The Tale Of The Ghost Eyes - Chapter 121 The Red Hair Elastic (5)

“He put her through the ringer.” The old man said simply. “Time and time again, though no matter how many times he put her down, she kept hold of that hatred for her husband’s mother. G.o.d only knows why she didn’t focus it on the man instead.” Cui Lainong rested his elbows on the counter between us and looked blankly at it. His eyes suddenly cleared and he continued. “When he forced her to keep looking after his mother, she went to it with revenge on her mind.” It wasn’t three days before she was back in the hospital, putting on a show of love and respect. Everyone knew, I think. They must have known. The old woman would yell and kick up a storm. It was only a matter of time really.”

“After a week or so of the two of them fighting night and day, the la.s.s snapped. The story went that she woke up in the middle of the night because her mother in law was yelling, ya’ see?” He looked at us, really looked at us for the first time since he began. “And what a mother in law to have, always sick, always calling for this or that. Anyway, the old woman was getting into it, really causing a ruckus, when the young lady finally had enough. She crossed the room and put her hand over the old woman’s mouth, shutting her up like that.” He snapped a finger. “Then she pulled the red hairband out of her hair and wound it around her mother in law’s neck.” His hands clenched as if to show us. “It squeezedand squeezed it doesn’t take much.” He loosed a sigh.

“The girl must’ve panicked when she realized what she’d done. They didn’t find the body in the hospital room, but in the bas.e.m.e.nt. The girl told everyone she’d fallen down the stairs.”

“She was the old woman who sold the hairbands to the girls in eighty flowers, wasn’t she?” I asked him.

Cui Lainong nodded slightly and then stopped. “I can’t say for sure, young man, but if I was a betting man” He trailed off and shrugged.

“She was killed by her daughter in law, no wonder she’d be an angry spirit.” You Xiaoqing added.

“That’s not the end of it though.” Cui Lainong cut in. “It’s never that simple is it?” I shook my head and gestured for him to go on.

“Two more people died in the hospital that night. The place was swarming with police the following day. It turns out there was an issue that a couple of folks thought to settle by beating the tar out of one another. As you can imagine, that took precedent over the little ol’ lady who fell down some stairs.” He raised his hands in quotations around her death.

“She was murdered, ignored, and angry enough to set her own will in motion. Not a week later people around the hospital started reporting strange occurrences. A couple people killed themselves, a few patients died for no reason.”

“She started to haunt.” I said, feeling a trickle of cold sweat bead down my back.

“Oh aye.” Cui Lainong said. “It was only a matter of time before they called in a master for help. Some unnamed Taoist arrived and managed the situation.”

“Wellclearly they didn’t, right?” Xiao Youqing said. “If she was still around ten years ago to kill the girls in eighty-flowers, then the Taoist didn’t take care of it.”

The old man smiled at her. “Very good. Most people thought that it was handled, the hospital was clear, but I think he just shooed her away for a while. This was right before they moved the hospital across town too. Why do you think that was?” He asked.

“Because a school has greater Yang air!” I said, remembering the tomb beneath our old school. “Children pump out enough Yang to dissuade most spirits! That master must’ve thought he was really clever!” I thought out loud.

Cui Lainong nodded and smiled. “Not a year later the Longan senior high school was built and pulling students from all over.”

“Then what happened?” I asked, “If the school was successful and the students Yang air was suppressing her, what happened to allow those girls to die?”

“That is the question.” Cui Lainong said simply. “Perhaps the feng shui set into place was corrupted. Perhaps the woman’s spirit became too powerful. Either way, here’s what I do know.” He paused for a moment and stretched, placing a hand on his lower back as he did so. There was a series of cracks and he squeezed his eyes shut with a grimace. When he came back to us he looked very tired. “Longan senior high grew in size over the years. The very master who advised the hospital relocation took charge of the feng shui involved in the building plans. Per his orders and Chinese traditions,” He winked at us, “The eastern buildings on campus were larger and taller than the western ones. As far as I remember two of them were only five stories” His eyebrows cinched together at us in question. You Xiaoqing and I shrugged at one another and turned back to him.

“It doesn’t matter much.” He said. “When the construction was done, or about there, one of the staff’s wives went and threw herself off the tallest building.”

