Chapter 294

Although we slew the evil god, nobody felt happy. A normal child had thus become an idiot; who could feel happy about that?

Pangzi crouched at the doorway, a look of utter dejection.

I stepped forward and patted his shoulder, comforting him: "Pangzi, don't take it too hard. Whether we slay him or not, Xiaoyu's life soul has been devoured by him; the outcome won't change. Killing him is just ridding the populace of a menace."

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

Aunt Mei and Uncle Ming held Xiaoyu, weeping bitterly; the whole house was filled with a sorrowful atmosphere.

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

"Brother Hai Sheng, Brother Qiang, it's raining; take the umbrellas so you don't get wet." Mengxue took out an umbrella and handed it to us two.

I don't know when, a fine drizzle began outside, as if also mourning for Xiaoyu.

However, just as I took that umbrella from Mengxue, I froze, for according to my judgment, the umbrella actually concealed something inside.

As I carefully felt around, I grew even more astonished, for inside the umbrella was a soul's head.

Yes, it was a soul's head; an umbrella can harbor yin, and anyone who has heard the tale of the female ghost wreaking havoc in Guangchanglong knows that an umbrella is a refuge for souls; if you open one in a place of especially heavy ill fortune, you may well summon unclean things back.

Could it be that Aunt Mei had summoned unclean things back outside? I opened the umbrella and looked; I was utterly stunned, but then came wild joy, for the soul's head inside the umbrella looked exactly like Xiaoyu. Startled, I hastily closed the umbrella and sealed Xiaoyu back inside it.

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

Pangzi shoved my hand away irritably, weakly saying, "How would I know who you saw?"

I grabbed his shoulder and shook it hard twice, exulting, "Just now I saw in the umbrella a soul's head identical to Xiaoyu."

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

"Quick, close it—if the soul's head drifts away we might never find it." Since a life soul separated from the body has no consciousness, once it wanders far it may not return, so I hurriedly reminded Pangzi.

Pangzi hastily closed the umbrella, then happily hugged me.

However, I too wondered, wasn't Xiaoyu's soul's head eaten by the rat spirit? How could it be hidden in the umbrella? After only a moment's doubt, I figured it out.

That rat spirit, in a dream, said it had taken a liking to Xiaoyu; it wanted her complete soul, not merely her life soul. So after drawing out Xiaoyu's life soul, it hid it in the umbrella, needing only to wait until Xiaoyu died, when the three souls would reunite, so it could possess a complete Xiaoyu. Thinking of this, I couldn't help marveling at the rat spirit's cunning; although it had only just opened its Spiritual Aperture not long ago, its intelligence already far surpassed Pangzi.

Pangzi is forever a blockhead, an optimist; he doesn't bother wondering why Xiaoyu's soul's head is still hidden in this umbrella. All that matters is that the life soul remains, and knowing Xiaoyu can still be saved is enough.

Seeing Aunt Mei's family jump about, though they said nothing, their faces showed a hint of displeasure. After all, their daughter had been harmed by a sprite, yet you're behaving as if it's your birthday; anyone else would have already chased you out with a broom.

Seeing their expressions grow stranger, I didn't dare hesitate, quickly telling them the truth. Upon hearing Xiaoyu could still be saved, they seized my hand, anxiously asking, "Little Daoist, are you telling the truth? Is my Xiaoyu still savable?"

I nodded and said yes, then 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 items for us to perform the summoning."

Aunt Mei and Uncle Ming replied in unison: "As long as you can save my daughter, we'll prepare whatever you need."

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

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

After the items were brought, Pangzi had Aunt Mei and Uncle Mei close all the doors, then Pangzi eagerly began drawing talismans and affixing them to the doors and windows, aiming to prevent the soul's head from wandering out of our sight.

I set the umbrella on the table, then placed Xiaoyu on the bed, and scattered the summoning rice in two trails leading to the umbrella's position.

Summoning rice is normally used by spirit mediums to open the gates of the dead and guide souls upward; it can also be used to summon souls, for it is inherently meant to attract souls.

I had Mengxue make a soul-summoning banner from white cloth and bamboo pole, and instructed Aunt Mei and Uncle Mei that when Mengxue waved the banner, they should shout Xiaoyu's name with all their might.

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

At that moment she wore a bewildered expression, wandering about the room.

Following my nod, Mengxue slowly waved the summoning banner, while Uncle Mei and Aunt Ming repeatedly wailed Xiaoyu's name.

