Chapter 1: Can I Trade a Talisman for a Steamed Bun?

Qingshan City, by the roadside.

The air was filled with a rich, mouthwatering aroma, making Lin Xi pause in her steps.

Gurgle—

Her stomach protested loudly.

She hesitated for a moment before walking up to the bun stall.

“Madam, can I trade a talisman for a steamed bun?”

Li Daniu had been running her bun shop for over thirty years, but she had never encountered such a request before.

Trade a talisman for a bun?

What kind of talisman?

Like the ones they pasted on a zombie’s forehead in horror movies?

She looked up at the girl in front of her.

Oh? Just a young lady.

The girl didn’t seem very old. She was dressed in a deep blue Taoist robe, her hair tied up in a bun. Her cheeks were slightly dirty.

Her skin was extremely pale, her lips devoid of any color, as if a gust of wind could make her faint.

Sigh, another poor soul.

Li Daniu pulled out a large bag and packed five meat buns, three vegetable buns, and a cup of soy milk.

“Here, take this. If it’s not enough, just let me know.”

Lin Xi took a bite of the meat bun, finally feeling alive again.

She hadn’t eaten for three days and three nights.

Lin Xi was an unwanted child. As soon as she was born, her parents abandoned her by a small creek.

Daoist Master Xuan Kong found her and brought her back to his temple, taking her in as his disciple. He taught her the Five Arts of Mysticism ^[1]The Five Arts were (Mountain, Shān) – Spiritual cultivation, meditation, and martial arts. Includes Taoist practices and self-discipline techniques.  (Medicine, Yī) – Traditional … Continue reading

Born under a Pure Yin birth chart, Lin Xi had natural Yin-Yang eyes. From the age of one, she followed her master down the mountain to catch ghosts.

Her master performed spiritual rituals for show, while she secretly beat up vengeful spirits behind the scenes.

Daoist Master Xuan Kong was an extremely unreliable person. Once, he even mistook cremated ashes for milk powder and tried to feed them to her.

Fortunately, Lin Xi noticed the hanging ghost standing beside her.

The ghost shrieked in horror, “What the hell?! That’s my ashes! Baby, put it down! You can’t eat that!!!”

With quick thinking, Lin Xi knocked over the milk powder and managed to grow up in one piece.

But now, she was on the verge of death again.

Women were naturally Yin, but Lin Xi was born in a Yin year, Yin month, Yin day, and Yin hour—Yin stacked upon Yin. Her body was cold by nature, and her luck was abysmal.

Her master once did a reading for her and concluded that she wouldn’t live past twenty.

And now, she was one day away from turning twenty.

In other words, she had only one day left to live.

Lin Xi devoured three more meat buns in one go before pulling out a safety talisman. “Madam, I’m a Daoist. This talisman will protect you from misfortune and turn calamity into blessing.”

Li Daniu took it and glanced at it.

Yellow paper, red inscriptions—she couldn’t make sense of the symbols.

Lin Xi reminded her, “Madam, your forehead is darkened. You’re at risk of a bloody disaster tonight. Keep this talisman close to you at all times.”

Li Daniu: “……”

This sounded exactly like something a scammer would say. Such a young girl, yet already so superstitious.

She believed in science and never trusted these things.

With a kind smile, Li Daniu tried to persuade her, “Young lady, the buns are a gift. You can take back the talisman—I don’t need it.”

“Trust me. Keep it,” Lin Xi insisted.

Lin Xi folded the safety talisman into a triangle, slipped it into Madam Li’s pocket, and stepped away.

Madam Li was startled. “Wait, where are you going?”

“Di Jing.”

Lin Xi waved her hand and continued on her way.

Seven days ago, her master had passed away.

Before his death, he left her with one final message:

“Disciple, I have arranged a marriage for you. This man’s fate is of the highest nobility—he is your only chance to survive your impending death. You must go to Di Jing and find him immediately.”

