Chapter 10: New Clothes

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“Dahu’s father, gather some firewood—half damp and half dry—and come with me.” Grandma carried the straw effigy toward the back hills.

There was a taboo surrounding the back hills in our village. Everyone said that ghosts roamed there at night. After what Grandma was about to do today, I was certain no one would dare go there again.

Grandpa carried me home. From the garden behind Grandma’s house, we had a clear view of the back hills, and many villagers had gathered to watch the spectacle.

I saw Grandma light the firewood around Dahu’s grandmother’s grave. Before long, smoke began to billow. Holding the straw figure, Grandma walked once around the grave, then returned to Dahu’s house.

As soon as she entered, Grandma began weighing the straw figure. She nodded and said, “It’s seven-tenths of a pound over. That will do.”

She began chanting incantations, lit yellow paper, and offered incense to the Kitchen God.

“Dahu’s father, start calling Dahu’s name as loudly as you can.”

Grandma sat to one side, smoking her long-stemmed pipe while Grandpa supported her.

Before long, Dahu was roused from his sleep by the shouting. His senses returned, and he kept calling out, “Hungry.”

The villagers erupted, marveling at the miracle. They looked at Grandma with an entirely new respect.

When we returned home, Grandma seemed extremely weak. Her face was pale as she lay down, and Grandpa brought her a bowl of brown-sugar water.

Grandpa told me that while I was fighting the little girl and the others, Grandma had constantly been infusing my God-Striking Whip with spiritual power.

Only then did I realize the truth. The last time I had used the God-Striking Whip several times, its red glow had quickly dimmed. Yet this time, even after wielding it for so long, it remained full of power. It turned out that Grandma had been strengthening it for me all along.

Looking at Grandma’s face, which seemed to have aged several years, I felt deeply upset. I gazed at her and asked, “Grandma, when will I become as powerful as you?”

Grandma smiled and said gently, “Fangyuan, your body is still too weak. But you can begin studying first. Once you undergo your spirit-medium initiation, you can slowly gain experience.”

Then Grandma took out a notebook and handed it to me.

“Your great-grandfather prepared this for you in advance. Your path of cultivation is different from mine. From now on, you’ll have to rely on yourself.”

I accepted the notebook. Grandma lovingly stroked my head and said, “If the stone breaks, you must hurry home. You won’t be able to withstand it on your own.”

“Third Aunt! Third Aunt, please save us!”

Urgent cries rang out from the courtyard again.

I sat on the brick bed and stared in astonishment through the window. Er Leng’s mother came rushing into Grandma’s house as if she had gone mad.

“Third Aunt, something terrible has happened. Something’s happened to Er Leng too.” Er Leng’s mother was crying so hard that mucus ran from her nose.

“Get up, Er Leng’s mother. Don’t carry on like this.”

Grandma reached out and pulled Er Leng’s mother to her feet.

“His third uncle just said that Er Leng was possessed and went toward the back hills. They couldn’t hold him back. Third Aunt, please think of a way to save him!”

Grandma’s brows knitted together, and her expression grew grim. Still, she began searching for her shoes so she could get off the bed.

“Cuihua, your health…”

“I’m fine, dear. I’ll go take a look.”

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I immediately climbed down and put Grandma’s shoes on for her while Er Leng’s mother sobbed nearby.

“Er Leng’s mother, you’re only his stepmother, yet you’re this anxious over him. That isn’t easy.”

As Grandma spoke, she stepped down from the bed. The moment she stood, her body swayed.

“Cuihua!”

Grandma caught hold of the edge of the brick bed and managed not to fall.

“Dear, help me up. We have to go see him. We can’t delay.”

“Ah! What a calamity.”

Grandpa scooped Grandma up in his arms and carried her outside.

I snatched Grandma’s King Wen drum from the brick bed and followed them.

“Grandma, your drum!”

“You take it. We probably won’t need it,” Grandma said weakly.

When we reached Er Leng’s house, Grandma entered the room and instantly seemed like a different person. Standing firmly on the floor, she said, “Everyone out.”

The moment she opened her mouth, everyone in the room had already hurried outside.

“Er Leng’s mother, do you still have the clothes Er Leng wore today?”

“Yes, yes. He went out wearing only one shoe.”

Er Leng’s mother immediately retrieved a shoe from beneath the edge of the brick bed.

“Now bring me three sticks of incense.”

Grandma’s voice was very low. I could tell she was not speaking softly on purpose; she simply lacked the strength.

“Write down Er Leng’s Eight Characters.”

As she spoke, Grandma took a sheet of yellow paper from her pocket.

Er Leng’s mother froze, then immediately turned toward the middle-aged man squatting in the outer room.

“Er Leng’s father, hurry over here. Quickly write down Er Leng’s Eight Characters.”

The middle-aged man lifted his head and stared blankly into the room.

“What are you staring at? Third Aunt is calling you!”

The person beside him hauled him to his feet and shoved him into the room.

The middle-aged man stood dazed for a moment, then immediately began writing.

Grandma picked up the yellow paper once he had finished and folded it into a tiny human figure.

Grandpa then said, “Put some grain in a basin. And bring a bowl filled with well water.”

The grain and water were soon brought over. Grandpa placed the incense sticks in the basin of grain, then set the bowl beneath them. Grandma put the folded paper figure into the bowl.

She began lighting the incense and murmuring under her breath. Grandma was so weak that even standing beside her, I could barely make out what she was saying.

Strangely, before a minute had passed, the ash at the tips of the incense sticks fell onto the paper figure, which trembled.

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Slowly, the paper figure began to spin. At last, its head pointed toward the door.

“Follow the direction of the figure’s head,” Grandma said weakly.

Grandpa lifted Grandma into his arms.

“Carry the basin. Don’t spill the water.”

Everyone filed outside. Following the figure’s direction, we made our way to the back hills. Not a single person dared make a sound.

“That direction looks like Er Leng’s mother’s graveyard,” someone whispered from within the crowd.

“Yes, it does. I think that’s it. I came here that day too—it’s over there, in that direction.”

The man had only just raised his hand when Grandpa barked, “Shut up, all of you! Once we’re here, you are forbidden to point at anything with your hands.”

After Grandpa spoke, everyone behind him immediately fell silent.

By the light of the flashlight, I saw a dark figure kneeling and crouching before one of the mounds in the ring of graves. It did not move at all.

“There!” someone cried.

His hand had only risen halfway before he quickly lowered it again, looking around in panic.

“Er Leng, what happened to you?”

Er Leng’s mother recognized him at once and ran toward him.

“Don’t touch Er Leng!” Grandpa shouted.

Hearing Grandpa’s warning, Er Leng’s mother tried to stop, but she could not catch herself and fell heavily to the ground.

Everyone stood dumbfounded. Er Leng was kneeling motionless before the earthen mound.

“Fangyuan, go pull Er Leng back. Tell him it’s time to go home.”

When I heard Grandma’s voice, I immediately went over and tugged at Er Leng’s arm.

“Er Leng, it’s time to go home.”

When he showed no response, I pulled harder and called out even louder, “Er Leng, it’s time to go home!”

Er Leng opened his eyes groggily, as if he had just woken from a deep sleep.

“Fangyuan, once my mother finishes making my clothes, we’ll go out and play.”

Er Leng’s mother rushed forward, embraced him, and began to weep.

The next day, I heard the villagers saying, “Er Leng’s dead mother knew the weather was about to turn cold, so she flew back to make him a new set of clothes.”

Out of curiosity, the villagers searched through his pockets—and actually found a garment made of yellow paper.