At that moment, the malevolent spirit found a gap, slipping out from Jiang Liu’s grasp and lunging straight towards Shen Koudan.
Shen Koudan was startled and stepped back two paces. Although she had captured countless ghosts over the years, she had never encountered such a powerful, malevolent entity.
Ghosts typically lack a physical body and cannot directly cause physical harm to humans, especially those with strong mental fortitude.
However, they can influence a person’s brain waves, controlling their central nervous system, causing paralysis, hallucinations, and ultimately leading to death. Ghosts that have not cultivated their power usually lack spiritual energy.
In the beginning, they can only harm people by creating illusions or using “ghostly attacks.” Those affected by a “ghostly attack” either become possessed or have their life energy drained, leaving them with a cold, weakened body.
At worst, they fall into a state of illness with no identifiable cause of death. Ghosts usually use this method to extend their time in the world, preventing their souls from dispersing.
The ghost in front of her now was just like the many Shen Koudan had captured before—a baby ghost, with an abnormally large head, baring its teeth and grinning eerily.
Jiang Liu, seeing it escape, calmly grabbed a metal spray bottle from a nearby box and sprayed twice into the air. Shen Koudan immediately felt a bone-chilling cold spread throughout her body. The large-headed ghost baby then halted mid-air, just two centimeters away from her, as if frozen in place. It had turned into a faintly blue, semi-transparent entity, with a twisted smile still frozen on its face.
Shen Koudan, who often jogged at the sports field near her home, was accustomed to flying basketballs, soccer balls, badminton shuttles, and baseballs coming at her from all directions. Before Jiang Liu sprayed the freezing solution on the ghost, she had reflexively grabbed a nearby broom to strike back. Normally, if it had been a ghost, it would have avoided her due to her strong aura. But the ghost had solidified at that moment, and the poor large-headed baby ghost spun around, crashed through the glass, and flew out the window.
Jiang Liu was stunned. Shen Koudan herself was also momentarily caught off guard. They stared at each other for a few seconds, and then Shen Koudan, feeling guilty, quickly threw the broom aside and wiped her hands on her clothes.
She knew the cat would surely laugh at her again—why did she always lose her wits at critical moments?
Jiang Liu shook his head helplessly, not wanting to scare her, and casually pulled a white cloth over the corpse on the rack.
“Granny, could you see it?”
Shen Koudan met his concerned gaze, feeling a warmth in her heart. She replied in a hoarse voice, “Of course, I’ve spent most of my life in this hospital. I’ve seen all sorts of things like this. No little ghost would dare cross paths with me, Granny Ye.”
Jiang Liu nodded. “Granny, why are you still here so late? Aren’t you going home?”
“You should be the one answering that question. I have no children, so I often stay at the hospital. Who are you? What are you doing here?”
Jiang Liu smiled gently. “You saw it just now, Granny. I’m here for work.”
“Are you a ghost catcher?” Shen Koudan asked suspiciously. The man in front of her seemed a little off, but her spiritual power wasn’t strong enough to see through him completely.
“No, I’m not a ghost catcher. I’m a mortician. The director asked me to come and do makeup.”
“For that baby?” Shen Koudan asked in shock.
“Yes.”
“The recent disturbances at the hospital, they were caused by him, right?”
Jiang Liu nodded. “He brought along other deceased babies, causing trouble all over the place. He’s been looking for his parents. But because he was born and died here, he can’t leave the hospital. Who would’ve thought that you’d broom him right out the window?”
Shen Koudan broke out in a cold sweat. “What does he look like now? Can I see?”
They were both top-tier makeup artists, though Jiang Liu typically did makeup for the dead, while she did it for herself. Seeing someone putting makeup on a deceased baby naturally piqued her curiosity.
Jiang Liu hesitated for a moment, then slowly lifted the white cloth.
A perfectly sculpted baby lay in front of Shen Koudan. The skin was no longer wrinkled like that of a newborn, but smooth and tender, with a plump little face that made one want to reach out and pinch it. The baby was curled up, sucking on its finger, looking like it was having a sweet dream. Only a few spots on its body were stitched with transparent thread, which most people wouldn’t even notice.
Shen Koudan thought to herself, this must be what an angel created by God looks like. She couldn’t help but lean closer, but then she saw the baby’s little mouth move as it sucked on its finger, which scared her out of her wits.
“Isn’t it dead?” she exclaimed.
“Yes, it’s already dead.”
“But just now…”
“The soul is dead, but the body hasn’t died yet.”
“What do you mean? Is it an out-of-body experience?”
“No, it’s more complicated than that. He’s a ghost, but he still has a human body. The hospital couldn’t do anything with this vegetable-like body, so they asked me to take a look. Strictly speaking, I wasn’t here to just do makeup—I was here to calm the spirit, hoping that his soul could return to his body and he could become normal again. But clearly, he’s gotten used to being a ghost and doesn’t want to be human anymore. Now, without the constraints of his body or the hospital, he’s finally free to play. You can imagine how happy he must be.”
Shen Koudan felt a bit dizzy from his explanation.
