Chapter 12: The Mulberry Tree Subdues the Yin Python Part 2

She hadn’t touched the full backpack on her back, nor the items in her slanted Hundred Treasure Pouch. Wang Ya opened the Hundred Treasure Pouch and took out a colorful Paper Effigy painted with Talismans and Blessings. She chanted an incantation, formed a spell seal, and struck the Paper Effigy to activate the runes on it. She exhaled a breath onto it, infusing it with yang energy, then flung it out. The Paper Effigy floated to the ground, absorbed earthly qi, and transformed into a three-inch-tall doll in a red bellyband. Wang Ya pointed at the ground below and said, “Yin-Yang Doll, go—find the Old Ghost underground.”

The three-inch-tall Yin-Yang Doll, resembling a baby in a red bellyband, received Wang Ya’s order. It hopped forward a few steps, then plunged headfirst into the earth and burrowed underground.

Wang Ya’s hands weren’t idle. She removed her backpack, pulled out seven Jujube Wood Nails engraved with armored figures wielding sharp weapons, and inserted them into the ground, connecting them with red rope. She sprinkled prepared Rooster Blood over the Jujube Wood Nails, circled them in a specific pattern while chanting incantations. Upon completing the circle and returning to the start, she shouted loudly, “Jujube Wood Talisman Soldiers, rise!” With her command, the engravings on the Jujube Wood Nails trembled in response. She shouted again, “Slay the ghost! Go!” Seven red lights shot from the Jujube Wood Nails toward where the Yin-Yang Doll had burrowed, plunging into the soil.

Wang Ya wasn’t done. From the backpack, she took out a Spirit Tablet, retrieved brush and ink, and drew on it the image of a hunched old woman leaning on a Cane. Though the strokes were simple and rough, the form and posture were vividly lifelike, identical to the Dead Old Lady! Without the Dead Old Lady’s name or Birth Chart, but having seen her so many times, Wang Ya knew her appearance intimately. Without name or Birth Chart, using a likeness substitute would be nearly as effective! Wang Ya stood the Spirit Tablet depicting the Dead Old Lady on the ground, placed a rough porcelain bowl before it, inserted a wick, poured lamp oil, lit the Soul Summoning Lamp, and stuck in three incense sticks. Facing the image on the Spirit Tablet, she began Soul Calling. “Dead Old Lady, come back! Dead Old Lady, come back!” Her voice rose and fell with lingering tremolo, drifting far in the pitch-black night. The faint glow from the flickering flame of the Soul Summoning Lamp illuminated Wang Ya’s delicate features, lending her an eerie air.

Time ticked by, Wang Ya’s soft, lover-like calling voice still echoing in the silent night sky. In her hand appeared a bell; with each call, she shook it once, the bell’s chime harmonizing with her Soul Calling voice, making her seem three parts human, seven parts ghostly.

Suddenly, a faint “crack”—one Jujube Wood Nail toppled! Wang Ya’s calling continued unbroken, her gaze fixed on the Dead Old Lady’s image on the Spirit Tablet, her mind still envisioning the Dead Old Lady. She only glanced sidelong at the fallen nail. A fallen Jujube Wood Nail meant one Talisman Soldier underground battling the Dead Old Lady had been destroyed—indicating the Yin-Yang Doll had led the Jujube Wood Talisman Soldiers to her.

The remaining six Jujube Wood Nails began to tremble, even showing signs of uprooting. Wang Ya splashed more chicken blood on them; they steadied firmly into the ground. But in under two minutes, two more faint sounds rang out—two more Jujube Wood Nails fell.

The three incense sticks before the Spirit Tablet were nearly burned out. Wang Ya lit a bundle, separated three to insert before the tablet, and placed three more at each Jujube Wood Nail site to pin the red rope. All the while, her eyes remained fixed on the Dead Old Lady’s image on the Spirit Tablet, her mind still calling the Dead Old Lady’s name.

The Jujube Wood Nails continued to fall one by one. As the seventh teetered on the brink of total failure, suddenly Wang Ya caught a nauseating stench that made her stomach churn, nearly causing her to vomit. At the same time, a wave of Yin Qi appeared ahead and rapidly surged toward her. The three-inch-tall Yin-Yang Doll in its red bellyband floated in the air, dodging up and down amid a mass of Yin Qi.

Wang Ya swiftly formed seals and unleashed a White Tiger Seal! The White Tiger Seal’s power manifested as a white tiger pouncing onto the mass of Yin Qi. A hideous old woman appeared before her, raising her Cane to smash down on Wang Ya’s head. But as the Cane lifted to one side, the old woman suddenly flipped her hand, sweeping the Cane heavily sideways. Wang Ya heard a crisp “snap”—the last Jujube Wood Nail fell.

Wang Ya grabbed the bowl of chicken blood prepared nearby and splashed it straight at the Dead Old Lady!

A full bowl of three-year-old rooster blood, refined with talisman paper, poured down on the Dead Old Lady. She let out an “Ah—” of agonized shriek, rolling on the ground like one doused in burning oil, emitting hideous ghostly howls. Wisps of green smoke rose from her body with sizzling sounds.

Wang Ya hauled out two jin of Glutinous Rice from her backpack, opened the plastic bag, and scattered it over the Dead Old Lady.

The Glutinous Rice pelted her like raindrops, drawing even more miserable shrieks of pain. Wherever she rolled, the rice turned pitch black.

Anyone who’s seen zombie flicks knows zombies fear Glutinous Rice—in fact, ghosts fear it too! In old rural times, when ghosts haunted homes at night, people would curse them while scattering rice, and it usually quieted things down. Glutinous Rice worked better than regular rice; Wang Ya didn’t know why, but her Grandma had told her it was effective! It was great for exorcising ghosts and drawing out Yin toxins.