You Xiaoqing gasped. “Xuan Hailin? His wife died many years ago!”

Cui Lainong nodded. “It might’ve been her, the name eludes me. I remember the tales though. Half the town folk thought she was crazy. After the school year began and that building was put into use, that’s when those girls died.”

“Are you saying that Xuan Hailin’s wife weakened the Yang air around those buildings just enough for the old woman’s ghost towhatbreak through again?” I asked, imagining a mime bursting through an invisible wall.

Cui Lainong only looked at me, raising one shoulder in a half-shrug. “They brought in another master after that, though he didn’t have any luck catching the ghost either. He too bought those supplies,” He nodded at the yellow papers in my hand, “In an attempt to suppress it.”

I remembered the ponds that Master Liu ordered built around the school and asked, “Did he instruct the school to build any water fixtures?”

“They installed a water tower.” Cui Lainong said, looking at me like a teacher looks at their star pupil. “It became the highest structure on the east side.

I nodded, puzzling the pieces together. “I think I understand.” I turned to You Xiaoqing, “There has to be something connecting Xuan Hailin’s wife to the spirit. It might be the same thing that connects Xuan Hailin himself to that locked dorm room.” I looked back to Cui Lainong, “Thank you for telling us so much. Now about that cinnabar?” I gave him a smile that he didn’t return.

His old eyes squinted in amused suspicion. “I don’t know why you need it, son. With the water tower in the east, there’s no way something can be happening at your school.”

“I can’t tell you why, I’m sorry sir.” I said, bowing my head respectfully. “But I promise you that who it goes to will be greatly in your debt.”

You Xiaoqing shot me a glance and caught on with amazing speed. “Oh yes,” she added. “His master will surely thank you for your a.s.sistance.” She gave a brilliant smile.

After getting what we needed from Cui Lainong, Xiao Xiaoqing and I stopped for noodles on the way back to school. We arrived back at campus around mid afternoon and bid each other goodbye. “Thanks for coming,” I told her. I was suddenly very aware of how warm I was despite the chilly air. “It was fun.”

“Yes it was.” She said with a curt smile before looking down at her feet and giggling. “Thank you for lunch. I might even pick where we go next time.” With that she twirled around and walked towards the girl’s dormitory.

“Next time?” I called after her, feeling a bubble of joy threaten to burst in my chest.

I managed to get into my room without anyone asking about the shopping bag. I quickly shut the door and set about preparing an amulet. I didn’t want my roommate to find out what I was doing, so I mapped out the best possible times to go about it. By going to bed very early and waking up before the sun was out, I had plenty of time to ready myself. I did this for a few days until my roommate caught on and stayed out of the room until late at night when he was ready to sleep. I heard him talking to our neighbors about how he didn’t want to wake me.

I brought in all I needed, clean water in a bowl to wash my hands, cinnabar and ink, and the yellow papers. When everything was ready I began. The incantations flowed through my lips like they were part of me. My hands moved in smooth strokes, etching each insignia perfectly and cutting the paper down to size with precision.

I knew I’d never be a master like Master Liu, but I could still be powerful. With my amulets I could be strong enough to handle any spirit. Yang air flowed around me as I worked, warming the room and calming me. I crafted seven yellow amulets in that session, one house safeguarding amulet, two safety amulets, three soul binding amulets, and one thunder amulet. They sat in a neat line looking crisp and pristine when I was finished.

I let out a sigh as I channeled the last of my supernatural air into the final amulet. My arms were heavy and I felt like I’d been going hard for days. I crossed my legs on my bunk and breathed in through my nose, out through my mouth until the exhaustion pa.s.sed.

The sound of a toilet flushing interrupted my calm. I opened one eye and tired to gauge how much energy I had left. “If that’s an angry ghost” I thought, “Then I’m in for some trouble.”

I squeezed my jade necklace in one hand and reached below my bed to get the Peach Blossom Mirror. Breathing in and out slowly, I readjusted my air and formed a plan. “If something comes for me, I can use the mirror to run away if I get overwhelmed.” I thought. “Don’t go looking for trouble.” A smaller voice spoke in my head.

The sound of water began to fade and was replaced by footsteps that grew louder as they rapidly approached my door.