Chapter 33: The Bright Path
The spell was suddenly interrupted and Tan Xuan felt a little embarrassed. He thought that something that he could find out easily suddenly became not so easy.
Soon Director Chang also returned to the living room, his face filled with excitement. He had thoroughly learned a lot today, and his attitude towards Tan Xuan had changed from respectful to wooing him. He sat next to Tan Xuan and whispered to him softly, "Xiao Tan, the old man has fallen asleep again, we can continue."
Tan Xuan shook his head regretfully, "This soul-calling method can only be used once, it won't work if used again."
"What!" Director Chang just saw a little hope, but it was shattered in an instant. He really couldn't accept this fact.
"What should we do? Is there no other way?"
Tan Xuan thought for a while, pointed at the teacup on the coffee table and said to Aunt Feng: "Aunt Feng, the tea is cold, please make a new cup."
"You want some tea? Okay, just a moment."
Although Tan Xuan's request seemed a little inappropriate, Aunt Feng still put away the teacups on the coffee table and boiled water again to make tea.
"Thank you, Aunt Feng. It's better to use new tea this time. Don't use a teacup to brew it. Use a tea bowl directly." Tan Xuan reminded from the side.
"Okay, it seems there are no new tea bowls here, I'll go back over there to get them. " Aunt Feng didn't hesitate at all. She stopped the work in her hands and went straight back to the opposite door.
Seeing Tan Xuan ordering Aunt Feng around and being picky, Qian Bo couldn't hold back his anger. He secretly nodded at Tan Xuan and frowned as he asked, "Tan Zi, what are you doing?"
Tan Xuan smiled slightly and replied in a low voice: "You will know in a while."
Soon Aunt Feng came over with a brand new tea bowl. When she rinsed it and was about to make tea, Tan Xuan stopped her again.
Tan Xuan took the tea bowl and said to Director Chang, "Director Chang, please take a drop of blood from the tip of the old man's left ring finger, and pluck a strand of his hair."
Director Chang took the tea bowl and asked in confusion, "What do you want the old man's blood and hair for?"
"My spell was interrupted just now. Now I only know that the ghost who took my life is called Li Ying, but I don't know where she lives. We must first find out where she is from and why the old man feels that he owes her."
"Then how do we investigate?" Director Chang became more and more confused the more he listened.
Tan Xuan waved his hand, signaling him not to ask any more questions, "You will know this in a moment, go and get the old man's fingertips and hair."
"OK."
Director Chang took the tea bowl to the bedroom and came back soon, handing the bowl and the hair to Tan Xuan.
Tan Xuan looked at the dark red blood drop at the bottom of the bowl. He didn't know how Director Chang got it. Anyway, it didn't matter. He put the tea bowl on the tea table, took out a lighter, put the hair in the cup and lit it, then said to Aunt Feng, "Aunt Feng, please use this tea bowl to make a cup of this year's new tea."
The tea was brewed quickly, and Tan Xuan placed the tea bowl in front of him, then took out three cigarettes from the cigarette box on the coffee table. Tan Xuan stood up and held the three cigarettes to his eyebrows, muttered a few words that no one could hear clearly, then put all three cigarettes in his mouth, then lit all three cigarettes and took a deep puff.
The three cigarettes quickly burned to the butts. Tan Xuan was busy doing his work and didn't care about his manners. He just threw the cigarette butts aside and exhaled a thick smoke into the tea bowl.
Director Chang and the others had just seen Tan Xuan use this method, but they didn't expect it to be different this time. There was no lingering smoke ring this time. The smoke directly enveloped the tea bowl, but the smoke did not spread at all. Instead, it was gradually shrinking and condensing.
Slowly, the smoke seemed to be attracted by the tea in the tea bowl, gathering on the surface of the tea, and condensing into a smoke film on the surface of the tea. The smoke film became thinner and thinner until it completely shrunk into the mouth of the bowl.
Suddenly, the smoke film rippled, and after the ripples dissipated, a face appeared on the smoke film. It was a woman, very young and beautiful, with an oval face, a pointed chin, big eyes full of affection, a small mouth slightly open with a smile on her face, and two braided pigtails hanging on her shoulders.
"ah!"
Director Chang and Aunt Feng were both stunned. When they saw the woman's face appearing on the tea bowl, they were so surprised that their mouths could not close. Although it was not particularly clear, it was shocking enough. What is incredible? This is a living incredible. Even Qian Bo, who has seen the world, was completely dumbfounded at this time.
“This…she…”
The three people pointed at the portrait and were unable to utter complete words for a moment.
The smoke film shook again, and the human face disappeared. The smoke film also broke and turned into smoke that scattered into the room.
Tan Xuan glanced at Director Chang and his wife, who had not yet recovered from their surprise, and said, "She is the ghost that the old man saw, the one named Li Ying."
"Is this what that ghost looks like? How come it's not scary at all?" Director Chang asked curiously. This was very different from the green-faced and fang-toothed appearance he had imagined. If his wife hadn't been next to him, he would have been unable to help but praise her for being beautiful.
Tan Xuan smiled, "This is how he looks in Grandpa's mind. If he can make Grandpa never forget him, then he can't be ugly."
"She is the person that the old man feels guilty about? Then why don't we find her, find out the reason, and solve the problem, isn't that enough?" Aunt Feng said happily on the side. It is not scary to have a problem, as long as it can be solved.
Tan Xuan shook his head and poured a bucket of cold water on Aunt Feng, "You can't find her. She's dead."
"She's dead?" Aunt Feng opened her mouth wide. Not only her, but Director Chang also found it hard to believe the news.
