Chapter 90: Three Sticks of Pure Incense

I stared in shock at the ground, now covered with the corpses of cicadas, densely scattered and emitting a burnt, foul stench. As the thick smoke in the air gradually dispersed, I was able to make out the two young men standing before me.

Hu Ji was grinning at us, waving cheerfully as we huddled by the bedside, trembling. Beside him stood a young man with a small moustache and a wide-brimmed hat, who also broke into a wide, mischievous grin.

“Damn, you nearly scared us to death! Hu Ji, why did it take you so long to get back?” I strode over and punched Hu Ji on the shoulder, shouting angrily.

He scratched his head and replied, “Well, I’m back now, right? And I brought a professional to help you out.”

It was only then that I took a close look at the strange man before me. Autumn had only just passed, and his wide-brimmed hat felt entirely out of place. The little moustache was almost comical—was he trying to look like Detective Kogoro Mouri?

I clasped my hands and bowed to the moustached man. “Hey, brother, words can’t express my thanks. May I ask your name?”

He burst out laughing, his accent thick and unmistakable. He clasped his hands in return and said, “No need for thanks! My name’s Ma, just like Little Ji here, I’m from the northeast.”

As he spoke, he picked up the jade cicada that had fallen to the ground and examined it carefully.

“Just as I thought,” he muttered.

Before I could ask, the fat man Lao Qian, looking displeased, stepped forward to snatch the jade cicada away.

“Hey, the problem’s solved now. Shouldn’t you return the cicada to me?”

This idiot—still greedy after all that’s happened. He really had no fear of death. The moustached man shot him a sidelong glance, but with a generous gesture, opened his palm to reveal the cicada. That’s when we saw that the jade cicada had already cracked, the golden threads and blood-red spots within it completely vanished.

Seeing that Ma wasn’t going to fight him for it, Lao Qian eagerly stretched out his pudgy hand to take the pendant.

“But I can’t promise the monster’s truly gone,” Ma warned suddenly, his cheerful demeanor vanishing, eyes narrowing as he stared at Lao Qian’s outstretched hand. “If you take it home and run into something unclean again, you can’t blame anyone else.”

Lao Qian froze mid-reach, his hands suddenly uncertain.

Standing beside me, Lao Liao clicked his tongue in admiration. “See? That’s a newcomer in the northeast’s yin business for you—bold as a young bull, fearless and commanding. Not like you, always placating your clients. In our line of work, who doesn’t expect to be treated like a lord?”

His words made my face burn with embarrassment. There was no way to argue—my own shortcomings were painfully clear to me, and this was the thing that troubled me most.

Though Lao Qian was greedy, he clearly understood the value of patience and restraint, and eventually withdrew his hand.

“Hey! The strange thing on my arm is gone!” Lao Qian suddenly cried out, and we realized the hard, shell-like growth on his arm had completely disappeared.

I nodded at Hu Ji, then, taking Lao Liao with me, headed for the exit.

“Hey, are you sure I’m really all right now?” Lao Qian called after us, still shaken by the bizarre events.

Ma, walking in front, didn’t even turn around. With a practiced flick, he tossed a roll of talisman papers over his shoulder.

“Stick those on the four corners of the crematorium wall. Within three days, this whole business will be finished.”

With that, he led us out of the crematorium. As I glanced back, I saw Lao Qian staring blankly at the talisman papers in his hands, and I finally felt at ease.

“Where are we headed?” I asked Hu Ji as we sat in the car.

“Where else? To eat, of course! Let’s find a food stall and I’ll introduce you to my brother Ma here.”

Hu Ji clearly admired Ma greatly, talking him up so much that Ma himself started to look embarrassed.

“It’s nothing, really, just a bit of a reputation thanks to the brothers in the business,” Ma said modestly, waving his hand.

“What about Xiao Li and Huzi? We don’t even know if they’ve recovered yet,” I asked, thinking of our two innocent friends still hospitalized, my heart anxious.

“Don’t worry. As soon as things were settled, I called them. The hospital’s already ruled out infectious disease, though they’ll need to stay under observation for three more days. They won’t be discharged yet, but sneaking out for a meal shouldn’t be a problem.”

Hu Ji always got things done—reliable as ever!

With Xiao Li and Huzi joining us, the six of us sat around the low, round table at the food stall. In no time, plates piled high with all kinds of grilled skewers were being brought out, one after another.

Ma didn’t stand on ceremony, grabbing several lamb skewers and tearing the meat off the sizzling skewers with gusto, barely noticing the hot dripping fat.

Goodness, he looked ready to spark fire off the metal skewers!

On the other side, Huzi was equally exaggerated, the two of them devouring the food in a fierce competition, sweeping everything from the table into their mouths.

Seeing this, the rest of us dove in as well, eating ravenously. In the blink of an eye, the table was a complete mess.

Huzi let out a loud, satisfied burp, lifted a bottle of beer, and declared, “When I found that weird thing on my hand had vanished, I knew it was thanks to all of you. Guys like me don’t know how to talk fancy—it’s all in the drinks! This meal’s on me. If you ever need a hand, just say the word!”

“Straightforward! I’ll drink with you!” Ma also raised a bottle, clinking it against Huzi’s, and the two began chugging down their beers with gusto.

With food and drink in our bellies, everyone was in high spirits. Lao Liao said, “Brother, are you really from the famous Ma family of the northeast?”

Ma, a little tipsy and his face flushed, grinned sheepishly and waved his hand. “It’s all just reputation, nothing more. You flatter me.”

I turned to Lao Liao and asked, “What’s the Ma family in the northeast?”

Lao Liao shot me a look of disdain and explained, “The Ma family—along with the Hu family, who protect the household spirits—are among the most renowned yin practitioners in the northeast. Their origins go back to ancient shamanistic traditions…”

His explanation was detailed, but to sum up: families like Hu Ji’s, with surnames like Hu, Huang, Bai, Liu, and Hui, are known for worshipping household guardian spirits. They have pacts with these spirits, granting them their abilities—in plain terms, they’ve made agreements with supernatural beings to borrow their power.

But the Ma family is different. They don’t have a fixed guardian; instead, they inherit secret yin arts, allowing them to invite deities into their bodies or borrow power to vanquish evil. Legends about their abilities are even more mysterious and formidable.

Though yin practitioners in the northeast are diverse, the balance among these families keeps things stable, with business divided evenly, forming cohesive groups. Of course, this also has to do with the boldness and loyalty typical of northeasterners.

At this point, Ma dug three incense sticks from his bag and handed them to us.

“These are the miraculous incense sticks you just used?” I asked.

Ma let out a burp and said proudly, “The Ma family of the northeast, driving out evil—one hearty meal, three sticks of incense.”

Lao Liao immediately gave a thumbs up. “The Ma family truly has remarkable skills and spirit!”