"You said it was a ghost, but why is it a red-clothed fierce ghost?" Ge Lingling retreated to the main gate with the boy, while her companions promptly closed the gate to block the rapidly approaching red-clothed fierce ghost.
The owner of the house cowered under the table, watching the door being quickly smashed by the red-clothed fierce ghost. The owner was close to tears from fear, but still tried to act tough, "Isn't the Worry-Free Pavilion supposed to eradicate all filth in the world? Why are you starting to shirk responsibility at a critical moment? If you're not capable, don't take on the task."
The owner was also scared into speaking nonsense, and he was determined that Ge Lingling and her team would not abandon him and ruin the reputation of the Worry-Free Pavilion.
"That's right, we are indeed incapable. When you came to us before, you should have known that we only handle general ghostly matters. Fierce ghosts such as these are not within our professional scope. We'll return your money. Tomorrow, you can look for people from the Pure World Pavilion." Having said this, Ge Lingling's companions appeared to approve, and they started to pack various talismans and implements from their bags.
The members of the Worry-Free Pavilion were divided into different pavilions according to their qualifications and abilities, to ensure that the most suitable people were chosen for each task to prevent wasted resources.
These pavilions, from low to high, were: Bone-Eroding Pavilion, Worldly Confusion Pavilion, Soaring Clouds Pavilion, Azure Feather Pavilion, and Astounding Dragon Pavilion.
In the Worry-Free Pavilion, there were detailed rank divisions, and all kinds of spirits and creatures were also classified into ten ranks, with higher ranks indicating greater danger. These five pavilions corresponded to two ranks each.
Due to her mediocre qualifications, Ge Lingling was assigned to the lowest-level Bone-Eroding Pavilion, which generally handled various funerary matters, rituals, and blessing-related work. They also sometimes took on simple cases, such as ghostly matters or lingering animal and plant spirits, which were generally at first or second-rank levels.
Although these cases paid little, the reason the Worry-Free Pavilion had stood for thousands of years and become a leader in the industry was precisely because of their genuine and equal treatment for each case.
Of course, due to the low pay and light workload, the monthly stipend of the Bone-Eroding Pavilion was pitifully small. Unlike the other pavilions, one case would take them a month to complete.
The reason why Ge Lingling and her team wanted to leave was not only because the homeowner wanted to do more with less pay, but also because they truly couldn't handle it.
Judging by the rank, this matter was a borderline case between the Worldly Confusion Pavilion and the Bone-Eroding Pavilion. If the recent unusual incidents had not led to the closure of the Worry-Free Pavilion's leader, Luo Yunzhen, and almost all the members had been sent out, this matter wouldn't have landed at the Bone-Eroding Pavilion.
The Bone-Eroding Pavilion's prefect thought it was just an ordinary ghostly matter and didn't expect the homeowner to have lied.
"Grandmaster, please don't leave, I'll give you more money." The homeowner took out silver notes from his pocket, throwing them on the ground while clinging to the table leg, "Please, great master, you must ensure the safety of our family."
Watching his companions pick up and count the silver notes from the ground, and nodding at Ge Lingling, she also suspected that something was amiss from the homeowner's words, "You kept talking about your deceased wife earlier, and now you want to ensure your family's safety. This doesn't match with what was written in the case file we received initially. If you don't tell us the truth now, I'm afraid we won't be able to help you."
Before going out to handle cases, the participants would be shown the case file to understand the details of the case, because even a small detail could determine the handling method and result.
For example, if a ghost was causing trouble because it died wrongfully, its grudge was related to the injustice. Once the injustice was erased, it would usually dissipate automatically.
However, what Ge Lingling saw in the case file was just a simple story - a month ago, the homeowner's wife died from a sudden illness, and the homeowner, grieving, held a lavish funeral and even observed a seven-day mourning period. However, he never expected that on the evening of the seventh day, when offering paper money at the memorial tablet, a sudden gust of cold wind extinguished the fire in the brazier.
The homeowner was not suspicious at first, thinking it was just a coincidence. But no matter how many times he tried to rekindle the fire, it would be extinguished by the cold wind.
The homeowner was a little scared by this point but did not think too deeply about it until he saw his deceased wife's spirit in the room at midnight. This made him realize that something was wrong.
So, Ge Lingling set up an array to lure out the deceased wife and conduct a ritual to ask if there was anything she regretted and to try and fulfill as much as possible.
But now, looking at the situation, what Ge Lingling initially pitied as "grievously sad" and "lavish funeral" revealed hidden implications that were more enraging and disgusting.
The homeowner has been in business for many years, with quite a bit of wealth. Because of this, he is no longer satisfied with having only a middle-aged wife at home. So, he bought a beautiful concubine outside, causing dissatisfaction in the wife, but she had no choice. Little did he know that the concubine, unsatisfied with her status, instigated the homeowner to want to divorce his wife and marry her. However, the homeowner, constrained by his reputation, felt that if he divorced his wife, he would be criticized for abandoning her.
Unable to resist the concubine's persuasion, the homeowner, driven by a moment of confusion, replaced his wife's tonic with poison. That night, the wife succumbed to the poison. Because the wife had always been in poor health and the homeowner had put on a show in front of others, no one suspected foul play.
On the seventh day, everything was going fine during the paper-burning ritual, but for some unknown reason, the concubine insisted on burning paper for the wife, which was strange. The soft paper cut the concubine's hand, and as the blood dripped into the fire, the flames shot up, frightening the concubine and the homeowner. They saw the wife's grotesque and resentful face as she died from poisoning.
From that day on, the vengeful spirit of the wife haunted the household, killing all the animals. The concubine, pregnant, was safe from the vengeful spirit, but the homeowner found it difficult to sleep at night. If it weren't for the household's protective sword, he might have died a violent death like the animals.
Divorce, murder, poisoning, the blood on the concubine's fingertips... it seems the wife's goal is just to see two people dead. The people from the "Eater of Bones Palace" exchanged glances, each showing a hint of regret and difficulty in their eyes. The homeowner noticed their strange expressions and pleaded, "Masters, I've given you money. Please don't abandon me. Ask her what she wants so that we can be spared. I'm in my middle age and I don't want to die..."
To support her son and save money, Lingling made an effort to gain professional knowledge. Unlike the disciples of the Eater of Bones Palace, she came from the modern era and did not carry the inferiority complex they did. Therefore, she took the lead in facing the situation.
The boy stayed close to Lingling, his grape-like eyes fixed on the door, where the vengeful ghost tried to enter. Lingling reassured him, patting his back as he seemed scared.