Granny Liu

Biodata

Background / History

Granny Liu had worshipped the Chang Immortal in her home for forty years when she first met Wu Jie. She was the most renowned Spirit-Calling Disciple in the surrounding villages, and Grandpa had heard that she had never failed to resolve a client's supernatural troubles 6 13.

Her husband had died long before Wu Jie's sixth birthday. She had borne several children, but all died before turning three, leaving her living alone with no surviving children 11.

Years earlier, a wandering Taoist taught her some yin-yang divination and Purple Star Astrology. She said she had never used those teachings before examining Old Man Wang's fate during Wu Jie's ninth-birthday tribulation 24.

Appearance

• Bound feet and slightly hunched back: At her introduction, she walks on tiny bound feet; her back straightens when an immortal possesses her 6 8.
• Long-stemmed tobacco pipe: Usually held in her hand and frequently smoked while she watches, thinks, or prepares to act 6 7 13.
• Facial injury and blindness: The Corpse Demon battle leaves a long gash from her forehead to the corner of her mouth and costs her sight in one eye 10.
• Possession changes: Her eyes glow an eerie green, and her voice becomes that of a much younger woman when she calls upon her immortal 8 15 23.

Personality

Granny Liu initially behaves imperiously: she charges a substantial fee, expects good liquor and cigarettes, requires a donkey cart rather than walking, and speaks with her chin raised. That arrogance disappears immediately when she senses the powerful immortal within Wu Jie; she kneels, kowtows, and refuses to rise without permission 6.

Her initial commitment to the Wu family combines religious reverence with the hope that Wu Jie's immortal will eventually awaken and help her in return. Over the years, she also develops genuine grandmotherly affection for Wu Jie, bringing him treats and treating him as her own grandson 7 29.

She is protective but aware of her limitations. She risks her life for Wu Jie, admits when an opponent exceeds her abilities, and carefully tests unfamiliar practitioners before allowing them to treat him. She also insists that the Wu family honor its promise to let him study under the old Taoist 7 24 25 28.

Abilities & Skills

Spirit-Calling

Granny Liu invites an immortal to possess her body and act through her 8 15 23.

• During the Corpse Demon battle, the possessing spirit announces itself as the Willow Immortal, and her pipe strikes produce bursts of fire 8.
• She uses the possessed state to overpower Second Master Yellow's corpse host and force him out 15 16.
• Calling upon the Chang Immortal gives her enough force to break open Grandpa's door during the ninth-birthday emergency 23.
• Her patron is a Chang Immortal—a snake that cultivated into a spirit 15.

Spiritual Perception and Diagnosis

She can detect supernatural presences through their aura or by touching a person's head or spiritual center while reciting an incantation 6 23.

• Identifies an injured, dormant immortal soul with at least a thousand years of cultivation inside three-year-old Wu Jie 6.
• Explains that Wu Jie and the immortal share one body with two souls, so damage to the immortal's vital essence also weakens him 10 11.
• Distinguishes possession of the fifth Zhang brother's corpse from genuine resurrection 14.
• Recognizes death aura around Old Man Wang and later around the sleeping Grandpa 22 23.
• Detects both Wu Jie's suppressed immortal soul and the vigorous invading spirit during his third tribulation 23.

Pipe-Based Combat and Exorcism

Her tobacco pipe serves as both a ritual implement and a weapon 8 15.

• Blown smoke neutralizes the Corpse Demon's corpse miasma 8.
• Pipe blows drive enemies back; three finishing strikes disperse Ma Laosan's wife's soul after Wu Jie's immortal badly wounds her 8 10.
• Smoke, a blow to the head, and an ash-drawn talisman expel Second Master Yellow from the fifth Zhang brother's corpse 15 16.
• Repeated blows with a red-hot pipe bowl fail to stop the second Zhang brother when a stronger weasel controls him 17.

Protective Preparations

Granny Liu combines wards, ritual objects, and animals to protect people from supernatural attacks 7 12 23.

Needle Treatment

She uses silver needles and acupuncture points to treat the second Zhang brother's supernatural affliction 16 17.

• Stops his convulsions, nosebleed, and foaming at the mouth 17.
• Identifies a moving abdominal lump as malevolent energy formed from a Yellow Weasel's resentment 17.
• Has freshly drawn cold well water poured over him to briefly halt the lump, then punctures it and drains foul black liquid 17.
• Removing that energy does not end the attack: another, stronger weasel remains present 17.

