When I woke up again, it was almost noon.
Sunlight warmed my face.
I rubbed my eyes.
I found myself still in the temporary lodging in Molu Village, as my backpack was still hanging on the wall.
My body felt incredibly heavy, as if a large stone were pressing down on me. I tried to call out, but my throat felt like it was burning, my lips were chapped, and I was terribly thirsty.
I closed my eyes and lay there for a while before I felt any relief.
Tilting my head, I saw a cup of cooled boiled water on the bedside table. I immediately grabbed it and drank it down in large gulps.
After finishing the cup of water, the burning sensation in my throat subsided somewhat, and I finally felt like myself again.
As my senses returned, my mind began to race.
I clearly remembered being almost killed by Sui Wan'er. How could I possibly be lying in bed now?
Could I have been dreaming?
With that thought, I pushed aside the blanket covering me.
Indeed, there was gauze wrapped around my chest, with small spots of crimson blood seeping through.
The door opened, and Zhang Dabiao, seeing me awake, showed a hint of joy on his face. "You're awake! I thought you wouldn't wake up until this afternoon! Lie down quickly. The injury isn't serious, but you need to rest for at least two days. Otherwise, it could get infected, and that would be troublesome."
"Brother Zhang? Did you save me last night?"
Zhang Dabiao gave an awkward smile. "Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
I shook my head. "No, just very thirsty."
"You lost so much blood; it's normal to be thirsty. Eat a few more old hens to replenish yourself."
I could feel that my injuries weren't severe, and the weakness was only due to the significant blood loss.
"Brother Zhang, thank you for saving me again."
After hearing this, Zhang Dabiao shook his head. "This time, I should be thanking you for saving me."
"You mean, the person who was trapped in the coffin was you?"
Zhang Dabiao nodded.
"How could you have been trapped?"
Upon hearing this, I jolted up, immediately feeling a wave of dizziness, and then lay back down, looking at Zhang Dabiao with curious eyes.
"Why couldn't I have been trapped by someone?" Zhang Dabiao said with a wry smile.
After that, Zhang Dabiao began to recount what had happened after I showed signs of abnormality that night.
After discovering that something was wrong with me that night, Zhang Dabiao had barely slept. He hadn't noticed anything unusual until dawn.
Just as he entered his room and lay down, he heard the sound of a door opening again.
This made Zhang Dabiao prick up his ears and cautiously open the door a crack.
He saw a fox with lustrous red fur trying to pry open the door.
At this point, Zhang Dabiao paused, lit a cigarette, and his expression seemed somewhat lost.
"What happened next?" I asked urgently.
"When I opened the door, the fox turned and ran. To figure out why the fox was at your door, I hurried out to chase it.
I left in such a hurry that, besides the bone-piercing nails I carried, I was too rushed to even put on my jacket. Otherwise, I wouldn't have fallen into that ghostly woman's trap."
"Woman? You mean Sui Wan'er?"
Zhang Dabiao shook his head. "No!"
"Not Sui Wan'er? Then what other malevolent entity could have trapped you?"
Zhang Dabiao's appearance left a deep impression on me, not to mention the twenty-four bone-piercing nails he carried, which were quite significant.
Each nail was made from the heartwood of a peach tree that was over ten years old and had received the most sunlight, specifically designed to counter evil spirits. Otherwise, Sui Wan'er wouldn't have fled after being hit by just two.
"There are plenty of powerful malevolent entities. Who am I to say?" Zhang Dabiao said, mocking himself. Then he continued, "Do you think ghosts are more terrifying, or humans?"
Without thinking, I blurted out, "Of course, human hearts are more terrifying. As the saying goes, ghosts don't seek revenge without cause, but people are driven by greed..."
"Are you saying someone deliberately lured you out this time?" I frowned and paused.
Zhang Dabiao nodded and lit another cigarette. "It's possible. I couldn't keep up with the fox's speed in the wilderness, but that fox kept stopping and starting. It led me into Qingfeng Mountain, and then it turned and disappeared.
When I realized this, I prepared to leave. But then I found that fog had appeared all around, and at the same time, I felt my body go weak and my vision blur. Before I fainted, I saw a pair of embroidered shoes appear before my eyes, and the fox was standing beside her. You know the rest."
After hearing Zhang Dabiao's account, I fell into deep thought.
A fox?
A woman?
A spirit fox could only mean one thing: a spirit medium from the Northeast, or a guardian spirit kept by someone.
But this wasn't the Northeast; it was the South.
Spirit mediums originated from the Manchu shamanism of the Northeast and had always been active in the Northeast region. It was rare for spirit mediums to leave the Northeast.
Even if a spirit medium disciple occasionally came to the South, they came alone, and the spirit mediums themselves never ventured beyond the Northeast.
"Brother Zhang, do you think that fox might be a spirit medium from the Northeast?"
Zhang Dabiao frowned. "I practice the Yang Gong Dao. I suppress malevolent spirits with martial prowess. I can't really tell if that fox is a spirit medium, but the fox gave me a feeling of being somewhat human."
That made sense. The fox was undoubtedly a spirit medium.
Because they cultivate by borrowing the power of spirit medium disciples and have prolonged contact with humans, they naturally become somewhat human-like over time.
At the same time, I had another question: aren't spirit mediums only supposed to operate in the Northeast? How did one end up in the South?
I had heard about matters of Feng Shui from my master. It was said that in the South, it was the Maoshan sect, and in the North, it was the spirit mediums.
This meant that for Feng Shui matters in the South, people would seek out Feng Shui masters who practiced Taoist magic or masters from Maoshan.
In the North, people would seek out spirit mediums, or spirit medium disciples.
This wasn't a strict rule, nor was it because there were no Feng Shui masters in the North. It was simply because Taoist magic was more prevalent in the South, and Maoshan was located there, while the North was the territory of spirit mediums, where they were mostly concentrated.
As for why my master could thrive in the North, I had no idea.
"Did you get a clear look at that woman?" Su Dan Novel Network
"No. But she had a strange scent about her, like..." At this point, Zhang Dabiao paused, thought for a moment, and then said, "Yes, a fragrance."
I looked at Zhang Dabiao with a strange expression. "What kind of fragrance?"
Perhaps my reaction was too obvious, as Zhang Dabiao lightly hit my forehead. "What are you thinking? I said fragrance, not the kind of 'fragrance' you're thinking of. I meant the scent of burning incense."
I frowned. The scent of burning incense?
Incense couldn't just be burned anywhere, and someone carrying the scent of "incense" must have been in an environment where incense was burned for a long time, otherwise, they wouldn't have the scent on them.
A woman's figure suddenly appeared in my mind.
"Could it be her?"