Chapter 6. Grease

A moist, sticky, unsettling texture.

Jiang Yan quickly withdrew her hand. “Who?”

But the room was dead silent, with nothing but the sound of breathing.

“Drip.”

The sound of water came again, but Jiang Yan ignored it. She glanced at her hand in the moonlight.

On her slightly pale fingertips, there was a layer of moisture, as if they had been delicately licked. Jiang Yan recalled the sensation from a moment ago and dismissed that thought. She rolled out of bed and directly lifted the sheet that hung down to the floor.

Sure enough, there was no dog under the bed.

Nor was there anyone licking her fingertips.

Water, seemingly from nowhere, was slowly seeping out from under the bed. Jiang Yan had just touched this thin layer of warm liquid, which felt very much like being licked by a tongue. Now, under the faint light, the liquid shimmered, mixed with unknown debris and hair, emitting an enticing aroma.

It smelled delightful; it was grease.

But why would there be oil under the bed?

But why was there oil under the bed? Jiang Yan furrowed her brows and bent down to look under the bed. In her line of sight, a few drops of oil were seeping from the innermost wall beneath the bed, the amount very small, like sweat oozing from the wall, dripping down with a soft “drip.”

This wasn’t the first time Jiang Yan had seen a similar scene. Graves were never short of coffins or corpse oil. She had witnessed countless instances of oil seeping from coffins, but the stench was overwhelming—nothing like the fragrant scent she was smelling now.

Curious about what kind of oil it was, she moved around to Shen Xiaoxiao’s side, preparing to take a closer look when she suddenly heard a rustling sound beside her.

“Jiang Yan?” It was Shen Xiaoxiao’s drowsy voice.

Jiang Yan pulled her gaze away and looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

“What… are you standing there for?” Shen Xiaoxiao struggled to lift her eyelids.

Jiang Yan replied, “I’m looking at the oil.”

Shen Xiaoxiao nodded sleepily. Her thoughts were unclear, and she had no capacity for reasoning at the moment. She felt as if she could smell a strange fragrance and smacked her lips. “It smells so good; it must taste great in dishes.”

Jiang Yan didn’t respond to that. She lowered her head and saw the newly seeping drop of oil, which was wrapped around a clump of brown hair.

It turned out that they weren’t just covered in oil; they were growing inside it.

Jiang Yan moved her fingers slightly, and under the influence of her thoughts, the spot where she had touched the grease began to itch. The previous sticky sensation was awakened in her memory, crawling up her spine.

“I’m going out for a bit,” Jiang Yan said.

“Mm…” Shen Xiaoxiao’s voice grew softer until she could no longer resist her drowsiness, burying her face in the pillow and falling back into a deep sleep.

Jiang Yan picked up the flashlight and turned to walk outside.

She had a cleanliness obsession; she had to wash her hands after touching something disgusting.

The faucet in the yard was already rusty, but fortunately, it still worked. Jiang Yan carefully washed her hands and looked up at the sky. In the distance, white smoke was rising; at this hour, someone in the village was already up cooking.

Jiang Yan had only eaten one meal yesterday, and now seeing the white smoke made her neglected hunger quickly rise up. Moreover, the hair in that oil had made her uncomfortable; she needed something to suppress the rising acidity in her stomach.

In the yard, there were various dried herbs, neatly arranged in baskets.

After picking two kinds, Jiang Yan returned to the room.

The oil under the bed had already disappeared.

**

When she opened her eyes again, it was six o'clock, and the sky was just beginning to brighten.

Outside, there was already quite a commotion.

“Get up for breakfast!”

As Shen Xiaoxiao walked into the room, she was about to shout again when she saw Jiang Yan with her ears tightly covered. She chuckled a couple of times and poked Jiang Yan's hand. “The village chief just asked who put money in the basket for the herbs in the yard. My sister and I didn’t put any in; was it you?”

