The train arrived, and I took Zhu Ying, Cheng Yan, and Huang Xin to an upscale community in Harbin.
Zhu Ying, although not very talkative, was very formidable, perhaps due to her years of hunting, exuding a sense of power.
From afar, one could feel a strong sense of ruthlessness.
There are usually more swindlers and thieves around train stations, right? Perhaps some thief had noticed me, a man, leading three women, and thought our fighting capabilities would be relatively low.
Those who are often in the underworld like to target teams like ours, after all, with many women, I wouldn't really get into a fight with them.
So, a shady character followed us.
At that time, Zhu Ying noticed something was wrong, turned sharply, and gave that person a fierce glare. Oh, the guy almost knelt down from the killing intent in Zhu Ying's eyes.
Cheng Yan was very curious, and on the way, she kept asking me about this and that, until I got annoyed, and told her that I didn't know about this or that.
As for Huang Xin, this model who liked to read "A Brief History of Time" turned out to be a bookworm. Not only did she explain some scientific phenomena to me, but her favorite phrase was, "This is not scientific!"
I said to her, "We are dealing with 'yin' spirits, not science."
Carrying three women with me really exhausted me, and I couldn't focus on thinking about things.
I still had to investigate the death of the fox spirit.
I had two main questions: first, how did the fox spirit die? Second, even if the fox spirit had died, how could Cheng Yan still have provoked her? Could it really be the problem of the "fox coffin"?
I couldn't understand it.
There were times when I also thought about the leather pendant on Huang Xin's neck, and how this woman unexpectedly had the "funerary items" dug out by a pangolin. Her identity was quite questionable, but I couldn't think about that much at the moment. My main concern was the two points from earlier.
In the Hua Sheng Street neighborhood of Harbin, I stopped with the three women at the entrance.
Cheng Yan asked me why we were stopping here.
I was really annoyed and told her that we were here to find someone.
"Who are we looking for?" Cheng Yan probably knew she had asked too many questions and stopped talking halfway.
I said we were looking for a shaman.
When it comes to shamans, many people would think that this is a foreign term for a wizard. Isn't there a hero called Shadow Shaman in "World of Warcraft"?
In reality, "shaman" is an old Chinese term.
The shamanism of Northeast China dates back even earlier than Buddhism and Taoism.
It is said that the leader of the shamanistic witchcraft was the goddess Nüwa.
In the past, anyone who knew the shamanistic arts in the Northeast was called a shaman.
But now the distinction is very clear. Only those who can use the orthodox shamanistic arts of shamanism to exorcise spirits are called shamans.
Shamans have a very important status among the 'yin' people, and their 'yin' arts are also extremely powerful, and of course, their asking price is quite high.
I am going to meet Shaman Jinyi, who is a very money-oriented person.
I took three women to find building 12 in the residential area, and we took the elevator to the top floor, which was the 34th floor.
This floor has an additional layer on the flat roof, turning it into a duplex.
I pressed the doorbell.
The door opened, and a middle-aged man, dressed in a very extravagant manner, stepped out.
He was wearing an Armani suit, a small finger-thick gold chain around his neck, a Valentino shirt, hunched back, medium build, and a typical Beijing accent: "Hey, who's the rich man knocking on my door? Oh, it's Little Li! Please come in!"
With a silly grin on his face, Jinyi revealed two shiny golden teeth.
In Beijing, when addressing familiar people, people like to add the word "master" at the end of their name. I also greeted Jinyi respectfully: "Master Jin, I have a job for you."
"Well, how could I not know you? As soon as you show up, I make money. Oh, you are my money tree." Jinyi let all of us in.
Once inside, I got straight to the point, explaining the issues with Cheng Yan and asking Jinyi to come out of retirement.
As soon as we mentioned business, Jinyi began to play hard to get. He propped up his feet, took a puff from a cigar, and with a mesmerizing gaze, said that coming out of retirement would not be difficult, but...
He twirled his index and middle fingers, making it obvious that he wanted money.
"Speak up, how much this time?" I inquired.
Looking up at the ceiling arrogantly, Jinyi arrogantly said, "How much was it last time? Sixty thousand, right? This time the price will go up. Such occult affairs are becoming increasingly rare, and it's getting harder to make money. If it's less, I'm afraid it will be difficult to make ends meet."
I could see that Jinyi was just showing off, a single man without a wife or children, living in a duplex and driving a BMW. Clearly, there was no need for him to make ends meet. It was obvious that this money-oriented Jinyi was just trying to ask for more money.
I was getting frustrated, but since Jinyi was demanding a price, I had to check with Huang Xin and Cheng Yan if they could accept it.
"What do you think of the price?" I asked Huang Xin and Cheng Yan.
Huang Xin was actually money-oriented too, being frugal and thrifty on the road, but she was generous towards Cheng Yan, immediately saying that money was not a problem. The question was whether Cheng Yan could be cured.
When Jinyi heard that there was no problem with the money, he immediately clapped his hands joyfully, "Oh, Miss, a proper young lady. It's settled, saving lives is on me. Oh, let me get you some fruit."
