Chapter 12: A Debt Has Its Debtor

"Bro, your entrance…caught me off guard."

Lin Feng's hair stood on end. He'd chosen this old house specifically because he'd seen the portrait of its previous inhabitant, who looked to have died of illness, not violence. A ghost who dies of illness shouldn't accumulate so much resentment or malice.

Lin Feng knew that to escape this maze-like mansion, he'd inevitably need to deal with its "native inhabitants."

But this face before him—pale, sunken, hair sparse and scraggly—looked as though it had suffered a terrible end. It bore little resemblance to the once handsome young man in the portrait.

Looking at the nearly bald head, Lin Feng forced himself to stay calm. "Hello, I'm Lin Feng. I accidentally ended up here and can't find my way out. I didn't mean to intrude. Here, a small offering, hope you don't mind."

He pulled a handful of spirit money from his coat. Carrying such paper money was a tip he'd picked up from the director of the funeral home, Mr. Wang. Dark places like funeral homes often had paranormal activity. Carrying a few bundles of spirit money to hand out as "toll fees" to any ghosts encountered was supposed to ensure safety.

The young man's head tilted at an unnatural 90-degree angle, giving Lin Feng a stiff smile. "You're bold, giving your name to a ghost. You must be someone powerful. Are you…a Daoist?"

Lin Feng chuckled but didn't answer.

The young man coughed, losing a few more wisps of hair, and accepted the money from Lin Feng. "Daoist, let me give you a piece of advice. Get out of here quickly. This place is dangerous at night."

Leave? As if I don't want to!

"Could you tell me how to get out?"

"Uh…" The young man hesitated.

Lin Feng sensed it wouldn't be easy to leave, so he tried a different question. "If it's inconvenient to say, no worries. Let me ask you something simpler. Have you had any…new arrivals around here recently? You know, like one with a horse face?"

He was referring, of course, to a "Horse-face," one of the traditional guardians of the underworld.

The young man pulled at his thinning hair. "Horse face? Not that I know of, but a powerful female ghost recently appeared near the manor. She's taken a lot of offerings and incense from other families around here, and…"

"And what?"

The young man shivered. "She seems to be heading this way."

Lin Feng looked up sharply. The sky was already dark, the moon dim, and in the northeast corner of the manor, a black pillar of smoke rose, causing the surrounding spirits to panic, scattering and shouting, "She's coming! Run!"

"Damn, such dense ghostly energy?"

Lin Feng's eyes widened. The ghost energy he'd seen at Yuetan Park earlier hadn't even been half this intense, and that had been caused by a group of ghosts.

He clasped his hands toward the young man. "She's after me, so I'll take my leave. Oh, and I'll bring you some hair tonic next time. Farewell!"

Ignoring the young man's stunned expression, Lin Feng took off running.

"Why is she here? Didn't the old master seal this place off?"

"Her burial ground is within our ancestral land! Why wouldn't she be able to enter?"

"Hurry and run! I heard a reaper couldn't even subdue her recently!"

"If we leave, what about the offerings? My grandson just sent me some last week!"

"You can ask him to burn more in a dream, but if you die, you'll be truly gone—no chance at reincarnation…"

As night descended, all the spirits emerged, chattering like a crowd around Lin Feng, causing his ears to ring.

Lin Feng didn't know why, but although these spirits weren't strong, they hadn't lost their souls or senses and seemed to live almost like ordinary people.

But Lin Feng couldn't dwell on this. Running past, he startled another round of exclamations.

"Who was that? I've never seen him before."

"He looked like…a living person!"

"What?! How did he get in?"

Lin Feng darted into a courtyard. A chilling wind brushed his back; Ning Yan's ghost was almost upon him. Nearby, an old man was fleeing with his family's money tree on his back, and he looked wide-eyed as Lin Feng barged in.

The old man noticed Lin Feng's ghostly aura was even stronger than his and quivered, asking, "Who are you?"

"A ghost-catcher!" Lin Feng replied without thinking.

The old man twitched and fainted.

Outside, the wind died down. Just as Lin Feng was preparing to escape through the window, his body froze as a hand landed on his shoulder.

Behind him, a woman's voice echoed, "Running so soon?"

