Chapter Ch85 - [Extra: Wang Tiantian] He made a gurgle!
Ghost possession was an improbable event, and in reality, rarely happened.
Firstly, the ghost and the possessed person had to have similar ‘Eight Characters’ as determined by their time and date of birth. Secondly, the possessed person must coincidentally be in a negative state – whether from illness, injury, or extremely low spirits. Thirdly, the possessed person must have given the ghost an opportunity – for instance, eating ritual offerings made to the ghost, indicating that they were willing to fulfil the ghost’s wishes, or low-level rituals such as having summoned the ghost as a pen spirit. Lastly, the ghost and the possessed person must have personality similarities: a ghost whose natural predisposition is melancholy will find it difficult to possess someone naturally open and high-spirited. Fulfilment of all four criteria was as difficult as ascending to heaven, so in reality, ghost possession did not happen often.
Wang Zhuo called himself baby, baby, every day, so today he had really been possessed by a baby.
Lin Feiran explained the gist of ghost possession as recorded in his grandfather’s notebook, then said, “I think that the spirit of Wang Zhuo we saw just now had been forced out of his body when the infant possessed him.”
“So, in Wang Zhuo’s body now,” Gu Kaifeng asked, “there are two spirits?”
Lin Feiran: “I guess so…”
When he had stuffed Wang Zhuo’s spirit back in, he had not seen the infant spirit come out.
“When the infant’s spirit went in, Wang Zhuo’s spirit was squeezed out. But when Wang Zhuo’s spirit went in, the infant’s spirit wasn’t squeezed out.” Gu Kaifeng considered this. “How can this be?”
The little trickster touched his chin and tried to explain. “Maybe it’s because Wang Zhuo was completely unprepared. The infant in his body has a purpose and is defending itself, so when Wang Zhuo’s spirit returned, the infant’s ghost remained there and refused to leave.”
“Then did your grandfather have any tricks for sending the little monster away?”
“That sort of spell… the notebook didn’t have anything like that.” Lin Feiran hesitated before shaking his head. “Possession happens so rarely. Grandpa wrote about a time someone in his village was possessed by a weasel, but that wasn’t solved by magic.”
Gu Kaifeng asked curiously, “Then how was it resolved?”
Lin Feiran smiled. “Weasels like to eat chickens, so my grandpa came up with the idea of letting that person eat chicken for seven days. The weasel’s wishes were fulfilled and it left the person’s body. So I think Wang Zhuo’s problem might have to be solved like this too.”
Wang Zhuo started crying out loud in the dorm room again. The two briefly discussed how to convey this to He Hao, then pushed the door open and went in.
Lin Feiran: “……”
I seem to have seen an incredible sight.
On the bed, wearing only a pair of pajama pants, Wang Zhuo sat on He Hao’s thigh. His arms were hooked around He Hao’s neck and his nose was red from crying. Tears had gathered in his eyes, his eyelashes wet, as he pouted and whined “Hungry, wuuuu…”
He Hao’s expression was indescribable. He had one hand on Wang Zhuo’s knee and the other wrapped around Wang Zhuo’s back, rocking him stiffly as if comforting a child. When Lin Feiran and Gu Kaifeng came back, it was like he had seen his saving grace. He asked hurriedly, “What’s happening?”
Lin Feiran had some limits to what he could say to normal people, and had to beat around the bush. “I read a novel once that mentioned an infant’s spirit possessing a grown person. It seems similar to Wang Zhuo’s current situation.”
“Possessing?” He Hao raised an eyebrow, expression grave.
He Hao did not believe in such things, but the events that were happening before his eyes made it impossible for him not to believe it.
There was really no other explanation for Wang Zhuo’s current behavior.
“In that novel…” Lin Feiran started inventing a story. “The spirits of infants don’t hurt people. They just want to experience the world they didn’t get a chance to experience. They don’t have any ill intentions. To reverse the possession, one just needs to fulfil the infant’s wishes.” A pause, then Lin Feiran emphasized, “Ahem – this is all from a novel, but I think there’s some sense to it. Wasn’t there a rumor that our school used to be a graveyard? It’s possible several infants were buried here. And you were summoning pen spirits last night…”
“If I’d known, I wouldn’t have played those silly games with him.” He Hao rubbed his forehead, overwhelmed. He put the big baby in his lap back on the bed. The moment he got up, Wang Zhuo started crying even more heartrendingly. He Hao shouted, “I’ll go downstairs and buy him some milk.”
If he did not stop crying, the dorm supervisoreven the building superintendent might come to see what was going on.
He Hao went downstairs to get milk.
Once Baby Wang’s guardian left, Gu Kaifeng showed his fierce side. His expression went dark and he growled, “Stop crying, damn it!”
Wang Zhuo was frightened. He blinked his teary eyes, trembling as he looked at the scary big brother. He was clearly about to burst into tears again.
Gu Kaifeng glared and said fiercely, “If you cry again, I’ll hit you.”
Wang Zhuo was silent for a moment, then he took a deep breath, and opened his mouth so wide to scream, he could have swallowed the sun and moon!
Gu Kaifeng’s expression went even darker. “You’re still crying?!”
Lin Feiran: “……”
It was fortunate Gu Kaifeng would never have children! The way he educated them was really too brutal!
“RanRan, something’s not right.” Gu Kaifeng tamped down on his impulse to hit someone and watched Wang Zhuo crawl back and forth on his hands and knees. “Isn’t Wang Zhuo’s spirit in his body too? Why is that little monster the one in charge?”
