mediums, they have always been unruly. However, since the Ten Witches of Ling Mountain, all successive Divine Kings have been men. There is no way to defy them. But as time passed, for several hundred...On second thought, this fellow has been hiding so much from me already, it doesn't matter if there are a few more things. Instead of guessing, I might as well just go with the flow—my mindset is starting to align with my brother's.

"Little Lady, we've dug everything up! Oh my god, it's terrifying! Please come and see for yourself, Old Man Chen is no more!"

Da Bao called me, his voice trembling with fear. He said they were getting cold chills and he wasn't sure if the exorcism talismans my brother had given them were working.

We drove to the construction debris landfill, where building waste was piled high. The most eye-catching sight was a pile of dirty, fresh yellow soil that looked like a small hill. Dabao and Lao Chen were wearing rain boots and covered in mud.

We saw Old Chen lying on the ground from afar. Dabao was squatting beside him, smoking a cigarette. The things they dug out were placed in front of the earthen mound, all covered with talismans. But the talismans' power was limited; as soon as we got out of the car, we felt the pervasive gloom.

Seven wooden stakes, each with black bloodstains on top, and a pile of strange objects: a wooden jewelry box, a wooden bucket... all made of wood.

Generally speaking, ebony wood is a talisman to ward off evil. The root carving might have been secretly placed in the bone relic for the purpose of dispelling evil spirits. It seems that the female ghost wasn't residing inside the ebony wood, but rather, she was induced and led astray upon touching the bone relic. In the end, she possessed a person, killing their companions and consuming their flesh.

Bigbao was a living spirit of misfortune. Seeing Jiang Qiyun, he immediately prostrated himself on the ground and bowed. Jiang Qiyun ignored him and went straight to examine those wooden objects.

I lifted Da Bao up, his lips were purple and he shivered constantly: “Little empress, these things are so heavy with evil spirit, even I can’t bear it… Old Chen has already fainted. This thing is vicious, so vicious…”

I comforted him a few words and looked at Jiang Qiyun. He drew talismans out of thin air and stuck them on these evil spirits. My brother also used my family's method, red thread pressing the talisman, tied up in three long and two short.

The meaning of "three long and two short" is well understood by all. However, the original meaning refers to coffin bundles—as recorded in *The Book of Rites: The Greater Chapters of Tan Gong*: Coffin bundles are made up of three lengths and two shorts; each fold has one bundle.

My family uses this red thread to bind male genitals, also for warding off evil spirits. It's an old tradition passed down from our ancestors; we don't really know the reasoning behind it, but it works!

After my brother and Jiang Qiyun went through the remaining six wooden artifacts, they found some fragmented bones. My brother put them in a sealed bag covered with talismans and said he would take them back to school to show the professor of orthopedics. He said maybe they could even determine the age of the bones and do a DNA test.

Jiang Qiyun looked at the wooden products, and whispered: "These are all locust wood, which belongs to Yin in the Five Elements, can be attached by ghosts... However, the ghost is gone, it should have been released to harm people."

"After we take out these bones, are the woods still dangerous" I'm more concerned about this.

He shook his head: "No need, just burn it with fire."

My brother and Da Bao put some oil on it, then poured this stuff on top. It caught fire with a crackle and pop, the flames flickering green and burning the pile into charcoal.

With Jiang Qiyun around, my brother and I felt much braver. We immediately took the bag of talismans and bones to school. My brother went to his medical school campus, while I dragged Jiang Qiyun, the ghost, to class with me.

My recent absences have become commonplace, but the new homeroom teacher doesn't care about me. In fact, this homeroom teacher doesn't care about anyone. He's just the headmaster who is temporarily watching us to make sure we don't talk out of line — last time Zhang's homeroom teacher's fall from the building incident still hasn't dissipated its impact.

After finishing a big lecture, I went to the drama club to get my clothes. Tomorrow, I'll be wearing them on stage to say one line of dialogue that will make up for my class grade. It's thanks to Xie Dingding's great mercy.

"If you don't want to come to school, just take a leave of absence." Jiang Qiyun frowned slightly: "What's the point of attending classes like this Almost everyone is on their phones... and some people in the back are even hugging and kissing."

Oh, he actually saw me.

"My dad... he still hopes that my brother and I can graduate properly... Actually, I don't know what to do at school either. But staying home doesn't make me any clearer on what to do." I explained quietly to him.

"You have something to do now." His gaze fell upon my stomach.

I lowered my head and remained silent. I still couldn't accept this, a glimmer of hope lingering in my heart. I kept thinking that if I exposed myself to more of these situations, I might find an alternative solution, one that would save this child.

When I went to the drama club to pick up my costume, Jiang Qiyun was standing in the hallway waiting for me. As I walked into the club's office, I heard a very faint female voice calling "Your Majesty..."

This is definitely not a hallucination, it's happened twice now. Every time, right after I leave his side, I hear this bone-chilling woman's voice that sends shivers down my spine.

Slender, with a touch of admiration in her alluring gaze, but when I turned back, there was nothing there.

This is the third time this has happened, I secretly decided in my heart. If I hear it one more time, I'll have to firmly question Jiang Qiyun. This eerie feeling is too unsettling.

My brother came back from medical school quickly. He asked a female professor to use the school's teaching instruments to help measure bone age. The bone age measurement was very fast, and after he got the results, he rushed back to pick us up.

"After measuring several pieces, they all fell between 20 and 30 years old. Initially, it was speculated that they belonged to the same person, possibly even the bones of that female ghost."

"Was the female ghost from Huang Dao Cun" I looked at Jiang Qi Yun.

He nodded almost imperceptibly. “The Book of Life shows she was born the year before the Great Famine and died in 1984, just over twenty. She was drowned.”

No wonder Old Chen said the woman in his dream was soaking wet and kept crying out that she was hungry. How many men could resist a woman's seductive wetness, hmph.

"That must be someone who grew up eating human flesh... Eating too much drives them mad, and even after death they become vengeful ghosts. Seeing her possessing a corpse and biting on herself is truly disgusting."

I thought of the broken limbs in the haystack, and I couldn't help but cover my mouth and say, "Brother, please don't make me remember, okay I'm going to throw up. You clean it up yourself in your car!"

"Bye bye, I'm going to buy you some sour plum, don't spit it out."

Back home, I first tried on the costume given by the drama club. It was a kind of floral-trimmed, large U-neck European dress with a waistband. Jiang Qiyun glanced at it and immediately turned as cold as ice.

"Are you going to perform in that" he pointed at my neckline.

I'm so embarrassed! These clothes are all one size fits all, and they're all baggy after putting them on. If I'm not careful and pull on the sleeve, half of my chest will be exposed.

"Mu Xia Qiao, you dare to wear such clothes in front of another man Believe me or not, I'll make you stay in bed for ten and a half months!" His eyes burned with icy anger that terrified me—his figure... it was uncannily strange!Hunchbacked and with a stooped back, trying to keep my head as straight as possible—and I don't know if it's the lighting or the angle—but my body looks so long!...