Chapter 23 Grandma and the Stray Ghost

Shi Qi closed his eyes and opened them again, however, the scene before him remained the same. 

A young girl’s figure faintly appeared on the elderly grandma’s body, with long black hair draping behind her. Though he couldn’t see her face clearly, he felt she was very young.

He turned to Li Chun on the side, and they looked to be of the same age.

With the grandma’s beckoning, the young figure beckoned at the same time, sometimes blending into one, sometimes separated, but it was still clearly visible.

Seeing Shi Qi stay in place without moving, Ning Meng could only go over herself. Raising her reading glasses, she leaned her head forward, “What are you in a daze for?”

My great grandson is so good-looking, when he becomes more capable in the future, he’ll certainly have a large number of fanboys and fangirls.

Shi Qi’s breathing almost became blocked. He clearly saw that slender hand fall on his head, but it felt no different to the usual.

Ning Meng rubbed his head, “Little fool. What’s the name of this weasel?”

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Fbk Ck qasgl. Tlyakdt vbl iwlpvksd, bl pvwxczle kd bkp osaep, pyukdt “N-zkvvzl Zlzzso…”

Fllkdt bkp dlahswp, pnyale yde vydtzle qynl, Lkdt Yldt oyp y zkvvzl pwprknkswp. Tl oyp rascyczu pnyale cu tbspvp vseyu. Wsa psxlsdl obs oyp tskdt vs cl ps rsolaqwz kd vbl qwvwal, oyp kv rsppkczl vs tlv pnyale cu tbspvp yv pwnb y uswdt ytl?

Fbl nsymle: “Eyp Nkvvzl Flhldvlld qaktbvldle vseyu? Psd’v cl yqayke. Ekvb Qaydexy aktbv blal, vblal osd’v cl ydu elxsdp sa tbspvp.”

Mbl olyplz bwttle bla zlt. Rv zkjle vbspl okvb ukd vbl clpv, yde kv oyp yczl vs elvlnv vbyv pbl oyp ekqqlaldv, pdsavkdt yp kv zssjle yv Fbk Ck.&dcpr;

Fbk Ck oyp ynvwyzzu yczl vs pll vbl tzsyvkdt kd bkp lulp.

Tl tzydnle yv vbl vos shlazyrrkdt qktwalp clqsal wzvkxyvlzu nzldnbkdt bkp qkpv, yde awddkdt wrpvykap okvbswv pyukdt y osae, ekpyrrlyakdt kd vbl nsaakesa.

Lkdt Yldt’p byde oyp pvwnj xke-yka yde pbl ypjle vbl pupvlx, “Ebyv’p oasdt okvb bkx?”

Mbl pupvlx oyp yzps dsv pwal: “Vlabyrp bl’p fwpv bye bkp sod zkvvzl plnalv?”

Ning Meng thought for a while, feeling as though this answer sounded reasonable.

Shi Qi didn’t sleep a wink throughout the whole night.

As he was lying in bed, he wondered over and over again. What was going on? Has it always been like this but he was just unable to see it?

But another shadow appeared on a person. Although he couldn’t see his face clearly, he knew it was definitely not the shadow of his grandmother…

After an unknown amount of time had passed, the sky had turned hazy.

The loud cry of rooster rang from the outside.

Shi Qi got up from the bed. The weasel nestled at the foot of his bed, slept soundly embracing one leg of the bed, almost about to snore.

Seeing it like this, Shi Qi put on his gloves and touched it quietly.

The weasel seemed to have sensed this and turned over, exposing his stomach as it continued to sleep.

He scratched its stomach again.

After repeating this several times, the weasel showed signs of waking up, so Shi Qi did not dare to touch it again and went to the bathroom to wash up.

The mirror reflected his face, revealing two dark circles under his eyes.

Shi Qi leaned forward to take a closer look at himself. He was a human, Li Chun and Li Xia were also humans, and Uncle was also a human.

Only grandma…or were old people rather more special?

After washing up, he went to the Shi mansion with a question in mind. The mansion was as quiet as ever, making sink in his thoughts. 

Unexpectedly, he ran into Shi Cong at the corner.

Shi Cong, who hadn’t seen Shi Qi’s shadow for many days, suddenly got excited, “Hey, shameless. Why are you still staying at our house and not leaving!”

His chubby face made a grimace which looked very strange.

Shi Qi didn’t get angry either. He merely pointed to his side and said softly, “There is someone next to you.”

“Who?” Shi Cong was suspicious, but when he turned his head to see nothing, he  sneered, saying: “Don’t talk nonsense, there are no ghosts in the mansion.”

However, as soon as he finished speaking, he recalled that his grandmother was said to have bumped into a ghost and had fallen ill, and he became a little frightened.

