“Old Uncle Zhang Enpu, please save my father! He’s been poisoned by a corpse and has been unconscious all this time,” Tian Guoqiang cried desperately when he encountered an expert, bursting into tears.
“What? Has he also fallen victim?” Zhang Enpu was shocked. “No wonder I haven’t seen the village chief these past couple of days. This must be serious!”
“What’s serious?” Tian Guoqiang asked anxiously.
Zhang Enpu stood up and sighed, “The poison of the drought demon is no ordinary thing. Simple talismans and medicines won’t cure it effectively. The only way is to completely eliminate this drought demon within three days, or else he’ll be in grave danger.”
“Life-threatening danger?” Both Liu Dashao and Tian Guoqiang were horrified. They grabbed Zhang Enpu desperately, pleading, “Old Uncle Zhang, please help us! The village chief mustn’t come to any harm, please help us!”
Sighing deeply, Zhang Enpu replied, “I’ll do my best.”
Possession by a ghost, also known as a vengeful spirit attaching itself to a person, requires the spirit to leave the body within three days. Otherwise, the possessed will either fall seriously ill or even die suddenly. Zombies fear animal blood, especially black dog blood. Once they smell black dog blood, they will flee immediately.
After agreeing to help Liu Dashao and the others, the first thing Zhang Enpu asked them to do was to find enough black dog blood.
One night and one morning had already passed, leaving little time left, so the two immediately sprang into action.
“Dashao, Old Li Erbo has a black dog, but he refuses to donate it. I even offered a high price, but he won’t agree. What should we do?” Tian Guoqiang panted heavily as he ran over, while Liu Dashao was just drawing blood from a captured black dog.
“Kill it!” Liu Dashao made a slashing gesture. Li Erbo was too selfish. Black dog blood was for saving lives, yet he disregarded the greater good. He deserved criticism and blame, even death. Of course, when Liu Dashao said “kill,” he didn’t mean kill Li Erbo himself—he wouldn’t dare commit an illegal act. His meaning was clear: he wanted Tian Guoqiang to secretly kill Li Erbo’s black dog when Li wasn’t looking.
“Dashao, Auntie Qi has a black dog, but she refuses to hand it over. What should we do?” Immediately after Tian Guoqiang left, Ma Xiaoyan also ran over, panting.
“Kill it!” Liu Dashao made the same slashing gesture again.
Actually, Liu Dashao had originally intended not to tell Ma Xiaoyan everything, but now he urgently needed more help. Given the scale of their actions, Ma Xiaoyan would inevitably become suspicious, so he decided to tell her everything outright, though he glossed over the more horrifying parts. After listening, Ma Xiaoyan was visibly shaken, but for Liu Dashao’s sake, she bravely suppressed her fear and became determined to help him save the village.
Although there were many dogs in the village, after searching the entire village and even the neighboring one, the three of them could only find five black dogs. One of them was only a few days old, and Ma Xiaoyan couldn’t bear to kill it, so she let it go.
Liu Dashao slaughtered two of the four black dogs. When he was about to kill the other two, Zhang Enpu stopped him, explaining that if the black dog blood coagulated, it would lose its effect. Therefore, the remaining two black dogs were locked up for emergency use. Was the blood from the two killed dogs wasted? Of course not. By adding a small amount of salt to the blood, it could prevent coagulation, although its effectiveness remained uncertain.
For added safety, Liu Dashao and others also captured several other dogs, since what they needed was dog blood regardless. With time pressing on and night approaching, it would be problematic if they still hadn’t found the drought demon. Although only a day had passed since the poisoning, the longer the poison remained, the more dangerous it became. Time was running out.
After calming himself slightly, Liu Dashao discussed strategies with everyone. Now everything was ready except for the drought demon. However, with mountains and rivers blocking their way, finding it seemed more difficult than climbing to the sky. Liu Dashao and Tian Guoqiang’s previous understanding had been mistaken. In fact, zombies didn’t need rest. As explained by Zhang Enpu, as long as the conditions were suitable, zombies could continue doing anything anywhere. In other words, this drought demon might have already jumped off somewhere else, and the situation once again reached a stalemate.
In this remote village, it was extremely difficult to find the demon, and it would intentionally hide. They couldn’t possibly mobilize the entire village to search for it! Even if they could, night was approaching, and the search would have to be postponed until the next day. Liu Dashao and Tian Guoqiang were as anxious as ants on a hot pan, while Ma Xiaoyan looked bewildered because Liu Dashao hadn’t told her everything, only giving her a vague idea. The only one who seemed relaxed was Zhang Enpu, who, while everyone was discussing strategies, had already started resting on a reclining chair from the beginning, conserving his energy.
