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墨書 Inktalez
What made my scalp tingle and was almost unbearable to look at was that Ajan Dong rolled up the iron mesh. The baby's body was placed on the charcoal fire, resembling a KFC chicken roll, being scorched. The skin, soaked and swollen, oozed out from the iron mesh, occasionally dripping some liquid and making a sizzling sound.
Miss Ming's face looked somewhat pale; she turned her head away, unwilling to gaze at the horrifying scene any longer. On the other hand, Banrada watched with great interest, grinning foolishly.
The scorching of the exterior took a long time, during which I even took a short nap. When I woke up, I found that it was almost dawn. Ajan Dong was carefully using a knife to pierce into the iron mesh, cutting open the baby's body. The high temperature caused the skin to contract violently, and the white fat immediately curled back.
Ajan Dong rotated the iron mesh to ensure a more even roasting while also having Banrada hold a glass bottle, preparing to collect the Corpse Oil that dripped down.
It was my first time witnessing the actual process of refining Corpse Oil, and I couldn't help but take a closer look. The yellow-brown liquid dripped from the wound of the baby's body, and the foul smell quickly invaded my nostrils. This odor was unbearable; the entire room was filled with a nauseating burnt stench. Miss Ming could no longer tolerate the sight and smell and ran outside for fresh air.
I asked Banrada how long it would take to finish roasting.
He said it was still early; they were only performing the most basic work now. They had to wait until all the skin and flesh completely contracted and adhered to the bones before considering it preliminary completion. This stage required a lot of patience and tested Ajan's physical strength. During roasting, the fire couldn't be too strong; otherwise, it would turn the baby into charcoal. It also couldn't be too weak because Ajan had to continuously chant prayers to soothe the spirit of the baby.
Banrada mentioned that this was still considered good; some less clever Ajans would even leave the baby's body exposed under the blazing sun, which was much slower than using charcoal. Often it would take a month to see results, and many Ajans couldn't endure it.
I nodded in understanding, shook my head, and decided not to watch any longer. Stepping outside, I saw Miss Ming wiping her eyes. She must have heard my voice because she quickly put on her sunglasses. I approached her and said, "I just asked; it might take several days to finish roasting. Why don't you head back to the hotel for now? I'll come get you when needed."
Miss Ming turned around and looked at the tightly closed door before saying, "No, I'll wait here."
Her attitude was resolute and left no room for discussion. I didn't understand; even if she wanted fame, she had to wait until the spirit was refined—what was the point of waiting here? However, since she wanted to wait, I didn't have much time to spare. Hu Xiaoyi had already helped me take two days off; if I didn't go back soon, my teacher might forget there was a student named Shen Yi.
Back in the house, I reminded Banrada to pay attention to safety and not to make any mistakes, then returned to school.
As soon as I entered the school gate, I received a call from Boss Yin. I was quite surprised; this guy had previously gone back on his word and was unwilling to buy the Male Ghost. Why was he calling now? I had already made up my mind that if he wanted to buy an Amulet, I wouldn't sell it no matter what.
When the call connected, Boss Yin greeted me very politely. Knowing what kind of person he was, I didn't bother with pleasantries and said directly, "Just get to the point; I'm in class right now. If I fail because of you, it's on you!"
My tone wasn't exactly pleasant, but Boss Yin knew he was in the wrong and needed something from me, so he could only laugh awkwardly and say, "What are you talking about, Shen Brother? You're so smart; surely..."
"If I were really smart, I wouldn't have been tricked into getting stuck with the goods," I replied.
Boss Yin chuckled nervously. After some urging from me, he finally got to the point. He wanted to ask if the ghost he was offering would sometimes be effective and sometimes not.
What kind of question was that? Without hesitation, I said, "Don't you understand that if you believe it works, it works; if you don't believe it, it doesn't?"
Boss Yin asked again, "Then will a ghost that doesn't work cause trouble for its owner?"
