The Fake Heiress's Guide to Self-Rescue - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The White-Clad Ghost Bride

Dorm 420 was very close to Jiang Jing’s room, just a few steps away.

When Jiang Qianqian opened the door, she marveled at how fast Jiang Jing was. Jiang Jing looked into the room and saw that only Jiang Qianqian and a girl with a ponytail were there. The girl was sitting anxiously on a chair, staring down at her phone, looking very uneasy.

Jiang Jing was not unfamiliar with this girl. Jiang Qianqian often showed her pictures of her friends, and this girl appeared in them frequently. She must have a very good relationship with Jiang Qianqian.

When she saw Jiang Jing come in, the girl immediately stood up from her chair, walked quickly to Jiang Jing, and grabbed her hand with a sincere and trembling voice, “Sister, please, you have to save my mom.”

Jiang Jing had told Jiang Qianqian her birthday before, and after comparing them, they found out that Jiang Jing was a few months older than Jiang Qianqian. So, when Jiang Qianqian introduced Jiang Jing to others, she always called her “sister.”

Jiang Jing gently patted the girl’s hand, trying to calm her down. The girl’s expression reminded her of the many devotees she used to see at the temple. They always looked nervous or anxious, rushing to her master’s side, seeking her help. Even though her master’s abilities were well-known, there were always people who would ask, “What if the talisman doesn’t work?” Whenever this happened, her master would patiently reassure them, her voice firm, promising that nothing would go wrong.

Back then, Jiang Jing was still young and didn’t have the patience of her master or senior sister. Whenever a devotee came to her for psychological comfort, she would always find an excuse to slip away and hide.

Now, Jiang Jing looked into the girl’s eyes and suddenly realized that in all those times she had turned people away, she had never truly looked at their eyes. These eyes were filled with fear and anxiety, because the problem she was facing now was beyond the scope of everything she had learned in the past decade. Jiang Jing’s appearance was like a lifeline, sparking a faint glimmer of hope in her eyes.

With this thought, Jiang Jing’s expression became serious. She gently held the girl’s hand, her voice soft but firm. “Don’t panic. Tell me what happened slowly.”

The girl took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, and then slowly began to recount her story.

The girl’s name was Qiao Bai, and she lived near City H. She had just gone home for the weekend. Her mother had wanted to go back to their old family home for two days because it was her grandparents’ death anniversary a week ago. When she left, she said she was just going to check if the old house needed any repairs and would be back soon. But what was strange was that even though her mother came back quickly, her mental state seemed to have been greatly affected.

She said her mother had been restless and uneasy all day long since she came back from the old house four days ago. She even started talking in her sleep in the middle of the night.

The night Qiao Bai came home, she offered to sleep in the same bed as her mother. In the middle of the night, she was woken up by her mother’s mumbling. Her mother’s eyes were tightly shut, her expression was filled with panic, and her hands were reaching out in the air, as if she were fumbling for something. She was muttering, “It’s so dark. Where is this? I want to go home.”

Qiao Bai and her father first took her mother to the hospital. The doctor said she was experiencing nervous tension from too much mental stress and found no other issues. They just prescribed some calming medication and sent her home. But her mother was fine before she went to the old house. She was retired and would spend her days feeding birds and watering flowers. Her father did all the housework. Before she left, her mother even said she would bring back a puppy from the old house. So why would she suddenly be under so much mental stress?

So, Qiao’s father and Qiao Bai discussed it and asked a psychic for help. The psychic observed Qiao Bai’s mother’s face for a long time and said that she had been frightened and her soul had been scared away. He told them to take her mother’s clothes and call her name near the house, and she would come back if she heard them. But after trying this method, her mother was still talking in her sleep all night, and her condition showed no signs of improvement. She was also visibly losing weight, with her cheekbones becoming more prominent. Sometimes, her father would talk to her, but she wouldn’t hear him. She would just sit blankly on the rocking chair on the balcony, not saying a word. If this continued, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Jiang Jing listened to Qiao Bai’s mother’s symptoms and, after a moment of thought, took out three bronze coins from her pocket. These were Guangxu-era coins that she had found at an antique market after returning to school. Unlike some Western divination methods that require the items to be purified and degaussed, Jiang Jing was more accustomed to using things that had been touched by countless people. The coins, having passed through countless hands over the years, carried the aura of karma, which made the divination results more accurate, like asking an elder for guidance.

“Hold these three coins in your hand, and in your mind, ask what’s wrong with your mother. Then, throw them six times,” Jiang Jing said, handing the coins to Qiao Bai and explaining how to do the divination. The three coins were thrown and picked up again and again, forming a hexagram.

