The Fake Heiress's Guide to Self-Rescue - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Chop Down the Tree at Noon Tomorrow

The three bronze coins were gently tossed up and landed steadily. The hexagram showed that the problem was in the northeast, which was the small river outside the village.

Jiang Jing stared at the hexagram on the ground, her expression growing more solemn. She had originally thought that the white-clad female ghost was just lingering at the village entrance, showing herself because she needed something, but she never expected that she would be so closely related to Qiao Bai’s mother’s unconscious state.

Without further ado, Jiang Jing told driver Xiao Liu to watch over Qiao Bai’s mother in the house. She then took Qiao Bai and Jiang Qianqian and headed straight for the small river.

The river was calm, with only a few occasional ripples. It flowed gently into the distance. Along the way, the three of them didn’t find anything unusual, nor did they see the white-clad female ghost again.

Jiang Jing kept her hands at her sides, with two talismans in her pocket, just in case. They walked along the riverbank to the end of the village, where a family shrine came into view. The building with its black tiles and white walls looked a bit ancient and old. Compared to a bustling temple, it had a sense of coldness.

Next to the shrine stood a huge locust tree. Its trunk was thick, and its branches and leaves were lush. The tree grew between the shrine and the small river, and its huge canopy was like a big umbrella covering the shrine.

When Qiao Bai saw Jiang Jing’s gaze lingering on the large locust tree, she explained, “My mom said this is our village’s ‘Tree Goddess.’ When people from our village go out for work or on a long trip, they always kowtow three times in front of the Tree Goddess before they leave.”

Jiang Qianqian listened and couldn’t help but look up and down at the old locust tree. She then leaned closer to Jiang Jing and asked in a low voice, “I heard that locust trees attract ghosts the most. Won’t planting one next to a shrine create a very powerful ghost?”

Jiang Jing nodded slightly. Since ancient times, locust and willow trees have been known to attract ghosts. The branches of a willow tree are soft and slender, and they are often planted near water, making them very easy to cultivate yin energy and attract ghosts. It goes without saying for locust trees. The character for “locust” (槐) is made up of the characters for “tree” (木) and “ghost” (鬼). Both of these trees are common materials for making coffins. Ordinary people rarely plant willow or locust trees near their homes. The village’s practice was indeed a bit strange.

“This tree has been here since the village was founded. It’s already 800 years old,” Qiao Bai recalled the story her mother told her about the big locust tree when she was a child, her voice filled with awe. “At first, it wasn’t this big, but now it’s blocking most of the shrine. Only one or two hours of sunlight can get in every day.” This ancient tree had stood there, watching the villagers come and go, and the carriages drive by.

Humans live for a hundred years; trees live for a thousand. This tree had clearly become sentient and might have even cultivated spiritual power. With this in mind, Jiang Jing gently placed her palm on the tree trunk. In an instant, a pure and all-encompassing energy emanated from the trunk, lingering in her palm. This was the aura of a demon’s inner core. Sure enough, this big locust tree had already become a spirit. But there was no sign of Qiao Bai’s mother. The culprit wasn’t this locust tree.

Jiang Jing withdrew her hand and shook her head. The three of them looked at each other and continued to walk toward the shrine.

“Ouch!” Jiang Qianqian let out a cry. Her foot was tripped by a tree root from the big locust tree that had broken through the ground. The rough bark of the trunk cut her delicate skin. A few drops of bl00d fell on the trunk and quickly disappeared.

When Jiang Jing heard her cry, she immediately turned around and rushed over to check on Jiang Qianqian’s injury. Her fair skin was horribly red, and a small lump had swollen on her ankle. Jiang Jing gently touched it and heard a sharp intake of breath.

“Are you okay, Qianqian?” Qiao Bai also asked with concern when she saw Jiang Qianqian’s pained expression.

“Sit over there for a bit. When you feel better, we can go back and rest,” Jiang Jing said, squatting down with her back to Jiang Qianqian. She motioned with both hands on her back, signaling Jiang Qianqian to get on her back.

Jiang Qianqian was a bit hesitant. “Can you carry me? What if we both fall?”

When Jiang Jing heard this, she pretended to stand up. “It seems like I can’t. You should walk over slowly then.”

