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It turned out that all it wanted was a spiritual anchor. No wonder Auntie had not been affected at all. In the room, it never got too close to Dou Dou, nor did it ever try to scare Dou Dou with its hoarse voice. Therefore, Dou Dou felt no fear towards it and spoke freely. In Dou Dou's mind, it seemed that this old woman had always belonged to this family.
I said, "Auntie, this is not a long-term solution. Right now, time is still short, and Dou Dou is still young. He doesn’t understand much yet. If you wait until he understands a little more, do you think you won’t scare him? Even if you don’t scare him, can you guarantee that you will still see his smile?"
It lowered its head in thought for a moment. Suddenly, it raised its head and shouted at me, "I don’t care! I have already lost Pengpeng; I cannot leave Dou Dou again!" It was a hoarse cry, but fortunately, its spirit was not very strong and its obsession was not deep either. Moreover, its voice was hoarse and could not be very loud. At least the people outside should not be disturbed.
Although this action startled me, it was also within my expectations. The emotional fluctuations of a Spirit God can easily spiral out of control; their violent temper can take over their consciousness at any moment. Often, just a little excitement can lead to losing control—like someone with a bad temper suddenly going into a rage after being slapped.
However, despite the rage, most of the time they are just paper tigers meant to scare people. They do not act like the dramatic portrayals on television where they rush over to strangle or bite someone. The real Spirit Gods do not behave like that.
I recited the Soul Requiem. Although her resentment was not strong and her overall power was weak, when she became furious, some measures still needed to be taken.
Once she calmed down, I said, "You must leave tonight. You know your presence is harmful to Dou Dou; do you really want to continue knowing that? If Dou Dou becomes unhappy and stops smiling, is that what you want to see?"
I had prepared a lengthy speech to deliver, but unexpectedly, Auntie shifted her gaze away and nodded her head in silence. It seemed she had come to an understanding and agreed with my viewpoint.
I sighed in relief and said, "Now that you've figured it out, I will send you to Reincarnation. Do you have any other requests?"
I only said this tentatively; I did not expect her to agree right away. Because even if I wanted to help her break her obsession, she needed to speak up herself; otherwise, I would be meddling in affairs that were not mine. Everything requires a legitimate reason, and I am no exception.
Sure enough, she kept repeating: "Pengpeng, Dou Dou, Pengpeng, Dou Dou..."
Hearing this made me somewhat prepared mentally; however, when she mentioned Pengpeng, I felt troubled because while Dou Dou was manageable, Pengpeng posed more of a challenge. Watching her dejectedly lower her head while murmuring Pengpeng and Dou Dou stirred mixed feelings within me. If it were an unconscious Wandering Soul, it would be easier to handle. Of course, dealing with a conscious Spirit God could also be manageable if they were ruthless enough. But my master once said that every Spirit God’s obsession deserves respect and should never be ignored.
I said gently, "Let me bring Dou Dou in so you can take one last look; consider it a farewell."
After she nodded in agreement, I turned and stepped out of the bedroom door. Besides Dou Dou, Sister Ou and her husband looked at me with expectant eyes as if waiting for me to tell them the outcome of the situation. I smiled and nodded before walking towards Dou Dou. I said softly, "Dou Dou, Uncle is taking you into the bedroom to see Grandma one last time. Grandma is leaving soon and won’t be coming back anymore. Is that okay?"
Upon hearing this from me, Sister Ou and her husband suddenly stood up nervously; Sister Ou even exclaimed: "Xiao Liu!"
I said, "Don't worry, it's fine. There's no need to be nervous; it's not the first time. It will be over soon."
However, Dou Dou seemed completely unfocused, slowly walking toward me while still staring at the television, as if it were just an ordinary task. The expression on its face showed no particular reaction.
I led Dou Dou into the bedroom. Upon seeing the red candles lit on the floor and the figure of the old woman it referred to as "grandma," Dou Dou exclaimed, "It's you again, grandma. Why are you squatting on the floor?" It started to walk over, but I quickly grabbed Dou Dou. Better safe than sorry.
Just as I held onto Dou Dou, the old woman slowly lifted her head, her face displaying a kind smile as she spoke, "Dou Dou, grandma is going home now. You won't be able to play with me anymore. You need to be happy and work hard in school."
Her words were few but carried a sense of reluctance, reminiscent of a grandmother's advice to her grandchild.
I thought of my own grandmother, who had said similar things when she left. Although my grandmother was still alive at that time, their feelings were the same. In that moment, I felt as if I could see my grandmother's expression reflected in the old woman's face, and I silently resolved to help find Pengpeng so they could meet.
After she finished speaking, Pengpeng curiously asked, "So grandma, you can talk?" I replied, "Yes, grandma can talk. But now grandma has to go home. Be good and go watch TV with your mom and dad."
