Performing the ritual

Early the next morning.

"Master Zhong!"

Li Weiguo rushed in and dropped to his knees before Zhong Fa.

"Master Zhong, please save my son!"

Before long, Zhong Fa followed Li Weiguo back to Li Liang's home.

"Master Zhong, when I got up this morning, I found my son lying on the floor. His face was pale, and... and... there was a pitch-black handprint on his wrist!"

Li Weiguo's face was filled with panic and worry.

Zhong Fa patted his shoulder and walked over to Li Liang.

After lifting Li Liang's eyelids and examining the black handprint on his wrist, Zhong Fa took a handful of glutinous rice from the cloth bag he carried and handed it to Li Weiguo.

"Can you make glutinous rice porridge? Put some brown sugar in it. Add some red dates and ginger too, if you have them."

"Yes! I'll get right on it!"

Li Weiguo ran to the kitchen to make the porridge.

Zhong Fa glanced at Li Liang, a faint smile playing across his face.

Half an hour later, Li Weiguo brought over a bowl of reddish glutinous rice porridge.

"Glutinous rice porridge replenishes yang energy. A ghost has latched onto your son and drained some of his yang energy."

"Normally, after a few days of rest, the yang energy in his body would naturally drive out the yin energy that invaded it."

"But your son can't afford to wait a few days. That thing won't stop at one visit, especially since there are two of them."

The moment Li Weiguo saw that handprint, he had known that only Zhong Fa could resolve this.

Now, hearing what Zhong Fa said, he was completely at a loss.

"Master Zhong, you have to save my son! Now... he's the only son I have left!"

As he spoke, Li Weiguo started to kneel again.

Zhong Fa held him up.

"Since I've come, of course I intend to resolve this."

Zhong Fa took a yellow paper talisman from his cloth bag.

"Bring me a bowl of water."

Li Weiguo set down the porridge and went to fetch a bowl of water.

Zhong Fa held the talisman between his index and middle fingers. After murmuring a few words, he rubbed the two fingers together.

A flame flared up by Zhong Fa's fingers and gradually spread across the entire talisman.

Whoosh!

Zhong Fa tossed the talisman into the bowl of water.

Li Weiguo's eyes widened as he watched the talisman continue burning on the water, his face filled with shock.

Once the talisman had burned away, Zhong Fa told Li Weiguo to feed Li Liang the water mixed with its ashes.

Two minutes later, after drinking more than half the bowl of talisman water, Li Liang regained consciousness, though his face remained deathly pale.

"Have him eat the glutinous rice porridge, then take him out onto the balcony to get some sun."

With that, Zhong Fa left the room and sat on the living room sofa.

Listening to Li Weiguo and Li Liang talking in the bedroom, Zhong Fa used a handkerchief to wipe clean the fingers that had held the talisman.

That performance had naturally been intended to inspire awe in Li Weiguo.

The talisman's spontaneous combustion was no magic. It was a trick.

The flame had been caused by friction igniting a powder Zhong Fa had mixed himself. The same principle allowed the talisman to keep burning in water.

Although the spontaneous combustion was fake, the Yin-Dispelling Talisman itself was genuine.

Talismans were precious, but Zhong Fa did not begrudge using one to carry out what came next.

Ten minutes later, Li Liang came out with Li Weiguo supporting him.

"Master Zhong, I acted rashly before."

Li Liang dropped to his knees with a thud and looked at Zhong Fa in despair.

"Master Zhong, last night, was that really... my daughter?"

"Why would she attack me? I loved them so much. I... I didn't mean for it to happen!"

Zhong Fa looked at Li Liang and shook his head.

"Yes, and no."

"When someone dies harboring resentment, they may become a vengeful ghost and wreak havoc in the world of the living."

"Vengeful ghosts act on their obsessions. They have no feelings to speak of, so that wasn't your daughter."

"But the vengeful ghost was born from your daughter's body. Ultimately, she carries traces of your daughter, so she is your daughter too."

"Don't think you can move them with love, or try to communicate with them. Right now, all they want is to kill you."

"Until the vengeful ghosts are eliminated, your daughters cannot reincarnate."

Li Liang's eyes were vacant, his kneeling body swaying.

"Do they... resent me for not saving them? It's all my fault. I shouldn't have taken them on that picnic. I shouldn't have let them play by the river. Sob..."

Zhong Fa paid no attention to Li Liang's tears.

He looked at Li Liang and asked, "Are you willing now to let me dispel your daughters' resentment and send them on to reincarnate?"

Li Liang looked at Zhong Fa through tear-filled eyes. "Please, Master Zhong, let my daughters... pass on in peace."

Zhong Fa nodded in satisfaction.

"Which daughter came looking for you last night?"

Li Liang shook his head. Just as he was about to say he didn't know, he remembered the stuffed rabbit.

"It must have been my younger daughter, Li Shirui."

Zhong Fa nodded.

"Then we'll help your younger daughter pass on first. Take her out of the funeral home today and bring her to my shop."

"After tonight, bring your older daughter out in her place. We should be able to settle this within two days."

As Zhong Fa finished speaking, Li Weiguo suddenly asked from beside him, "Master Zhong, then tonight, my son..."

Zhong Fa took a yellow talisman folded into a triangle from his pocket.

"Carry this tonight. It will keep you safe for the night."

Li Weiguo carefully accepted it and placed the triangular talisman in Li Liang's hand. Then he took out his wallet, pulled out a thick wad of banknotes, and tried to press it into Zhong Fa's hand, but Zhong Fa took only two notes.

"Two hundred yuan will do. I'll buy some incense, candles, and offerings."

Then Zhong Fa added, "We can't delay collecting the body. To prevent any mishaps, I'll go with you."

"You arrange the time."

Li Weiguo immediately replied, "Yes, yes, I'll arrange it right away. I know the director of the Tianmen Funeral Home. I can arrange it now!"

Before long, Li Weiguo had called and arranged the handover. All they had to do was go there, and the funeral home staff would help transport the body to the designated location.

"Then let's go."

Zhong Fa nodded and led the way outside, with Li Weiguo close behind.

Still feeling unwell, Li Liang stayed home to recuperate.

Half an hour later.

Standing in the Tianmen Funeral Home's cold storage room, Zhong Fa turned to Tang Rui, the cold storage attendant behind him. "We need some time alone."

Before Tang Rui could speak, Li Weiguo pressed several banknotes into his hand.

His eyes flickered. After warning the two men not to touch the other compartments, he left the room containing the refrigerated cabinets.

Once Tang Rui had left, Zhong Fa walked over to the older twin, Li Shilei, in full view of Li Weiguo.

He took out a pair of nail clippers and clipped several of Li Shilei's nails and a lock of her hair.

Once he had finished, Zhong Fa nodded to Li Weiguo.

Soon, the younger sister Li Shirui's body was taken away.

Only after the Li family had left did Tang Rui return to the cold storage room, slide Li Shilei's body back inside, and lock the compartment.

Back at his desk, some color finally returned to Tang Rui's face, which had gone pale from seeing the corpses.

"Aside from having to deal with corpses, this line of work has real prospects!"

Tang Rui happily tucked the money into his wallet.