadays. Last time, I went to deal with a ghost who cried every night. I asked her what unfulfilled wish she had that made her cling to the best friend she’d had when she was alive. She actually said that before she died, she’d forgotten to delete her chat history with her best friend, and she begged me to make sure her friend deleted it before her boyfriend and parents discovered it.

« Later, I passed the message on to her friend. Her friend cried and said she blamed herself for being so heartbroken that she’d forgotten about the matter. That very night, she deleted their entire chat history. I didn’t even need to perform the rites to send the ghost into the afterlife; she fulfilled her own wish and departed. Tell me, why are the unfulfilled wishes of young ghosts so ridiculous nowadays? Is this really worth lingering around your best friend’s front door and crying for half a month? »

Zhong Jiudao replied, « …Chat history with a best friend really is important. »

« Anyway, I took advantage of the whole affair to spend a full month wandering around outside. I told the family I was helping a powerful ghost fulfill a wish she’d had while alive, and used the time to pass my second-stage driving test. » Zhong Hongyan rolled down the car window and freely enjoyed the breeze. « When did you get your license? »

« When I was at university. I took the test at a driving school near my campus, » Zhong Jiudao replied.

« University… » Zhong Hongyan sighed and said nothing more.

Which young member of the Zhong family didn’t envy Zhong Jiudao? Which of them didn’t want to pursue a career of their own, just as he had? But if they left the Zhong family, they would have neither a car nor a house, and they lacked even educational qualifications. Starting over from scratch would be far too difficult.

« Who’s running the family affairs now that Father has collapsed? » Zhong Jiudao asked.

« Who else could it be? That uncle from the second branch, » Zhong Hongyan replied. « I’ve had enough of these old fossils. What era are we living in, and they’re still talking about the first and second branches of the family? I can’t even keep all these family relationships straight. I’ve only ever seen terms like these in historical romance novels about household intrigue. »

« You’ve actually read historical romance novels about household intrigue? » Zhong Jiudao exclaimed in astonishment.

Zhong Hongyan coughed awkwardly twice. « My online girlfriend likes them, so I read quite a few with her. Wuwuwu, I still haven’t even met my girlfriend in person! We’ve only ever had video calls. If I get the chance, I absolutely have to go and see her! »

Times had changed. Even his older cousin was now in an online relationship. Zhong Jiudao felt rather wistful.

By the time they chatted their way home, it was already the middle of the night. As his cousin drove the off-road vehicle past the enormous peach orchard in front of the house, Zhong Jiudao saw a group of unjustly dead ghosts taking advantage of the darkness to harvest the honey peaches.

There were three reasons why the Zhong family’s honey peaches were so profitable. First, the peach orchard was in an excellent geographical location, and its feng shui was superb, ensuring abundant harvests year after year. Second, labour costs were extremely low. The orchard had always been tended by the unjustly dead ghosts under the Zhong family’s protection. Unable to be reincarnated, these ghosts cultivated themselves in the peach orchard under the family’s care. After accumulating merit over a certain period, they could re-enter the cycle of reincarnation. Third, the excellent feng shui, combined with the fact that the long-term workers naturally had a talent for driving away pests, meant that the honey peaches grown on their land never suffered insect infestations. They were also sweeter than other honey peaches. The family had long since established a reputation for their produce, which had always been positioned as a premium product on the market. With low costs and high selling prices, their profits were naturally substantial.

« These workers have never had identity documents, have they? » Zhong Jiudao asked seriously, raising the question of whether the people employed by his family had legal identities.

« That’s right. How many celestial-master families would go so far as the Maoshan Sect (NT: litt. Mountain Mao) and arrange identity documents for the walking corpses under their control? » Zhong Hongyan replied.

« The Maoshan Sect actually does that? » Zhong Jiudao had not concerned himself with the affairs of the celestial-master world for years and had no idea that such changes had taken place.

« It all started because of the real-name registration requirements, » Zhong Hongyan explained. « Our workers and the spirit-servants employed by other families can be carried around in the form of paper figures, but the Maoshan Sect is different. They control walking corpses, which are also important helpers when it comes to subduing demons and exorcising evil spirits. How could they manage without taking them along wherever they go? But these walking corpses can’t board high-speed trains or airplanes. Later, the Maoshan Sect apparently sent some of its disciples to work in relevant government departments and contribute to the country. In return, they obtained identity privileges for quite a few of their walking corpses. You have to admit, the Maoshan Sect knows how to keep pace with the times. Why can’t our family be a little more flexible? »

« So that’s how it is. » Zhong Jiudao nodded to himself, feeling that he had learned something valuable.

In that case, he really could let some of the powerful ghosts appear on camera from time to time. If anyone seriously questioned their identities, he could use talismans to negotiate an exchange with the Maoshan Sect and obtain identities for them. That would also prevent people from suspecting that Qi Wanlian and the others were black households (NT: people without legally registered identities).

« Have you been keeping up with my film lately? » Zhong Jiudao asked.

« Of course! I was the one who edited that film! I even went and told my girlfriend about it, but she flat-out refused to believe me. She said Director Zhong Jiudao had hired a top-tier special-effects team to make it. She sounded so convinced, as if she’d witnessed it with her own eyes, when I was the one who did the whole thing myself! » Zhong Hongyan complained indignantly.

« Are you sure you did it all by yourself? » Zhong Jiudao asked skeptically.

After watching the edited film, Zhong Jiudao had already felt that Zhong Hongyan could never have achieved such excellent post-production work on his own. There simply wouldn’t have been enough time; even if Zhong Hongyan had stayed awake around the clock, he still wouldn’t have finished it.

« You saw through it! I begged a top-tier editor who had died to help me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had enough time on my own, » Zhong Hongyan said with a smile. « I also helped him take care of something in return, and he has since gone off to be reincarnated. »

As they chatted along the way, Zhong Jiudao became certain that Zhong Hongyan wanted to leave home and make his own way in the world. It seemed he might be able to persuade him to join his company.

« Cousin, I recently started a film and television company, and I’m desperately short of staff. Would you be interested in joining? I’d offer you a very high salary, » Zhong Jiudao said.

 

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The author has something to say:

Luo Huai, missing Director Zhong: Draw talismans, draw talismans, draw talismans—keep my hands busy to distract myself.

The ghosts in the wallet: Director Zhong, please hurry back! If you don’t come back soon, Luo Huai is going to exorcise us all!

 

Translator : DarNan