Upon hearing this, Pengpeng said, "Goodbye, grandma," and turned to run outside. Children are so innocent; they act on whatever comes to mind. Plus, the atmosphere in the room was likely uncomfortable for him.
Once Dou Dou left, the old woman's expression was filled with reluctance as she stared at the bedroom door without turning away for a long time. I said, "Auntie, it's about time. Can you tell me which village your home is in?"
After saying this, I took out a bronze mirror.
She replied, "In Ancient House Village."
I nodded and said, "Come in; I'll take you away from this place that doesn't belong to you."
She hesitated and showed no intention of coming inside. I wasn't worried about her having second thoughts; even if she didn't come in on her own, I could call her inside. However, that wasn't what I wanted because she bore my grandmother's shadow and shared many traits with most grandmothers. So I added, "I'll take you to find Pengpeng."
Upon hearing this, she stopped hesitating and stepped directly into the bronze mirror. I let out a sigh of relief as I tidied up my things and did a quick clean-up before opening the bedroom door. Of course, I included that pebble; I needed to provide them with an explanation about what had brought back the Wandering Soul.
When they saw me open the bedroom door without anyone coming out, they stood up and walked toward me together. Naturally, Dou Dou was still engrossed in watching TV and wouldn't interfere with our adult matters. I led them into the bedroom and told Sister Ou and the others, "The situation is mostly resolved."
Sister Ou asked me if there was anything else I hadn't taken care of, and I replied that it was mostly resolved.
I explained the reasons and mentioned that I was planning to visit their hometown to fulfill the old lady's wish. They didn't seem scared after hearing this, especially Sister Ou, who appeared somewhat moved. She even asked, "Can I see that Auntie?"
I told her no, it wouldn't be good for her, and that it was enough for her to know about it.
Sister Ou nodded and said, "Alright, thank you, Xiao Liu. How much is the reward? We’ll cover the expenses for you going to such a far place." After she spoke, her husband chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, we’ll pay."
I nodded and mentioned an amount that was two hundred more than what I had previously agreed upon with Sister Ou. She asked if that was really enough, and I explained that we would split the costs for the trip to their hometown; she didn’t need to cover everything. I also wanted to do something for this Auntie myself. Sister Ou agreed and called her husband to get me the money, following our usual arrangement of giving half upfront.
Once everything was settled, I stepped out of Sister Ou's house. She insisted on seeing me off to the entrance of the community, and I didn’t refuse. We exchanged words of gratitude along the way, both feeling a bit downcast. We didn’t say much until I got into my car when I remembered to mention, "I took the pebble from your bedroom." Then I asked her about the number of Land Temples in their area.
Sister Ou replied, "Yes, just one. Anyone you ask would know about it. Be careful."
I nodded, waved goodbye, and then started my car heading home.
Ancient House Village is a small village located in Shantou City, San Ying Town. The distance from Guangzhou to Shantou is not short; I couldn't buy a ticket for the high-speed rail for the next day, so I chose to take a train instead. I departed around eight in the morning and didn’t arrive until after four in the afternoon—almost an eight-hour journey. After getting off the train, I hurried towards Ancient House Village. By the time I arrived there, it was already dark. Realizing it was too late to visit today, I found a place to stay overnight and planned to start looking for a little boy named Pengpeng in the village the next morning.
It’s never good to go looking for a little boy randomly; people might think I'm a human trafficker.
Ancient House Village isn’t large; there’s a main road in the middle with two rows of houses on either side—most are two-story small bungalows, and some are even dilapidated mud-brick houses. Fortunately, as soon as I got off the bus, I spotted several children playing nearby. So I walked over and asked them if they knew a child named Pengpeng. They seemed a bit taken aback by my Mandarin but one boy around seven or eight years old responded that he knew Pengpeng’s younger brother and pointed towards a nearby bungalow saying, "It’s over there; Uncle, I'll take you."
I replied, "No need! Thank you; I'll go by myself," then took out ten yuan and handed it to him while saying, "What a helpful child! Use this to buy some candy."
Entering Pengpeng's home through an open door, I saw an older sister who looked a few years older than me holding a child while watching TV; the child appeared to be around three or four years old. Upon seeing me enter, she cautiously asked, "Who are you?"
I said, "You must be Pengpeng's mother; I'm here about something."
In this village where people are generally friendly and less guarded due to my harmless appearance, Pengpeng's mother didn’t seem too wary either. She set Pengpeng down and went to pour me a glass of water.
After receiving the water, I thanked her and got straight to the point: "Did Pengpeng's grandmother just pass away recently?"
She looked at me with a puzzled expression and replied, "Yes, it's been over six months. How do you know? Do you know my grandmother-in-law?"
I said, "Don't be alarmed. I knew her. I'm a Taoist priest who specializes in handling Ghostly Affairs. I encountered your grandmother's spirit wandering outside, so I brought her back."
