It had failed!
Unwilling as Li Yan was to accept it, he had no choice.
While preparing the ritual yesterday, he had already sensed the general rationale behind this method.
Put simply, it was about tricking ghosts and gods.
Such practices had a long history and existed in myriad forms.
In folklore, the most common variation occurred when a boy or girl was born under an unfavorable omen. Fearing the child would not survive to adulthood, the parents changed tactics: raising a boy as a girl, or a girl as a tomboy.
The method Widow Wang taught followed this very logic, even taking it a step further: once the cold-altar rampaging soldier was trapped inside the rooster's belly, it would be burned at high noon to dissolve the disaster.
Li Yan did not know the deeper mechanics at play.
Yet clearly, that thing had not fallen for it.
Looking at the rooster's entrails churned into mush, a chill touched Li Yan's heart.
To be possessed by that thing was this terrifying.
The substitute idol probably could not endure many more blows.
He dared not be careless. Immediately burning and burying the rooster, he prepared once more according to the method.
Widow Wang had said this ritual needed two consecutive nights.
Perhaps tonight it would succeed.
Waiting was always an agonizingly slow affair.
When night finally fell and a deep hush swallowed the world, Li Yan tethered another rooster outside the gate, returned to his room, and burrowed into the earth.
Tonight, the moonlight was even brighter.
Unlike yesterday, as the Zi hour approached, a sinister wind suddenly picked up in Fort Li.
The yin wind darted left and right, sweeping up sand and fallen leaves. Entering from the village entrance, it skirted past the Earth God temple there and spiraled toward Li Yan's home.
Inside Widow Wang's home, candlelight flickered dimly.
The little girl had awakened, yet she still remained within the red circle. Holding the horsetail whisk upright, she struck a bizarre posture, as if straining her ears to listen.
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open. Staring fixedly out the door, she babbled incessantly in a hurried tongue.
Widow Wang's face turned deathly pale in an instant.
"Not good—the boy's in danger!"
……
The yin wind whirled, soon arriving before the Li residence.
It spun low across the ground, kicking up dust.
Ordinary folk seeing it would not find it strange, as such dusty dust devils were all too common whenever sudden shifts in weather brought wind.
Yet the large rooster tethered at the gate seemed to sense the descending peril. Its feathers bristled, wings flapping as it hopped frantically, desperate to tear free.
However, battered by that yin wind, it collapsed directly to the ground.
Before long, the sturdy rooster abruptly floated into the air, as if held up by a massive invisible hand.
With a sharp crack, the rooster's head and legs twisted and snapped. The carcass dropped to the dirt alongside its droppings, and the sinister wind rose from the earth once more.
Only its aura had visibly weakened a bit.
Seemingly enraged at being deceived consecutively, the yin wind wheeled in the air, swirling with dead leaves, and flew over the side wall toward the Li residence.
Yet before it could draw close, it was repelled.
Thud!
The "Valiant in a Hundred Battles" plaque hanging over the gate let out a dull bang.
This noise was far louder than the past two nights.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
After three successive collisions, with a sharp crack, another fissure split across the "Valiant in a Hundred Battles" plaque.
This time the crack ran deeper, and flakes of lacquer clattered down.
The yin wind also seemed to weaken considerably; it no longer forced its way through, instead circling left and right around the Li residence.
In the dark night, the sinister wind whistled and howled.
Buried in the earth beneath the side room, Li Yan held his saber, maintaining taut vigilance.
He could not hear what was happening outside, yet he could feel that the thing had arrived.
The icy chill across his back grew increasingly distinct.
What was happening tonight?
Something felt different…
Just as doubt crossed his mind, a voice suddenly sounded by his ear.
"Lad, where did you go?"
Vague, slightly weathered—it was his grandfather, Li Gui!
Damn it!
Li Yan's hairs stood on end, panic gripping his chest.
Over the past two nights, he had not been unprepared. When simmering porridge, he had added herbs like poria with hostwood and schisandra to calm the heart and soothe the spirit.
There had been a period when his grandfather's health was poor, troubled by insomnia and excessive dreams, so Li Yan had bought herbs based on a physician's prescription. Every time Li Gui took it, he would sleep soundly until broad daylight.
Though the old man had been a fierce soldier in his youth, his spirit had suffered a severe blow when Li Yan's father died. His health had declined year after year, and he could not withstand any shocks.
Li Yan naturally dared not say a word about dealing with the evil spirit.
He had not expected something to go wrong at such a crucial moment.
Just as panic rose within him, Li Yan suddenly recalled Widow Wang's warning.
This ritual carried a taboo: no matter what you hear or see, you must never show yourself rashly, or all will be lost.
Was it real or fake?
Li Yan forced himself to calm down and listened intently.
Finally, he noticed something amiss.
The voice was vague and kept echoing right beside his ear.
