Chapter 22

There are no named entities aside from the generic terms "evil god", "normal child", and "fool".

The nickname Pangzi (meaning "Fatty") is included in the glossary.

I stepped forward and patted his shoulder, comforting him: "Pangzi, you don't need to be too sad; no matter whether we kill him or not, Xiaoyu's life soul has been eaten by him, the outcome won't change. Killing him would just be eliminating a harm for the people."

"Sigh..." Pangzi let out a weary sigh, sitting silently for a long time.

The names are rendered as Mei Gu, Uncle-in-law Ming, and Xiao Yu.

Seeing this scene, I also felt terrible. Staying here wouldn't help, so I got up ready to leave.

The names translate as Hai Sheng (glossary entry), Qiang Ge, and Meng Xue.

I don't know when, a fine drizzle started outside, as if also feeling sorrow for Xiaoyu.

However, when I took that umbrella from Mengxue, I froze, because according to my judgment, there was actually something hidden inside the umbrella.

While carefully feeling around, I became even more astonished, because inside the umbrella was actually a soul head.

Yes, it is a soul head; umbrellas can hide yin, and anyone who has heard the story of the female ghost causing a ruckus in Guangchanglong knows that umbrellas are a refuge for souls. If you open an umbrella in a place with especially heavy bad luck, you might very well invite unclean things back.

Could it be that Meigu had provoked unclean things outside? I opened the umbrella and looked, utterly stunned, but then came ecstatic joy, because the soul head inside the umbrella looked exactly like Xiaoyu. Startled, I quickly closed the umbrella and sealed Xiaoyu back inside.

"Pangzi, Pangzi, hurry and look—guess who I saw when I opened the umbrella…"

Pangzi shoved my hand away impatiently and said weakly, "How would I know who you saw?"

I grabbed his shoulder and shook it hard twice, exclaiming joyfully, "I just saw a soul head inside the umbrella that looks exactly like Xiaoyu."

"Holy shit, you're not serious, are you?" Pangzi jolted, snatched the umbrella and opened it. Upon opening, he also froze, because the soul head inside indeed looked exactly like Xiaoyu, without a doubt—it was Xiaoyu's lost life soul.

"Quickly close it, otherwise if the soul head drifts away we won't be able to find it." Since a life soul separated from the body has no consciousness, once it wanders far it might not return, so I hurriedly reminded Pangzi.

Pangzi is rendered as Pangzi; the pronoun "I" is not translated.

Xiao Yu translates to Xiao Yu; the term for a rat demon could be considered a named beast and is best translated as "Rat Spirit".

The term meaning "life soul" is generic.

The rat demon, in a dream, said it had taken a liking to Xiaoyu; it wanted Xiaoyu's complete soul, not just a life soul. So after hooking out Xiaoyu's life soul, it hid the life soul inside the umbrella, needing only to wait until Xiaoyu died, when the three souls would gather, and then it could possess a complete Xiaoyu. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but marvel at the rat demon's cunning; although it had only just opened its Spiritual Aperture not long ago, this level of intelligence already far surpassed… Pangzi.

Pangzi is always a blockhead, an optimist; he doesn't bother to wonder why Xiaoyu's soul head is still hidden in this umbrella. In short, as long as the life soul remains, knowing Xiaoyu can be saved is enough.

Seeing us jumping around again, Meigu's family didn't say anything, but their faces showed a bit of displeasure. After all, their daughter had been harmed by a spirit monster, yet you're happy as if it were your birthday—any ordinary person would have already chased you out with a broom.

Mei Gu, Uncle-in-law Ming, and Xiao Yu translate to Mei Gu, Uncle-in-law Ming, and Xiao Yu; the pronoun "I" is not translated; the term for "little Daoist" (a title for a young Daoist priest) is likely excluded as a generic form of address.

I nodded and said yes, then I told them: "As long as we summon a soul for Xiaoyu, letting her life soul return to her body, she will recover naturally. But you need to prepare a few things for us before we can summon the soul."

Mei Gu translates to Mei Gu and Uncle-in-law Ming translates to Uncle-in-law Ming.

I listed the needed items: "Yellow paper, cinnabar, brush, white cloth, bamboo pole, and guide rice."

In less than ten minutes, the two had prepared everything, after all it concerned their daughter's life, and both parents were extremely anxious.

Pangzi translates to Pangzi; Mei Gu translates to Mei Gu; the term for uncle-in-law likely refers to Uncle-in-law Ming, so we keep that as the named entity and do not add a separate entry.

I set the umbrella on the table, then placed Xiaoyu on the bed, and scattered the guide rice in two streams all the way to the umbrella's position.

