An Ning woke up.
We agreed to Liu Jing's request, but we also made it very clear that we would pass on her wishes. Whether her husband and mother-in-law agreed was up to them; we could not force them.
Before we left, Seventh Master put up several talismans in the living room.
I asked him whether talismans were supposed to be kept out of indoor spaces.
"These are Grievance-Resolving Talismans, used to deliver departed souls. They won't attract ghosts."
After putting up the talismans, Seventh Master took a plug-in tape recorder out of his backpack.
He turned it on, and it played the Daoist classic, the Wondrous Scripture for Resolving Grievances and Averting Sin.
This was part of the daily recitations required of Daoist disciples. The purpose of the entire scripture was to resolve grievances and untangle emotional knots-just as the words suggested, to clear away injustices and release the knots in one's heart.
It could deliver not just ghosts, but people too.
"Seventh Master, isn't using a tape recorder for this a little undignified?"
"Then why don't you sit here and recite it for her?"
Seventh Master glanced at me. "What's the difference between a person reciting it and a tape recorder? Learn to be flexible."
Only after finishing all this did we leave the apartment.
Before leaving, Seventh Master put another talisman on the front doorframe to prevent Liu Jing from leaving.
People could lie, and Yin Souls had been people in life, so Yin Souls could lie too.
Concerned that Liu Jing might prove fickle and cause trouble at the last moment, Seventh Master simply sealed the apartment to keep her from escaping.
Things on Liu Jing's end were settled for now. All that remained was for me to visit her husband and mother-in-law tomorrow. After this