Chapter 59: A House Lacking Virtue Cannot Withhold Evil Spirits

"I'm so hungry!"
"I'm starving too. Why are we craving this so intensely?"
"Let's eat, hurry up and find something to eat!"
"No, humans! What we want to eat are humans! Humans taste the best!"
"Yes, yes, yes! I want to eat human flesh and drink human blood!"
...
They chattered away, talking over one another.
Finally, they all turned their gazes toward a grand gate by the street.
"Such a wealthy household! There must be at least one or two hundred people inside for us to feast on!"
"Hehe, wonderful, wonderful!"
"We're in for a culinary treat tonight!"

However, after taking only a few steps—before even touching the stone steps of the mansion's entrance—all the yin entities suddenly froze in place. They noticed a gilded plaque hanging above the vermilion gate, bearing the inscription: "The Residence of a Scholar-Official."

Every single character seemed tempered by the sunlight, and dragon aura overflowed from the edges of the plaque like flowing water, terrifying the spirits so deeply that their ethereal bodies trembled.

"This family consists of officials; they're not to be trifled with. Let's try another place!"
They were about to turn and head toward another house behind them, but the moment they turned back, their expressions changed drastically.
This only made their already pale and unsightly faces appear even uglier and more terrifying.

For crouching right by the entrance of this house were two stone lions carved with "auspicious cloud patterns." Though they were not engraved with the flame patterns and dragon claws of the imperial family, they still looked majestic and unimaginably ferocious.
Especially those two pairs of lifelike lion eyes, which seemed to be staring straight at them, as if the next moment they would leap down from their stone pedestals and tear them all to pieces.

"This place is protected by warding stone statues; they're not to be messed with either. Let's go!"
With grim expressions and trembling hearts, the yin entities lowered their heads in a panic, huddled together in the middle of the road, and rolled backward.
They were merely a pack of insignificant spirits after all, and when faced with such warding and evil-repelling objects specifically designed to counter their kind, naturally none of them dared to provoke one.

"What about this one? It doesn't look like an official's residence, and there are no warding stone statues."
Having traveled dozens of paces, the yin entities spotted a new place that seemed viable. Spurred on by their growing hunger, they swarmed toward it.
Yet, the moment they reached the steps, they were all forced to a sudden halt by a pair of door-god paintings on the mansion gate—faded, perhaps, but still blazing with a sharp, piercing vigilance.

"It's... it's a dwelling guarded by the Door Gods! We can't mess with this, we can't mess with this!"
Before the portraits of the Door Gods, the spirits instinctively shrank back into cowering clumps, terrified of meeting the gaze in those painted eyes.
Not daring to look at this house any longer, they hurried off toward the next destination.

However, things were no easier ahead.
For instance, when they finally found a place that possessed neither Door God paintings, nor national fortune protection, nor warding stone statues...
The moment they approached, they suddenly felt an all-over discomfort.
Looking closely, they sensed an aura of pure righteousness circulating within the gate. Straining their ears to listen, they could even faintly hear echoes of "The Master said" and "The Sage spoke."

With increasingly grim expressions, the spirits cursed:
"There's a scholar inside this one who has actually attained some real cultivation. Still untouchable. Let's move!"

Continuing onward for several dozen paces, they found no new viable grand mansions.
Instead, they spotted a carriage.
"There's a person outside the carriage and at least one person inside. Let's grab a snack first to tide us over!"
The spirits moved in for the kill at once, but after taking only a few steps, they abruptly noticed the aura of merit radiating from within the carriage.
Just looking at it from a distance made their eyes sting as if they were about to go blind.

"Oh no, it's a benevolent person protected by merit! Run, an even bigger trouble-maker!"
Before the master of the carriage, whose body was shielded by virtue, the spirits fled in all directions out of sheer terror.
When they finally gathered back together, several companions sighed despondently:
"I ran off to the commoners' quarters, but it's no use! The doors are plastered with either Door Gods or the character for 'Fortune.' The Door Gods scared the wits out of me, and the 'Fortune' characters burned my hands red."
"I ran into a night watchman, but the brass gong in that fellow's hand crowed like a rooster. Every time it struck, it sent a jarring, splitting pain through my ears."
"Ha, that's nothing! I saw that same watchman too. The guy had talismans pasted all over his body, five-emperor coins hidden at his waist, and even his striking mallet was made of peach wood. I truly don't understand why someone so terrified of dying would bother being a night watchman!"