This is the Daoist Sect's soul-summoning rite: the rice guides the way, the banner summons the soul, and kin calling the soul uses that blood‑thread link to beckon the bewildered life soul back to its master.

If I were using my Yin Mountain Sect's soul‑summoning method, it would be far simpler: go to a temple, borrow troops, and have them escort the life soul back. But I didn't know where to find a temple at the moment, and Xiaoyu's soul is already in the house, so there's no need to go looking. Yet a soul isn't like bread that you can just stuff in, so we chose this summoning method.

At first Xiaoyu remained bewildered, turning circles in the room; as the two closest kin called out, she entered the area of the summoning rice, step by step approaching her own body. Seeing her draw nearer to her flesh, I and Pangzi felt a stir of excitement.

Finally she returned unharmed to her own body. I quickly seized the brush, dipped it in cinnabar, and dotted it on her forehead.

Cinnabar has the effect of calming the spirit and allaying fright; I did this precisely to stabilize Xiaoyu's life soul that had just returned to her body, preventing it from departing again.

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

"All right, nothing's wrong..." I exhaled and said to Aunt Mei and Uncle Ming.

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

Just as I was about to affirm that all was well, Xiaoyu on the bed burst into a loud wail, opened her eyes, and cried out "Mom!" several times.

This frightened Aunt Mei, who hurriedly cradled Xiaoyu in her arms. But at the same time I knew their hearts were settled; crying meant everything was fine.

However, after losing a soul a child usually falls seriously ill; thus Xiaoyu's body is still very weak, so Pangzi wrote two prescriptions of calming spirit medicine, instructing Aunt Mei to fetch the herbs and give them to Xiaoyu.

After half a day, Xiaoyu gradually regained her composure. Aunt Mei and Uncle Mei entered the room and produced two large red envelopes, insisting we take them.

Originally we didn't want them, but realizing this was karmic money, we took fifty (units) and returned the rest to Aunt Mei.

For our line of work, what we fear most is karmic entanglement—whether we owe others karma or they owe us, it's not something we like to see. Thus whenever we do favors for others or tell fortunes, they usually offer us some incense‑oil money, which we gladly accept. This isn't greed; it's because that money is karmic settlement. Once we take it, the karmic ledger is cleared—no one owes anyone. We don't want the poor to give too much, nor do we mind if the rich give little.

Outside the rain grew heavier; it began as a few drizzles, then soon turned into a downpour. For a while we couldn't leave, and Aunt Mei insisted we stay for a meal to thank us.

With no alternative, we agreed to impose on Aunt Mei for one night and depart tomorrow. But when Aunt Mei prepared to use the suckling pig and other items from the altar to cook, our faces turned green and we nearly vomited.

Why? Because those things had just been eaten by that rat spirit. Although the rat spirit consumed only the meat's essence and didn't actually bite it, the mere thought that the meat had been gnawed by a rat made us feel queasy, and we couldn't bring ourselves to eat it.

Later, when Aunt Mei asked us why we weren't eating, we explained the reason. Uncle Ming burst out laughing, braved the rain to the village head, and packed a few side dishes to bring back.

When Uncle Ming opened those dishes, Pangzi was practically moved to tears. The dishes contained duck meat, beef, dog meat, yellow eel, and water fish soup.

Because the Great Emperor Huaguang was once saved by duck and ox, his disciples hold those two in high regard and avoid eating them. Moreover, after mastering martial arts one must not eat scaleless fish or turtle; doing so would break the martial law. Scaleless fish means fish lacking scales, such as yellow eel and mud loach. As for dog meat, it is practically taboo for cultivators.

I could still manage a couple of duck drumsticks and some duck meat, but Pangzi suffered; though his stomach growled with hunger, aside from the suckling pig that the rat had nibbled, there was nothing edible on the table. Yet in front of Aunt Mei and Uncle Ming, Pangzi couldn't act as freely as at home. He could only force a bitter face and shovel rice desperately. When Aunt Mei and Uncle Ming asked us about it, we feared Uncle Ming would dash out in the rain to buy more food, so we dared not speak the truth.

I chuckled and said I just like duck, have no appetite for anything else. Pangzi forced a grin from between his teeth: "Well, I've been dieting lately."

I nearly burst out laughing; the duck meat I had swallowed almost shot back out… haha.

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