With them depending on her now, Wang Ya was the biggest priority under heaven. Whatever she said went. Old Tang could only agree: “We have them. I’ll fetch them right away.” He called out, “Dong Zi, come with me to the storeroom to move the stuff.”
Once Old Tang left, Wang Ya circled the room, inspecting everywhere. As she turned, she curiously asked Zhang Beauty, “Expert Zhang, didn’t you set up measures at the construction site? How did the ghost get in?” While speaking, she turned and peered curiously out the window, her back blocking Zhang Beauty’s view. Deftly, she slipped two strands of Open-Eyed Blind’s hair from her hand into the front pocket of her jeans, then leaned casually against the window, meeting Zhang Beauty’s gaze as if nothing had happened. Wang Ya brought up the Yunnan Zhang Family exterminating the Zhongyin Feng Family and asked, “Doesn’t your Zhang Family feel guilty for wiping out the Zhongyin Feng Family?”
Zhang Beauty replied expressionlessly, “If your family was exterminated, wouldn’t you want revenge?”
Wang Ya rolled her eyes at Zhang Beauty in exasperation and snapped, “Zhang, if you change my surname again, watch out—I might lose my temper with you!”
Zhang Beauty shot back, “Since you’re not a descendant of the Zhongyin Feng Family, what does our Zhang Family’s guilt have to do with you?”
Wang Ya raised her right index finger toward the sky and said, “Heaven watches all we do; gods are three feet above our heads. Can’t I gossip and ask around?”
Zhang Beauty coldly retorted, “If you have time for that, worry about the troubles on your own body instead.”
Wang Ya huffed heavily, ending their verbal sparring. When words don’t match, not even half a sentence more!
About ten minutes later, Old Tang and Dong Zi returned, arms full of materials and carrying a live big rooster.
Wang Ya’s eyes lit up at the rooster’s robust fiery red comb. She thought to herself, “As expected of a feng shui setup; even their preparations are top-notch—like this rooster!” This one was definitely more than three years old.
Old Tang cleared the desk, placed the items on it, set the bound-footed live big rooster on the floor, and said, “Wang Ya, it’s all on you now.”
Wang Ya said, “Clear the room. Everyone out.”
Zhang Beauty furrowed her brows.
Old Tang said, “Wang Ya, it’s not that we don’t trust you—Ghost Granny is just too ferocious. Let us stay and assist. Don’t worry; we know the rules and won’t peek at your spells.”
Wang Ya sneered inwardly and said bluntly, “Sounds nice, but you’re staying to make sure I don’t leave any hidden tricks on Open-Eyed Blind to control you later.”
Old Tang didn’t respond. He turned to bodyguard Dong Zi and said, “Dong Zi, go downstairs and keep watch. I’ll call you if anything happens.”
Dong Zi nodded, turned, and left, closing the door behind him.
With everything ready, Wang Ya wasted no more words. She moved Old Tang’s items from the desk to the floor, set out cinnabar ink and other talisman-drawing materials on the desk, lit incense to invoke the gods, and began drawing talismans. She produced over thirty in one go, filling the table with all sorts. Old Tang, a Talisman Dao expert himself, quietly sidled over while she focused. Once finished, he eyed the talisman papers and praised, “Impressive!”
Wang Ya arched her brow proudly. “Impressive, right? Pretty, huh? Three thousand bucks each—want one?”
Old Tang waved his hands repeatedly. “No joking now; business first.”
After the talismans, Wang Ya took a lump of clay and molded a mud doll, complete with facial features. She cut red cloth, found needle and thread, and sewed a red bellyband onto it. Once done, she sat cross-legged on the floor, focused her mind, and slowly carved talisman patterns into the doll’s back with an engraving tool. Then she nicked her finger with a small knife, dripped blood into a bowl, mixed it with cinnabar ink, and soaked the patterns on the mud doll’s back. She folded several drawn talismans and wrapped them around the doll—it looked like the red-bellybanded mud doll was armored in talisman paper. Finally, she dabbed her own blood on its forehead between the brows and called it done.
Wang Ya wasn’t finished. She began mixing inks with various materials while directing Old Tang to sweep the floor clean and clear a space in the room. Once the ink was ready and the floor swept, she performed actions similar to drawing talismans, then carried the bowl of prepared golden-tinged red cinnabar ink to the cleared space. She drew a talisman array with steady, powerful strokes, each character and line coiling like a soaring dragon.
Tai Chi Array! Yin-Yang Fish at the center, Four Symbols guarding the directions, Bagua enveloping heaven and earth.
With the talisman array complete, Wang Ya took out her seven copper coins and placed them in the Big Dipper Seven Stars Formation positions within the array. She let out a long breath, wiped the dense sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, and said, “Move Open-Eyed Blind into the talisman array. My Seven Ancient Copper Coins will temporarily protect her body—don’t touch my coins.” Then she turned to grab the live big rooster. She placed it on the desk, eyed it appraisingly, and said, “Rooster, oh rooster, you better perform tonight—or tomorrow you’ll be red-braised chicken!” She pinched a talisman paper, chanted an incantation, and slapped it “pa!” onto the rooster’s forehead. Swiftly, she drew out several red threads and pasted dozens more talismans, covering the rooster’s neck and body. Finally, she placed the mud doll on the rooster’s back, untied the rope from its feet, and carried it to Huang Qi’s chest within the floor-drawn talisman array.
The rope was untied from the big rooster’s feet, yet it neither fled nor wandered—it stood obediently on Open-Eyed Blind’s chest, strutting proudly with great dignity!
☆
