"Uncle, I know that you can save Erdan. Please don't hide anything anymore. If you have any difficulties, I'm willing to learn from you!" I was almost ready to kneel down and beg.
"Xiaofan, the situation at Lin Family Village is very complicated. I've told you many times that I'm not a deity. I'm not joking about that. There are things that I truly don't know how to tell you, and I have my reasons for hiding them. You should understand," Uncle replied.
"I understand, but I'm only asking you to save a person's life. Besides, how deeply complicated can the situation be in a simple, ordinary village like Lin Family Village?" I nodded, but in my heart, I also felt that Uncle was exaggerating the situation.
"You won't understand. Let's talk about Lin Erdan's situation. If I told you that if he truly perished, it would be because of you. You would be the real killer, do you believe me?" Uncle looked at me seriously.
"Uncle, I'm not joking!" When he said that, I felt a shiver of fear run through me.
"I'm not joking either, but this is not your fault. Even if I tried to intervene, I wouldn't be able to do any better than what you did yesterday. But Erdan's soul has been completely expelled from his body by your Grandpa San. When a person is possessed, the ghost only occupies one part of the body, but Erdan's possession was different. His entire soul was driven out of his body," Uncle explained.
"What does that mean? Is it the reason for Erdan's misfortune?" I couldn't understand everything he was saying, but I still felt that Erdan was truly suffering.
"It's related to the issue at Lin Family Village. Perhaps it's related to other issues as well. I'm not sure. So, if you want to deal with Erdan's possession, it's doable, very simple. Your approach was very appropriate. However, what about after curing him? Erdan would become a living dead. So, would his death also be your responsibility? But if you don't save him, he will still die," Uncle said.
"I just want to know if there's a way to save him now," I asked Uncle. What he said was too mystical, and I couldn't understand it at all. I even thought he was deliberately telling me things that I couldn't understand to evade my questions.
"There is a way, but it's very difficult," Uncle replied.
"Tell me!" I demanded.
"We need to call back Erdan's soul. Right now, he's just an empty shell. Only by bringing his soul back can we save him," Uncle explained.
I was speechless. Calling back his soul? Was this some kind of Hong Kong or Taiwanese horror movie? However, now I had no choice but to believe Uncle's words.
"How do we do that?" I asked.
Uncle looked at me for a moment and then shook his head. "It's very difficult. Let's wait and see. We have seven days left. If Erdan doesn't return before the seventh night, he will never return."
"I'll arrange it, so don't worry. Also, remember, tomorrow night is your grandfather's seventh day. The eternal flame has extinguished. Will he return? It's still uncertain," Uncle informed me.
"Uncle, you've come to our house. I won't ask about the secrets at this time, but I just want to know, what kind of person are you?" I asked Uncle.
"I am a Yin and Yang Master, someone who bridges the gap between Yin and Yang," Uncle said. As he spoke, I focused on his eyes and felt a fleeting trace of sadness.
"Yin and Yang Master? Like Mr. Xu?" I asked. I used to be obsessed with these kinds of novels when I was in school, and I had heard about Taoists, Yin and Yang Masters, and sorcerers. Yet I always found it difficult to distinguish them. But here, Uncle straightforwardly called himself a Yin and Yang Master, which had a bit of a Japanese feel to it.
"They're different, all very different. Let's go, Xiaofan. Everything needs to be talked over slowly. The situation is not as simple as you think," Uncle said.
"Uncle, wait a minute. Although I don't know what a Yin and Yang Master is, can I ask if you could take me as your disciple?" I hesitated and asked. It was clear that Uncle was a very capable person. Although it might seem inappropriate for a young man like me, a university student and a reserve member of the People's Teacher Second-tier Reserve Corps, to learn about feudal superstitions, in this age and time, people only ridiculed you for being poor and powerless. I thought of Yin and Yang Master Xu Lin who could perform religious rituals in Shanghai. So, mastering an ability that others lacked was basically a great path to success.
