The Xi Ye Ghost

Early the next morning, my mother, the servants, and I set out for the neighboring village. I could only lie there, wondering why the Female Ghost had chosen me.

After half a shichen, we arrived at Yuanhuan Village. This village truly lived up to its reputation of being desolate, with no more than ten households in the entire area. The road into the village was deserted and bleak, adding a touch of mystery to the place.

At the end of the village road stood a small thatched cottage. Outside was a trellis of red beans, and the inside was strangely quiet, with no one in sight.

My mother stepped into the middle of the courtyard, then looked toward the poplar tree in the northwest direction behind the house:
"Are you Master Yao?"

It wasn't without reason that my mother looked toward the poplar tree. From the moment we entered, there was no one else besides the shadow behind the tree.

As soon as my mother finished speaking, the shadow suddenly vanished, as if evaporating from the house.

But the strange thing was, who would plant a poplar tree in front of their house? The ancients had a saying: "Poplar in front brings wealth, but in the back brings disaster." Although I couldn't claim to be an expert in feng shui and numerology, I still knew a thing or two.

According to the Four Symbols:
The front of the house is the Vermilion Bird (South), which carries the Yang Fire element.
The back of the house is the Black Tortoise (North), which carries the Yin Water element.

If a poplar is planted in front of the house, Yin and Yang are balanced; if planted in the back, the Yin energy becomes even heavier.

The strange thing was that Master Yao, being a Daoist Master, even if he didn't study feng shui deeply, how could he not know such a simple matter? Whether a Daoist Master or an ordinary person, this was ancient wisdom that everyone should know.

By doing this, he was going against feng shui. If it attracted ghostly souls, wouldn't it kill those around him? Unless...

"Who is it? What business do you have?" A man in his fifties, dressed simply with half of his face seemingly charred, stepped out of the house and asked us.

My mother seemed frozen in fear. As he approached her, the sound of footsteps echoed from behind the poplar tree again.

He paused for a moment, then turned toward the poplar tree and barked, "Enough! There is nothing to be curious about!"

The moment he finished speaking, the shadow behind the poplar tree vanished once more. This was truly extremely bizarre.

Though still trembling, my mother suppressed her fear and stepped forward to bow to Master Yao: "Master Yao, I have come here to ask you to look at my son."

He glanced at me and let out a cold snort: "With such strong righteous Qi, why look for me? A Mao, close the door!"

With that, he turned his back on us, intending to enter the house.

I knew for sure that he raised Yin Soldiers, so I didn't need him to treat me anyway:
"Don't use heterodox talismans to treat me!"

He turned his head to look at me and said, "Shouting so loudly, aren't you afraid of being devoured by the Cat Ghost? Lad, you don't have much time left."

I didn't care how much time I had left; the important thing was that I didn't want to involve this person.
I said, "I don't care."

He threw his head back and laughed: "You have quite the courage, lad. Fine, I will treat you. Madame, please come in."

"Mother, I'm not going in!" I was resolute about not entering.

"What do you want? Aren't you afraid of losing your life? Bring the young master inside!" As soon as he finished speaking, the servants carried me into the house.

Observing the house, I saw only gloomy colors. In the northwest corner of the room stood a large coffin. Judging by the patterns, the coffin seemed to date back to the Song Dynasty. Strangely, the coffin was placed vertically, with a small red cloth covering its top, upon which three characters were carved: "Xi Ye Ghost."

"Curiosity is not a good thing." He noticed me looking at the coffin and spoke up to warn me.

I snorted and looked away.

He took a talisman out of a cloth bag on the table. The writing on the talisman was written in blood, but whether it was human or dog blood, I couldn't tell. He handed the talisman to my mother and said, "He is possessed by a Cat Ghost. Take this talisman back, burn it into ashes, and place it beside him. In less than a month, everything will be fine."

My mother was overjoyed, receiving the talisman: "Thank you, Master Yao. Whatever you require, I will pay in full."

He waved his hand: "No need. Just have that lad personally burn sandalwood incense for that spirit tablet."

Carved on the spirit tablet were the words: "Spirit Tablet of the Fateless Woman."

"Why must it be so?" I asked in suspicion.

"No reason. It is just what you need to do." He took a sip of tea, looking at me as he spoke.

I intended to ask more, but he certainly wouldn't tell me anything, so I let the matter drop.

"Are you sure this is a talisman to cure the Cat Ghost?" I asked him.

He paused for a moment, then set down his teacup: "What do you think?"

Good grief! I was clearly asking him, the talisman was his, and only he knew its efficacy, yet he asked me what I thought? I felt he was just teasing me.

"I don't know, but I don't think you mean any harm," I said in a somewhat trusting tone.

"Exactly," he nodded.

"The shadow behind the poplar tree earlier..." I hesitated, not wanting to speak further for fear of alarming my mother.

"Madame, please wait outside for a moment. I have something to discuss with him," he said to my mother.

Once my mother had stepped out, he gently closed the door and turned to me: "That is my son, A Mao."

"Your son? Then where is he?" I asked skeptically.

"He is only a ghostly soul raised by me, but he will absolutely not harm anyone," he said in a slow but sorrowful tone.

"Then why...!" I didn't want to touch upon his painful memories, so I hesitated.

"He was chosen by a female ghost for a Ghost Marriage," he replied.

"Chosen by a female ghost for a Ghost Marriage?" At this moment, I was extremely skeptical.

"He was originally a kind-hearted person, who never held any grudges against anyone. But one day, he began talking to himself, then isolated himself from everyone, including me. Later, I investigated and found out it was a Ghost Marriage. At that time, I tried every way to save my son, but it was all in vain. Until one day, that female ghost came to me and said that if I wanted to keep a portion of my son's soul, I had to establish a spirit tablet to worship her. As for my son being chosen, death was the only outcome, unless I chose to use dark arts to sustain his soul so he could remain by my side."

I asked, "So in the end, your son still died?"

His emotions suddenly became unstable: "No, he is not dead. My son is still alive, he will live with me forever."

Who knew why he suddenly went mad like that. If I kept insisting his son was dead, I would only be inviting trouble.
I nodded, "Yes, yes."

He sighed and said, "The night you met the female ghost, it was I who saved you. I didn't want you to become her next victim."

So it was Master Yao who had helped me that day. And here I was, thinking he was a bad person, truly judging a noble man with a petty mind.
I said in a highly respectful tone, "Thank you, Master Yao, for saving me."

He waved his hand: "It's nothing. Well, lad, have you let down your guard against me?"

I smiled sheepishly: "I am truly sorry."

He turned away, remaining silent for a long time: "You are curious about that coffin, aren't you? That is the Xi Ye Ghost, which can be temporarily called the bridal sedan of the living. It contains my son's body."

I stared blankly at the coffin: "Is there really such a thing?"

He nodded: "It is indeed so."

I asked, "Then how long must we wait for him to wake up?"

He sighed and fell into contemplation: "There is no way. It can be said that he will never wake up."

Indeed, there are still many things in this world that ordinary people like us can never comprehend. Even for some things we understand clearly, there is no way to change them. Whether silently enduring or standing up to fight, the results can rarely be reversed.

He turned to me and said, "Lad, I will heal you."

I nodded.

He went into the room and brought out a small bottle containing a red liquid that looked like fresh blood, then handed it to me: "Here, drink this, and your leg will be healed."