Ritual

That morning, the sky was heavily overcast, and the north wind howled without cease. It looked as though a heavy snow was about to fall.

After getting up, Liu Yuanzhou did not go out. He simply stood in a horse stance on the earthen floor of the cave dwelling for a while. Seven or eight days had passed since he had Entered Samadhi. Every day, his stance practice improved by a sliver, and this morning he finally broke through ten segments.

As the time he spent standing in stance lengthened, his body truly was growing stronger—his strength increased, his reactions quickened, and so on. Yet there was no way to quantify exactly how much stronger he had become. The stance practice was imperceptibly changing his body.

But there was also a downside: his appetite had increased, especially his craving for meat. If he went a day without meat, his whole body felt out of sorts. Fortunately, Third Master's family still had much of the beef, pork, and mutton Miss Qin had brought, perhaps more than two hundred jin remaining. At his current rate of eating, it would likely last another two months.

As for what would happen after two months, Liu Yuanzhou had no good solution either. He could only take one step at a time and see where it led.

After breakfast, Liu Yuanzhou and his elder brother Liu Yuanbo split firewood beside the woodpile, chopping large logs into pieces the length of a forearm for easier burning.

"Brother Second Child, Brother Second Child!" Liu Chuang and Zhang He came running over.

Liu Yuanzhou set down his axe, straightened up, and asked, "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Come with us, quick! Go watch a good show." Liu Chuang excitedly grabbed at Liu Yuanzhou's clothes.

Zhang He nodded vigorously beside him. "Yeah, hurry up. If we get there late, we'll miss the good part."

"What good show? Explain yourself. Can't you see I'm busy?" Liu Yuanzhou said, brushing Liu Chuang's hand away.

"It's Li Laocai. His family is holding another ritual right now," Zhang He rushed to say.

Liu Yuanbo also stopped working, rose to his feet, and looked at them.

"Oh? Didn't his family already hold a ritual last time? What, are they haunted again?" Liu Yuanzhou asked curiously.

"Who knows? Ah, are you coming or not? We're leaving if you don't," Liu Chuang said impatiently.

Liu Yuanzhou glanced at his elder brother. "Brother, how about I go take a look?" He was curious too.

Liu Yuanbo was rather wary of matters involving ghosts and spirits, but he could hardly stop his own brother. "Go on, then. But watch from far away. Be careful not to offend anything."

Liu Yuanzhou immediately nodded, patted the dirt from himself, and followed Liu Chuang and Zhang He toward Li Laocai's house.

On the way, Liu Chuang quietly said, "Guess who I saw?"

"Who?" Liu Yuanzhou asked.

"Wang Wu—the thug Wang Wu. He came with that Taoist priest. Looks like they're in the same gang," Liu Chuang said.

"Oh, really? That Wang Wu..." Liu Yuanzhou shook his head. Though he found it somewhat strange that a thug would mix with a Taoist priest, he did not think much of it. In his eyes, these so-called rituals were all scams. What ghosts and monsters could possibly exist in this world?

Still, Li Laocai had hired a Taoist priest to perform another ritual this time. What was the reason? The previous times had been because of Miss Qin. What about this time? Liu Yuanzhou pondered it inwardly.

Before long, they arrived outside Li Laocai's house.

Liu Yuanzhou saw that many villagers had already gathered outside Li Laocai's home to watch the excitement. A crowd clogged the front gate, while some children had simply climbed into several Big Willow Trees beside the courtyard wall to watch.

Liu Yuanzhou approached the gate, tugged at someone's sleeve, and asked, "Little Lin's mother, why is everyone blocking the gate instead of going in to watch?"

The woman called Little Lin's mother turned around. Seeing Liu Yuanzhou, she said, "Second Child, is that you? They're holding the ritual inside, but Li Laocai won't let anyone into the courtyard to watch." As she spoke, she pointed inside.

"I heard his family just held a ritual a few days ago. Why, are they haunted again?" Liu Yuanzhou asked softly.

"Who knows?" Little Lin's mother glanced around, then leaned close and whispered, "I heard it isn't because things went missing from his home this time. It's because Li Laocai saw firelight outside his window in the dead of night. When he went out to look, he saw a human head as large as a millstone on the courtyard wall. It nearly scared him to death. He hurriedly called his family out to see, but there was nothing there. So he invited the White-Haired Taoist to perform a ritual and drive out evil."

"So that was it." Liu Yuanzhou spoke, deep in thought. Could someone be targeting Li Laocai again?

Liu Chuang and Zhang He jumped up to peer inside, but they could see nothing. Liu Chuang said, "Let's climb over the wall and watch."