When Jiang Qianqian heard that the other person genuinely found her too heavy, she felt a bit resentful. She gritted her teeth, braced her hands on the ground, and tried to stand up. Qiao Bai saw this and quickly went to help, afraid that Jiang Qianqian would fall and worsen her injury. But before she could even reach out, Jiang Qianqian swayed and was about to fall to the side.

“Hey—” Before Qiao Bai could say “be careful,” she saw one hand wrap around Jiang Qianqian’s waist and the other pass under her knees, and just like that, Jiang Jing scooped Jiang Qianqian up.

Jiang Qianqian realized she hadn’t fallen and was now being held securely in Jiang Jing’s arms. Her long-term cultivation allowed Jiang Jing to know where to place her hands to conserve her strength. She just stood there calmly, holding Jiang Qianqian.

“You said you couldn’t carry me. How do you have the strength now?” Jiang Qianqian’s anger flared up when she remembered what Jiang Jing had just said. She frowned and poked Jiang Jing’s face with her finger.

“I said I couldn’t carry you on my back. I’m carrying you in my arms now, aren’t I?” Jiang Jing didn’t know what was wrong with her. She just felt that Jiang Qianqian’s question was a sign of a lack of trust, which made her a little upset. But if she had really just watched Jiang Qianqian get up and walk to the bench by herself, her heart would have ached.

Her arms were strong and steady as she carried Jiang Qianqian and placed her on the stone bench in front of the shrine. Jiang Jing looked around the outside of the shrine. It was not a good idea to leave Jiang Qianqian alone outside. She looked around and found a stele near the shrine. The stele was built on the west side of the shrine by the water. The history of the shrine was carved on it:

In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, Xiaochen Village was established under the leadership of the village chief, Chen Qi. The entire village of more than 30 people settled down here. At first, Xiaochen Village was close to the Bai Liu River, the soil was fertile, and the crops were high-yielding. The villagers had plenty of food. But then, two or three other villages were established upstream and downstream of the river. The ten-mile radius all depended on this one Bai Liu River for survival. If there was a flood or drought, the entire village’s harvest would be greatly reduced, and more and more people would not have enough to eat.

The villagers came together and built a shrine for the River God. They would make offerings every three years so that the River God would ensure good weather for three years. The shrine was built by the water, and several floods over the centuries couldn’t wash it away. The villagers believed that the shrine was truly blessed by the River God, and its popularity grew.

But now, Jiang Jing looked up at the shrine. It was dark inside all year round, and few people came to make offerings. There were no guardians either. It seemed very likely that something unclean was living here. But why did it only take Qiao Bai’s mother’s soul? Qiao Bai’s mother rarely returned to the village, so she shouldn’t have offended the female ghost. It was very strange. There was no time to think. Saving people was the priority.

Seeing that Jiang Qianqian had rested enough, Jiang Jing suggested that they walk back through the village to see if there was anything unusual. Jiang Qianqian moved her ankle and found that the pain had significantly lessened. Just as she was about to say that she could walk back on her own, she saw Jiang Jing squat down in front of her.

“Ah…” Jiang Qianqian still wanted to object. She felt bad for troubling Jiang Jing. Besides, they were the same age, and she was afraid Jiang Jing didn’t have the strength to carry her.

“It’s okay. Trust me, I won’t let you fall,” Jiang Jing said, looking into Jiang Qianqian’s eyes with certainty. So, Jiang Qianqian didn’t say anything more and leaned on Jiang Jing’s back with a sense of relief.

Jiang Jing carried Jiang Qianqian and Qiao Bai and walked back to the old house from the end of the village. Along the way, she saw that some houses were dilapidated and rarely maintained. She didn’t need to ask to know that the owners of these houses would never return.

“Oh, isn’t that Chen Yan’s daughter? Why didn’t you say hi to your second aunt when you came back?” A loud voice came from ahead. Jiang Jing looked up and saw a woman dressed in simple, clean clothes standing in the courtyard next to them, greeting them.

“It’s my second aunt. I brought my friends back to my old home to play,” Qiao Bai said, greeting the woman familiarly.

“Why is this little girl’s foot swollen? Wait a minute, I’ll get you a hard-boiled egg to put on it. It’ll be all better tomorrow,” the enthusiastic woman said, bustling into the house. Qiao Bai didn’t even have a chance to refuse.

