Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
Soul Sending Chronicles
墨書 Inktalez
Let me tell you about the business I just received. It went like this: a construction worker from Hunan called me in a very urgent tone. The first thing he said was, "Something's wrong!" This villager, who is a few years older than me and a small contractor, lives in my village. I asked him what was going on, and he explained that every night at three o'clock, they hear the sound of metal clanging in their construction shed—not just one sound, but a whole series of them. This had been going on for a week. At first, they didn't pay much attention to it. However, tonight, one of the worker's children suddenly screamed before dinner and kept shaking his head, ignoring everyone who called out to him. He continued to scream and shake his head. I told him not to worry; I would drive over right away. I asked him to take a picture of the child for me and to soak some rice in water to feed him.
By the time I arrived, the child had stopped his violent resistance. He sat silently on a small stool, staring blankly at a corner with hollow eyes. I asked his grandfather if he had eaten, and he replied that after eating the soaked rice, the child stopped shaking his head. Now what should they do?
I walked around the child and took out my compass to check for spiritual energy, but there was no response at all. This meant that whatever was bothering him had already left; the child's soul just needed to be called back. This was quite simple—much like someone sleepwalking; their body is unconscious, and surrounding noises won't wake them up. The only way to bring them back is by calling their name or giving them a gentle nudge. However, with a child who has just been possessed, you can't nudge them. I asked his grandfather what the child's name was, and he said it was Li **. Taking a deep breath, I lightly tapped my index finger on the child's fontanel and shouted, "Li **!" The child shuddered but did not burst into tears as I had imagined. Instead, he looked at me and suddenly smiled, saying, "Uncle, why haven't you shaved your beard?" Looking at his innocent smile left me momentarily speechless as I silently resented the situation. What kind of trouble was this?
The child's home was located at the end of the corridor directly facing it; in terms of feng shui, this position is known as a "gun sha," which easily attracts spirits. I called Brother Li to a quieter area and asked him if he was sure that the sounds of metal clanging were coming from this residence. Could it be that some workers were working late? He assured me they weren't working at night; even if they were, it wouldn't produce such rhythmic sounds. When I asked him about the rhythm, he said it resembled the sounds made during funerals back in our hometown.
At that moment, my heart tightened. The rhythm of funeral sounds is associated with traditional Taoist rituals—something that living people wouldn't learn easily. Could it be that the souls of practitioners were involved? After death, their souls are not managed by heaven or earth and can still maintain awareness. This was serious business! Based on my calculations, there were at least four spirits involved since our hometown's ritual teams typically consist of four members.
I asked Brother Li if he heard four distinct sounds; he replied that he wasn't sure since he hadn't listened closely enough. I told him to pay attention tonight and that I would come back tomorrow afternoon.
As I left, I hugged the child and discreetly drew a talisman on his back before patting him gently and saying, "Uncle will come back tomorrow to play with you!"
The next morning around 7:30 after finishing my practice, knowing it should be around the time my master finished his morning routine after breakfast, I eagerly dialed his number.
"Hello, Master! I need to borrow some help."
"Little brat! How come you remember to call your master? You start off asking for help—what's going on?" His voice remained as warm and strong as ever.
"What did Old Ghost say? Didn't you just call me last week?" I chuckled nervously.
My master told me to get to the point quickly as he had things to attend to. So I briefly explained what had happened. After a moment of silence, he said, "This is something you can't handle." Panicking, I exclaimed that it had already targeted the child!
The master told me to ask for the address of that child. I thought those Spirit Gods must have attached themselves to something that followed them there. To treat the illness, one must address the root cause. I would inquire about their family back home. If it was a spirit from my hometown that followed them, I could use the Call of Souls from here to help you resolve it. However, you need to stabilize them to avoid startling them during the summoning, which could lead to harm.
I understood what the master meant and asked him what time the ritual would start. He replied, "Have you lost your mind? Haven't I taught you? It definitely starts at Midnight," which is eleven o'clock.
Feeling embarrassed, I muttered that I understood and hurriedly hung up the phone, faintly hearing the master curse under his breath, calling me a brat for always bringing him trouble.
This was how my conversations with the master usually went, but I knew he cared for me deeply, and I respected him greatly. Later on, I would explain how I became connected with him.
Returning to the main topic, having the master's assistance made me feel more secure. In a good mood, I ran a few laps before breakfast and then began preparing the items I would need. Here, I should mention what materials and tools were required. My task was merely to contain them; there was no need to summon an army to capture them, so what I needed to do was quite simple. Even if I did summon an army, it might not be able to defeat them anyway. If the army got injured, I would also face punishment, so my mood lightened considerably. To be honest, this was my first encounter with such a fierce Dao Spirit; as my master said, it was beyond my capabilities. However, simply containing them was still within my reach!
