Chapter 015: This Makes No Sense

"Xiaowei!" Uncle Wang hunched his shoulders and called out to me.

"Stand behind me, both of you. No matter what you see or hear, don’t make a sound and don’t move!" I hastily shouted to Uncle Wang and Gu Xiaogang.

This was also my first time encountering a Soul-Eating Ghost, and I was extremely nervous. By rights, the Shang brothers should have given us some instructions in advance, at least warned us about what to expect. But as soon as they arrived, they got straight to work. All they said was for us to stand a little further away, and then they paid us no mind.

Seeing how things were unfolding, I began to feel anxious. I had to keep a close eye on Gu Xiaogang and the others, to make sure they didn’t come to any harm.

A cold wind rose, whipping the brothers' Taoist robes so that they fluttered noisily. The chill made me shiver uncontrollably, and I instinctively took a step back.

"Hmph! Such a petty spirit dares to disturb my altar? You’re courting death!" Shang Wuwei bellowed, swinging his peachwood sword in a sharp arc.

From within the wind came a piercing shriek, and in an instant, the chill was gone, the icy air dissipating completely.

"So powerful?" I thought, startled. Judging from the earlier scene, there must have been at least a White-Clad Ghost making trouble, yet Shang Wuwei had dispatched it so easily.

At that moment, Shang Wuyong raised his coin sword and shouted toward the Gu family’s main door, "Wicked fiends, show yourselves at once! Do you truly think I don’t dare destroy you?"

Hearing those words, my eyebrows went up. Wicked fiends? Such archaic language—it felt like watching an old jiangshi film. In this day and age, who talks like that?

Yet as his words faded, the Gu family’s main door began to slowly swing open. The movement was eerily slow, sending a chill down my spine.

Suddenly, with a whoosh, a bench shot out the doorway, flying straight for Shang Wuyong’s head.

It happened so abruptly that Gu Xiaogang, standing behind me, yelped in fright.

At the same moment, Shang Wuyong stepped back and slashed fiercely with his coin sword. "Command: Break!"

With a metallic crash, the flying bench shattered into pieces.

"Damn, this is even more exciting than the movies," I thought, amazed.

I’d caught ghosts before, but always using talismans. I’d seen my teacher do it too; he’d simply recite an incantation and spin his compass, and the spirit would be subdued. Of course, my teacher only dealt with low-level ghosts—he specialized in feng shui and talisman crafting, not exorcism.

These two were professional Taoist priests, trained in arts different from ours. When it came to dueling with spirits, this was clearly their forte—even my teacher probably couldn’t match them here.

So this was my first time seeing ghost-catching done their way.

Shang Wuwei glanced back at Shang Wuyong, saw he was unharmed, and then leveled his peachwood sword, shouting, "Brazen fiends! I act for the sake of all living beings, willing to resolve your obsessions and send you to reincarnation. Since you reject my kindness, don’t blame my sword for being merciless!"

With this half-classical, half-archaic declaration, he raised the soul-calling bell and charged into Gu Xiaogang’s house.

Shang Wuyong straightened his Taoist cap, drew the horsetail whisk from his back, gripped his coin sword in one hand and the whisk in the other, and followed him in.

Almost immediately, chaos erupted inside Gu Xiaogang’s house: the sounds of furious fighting and objects shattering came from within.

Gu Xiaogang peered out from behind me, his voice trembling. "Mr. Yu... are they... are they...?"

I was left speechless. These two were utterly unreliable. Was this ghost-hunting or house demolition? Even if they caught the ghosts, the house would be left in ruins. I really couldn’t understand why Master Miao had sent such a pair of oddballs. Who would ever hire them again after this?

"Uh... whatever they break, I’ll pay for it," I said awkwardly to Gu Xiaogang.

I could have died from embarrassment. I’d invited them here, but since they were Master Miao’s people, I had no control over them.

"There’s nothing much of value in the house," Gu Xiaogang replied. "I just think they’re being a little... excessive, don’t you?"

Who could disagree? It was a ghost, not a tiger. Was it really necessary to smash all the furniture?

But what could I say? I could only offer Gu Xiaogang a sheepish grin.

Suddenly, with a crash, someone was hurled out of the house and landed heavily on the ground.

I looked closer, but even then it was hard to tell whether it was Shang Wuwei or Shang Wuyong—their faces were nearly identical, being twin brothers, and once they donned the same robes, I could only distinguish them by their ritual tools. But now, the man lying on the ground had a torn robe, his cap knocked off, and his tools nowhere to be seen.

Soon, a second figure was flung out and landed with another heavy thud, clutching half a peachwood sword, the soul-bell lost.

The first to be ejected was Shang Wuyong, the second was Shang Wuwei. Not that it mattered—these two had charged in full of swagger, only to be tossed out in such a sorry state.

"Ouch..."

Both of them sat up, clutching their backs with pained expressions.

I hurried over. Looking at their bedraggled faces, I felt not a shred of sympathy—if anything, I wanted to laugh.

Truly, seeing them like this, I could hardly hold back my laughter.

"Dammit!"

"Just two Soul-Eating Ghosts, and they’re this strong? It doesn’t make sense! It’s impossible!"

The two of them sat on the ground, cursing.

"Are you two all right?" I asked, struggling to keep a straight face.

"We’re fine!" they chorused, staggering to their feet.

"Brother, you go! Finish them off!" Shang Wuyong said, steadying Shang Wuwei.

"No, brother, you go!" Shang Wuwei shook his head.

"You’re the elder, you’re stronger, you go!"

"No, no, you’re the elder, I’m your younger brother, you go! Take care of them!"

The two of them, once steady on their feet, now began bickering.

Watching these two oddballs, I was at a loss for words. Before, they’d both wanted to be the elder brother—now, neither did.

I sighed heavily. I’d taken over this job from Uncle Li, and with him no longer here, it was up to me to see it through.

"Gentlemen, what’s the situation inside?" I asked.

"Ask my elder brother, he knows better!" Shang Wuyong pointed at Shang Wuwei.

"No, ask him, he’s the elder brother, he knows better than I do!" Shang Wuwei immediately shot back.

Cowards! Now that they’d lost, they were pushing responsibility back and forth. And all this in front of Gu Xiaogang, making me even more embarrassed.

"Enough! Stop arguing and tell me what’s going on!" I demanded.

"Well... there were about ten ghosts inside. I took down seven or eight, and he took out two or three. Now there are just two Soul-Eating Ghosts left," said Shang Wuwei.

As soon as he finished, Shang Wuyong protested, "No, that’s not right—I took down seven or eight, you only got two or three!"

Here we go again, squabbling over credit. I was exasperated.

"All right, let’s not argue about numbers. What about those two Soul-Eating Ghosts?"

"They’re really strange—there’s not much resentment in them, but their yin energy is unbelievably strong!"

"Exactly! It’s like they have a limitless supply of yin energy!"

"It makes no sense! Even two Red Vengeful Ghosts wouldn’t be a match for us, but these two Soul-Eating Ghosts have made such a mess of us."

"That’s right! It’s just not logical!"

Listening to them repeat "not logical" over and over, I sighed again. Was any of this a matter of logic? If dealing with ghosts were a scientific affair, there’d be no need for people like us.

"You’re saying those two Soul-Eating Ghosts have inexhaustible yin energy?" I asked.

"Yes! It’s just not logical!" Shang Wuwei nodded emphatically.

After hearing them out, I pondered for a moment and then said, "I think I know the reason why."