Chapter 61: What is an Obsession?

Seeing that Old Master Sun’s ghostly shadow was about to vanish, Wang Feiyin grabbed Pan Yun and made to chase after him, only to be yanked back by someone after taking just two steps. "Are you the Taoist on duty tonight? Where are you going?"

Wang Feiyin paused for a moment and said, "I'm going to the latrine."

The man looked at him suspiciously. "The latrines are at the back. Night has already fallen, and you must stay right here in the mourning hall. Didn't the steward make things clear to you? Look at that master over there; he's been sitting without moving an inch."

Wang Feiyin looked over and locked eyes with that bald donkey, Huiyuan. The two of them stared at each other silently for a moment before simultaneously looking away.

Hesitating between money and karma, Wang Feiyin ultimately withdrew the hand holding Pan Yun. He lowered his head and said amicably to her, "Fifth Junior Sister, go on by yourself. I will keep watch here."

He squeezed a few words through his clenched teeth: "Go quickly. We were the ones who let the wandering ghost out, so we have to make sure he doesn't cause any trouble, or the karma will fall upon us."

Pan Yun acknowledged, kicked off her legs, and sprinted away.

What was the fun in guarding a mourning hall? Chasing Old Master Sun was much more interesting.

Old Master Sun was currently touring his own banquet.

At this hour, most of the banquet guests had already dispersed. Those still seated at the tables were family members, relatives who had come to help manage the funeral, and villagers who had lent a hand.

The dishes were quite decent, all freshly prepared, unlike funerals where most of the food was leftovers from elsewhere.

Therefore, the relatives and villagers who had come to help offered high praise, commending Old Master Sun's filial sons and grandsons.

"Young Masters Sun are great, kind-hearted men, just like Old Master Sun."

"Indeed, indeed."

Listening to this, Old Master Sun sneered repeatedly, though his expression did soften considerably.

Pan Yun was astonished that she could actually read expressions on a ghost's face.

Passing by the banquet tables, Old Master Sun headed toward the back quarters, intending to find his head steward.

As it turned out, a few tables had also been set up in the back quarters, and the estate's servants were currently having their meal.

However, their tables were piled mostly with leftover dregs. At a glance, it was all varieties of greens and some chewed-on bone scraps.

The servants of the Sun family were extremely displeased. Sorting through the bone fragments, they felt a wave of nausea. "These are all things people have already eaten."

The kitchen staff replied, "You should be glad you have anything to eat at all. We're just servants; if we don't eat the leftovers, what else is there to eat?"

"Bullshit! Even if they are leftovers, we shouldn't be eating what's left on the tabletop. We wouldn't have a single complaint if the dishes the guests couldn't finish were returned to the wok for us, but these were swept straight off the table! There's no reason to degrade us like this."

"Right, where are the actual leftover dishes? The banquets out front were all good food."

"Don't ask me. If you've got the guts, go ask the eldest mistress. All those leftover dishes are collected in barrels. What do you think they're serving out there at those tables on the path? There will only be more outsiders coming tomorrow. If you still have leftovers to eat today, I'm afraid you won't even have these scraps by tomorrow."

Hearing this, the servants grew both angry and disappointed. "Everyone came to mourn the master. Whenever our household held weddings or funerals in the past, guests were always treated as honored guests. There's no reason to feed guests leftovers."

"They're just country bumpkins from the villages, along with refugees begging for food everywhere. They should be grateful to have anything at all."

"That's not how you put it. When the master was alive—"

"The eldest master is in charge now!"

A single sentence completely silenced everyone.

Old Master Sun was jumping up and down in rage, hurling abuses at his sons in the direction of the mourning hall—especially his eldest son, who received his primary focus. Eight out of ten sentences were cursing him.

Pan Yun listened with great relish. Finished with his rant, Old Master Sun suddenly noticed her.

Among the arguing servants, someone also noticed her and immediately stepped forward to ask, "Whose child is this? Shoo, shoo, don't wander around."

Seeing her wearing Taoist robes, a servant pulled back the companion who was about to chase her away. "She's a Taoist priest performing rituals, probably came with her teachers. Just point her in the right direction."

That person pointed toward the mourning hall and said, "Go toward the place with the crying and the brightest lights. You stay in the side rooms over there. Don't run around blindly in the middle of the night."

Pan Yun acknowledged, walked back a few steps, and then stopped in the shadows, hiding. She raised her head to look at Old Master Sun, who had been staring at her all along, and flashed him a slight smile.

Old Master Sun’s eyes widened to the size of saucers, scared out of his wits.

He was literally frightened out of his wits. In his panic, his entire ghostly form flipped backward, slapping flat against the wall before slowly sinking into it, screaming endlessly, "Ghost—!"

Shouting about ghosts, Old Master Sun took quite a while to pry himself back out of the wall, casting a lingering, terrified look toward the spot where Pan Yun stood.

Pan Yun was still standing there, entirely concealed within the shadows. Unless someone came close, no one would notice a person was standing there.

Ghosts excepted.

Trembling and twitching at the corners of his mouth, Old Master Sun stepped forward cautiously. "Y-Y-You... are you like me?"

Pan Yun smiled faintly and lowered her voice. "No, Old Master Sun, I'm human."

Old Master Sun: "Human? How can a human see—"

Pan Yun: "I am a Taoist priest."

Old Master Sun immediately stepped back repeatedly, eyeing her with hostility. "You wicked Taoist, do you want to capture me? Can you even catch me? This is my home!"

Pan Yun: "......Old Master Sun, the spirit-suppression talisman in the mourning hall was broken by my senior brother and me."

Old Master Sun immediately put on an amiable expression, stepped forward two paces, and said pleasantly, "Ah, so it was the priest who took action. No wonder I was able to leave so smoothly. Thank you so much, little priest."

Pan Yun smiled at him, turned around, and began to walk away.

Old Master Sun hesitated, glanced back, and failing to spot the head steward among the group of servants, hurried along behind Pan Yun.

Pan Yun led Old Master Sun to a secluded spot and asked, "If Old Master Sun has any unfulfilled wishes, you might as well tell me. If I can help, I will certainly lend a hand."

Old Master Sun was puzzled. "Why would you want to help me?"

Pan Yun: "We take people's money to eliminate disasters for them. Our Sanqing Temple accepted the money your family paid for the send-off ritual, so naturally, we have to escort you away."

Hearing this, Old Master Sun sneered repeatedly. "The money you took isn't mine."

Pan Yun: "Is there any money in this household that doesn't belong to Old Master Sun?"

Old Master Sun instantly looked delighted. "You're quite right. Every single coin in this household belongs to me! Those unfilial sons took my money and still tried to suppress me—humph!"

He immediately began pouring his grievances out to Pan Yun. "It's not that I didn't want to leave, but those unfilial sons of mine used a spirit-suppression talisman to hold me down. Even if I wanted to leave, I couldn't."

Pan Yun shook her head. "That's not right. The spirit-suppression talisman could only keep Old Master Sun confined to the mourning hall and prevent you from wandering around; it couldn't stop you from heading to the netherworld for reincarnation. That talisman wasn't even pasted onto the coffin, which shows that your descendants still hoped for you to be reborn.

"And yet you didn't go because you still have an obsession."

Old Master Sun looked bewildered. "I have an obsession?"

Pan Yun nodded. "You have an obsession."

Old Master Sun muttered to himself, "What obsession could I have? Could it be that I want to slaughter those unfilial sons of mine? Am I... am I really that vicious?"