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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Thirty-Two: Soul Summoning
That day, I prepared some yellow paper, incense candles, and a pass document, then at midnight, I arrived at the Intersection, burned the yellow paper and incense candles along with the pass document, and reported to the local Earth God to check for the person.
In folk practices of soul summoning, most practitioners are shamans who have connections with celestial beings. They primarily rely on these celestial beings to help summon the desired spirit, which then attaches itself to the shamans. Those seeking answers can directly ask the shamans who are possessed by the spirits.
Once a spirit is summoned, and the shaman is possessed, their voice changes to that of the deceased, making it impossible to recognize the original voice of the shaman.
The seekers are usually relatives of the deceased. Therefore, when the shaman summons their deceased loved one, they will notice that the shaman's voice has transformed into that of their relative. For example, they might immediately call out names like "Bao'er" or "Li'er." It is indeed quite miraculous.
This method of seeking answers through soul summoning is somewhat similar to the practices of Chuma Xian in Northeast China or asking for rice and observing incense in Hong Kong. It relies on the practitioner's celestial abilities; they themselves do not possess the power to summon souls.
Of course, there are also many frauds among them. As for how these frauds know your name and such details, that remains a mystery. Nevertheless, those who make a living from this certainly have their own methods.
My approach to soul summoning is different because I do not allow the other party to possess me. The reason why folk shamans allow spirits to possess them is twofold: on one hand, it relies on their celestial abilities; on the other hand, they need to facilitate communication between the seeker and the spirit. In my case, it does not matter if others cannot see Granny; as long as I can communicate with her, I only need to summon her.
To perform soul summoning, one must first report to the local Earth God, who will then search for the person and report it to the Underworld so that the desired spirit can be summoned. It is important to note that there are countless ghosts in the Underworld, many of whom share the same names; thus, calling out randomly could attract wandering spirits instead.
Of course, some may wonder if calling upon the Earth God guarantees assistance in finding someone. Even if they do find them, will that spirit obediently come forth?
This question does stump me a bit; indeed, Earth Gods do not simply respond to anyone's summons. However, since I am a Yin-Yang master and practitioners of Yin-Yang Dao generally receive assistance from Earth Gods when seeking help, they tend to oblige under normal circumstances. There’s a saying that goes: "Even if you don’t look at the monk’s face, you should at least consider Buddha’s face." They will always show some respect for our ancestral masters. Of course, I wouldn’t let them work for free; burning so much incense and yellow paper is essentially paying for their efforts.
Regarding whether the Yin spirits will obediently come up, it's really hard to say. The Earth God can only help you convey a message to the Underworld, and then the Underworld has its own Yin messengers to call for you. However, whether the Yin spirits are willing to come up when they learn someone in the Yang realm is looking for them depends on their mood. To put it simply, the Underworld is actually just like the Yang realm, and Yin spirits are just like living people. It's akin to being in a village where your village chief comes over and tells you that someone outside the village is calling for you; would you go or not? It's the same principle.
To get back on track, I burned the communication paper for the Earth God, and then I inserted three incense sticks into the ground at the intersection, placing a spirit tablet for my Granny in front of the incense. This spirit tablet was made during the day using a piece of cardboard, on which I wrote Granny's name with black ink.
After doing all this, I began to wait, hoping that Granny would come up to meet me. Of course, if she refused to come up, I certainly wouldn't give up easily; even if I had to use the Ghostly Seal Jade Pendant to ask the Underworld's Yin messengers for help, I would have to bring her out. I must save Lin Xiaoqi!
At this moment, Granny's grandson asked me half-believingly if I could really call his grandmother up like this.
I replied that whether she could come up or not was uncertain; it depended on whether she was willing to.
This was just a small county town, and this intersection was not in the center of town but rather on the outskirts. Since it was already midnight, there weren't many passersby around while we were burning paper and lighting candles. In fact, in this empty intersection, even if there were one or two pedestrians who saw us doing these things, they quickly walked away from a distance.
After about three or four minutes, just as Mr. Lin and Granny's grandson were starting to lose patience, suddenly a strong cold wind began to blow. The originally silent intersection was filled with gusts of cold wind that swept up the ashes of burnt paper into the air...
At this point, Mr. Lin and Granny's grandson both understood what was happening without me saying much. They both felt a bit scared and unconsciously moved closer to me, their eyes vigilantly scanning their surroundings, fearing that Granny might suddenly appear behind them.
As the cold wind rose, I hurriedly opened my Heavenly Eye and saw that in front of me behind Granny's spirit tablet, a figure had appeared—a frail old lady with a face full of wrinkles and deeply sunken eyes!
This old lady leaned on a cane, her white hair mostly fallen out, leaving only sparse strands on her head, making her look quite frightening.
Seeing this suddenly appearing old lady, I naturally knew that she must be the Granny I was looking for.
At this moment, before I could speak, Granny tapped her cane on the ground and pointed at me, asking, "Is it you young man who is looking for me?"
I nodded and, in order to resolve this matter peacefully, I politely bowed to her as a junior and said, "Today, I specifically invited you here because I have something I would like your help with."
Granny appeared somewhat impatient and said to hurry up and say what it was. If I wanted her to deliver any messages to the people below, she wouldn't do it.
I smiled and said, "Not at all. I want to talk to you about Lin Xiaoqi. May I ask, is Lin Xiaoqi with you?"
Upon hearing this, Granny's expression immediately changed. Suddenly angry, she pointed her cane at me and said, "Did her family send you to find me? Let me tell you, mind your own business; I'm not afraid."
Seeing that this Granny was indeed a difficult character, I couldn't help but feel a bit anxious. However, I had already guessed that someone like this old ghost who had been dead for many years would not be easy to deal with. So I said, "From what you just said, it seems Lin Xiaoqi really is with you. Back then, she accidentally broke your Paper Figurine; all she needs to do is compensate you for it. Is it really necessary to drag her down? Isn't that a bit excessive?"
Granny coldly snorted and said that she originally only wanted Lin Xiaoqi to compensate for the Paper Figurine, but that girl wouldn't listen. Who could she blame? Since Lin Xiaoqi didn't take her words seriously, she had to let her know the consequences.
I replied, "Young people sometimes get a bit playful and forget what you've instructed them; that's understandable. You've punished her enough already; shouldn't you consider letting her go?"
Granny said, "Not yet. I still need her to serve me for another two or three years. If I let her go, who will take care of me? So you little Yin-Yang should mind your own business and leave quickly; otherwise, I'll have you dragged down to serve me too."
Clearly, Granny meant that she needed another two or three years before she could reincarnate, so Lin Xiaoqi would have to serve her for that long. However, hearing Granny speak like this made me furious; I couldn't allow her to be so arrogant. I immediately shouted, "You ghost! Here we are trying to negotiate nicely, and you're getting all haughty! Do you believe I will run over to your underworld lair and drive a peach wood stake into the ground so that you can never reincarnate!"
This frightened Granny, and she exclaimed, "You dare! You... you little Yin-Yang! If you do that, be careful or you'll be struck by lightning too."
I suddenly laughed upon seeing her both angry and scared. It seemed the old saying was indeed true: one shouldn't be too kind to ghosts; they fear the strong and bully the weak—ancient wisdom does not deceive me. So I said, "If you're not afraid of retribution, why should I be? Besides, I'm still alive while you're dead. Therefore, even if I face retribution from lightning in the future, you'll never see it in this lifetime. Moreover, if you recklessly take lives in the mortal realm without fear of Underworld accountability, aren't you worried about being held responsible?"
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