“Top Gen, bottom Kun. This is the Mountain-Earth Peeling Hexagram,” Jiang Jing explained to the two people beside her, looking at the hexagram that was formed. “The guest hexagram is Gen, which is Yang. The host hexagram is Kun, which is Yin. Usually, it’s best to have both Yin and Yang in the host hexagram to achieve a balance. If no action is taken in time, it will continue to be constrained by the guest hexagram.”

Jiang Jing drew the hexagram on a piece of paper and showed it to Jiang Qianqian and Qiao Bai. “And look, this hexagram has only one lone Yang, which is like your mother, a living person, being continuously exploited by a ghost. Over a long period, it will seriously affect her life.” Then, Jiang Jing picked up her phone and started swiping on the screen.

“What are you doing with your phone?” Jiang Qianqian asked, curious.

“I’m doing a reading, of course. Technology is so advanced now, even Taoist priests have to keep up with the times,” Jiang Jing said, shaking her phone. Soon, a hexagram chart was generated. Jiang Jing showed them the interface. It showed the hexagram and next to it, things like “parents” and “ghosts and officials,” which Qiao Bai couldn’t understand.

“Your mother’s condition is very bad right now. The Shiyao is a hidden ghost and is being constrained by the Yue. The Zisun, which is the antidote, is in an empty and powerless state. If the Shiyao is released by the Rijian in four days and the ghost element becomes strong, your mother might be in grave danger.”

Qiao Bai’s face became paler with every word Jiang Jing said. She couldn’t help but cry in the end. She didn’t expect her mother’s condition to be so serious and that it was caused by a ghost. She asked Jiang Jing with red eyes how she could save her mother, and Jiang Qianqian also anxiously urged Jiang Jing to tell them what to do.

“The hexagram shows that your mother’s Shuangling is being held somewhere else, probably at her old house. We’ll leave after our exam tomorrow. We can’t waste any time,” Jiang Jing said after thinking for a moment, and told them her plan.

A person has three souls and seven spirits. The three souls are the Heavenly Soul, Earthly Soul, and Human Soul. These are the names used in modern Taoism, but in ancient times, the ancestors called them Taiguang, Shuangling, and Youjing. The Shuangling governs a person’s intelligence. A person who loses their Shuangling will become foolish, and if it’s not found in time, it will cause irreversible damage.

Jiang Qianqian and Qiao Bai immediately agreed with her suggestion. Jiang Qianqian called her mother and told her that she was going to her friend’s old home to play. She was afraid that the transportation would be inconvenient, so she asked her mother to arrange for a driver to take them there tomorrow. Since she couldn’t explain the whole situation to her mother at once, and telling her the truth would only cause her sadness, she just said she was going to a friend’s house to play.

Jiang Qianqian’s mother didn’t say a word and immediately arranged for driver Xiao Liu to pick them up tomorrow. She also told them to be careful and not to cause any trouble at their friend’s house.

The next day, after the exam, Jiang Jing carried her luggage and went with Jiang Qianqian to the school gate to meet Qiao Bai. In her suitcase, besides her clothes, she had the talismans she had accumulated over the past few months and a brass-coin sword. She had found this brass-coin sword at an antique shop. She had immediately fallen in love with it, even though it was covered in rust. Although the red string on it had faded, she could see the murderous aura attached to it, a symbol of having slain countless ghosts. With this magical artifact, Jiang Jing felt a little more confident about the unknown that lay ahead. After all, relying solely on talismans couldn’t showcase her full power, and in an emergency, if the talismans got wet, they would be useless. A metal object like this was much more practical. At the time, Jiang Jing didn’t know that she would soon be thankful for making this wise decision.

The group got into the car and headed towards Qiao Bai’s mother’s old home, Xiaochen Village, next to the Ciling River, 50 kilometers away from City H. The journey was long. Everyone in the car, except for the driver Xiao Liu, was a bit sleepy.

Screech— A sudden braking sound startled Jiang Qianqian, who had been half-asleep. She immediately opened her eyes and asked Xiao Liu, “What happened? Why did you stop so suddenly?”

Driver Xiao Liu pointed to the road ahead, his hand trembling. His voice was also trembling. “There, there’s a pair of embroidered shoes. And the map says we should be at the village in 200 meters, but I don’t see anything here.” The three people in the back looked ahead and saw a thick fog. The village entrance, which should have been nearby, was now nowhere to be seen, and a pair of embroidered shoes was placed neatly at the very front of the fog.

The embroidered shoes were brand new, but their color was a bit dark, as if they had just been pulled out of the water. There was a wet trail under them.

Xiao Liu was so scared that his hand wouldn’t stop shaking. Jiang Qianqian and Qiao Bai also hugged each other in fear. Embroidered shoes have a legendary reputation in countless ghost stories, such as “The Ghost Bride” or other horror stories about funerals. What’s more, there was a thick fog ahead where you couldn’t see your own hand. No one dared to drive a single step forward, afraid of being eaten by an evil ghost and becoming one of her souls. In this situation, anyone would want to turn back and run.

