Chapter 4

Mother followed Li Feng's instructions, surrounding my straw mat with mugwort, and she also kneaded two pieces, constantly placing them on my eyebrows.

The money bought from a beggar's pouch was folded into many triangles for me to carry.

At first, we didn't know what these two things were for; after a long time, I learned from Li Feng about their marvelous uses.

Mugwort is actually used to ward off ghosts. Have you noticed, or perhaps, in your surroundings, there is such a custom. When a family's newborn baby is less than a month old, they hang a string made of walnuts, pomelo leaves, and mugwort intertwined. Pomelo leaves and walnuts are for exorcising evil and cleansing impurity. Mugwort, however, is used to ward off ghosts; wherever there is mugwort, ghosts cannot find their way nor see you.

As for the money bought from a beggar's pouch, there is also the saying of 'hundred-family money.' People give alms to beggars, offering not only money but also the kindness in their hearts. These seemingly tattered few coins actually contain the goodwill of a hundred families. Carrying this money can invoke the power of a hundred families to protect oneself.

Of course, I only learned the details later. Before that, we only knew the surface, not the inner meaning; we simply did whatever Li Feng said, and Mother followed suit.

Strangely, after following Li Feng's method, over the next day my fever improved greatly, I no longer had nightmares, and I didn't dream of my sister.

Three days later, Li Feng arrived as promised.

This time Li Feng gave me a great overturning in appearance. He wore a gradually gray robe with an eight-trigram pattern in the middle, completely different from his dirty appearance when I first saw him.

After Li Feng arrived, he first chatted with my mother for a couple of sentences, asking about the situation these past days.

Immediately after, he took out several items from his bag: a white banner, longevity gold, paper money, and several talismans. It struck me as odd that Li Feng's talismans were written in black ink on white paper, completely unlike what I had known before.

Of course, this cannot be blamed on my ignorance; it's just that the Yin Mountain School's talismans are relatively more numinous than those of other sects, usually written in black ink on white or yellow paper, rarely using cinnabar. This is also a characteristic of Yin Mountain talismans: heavily yin and avoiding yang.

After Li Feng finished eating at my home, he told my mother to bring a brazier, in which he burned longevity gold and five-ghost money. Then he inserted the white banner upside down beside it, took out the five talismans, and placed them on the ground to form a circle.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, chanting: 'I invite the divine incarnation to become the City God to aid me… The five-direction Yin soldiers come swiftly forward; I obey the order of the Yin Mountain Dharma Master.'

As soon as his words fell, I suddenly felt a chill all over my body, and the room seemed to have something extra—a vague feeling that also appears whenever I pass the hillside graves.

At that moment, I saw what seemed to be shadows standing on the white talismans on the ground. Before I could look closely, Li Feng gathered the white talismans, entered my sleeping room, moved the mugwort and such off the bed, lifted the mat, and hid the five talismans beneath the straw mat I slept on.

He told my mother: 'All right, now I have summoned the five-direction Yin soldiers to stand guard; tonight, as long as Hai Sheng lies on this bed, he will be absolutely safe.'

'Daoist priest, if it is not absolutely necessary, I beg you not to harm my poor daughter, after all that is my fault,' Mother paused for a moment, then hesitated before saying to Li Feng.

Li Feng waved his hand: 'I know my limits.'

That night, Li Feng stayed at my home.

The night deepened. Tonight's sky was pitch black; the wind blowing in from outside had not a hint of coolness, making the heart feel oppressed. The broken window at the sill creaked, and the half‑person‑high weeds outside rustled.

Tonight was a power‑outage night; the bedside bulb wouldn't light, so I could only sleep by candlelight in the room. I don't know why, lying in bed I thought of my sister whom I never met but who had already left this world; every night she haunts me, demanding I repay her—my body? Since that day, after hearing Mother's story, my young heart has felt unusually uneasy; I think my sister is truly pitiful.

Suddenly, a ridiculous idea arose in my mind. I wondered what heaven is like; if I got there, would I no longer suffer others' contempt, would I not be pointed at and called a broom star for my brain, and wouldn't there be many little companions to play with me? If my sister's role were swapped with mine, wouldn't she be much better off?

I kept thinking like that, no matter what I couldn't fall asleep. I felt as if someone were beside me, yet I could neither see nor touch them. Perhaps I am different from others; since childhood I have always been able to sense strange things, even though I cannot see them.

With a whoosh, the window banged, and the candle sputtered out. That familiar feeling of panic returned. I knew she had come—my sister had come; each time she appears I feel this. But this time my heart became very calm, very bland; I seemed to think that everything meant nothing to me. I am alive, merely enduring suffering; without my mother, perhaps I would not have the courage to go on living.

As I expected, in the blink of an eye my sister stood not far from my bedside; we gazed at each other in silence, yet I could never see her clearly.

'Ah…' a panicked shout rang out; that shout was not mine but came from my sister standing nearby. On my bed, some bluish shadows drifted out, hazy like gas, lunging at my sister; they seemed to be grappling with her.

'Don't hit my sister!' Upon hearing that cry, my heart suddenly surged with waves of anguish, as if I were watching my mother being bullied—heart‑breaking and painful.

In an instant I made an unexpected decision, quickly flipping the mat and tearing the talisman underneath.

After I tore the talisman, the bluish shadows vanished; I saw my sister walking toward me, and as she approached I felt ever colder and my head grew dizzy!

'By order of the Yin Mountain Dharma Master, the Ghost Power King commands the five-direction Yin soldiers to become Yin thunder…' Li Feng seemed to conjure a trick, emerging from a corner, shouting this, and with a palm strike in the air he fiercely chopped at my sister.

At that moment my body grew colder and colder, and I slowly closed my eyes. The last thing I saw was Li Feng's robe being draped over my sister.

I don't know how long passed, but I seemed to have a long dream in which a girl smiled at me; her eyes resembled my sister's. I thought everything was over, that from now on no one could bully me, that I was about to die, yet I felt no resentment, only joy. Before my death I realized I was not alone—I still had a sister, my own sister.

I thought everything had ended, but the next day I woke up again; upon waking I saw my mother anxiously standing nearby, while Li Feng looked at me with a grim face.

'Mom, what's wrong with me?' My head ached terribly; I rubbed it hard. Suddenly I recalled my sister and the scene I had seen when I fainted.

'Mom, where is my sister?' I clutched my mother's sleeve, anxiously asking her; seeing Li Feng's grim face beside us, I shrank back.

'Daoist…!' Mother turned her head, wanting to speak but stopping herself.

'No need to ask, she is here.' Li Feng pulled a small wooden doll from his pocket and placed it before my mother and me. The doll was cute, a girl, and wore a tiny red robe; looking closely, wasn't that the very robe Li Feng had worn yesterday? The robe even bore a small eight‑trigram.

'Daoist… what is this?' Looking at the doll, my mother and I were both puzzled.

Li Feng sighed: 'Enough, enough; it is ultimately a matter of karma—I did not wish to take a disciple, yet I am destined to do so!'