Just when they thought their night couldn't possibly get any more miserable, another entity delivered even worse news:
"That's not the biggest problem. The worst part is, I just went over to the city wall and discovered that the walls we easily climbed over when we arrived have suddenly become so high and thick that we can't get out at all!"
"What?! Then how did we even get in?"
"Uh... well, it seems, it seems... wait, why *did* we manage to get in?"

Completely unaware that they were merely pawns in someone else's game, and unable to figure it out, the spirits could only sigh and lament their wretched plight.
Why was eating a human and committing a few sins so impossibly difficult?

Amidst their mutual sighs, they suddenly noticed one of their companions staring fixedly at a residential gate right in front of them.
"What is it? Stop staring. It's not going to work out anyway. Looking at it will only cause you needless distress."
"No, look at this place—I think it might actually work?!"

The rest of the spirits turned to look in unison.
Then, their eyes lit up.
Although this house also had a plaque above its entrance, of the four gilded characters—"Filial Piety, Brotherly Love, Loyalty, and Trustworthiness"—only the character for "Brotherly Love" still retained a faint gleam!
Looking closer, there were no Door Gods and no stone statues.
Suppressing the joy in his heart, the lead spirit cautiously stepped forward to test the waters and leaned in to listen.

To his sudden, pleasant surprise, this house possessed neither virtue nor a scholar's aura of vast righteousness. He could even faintly hear the voice of an old man from far away, raging about unfilial behavior!
"Ah, this is the one!"
Realizing it was feasible, all the spirits were overwhelmed with joy.
No matter where they looked before, nothing worked, but now they had stumbled upon one by pure chance!

"Wonderful, wonderful! Such a ruined family—if we eat them, it can probably be considered acting on behalf of heaven!"
Yet, as they reached the door, they still felt that the final character for "Brotherly Love" was somewhat glaring, and the two lanterns in front of the gate radiated a slight heat that scorched their skin.
After a brief consultation, a collective understanding dawned upon them, and they crept stealthily toward the back door.

Sure enough, not only was there none of that evil-repelling paraphernalia here, but they even heard a man lamenting loudly within:
"Five thousand taels! A full five thousand taels of silver!"
"Unfilial son, unfilial son! How could my Qian family produce such an unfilial wretch!"

These curses and wails made the eyes of the various spirits shine all the more brightly.
Slipping directly through the tightly closed back gate, they followed the sound all the way to the room of Master Qian Dafu.
The man was sitting at a table, clutching the edges and sighing heavily over his family's misfortune at the hands of a prodigal son.

They longed to lunge forward, but lacking any real cultivation, they instinctively feared the bright lamp burning before Qian Dafu.
With a single glance, they knew this man was a heartless miser devoid of virtue and integrity. More importantly, he had been cursed by his ancestors for a lack of filial piety, leaving him entirely stripped of ancestral protection—making him the absolute prime target for an attack.

However, the lamp burning beside him naturally radiated a masculine, righteous energy.
Unwilling to let such a ready-made feast slip through their fingers, one clever spirit rolled its eyes and called out:
"That prodigal son squandering five thousand taels of silver—that truly is excessive!"

Hearing someone agree with him, Qian Dafu immediately slammed his hand on the table and vented:
"You're telling me! That's a solid five thousand taels of silver! If you exchanged it for copper coins, a single carriage wouldn't even be enough to haul it all!"

But the moment the words left his mouth, his throat suddenly tightened. His neck stiffened as if grabbed by an invisible hand, and he wrenched his head around toward the back of the room:
"Who is speaking?"

In the dim candlelight, the shadows in the room were completely empty, and not even a single footprint marked the floor. A sudden layer of cold sweat oozed from the back of Qian Dafu's neck.
Just as he raised a hand to wipe away the sweat, a voice brushed against his earlobe, seeping directly into his mind:
"Human? Why on earth would you think a human is talking to you?"