“Old Uncle Zhang Enpu, please say something! What should we do?” Tian Guoqiang looked at Zhang Enpu with a pleading expression. At this moment, Zhang Enpu was his only hope. If even Zhang Enpu couldn’t help, then his village chief father was surely doomed.
Zhang Enpu didn’t speak, still sitting with his eyes closed, as if nothing had happened, so calm and serene.
“Hey, fortune teller, say something! We’ve prepared everything, and now we’re just waiting for you,” Liu Dashao also became anxious.
“Hehehe, don’t panic, don’t panic,” Zhang Enpu suddenly sat up and chuckled.
“Do you realize how serious the situation is? How can you not panic?” Liu Dashao would have already exploded at anyone else, but since this was their only hope, he suppressed his anger.
Zhang Enpu said, “Precisely because the situation is serious, we mustn’t panic. Let me ask you a common question: when do zombies usually come out?”
“Of course at night.”
“Exactly. The sky is about to get dark, which means ghosts and monsters will start to come out. Tell me, where should we go to find it?”
“Yeah,” the two immediately realized after hearing Zhang Enpu’s words. With night approaching, even though they had flashlights, their range was limited. Even if the drought demon was hiding somewhere nearby, they wouldn’t notice it.
“So what should we do?” Ma Xiaoyan anxiously asked. From their conversation and the little Liu Dashao had told her before, she finally understood: the village chief had been poisoned by a corpse, and the only way to save him was to capture the drought demon. If they failed to capture it, the village chief would be in danger. Liu Dashao had only told her that the village chief had an accident and that black dog blood was needed to deal with something, which could be summarized in one word: vague.
“It’s not that we won’t act, just that we’ll delay a bit,” Zhang Enpu shook his head. “Everyone should eat and rest early. We’ll set out at dawn tomorrow. Remember, you must get up at the first light of day.” After saying this, he turned and walked toward his rented house.
“Ai…” Everyone wanted to stop him and say more, but Zhang Enpu was already dozens of meters away.
When it was time to sleep, the three of them faced a problem.
Ma Xiaoyan had been helping catch dogs in the afternoon, and by the time she finished, it was almost dark. After hearing Liu Dashao’s account of all the events, the naturally timid girl was very frightened. Even at Liu Dashao’s home, she disregarded her shyness and refused to sleep alone. As for Tian Guoqiang, he had been scared out of his wits since the previous night and dared not sleep alone either, even though Zhang Enpu had told them that the house was surrounded by blood, which would keep the drought demon away.
This put Liu Dashao in a difficult position. Ma Xiaoyan and he had grown up together, and they had even slept together when they were young, so that wasn’t a problem. But adding Tian Guoqiang into the mix wasn’t appropriate. After all, how could two men and one woman sleep on the same bed?
In the end, Liu Dashao, in desperation, decided that each of the three would sleep in a separate room, so that everyone would be equally scared, making it fair. However, both Tian Guoqiang and Ma Xiaoyan disagreed, especially Ma Xiaoyan, who looked at him with a fearful expression and pleading eyes.
“Guoqiang, it seems you’ll have to endure this alone,” Liu Dashao looked helplessly at Tian Guoqiang. Truthfully, he also thought it would be safer for all three to sleep together. But they were okay with it. As a girl, Ma Xiaoyan’s reputation would be affected if this got out, so he had to let Tian Guoqiang endure it.
“You… you… you traitor who betrays your friends for a woman,” Tian Guoqiang was so angry he was practically steaming out of his ears. Although he said this, he still refused to sleep alone.
Finally, after repeated reassurances and kind words from Liu Dashao, Tian Guoqiang reluctantly agreed to sleep in the small bedroom. However, he made it clear beforehand that if anything happened, Liu Dashao must come to him immediately. Liu Dashao agreed without hesitation.
Although they had slept together when they were young, it was different now that they were adults. Ma Xiaoyan was blushing and sat on the edge of the bed for a long time, reluctant to lie down. Liu Dashao, though embarrassed, had not slept all night the previous night and fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. Seeing that Liu Dashao had fallen asleep, Ma Xiaoyan finally gathered her courage, climbed onto the bed, and lay down fully clothed. However, she was extremely nervous at this moment, fearing that Liu Dashao might suddenly wake up and take advantage of her. Fortunately, Liu Dashao didn’t move for a long time, so she finally felt reassured and fell asleep.