After I asked Uncle, I anxiously watched for his response. After hearing me, he smiled slightly and looked at me. After a while, he said, "You? Do you think anyone can just become a Yin and Yang Master?"
"Why can't I?" I asked stubbornly.
"Let's talk about this later. Go back for now," Uncle said.
After returning home, my father was still repairing farm tools. When he saw us return, he asked, "How's Erdan? I feel embarrassed to face them because of this issue."
"It should be nothing serious. He's been taken to the hospital now. Dad, trust in science. Don't always assume the worst about everything. Aren't you tired?" I said to him. After I finished speaking, I saw that my father's expression wasn't great, and there seemed to be a faint black line on his forehead. Thinking about how he had gone to the ancestral hall and desperately fought against the red-clothed female ghost inside the red coffin, I couldn't help but worry.
"Dad, are you okay?" I asked.
"What could happen to me?" he retorted.
"Oh, nothing, dad. Let's talk in private." I dragged him to the side and asked, "What exactly did you do at the ancestral hall late last night? Seriously, if you have something to deal with, can you talk to me? If something happens to you, how can I explain it to Grandma?"
"I opened the coffin in the dark and saw a black fog. After that, I don't know anything," my father said with a hint of embarrassment.
Instantly, I understood. The red coffin contained a female ghost. The romantic experiences I had in the ancestral hall were likely experienced by my father as well, or else how could he be too embarrassed to tell me? Realizing this, I didn't ask further questions. Originally, I wanted to tidy up at home and then go to the hospital to see Lin Erdan. But considering the eccentric mother-daughter pair at the town hospital and the fact that tomorrow was my grandfather's seventh day, I dismissed the idea for now.
Uncle said he would arrange things for Lin Erdan, so everything should be fine. He was a trustworthy person. After having dinner, I, a teacher who had been on strike almost every day, neglecting my students' learning, which was the most inappropriate thing to do, went from house to house checking and assigning homework. After completing this, the light had already faded, and exhausted, I lay down and quickly fell asleep. In the middle of the night, I suddenly felt something patting my face and calling my name, "Xiaofan?"
Recently, these monsters and demons running amok really make me feel a bit jittery. It's like someone calling me in the middle of the night, as if my grandfather miscalculated the date and came back one day early. It scared me so much that I woke up from sound sleep and saw a familiar figure by my bed - not my grandfather, but my second uncle.
"Uncle, what are you doing at this hour? You scared me to death!" I said, patting my chest.
"Is this all the courage you have? And you want to be a Taoist practitioner?" my uncle said, breaking into a rare smile.
"Just because I have no abilities yet, can you blame me for being scared?" I replied.
My uncle motioned for me to come closer and sit, but when I tried to turn on the light, he stopped me, saying, "Your grandma is a light sleeper, so I only have this time to talk to you."
I approached him and found a cigarette by the bedside, offering him one, but he refused. I lit one to clear my head, and after a few puffs, my uncle asked, "Xiaofan, I feel that your grandfather has some issues."
I was so shocked that I almost spat out blood. Isn't that an obvious statement? If there were no issues, he wouldn't come to my bedside every week. He's truly a doting grandfather; who would dare say he's not? When he misses me, he comes to keep me company in the middle of the night.
"I know what you're thinking. I'm not talking about that. Have you noticed that every time your grandfather fakes his death, he's eerily calm?" my uncle asked.
"That's true. Initially, my grandfather was quite upright. How could he bear to harm Lin Er while my third uncle, relatively speaking, was so kind to come back and visit me? That's too merciful."
"Yes, not only did he not harm you, but he hasn't harmed anyone either," my uncle said.
"So, what are you trying to say?" I was getting impatient, why would he be analyzing this with me at such a late hour? Who doesn't get annoyed at times?
"I'm trying to say that your grandfather is different from your third uncle. Have you ever thought about why he's different? Your third uncle changed after death, why didn't your grandfather?" my uncle asked in the darkness.
"You're an expert in Taoism, why are you asking me?" I said. It was clearly a suspenseful setup.
