Spirit possession

The woman's husband froze at this, then asked Old Liu quietly:

"Brother, you mean there's another ghost inside my wife besides Second Aunt?"

Old Liu nodded and said:

"That's right. Standing the chopsticks only revealed Second Aunt earlier. I didn't expect another one!"

The woman's husband asked, his face troubled:

"Then what should we do?"

The man in the overcoat standing nearby said smugly:

"If he hadn't interfered, your wife would already be better after my thirteen needles!"

Old Liu shot him an angry look and said coldly:

"The Bai Family Thirteen Needles are far too forceful. They're meant for driving out evil ghosts. Aren't you afraid of heavenly retribution, using your needles without distinguishing right from wrong?"

Old Liu's words infuriated the man in the overcoat. He stammered with anger:

"Wh-what heavenly retribution? I think you're the fraud! We've got two possessed people right here. If you disagree, let's each treat one and see who can subdue the ghost!"

Old Liu sneered and said:

"If you happened to pick the one possessed by the evil ghost, wouldn't that be unfair to you? You choose first!"

Though the man in the overcoat looked arrogant and overbearing, his expression was extremely strained. He looked at the unconscious middle-aged woman, then at the old woman who had collapsed off to the side. He clearly had little confidence and feared choosing the one possessed by the evil ghost.

After thinking for a long while, the man in the overcoat rolled his eyes, pointed at the middle-aged woman, and said:

"I'm guessing the evil ghost must be in the younger one. I'll choose her and give you a break!"

I almost laughed aloud at that. The man in the overcoat surely thought that the younger woman's stronger yang energy made her less likely to be possessed by the evil ghost, while the older woman was more easily plagued by one.

Old Liu nodded indifferently and said:

"Fine, as long as you're happy!"

With the tasks divided, Old Liu walked over to the old woman, and the man in the overcoat helped the middle-aged woman sit up.

The family looked at one another, unsure what to do, much less whether to trust Old Liu or the man in the overcoat.

The man in the overcoat coughed, pulled a writing brush from his large bag, and muttered something under his breath.

Then he drew a strange symbol on the woman's forehead.

The woman shuddered all over as though she had received an electric shock.

The family gathered around her jumped in fright and took a step back.

Old Liu glanced at him and said with a sneer:

"Well, well, you even know Western Hunan's Brush-Pointing the Ghost Gate. That's an entirely different approach from the Bai Family Thirteen Needles. You've learned quite a mixed bag, kid!"

The man in the overcoat smiled smugly and said:

"Old man, impressed yet? That's only a fraction of my skills!"

Old Liu lowered his head with a sneer and paid him no further attention. He simply glanced at the old woman lying on the bed and said to me:

"Help her sit up carefully!"

I quickly sat on the edge of the bed and helped the old woman up as Old Liu instructed, supporting her from behind.

Unlike the man in the overcoat, Old Liu neither took out various magical implements nor chanted any spells. He simply leaned close to the old woman's ear and murmured:

"You've seen your family. Time to go!"

After he spoke, the old woman remained just as she was, her eyes closed, without moving!

I didn't know who laughed first, but soon everyone gathered around was unable to hold back their quiet laughter.

The woman's husband said softly in embarrassment:

"Brother, why are you chatting with the ghost?"

Unperturbed, Old Liu moved his head away and sneered along with everyone else. He patted the old woman's shoulder and said:

"That's enough now. If you don't leave, this old man won't be polite!"

The old woman still lay motionless with her eyes closed. The family around her could no longer contain themselves. This time, it wasn't just sneering; more of them began to mock him.

"Where did this old man come from? Is he nuts?"

The mutter wasn't particularly quiet. I heard it clearly and was just about to snap back.

Staring at the old woman, Old Liu suddenly roared:

"Get out!"

As he spoke, he raised the battered stick in his hand to strike.

That cry of "get out" thundered through the room, terrifying everyone around him and making them shudder.

Even the man in the overcoat performing his ritual nearby jumped.

Seeing Old Liu raise his stick, the woman's husband hurried over in fright and grabbed his arm, saying in a tearful voice:

"Brother, stop! I'll pay whatever you want. Stop this and leave. You'll kill someone before you drive the ghost out!"

The man in the overcoat laughed at this and was about to mock him when, unexpectedly, the old woman I was supporting suddenly opened her eyes.

Everyone around us was startled again, and at last the room fell silent.