At the first crow of the rooster, Ma Xiaoyan woke Liu Dashao up. Although the two of them being alone in a room was somewhat awkward, they had more important things to do, so Liu Dashao didn’t pay much attention. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have agreed to stay in the same room with Ma Xiaoyan the previous night. At this moment, Tian Guoqiang had also gotten up, showing that the village chief’s importance in his heart was indeed significant.
When the sky was just beginning to turn white, no one knew how many times the rooster had crowed. Following Zhang Enpu’s instructions from the previous day, the three of them prepared the dog blood and waited outside for him.
The weather was clear, but it was still a bit chilly. Although everyone wore a couple of layers, they still huddled together closely. This was not only due to the cold but also out of fear. They had already left the range of the dog blood’s protection, meaning they now had no security.
“What are you doing?” At this moment, Zhang Enpu walked over with his hands behind his back, strutting confidently. Seeing the three of them huddled together in fear, he was quite displeased.
“We’re guarding against the female ghost suddenly appearing,” Tian Guoqiang honestly replied.
“Nonsense!” Zhang Enpu spat, giving him a light slap on the head. “Are the black dog bloods in your hands just for show? Besides, it’s hiding from us now, would it dare to show up in front of us?”
“That’s right!” The three relaxed a bit, but soon became tense again. Zhang Enpu was right; they had black dog blood in their hands, and the drought demon would be hiding from them. If the drought demon really hid, where could they find it?
Zhang Enpu didn’t pay any further attention to the three and instead sat down on the ground to meditate.
“This…” Tian Guoqiang looked at Zhang Enpu, unable to speak. At a time like this, he still had time to rest. But before he could finish his thoughts, Liu Dashao interrupted him. Zhang Enpu’s presence in the village had always been a mystery; no one knew what he had done before. It seemed that he was fully aware of everything happening around him. Liu Dashao was convinced that he was definitely no ordinary person. Looking at his meditative posture, with his hands half-clenched placed on the upper part of his thighs and knees, his eyes tightly closed, and his mouth silently chanting something, Liu Dashao guessed that he must have been a Taoist practitioner before. At the same time, a doubt arose: how could a Taoist practitioner choose such a remote and desolate place as his final destination?
About an hour later, when everyone was getting impatient waiting, the meditating Zhang Enpu suddenly opened his eyes, chanting something rapidly, and then pointed a finger into the air, drawing a circle approximately half a meter in diameter.
Something strange happened. As soon as Zhang Enpu finished drawing the half-meter diameter circle, a blurry image appeared inside it. As Zhang Enpu intensified his chanting, the image gradually became clear. In the image, the village chief was seen standing in a grove of trees, glaring angrily at something, his facial expression constantly changing.
“Isn’t this the dam?” Liu Dashao examined the environment around the village chief and was surprised to discover that it was the dam not far from the village. Thinking of the dam, he recalled Party Secretary Li Yang, A Lan, the young construction worker who had mysteriously died of fright, and… and the “Three Evil Spirits Trapping the Dragon Formation” that Grandma Fan had mentioned. The trees around the dam were not very tall, usually just waist-high, and sparse, with many bare patches. Liu Dashao had previously gone with Grandma Fan to survey the terrain, so he was naturally familiar with the place.
“Yeah, yeah, that’s the dam,” Ma Xiaoyan also exclaimed in surprise. She had been one of Liu Dashao’s childhood playmates and was also familiar with the place.
“Where is the dam?” Zhang Enpu looked at the two of them in confusion. He was new to the area and quite unfamiliar with the local environment.
“It’s right there,” Ma Xiaoyan pointed toward the dam.
“What do you mean ‘there’?”
Suddenly, the image changed. When it stabilized, a dilapidated coffin appeared in the center of the view, the soil on both sides already overturned. Around it were trees and wild grass, and a female corpse dressed in a red wedding dress lay motionless on the ground.
“Where is this?” Zhang Enpu asked.
“It’s…” Liu Dashao stared at the surroundings, feeling somewhat familiar, but unable to recall immediately.
“I know. It’s where A Lan was buried,” Tian Guoqiang, who had been silent until now, spoke up. After hearing Tian Guoqiang’s words, Liu Dashao also realized, no wonder it felt so familiar.
“The soul has left the body, but the corpse shows no signs of decay. Even more alarming, all the plants and grass around her are completely dead, and the soil is cracked. It seems the corpse is filled with malevolent energy, undoubtedly transformed into a drought demon.”
“Old Uncle Zhang, I personally saw Grandma Fan perform a ritual to send off this female ghost’s soul. But how could it turn into this? Did it return again?” Liu Dashao asked.