The Folk Taoist Ritual Implements consisted of several items: a Water Bowl, Ink Fight, Ox Horns, divination sticks, talismans, red strings, incense ash, Grave Soil, copper coins, and so on. For Spirit Binding, all I needed were an Ink Fight Line or a red string along with talismans and copper coins in a Water Bowl. The power of the talismans relied not only on their inscriptions but also required enhancement through Yang energy. For this enhancement, Cock's Comb Blood was necessary; being a pure Yang substance from a rooster made it even more potent.
In a nearby market, there was a stall run by a woman named Sun; I called her Sister Sun. She had been supplying me with Cock's Comb Blood for a long time. Familiar with the process, I smoothly acquired what I needed. Back home, I prepared the talismans and crafted the Ink Fight Line; I'll explain the methods and principles later. Once everything was ready, it was almost noon. With everything in order, I felt relaxed and even dozed off after lunch.
I woke up around one o'clock and took a shower before heading out. By the time I arrived at the construction site around two-thirty, most of the workers had already started their shifts. I called Brother Li to let him know I'd arrived.
He rushed over in a hurry; before I could say anything, he told me he had listened carefully last night and believed there were three distinct voices. "That's better than expected," I replied. "Now keep quiet about it as if nothing has happened tonight; tell the workers to come inside early and not come out."
He asked if he could help me with anything. "No need," I said. "Spirits fear life; we wouldn't want anything happening to you." He agreed and asked when we would start. "It's still early," I replied. "You can continue working while I take a look around here."
I took out my compass and spent quite some time searching without finding any response; the compass had limited range. So it seemed they were likely attached to some object inside a particular room. It wasn't unusual for them not to be active during daylight hours either. Therefore, all I needed to do was wait until ten minutes before Midnight tonight to use the Water Bowl to reveal their exact location and then use the Ink Fight Line along with copper coins and talismans to contain them—my task would be complete.
Organizing my thoughts, I glanced at my watch—it was nearly six o'clock now—and my stomach began to rumble. Just then, Brother Li called at the perfect moment to invite me for dinner. "I'm not familiar with this area; is there an authentic Hunan restaurant nearby?" I asked him. "There's Drunken Love Hunan Cuisine," he replied. "I'll come pick you up now."
When they arrived, it was ten minutes later, accompanied by a young man about my age, whom they said was his nephew. We nodded at each other. I got into the car and drove towards Hunan Restaurant a few kilometers away. The restaurant's Secret Steamed Fish and Fried Egg were delicious.
Brother Li took out two bottles of liquor from his bag and said that since we hadn't seen each other for a long time, we shouldn't leave without getting drunk. I replied that I still had things to do that night and needed to drive home. "You all drink; I'll drive back after you finish eating," I said. He agreed, saying that since he had brought the drinks, we might as well enjoy them together. "These past few days have been exhausting."
Sure enough, after a few drinks, he started asking me about the Reward. I didn't give him a chance to negotiate; I directly told him that after so many years in construction, he must have encountered similar situations before. The industry rates were pretty standard. "Just give me what you think is fair," I said. He understood. Of course, I didn't mention that this time was particularly tough and that my Master was helping out. To them, it probably all seemed the same, and I didn't want to explain too much; more importantly, I didn't want him to know that I was struggling!
I had to admit that they were quite chatty when it came to construction; our meal lasted nearly three hours. When I finally walked out of the restaurant, I realized it was almost ten o'clock. I needed to hurry over and prepare. Rushing to the construction site, I told Brother Li to call the workers back to their rooms and not wander outside for now. It wasn't strictly necessary, but just in case—I didn't know what level Dao Spirit had reached. If things got out of control and innocent people got hurt, it would be a serious matter.
Brother Li called the leaders of each group to convey my message clearly; he didn’t seem at all like someone who had just downed a bottle of liquor. I admired him secretly—how could he drink so much!
While thinking this, I pulled out my phone and dialed my Master’s number. After one ring, he picked up; he must have been waiting for my call. My Master simply said, "It's good; I'm waiting until Midnight." I replied with gratitude, "Thanks for your hard work, Old Ghost." After hanging up, I told Brother Li and his nephew to go back and sober up a bit. "I'll call you when I'm ready."
To my surprise, they both burped in unison! Then they turned and left, which felt like a sign of respect towards me. Speechless, I took out the Water Bowl and began the spiritual cleansing process. Following the Water Bowl's guidance, the medium was indeed in the room where the child had been last night. Since we had met before, they greeted me casually and asked if I'd eaten yet—this was the typical way we greeted each other back home.
"I've already eaten," I replied. "I need to get some things done in your room; you can go play in Brother Li's room for now." The grandfather nodded and took his grandson along with his partner outside while looking at the child's innocent smile made me feel that all my efforts were worth it.