The sound lingered hauntingly, the temperature plummeting. Lin Feng's shoulder cracked under her grip, a shattering pain flooding his mind. The hand released him, and Lin Feng turned painfully to face her.

Before him stood a female ghost, looking around twenty-five. She had a scholarly air, but wore nothing below the waist. Her hair and blouse were disheveled, and her eyes were hollowed out. Her skull seemed to have been bashed in by a blunt object.

The sight made Lin Feng nauseous.

The stench of decay wafted over from the short half-meter distance between them. Lin Feng forced himself not to retch and smiled weakly. "Hello…nice to meet you. I must've walked into the wrong place. Any way out?"

The ghost woman chuckled. "You've come all this way. Why leave so quickly? Besides, didn't we meet just last night?"

Last night…

Wait, no. Last night, he'd only encountered a boss and his mistress in the woods, caught in a... situation. He'd fallen into a trance and nearly died...

Hold on!

A flash of insight struck Lin Feng, and he muttered, "You…you're borrowing a corpse to return to life?"

The mistress he'd seen last night definitely didn't look like this. She had a body of her own, which could only mean…

Ning Yan's ghost had killed that mistress long ago and taken over her body to live in the human world!

No wonder that beggar had insisted there was no female ghost on Yuetan Mountain—Ning Yan didn't live there!

No wonder only one person had died last night. The other, the mistress drained of her soul, had been dead long ago.

Lin Feng frowned, lost in thought, momentarily forgetting his shoulder pain.

Where had Ning Yan learned the forbidden art of "corpse possession"?

Ning Yan smirked. "Heh, you sure know a lot. I let you slip away yesterday, and here you are, back again."

Lin Feng steadied himself. Never show weakness to a ghost. Clutching his shoulder, he shouted, "Ning Yan! You're already dead. Your vengeance was fulfilled when you wiped out Chen Qi's entire family. Isn't that enough? Why keep harming the living?"

Her face twisted, her body trembling. "Chen Qi's death was justice! He defiled me and murdered me. Why shouldn't his whole family pay with him? Besides, this place isn't part of the living world. Surrounded by ghosts, who am I hurting?"

Lin Feng sneered, "I'm still alive, aren't I? And that corpse you possessed, wasn't she a living person?"

Ning Yan laughed. Watching a hideous ghost laugh, with brain matter shifting under her skin, wasn't a pleasant sight for Lin Feng.

"You? Blame yourself for meddling! And that woman? She was promiscuous, bringing men to the woods and even atop my grave. Why should I spare her? When I killed her last year, I discovered she was born under the Three Yin constellation—an ideal vessel!"

Lin Feng's heart skipped. The Three Yin alignment! Such people's bodies don't decompose easily, which was why Ning Yan's possession had lasted so long.

"Enough with the excuses! You're a ghost, not meant for the living world. Try my Divine Insight Eye first!"

Lin Feng bit his finger, opening his third eye. Blood welled between his brows, emitting a bright green light, aimed straight at Ning Yan.

She froze, unprepared, as the beam struck her face.

"Ahhhh!" she screamed in agony, covering her face, smoke rising from her palms. Her hollow eyes glared at Lin Feng through her fingers. "This pain is nothing compared to my death! Foolish Daoist, prepare to die!"

She swung her arm, sending five bone-like spikes flying at him.

Oh, hell…

Lin Feng rolled to the side. The spikes pierced the wall, leaving five holes that made his heart skip.

Last night, Ning Yan's strength had seemed primarily spiritual. How could she also be so adept in combat?

Not only that—his blood-coated Divine Insight Eye should've hurt her severely, but it seemed to barely faze her?

His failed ambush enraged Ning Yan. She lunged, her claws aimed at Lin Feng's head.

Without thinking, Lin Feng released the spirit of Mi Shihong.

Ning Yan paused, seeing a ghost appear in Lin Feng's place. When she recognized Mi Shihong, she became hysterical. "You!"

Mi Shihong recognized her too and screamed, trying to flee, but was held in place by her power.

"Master Lin! Help!" Mi Shihong shouted in terror.

"Alright! I'll get ready and come save you right away. Hang in there!"

Lin Feng ignored Mi Shihong's cries from the room, thinking to himself, Mi Shihong, there's always a reason behind every debt. You brought this on yourself for what you did. Now that you're keeping Ning Yan busy, I can go find Horse Face!