Jiang Yan replied in a muffled voice, “Mm, I was hungry last night.”

Shen Xiaoxiao immediately understood. She handed Jiang Yan the ten-yuan bill she was holding. “The village chief said not to be so polite; you don’t need to pay.”

Jiang Yan sighed and took the money.

To prevent Jiang Yan from falling back asleep, Shen Xiaoxiao stood in place, supervising her as she got up while chattering, “We’re friends who sleep in the same bed; if you’re hungry, you can wake me up! With me around, you could have eaten those herbs! I brought a lot of snacks; hey, I’ll give you some now!”

Without hesitation, Shen Xiaoxiao rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a carton of milk and a bag of red bean paste buns.

“I love red bean paste! Sharing with you!” Shen Xiaoxiao flashed her little tiger teeth in a smile.

Jiang Yan stared at the snacks for a few seconds, realizing she really wanted them, so she placed the money she had just received back into Shen Xiaoxiao's palm. “Thank you.”

“Goodness, you’re too polite.” Shen Xiaoxiao’s eyes widened like a fawn’s as she stuffed the money into Jiang Yan’s coat pocket.

After changing her clothes, Jiang Yan and Shen Xiaoxiao walked out of the room together. Shen Huanhuan was helping to serve the dishes, and when she saw the two come out, Wang Guilan, the village chief’s daughter-in-law, waved them over to eat.

Once seated, Wang Guilan smiled and said, “You must be hungry; hurry up and eat something warm.”

“Don’t we wait for the village chief?” Shen Huanhuan asked.

“He just ate; he’s gone to the mountains to gather herbs now.”

“Then let’s eat!” The table was filled with steaming dishes that looked appetizing. Shen Xiaoxiao picked up a bun first, and as soon as she got it in her hands, she took a big bite. Shen Huanhuan ate more delicately, sipping her porridge in small bites, but from her facial expression, it was clear that the meal tasted quite good.

Jiang Yan, perhaps having been too hungry, put down the steamed bun after just two bites. Wang Guilan had already figured out from the twins’ earlier reactions who had eaten the dried herbs last night, and she worriedly said, “You only ate a few goji berries and hawthorn slices. The silkworm room is a bit far; you should eat more to line your stomach, or you’ll be starving by noon.”

Jiang Yan had little appetite. “I can’t eat right now.”

Wang Guilan thought it through. “Then I’ll bring you a steamed bun. If you’re hungry in the morning, you can take it out and eat.”

Jiang Yan considered it for a moment and accepted the suggestion.

Since the three of them were there on a mission, after finishing breakfast, they bid farewell to Wang Guilan and joined Cheng Guang and the others. The six of them followed Wang Baomin toward the silkworm room.

At this time, it was still early, and there weren’t many villagers on the road. Three or four villagers stood at their doorsteps washing rice and hanging clothes to dry. When they saw the unfamiliar faces, the villagers had varied expressions; some greeted them, but most remained silent with serious faces.

This confirmed Wang Baomin’s earlier words—the villagers in this village did not like strangers.

The silkworm room was built on the back mountain of the village, and it would take about half an hour to walk there. Cheng Guang, seeing that everyone was focused on the path, stealthily moved closer to Jiang Yan. After visiting Wang Baomin’s house yesterday, he suddenly remembered he had forgotten to explain the nature of the program to Jiang Yan. He was anxious and didn’t fall asleep until nearly dawn.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too late to introduce it now.

Cheng Guang quietly called out to Jiang Yan, "Jiang Yan?"

Jiang Yan happened to have something to ask Cheng Guang as well, so she whispered, "About the ghosts and spirits..."

Cheng Guang quickly replied, "That's exactly what I wanted to discuss with you!"

Jiang Yan listened attentively.

Cheng Guang tried to be concise: "You should know that ghosts are the byproducts of life forms after death. They may have been humans, magical creatures, or even demons. After they die, due to their obsessions, they cannot reincarnate and thus become ghosts."