"Do you remember what the fortune-teller in the village said when your grandfather first started causing trouble? He said your grandfather had killed many people in battle during his lifetime, and the spirits sought revenge after he passed. In reality, this is nonsense. It's actually quite the opposite. Your grandfather's military background gave him a special aura, and the killing imbued him with malevolent energy, making him untouchable by spirits. So, I believe your grandfather didn't change like your third uncle did because of his military service; his soul remained unchanged," my uncle explained.
"But I still don't understand what you're trying to say," I yawned.
"Your grandfather, he isn't faking his death. A person who fakes death wouldn't have any intelligence; they'd just be a walking corpse and would harm people. Perhaps you can understand it as, after death, your third uncle isn't the same person he was in life, but your grandfather is still your grandfather. He's come to speak with you," my uncle said softly.
"If all goes as expected, he'll come back tomorrow. You can try to communicate with him then," my uncle said.
His words gave me goosebumps.
"You're not joking, are you?" I asked.
He handed me a copper coin with worn-out patterns and said, "Don't be afraid. If your grandfather meant you harm, you'd be gone by now. Hold onto this coin, and I'll come if anything happens."
I played with the coin in my hand and watched as my uncle left. I couldn't tell if it was because I had slept or for some other reason, but something about all of this didn't feel quite right. It seemed like my uncle's recent change was a bit drastic, and the way he spoke was clearly meant for tomorrow; there was no need to make it all mysterious in the middle of the night.
But having this coin did give me a sense of security. I couldn't help but feel like a character from a movie or novel. At least now, I was someone who possessed a powerful weapon to fend off evil spirits!
The next day, my uncle was back to his usual self, as if he hadn't come to see me the night before. After breakfast, my father approached me to discuss enclosing the ancestral hall. It used to be a sacred place in our village, but now it's almost becoming taboo, mainly because there was no one managing it after my third uncle passed away. People's interest in these matters has been diminishing. If my third uncle were still alive, who would dare disturb it? Thinking about this, I couldn't help but miss my third uncle and the straightforward fearlessness of our older generation. Even though they knew my grandfather was faking his death, they still dared to keep vigil at the ancestral graves.
"Conscience clear, what is there to fear from the spirits?" they'd say.
Today, I couldn't go to the hospital because it was my grandfather's sixth and seventh days since his passing, and I needed to go to the gravesite to pay my respects. After finishing these tasks, villagers kept coming by, asking about Lin Er's situation. In their minds, I was now in the same position as Xu Lin, and some even asked if I had become Xu Lin's apprentice because of some special bone structure. Of course, there were also inquiries about the ancestral hall, about which I just reassured them, saying everything was fine, and this was all to fulfill my third uncle's wish.
Once everything was settled, in the afternoon my father and uncle and I set out to rebuild the new gate that Xu Lin had commanded to be torn down. Seeing the tightly sealed doors of the ancestral hall during the daytime was so calm. It was hard to believe that inside, a strong and powerful spirit was trapped using peach wood branches.
One thing I couldn't understand was that inside our ancestral hall were the spirits of our ancestors. If the world truly had spirits, wouldn't they all exist equally? It couldn't be that when someone died, they just became a spirit, and when someone else died, they just decayed. How could the spirits of our ancestors, so many of them, not be able to handle a female spirit in red clothes?
Once all this was done, the sky turned dark. Time really flew by quickly. Even though I had awaited and feared the events of the night, people who claimed that they weren't scared of their own grandfathers didn't truly understand. Fear of the dead and the unknown was a fundamental part of human nature.
After dinner, my uncle snuck into my room and scattered a handful of rice under my bed. He told me, "I'll be under your bed tonight. Whatever happens, don't be afraid."
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier? I've been scared all day. And what's with scattering the rice?" I asked.
He smiled and said, "It blocks the sunlight. Your grandfather won't feel comfortable with two people in the room, and so won't come in."
Regardless, having my uncle under my bed gave me a lot of confidence. At least, I wasn't so frightened. Then, around ten o'clock, my uncle did indeed appear in my room and slipped under my bed. We chatted, but he didn't promise anything. He simply said that when my grandfather arrived later, I shouldn't make any noise.
