Carrying a bag of rice on his back, Liu Dashao left Yang Bao-san’s house and arrived at a dilapidated room at the edge of the village.
Inside, a dim oil lamp flickered beside a tattered, stinking bed. This was all that made up the simple dwelling.
“Damn it, Yang Bao-san really is stingy beyond belief,” Liu muttered. “Putting his own mother in a place like this—what an unfilial son.” He peered through the half-broken window. Inside, he saw an old woman, frail and hunched, mending clothes. It was she who had always repaired Yang Bao-san’s garments, yet in return, he offered her nothing more than a few bowls of thin noodle soup.
Liu Dashao knew the mother had a hard life with such an unfilial son. He had already decided to leave a bit of rice for her, so he quietly tossed the bag through the window and imitated the voice of the Jade Emperor from heaven: “I am the Jade Emperor. Seeing your hardship, I have sent you some rice. Remember, do not let your son find out!” With that, Liu Dashao leapt over the broken and low wall and disappeared into the night.
In those days, who didn’t believe in the Jade Emperor? Every year, even if one had no food to eat, a tablet for the Jade Emperor would still be placed on the altar. Now, receiving blessings from the heavens, how could she possibly doubt it?
Sure enough, after a moment of stunned silence, the old woman burst into tears of gratitude and fell to her knees, bowing repeatedly to the sky.
Back home, Liu Dashao sat in deep thought. He felt that this matter was not so simple. That infant corpse must be connected to something he had seen on Bodhisattva Mountain.
Recalling this, Liu Dashao began to think about how to capture the creature. Suddenly, he remembered a formation described in the *Zhengyi Talisman Scripture*—the Qiankun Formation, designed specifically for dealing with infant ghosts. He wasn’t sure if it would work on this particular case, but it was worth a try.
Without delay, he began gathering the materials needed for the Qiankun Formation. It took him an entire day. Though the items weren’t expensive, they were rare and hard to find.
A small iron box filled with soot from the bottom of a stove, and a pair of pigeon droppings—these were to be thoroughly mixed and laid out in the shape of the Eight Trigrams. The rest included chicken blood and black donkey hooves for warding off evil spirits.
However, these items were quite precious, and Liu couldn’t gather them all by himself. Yang Bao-san once again became the target of his “requests.” But Liu reasoned to himself, “No, this isn’t extortion. I’m doing this for his sake, so he has to chip in.”
As expected, Yang Bao-san, already tormented by the ghostly presence, agreed readily and quickly gathered the two required items. Holding them, he asked Liu, “Is there anything else you need?”
“Those are enough for now. Tonight, you’ll be with me. I’ll take you along to help capture these evil spirits. Also, get a few of Old Lady Zhang’s cats tonight. Remember, they must have bright eyes.”
Yang Bao-san nodded heavily and asked curiously, “Why do we need the cats? What’s so special about them?”
“Don’t ask so many questions. Just know that the cats will help us greatly,” Liu replied, then turned his attention back to mixing the pigeon droppings with the stove soot. It took half an hour of stirring before the mixture was fully blended, and the stench was overwhelming.
Liu then cooked a simple meal—stir-fried eggs and a bottle of strong rice wine—and the two men sat on the kang (a traditional Chinese bed-heater) waiting for night to fall.
As if summoned, the sky darkened quickly. Liu Dashao splashed cold water on his face to stay alert and slapped Yang Bao-san a couple of times to keep him awake. If Yang were drowsy during the exorcism, he might get possessed, and Liu could end up accused of murder. Liu had just returned from a political struggle and had no desire to return to such a place.
According to the *Zhengyi Talisman Scripture*, the Qiankun Formation was most effective at the third watch of the night, when the yin energy in the world was at its peak.
Thinking this, Liu Dashao lit a stick of incense and waited for it to burn halfway down—it would signal the third watch.
The two men chatted idly, when suddenly a strange, eerie cry pierced the night. It was the sound—sure enough, it had come.
“Damn it! It’s already here? It came way too early. I’m not even ready yet!” Liu cursed.
But there was no time to waste. He turned to Yang Bao-san and said, “Quick, bring in those black cats!”
Yang rushed to a nearby cage and pulled out the black cats. But as soon as they were released, the cats sensed something wrong and desperately tried to crawl back in. Yang, however, kicked the cage away and grabbed the cats by their leashes.
“Meow! Meow!” The cats cried out frantically, as if they had seen a monster. Liu ignored them. He knew these cats, with their bright eyes, could see what humans could not.
The cries grew more urgent. The cats began to pull back violently, as if sensing something approaching fast from just a few feet away.
Intrigued, Liu Dashao grabbed one of the black cats and plunged his fingers into its eyes.
“Aowww! Aowww!” The cat screamed in pain before passing out. Its eyeballs were now popped out like glass marbles—transparent and purple. Liu crushed the eyeballs in his palm, smeared the vitreous humor onto his eyelids, and looked again.
What he saw nearly made him lose his mind.
Floating around Yang Bao-san were no fewer than a dozen infant ghosts, their tiny mouths wide open, sucking the yang energy from his body.
“Damn it! So that’s how it works—those ghosts used illusions to distract people and draw their attention away.”
Liu quickly pulled Yang Bao-san close and splashed chicken blood on his neck. Instantly, the infant ghosts scattered.
Yang was terrified. “What are you doing?! What’s on me?!”
“Damn it! You must’ve done something terrible in your past—knocked someone up and then killed the baby, didn’t you? Look! They’ve come for your life!” Liu didn’t wait for an answer. He splashed chicken blood on himself and ordered Yang, “Hurry up! Grab that wild cat, smear its vitreous humor on your eyes, and keep a close watch. If anything comes near you, splash it with chicken blood. Got it?!”
“Got it!” Yang, now trembling with fear, had no choice but to obey. He grabbed a black cat, gouged out its eyes, and smeared the vitreous humor on his own eyelids.
The moment he did, he nearly wet his pants.
Before him floated several infant ghosts, their bodies covered in blood and amniotic fluid, their eyeless sockets staring at him. His skin crawled with goosebumps.
Yang quickly grabbed the bowl of chicken blood and splashed it at the ghosts. To his surprise, the infants shrieked and fell to the ground, unable to rise again.
At that moment, Liu Dashao noticed a strange pale light in the eastern sky. It wasn’t time for sunrise yet. Something was wrong. He quickly ordered Yang, “Yang Bao-san, come here! Help me prepare the chicken blood and tie the black donkey hooves to my body!”
Yang rushed over, fastened the hooves, and slaughtered a chicken, collecting its blood in a bowl.
Liu then instructed, “When I say ‘start,’ splash the chicken blood onto the formation. Got it?”
Yang nodded like a frightened child. “Got it.”
He was practically out of his mind with fear.
“Wicked demon! I, your ancestor, have come to capture you! Reveal yourself!” Liu shouted, more to boost his own courage than anything else.
But when the creature finally appeared, Liu nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
The infant he had seen with his naked eye was just one of many. Through the cat’s vitreous humor, he saw that there were actually hundreds of infant ghosts, all merging into one massive phantom, floating through the air.
Stunned, Liu shouted at Yang, “Now!”
Yang, dazed by the horrifying sight, snapped back to his senses at Liu’s yell. He flung the chicken blood onto the Qiankun Formation.
The moment the blood touched the formation, a brilliant red light erupted from it, striking the mass of infant ghosts in mid-air. One by one, they fell to the ground like broken flesh, splattering upon impact.
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