Fate Reading and Divination

• Predicts that Wu Jie faces a calamity every three years, with his ninth birthday posing the greatest danger 10.
• Reads Old Man Wang's birth information and identifies his unusual pure-yang fate, which strengthens his postmortem obsession and suppresses supernatural beings 24.
• Cannot obtain a clear reading of Wu Jie's fate or alter it herself 19 24.
• Admits that neither her cultivation nor her patron immortal can overcome Old Man Wang's possession 24.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Long-stemmed tobacco pipe — Her principal weapon and ritual tool; its smoke, heated bowl, and ash all feature in exorcisms 8 15 16 17.
• Silver needles — Used for acupuncture and releasing resentment-derived malevolent energy 16 17.
• Matchbox and tobacco — Used to prepare her pipe; Jueming demonstrates his power by lighting it before she can strike a match 25.
• Old thread-bound book — Given to her by Li Xuantong in recognition of her role in keeping Wu Jie alive. Its title and contents are not identified in the passage 29.

Relationships

• Wu Jie / Little Jie — Her ward and eventual grandson-like companion. She protects him throughout childhood; narration also states that he later saves her life, without describing that event here 6 7 29.
• Wu Jie's grandfather (“Brother Wu”) — Her closest collaborator in supernatural emergencies. He arranges her hospital treatment after she loses an eye and asks Wu Jie's parents to care for her as their own mother 10 11.
• Wu Jie's parents — Maintain contact through holiday visits and gifts, acknowledging her sacrifice for their family 11.
• Chang Immortal — Her long-worshipped patron, whom she calls upon for possession and who warns her when danger reaches the Wu household 6 23.
• Second Master Yellow — A spirit she first approaches respectfully, then forcibly expels from the fifth Zhang brother's corpse when negotiation fails 14 15 16.
• Li Xuantong — Recognizes her contribution to Wu Jie's survival and rewards her with a precious book when taking the boy away as his disciple 28 29.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Ma Laosan's Wife and the Corpse Demon

Hired to investigate the Wu family's haunting, Granny Liu discovers the immortal soul within three-year-old Wu Jie. She returns her hundred-yuan fee, adds another hundred yuan of her own, and promises to protect the family even at the cost of her life 6.

She prepares for Ma Laosan's wife's transformation into a Corpse Demon, but her retreat plan collapses when Dad brings the black dog to the gate at the wrong time. Granny Liu had not clearly explained when to deploy it. After Wu Jie's immortal severely wounds the demon, Granny Liu delivers the finishing blows, exhausting herself and losing an eye 7 8 9 10.

The Sixth-Birthday Tribulation

Grandpa brings Granny Liu back before Wu Jie's sixth birthday. After the youngest Zhang brother strikes Wu Jie, she predicts supernatural retaliation and reluctantly provides protective advice. His death and the desecration of the dead weasel's body draw further vengeance against the Zhang family 11 12 13.

Granny Liu expels Second Master Yellow from the youngest brother's corpse and accepts a hundred yuan from the surviving brothers, explaining that mediums must charge other families even though she waives payment for the Wus. When the second brother is attacked, she treats his malevolent-energy affliction but struggles against a stronger possessing weasel. Unable to resolve the confrontation herself, she asks Grandpa to bring Wu Jie 14 15 16 17 18.

She stays with the Wu family until Wu Jie wakes, then renews her warning about his ninth birthday and promises to return 19.

The Ninth-Birthday Tribulation

Granny Liu arrives on the calculated day of Wu Jie's third tribulation and has him brought home from the hospital to avoid Old Man Wang's death aura. After Wang dies, she prepares wards and warning bells, but his spirit crosses the protections and possesses Wu Jie. Her patron wakes her, allowing her to discover the intrusion and rouse the family 22 23.

She identifies Wang's exceptional fate but cannot free Wu Jie. When Jueming arrives, she attempts to test his ability before entrusting the child to him. Ultimately, Li Xuantong removes the invading soul in less than a minute—a problem she had spent the day unable to solve 24 25 28.

Wu Jie's Departure

Although the family dreads Wu Jie's ten-year absence, Granny Liu opposes hiding him from Li Xuantong, insisting that their promise must be honored. She comes to see Wu Jie off, asks the Taoist to care for him, and accepts the book offered in thanks with visible excitement 28 29.

Notable Quotes

“There's nothing else we can do. But rest assured, even if I have to give up this old life of mine, I'll keep the child safe.” 7

“One strike severs the soul!”

“Two strikes scatter the spirit!”

“Three strikes end this evil!” 10