Yellow Immortals worshipped the moon, a red moon overhead

Grandpa knew nothing about my relationship with Grandpa Wang, much less that he had slapped me twice that day. Perhaps what was happening now had little to do with those slaps.

Perhaps Grandpa Wang believed that my howl had startled the donkey, causing him to fall from the cart and die. That was why his aggrieved spirit had lingered after death and latched onto me.

Whatever the reason, this was serious-the worst thing that had happened to me in all nine years of my life.

Afterward, Grandpa woke my parents as well. Like Grandpa and the others earlier, they had been affected by the aura of death emanating from Old Man Wang. They slept so deeply that it took a long time to wake them.

Back at the hospital, Granny Liu and I had both noticed that aura of death around Old Man Wang. It had probably already begun affecting us then.

Now the whole family gathered around me. Seeing the state I was in, they were beside themselves with worry and begged Granny Liu to find a way to help.

Granny Liu had never encountered anything like this either. She could not understand why Old Man Wang, who had only just died, was so vicious that he had possessed me straightaway. From the look of me, I would not last until dawn.

Everyone looked grim. In the end, we had failed to escape the ordeal of the three calamities.

"Sister, we've raised this child all these years. We can't just lose him like this. You have to find a way to save him," Grandpa said, his eyes reddening.

"I've watched this child grow up. If there were anything I could do, I would save him. But I've never encountered a situation like this before. What did Old Man Wang do for a living? Why was he so vicious immediately after death that he possessed Little Jie outright?" Granny Liu asked in frustration.

"Old Man Wang was a bachelor his whole life, with no children. There was nothing unusual about him. Why would he latch onto Little Jie?" Dad asked, puzzled.

"What did you just say? Old Man Wang never married?" Granny Liu suddenly asked, agitated.

"That's right. Everyone in the village knows it. His family was so poor when he was little that even rats wouldn't visit their house. There was a famine that year, and both his parents starved to death. What does that have to do with Little Jie?" Grandpa asked.

"Brother Wu, do you know Old Man Wang's birth date and time, and his full name?" Granny Liu asked solemnly.

Old Man Wang was about Grandpa's age, and they had played together as children. Naturally, Grandpa knew those details, so he told Granny Liu Old Man Wang's birth date and time and his full name.

Granny Liu's expression shifted as she listened. In a low voice, she said, "Years ago, I learned a little yin-yang divination and Purple Star Astrology from a wandering Taoist, but I've never used it. Today, this old woman will read his fate."

With that, Granny Liu worked through a series of calculations using Old Man Wang's birth date and time. When she finished, she drew in a sharp breath. "That's it. That's it... Just as I thought. There really was something unusual about Old Man Wang."

"Granny Liu, what exactly is going on?" Dad could not help asking.

"He was born in a yang year, a yang month, on a yang day, at a yang hour. That gave him a four yang fate, something found in fewer than one in ten thousand people. His fate was pure yang-the extremely rare seven killings-breaker-wolf fate. That means the three stars, Seven Killings, Army Breaker, and Greedy Wolf, converge in the life palace and its three linked palaces across the four cardinal positions. People with this fate experience many changes and upheavals throughout their lives. While they're alive, it's nothing much. But once they die, their obsessions become exceptionally strong, especially if they die bearing a grudge. Even immediately after death, their souls are immensely powerful-ten times stronger than a malevolent ghost. Once someone like him latches onto you, you're all but certain to die within a day."

"Actually, there is a way to counter a fate like his. By marrying and having children, he could have brought yin and yang into balance and neutralized his pure yang fate. Then his obsessions would not have been so strong after death. But Old Man Wang never married. He retained that pure yang fate all his life, which is why his obsession became so powerful after he died, and Little Jie fell victim to him," Granny Liu said helplessly.

"Why did Old Man Wang latch onto our Little Jie? Why was Xiao Pang fine when he was in the same hospital room?" Grandpa asked.

"We can't be sure that child is fine yet. Today happens to be the day of Little Jie's three calamities, so it's no surprise that Old Man Wang latched onto him. Besides, Little Jie's fate is very unusual too. I once tried to read it, but everything was a blur. I couldn't make out anything. Perhaps my cultivation is too shallow," Granny Liu said.

"Granny Liu, you just said Little Jie would die within a day after Old Man Wang latched onto him. Is there really no way to save him?" Dad asked again.

Granny Liu sighed. "There may be a way, but my cultivation is shallow. Even the Immortal I worship can do nothing. Old Man Wang's pure yang fate is simply too unusual. It naturally suppresses supernatural creatures and evil spirits. Not only is the Chang Immortal I worship powerless, but even the Immortal inside Little Jie has been suppressed by Old Man Wang. With its spirit weakened, it can do nothing against him."

After those words, it seemed there was nothing left to be done.

Just as Granny Liu had said, the ordeal of the three calamities was the greatest disaster I had ever faced. If I could not survive it, my short life would be over.

Hearing Granny Liu's words, the whole family sank into profound grief. Mom collapsed over me, sobbing uncontrollably, while Grandpa and Dad kept sighing.

Heavyhearted, Granny Liu could no longer bear the oppressive atmosphere in the room. She went outside alone and lit a pipe.

She happened to glance up at the sky, and her eyes widened.

The crescent moon overhead had somehow turned red-a blood red. The stars of the Big Dipper clustered together, while the Purple Star flickered erratically.

Even more bizarrely, a large gathering of weasels and foxes had appeared on our roof at some point. They bowed repeatedly to the blood-red crescent overhead, performing the grand ritual of three kneelings and nine prostrations.

Yellow Immortals worshipped the moon, a red moon overhead.

Granny Liu had never seen such an eerie sight.

As the saying went, when things departed from the ordinary, something unnatural was at work. An omen in the heavens meant a great event was coming.

Granny Liu stared at the strange signs in the sky and the weasels and foxes bowing to the moon, stunned.

My condition grew worse and worse. My high fever persisted all night, and I rambled deliriously, constantly coughing in an old man's voice. My family and Granny Liu did not sleep a wink. According to Granny Liu's reckoning, I would not survive until the midnight hour.

Yet at noon the next day, things took a dramatic turn. Our little village, which could not have been more ordinary, suddenly came alive as more than a dozen cars drove in at once.