“I’ll explain it to you in detail some other time, Granny. For now, I need to go catch him before he causes more trouble.”
Jiang Liu placed the baby’s body inside a transparent airbag, then packed it into one of the compartments in his suitcase, preparing to leave.
Shen Koudan hurriedly said, “Let me help you!” After all, she was the one who accidentally let it escape, so she felt she should personally help capture it.
Jiang Liu smiled back at her. “No need, Granny Shen. You should continue cleaning up here…”
With that, he jumped out of the fifth-floor window, his black trench coat billowing in the wind, and in an instant, he vanished into the night.
Shen Koudan shook her head as she looked out the window. She realized that she hadn’t been very careful in concealing her identity earlier. Since he was a professional makeup artist, though he worked with the dead, it wasn’t surprising that he quickly guessed who she was.
But next time won’t be so easy. Whether it’s a human or a ghost, she would definitely catch the one she just let escape.
Jiang Liu returned to the shop, only to find the floor littered with condoms.
“Xiao Si, you’re still awake?” It was nearly dawn.
Xiao Si didn’t even look up as she rummaged through drawers and boxes. “Dad, did we get any durian-flavored condoms in stock?”
Jiang Liu couldn’t help but laugh. “What do you need those for?”
Xiao Si waved her fist angrily. “I’m going to give a whole box to Li Yueyi in front of the entire class!”
Jiang Liu raised an eyebrow, peeled open one of the ever-present lollipops in the store, and popped it into his mouth. “What did she do to you to deserve such a vicious form of revenge?”
Xiao Si put her hands on her hips and smirked. “Hmph, she made me embarrass myself in front of a super handsome guy today.”
“A super handsome guy? How handsome? More handsome than your dad?” Jiang Liu scooped her up and placed her on his knee.
Xiao Si settled into her usual comfortable spot, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“He had a strong presence that made me feel scared. And he has RH blood type, too!”
“Ah, I see. The blood type is the real highlight here. By the way, I ran into someone from the Shen family at the hospital today.”
“The Shen family that catches ghosts?”
Jiang Liu nodded.
The Shen family had been exorcising demons and capturing ghosts for generations, and they had some fame in Taoyuan City’s hidden underworld. Usually, old ghosts would warn younger ones with phrases like, “Run, run, stop causing trouble and scaring people, or the Shen family will come and catch you.”
Jiang Liu had been living in Taoyuan City with Jiang Xiaosi for two or three years now, always doing business with ghosts. He was always well-informed, so naturally, he knew about the Shen family. However, since it was their territory, as a non-human, he needed to keep a low profile. In cases where the Shen family was involved, Jiang Liu usually didn’t take the job, even when it came to doing makeup for the dead or calming spirits.
Although he had never met them in person, there were many rumors about the Shen family. It was said that during a night battle years ago, when hundreds of ghosts besieged the city, the Shen family suffered heavy losses. They were already a small family, and by the end of that night, only two remained. The male member of the family was a highly skilled sorcerer, known for his ruthlessness.
Ghosts who fell into his hands had a grim fate and were terrified of him. Fortunately, he had a regular job and didn’t spend all his time catching ghosts. The other remaining family member was the Shen family heir, whose identity remained a mystery. They were said to appear as an old person, a child, or various other forms, making it impossible for anyone to determine their gender or age.
When Jiang Liu first saw Shen Koudan today, he didn’t recognize her at all. From her disguise alone, there was no trace of who she really was—not even in her speech, mannerisms, or movements. But Jiang Liu, following logic and intuition, noticed something suspicious.
Observing her further, he realized she wasn’t afraid of ghosts and even managed to knock one out of the window with a broom. Her swift, precise movements were enough to hit a home run. When she later offered to help him, it confirmed that she must be from the Shen family—after all, who else would be capable of such disguise and skill?
However, whether she was male or female, or even how old she was, remained a mystery to him.
Jiang Liu’s makeup skills were more about enhancement rather than disguise, and compared to her masterful techniques, his was child’s play.
The best disguise artists among ordinary people, after all, have no face of their own. To achieve perfection, they would remove parts like their nose and lips and smooth out their cheekbones and jaw. If they also practiced bone-shrinking techniques, they could even change their height and become anyone they wanted. Since the Shen family members were sorcerers, disguise would naturally be even easier for them.
Xiao Si looked at Jiang Liu with some concern. “Did you have a conflict with them? Did you guys fight?”
Jiang Liu pinched her nose playfully. “Silly girl, afraid they’ll take me away? Your dad has a thousand years of cultivation—how could the Shen family beat me? Don’t worry. But if you ever run into them, it’s best to steer clear.”
“Got it, Dad. I want to sleep with you tonight,” Xiao Si said, hugging him and swaying back and forth, starting to act spoiled.
“Didn’t you say the coffin was too dark and refused to sleep there?”
“I’ll sleep in the coffin with you on the 15th of every month! But on the first day of the month, you have to sleep in a bed with me!”
Jiang Liu sighed. “What kind of negotiation is this?”
“I don’t care! That’s just how it is. And today’s the first!”
Xiao Si happily dragged Jiang Liu to bed.
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