Shi Qi looked at him innocently, “He is looking at you now.”

Perhaps because his tone was too normal, Shi Cong was a little skeptical. He twisted his chubby body and shifted a little, staring nervously at his original place.

By the time he recovered, Shi Qi had already disappeared.　　

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*  *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*  *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

A fine incense was burnt in the basement room.

Shi Shanjin worked calmly, steadily and surely. He was always extremely careful about matters of Feng Shui and it was because of this personality that the old man chose him to do this job, while the more vicious second son started his own business.

As soon as Shi Qi came in, he saw Shi Shanjin sitting there writing, the atmosphere made him unable to speak, so he decided to ask only after Shi Shanjin finished drawing the talisman.

“You’re here?” Shi Shanjin raised his head straight after making the final stroke, “Sit down. Your task this morning is to finish drawing this talisman.”

He picked up a talisman from the table. A fresh red character was printed on the bright yellow paper, but Shi Qi couldn’t recognize the character, thinking that it looked like a painting instead.

He gestured silently in his heart, it was the size of about two of his palms, so he reckoned that it would be easy to finish the painting.

The child’s thoughts were clearly printed on his face.

Shi Shanjin saw through his thoughts but didn’t reveal anything. He merely smiled, and handed him the tools, “You are going to learn how to draw calligraphy. I remember there are courses being offered in school.”

Shi Qi nodded silently.

The school did indeed offer them, and every day, he had to attend class and finish his duties before school was over. Not everyone signed up for the course. Only he and one other person have signed up for the calligraphy class in their class.

The brush was tailor-made for him, fitting perfectly in his hand.

Shi Qi sat there, dipping the brush in special red ink, and traced the talisman stroke by stroke.

Thinking that it was going to be easy, his first stroke ended up being broken and it appeared all squiggly and crooked.

He looked at Shi Shanjin with a little embarrassment.

Shi Shanjin didn’t blame him, instead, he said: “Finish the painting. No matter how bad it is, you have to finish the whole picture. You start when you put your brush down, and you have to seal it at the end.”

One needed to pay attention to the strokes of the outline when drawing a talisman, but in reality, not everyone could accomplish this. In this era of forgotten feng shui, the requirements have become simple. The most common things to note were the beginning and the ending of the character stroke..

The beginning stroke means that the talisman had gained special abilities, and without the ending stroke to seal the deal, the Qi inside would run out, turning the talisman equivalent to waste paper.

Shi Shanjin could draw the outline by himself, and he also wanted Shi Qi to be able to do it. However, he could only teach him step by step so they started off with the very basics.

Hearing what he said, Shi Qi got serious.

Only when you start drawing talismans will you realize how difficult it is. You have to be careful at every turning point, otherwise it would be broken. One stroke Shi Qi had just  drawn, made it feel as though he had run a very long mile.

His arm felt a bit sore.

Shi Qi pursed his lips, not daring to relax, and followed the drawing carefully. At the last hook stroke heading towards the middle, his arm nearly collapsed.

He raised his left hand to support his arm, and drew the last stroke shakily. 

The talisman was finished.

Shi Qi’s eyes revealed joy. He quickly put down the brush, picked up the yellow taliman, and observed it with his own eyes. 

Comparing it with uncle’s completed talisman, the difference was as apparent as that of a master’s and a student who didn’t have talent. His frustration soared at this thought.

Shi Qi felt a little depressed.

Ever since he arrived at the Shi Residence, he kept thinking that one day he would become better than everyone and live better than everyone else.

But now, he couldn’t even draw one single talisman properly..

At some point, Shi Shanjin had walked to his side. His eyes fell on the talisman in his hand, and he took it with an expressionless face, “It’s alright. You can go to school now.”

Shi Qi stood up, and thought about the question he had in mind again.

“Do you have anything you want to ask?” Shi Shanjin noticed.

Shi Qi nodded, “If what can be seen on a person is different from the original body…”

Realizing that the description sounded slightly wrong, he paused to think about it again before uttering: “For example, the aunt yesterday, if I saw a man in her body, what does that mean?”

It should be about the same. The person possessing Grandma’s body was very young, about the same age as Li Chun and Li Xia.

Shi Shanjin hadn’t expected him to ask this question. He pondered for a moment before replying: “In general cases, it means that the person is being possessed, but it could also mean something else in other circumstances.”

“Other circumstances?” Shi Qi repeated.

Shi Shan nodded, “Lonely souls and stray ghosts love possessing bodies to re-experience human life, but in this case, the possessed person does not live long. The other situation is also considered possession, but it is a bit more special. It only happens when the possessed person is already dead, and the stray ghost enters the body within a short period of time after the person’s death. Sometimes this is what is known as a corpse coming back to life.”