“This is my second aunt. She’s so nice. I used to go to her house a lot when I was little. She would always make me mung bean soup because she was afraid I would get heatstroke,” Qiao Bai said, chatting with Jiang Jing and Jiang Qianqian about her childhood. Soon, her second aunt came out with the egg.

Jiang Qianqian took the egg and thanked her second aunt. In the midst of their conversation, Jiang Jing observed the second aunt’s face. Her cheeks were full and round, and her face was rosy. It was a sign of good health and fortune. There was no sign of illness. It seemed that the female ghost’s action was not to retaliate against the entire village but was aimed at Qiao Bai’s mother alone.

The three of them walked back home. When they entered the house, driver Xiao Liu was sitting anxiously on a chair. When he saw them come in, he immediately asked, “What happened? Auntie suddenly screamed ‘no’ and passed out.” The bizarre things he had encountered today were more than the sum of all the strange things he had experienced in the past thirty years. It was hard for him to accept all the information at once.

She gently lifted Qiao Bai’s mother’s eyelids and carefully observed them. Jiang Jing confirmed that Qiao Bai’s mother was not in any danger and felt a little more at ease. Qiao Bai’s mother’s soul had been away from her body for too long. They had to go and find her tonight, or her soul might never be able to return, and her mother would become a vegetable.

Jiang Jing told driver Xiao Liu to hang a pair of red lanterns at the entrance of the house so that Qiao Bai’s mother’s soul could find its way back.

“You stay here and watch over Auntie. When this red string fades, it means her soul has returned. Then, you can take the red lanterns from the door and burn them. Remember not to say a single word until the lanterns have completely burned,” Jiang Qianqian said with a serious expression. Although she couldn’t help Qiao Bai bring her mother’s soul back, this was something she could do.

Jiang Jing dipped a pen in cinnabar and drew two House-Guarding Talismans on the door. She used the power of the Three Terraces to summon the gods to ward off evil. With her palms facing up, her left middle finger passed through her right ring finger and middle finger. In a moment, she formed a Five-Peaks Seal to summon the Five Thunders to subdue and kill evil.

With everything ready, dusk had arrived. Jiang Jing and Qiao Bai returned to the shrine. Jiang Jing took out the talismans she had drawn from her pocket and picked out two different ones to give to Qiao Bai.

“This one is a Body-Protecting Talisman. Fold it and keep it on you. It must not get wet. When we go in, stay close to me. If you get separated, light this talisman and hold it with two fingers in front of your eyes. It will guide you home.”

After giving Qiao Bai her instructions, Jiang Jing used her right hand to form a sword finger and directed her qi to her Lingtai to break the Yin-Yang Eye seal she had placed earlier. This would allow her to immediately spot any problems when they entered the shrine.

It was finally dark. The two of them pushed open the shrine doors and walked inside. The shrine’s doors were heavy, and few people came to make offerings. When they pushed the doors open, a lot of dust fell, making them cough.

Qiao Bai looked up at the statue of the River God directly opposite the door. The normally kind-faced statue looked a bit menacing in the moonlight, which made it half-light and half-dark. She couldn’t help but shiver and hugged Jiang Jing’s arm in fear. “Do you feel like something’s wrong?” she asked, deciding to leave the problem to the professional and see what Jiang Jing had found.

The little moonlight in the hall shone on the statue of the River God, attracting both of their attention. Strangely, Jiang Jing didn’t feel that there was anything wrong with the statue. Although the hall was dimly lit, there was no eerie feeling. The problem was probably not here.

She scanned the hall. The Guanyin of the Children, the Earth God, the Old Man of the Moon… and the one with the rat head holding corn, and the one with the fish head holding a steel fork. What kind of strange gods are these? This was too random. It was a true “gathering of heroes.” Even if you thought about it with your knees, it wouldn’t be effective!

Jiang Jing felt a bit speechless. She calmed herself down and carefully observed the hall. Among the group of strange statues, a female statue in a green dress caught her attention. The statue had a double bun hairstyle, her eyes were slightly upturned, and her hands were clasped in front of her. She looked dignified and joyful. Her appearance was completely different from the animal-human-like statues in front of her and was in line with traditional Chinese aesthetics.

“What god is this?” Jiang Jing asked, pointing at the statue.