As I spoke, I realized I was struggling to express myself. These matters were not ordinary, and the first thing I needed to do was convince others of their truth. The younger generation is different from the older one; the elderly tend to believe in these things, and many farmers in the village know how to deal with supernatural occurrences. However, young people today are more educated and increasingly embrace science.
Just as I was contemplating how to phrase my thoughts, the sister spoke up. She said, "Wait a moment; I'll go get my husband," and then she left to call her husband from a house across the street.
After a while, a man came down—he was only slightly older than me. I knew he was the one who could truly understand what I had to say. After introducing ourselves, we entered the house, and I explained everything about the situation in detail, holding nothing back, even describing his mother's appearance. My goal was simply to make them believe me. As I finished speaking, the man's expression gradually turned serious, and he began to feel sorrowful, starting to sob. At that moment, the sister had already left the room with their child.
After some time had passed, I patted the man's shoulder and said, "Death cannot be reversed; please accept your loss."
He choked out, "Actually, this is all my fault."
I remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
He went on: "When Pengpeng was born, both my wife and I went out to work shortly after. Pengpeng was raised by her grandmother. My mother adored Pengpeng, even spoiling her completely; her parenting style was entirely different from what we believed in. When we returned home for the New Year last year, Pengpeng was already over three years old but had developed many bad habits—she couldn't do anything by herself and needed to be fed. Moreover, she would cry at the drop of a hat; no matter how we tried to comfort her when she cried, it never worked. If she saw something she wanted while playing outside and couldn't get it, she would cry until she got it—she was utterly unreasonable and very domineering. Almost no one in the village wanted to play with her.
I said, "This is due to her upbringing."
He replied, "Yes, my mother treated her like royalty. Plus, my mother isn't in good health but refuses to live with us because she says she's comfortable in her own house. We saw that Pengpeng was getting older and worried it might affect my mother's health, so we decided to bring Pengpeng back home ourselves. But my mother couldn't bear to part with Pengpeng; she insisted that Pengpeng stay there. My wife and I thought this couldn't go on—if we continued spoiling her like this at such a young age, how would we teach her later? And my mother's health kept deteriorating; she occasionally suffered strokes. We were even more reluctant to let Pengpeng disturb her."
I asked him, "Then why didn't you bring her home to live with you? It would be better for everyone if you all lived together; you could take care of her."
He responded, "I tried bringing her home, but my mother disagreed because she preferred living in the old house. There were also conflicts between my mother and my wife; living together would likely lead to arguments. Eventually, we forcibly brought Pengpeng back home despite that; my mother and wife ended up arguing several times over it. Afterward, my mother's health worsened even more—she already had poor health—and then this happened... Less than six months later, she passed away."
I shook my head helplessly; there was nothing I could comment on regarding this situation—there's no clear right or wrong here. Everyone has their own reasons.
I said the current issue is that your mother wants to see Pengpeng one last time, even if it's just a glance, so she can rest in peace. Pengpeng is your son, so I need to seek your consent.
He nodded and said, "No matter how you look at it, it's better not to let Pengpeng see my mother. He's too young; he might get scared."
I reassured him, "It's fine. Pengpeng won't see her. You just step outside for a moment, and after three minutes, bring Pengpeng back in."
He left and closed the door behind him. I quickly took out a bronze mirror and wiped off the Cinnabar symbol on it. Then I recited a spell to summon the soul of that Auntie. The soul we summoned was invisible to us, but it could see us. I sensed its general location and said, "Take a good look at Pengpeng for the last time. After this meeting, you must Reincarnation. Don't linger in this world anymore."
Then I recited Soul Requiem. After preparing everything, it took less than a minute before Peng's Father came in holding Pengpeng. I took out a bag of candy I had prepared earlier and handed it to Pengpeng, saying, "I am your grandmother's friend. Your grandmother said you are very well-behaved and understanding, so this bag of candy is my reward for you. You must listen to your parents and not be naughty."
He nodded eagerly and reached out for the candy. I added, "There's one last thing you need to do first. After you do it, this bag of candy will be yours. You need to call out: 'Grandma, I will be very good from now on.'"
Children are easy to coax; for that bag of candy, I had him call out three times. Each time his voice grew louder. After he received the candy, he happily ran out the door. His father sat in a chair, looking very dejected, rubbing his eyes repeatedly. Meanwhile, I knew that in a corner of the room, there was a lost soul also sobbing, even crying out loud. I stepped forward and locked the door, preparing to perform Send Soul.
About ten minutes later, everything was done; the clouds parted and the moon shone bright. Pengpeng's father knelt before the red candles, bowing his head and weeping bitterly. I also bowed three times. After comforting him with a few words, I packed up my things and prepared to leave. Just then, Pengpeng's father called out to me that he hadn't paid yet. I replied that someone had already taken care of it; there was no need for payment. Without looking back, I left Ancient House Village.
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