So Lin Xi descended the mountain in search of this one sliver of hope.

But the journey had been filled with misfortunes. The moment she set off, she encountered a landslide.

On her way to town, a sudden lightning strike fried her old brick phone. When she finally reached the train station, buying a ticket drained her of every last coin she had.

Exhausted, starving, and sleep-deprived, she accidentally dozed off and ended up in Qingshan City.

The closer she got to turning twenty, the worse her luck became.

She didn’t want to die. She wanted to live.

Lin Xi continued walking toward Di Jing.

But walking wouldn’t get her there in time.

She needed a plan.

Time to hijack a ghost vehicle.

…

Night gradually fell.

Madam Li locked up her shop and rode her electric scooter home.

The ride home was smooth. Madam Li cruised through familiar alleyways on her little electric scooter.

Just one more turn, and she’d be home.

Bloodshed?

Darkened forehead?

That little girl was just spouting nonsense. There was no way she could be right.

Madam Li muttered to herself, “Young people these days… even more superstitious than us old folks.”

Bang!

A sudden, deafening crash erupted behind her.

Madam Li slammed on the brakes and turned around.

A flowerpot had fallen from the sky, shattering on the ground. Shards of ceramic scattered in all directions.

Yet, strangely, not a single fragment had touched her.

Madam Li took a deep breath, her heart pounding wildly.

If she had been just a second slower, that flowerpot would have smashed right into her head.

That kind of hit—if not fatal—would’ve at least left her crippled.

Her mind flashed back to the young girl’s warning. Hastily, she fished the safety talisman out of her pocket. The once-vivid symbols had faded.

Before her very eyes, the talisman ignited, burning away into nothing but ash.

She gasped in shock.

“I just met a true master!”

Madam Li stepped off her scooter and respectfully bowed in the direction of Di Jing.

“Master, thank you for saving my life.”

…

Lin Xi squatted at a crossroads.

The Yin energy here was incredibly dense—meaning there were ghosts nearby.

When people die, they turn into ghosts, but not all ghosts are the same.

Ordinary folks encountering white, gray, or yellow ghosts might just get a good scare. If they ran into a black ghost, they’d likely fall ill. But if they came across a vengeful ghost in red, they’d suffer severe illness at best—or death at worst.

And above red ghosts, there were ghost generals and ghost kings.

Lin Xi had fought and beaten three vengeful red-clad ghosts, but she had never encountered a ghost general or ghost king.

Ghost kings were merely legends.

She wasn’t afraid of ghosts. The stronger the ghost she subdued, the greater her merit.

Resting her chin in her palm, she waited.

At 3 a.m., a thick fog rolled in, and the temperature dropped several degrees. A chill crept into the air, sending shivers down the spine.

A gust of cold wind swept past, and suddenly, a yellow taxi materialized at the intersection. A funeral streamer hung from its roof, swaying eerily in the breeze.

“Little girl~ need a ride?”

A ghostly voice whispered through the wind, as if the speaker were right beside her ear.

Lin Xi glanced at the taxi. The Yin energy surrounding it was overwhelming.

This was a ghost car. And the driver? A ghost.

Perfect. She could hitch a ride on the ghost car to Di Jing.

Lin Xi rose calmly and stepped closer—only to realize the exterior of the taxi was covered in SpongeBob SquarePants stickers.

Huh. This ghost had a bit of a childish streak.

She pulled open the door and got in. “Let’s go. Di Jing.”

The ghost driver froze.

This girl… wasn’t scared?

Turning his head unnaturally, he revealed a ghastly white face. Right in front of Lin Xi, he plucked out both of his eyeballs.

Drip. Drip.

Thick, dark blood trickled from his empty sockets, staining the entire car interior a sickly red.

A heavy stench of iron and decay filled the air—nauseating, suffocating.

The ghost driver curled his lips into a sinister grin.

“Little girl, I’m a ghost~”