“Didn’t I just say? This is not a ghost, but a zombie. Due to the special environmental factors here, although the deceased has passed on, her body retained the last bit of resentment from her lifetime, transforming into this malevolent creature. In other words, everyone she saw before her death is imprinted in the drought demon’s mind. Once it gains strength, the first thing it will do is kill everyone it remembers!” Zhang Enpu explained.
“Wow, so vicious?” Liu Dashao sat on the ground in shock, exchanging glances with Tian Guoqiang.
After confirming the location of the drought demon, Zhang Enpu waved his hands, and the image in the circle disappeared, returning to nothingness. At this point, Zhang Enpu’s face was somewhat pale, and large beads of sweat rolled down his face, showing that he had expended a lot of energy to find the creature’s whereabouts.
“Old man, what kind of magic was that you used? It’s amazing,” Liu Dashao slightly relaxed after knowing the location of the drought demon and became deeply interested in the magic Zhang Enpu had just used. Since he had spent the previous afternoon helping Zhang Enpu prepare things and had interacted with him, he felt that Zhang Enpu was a decent person, so he changed his address to “old man,” making their relationship more intimate. Zhang Enpu didn’t mind this.
In fact, the magic Zhang Enpu had just used to locate the drought demon was called “Circle of Light.” Circle of Light is an advanced magical technique that can not only detect evil spirits attaching to bodies but also find lost people, locate stolen items, and examine the feng shui of both residential and ancestral homes, as well as dispel curses from evil sorcerers. It is also more convenient to use without any props. The practitioner simply needs to extend their hand or designate a range on any flat surface, allowing the client to see the reflected image of the subject on the practitioner’s hand or the designated surface.
Circle of Light is divided into two types: Small Circle of Light and Great Circle of Light. The Small Circle of Light does not require any cultivation and can be used immediately upon learning. It takes only half an hour for a master to pass on this technique by verbal instruction. It can summon local deities, mountain gods, and city gods to investigate both the yin and yang worlds, covering heaven, earth, humanity, and spirits. The Great Circle of Light, also known as the Old Light technique, can project images into the air and create three-dimensional images, something only the most accomplished practitioners can achieve.
What exactly is Circle of Light? Circle of Light is a type of “external imaging” magic, one method for gathering information. There are many methods for gathering information in folk magic, such as the Yin-Yang Eye, ear messages, Golden Mouth, and Planchette Writing (both Golden Mouth and Planchette Writing belong to the category of mediumship, one transmitting information through speech and the other through handwriting). These methods are essentially the same, differing only in the way information is expressed, using the eyes, ears, mouth, and hands as channels for transmitting information. Humans have six senses, and being able to access one of them is sufficient based on individual aptitude.
Both Circle of Light and the Yin-Yang Eye use the sense of sight to gather information and can produce images. However, the Yin-Yang Eye is “internal imaging,” visible only to the practitioner themselves, while Circle of Light is “external imaging,” allowing others to see the images as well. Therefore, the advantage of Circle of Light is that it can convince others of its authenticity.
Although Circle of Light is excellent, not everyone can see the images. Only children can see the Small Circle of Light, while some adults can see the Great Circle of Light.
“Ah… so amazing?” After Zhang Enpu finished explaining, Liu Dashao, Tian Guoqiang, and Ma Xiaoyan were left with their mouths wide open. This was simply beyond belief! They had heard before about folk techniques for tracking down thieves and missing persons, but it was only hearsay, and they had never seen it with their own eyes. Having received a scientific education, they naturally dismissed such things as tricks used by charlatans to deceive people. They never expected to witness it themselves today, and the shock was unimaginable.
“Old man, will you teach me how to do it?” Liu Dashao asked with a flattering tone. Of course, this was also the wish of Tian Guoqiang and Ma Xiaoyan. If they could learn this technique, there would be nothing in the world they couldn’t know. Haha… just thinking about it made them feel ecstatic.
“Teach you? Do you think you can learn it?” Zhang Enpu snorted disdainfully.
“I…”
“Well then, forget it,” Liu Dashao said with his mouth, though his heart was already plotting. He decided he would definitely drink with the old man one day, get him drunk, and then trick him into revealing the secret.
“May I ask Old Uncle Zhang, were you once a Taoist practitioner?” Tian Guoqiang asked. Although everything Zhang Enpu had shown almost confirmed that he was indeed a Taoist practitioner, Tian Guoqiang still couldn’t help but ask for Zhang Enpu’s own confirmation.
“Ah… this, you’ll know in the future.”
Everyone has their own painful secrets. Seeing that Zhang Enpu was unwilling to say more, Liu Dashao didn’t press further, but he became even more curious about him. This old man was like a mystery…
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