Jiang Jing closed her eyes and used her qi to break the seal her master’s wife had placed on her eyes. Her Yin-Yang Eyes were natural. The first time she slept alone at night and saw a long-haired female ghost, the entire temple heard her scream. That’s when her master’s wife found out that she had natural Yin-Yang Eyes. The next day, she performed a ritual to seal them. It wasn’t until a year later, after Jiang Jing inherited her master’s teachings and learned the magical arts, that her master’s wife taught her how to use her Yin-Yang Eyes.

After opening her eyes again, Jiang Jing could see the spirits around her. The car was a bit far from the embroidered shoes. Jiang Jing squinted and saw the owner of the shoes—a female ghost who was dripping with water. The water ghost was wearing a brand new wedding dress, but the color was very strange. It wasn’t the usual red, but a complete white mourning cloth. Jiang Jing looked closely at the soaking wet ghost bride and noticed that the female ghost slightly raised her head, revealing a bright red tongue and a clear ligature mark on her neck. This movement seemed to be telling Jiang Jing that she had died by other means. But this had nothing to do with the people in the car, so why was she blocking their way?

Ordinary ghosts are usually classified by color. Gray and white ghosts are the least dangerous, followed by black, then red, and finally cyan. Ghosts of a red level and above are considered ghost cultivators and are much more difficult and dangerous to deal with. Jiang Jing observed that even though the female ghost was wearing a white wedding dress, the overwhelming怨气 (resentment) was impossible to ignore. She had probably already reached the ghost cultivator stage.

The female ghost’s resentment was immense, but she showed no signs of wanting to harm them. Jiang Jing didn’t want to waste time helping her pass on when she had to save someone. After all, the ghost was already dead, and dealing with her would take some time, but Qiao Bai’s mother was still alive and waiting to be saved. However, after this matter was settled, it might be possible to help the female ghost resolve her resentment and help her be reborn.

With this thought, Jiang Jing opened the car door and walked to the embroidered shoes. She picked up the shoes with one hand and threw them to the side. She communicated with the female ghost through her mind. “We have an urgent matter to attend to today. We will come back to help you be reborn after we’ve taken care of it. We hope you can let us pass.”

There was no movement under the white bridal veil. Jiang Jing waited patiently for a few minutes. Seeing that the female ghost was not going to compromise, she asked patiently, “Every wrong has a root cause, and every debt has a debtor. Tell me what your injustice is, and I will help you. The human world is not a place for ghosts to stay for a long time. In two years, your soul might dissipate and you’ll never be able to enter reincarnation again.”

Red liquid began to seep from the white wedding dress. The female ghost cracked a smile and shrieked tragically, “I’m hungry, so hungry. I just wanted a bite to eat. Why did they kill me—”

A gust of wind blew, carrying a few sharp leaves towards Jiang Jing. Jiang Jing raised her hand to block them. When she lowered her hand, the female ghost was gone, leaving only a small puddle of bl00d on the ground. The strong smell of bl00d made Jiang Jing frown.

The fog cleared, revealing the village ahead. Driver Xiao Liu quickly told Jiang Jing to get back in the car. He stepped on the gas and drove to the Qiao family’s old house. The house had been weathered by time and looked a bit gray. A thick layer of dust covered every tile.

Qiao Bai pushed the door open and led everyone into the yard. The stone path in the yard had few fallen leaves, and the stairs were clean and spotless, showing that Qiao Bai’s mother had meticulously cleaned the place after she returned. The group went up to the second floor and walked down the hallway to the last room, which was Qiao Bai’s mother’s room. Qiao Bai’s father had already returned with her mother yesterday. He was now sitting at a wooden table in the room, watching over his sleeping wife.

When he saw Qiao Bai come in, Qiao Bai’s father immediately stood up and excitedly held Jiang Jing’s hand. He said softly, “We’ve tried so many things, and none of them worked. If you can really save my wife, I, I would be eternally grateful!” With that, Qiao Bai’s father was about to bow to Jiang Jing. Jiang Jing quickly stopped him. This was something that would shorten one’s lifespan, so it was absolutely not acceptable.

Jiang Jing told Qiao Bai’s father to go back and find a guest room for driver Xiao Liu. She also told him not to come out of the room unless necessary. After everything was arranged, Jiang Jing took out a Pathfinding Talisman from her pocket. She also took a strand of Qiao Bai’s mother’s hair and tied it to the talisman before setting it on fire.

The talisman was instantly reduced to ashes, leaving a handful of ash in Jiang Jing’s palm. Jiang Jing squeezed it and felt the slightly damp texture of the ash. By the water? Could it be a water ghost? Jiang Jing thought of the female ghost she had encountered at the village entrance. This matter might be related to her.