Chapter 2: Known Far and Wide as the Enigma That Brings Dread

“Grandpa! What is that…”
I pointed in terror at the dissipating blue smoke behind Principal Liu.
Grandpa waved me off. “You little rascal, what are you fussing about?”
After scolding me, Grandpa ignored Principal Liu and continued puffing on his pipe.
Principal Liu turned to glance at me, then at Grandpa. “Boss Jiang, Master Jiang, I… I only managed to find you through a friend. They all say you’re an expert. Please, I beg you, help me! I’ll pay whatever it takes!”
Seeing Grandpa still silent, Principal Liu pressed on, “If you solve this, I’ll let Jiang Huai return to school. I’ll vouch for him—he wasn’t peeping, he’s not a pervert. I’ll issue a public apology to Jiang Huai!”
That seemed to be what Grandpa wanted to hear most. He smiled, “Ah, Principal Liu, what a mess—just a misunderstanding.”
“Tell me, what’s happened?”
Truth be told, Wild Thatch Mountain’s true skill wasn’t funeral rites, but ghost-catching and warding off evil spirits.
As the saying goes: Of all the talismans and spells in the world, only Thatch Mountain can set Yin and Yang right.
Grandpa adopted the funeral business because times changed; one has to adapt to survive, so as not to be swept away by history.
At Grandpa’s prompting, Principal Liu began recounting what had happened to him recently.
To sum it up simply: he’d encountered a ghost—the night Li Xuan died, he saw one.
On his way home, as he lit a cigarette, he sensed someone sitting in the passenger seat.
Turning his head, he saw Li Xuan, cradling her child.
Principal Liu said that if he hadn’t reacted quickly, he would have joined Li Xuan in death.
After parking, he looked again—Li Xuan was gone. He thought it was just his imagination.
That night, as he lay in bed, he felt something jumping on him, and something toying with his hair.
Opening his eyes, he saw the dead child Li Xuan was holding straddling him, grinning eerily, with drool dripping all over his forehead.
Principal Liu was terrified, tried to flee, but saw Li Xuan with her head bowed, blocking the doorway. Unidentified black liquid dripped from her skirt onto the floor.
“Sob… Boss Jiang, I’ve never been so frightened in my life! Please tell me, sob…”
Principal Liu broke down, sobbing and sniffling.

Before Grandpa could speak, I interjected, “Why did she come to you and not anyone else? Could the child be yours?”
“You brat, stop spouting nonsense! Shut your mouth!”
Grandpa cursed and sat off to the side.
I’d spoken carelessly, but it struck a nerve.
Principal Liu hurried to explain how impossible that was, but Grandpa waved it off and interrupted. “Principal Liu, when Li Xuan found you, did she make any request?”
Principal Liu was momentarily stunned. After thinking carefully, he shook his head. “No.”
“That’s odd. When a ghost clings to someone, it’s either to demand something or to seek their life.”
“Ah! Boss Jiang! Does she want my life? But why?”
“Don’t panic. Go home for now. I’ll have Jiang Huai visit you later.”
“Jiang Huai?”
Principal Liu grew anxious, thinking Grandpa bore a grudge for the scolding I’d received earlier, and was sending me on purpose.
He quickly slapped himself twice. “Boss Jiang! Please, don’t hold it against me! I was blind before—I failed to recognize your worth!”
Grandpa grabbed his arm. “What are you doing? Nothing’s wrong.”
Then Grandpa pushed me in front of Principal Liu, explaining, “Principal Liu, in our trade, everything is about cause and effect. Jiang Huai was first to discover this, but you distrusted our ways and stopped him, leading to Li Xuan’s death. Both of you now share a cause. After Li Xuan died and became a ghost, she sought you out. To resolve this, Jiang Huai must go—only then can both of you reap your consequences.”
Principal Liu didn’t fully understand, but what mattered to him was whether I could help.
Grandpa quickly reassured him, “You can trust in my boy’s abilities. If I can’t solve it, he can. You don’t know—he was born under the sun’s fate. You could call him ‘Ghost’s Bane’.”
Grandpa wasn’t exaggerating. Sun’s fate and Ghost’s Bane were real.
My sun’s fate wasn’t like those novels—no short lifespan or anything like that.
I simply had a strong, innate yang energy. Ghosts are pure yin and fear yang, so I am ‘Ghost’s Bane’.
The benefit of sun’s fate meant I rarely got beaten while learning from Grandpa.
“Well… I… Jiang Huai, the principal thanks you. I wrongly accused you before.”
I ignored him, only snorted, wondering why he still hadn’t drunk his tea.

“Principal Liu, you head home and leave your address. Once Jiang Huai is ready, he’ll come by. Don’t worry, Jiang Huai is a kind-hearted lad.”
Principal Liu had no choice but to nod in agreement.
After he left, I looked at the untouched tea and felt a little disappointed.
“Grandpa, I don’t want to go.” I made no effort to hide my dislike for Principal Liu. “Seriously, why would Li Xuan seek him? Is he handsome? There’s definitely something off!”
I continued, “For someone like him, it’s already a favor not to expose him.”
Grandpa shot me a sideways look and I quickly shut up, lest I get whacked on the back of my head again.
“All the things I taught you, wasted? Li Xuan just died, how could she turn into a powerful ghost right away? Why did you look for Li Xuan before? Use your brain!”
“I’ll go make rice.”
As I rinsed the rice, Grandpa’s words echoed in my mind so much that I dumped all the grains into the sink without noticing.
Grandpa was right. When a person dies, their three souls and seven spirits are in a state of confusion—they don’t even believe they’re dead yet.
There’s an old saying: In the first three days, the soul is lost without a body; in the last four, it accepts death, and on the seventh, it returns home.
In essence, for three days, the soul doesn’t believe it’s dead; for the next four, it accepts it, then on the seventh day, it returns.
So Li Xuan couldn’t have become a powerful ghost so soon after dying. Why did I seek her out? Because I saw a ghost infant riding on her shoulder as she entered the restroom!
It was the ghost infant disturbing Li Xuan’s soul!
“Ouch!”
Just as I reached this crucial realization, Grandpa smacked me from behind. “What are you doing! Do you want your grandpa to go without porridge? Planning to have me drink boiled water tonight?”
That smack was deserved—every grain is precious.
After dinner, I packed a few things into my backpack, and as I left, a couple about my parents’ age, their eyes red from crying, brushed past me.
I looked back—it was Li Xuan’s parents. I’d seen them once before at school. They were here—seeking Grandpa?
Lost in thought, I heard Li Xuan’s father say, “Don’t worry, he’ll never die a good death!”