After saying that, Jinyi happily ran to the kitchen to get the fruit.
I really wished I could spit on his clean marble floor. This guy wouldn't even provide fruit until the price was negotiated.
While Jinyi was washing the fruit, Cheng Yan was curious about everything in the room, wandering around. Zhu Ying sat on the sofa, meditating with her eyes closed, and Huang Xin chatted with me.
She asked me why Jinyi, a Harbin man, spoke with a Beijing accent!
I said that Jinyi had been doing significant business for years, mainly at the Panjiayuan antique market, and had developed a genuine Beijing accent.
I didn't tell Huang Xin what kind of business Jinyi was really in. It wasn't quite honorable; Jinyi was in the business of "pangolins".
To my surprise, he had revealed his own dirty secrets. He loudly boasted in the kitchen: "Hey! Little Li, tell the Miss about my glorious deeds as a 'gold-touching captain' and let her know that I am an enlightened person!"
I cursed in my heart. Jinyi, can you really keep your dignity? What nonsense "gold-touching captain"? At most, you are a follower, and you are just boasting about grave robbing pangolins. What are you showing off about?
While I cursed inside, I pretended not to hear Jinyi's words.
But after hearing Jinyi's words, Huang Xin's eyes brightened significantly.
She was also preparing to ask me a question.
Just then, Cheng Yan suddenly screamed in horror.
Huang Xin and I looked over and saw that Cheng Yan's face was covered with a black aura, and her whole demeanor had changed.
She was speaking in a man's voice: "Jinyi, Jinyi, where's my rice? Where's my rice?"
"Are you looking to die? Where's my rice for today?"
"Jinyi, stop messing around and get my rice."
At least three or four male voices came from Cheng Yan's mouth.
Huang Xin was frightened, her face turning pale.
Jinyi also came out of the kitchen, slapping his thighs and shouting, "My lady, stop messing with my stuff!"
He took out a cowbell, shook it, and muttered, "When mountains and rivers meet, there will be a later meeting. If the rice is not here today, come back tomorrow. The master of three, eat the rice and please don't bring misfortune upon yourselves!"
He kept shaking the bell and muttering.
The male voices from Cheng Yan continued.
"Don't go out, don't go out, without rice, these people's positive energy in their bodies is so comforting."
"What are you afraid of, we are lonely ghosts, we won't go out."
"Stop talking, are you tired of living?"
Jinyi pleaded with Cheng Yan: "My Lord, I did not take good care of you today. How about coming out because of our fate?"
Cheng Yan still kept talking, saying "no" to coming out.
At this point, Zhu Ying got angry, grabbed a fruit knife from the table, and said that if the three of them didn’t come out, she would chop them. She also pulled out a gourd, which was filled with fox blood.
A fox keeper could chop ghosts using fox blood on a knife.
As soon as he smelled the blood, Jinyi realized something was wrong. He said to Zhu Ying, "You smell like a fox, it turns out you're a fox keeper. Three lords, if you don't come out, the fox keeper won't be polite."
Upon hearing this, the entity that possessed Cheng Yan reluctantly came out, transformed into three black auras, and entered a wooden bucket in front of her.
Huang Xin asked me if Cheng Yan had any problems.
I said it was nothing, just three small rice ghosts, not a big deal. If they dare to cause trouble, Zhuying is not joking.
At this point, Cheng Yan also came to her senses and asked what had just happened.
I said, "What else could happen? You messed with someone's things and accidentally opened the rice bucket, releasing the three rice ghosts inside that Big Tooth had raised."
In fact, this Big Tooth guy always likes to do some weird stuff. For example, in front of Cheng Yan, there is a wooden bucket called a rice bucket, filled with "millet," specially used to feed a type of ghost that eats millet. There are three of them. Big Tooth's wife Elsa hired some folks from the Northeast who deal with the supernatural.
Just now, out of curiosity, Cheng Yan messed with and opened the rice bucket, releasing the three rice ghosts inside.
Big Tooth quickly sealed the rice bucket and, with a frustrated and displeased tone, told Cheng Yan, "Miss Cheng, don't mess with my things. Everything in my house is meaningful. If you mess with these things and get involved in something inappropriate, who will take responsibility?"
Cheng Yan looked at me innocently, as if to say, "Why are these people so strange, and the things in the house are also strange."
I patted Cheng Yan's shoulder, telling her to behave and then added, "If the folks from the Northeast aren't peculiar, can they be called 'Northeastern folks'?"
Big Tooth cradled the rice bucket like a treasure and kept muttering something, seemingly comforting his beloved rice ghosts.
I asked Big Tooth when he could show Cheng Yan the possession of the Yin spirit.
Big Tooth, without turning his head, said in a dissatisfied manner, "Little Li, did you come here just to entertain me? How can there be a Yin spirit inside Cheng Yan? She's a very healthy girl! Oh my, you've come all this way to entertain me. What a bother!"