"Okay!"
I grabbed the two talismans I'd just drawn on the table and headed out the door.
"Come quickly! Xiao He's about to make the spirit appear!"
Someone's shout rang out, and the yard was instantly filled with people.
It was breakfast time. Some neighbors holding bowls and deep - fried dough rings also rushed out.
"Neighbors who are born in the Year of the Dragon, Rooster, Tiger, or Ox, please go back and have your breakfast," I said casually as I walked towards Wu Mingyu's room. "Grandma Wu just passed away. There's not enough ghostly aura. These zodiac signs might offend her. If she gets scared, she won't come out, and we'll miss all the fun for nothing!"
The room Wu Mingyu rented was in the northwest corner of the courtyard. It was originally cold and lacked sunlight. Moreover, a tall Chinese scholar tree in the yard was now in full leaf. Its lush crown blocked out the sky and the sun, casting a gloomy shadow over the Wu family's place.
I strode ahead, and Wu Mingyu silently followed closely behind me. I had no idea what was going on in her mind.
The neighbors who came to watch the fun were chattering non - stop.
"Old Li, aren't you born in the Year of the Rooster? Why are you coming too?"
"Who said I'm a Rooster? I'm a Monkey according to the lunar calendar!"
... Amid the chaotic chatter, it was obvious that many people wanted to sneak in to watch the fun.
So I looked at Landlady Xu.
"Those with the zodiac signs Xiao He just mentioned, go home quickly! Don't spoil our fun!"
Landlady Xu knew I had some skills and regarded my words as the truth. She shouted at the top of her voice, "If Grandma Wu doesn't come out because someone's zodiac sign offends her, you'll be in for a scolding at home!"
Sure enough, a few more people left the group dejectedly.
When our group reached the door of the Wu family's place, everyone was startled by the scene inside. Some timid aunts couldn't help but scream.
The door of the rented room was wide open, and there was no light on inside.
The room, blocked from sunlight by the big scholar tree, was filled with yellow and white paper money.
On the dining table in the dim shadows, two white candles stood upright. There was a hole in the black plastic bag beside the table leg, and stacks of yellow paper for offerings were sticking out.
"This... This is too much!"
One of the neighbors looked at the mess in Wu Mingyu's room and couldn't help but sigh, "Who's doing this to her? Xiao Wu wouldn't scatter paper money in her room for fun, would she?"
"Hey, it's really ruining the room!"
Even Landlady Xu couldn't stand it. The house was her property, and the paper money all over the place looked extremely inauspicious.
No wonder Wu Mingyu had caused such a commotion. Anyone would be angry in this situation.
"Du Xinghe, what should we do?"
Wu Mingyu looked like she wouldn't let things go easily. She reached out and grabbed my arm.
"If I say... you're the one who made this mess, would you admit it?"
I shook off Wu Mingyu's hand and rubbed my eyes.
"Nonsense!"
Wu Mingyu was stunned for a moment, then started scolding again. "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll tear your face off!"
Saying that, she pounced on me. I finally got angry. I pointed my right hand like a sword and accurately poked her between the eyebrows.
"The laws of heaven are pure, the laws of earth are spiritual. The mirror of yin and yang reveals the true form quickly. I, by the order of the Three Mao True Lords!"
As the incantation flew out of my mouth, Wu Mingyu's hand that was reaching for me stopped.
The finger that had touched her forehead suddenly drew a circle, guiding her gaze to the side of the dining table in the room.
Beside the dining table, Grandma Wu, who had died a tragic death in a car accident, was huddled in a corner of the table, looking panicked and bewildered at the neighbors suddenly gathered at the door.
"Ahhhh!"
Wu Mingyu's pupils shrank rapidly. She screamed and tried to run out of the door.
She had been to identify the body. When the doctor lifted the blue non - woven cloth at the accident scene, she hadn't dared to open her eyes!
Now, with the temporary celestial eye I'd opened for her, she finally saw the tragic state of her grandma's death.
Grandma Wu was squatting beside the table with her back to the door. Her neck had been broken in the accident, and her head was only connected by some tendons and muscles, hanging limply behind her back. Her mouth, covered in blood, was mumbling, and blood bubbles kept coming out, falling on her wrinkled face.
"Don't run!"
I quickly grabbed Wu Mingyu's arm and pulled her back.
"Do you think no one saw you scatter the paper money all over the place?"
I looked at Wu Mingyu coldly.
When Grandma Wu saw me enter the room, she felt ashamed and sad at the same time. She started sobbing.
Although the onlookers standing at the door couldn't see Grandma Wu's soul, the ghostly aura emanating from her still made them shiver.
"Xiao He, what's going on here?"
Landlady Xu asked after hearing my words. "You said Xiao Wu scattered the paper money herself?"
"She's lying! It's all an illusion! She's using a trick!"
Wu Mingyu covered her eyes and screamed.
"Right! I'm just a quack!"
I smiled. I pinched a yellow talisman between my index and middle fingers and gave it a shake. The talisman ignited without fire. Just as I finished speaking, everyone vaguely saw the thin ghostly figure squatting beside the dining table.
"Alas..."
Grandma Wu was also scared. She was afraid that her tragic appearance would scare the neighbors, so she quickly tried to hide further under the table.
Unexpectedly, Landlady Xu sighed and said sadly, "Old sister, don't hide. We can all see you. You're so pitiful..."
"Yes, yes! Grandma Wu, do you have any unfulfilled wishes?"
"Tell us. If Xiao Wu doesn't want to do it, we'll help you..."
The neighbors started discussing noisily.
The human touch in this courtyard of bungalows was so strong that it was beyond the imagination of those living in high - rise buildings who didn't even know their neighbors.
Grandma Wu had originally been panicking and trying to hide her tragic appearance, but none of the neighbors were as scared as her granddaughter Wu Mingyu, who was almost going crazy.
"Grandma Wu, what are your wishes?"
I didn't bother to pay attention to Wu Mingyu, who was still screaming and denying beside me.
The burning talisman could not only make the ghost visible but also allow ordinary people to restore the ghost's appearance according to the image in their minds.
So, the neighbors saw Grandma Wu as the kind - looking, thin and small old lady she used to be.
"I'm sorry for troubling you all because of Mingyu and me," Grandma Wu clasped her hands together and apologized to everyone. "It was me. I was afraid Mingyu wouldn't offer sacrifices for me to go on my way. So I had no choice but to go to Miss Du's shop to buy some paper offerings on credit... I thought I still had some money with Mingyu. At least she would burn them for me... Sigh..."
As she spoke, Grandma Wu looked at the mess on the ground and wiped the corner of her eyes.
She was already a ghost and had no tears. She just looked at her granddaughter sadly and slowly shook her head. "Mingyu not only scolded kind - hearted Miss Du but also scattered all these things. Is this my fate... Sigh..."