Guide rice is usually used by spirit mediums to open the gates of the dead and guide spirits upward; it can also be used to summon souls, because guide rice is fundamentally for guiding souls.

Meng Xue translates to Meng Xue; Mei Gu translates to Mei Gu; the term for uncle-in-law translates to Uncle-in-law Ming.

Pangzi sat cross-legged, ready to chant the soul-summoning incantation; after everyone was ready, I snapped open the umbrella with a slap. Xiaoyu's life soul appeared in the room, visible only to me and Pangzi.

At this moment she wore a bewildered expression, wandering around the room.

Meng Xue translates to Meng Xue; the term for Mei's uncle-in-law translates to Uncle-in-law Mei; the term for Aunt Ming translates to Aunt Ming; Xiao Yu translates to Xiao Yu.

Daoist Sect translates to Daoist Sect (glossary entry); Soul-summoning Ritual translates to Soul-summoning Ritual (to be added); the word for rice is generic; the word for flag is generic; the word for person is generic; the term for blood relation is generic.

If I were using the Yinshan Sect's soul-summoning method, it would be much more convenient—just go to a temple, borrow spirit generals, and have them escort the life soul back. But for now I don't know where to find a temple, and Xiaoyu's soul is already in the room, so there's no need to go looking. However, a soul isn't like bread that you can just stuff in, so we chose this soul-summoning method.

At first, Xiaoyu was still bewildered, walking in circles in the room; with the shouts of the two close relatives, he entered the range of the guide rice, step by step walking toward his own flesh, seeing her distance to the physical body growing nearer, I and Pangzi both felt a bit excited.

The word for brush is generic; the word for cinnabar is generic; the word for forehead is generic.

cinnabar; calming the spirit and settling shock

When the soul head just entered the body, Xiaoyu's whole body trembled twice; after a while, she gradually calmed down. Seeing she seemed stable, I then loosened my grip on the cinnabar brush.

"All right, nothing's wrong..." I exhaled in relief and said to Meigu and Ming's father-in-law.

The two asked me suspiciously, "Really, nothing's wrong?"

Just as I was about to say it was fine, Xiaoyu lying on the bed burst into a loud wail, opened her eyes, and cried out "Mom" several times.

This frightened Meigu badly; she hurriedly hugged Xiaoyu into her arms. But at the same time I knew their hearts were settled—since she was crying, that meant everything was alright.

Xiao Yu; Pangzi; calming the spirit and settling shock

Mei Gu translates to Mei Gu; the term for uncle-in-law translates to Uncle-in-law Ming; the word for red envelope is generic.

Originally we didn't want it, but upon realizing it was karmic money, we took fifty pieces and returned the rest to Meigu.

For people in our line of work, what we fear most is getting tangled in karma—whether we owe others karma or they owe us, it's not something we like to see. So whenever we do favors for others or tell fortunes, they usually give us some incense-oil money out of courtesy, and we're happy to accept. This isn't greed; it's because that money is karmic money. After taking the money, karma is settled—no one owes anyone. We don't want too much from the poor, and we don't mind if the rich give little.

The rain outside grew heavier and heavier; it started as just a drizzle, but not long after it poured down. For a while we couldn't leave, and then Meigu insisted we stay for a meal, saying it was to thank us.

Helpless, we agreed to disturb Meigu for one night and leave the next day. But when Meigu prepared to take the suckling pig and other items from the altar to cook, our faces turned green and we almost wanted to vomit.

Why? Because those things had just been eaten by that rat demon. Although the rat demon only consumed the essence and qi of the meat, without actually biting it, the mere thought that the meat had been nibbled by a rat made us both feel weird, and we couldn't bring ourselves to eat it no matter what.

The term for Uncle-in-law Ming translates to Uncle-in-law Ming; the word for village head is generic.

Pangzi translates to Pangzi; the word for duck meat is generic; the word for beef is generic; the word for dog meat is generic; the word for yellow eel is generic; the word for water fish soup is generic.

The term for Great Emperor Huaguang translates to Great Emperor Huaguang (glossary entry); the phrase for duck and ox is generic; the term for Huaguang disciples is generic; the term for martial arts is generic; the term for scaleless fish is generic; the word for yellow eel is generic; the word for loach is generic; the word for dog meat is generic.

The word for duck leg is generic; the word for duck meat is generic; the word for suckling pig is generic; Pangzi translates to Pangzi; Mei Gu translates to Mei Gu; the term for Uncle-in-law Ming translates to Uncle-in-law Ming.

I said with a grin, "I just like eating duck; I have no appetite for anything else." Pangzi, forcing a smile from between his teeth, said, "Um… I've been dieting lately."

I almost couldn't hold it in; the duck meat I swallowed almost sprayed out... haha...