Lin Feiran pulled Wang Zhuo away from an electrical socket and said gently, “Don’t touch that. It’s dangerous.”
Wang Zhuo obediently retracted his hand. Lin Feiran guessed, “Maybe it’s because the infant has wishes we haven’t fulfilled, and his desires are too strong, so Wang Zhuo’s spirit couldn’t overcome it? He was crying so loudly because he was hungry. He won’t stop until he gets what he wants to eat.”
“That’s possible.” Gu Kaifeng nodded, convinced.
Wang Zhuo crawled to the study desk again. He looked up and caught hold of one of He Hao’s reference books, flipping it open quickly and tearing two pages out. Then he started laughing, an innocent ‘ga ga ga’.
“Don’t tear those!” Lin Feiran went over to take the book and Wang Zhuo started crying again.
He Hao, opening the door with milk in hand, was just in time to see this. He put one hand to his head and said, “Let him tear it. I’ll buy another one.”
Lin Feiran: “……”
Fortunately He Hao would also probably never have kids. The way he educated kids was really too indulgent…
Baby Wang, now backed up by his papa, sat contentedly on the ground ripping up the book. He Hao cut one corner of the milk bag open and pushed the opening to Wang Zhuo’s mouth. “Drink up.”
Wang Zhuo had been possessed by an infant, but his body had not changed. He still needed as much food as a seventeen-year-old-boy, and he finished off the five bags of milk He Hao had bought in an instant.
“Full?” He Hao asked.
Wang Zhuo burped happily, eyes crinkling in a smile. He looked at He Hao and called out sweetly, “Papa.”
He Hao: “……”
As he finished speaking, his expression changed.
Although his eyes were open, he seemed to have been jolted awake from a dream, and that innocent expression instantly disappeared from his face.
“Damn it, Ritian, what a dream I had!” Wang Zhuo blinked furiously and mopped at his face, eyes bulging. He glanced around in fright. “I…”
The words he had not said now stuck in his throat.
He glanced around and noticed the messy dorm room, the concerned gazes of the three people around him, and his bloated stomach. All of these things were perfectly in line with his ‘dream’.
He Hao cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Do you remember what happened just now?”
Wang Zhuo seemed to remember something, his face flushing red. He exhaled hard and said, “Ah.”
Seeing him flush, He Hao went red too, and whispered, “What happened just now wasn’t a dream.”
Wang Zhuo was so shocked he burped twice more. “Uh, what happened? I really started crying and asking for milk? You’re joking, right?”
“You did,” He Hao said gravely. “Don’t be afraid but I have to tell you… you seemed to have been possessed by a baby.”
Wang Zhuo cursed softly and turned to look at his back.
“What happened?” Lin Feiran astutely noticed his movement.
Wang Zhuo recounted what had happened in his half-awake, half-dreaming state. With this account, the conclusion that he had been possessed by an infant was now almost definitely true.
“Damn it. Did the little monster really leave? He’s not still on my back, is he?” Wang Zhuo had some remaining doubts, and occasionally turned to glance at his back. “What was it doing possessing me anyway? Just to drink some milk? That can’t be all.”
“……” Lin Feiran started to speak, then stopped. Firstly because he was not sure how to say it, and secondly out of fear he’d frighten Wang Zhuo.
If the infant’s spirit had really left, Lin Feiran who had had his Yin-Yang eyes open the whole time would have seen the infant’s spirit leave Wang Zhuo’s body. But he had not seen it, which meant the infant’s spirit was still in Wang Zhuo’s body. It had probably subsided after having a wish fulfilled, and who knew when it would emerge again.
“Don’t celebrate too early,” Gu Kaifeng reminded. “The baby went to the trouble of possessing someone. It probably won’t be chased away so easily. Be careful.”
Wang Zhuo wore a terrible expression, scratching at his back from time to time like a monkey, as if not wanting the little monster to have a place to hide.
As the first afternoon class period was about to start, Lin Feiran advised Wang Zhuo and He Hao to fulfil any requests the infant’s spirit had as quickly as possible. Once the infant’s desires were fulfilled, it would leave his body.
“It’s all written in the novel,” Lin Feiran emphasized again.
He was concealing things very well!
After Lin Feiran and Gu Kaifeng left, the atmosphere in the dorm room became more ambiguous.
He Hao and Wang Zhuo’s eyes met, then immediately averted their eyes.
He Hao pursed his lips and asked, “Are your fever and stomach ache both better?”
“Much better,” Wang Zhuo answered shortly.
At the same time, both remembered He Hao rocking Wang Zhuo in his lap. He Hao did not outwardly show anything, but his expression seemed to hold a wicked smile, making Wang Zhuo so frustrated he ground his teeth. Silence reigned briefly in the dorm, then He Hao said, “This weekend, let’s go find someone who understands this stuff and ask them about it.”
“Where would we find someone like that?” Wang Zhuo narrowed his eyes, observing He Hao’s expression.
He Hao was completely serious. “I remember there was a temple on Ling Yun Mountain. My grandma went to offer incense there last year. It’s the closest temple to here, so let’s go and take a look.”
“We’ll see. Maybe that little monster has already left.” Wang Zhuo said dismissively as he lay down on the bed, head pillowed on his hands. Then he met He Hao’s suggestive gaze, and a string stretched taut in Wang Zhuo’s mind suddenly snapped!