"You brat, are you looking for a beating? A few boys climbed up there just now to look, and the people inside knocked them down with sticks," Little Lin's mother said, turning back.

"Then how about we climb a tree to watch?" Zhang He suggested.

The three of them looked around, found a tree with fewer people in it, and scrambled up in a few swift movements. Several children already in the tree became unhappy. One seven- or eight-year-old shouted at them, "Xi Zi, it's too crowded! Go to another tree!" Zhang He turned and snarled, "Say one more word and I'll drive every one of you down." The children dared to be angry but dared not speak, and climbed a little higher.

Liu Yuanzhou paid no attention to that. As soon as he climbed the tree, he looked into the courtyard. He saw an incense table set up in the center, incense and candles burning atop it, smoke curling through the air. A man stood before the table in a Taoist robe, holding a treasured sword. Since his back was to Liu Yuanzhou, his face could not be seen. That must have been the Taoist priest.

More than ten members of Li Laocai's family stood not far from the incense table. Li Laocai appeared badly frightened and was being supported by two people. Wang Wu, the man Liu Chuang had mentioned, stood beside the table. He wore no Taoist robe, only a strip of white cloth tied around his head, and held a small box in his arms.

The Taoist priest stood there muttering for a while, then stepped through the Yu Steps and began dancing with his sword. Once he finished, he gave a great shout, picked up a bowl of something from the table and drank it, then sprayed a mouthful at the incense table. With a pfft, the incense and candles on the table actually went out. The Li family and the villagers watching outside were all stunned, and silence fell for a moment.

Did he botch the performance? Liu Yuanzhou frowned in puzzlement.

Then the scene changed again. The extinguished incense and candles reignited, their flames growing ever larger. Accompanied by a boom, a fireball engulfed the entire incense table. The Li family recoiled several steps in fright, and the surrounding crowd was startled as well. The children in Liu Yuanzhou's tree cried out in alarm.

"Hah!" The Taoist priest remained utterly unruffled. With a loud shout, he swung his sword at the fireball. The fireball vanished at once. The villagers watching all clicked their tongues in amazement, and some even clapped and cheered.

The Taoist priest handed the sword to Wang Wu beside him, cupped his hands toward Li Laocai, and said loudly, "Squire Li, this vile ghost has been slain by me."

Li Laocai said, "You have worked hard, Taoist priest. Please return to the cave dwelling for some tea."

The Li family left several people behind to clear away the things, while the others and the Taoist priest went into the cave dwelling. Wang Wu followed them inside as well.

With the ritual over, the onlookers gradually dispersed in twos and threes. Everyone murmured and sighed, their reactions varied beyond count. This ritual would no doubt become another fine tale for them to discuss over tea and meals.

"Ah, that Taoist priest was incredible!" After the three jumped down from the tree, Zhang He exclaimed in awe.

"Yeah! Such a huge fireball, and he slashed it apart with one stroke of his sword. I wish I had that kind of ability." Liu Chuang's face was full of yearning as he repeatedly mimed swinging a sword.

Liu Yuanzhou remained silent. He was still thinking about Li Laocai's house being haunted for a second time. Suddenly, he asked, "Do either of you know where that Taoist priest came from?"

"I heard that Taoist priest is called the White-Haired Taoist. He came to Crouching Tiger Slope only within the last month or two," Liu Chuang said.

"Yeah, I heard he can use talismans to cure illnesses. Lots of people have gone to ask him for talismans," Zhang He added.

There were too few clues, and Liu Yuanzhou could not make sense of the connections. He shook his head and decided not to think about it anymore. In any case, it had nothing to do with him.

The three chatted a while longer, then parted and returned home.

After dinner, Liu Yuanzhou left the courtyard, intending to go to the riverbank to practice, when he saw Li Mingzhong, whom he had not seen for a long time, walking over.

"Second Child, I came to bid you farewell," Li Mingzhong said as he approached.

The two walked side by side to a patch of wild grass on the hillside and looked down at the stretch of forest below.

Liu Yuanzhou said, "I wish you success in your examination."

Li Mingzhong thanked him, then said, "Actually, there's another matter I came to speak to you about. I only learned afterward about my mother going to your house that day. That truly was not my intention."

Liu Yuanzhou believed that. Besides, after the recent string of events, his heart had unknowingly broadened considerably. The resentment in his heart had long since vanished like smoke and clouds. With a sigh, he said, "It's all in the past. No need to mention it."

"That's good," Li Mingzhong said.

The two stood there looking at the distant scenery, neither saying a word.