By logic, if Grandfather woke up and saw he was not there, he would push open the door and search the room.
The pit Li Yan had dug was obvious, right in front of the bed, visible at a glance.
Yet this voice echoed from left to right without any accompanying footsteps or movement. It was fake!
Li Yan immediately made his judgment, his heart chilling.
Could this cold-altar rampaging soldier actually possess such abilities?
Before long, the voice gradually faded away.
Rattle, rattle!
Suddenly, the violent shuddering of the doorsill rang out.
It sounded as though something was frantically shaking the door.
Then, his grandfather's voice rose again.
"Who is it?"
"Ahhh, help me!"
The voice was miserable, as if he had met with disaster.
Cold sweat beaded on Li Yan's forehead, and once more he could not be certain.
In a matter like this, how could he dare gamble?!
Right then, a spark of inspiration flashed in his mind. He pursed his mouth upward, pressing the bamboo breathing tube against his nostril.
Fortunately, the oiled cloth was laid over it, preventing dust from falling into his mouth.
Through the bamboo tube, Li Yan took a deep inhale.
His sense of smell was extraordinarily sharp. Not only could he catch those supernatural things, but he could also easily distinguish the odors of ordinary objects.
The scent of earth, the must of old rotting furniture, the smell of the fried meatballs on the table…
Each scent was sorted and identified.
Blind Old Third's unique bloody stench was also present, but it was very faint, clearly not having breached the courtyard.
And his grandfather's scent was not in the courtyard either.
Only then did Li Yan relax, inwardly cursing.
This thing could actually play tricks on the mind—it was chillingly cunning.
If his spiritual root had not awakened, he truly would have fallen for it!
Various sounds came and went. Relying on his astonishing sense of smell to tell truth from illusion, Li Yan never took the bait, yet the ordeal battered him relentlessly, leaving him mentally exhausted.
Finally, the voices grew faint and ceased to appear.
After an unknown time, a faint rooster's crow drifted through the air.
Li Yan breathed a sigh of relief and broke out of the soil.
Yet the moment his head emerged above ground,
his heart went cold.
The room was pitch black. Peering through the chink in the paper window, he could vaguely gauge the sky outside.
Though the Zi hour had passed, it clearly was not time for roosters to crow yet.
I was duped!
Regret flooded Li Yan's heart.
He had not expected that at the very last moment, he would still fall into its trap.
Thud!
Right then, a tremendous crash erupted outside the courtyard gate.
This time he heard it clearly—not an illusion, but something slamming against the plaque.
Li Yan hesitated no longer. He burst completely from the earth, grabbed his saber, and rushed out the door.
According to Widow Wang, this thing would depart at the end of the Chou hour or the start of the Yin hour, when the roosters crowed their first round.
The time was almost here. Relying on the substitute idol, he might just hold out.
Thud!
Another impact, even louder than before.
Even the wooden courtyard gate rattled violently.
Li Yan stood holding his saber horizontally, killing intent coalescing in his eyes.
As the old saying went, ghosts feared ruthless men. He had practiced martial arts for years; perhaps relying on a breath of fierce hostility in his chest, he could inflict harm on this thing.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo—!"
Right at that moment, the family's rooster hopped onto the wooden rack, stretched its neck, and let out a resonant crow that echoed in all directions.
The crashing outside the gate came to an abrupt halt.
Simultaneously, the neighbors' roosters began to crow.
Through the seam of the gate, Li Yan could smell Blind Old Third's scent rapidly receding into the distance.
Perhaps from colliding with the "Valiant in a Hundred Battles" plaque, Blind Old Third's scent had grown extremely faint. Wherever it passed, all the village dogs bristled and barked furiously.
Even so, Li Yan did not act rashly.
Only when a sliver of fish-belly white showed on the horizon did he push open the gate and step out.
As expected, the rooster tethered by the door had kicked the bucket once again.
Its death was even more gruesome than yesterday's—clearly, being duped consecutively had enraged that thing.
Li Yan's face was grim, devoid of any joy from surviving the ordeal.
Last night had shown him just how cunning and terrifying this creature was.
How should he deal with it next time?
Crack!
The "Valiant in a Hundred Battles" plaque finally gave out. A long fissure split across its lower section, and that lingering incense scent rapidly dissipated.
Li Yan lamented inwardly.
Even the treasure guarding the house was ruined—truly, when it rained, it poured.
Just then, something dropped from the crack in the "Valiant in a Hundred Battles" plaque, clinking as it rolled across the ground.
Astonishingly, it was three copper coins.
Li Yan picked them up one by one and examined them closely.
He saw that these coins were round with square holes, but their inscriptions were completely different from everyday currency. One side bore a raised pattern depicting an armored divine general, surrounded by tiny talismans.
The other side was inscribed with the sun, moon, and stars…
Chapter 8