Spirit-Calling Disciple

Ma Laosan's wife had come to our house two days in a row. Each time, she left us with just a single sentence, filling the whole family with a fear unlike anything they had ever known.

If this went on, even if she didn't kill us, she would scare us to death.

Nobody in the family slept that night. Only I, a three-year-old, slept soundly.

Early the next morning, Grandpa made a decision. He told Dad to go to Thirty-Li Hamlet and find a spirit medium named Granny Liu to help deal with our family's trouble.

There was one problem, though: Granny Liu charged a steep fee. She asked for at least a hundred yuan to look into someone's troubles, and she had to be treated to good liquor and cigarettes on top of that.

A hundred yuan isn't much to people today-just the price of a meal. Back then, however, an ordinary worker earned only a little over one yuan a day. For our family, it was a considerable expense.

But how could money matter more than his grandson's life? Besides, Ma Laosan's wife might mean harm to the entire family.

Early that morning, Dad hurried to Thirty-Li Hamlet with dark circles under both eyes, taking money and gifts to ask for her help.

Granny Liu put on plenty of airs, and most people had a hard time persuading her to come. Only after Dad pleaded at length did she agree to make the trip. She refused to walk, either-she had to ride in a donkey cart. Dad had no choice but to spend another few yuan hiring one to bring her from Thirty-Li Hamlet to our house.

Granny Liu was in her sixties, with bound feet and a long-stemmed tobacco pipe in her hand. She always spoke with her chin lifted, as though everyone else was beneath her notice.

Grandpa treated her very politely, too, mainly because he had heard that she possessed great spiritual powers and had never failed when helping people with their troubles.

Granny Liu took a puff from her pipe and snorted out a few words. "Where's the child? Bring him out so I can have a look."

Grandpa immediately asked Mom to bring me out of the room.

Only then did Granny Liu lower her head and glance at me. To everyone's surprise, that single glance made her expression change drastically, as though she had seen something terrifying. She dropped to her knees before me with a thud, trembling all over. "This humble disciple, Liu of Thirty-Li Hamlet, has worshipped the Chang Immortal in her home for forty years. Forgive me for disturbing your august presence, honored immortal. Please do not hold it against me."

As she spoke, she kowtowed to me several times, her forehead striking the floor audibly.

The sight left my entire family at a loss.

After all the trouble of bringing Granny Liu over from distant Thirty-Li Hamlet, why had she started kowtowing to a three-year-old the moment she arrived?

As for me, too young to understand anything, I simply smiled as I watched her bow to me. I thought it was fun.

Even after she finished kowtowing, Granny Liu remained on her knees.

Grandpa froze for a moment, then hurried over to help her up. "You're being far too courteous. Why are you kowtowing to a little child? Please, get up."

"Until the honored immortal speaks, this disciple dares not rise." Granny Liu knelt there, not even daring to lift her head and look at me.

Helpless, Grandpa glanced at me and said, "Little Jie, hurry up and tell Granny Liu to get up."

"Get up," I said.

As though she had been granted a pardon, Granny Liu rose shakily to her feet and stepped aside.

Mom, rather bewildered, led me back into the room.

Only after I went inside did Granny Liu let out a long breath of relief. She looked at Grandpa and Dad with a hint of reproach. "You two already have such a powerful immortal enshrined in your home. Why ask an old woman like me to intervene? Aren't you making me show off my paltry skills before a true master?"

"An immortal... what immortal? We haven't set up any spirit altar in our home, and we don't know any immortals. What do you mean, Granny Liu?" Grandpa knew a little about spirit mediums, which prompted his questions.

"Your grandson carries an extremely powerful immortal within him, a hundred times more powerful than any immortal I know. My meager cultivation is nothing compared with that immortal's. I think I'd better leave rather than stay here and make a fool of myself," Granny Liu said, shaking her head with a sigh.

"But he's only a three-year-old child. He can't do anything. Otherwise, we wouldn't have brought you all this way," Dad said anxiously.

That stirred a trace of doubt in Granny Liu. After pondering for a moment, she asked, "May I take another look at the child?"

"Of course. I'll call him out..."

With that, Dad was about to call for me.

But Granny Liu suddenly stopped him and said cautiously, "No, let me go inside to see him. We mustn't disturb the honored immortal."

With that, Granny Liu walked straight into the room on her tiny bound feet.

When she saw me again, she remained utterly respectful, her smile drawing the wrinkles on her face into the shape of a flower. "Honored immortal, allow this disciple to examine you. Please forgive me."

As she spoke, Granny Liu suddenly reached out and placed a hand directly on the crown of my head. Then she closed her eyes, muttering under her breath, and her whole body began to tremble.

A moment later, Granny Liu abruptly opened her eyes and retreated several steps. Once again, she dropped to her knees and kowtowed to me three times, declaring firmly, "Exalted immortal, please forgive me. This disciple meant no offense."

Then Granny Liu left the room in something of a panic.

Dad and Grandpa followed her out again.

As soon as they reached the courtyard, they saw Granny Liu take out the hundred yuan Dad had given her earlier. She added another hundred of her own and handed it to him. "My good man, please take this money."

Grandpa paused, thinking she meant to wash her hands of our family's trouble. "What do you mean by this, Granny Liu? Are you refusing to help us?" "It's not that I won't help. I simply dare not take your money. The chance to serve the exalted immortal is a blessing I could only have earned through eight lifetimes of good deeds. How could I dare charge you? Please take this money as a small token of my goodwill," Granny Liu said with the utmost deference. Not a trace of her earlier arrogance remained.

Later, under Grandpa's persistent questioning, Granny Liu explained everything. From the moment she first saw me, she had sensed an exceptionally strong immortal aura about me and assumed our family were Spirit-Calling Disciples too. Only after examining me more closely did she discover that a powerful immortal soul lay hidden within me, possessing at least a thousand years of cultivation. Yet that soul was extremely weak inside my body. Clearly, it had suffered grievous injuries before, and its consciousness had not awakened.

As a Spirit-Calling Disciple herself, Granny Liu naturally understood just how powerful the soul within me was. She dared not show the slightest disrespect, much less accept money for her help.

Though she refused payment, Granny Liu thumped her chest and promised that she would take care of the Wu family's troubles. From then on, our problems were her problems. Even if it cost her old life, she would make sure I remained safe and unharmed.

Only after hearing Granny Liu's explanation did the family understand why so many weasels and foxes had kowtowed toward our house when I was born.