Old Liu's stick was still raised in the air. The old woman opened her eyes, glanced at the battered stick, shook her head, and shed two streams of tears. Then she closed her eyes again and fainted.

Old Liu snorted, lowered his stick, and said to the woman's husband beside him:

"It's all right now. When a ghost passes through someone's body, it's bound to jolt the host a little. This old lady will wake up shortly. Go burn some joss paper for your Second Aunt tonight!"

The woman's husband nodded and came over to support the old woman, still half doubtful. Before long, she really did open her eyes. She looked around, got out of bed, and asked:

"How's the child's mother?"

At that, none of the family around us laughed anymore.

The woman's husband was so excited he couldn't stop smiling. He clasped Old Liu's hand and thanked him repeatedly.

The man in the overcoat saw all of this. He had drawn symbols with his brush and chanted spells, yet the woman had only twitched once and shown no further response.

The ghost possessing the old woman had been driven away. Now only the woman in front of the man in the overcoat remained, and all eyes fell on him.

Sweat covered the man's forehead. He rummaged in his pocket for a long while, pulled out a strip of yellow paper and a box of cinnabar, dipped his brush in the cinnabar, and swiftly drew a talisman on the paper.

Old Liu was quite surprised to see the yellow paper and said:

"Oh, impressive. You even know how to use Mount Mao's yellow paper talismans?"

The man in the overcoat sneered, made a strange gesture with his left hand, and slapped the yellow paper talisman onto the woman's forehead with his right.

A piercing "ah" rang out.

The people around her screamed in fright as well and hurriedly scattered.

Once everyone was far enough away, they looked back and saw the woman staring wide-eyed at the man in the overcoat with an intensely resentful gaze.

The man in the overcoat looked blank. Clearly, the woman's reaction had caught him by surprise.

He hurriedly rummaged through his bag again and pulled out a scale weight threaded with red cord.

Without a second thought, he slipped it around the neck of the woman, who still had the yellow paper talisman stuck to her.

Old Liu was surprised again:

"Oh, the Qingwei Sect's Thousand-Catty Weight?"

With the heavy iron weight hanging around her neck, the woman suddenly froze and made no movement.

Seeing her stop moving, the man in the overcoat couldn't help laughing and said:

"Little ghost, you dare act so-"

Before he could finish saying "wild," the woman suddenly came to her senses and clawed forward like a madwoman. The man in the overcoat failed to dodge in time, and two long, bloody gashes were torn across his face.

Several of us men hurried forward to pin the woman down. Her husband could no longer bear watching and said to Old Liu:

"Brother, please help us. This isn't working!"

Old Liu nodded. This time, without any discussion, he unexpectedly raised his stick and struck, landing a solid, vicious blow on the woman's shoulder.

Her husband knew what Old Liu was capable of. This time, he didn't stop him, but simply closed his eyes, unable to bear watching.

The woman let out a wail at the blow, and her strength suddenly multiplied several times over. Even the four of us men couldn't hold her down. She darted forward and clawed at Old Liu.

Unable to dodge in time, Old Liu toppled over, slamming the back of his head against the television stand.

Everyone in the room cried, "Oh, Mother!" in fright and fled outside.

The woman glared viciously at Old Liu as though she wanted to tear him apart alive, then charged at him again.

I hurriedly grabbed her from behind and shouted:

"Old Liu, run!"

Clutching the back of his head, Old Liu slowly stood up, his hand covered in blood. After a moment's thought, he smeared the blood onto his stick, raised it, and brought it down hard on the woman's head.

With a bang, every glass object in the room, including the windows, shattered and scattered across the floor.

After that blow, the woman finally had no strength left. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

Only after seeing the woman collapse from outside the doorway did her husband slowly venture back into the room.

Old Liu weakly clutched the back of his head, barely managing to remain standing, and said:

"She's all right now. Help her up!"

After saying this, Old Liu fell to the floor like a kite with its string cut.

Seeing this, the woman's husband hurriedly shouted:

"There's a hospital across the street. Get him there, quick!"

I hurried over, hoisted Old Liu onto my back, and ran outside.

Along the way, Old Liu kept bleeding more and more, making my heart pound with anxiety.

Even after getting Old Liu into the hospital's resuscitation room, I couldn't stop worrying and paced back and forth outside the door.

Before long, a nurse opened the door, came out, and asked me:

"Are you his family?"

I nodded and said, "Yes. How is he?"

The nurse shook her head helplessly and said:

"He has no heartbeat!"