“This is the River God’s wife. The villagers married her to the River God during a village festival one year. They say the River God’s wife was a very beautiful 16-year-old,” Qiao Bai recalled and confirmed the identity of the statue.

All the other statues were facing the door, but this one seemed to be looking at them, which made her face look stranger the more she looked at it.

Jiang Jing leaned over and whispered a few words to Qiao Bai. The next second, they split up and went to blow out all the candles in the hall. In the silence, the statue’s shadow changed a bit. In a blink, it returned to normal. It seemed that the problem was with this statue. Jiang Jing walked up to it, picked it up, and smashed it.

The statue shattered into pieces. A wisp of black smoke emerged from the cracks and quickly shot up into the branches of the big locust tree. Found it.

Jiang Jing took out the brass-coin sword from her bag. The oldest coins on this sword could be traced back to the Han Dynasty. After thousands of years, the karma and malevolent energy on it made countless ghosts stay away. A drop of her fingertip bl00d dripped onto the blade, and the malevolent energy felt the scent of bl00d and overflowed.

Jiang Jing lifted the sword and struck at the tree trunk. Just as the sword was about to touch the trunk, a blinding white light appeared. The two of them immediately closed their eyes and heard a sharp scream.

“Qin Shu, you’ve made me so miserable! Why did you tell them—”

The white light dissipated. When they opened their eyes again, only Qiao Bai’s mother’s soul was standing alone under the tree, her eyes staring blankly into the distance.

Seeing this, Jiang Jing immediately took the Pathfinding Talisman from Qiao Bai’s hand. She lit it and spun it clockwise three times in front of Qiao Bai’s mother. She chanted, “Living soul, leave the body, return home quickly!” The soul then floated towards the house, and the two of them followed it, running towards the house as well.

When they arrived at the entrance of the house, they realized something was wrong. The lanterns had all fallen to the ground, and the main door was wide open. Jiang Jing ran upstairs in a hurry. When she opened the room, she saw that Qiao Bai’s mother’s body was still there, but Jiang Qianqian was nowhere to be found.

The red string had faded, which meant the soul had returned. Jiang Jing told Qiao Bai to go and burn the lanterns. She then quickly formed a hand seal with her left hand.

The Liulian (wandering soul) is missing in the north. It can be found by the water.

Again, by the water. Jiang Jing bit down hard on her back molar and sneered. Qiao Bai went upstairs after burning the lanterns. When she opened the room, she saw Jiang Jing sitting on a chair, her face dark. She quickly asked Jiang Jing what had happened.

Jiang Jing told Qiao Bai about the results of her divination and the situation in the room. She told Qiao Bai to get a big axe, a basin of rooster bl00d, and a bundle of white string ready. “Tomorrow at noon, we’re going to chop down the tree. I want to see how long this tree demon can protect this water ghost who should have been captured by the grim reaper,” Jiang Jing said through gritted teeth.

It was already a heinous act for a vengeful ghost who should have been reborn to secretly take a living person’s soul. By all accounts, Jiang Jing should have sent her on her way, but she never expected that she would dare to kidnap someone in broad daylight. You dare to mess with me, huh? Then don’t blame me for changing the way you go down to the Underworld.

The next morning, Qiao Bai and Jiang Jing searched half the village before they finally borrowed a big axe and a basin of rooster bl00d. The young people in the village had all gone out to work, and few people did physical labor. The axe was borrowed from an old carpenter. Jiang Jing soaked the white string in the rooster’s bl00d and used nails to set up a formation around the big locust tree to prevent the tree demon from escaping. This chicken bl00d ink line symbolizes righteousness and can trap evil spirits and ghosts, preventing ordinary evil beings from escaping.

Jiang Jing weighed the axe, rolled up her sleeves, and chopped at the tree trunk. Once, twice… A large gash appeared in the trunk. The sky, which had just been bright, was now filled with strong winds and flying sand and rocks. The surroundings became dark. The female ghost’s shrill voice echoed in their ears. “Qin Sanniang, you’ve made me so miserable. You had them throw me in the water and killed me. Now you’re having them destroy my soul. How vicious you are!”

The female ghost emerged from the river. Her skirt was dirty with mud, and her white wedding dress clung to her body in a pathetic state. She stood outside the formation, her empty eye sockets staring at Jiang Jing.