Chapter 27: A Savage Struggle

"Look out!"

Just as Su Juanjuan and Hu Dawei appeared in the doorway, Ma Wenwen, who was presiding over the soul-summoning ritual, shouted and flung several copper coins from his sleeve toward Hu Dawei, who was in the lead.

"Damn it, get off me!"

"Old Cai, grab the coins!"

Le Dong’s roar jolted Cai Kun out of his flailing, panicked state. The two of them scrambled to pull coins from their pockets, holding them up to shield their faces.

"Cackle, cackle..."

Su Juanjuan’s malevolent spirit let out a strange laugh and drifted straight toward Le Dong, her rotting face stopping just inches from his nose. Instinctively, Le Dong slapped a copper coin onto her forehead. The spirit let out a shrill, piercing scream and retreated a few steps.

On the other side, Ma Wenwen was locked in a struggle with Hu Dawei. The copper coins had only left a few wisps of black smoke on the spirit’s body; Hu Dawei seemed to feel no pain, fighting all the more fiercely. Conversely, Ma Wenwen was hampered by the need to protect Boss Hu, who was huddled in the corner kowtowing and begging for mercy, preventing him from unleashing his full power as he had in Cai Kun’s apartment.

"Dongzi! Help!" Cai Kun suddenly yelled.

Le Dong turned just as he was getting up to see Su Juanjuan no longer fixated on him, but pinning Cai Kun against the wall with both hands around his throat. The fat on Cai Kun’s face had already turned purple, and the coins he had been holding earlier were nowhere to be found, likely dropped in the chaos.

Gritting his teeth, Le Dong charged over, shouting to bolster his own courage, and slammed all his remaining coins onto Su Juanjuan’s back with every ounce of strength he possessed.

"Aaaah—"

The spirit let out a jarring shriek. The coins seemed to corrode instantly, shattering into four useless pieces.

"Damn it!"

Le Dong’s heart skipped a beat. Before he could react, Su Juanjuan released Cai Kun and lunged toward him. He was empty-handed!

At that critical juncture, Ma Wenwen’s incantation grew louder. He vaulted onto the bed and grabbed a handful of incense ash from his satchel, scattering it wildly across the entire room.

*Whoosh—*

The ash acted like a smoke grenade, filling the room instantly. As soon as the two spirits were engulfed, the sound of sizzling, burning flesh filled the air.

"Aaaah..."

The two spirits wailed in agony, turning into streaks of black smoke as they bolted out the door.

"Dammit, I’ll never show my face again!"

Through the haze, only Ma Wenwen’s curses could be heard, followed by a dull thud.

"Are you two alright?" Ma Wenwen’s tone carried a hint of worry.

"No problem!"

"I'm fine."

The responses from Le Dong and Cai Kun confirmed that the dull thud could only have come from one person—Boss Hu.

"Boss Hu?"

As the smoke cleared into the bedroom, Le Dong helped Boss Hu up from the corner. His eyes were rolled back in his head; it appeared he had simply fainted from fright.

"Damn it! I was worried they might break out, so I specifically placed Yang-Fire Charms in their room. I never expected them to fail!" Ma Wenwen walked over and cursed. "A soul-summoning ritual only gives you one chance per spirit. Now that Lady Hu’s spirit has been scared off too, this entire effort was in vain."

Listening to the complaints, Le Dong felt a pang of regret. If Lady Hu had identified the culprit as Steward Ma, it would have been more effective than any evidence in convincing Boss Hu. Then, all the issues regarding Old Master Hu, the relocation of the grave, and the root cause would have been solved! Now, everything had fallen apart at the final hurdle.

"There's always another day..." Le Dong offered a word of comfort. As he and Cai Kun helped Boss Hu up, he noticed blood trickling from Ma Wenwen’s eyes. "Your eyes..."

"It’s nothing, just overexertion," Ma Wenwen said, breathing heavily. "With the Yang-Fire Charms suppressing them, they shouldn't have appeared on their own. This felt like someone was deliberately manipulating them."

Le Dong seized the opportunity to add: "And it happened exactly when Lady Hu’s spirit appeared. Think about it—who in this villa wants our ritual to fail the most?"

"Steward Ma!" the three said in unison, grinding their teeth.