I agreed, and two grown men then shared a room in complete silence. Despite having my uncle with me, surprisingly, I fell asleep in that environment. But then I had a dream.
It was a strange dream. In it, I was surrounded by mist and couldn't see anything clearly. It was just me, stranded in a white fog. The feeling was quite distressing; I was completely alone, with no one around.
"Where am I?" I called out to no response.
Suddenly, it started raining heavily, and the rain was all blood-red. The rain drove away the mist, revealing that I was standing on a cloud, and below the cloud was the Lin family estate. The estate was in ruins, with dead bodies everywhere, a scene of devastation. I was frantic, wanting to come down from the cloud to check on them, but I couldn't. It seemed like I had no control over my own body's movements.
"This is just a dream! When I wake up, it will all be gone!" I reassured myself in the dream, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't wake up from this dream.
I felt the weight of an evil spirit pressing down on me. I had experienced this before, but the previous time, I only saw the face of an unknown person, and it was nothing compared to this. This time, I saw the catastrophe of the Lin family estate.
There was nothing after that. This nightmare state wouldn't last long. I finally woke up because my uncle was kicking the coffin under the bed with his foot.
"Don't make a sound! Your grandfather has returned!" I opened my eyes, happy that I had finally escaped from that horrifying state, only to be fully awakened by his words!
I looked up and saw that the door, which had been closed, was now open. Standing at the doorway was a person dressed in a greenish-blue shroud, their face not visible in the moonlight, only a frail figure. Who could it be if not my grandfather?!
My mouth went dry, and all the previous comforting words turned into fear. I even wanted to pull my uncle out from under the bed, but this person seemed completely unfazed, not even making a sound.
"Grandfather..." I trembled as I called out.
The figure at the door seemed to hear me and turned to look at me before stepping toward me.
I retreated step by step on the bed, until there was no way to retreat at the wall.
Grandpa's way of walking wasn't the stiff, jumping-around zombie-like gait seen on television; it was just like the way he lived, walking exceptionally calmly and composed, without speaking, and he walked straight to the side of my bed and lay down.
After that, he closed his eyes, lying on my bed as if he were sleeping.
As I got closer, I could see his face clearly, he was no longer a living person, his whole face had turned a bluish-gray color, I just couldn't understand why, after such a long time, there were no signs of decay on his body, just that morbid bluish-gray color.
His body had already stiffened, with one arm lifted stiffly in the air, making repetitive gestures.
What was Grandpa doing? I was so scared I almost wet myself. How could I even think straight?
"Grandpa?" I called out again. He still didn't respond to me, just lying there, rhythmically moving a hand in the air.
"Second uncle, come out quickly!" I shouted. But second uncle was as motionless as if he were dead under the bed!
This is asking me to find out what happened to Grandpa? This is simply trying to confuse me!
I forcibly suppressed my own fear; up to now, I couldn't even distinguish what kind of state my grandpa was in. If it weren't for the fact that he was my real grandpa, I would definitely go out and find a colorful rooster, and spray blood on his face!
No, Grandpa's constantly moving arm was rhythmic, he was constantly writing a word!!
Grandpa really came back to convey a message to me, but he was already dead. I didn't know what kind of force prompted him to come back, just to tell me a single word.
His arm was waving in the air and I couldn't see it, so I could only use my hand on the wall to write along the trajectory of his arm on the bed.
It turned out to be the word "escape"!!
Each time Grandpa's body returned, he should have repeated this action, he was just conveying a message to me, that is, to escape.
I don't know why, but at this moment, seeing Grandpa lying stiff on the bed, I suddenly didn't feel so scared, he was just a grandpa who came back to tell his grandson to leave.
I knelt to him and kowtowed, saying, "Grandpa, I understand, I will escape, you can rest assured."
After I said these words, Grandpa's still moving arm actually stopped, then he stood up and slowly walked away, very peacefully.