Tan Xuan nodded, "She is indeed dead, and has been dead for a long time. The old man also knew that she was dead, so he called her a ghost when he saw her in the illusion."
"Then what should we do?" Director Chang was about to collapse when his hope was shattered just when it had just begun.
Tan Xuan said expressionlessly: "Find out where she lived when she was alive, understand how she died, and find a way to resolve the guilt in the old man's heart."
"But the old man never mentioned this matter. We have no way of knowing where this woman named Li Ying lived or where she died."
Tan Xuan waved his hand, "Don't worry, I can show you a clear way and point out the approximate direction."
"Really?" Director Chang stood up immediately after hearing Tan Xuan's words. The sudden turn in Tan Xuan's words made him completely unable to calm down.
Tan Xuan waved his hand, motioning him to sit down, "Let me try."
Tan Xuan picked up the tea bowl on the coffee table, muttered a few mantras in a low voice, exhaled into the tea bowl, then raised his hand and poured the tea onto the floor of the living room.
"check!"
The three of them were watching quietly. They had witnessed many incredible things today. They were not surprised by any of Tan Xuan's actions, nor did they make a fuss. They had become accustomed to it. However, the fact that he used puns in his magic was more or less a bit beyond their expectations.
After the tea fell to the ground, it did not splash everywhere, but gathered into a pool around the tea leaves. It was not round, but there was a sharp corner at the lower left corner, and a few drops of tea splashed out from this direction.
Tan Xuan put down the tea bowl and walked to the tea to carefully look at the shape of the tea, and then carefully checked the few drops of tea that had splashed, "One drop, two drops, three drops..."
Tan Xuan squatted on the ground, gesticulating with his hands, mumbling something that the others couldn't quite understand, his brows slightly furrowed.
"The northwest is Qian, Qian is the sky, and the five stars are gold... one drop, one sacrifice..."
After a while, Tan Xuan let out a long breath, stood up again and sat back on the sofa.
"Have you found out any results?" Qian Bo was the first to ask the question. He was always the most enthusiastic, as if the person lying in the bedroom was his own grandfather.
Tan Xuan nodded, "Okay, we have found out. Aunt Feng, please clean up the dirt on the ground."
"I'm sorry, Aunt Feng, I've troubled you." Tan Xuan said to Aunt Feng with a little apology.
Aunt Feng stood up and sat down again. "It's okay. Just tell me the results of the investigation first. We can clean this up later."
"Well then." Since they wanted to hear the result, Tan Xuan did not hide it and directly explained his findings. "According to my investigation, the old man and Li Ying should have met in a mountain village northwest of Jiangzhou, which is about 300 miles away from Jiangzhou. You can investigate there according to these conditions. Ask more elderly people, and I think you will get something."
"That's all the information you have?" Qian Bo almost cursed when he heard Tan Xuan's words, "Tan Zi, what you gave me is too much. It's more than 300 miles northwest, and it's still in the countryside. This is the clear road you mentioned. It's too general. Please check it in more detail."
Tan Xuan shook his head. "Calculation is not my forte. I just used the superficial knowledge I learned from others. It is not easy to figure out these. Aren't these instructions enough?"
Qian Bo opened the map software on his phone and said to Tan Xuan: "Do you know how big the area of 300 miles northwest of Jiangzhou is? Look at how many villages there are. Looking for a person in such a large area is no different from looking for a needle in a haystack."
Not only was Qian Bo stunned after hearing Tan Xuan's words, Director Chang covered his face and said nothing, even Aunt Feng had a bitter look on her face, "Yes, this area is too large, but how can we find it? Even if we look for it carefully, I guess the old man won't last that long."
Tan Xuan said helplessly: "I can't do anything about this. Maybe there are other people who are proficient in Zhouyi. Otherwise, Director Chang can ask others to make inferences. Maybe the scope can be narrowed down a lot. I really can't do anything about this. Sorry."
Director Chang rubbed his face vigorously. "Don't be polite, Xiao Tan. You have already helped me a lot. It won't be any use to ask other people. I already know where that place is."
"You know?" Now it was Tan Xuan's turn to be confused. He stared at Director Chang and waited to hear his explanation.
Director Chang took a cigarette from the cigarette box, lit it and took a puff, then said slowly: "The place you are talking about should be Luanshan County. The old man was an educated youth there when he was young. That Li Ying should have been met there."
"Is that so? Then Director Chang should send someone or go there to investigate himself. After finding out the reason, he can find someone to get rid of the ghost in the old man's heart. Well, it's getting late, and I can do more than enough. I won't bother you anymore."
Having said that, Tan Xuan stood up, called Qian Bo and was about to leave.
They left as soon as they said they would, which surprised Director Chang. He asked, "Then why don't you go with us?"
Tan Xuan shook his head. "I won't go. It will be easy once we find out the reason. Then you can find someone who knows a little bit about this and solve it."
"Then please wait a moment." Director Chang turned and went into the study, quickly took out a bank card, and put his hands in front of Tan Xuan, "Thanks to you today, this is just a small gift, not a respect."
Tan Xuan glanced at the card in Director Chang's hand. This card was not the same one he gave to Taoist Mao in the afternoon, but he did not take it, and did not even look at it.
"You don't have to say that. I came here today just for Brother Qian's sake. If you want to thank someone, just thank him."
"No matter where you are, it's as it should be..."
"Okay, goodbye."
Tan Xuan didn't give Qian Bo any chance to curry favor with his superiors. He simply pulled Qian Bo away, leaving Director Chang and his wife standing at the door with their bank cards.