"Once they become ghosts, they are polluted by the human world, gradually forgetting their original obsessions and losing their true selves. They drift aimlessly in the human realm, sometimes even harming innocent people. The main task of a psychic is to target these types of ghosts, awaken their true selves, and ultimately guide them into reincarnation."

Jiang Yan processed the information and asked, "So how do we awaken the true self?"

"Find the obsession that keeps them from reincarnating, but which they gradually forget," Cheng Guang replied. "Then seal the 'obsession' in a talisman and place it on their forehead, helping them remember the obsession and then assisting them in eliminating it. Generally, this is where it ends, but there are cases of ghosts that are completely lost or whose obsessions are inherently evil; they cannot be awakened. In such cases, to prevent them from continuing to do harm, the psychic will eliminate them, cutting off their chance of reincarnation."

"I see," Jiang Yan lowered her gaze, quickly summarizing the program's process.

This psychic program, or rather the typical workflow of a psychic, can actually be summarized quite simply.

— Find the ghost's "obsession," seal the "obsession" in a talisman, and press the talisman in front of the ghost.

However, these processes, which are commonplace for psychics, posed significant limitations for Jiang Yan.

Firstly, she couldn't draw the talisman, so the second step was out of the question.

The third step, "pressing the talisman in front of the ghost," seemed the simplest and most direct, but the prerequisite was to find and control the ghost. Jiang Yan's ability was to see desires; ghosts and humans looked quite similar to her, making it difficult to distinguish between them at a glance. Moreover, ghosts would certainly not give her time to discern; if she acted hastily, she might lose control, and the pain of rebirth from desire would likely torment the ghost to death.

Furthermore, this program advocated for "emotional purification first," and if she indiscriminately eliminated a ghost, she would only be eliminated herself.

With this in mind, Jiang Yan sighed softly.

It seemed she could only focus on the first step, putting more effort into "finding the obsession."

Organizing her thoughts, Jiang Yan looked back at Cheng Guang: "I’m fine for now, how about you?"

Cheng Guang hurriedly replied, "I wouldn’t dare to have any issues..."

Jiang Yan shot him a glance and walked back to the main group.

Shen Xiaoxiao, who had clearly eaten breakfast, was not idle either. Upon seeing Jiang Yan, she quickly put down the small bread in her hand and waved at her, "Jiang Yan, I just remembered something!"

Jiang Yan approached, and Shen Xiaoxiao said, "I suddenly recalled that we talked last night, right? I was a bit dazed then, but I remember we were discussing food... what were we talking about?"

Jiang Yan replied, "Oil."

Shen Xiaoxiao clapped her hands: "Yes, yes, that oil smelled amazing."

"I wonder if Aunt Wang used that oil to cook; breakfast was really delicious, hehe."

Jiang Yan smiled ambiguously.

Shen Huanhuan, who was listening nearby, felt something was off: "Oil? Was there oil last night?"

Shen Xiaoxiao scratched her head, looking confusedly at Jiang Yan. Jiang Yan recounted what she had seen last night, and the expressions of the two sisters grew serious.

"Oil seeping from the wall... wrapped in hair?" Shen Huanhuan didn't doubt Jiang Yan's words; after all, anything bizarre could happen where ghosts existed.

Shen Huanhuan asked in detail, "What kind of hair was it?"

Instead of describing it, Jiang Yan took out the steamed bun that Wang Guilan had given her.

"Just like this."

As she spoke, Jiang Yan broke open the bun.

Aside from the soft, tender white skin on the surface, inside was shockingly tangled with clumps of brown hair. Shen Huanhuan stared intently, unable to count the countless hairs, all covered in tiny, menacing serrations, slowly writhing as if they were about to crawl out at any moment.

That was not hair at all, but the serrated legs of juvenile insects.

Shen Huanhuan felt a tickle in her throat.