I took out the compass and found the exact location of the medium; my heart sank when I saw it was several SpongeBob dolls! I remembered taking pictures of them earlier.
Using the compass for measurement, the needle shook gently—it didn’t seem overly excited. I lit three incense sticks and placed them beside me while reciting Soul Requiem. Then I took out the Ink Fight Line and laid it around that corner using talismans and coins as barriers. Observing that the compass began shaking more violently, I quickened my pace. After securing the Ink Fight Line, I knelt before the incense sticks and began folding my hands into seals while softly chanting an aggressive spell.
Actually, kneeling wasn't necessary since they were trapped by me already; it was just something my Master taught me—everything should be respected, including Spirit Gods—regardless of their past actions or motives. Unless absolutely necessary, we should treat them kindly because they once were like us.
At exactly eleven o'clock, I sent a message to my Master: "It's good."
Half an hour later, with no response from the compass, I knew my Master's Call of Souls had ended. I sent another message: "Thanks for your hard work, Old Ghost!" My Master didn’t reply; he must have been busy sending them off. After tidying up my things, I walked into Brother Li's room where they were watching television. The child spotted me first and shouted "Uncle!" I asked him if he was sleepy and suggested he let his grandfather take him to bed.
He turned to his grandfather and said that everything was fine now. His grandfather gratefully expressed his thanks, saying it was very kind of him and that it would cost a lot of money. He replied that there was no need for payment, as this was Brother Li's matter. His grandfather smiled and turned to leave, but suddenly remembered something and asked, "Who gave you those SpongeBob plush pillows?" His grandfather's eyes reddened as he replied that they were from the child’s Great-Uncle, who had passed away from lung cancer earlier this year. The child had just brought them over to play with.
He nodded and told his grandfather to go home and rest early since he had to work tomorrow.
After they left, he pondered for a moment, realizing the situation.
Looking at the time, he was surprised to see it was almost midnight. He was about to head out when he suddenly remembered he hadn't collected his reward yet. He turned back inside and found Brother Li lying on the bed asleep. Not wanting to be polite, he kicked his shoes lightly. To his surprise, Brother Li didn't wake up. He gave him a harder kick, and Brother Li stirred awake, groggily muttering, "Damn it! Are you trying to kill me?" He replied, "It's me; I've finished my Kung Fu."
Brother Li finally came to his senses and said, "Oh, oh! That’s very kind of you. I'll take you back." He retorted, "Forget about taking me back; just give me the money. I'm going home." Brother Li rummaged through his bag and pulled out an envelope to hand over before turning back to sleep, likely feeling the effects of exhaustion. Considering the envelope felt relatively thick, he didn't hold it against him and muttered a playful curse under his breath.
At that moment, he received a message from his master saying that the Kung Fu was done. He quickly replied: "Thank you, Master! I’ll come home to see you during the May Day holiday. Rest well! Good night!" His master didn’t respond further.
A wave of guilt washed over him. Even after becoming an apprentice, he still often troubled his master. Yet his master helped him without complaint or expectation of gain. Meanwhile, he couldn’t always be by his master's side or even call to check in regularly. As the only disciple, he felt inadequate in this regard and knew he needed to reflect on this and improve urgently. His master was getting older; although he often said, "Now that you've graduated, don’t keep coming back here," every time he said this, one could see the helplessness in his eyes, which made him choke up with emotion! So whenever he had more than three days free time, he would return home to visit his master on the mountain—sharing tea, practicing techniques, walking in the bamboo forest while chatting!
He stepped out decisively but noticed that the light in the child's room was still on and turned back again. Seeing that the child was already asleep, he called out to the grandfather. He pulled three bills from the envelope and handed them over saying, "Use this to buy some new SpongeBob toys for the child; those are too dirty—I’ll throw them away." After saying this, he went over to take the toys. The grandfather hesitated for a moment as if reluctant to part with them and said it would be a waste to throw them away; they could just be washed.
He insisted, "Just consider it my gift. You should rest early." Holding onto the toys, he strode towards where he had parked his vehicle. He didn’t want them to know about this; after all, memories tied to objects could bring unnecessary sorrow from the past. That sorrow? He would take it away!
With that, everything regarding this matter was settled. To an outsider, it might seem simple; yet for someone experienced in these matters, it wasn’t so straightforward either. Earlier he had called his master seeking clarity about two other Spirit Gods besides the Child's Uncle—his master explained they were also recently deceased individuals from nearby and that it was indeed the Child's Uncle who performed the ritual.
His master had sent them off; their souls returned to their rightful paths. After forty-nine days they would await the gathering of Three Souls—hopefully leading to a good reincarnation!
Comment 0 Comment Count