Chapter 63: The Terrible News

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Concerning incense, my grandmother’s handwritten notes contain clear records:

It can bridge the realms of the living and the dead, serving as the source of power for things of the underworld. Burning incense in ritual is a gesture of goodwill from the living to the departed, or a symbolic act of farewell. Thus, whenever someone dies, incense is always involved.

The first step to opening the spiritual eye is the incense fumigation—using the blue smoke of burning incense to bathe the eyes.

The smoke produced by incense acts as a medium, enabling a connection between the living and the dead, allowing mortals to see souls of the departed.

The notes describe a simple method for seeing ghosts: through the incense smoke, paired with a specific technique, one can glimpse the spirits.

So fumigating the eyes with incense smoke is, in essence, an act of infiltration.

Stimulated by the blue smoke, tears streamed from my eyes like water.

After the incense fumigation comes the application of talismans.

Two yellow talismans, inscribed with special incantations, were soaked in warm water and placed over my eyes. After three minutes, I removed them and, as the book instructed, began to recite the ritual formula.

It was my first time performing a spell to save someone, so I was clumsy and slow. Moreover, this method of opening the spiritual eye lasts only three hours.

Once the ritual formula was complete, I felt a faint heat in my eyes and went to the room. On the shoulders of Cao Guangshan and the Fatty, two dark shadows were clearly visible.

Time was short. I prepared to use the most potent method to directly destroy the evil spirit perched on their shoulders.

The borrowed black dog was still outside. I snipped a tuft of fur from its brow, then returned to the house. I drew a talisman for breaking evil, wrapped the dog fur in it, and fetched the old kitchen knife used at home. I lit the talisman containing the dog fur and burned it beneath the knife.

Once done, I continued to inscribe the breaking-evil spell onto the kitchen knife, transforming it into a “talisman blade.”

Then, carrying the blade and a rope, I entered the room, worried that the evil spirit on their shoulders might make them resist, so I locked the door and quietly woke Stone.

Seeing me enter with a knife and rope, Stone was startled. After a brief explanation, he looked at the still sleeping Cao Guangshan and Fatty and muttered, “Is there really something there? Why can’t I see it?”

“You can’t see it without opening the spiritual eye.”

Time was pressing; otherwise, I would have helped Stone temporarily open his spiritual eye to see the so-called evil spirit.

Because Fatty and Cao Guangshan had lost their souls, they slept deeply. Stone and I tied their hands and feet with rope before waking them.

Bound, Cao Guangshan and Fatty instinctively struggled upon waking, looking at Stone and me in confusion—especially at me, fear filling their eyes because I held the kitchen knife.

Stone explained that I could see the evil spirit attached to them, a scheme laid by Old Qin. Their hands and feet were bound to prevent the evil spirit from controlling their movements.

After the explanation, the two calmed.

“Is it true?” Cao Guangshan asked.

“It’s true.”

I nodded seriously, saying, “If not for a lucky chance, I wouldn’t have discovered it. But if you pay attention, you should notice a weight on your shoulders, an unpleasant heaviness.”

Both ghosts and evil spirits possess a certain weight; when attached to a person, they create a sensation of heaviness on the shoulders.

Fatty moved his shoulders. “That’s right. Since waking up this morning, I’ve felt like something’s pressing down on my shoulders—very uncomfortable.”

Cao Guangshan said nothing, but his expression suggested he felt much the same.

Supported by Stone and me, they sat on the floor.

Cao Guangshan came first. They couldn't see, but I could. The shadow clinging to Cao Guangshan’s back seemed to sense my impending attack—it no longer crouched, but tried to burrow into his body.

If the evil spirit entered him, it would not only cause harm but bring greater trouble. I dared not hesitate, uttered a low cry for focus, and leapt, recalling the steps of the ritual described in the old books.

As I moved, the talisman blade in my hand struck repeatedly above Cao Guangshan’s back. With each blow, the shadow writhed.

“Hehehe…”

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Suddenly, Cao Guangshan began to laugh, his face twisting—sometimes joyful, sometimes tormented. Not only him, but Fatty, who was waiting nearby, also underwent a sudden transformation, grinning foolishly one moment, menacing as a killer the next.

Their expressions and actions were eerily similar. Observing the way the shadows twisted on their backs, I realized they moved in precisely the same manner.

There was only one evil spirit.

This sudden discovery filled me with excitement.

At first, seeing the shadows, I assumed each man bore his own evil spirit, and I would have to deal with them separately. I hadn’t expected there to be just one.

If there was only one, targeting a single person would suffice to eliminate it.

Could it be the same with my mother?

I was about to ask Stone to check on my mother, when her strange laughter and screams erupted from the next room.

All three were haunted by one evil spirit.

“Hurry to my mother’s room—don’t let her hurt herself. If necessary, lock her inside.”