I paused for a moment and then immediately realized that this guy must have encountered some issues; no wonder he was calling me. When I asked him what had happened, Boss Yin sighed and said, "Don't mention it. Didn't I hire someone to bring in a ghost? At first, everything was fine; as soon as it was set up, several houses were sold. But a few days later, the homeowner came to me saying there were ghosts inside and wanted to return the house. It's not like you can just return a house like that; who says there are ghosts!"
Although Boss Yin offered a ghost, he didn't believe there were any ghosts in the houses he built. The homeowner said if you don't believe it, just spend a day inside. If nothing happens, I'll keep the house; if something does happen, you must refund me in full! Boss Yin agreed; although he didn't fully believe it, he still felt a bit uneasy inside. So he brought his little ghost into the house.
That night, around midnight, Boss Yin thought since no one was watching anyway, he might as well leave. He had been there all afternoon without seeing anything unusual. He thought when the homeowner came back looking for him, he'd just scold them! Just then, there was suddenly a loud knocking sound coming from the unrenovated house. Boss Yin felt delighted and thought it must be the homeowner checking if anyone was inside.
He had prepared a belly full of teasing remarks as he went to open the door. However, when he opened it, there was no one outside. At that moment, Boss Yin heard a loud scream coming from inside the house—he couldn't tell if it was human or something else; it was extremely piercing. He quickly turned around in fright and found that the little ghost he had placed on the ground had fallen over and nearly smashed its head.
Boss Yin had never encountered such a strange occurrence. With no wind and no tremors, how could things fall over? He instinctively thought of the ghost that Homeowner mentioned, feeling anxious and not daring to linger. He hurriedly picked up the broken little ghost and left. Just before closing the door, he vaguely heard a strange laughter coming from inside the house, unclear and indistinct. But Boss Yin was certain that there was something in the house!
He ran down the stairs without looking back, but he was unwilling to just accept a refund. So, just before dawn the next day, he sneaked back to the building. When he saw Homeowner, he pretended to just wake up as he walked down the stairs. Homeowner didn’t have twenty-four-hour surveillance, so how would he know that Boss Yin had left in the middle of the night? Listening to Boss Yin swear that nothing had happened all night, Homeowner had no choice but to accept it. In such matters, even if it went to court, the judge wouldn’t support him because there was no basis for it. Perhaps he would even be accused of superstition and spreading rumors.
Having temporarily resolved this matter, Boss Yin returned home and placed the little ghost back on the altar. However, the statue of the little ghost had already been broken. He called the seller to ask if it would have any impact. The person replied, “Of course it will! It will cling to you and take revenge fiercely!”
Boss Yin was startled and quickly asked how to resolve it; would repairing it work? The person said, “This isn’t like a house where you can just patch it up with some bricks and cement; this is a ghost! Very fierce! Here’s what you do: pay twenty thousand, and I’ll help you settle it.”
Upon hearing that it would cost twenty thousand, Boss Yin immediately hesitated. Although he had sold several houses, he still owed a lot of money outside and couldn’t afford to waste money like that. But he was also a bit scared, so after thinking it over, he decided to give me a call for advice.
I couldn’t help but feel amused; the person who sold him the little ghost was quite ruthless to ask for twenty thousand. If it included resolving issues with a haunted house, that price might be reasonable. But just dealing with an angry little ghost due to damage definitely didn’t require that much money. However, I wouldn’t tell Boss Yin the truth; considering his previous shameless behavior, I said, “Don’t worry; you didn’t break it yourself. Even if there are troubles, it might just be bad luck; maybe things will get better in a few days.”
Boss Yin was eager to believe that he was merely unlucky. After expressing his gratitude, he hung up the phone. I sneered inwardly; with the statue broken, it would be strange if the little ghost didn’t cause a ruckus. If it were Second Uncle, he would surely make things sound more serious and then slightly lower the price to secure the deal. But my approach to business has always been different from Second Uncle. His principle is to make more money; mine is to enjoy making money as a baseline—though they sound similar, there’s a significant difference in practice.
In the following days, Boss Yin didn’t call again, and I couldn’t be bothered to ask how things were going. Soon it was the weekend when Banrada called me to say that the body had been roasted almost perfectly—did I want to come take a look?
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