Shi Qi was confused and asked, “Uncle, are you able to see this happening?”

Shi Shanjin rubbed his head, “Do you think your eyes are very common?”

For thousands of years, not a single person who appeared true yin yang eyes appeared and the majority who did were only a sham. The fact that Shi Qi was able to have these eyes, couldn’t be determined to be a blessing or a curse.

The answer did not relieve Shi Qi, instead, it only raised his alarm.

Shi Qi asked again: “Are stray ghosts good or bad?”

Faced with this question, Shi Shanjin was silent for a while. After a long time, he said: “The difference between good and bad depends on the situation. It may be good for you or bad for others. If a stray ghost can linger in the human world, there must be something he wants to end.”

He once encountered a wild ghost who couldn’t let go of his newly wed wife. He borrowed the body of another person who had just died and resurrected him, and just when the body he possessed could no longer work, he changed to another one.

In the end, he went astray and directly possessed a normal person, affecting his entire life.

The number of questions Shi Qi harbored inside kept multiplying. After he came to Shi residence, did grandma become possessed after he met her or was she already possessed before he had even arrived at the residence?

He asked carefully: “Then if I only see one figure, is the person being possessed dead or possessed alive?”

Shi Shanjin asked, “What you saw yesterday is the answer you want.”

Shi Qi was stunned and recalled yesterday’s scene.

He was only looking at the figure of the weasel, as if vaguely seeing a transparent and weak figure…

“The actions made by the possession are different from those of the original body. The weasel is only in her body and didn’t do anything with it. It is usually Liu Yunyun herself taking action.” Seeing his face full of doubts, Shi Shanjin took the initiative to explain.

He asked with interest: “Why? Did you see such a person?”

Shi Qi hurriedly shook his head, “N-…no.”

Seeing his rare panic, Shi Shanjin knew that he must have seen something but didn’t want to say it, so he didn’t pursue it. As long as the being didn’t endanger his family, and nobody spoke of it, he wouldn’t take the initiative to deal with it.

There was still much more this child had yet to see.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*  *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*  *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Shi Qi left the mansion in a daze with the answer he received, and walked back to the cottage, feeling very worried.

According to his uncle’s explanation, there was no doubt that a stray ghost had possessed his grandma.

As soon as he entered the living room, he saw his grandma and the weasel sitting on the sofa.

He slowed down and walked closer, the figure above was still there, doing exactly the same movements as what the grandmother was doing.

“… In general cases, it is possession…” The uncle’s words came into his mind again, “…and their actions would differ from the host’s body…”

He understood what his uncle meant. The movements he saw a long time ago were the same as his grandma’s movements now.

Which meant that his grandma had already long gone.

Shi Qi felt complicated. It turned out that his grandma had passed away a long time ago, and it was only a stray ghost that was being so kind to him…

He still remembered seeing a vague figure once before. Thinking about it now, it must’ve been the same figure he was currently seeing now, but he wasn’t able to distinguish it at that time.

Ning Meng turned her head when she heard the noise, and saw Shi Qi, “You’ve returned?”

She didn’t expect that after she had said this, Shi Qi suddenly turned around and ran upstairs. He appeared in the corridor not long after, and then disappeared behind the door of the room.

Seeing him run off, Ning Meng stared wide-eyed, and wondered to the system: “What happened to the kid today? He’s not even calling me grandma anymore.”

It was the same as last night. In the end, he finally ran upstairs, completely unlike a good grandson at all. It felt a little bit sad

The system said: “Have you gotten addicted to playing the role of a grandmother?”

Ning Meng said with a smile, “Being a grandma does give a sense of accomplishment!”

After a long time, she sighed quietly: “Aiii, I am about to become a lonely old lady whose children have moved on.”

The system did not speak.

She stroked the weasel and rubbed its tail, “Little Yellow, say, why do you think great grandson is ignoring us?”

The weasel shook its tail.

Shi Qi panted for breath, leaning on the door as his heart thumped quickly.

Even though the stray ghost had never harmed him and was even kind to him, he still couldn’t stop being a little scared.

Not too long later, he still opened the door softly. He was able to see the living room below the corridor, but couldn’t see what was going on on the sofa.

Shi Qi couldn’t help but head towards the top of the stairs again, leaning against the wall to take a look.

*****

I decided to observe this stray ghost.

And see what she wants.

I feel a little nervous.

But also a little…excited?

——”Shi Qi’s secretly hidden little diary”

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The author has something to say:

17: Secretly peeping.jpg 

Old Granny Ning Meng is left completely in the dark…

Surprised? Was it unexpected?