Stone rushed out. Watching Cao Guangshan and Fatty struggle, I was grateful for the foresight to bind them; otherwise, things would have gotten much worse.

The eradication continued.

Cao Guangshan’s struggles proved that my methods were harming the evil spirit; otherwise, he wouldn’t switch from laughing to crying.

Taking a deep breath to steady my nerves, I continued the ritual, the kitchen knife slicing through the air above Cao Guangshan’s back.

To outsiders, I must have seemed deranged.

Only I could see the evil spirit. The kitchen knife, transformed into a talisman blade, would stop at a certain point above Cao Guangshan’s back—not because I controlled the force, but because it struck the evil spirit and could go no further.

The secret ritual bridges the worlds.

Without the ritual, the knife is just an ordinary object—it cannot touch the evil spirit, nor can it hurt it. Like a ghost: ordinary people cannot see them, and even if they pass through a ghost, they feel nothing.

With the ritual, a subtle change occurs.

Each time I struck down, I could feel I was hitting something.

I followed the ritual steps, circling and slashing.

At first, the evil spirit could still laugh, but as it grew smaller, Cao Guangshan and Fatty’s faces twisted with agony, as if possessed—saliva dripped continuously from their mouths.

As the evil spirit dwindled, it became harder to strike. I drew my left middle finger across the blade, blood welling up instantly.

With a low cry, I pressed my bloodied finger onto the evil spirit.

“Ah…”

Three screams echoed simultaneously in the room. As I withdrew my hand, the evil spirit vanished completely, and Cao Guangshan and Fatty lay weakly on the floor.

Seeing their backs clear, no trace of shadow, I hurried out to check on my mother.

The room was chaotic—many things smashed. My mother sat slumped on the floor, momentarily unconscious.

Together we placed her on the bed. I examined her shoulder, and as I had guessed, the same evil spirit had attached itself to all three.

Destroy one, and all are freed.

As the spiritual eye faded, I could see no sign of the evil spirit on my mother’s shoulder. I didn’t know if it could return, so I waited in silence.

Soon, the three gradually awoke, with no recollection of what had happened. My mother, especially, asked why her room was so messy.

When I explained about the evil spirit, my mother remarked, “No wonder my shoulder always felt uncomfortable—heavy and restless, yet nothing visible.”

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The evil spirit is intangible, but that doesn’t mean it has no weight.

Before the spiritual eye closed, the evil spirit never appeared again on my mother’s shoulder. At that point, I knew Old Qin’s curse had been truly eradicated.

The whole process of breaking the evil spirit seemed simple, but my heart had been in turmoil. After all, it was my first attempt at saving others. Now that it was over, I felt quite accomplished.

Having dealt with such a troublesome matter, I could finally sleep well.

Early the next morning, as I slept comfortably, Uncle Sun Lin’s loud shouts woke me. From his tone, I sensed trouble and hurried out.

As soon as I arrived, my mother turned to tell me, “Something happened to Mr. Xu.”

Xu the Undying was in trouble?

My heart skipped a beat. “What happened?”

Xu had clearly left yesterday—I didn’t know how Uncle Sun Lin could have learned of his misfortune.

In his panic, his words were incoherent.

Uncle Sun Lin recounted, haltingly, that he had gone up the mountain early to do farm work, when he suddenly saw someone lying in the grass beside the field. The couple were frightened, but on closer inspection, they realized it was Xu the Undying.

He seemed to have been in a fight—his clothes stained with blood in many places. He hadn’t died, but looked weak and on the verge of collapse.

A calamity.

My heart was seized with panic.

After learning the location, I gathered a few people and raced off.

On the way, a heavy dread filled my heart.

It was clear Xu the Undying must have fought with Old Qin; otherwise, how could he have been injured in the hills?

I couldn’t understand it. Didn’t he say he was going home? Why was he in the hills again?

Arriving at the scene, I saw Xu the Undying lying on the ground. Tears welled in my eyes as I rushed to his side, calling loudly and checking his breathing.

He was still alive, but barely. Cao Guangshan, who knew a bit about medicine, quickly examined him and then said grimly, “It’s not looking good. He needs to go to the hospital immediately.”

“Save him—save him, quickly.”

All I wanted was for Xu the Undying to survive, no matter the cost.

Cao Guangshan hurried to call for help, and I carried Xu down the mountain.

He was short but stout; I expected him to be heavy, but carrying him felt like hauling a dry log.

Like a piece of wood left outside, weathered and sun-bleached, with almost no weight—Xu was like that, hard to believe his body had deteriorated so much.

The ambulance had to come from the county, which would take time. I carried Xu back home and washed his wounds.

“My god—is this even human?”

When we lifted his clothes and looked at his body, everyone gasped and instinctively stepped back.

A tingling numbness crawled over our scalps.

It was terrifying.