Though I majored in traditional Chinese medicine, I had never encountered an herb like Hánxīcǎo during my studies, nor was I familiar with its pharmacological effects. But judging by my body's current reaction, things were clearly going very wrong. My stomach felt ice-cold, as if countless turbulent currents were churning wildly inside me.
"You... you… what are you doing? All I did was stop you from talking—was that enough to make you look so vicious?" Xu Nuo looked at me, utterly confused by my agonized expression, and withdrew her hand from my mouth.
I gasped for breath, my entire body freezing cold, yet my forehead was soaked with sweat.
"What's wrong with you?" Xu Nuo's face grew worried as she looked me over, sensing something was amiss.
Clutching my abdomen, I stared at her short, clean-cut hair and grimaced. "I… I swallowed the Hánxīcǎo!"
"What?!" Xu Nuo instantly covered her mouth in shock.
The Daoist priest, Zhong Xuanliang, glanced over at us, puzzled by Xu Nuo's outburst.
Seeing her stunned expression only deepened the dread inside me. My heart felt as cold as my gut. I said, "Am I going to turn into black smoke and vanish... like that little boy did?"
But unlike me, Xu Nuo suddenly burst into laughter, bending over and nearly doubling up. "It's not poisonous," she said through giggles. "Hánxīcǎo is a yin-imbued spiritual herb that grows on rotting corpses. After it's harvested, it's soaked in corpse water for forty-nine days. It's extremely bitter. How on earth did you manage to swallow it?"
As soon as she finished speaking, I gagged and vomited. "Disgusting! You made me hold something that foul in my mouth? I'd rather just turn to smoke and be done with it!"
"Here! Take this!" Xu Nuo reached into her Miao-style skirt and handed me a stalk of medicinal herb.
I stared at the white herb in her pale palm, perplexed. "Why are you giving me honeysuckle?"
"That's not honeysuckle—it's Duanhúncǎo. Can't you tell the difference?" Xu Nuo grinned mischievously. "You didn't pay attention in university."
Duanhúncǎo is rare in Chinese medicine and looks strikingly similar to honeysuckle. So, my first instinct was to misidentify it. But when I heard her name, I nearly dropped the herb in fright. I stared at Xu Nuo's gleeful face. "Are you trying to kill me?"
Xu Nuo placed the red herb back into my hand. "Don't be ridiculous. Someone has cast a dark spell over this village. Around ten o'clock tonight, Zhang Kun will return. If we don't stop him by then, he'll become an extraordinarily powerful malevolent spirit…"
"What?" I gasped. "Don't tell me you expect me to hide in the coffin to catch the ghost! I don't know the first thing about exorcisms!"
Xu Nuo looked me up and down suspiciously. "Didn't my shishu teach you anything?"
The mention of her shishu made my blood boil. I had foolishly signed a clearly shady contract for the sake of the ¥30,000 Hong Gang offered me. Not only was I scammed, but if he claimed me as his disciple, shouldn't he at least have passed on some ghost-catching skills?
"Never mind," Xu Nuo sighed, "You don't look like a qualified 'Ghost Pharmacist' anyway. I've already used your blood to set up the Blood-Coffin Spirit-Locking Array. Once the Soul-Summoning Incense in your hand releases a strange scent, it means Zhang Kun has arrived…"
She glanced at Zhong Xuanliang to make sure he wasn't paying attention, then continued, "When he opens the coffin lid, the array will activate. That's your cue—shove the Duanhúncǎo into his mouth. That'll seal the deal."
I was speechless. Had I known I'd be ghost-hunting, I'd never have come. I swallowed hard, looked at Xu Nuo nervously, and asked, "What if I miss and don't manage to stuff it into his mouth?"
"Then our brief fellow-disciple bond ends tonight," Xu Nuo replied nonchalantly. "But don't worry—every year around this time, I'll burn a little joss paper for you."
She glanced toward the village entrance. "Time's running out. Once the Daoist brings the village chief over, slipping into the coffin will be a lot harder. Be ready—I'm off to distract Zhong Xuanliang."
I drew a deep breath and looked toward Zhang Kun's coffin. Just thinking about lying in there with a corpse made my skin crawl. Worse yet, the Hánxīcǎo was still wreaking havoc in my stomach—I almost wished I were dead already.
"Daoist Zhong, how did you find this place?" Xu Nuo asked with a bright smile as she approached him, her Miao skirt fluttering.
"The compass brought us. Miss, this place is extremely ominous. You'd best leave now before misfortune befalls you," Zhong Xuanliang replied, holding a wooden sword on his back and a compass in both hands.
While they spoke, I crept toward the coffin. Just as I was about to lift the lid, Zhong Xuanliang suddenly shouted, "Don't touch that one! Among the thirteen coffins, that one contains the strongest baleful energy!"
"That's my college roommate inside! I just want a look!" I snapped, rolling my eyes. Mind your own damn business, meddling priest. I know this coffin is more dangerous than the outside world.
Xu Nuo looked at me like I was an idiot, which made me even more annoyed.
"Oh look, your junior's back!" Xu Nuo exclaimed suddenly, grabbing Zhong Xuanliang's arm and pointing toward the village entrance.
As he turned to look, I seized the moment. I pushed the coffin lid open, climbed in—and just as I was about to lie down, a pale hand shot out, grabbed me, and yanked me inside. The lid slammed shut behind me.
Total darkness. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out. It felt like something was binding me, freezing me in place.
Well, perfect.
I didn't even have to crawl in myself—someone, or something, did the honors for me. Even sealed the lid.
In the pitch-black coffin, I could clearly feel another body beneath me, larger than mine. That same pale hand had pulled me in moments ago.
Could it be… Zhang Kun had already risen from the dead? I was done for!
But oddly, he made no further moves. A whole minute passed in silence.
Outside, I could hear Xu Nuo's astonished voice. "Wow! That was fast. He's already in?"
"What do you mean, fast?" Zhong Xuanliang asked, puzzled. After a moment, he realized I was gone. "Wait, where's the person who came with you?"
I had hoped Xu Nuo would notice something was wrong with the coffin, but what she said next made me want to cough blood: "Who knows where he went—maybe a ghost got him."
That was the moment I gave up on her rescuing me.
I held my breath, trying to discern whether the thing under me was human or a ghost.
I expected the stench of rotting flesh, but to my surprise, the coffin held no foul odor—only a faint, pleasant fragrance. Herbal, delicate.
Platycodon root!
The realization hit me. Last time I visited Zhangjia Village, Zhang Kun's younger brother, Zhang Xin, told me that a strange scent would fill the village around midnight. No one knew its origin. I'd had a hunch—it was the scent of platycodon.
And just a few nights ago, those thirteen ghosts had come to my pharmacy and bought platycodon. Now, catching the scent again, I instantly recognized it.
Wait! The fragrance wasn't just in the air—it was emanating from the body beneath me!
Could it be… that the one I'm lying on is actually Zhang Kun? I remember he was chubby when he was in school, too.
My heart began to pound. Zhang Kun had been trying to drag me down as a substitute all along—and now, I'd handed myself to him on a silver platter. If he didn't act now, he'd definitely make his move by nightfall.
And when that happens, I'm as good as dead.