"That old man has deep schemes and a dark heart. Without absolute proof, we won't be able to catch him." Le Dong shook his head, cutting off their contemplation, and dragged the unconscious Boss Hu into the hallway with Cai Kun.

No sooner had they stepped out of the dim bedroom than the door on the far right creaked open. Steward Ma, dressed in pajamas, hurried over, his face plastered with "concern."

"Boss! What happened?" Steward Ma helped support Boss Hu, his gaze sweeping over the three of them with a faint, imperceptible smile at the corner of his mouth.

Le Dong saw it and felt a surge of hatred, but Ma Wenwen was in poor condition, and now was not the time to tear off the mask.

The next morning, the first thing Boss Hu did upon waking was to look for Ma Wenwen.

"Master Ma, you saw it last night, didn't you? My daughter-in-law and son have come to claim my life! That Zhao fellow is a charlatan; he clearly said..." Boss Hu grabbed Ma Wenwen’s hand, but stopped mid-sentence, suddenly remembering something. He quickly changed the subject. "I’m counting on you! You must keep me safe! I’ll pay whatever it takes! I still have plenty of gold bars!"

Boss Hu moved to retrieve the gold, but Ma Wenwen refused him. "It’s not about the money. The two spirits last night were acting too abnormally. I suspect someone is deliberately controlling them."

Boss Hu froze, exchanging a look of suspicion with Steward Ma behind him.

"Master Ma... this... can they really be controlled?"

Ma Wenwen nodded, but as he moved to explain, pain flashed across his face. He subconsciously rubbed his eyes, remaining motionless for a long time. Seeing this, Le Dong felt worried, as Ma Wenwen had been rubbing his eyes periodically since last night, clearly in great discomfort.

"Master Ma, what is this..."

Facing Boss Hu’s inquiry, Ma Wenwen forced himself to open his eyes and said:

"It’s nothing, it won't affect anything... I need to make a phone call."

"Uh... Master Ma, there’s no signal in my villa these days..."

Seeing Ma Wenwen rubbing his eyes in agitation, Le Dong guessed he wanted to consult Fan Biao and immediately proposed: "Boss Hu, there is signal outside the villa!"

"Ah, right! No problem!" Boss Hu agreed immediately. "I’ll drive Master Ma myself!"

"Boss... Master Zhao said you cannot leave..."

Steward Ma tried to intervene, but was sternly cut off by Boss Hu:

"Don't mention that white-haired thief to me! And you, where did you find such a charlatan? Look at Master Ma—now that is a true expert!"

With that, he happily helped Ma Wenwen downstairs, leaving Steward Ma standing in the corner, watching them leave with a cold, sinister gaze.

The two were gone for an entire day. This left everyone in the villa restless and anxious, sitting in the living room in a tacit agreement of mutual suspicion while they waited.

It wasn't until after nine in the evening that headlights finally shone into the villa. Boss Hu helped Ma Wenwen return; his eyes were now wrapped in a yellow cloth inscribed with red runes.

As they entered, everyone in the villa breathed a sigh of relief. Ma Wenwen dismissed Boss Hu and summoned Le Dong and Cai Kun, his expression grave.

"Gentlemen, my eye ailment has flared up. I might be truly 'blind' for a few days and won't be able to help much. But don't be afraid; my master and Master Zhou will be back next week."

He felt his way to the sofa, and after Le Dong confirmed no one was around, he lowered his voice.

"Furthermore, regarding the two spirits that appeared last night, my master says we cannot rule out the possibility that someone is using 'Ghost-Raising Arts.' We must find the source as soon as possible, or the spirits will only grow stronger."

"There’s no need to guess the source; it’s definitely in Steward Ma’s room," Le Dong whispered. "Now that Boss Hu trusts you so much, why don't you have him step in, and we can conduct a direct search?"

Cai Kun nodded in agreement: "Exactly! Once we find the source, even if I have to go to jail, I’ll beat the hell out of him!"

"We still have to..."

"Aaaaaah—"

Just as they were discussing the plan, a gut-wrenching scream erupted from Boss Hu on the third floor.

Le Dong instinctively turned to look, only to see Boss Hu curled up in a corner, pointing at the empty hallway:

"Father... Father has come..."