Gou Danzi's soul-summoning was swift. Within the time it took to smoke a cigarette, he had recalled the souls of two more children. However, he stopped when it came to the village chief's grandson.
This made Grandma Liu anxious.
"Gou Danzi, why aren't you summoning my grandson's soul? If you want a drink, I'll get it for you now. If you want money, I'll fetch it for you..."
Gou Danzi was unmoved by Grandma Liu's promised rewards. He wiped a bead of sweat that wasn't there.
"Oh, Aunt Liu, it's not that I don't want to save your grandson. It's just that performing these rituals is quite tiring. Summoning souls before it's dark is even more exhausting. Can't you let me rest a bit?" He said this, but his eyes were fixed on the village chief, as if waiting for something. The other awakened children cowered behind their parents, silent and fearful.
This made me frown. While finding lost souls sounds simple, it's not easy in practice. Souls belong to the Yin, the vessels after death, and are most vulnerable to sunlight. Therefore, soul-finding is usually done at dusk, when it's neither fully dark nor light, to avoid harming the soul or attracting wandering spirits.
Yet, the sun was still high, with over an hour until dark. Gou Danzi's current soul-summoning didn't seem like a legitimate shamanic practice. Even shamans must adhere to Yin-Yang principles. If they break the rules, they are no longer shamans but true celestial beings.
The village chief took out his pipe, which was tucked into his waist, packed it, and after a few puffs, asked,
"Gou Danzi, do you truly wish to become the village shaman?"
The question was heavy, and his tone held a hint of reluctance.
"Does that even need to be asked? Uncle Liu, in this entire region, doesn't every village have a shaman? But you insisted on using a diviner. Isn't that going against the celestial beings?"
Hearing this, my face darkened like the bottom of a pot. Damn it, what do you mean by insisting on a diviner? Why didn't you say this when my master was here? If my master heard this, he'd surely slap him! This is typical bullying of the weak and fearing the strong.
Although I wanted to retort, I couldn't find a valid point. While I had ways to find these children's souls, the rules of Yin divination prevented me from casting fortunes for the living. I could only watch Gou Danzi act so arrogantly in front of me.
The village chief remained silent, puffing on his pipe. His expression was conflicted, as if burdened by some unspeakable secret.
"Uncle Liu, what time is it? You're still smoking. Rules are dead, but people are alive! Losing a soul is no small matter. If it drags on, the child could become foolish." Sister Zhang, who had just retrieved her child, advised the village chief.
"Exactly! What's the big deal if the village has one more shaman? If Zhang Da Nian were here, he wouldn't break the rules. But now that he's gone, and his disciple isn't as skilled as his master, having a shaman isn't a problem."
"They say those with smooth faces are unreliable. This is a matter of life and death. Uncle Liu, even if you have some unspoken difficulty, you can't just watch your grandson become an idiot!"
"..."
The room once again devolved into a marketplace of voices. However, this time, the village chief didn't rush to scold them. Instead, he kept puffing on his pipe, as if trying to alleviate his predicament.
A great man once said that the sins of one woman could outweigh the calls of three ducks. The combined voices of the children's aunts, paternal aunts, and maternal aunts – over a dozen women – could easily surpass a thousand duck farms.
Conversely, I received many disdainful glances, especially from a group of older women led by Sister Zhang. Their eyes were practically rolling to the top of their heads, as if the children's affliction was somehow my fault.
I could only offer a wry smile, too lazy to even attempt an explanation.
I often bathed in the small river east of the village. I knew better than anyone whether there were malevolent spirits there. These children being possessed by evil spirits in broad daylight was definitely not as simple as they perceived it to be.
After studying Yin divination for ten years, I had never heard of evil spirits daring to seize souls in broad daylight. If there wasn't a human factor involved, I wouldn't believe it even if I were killed. The most likely person to have done this was Gou Danzi.
When I looked at him, Gou Danzi's lips curled into a faint smile. He even made a throat-slitting gesture at me. Just as I was about to say something, he gave a sinister grin.
The child, who had been lying on the bed covered by a quilt, suddenly began to tremble violently. His eyelids twitched incessantly, and he made guttural sounds, spitting white foam.
"My child, what's wrong? Don't scare your grandmother!"
"Gou Danzi, hurry and save my grandson..."
"Husband, what are you hesitating for? If our grandson is gone, I won't live either..."
The village chief's expression finally changed. He tapped his pipe on the ground and said in a deep voice to Gou Danzi that the village could have a shaman, and to save the child quickly.
Hearing this, Gou Danzi's smile stretched almost to his ears.
"Just you watch, old sir!"
"How dare these malevolent spirits seize souls in broad daylight? Do you think our village has no one?"
Gou Danzi directly threw off the quilt covering the village chief's grandson, took a swig from a wine bottle, and sprayed it onto the child while muttering incomprehensible words.
Then, he quickly lit a match and threw it into the air. Immediately, a tragic scream erupted.
Ah—
A ball of fire ignited in mid-air, quickly turning into a pile of black ash that drifted to the ground.
"There really are malevolent spirits! Gou Dan... Shi Sheng is truly miraculous!"
"This skill is no less than Zhang Da Nian's. With a shaman in the village, there will surely be no more evil spirits!"
"I say, the village should have a shaman. They have so many rules with their Yin divination, this can't be done, that can't be done. They only know how to study money from the dead. I say the village chief's decision is correct..."
Gou Danzi beamed at the crowd's flattery, his words constantly praising the shamanic immortals and what people should believe. I, on the other hand, became the target of exclusion.
It seemed everyone had completely forgotten that they had sought me out initially. But I didn't resent them. After all, I had only identified that the children had their souls seized by malevolent spirits. The one who summoned the souls and solved the problem was Gou Danzi.
As the hero, Gou Danzi naturally received everyone's praise. I quietly withdrew from the crowd and turned to leave. Before I could exit the courtyard, someone clapped me on the shoulder. I turned to see it was the village chief.
"Uncle Liu, you don't need to say anything. It's my lack of skill. It's good that the village has a shaman. This way, everyone can..."
Before I could finish, the village chief interrupted me.
"Nonsense. He's just a fraud. If shamanism could truly thrive in our village, why haven't any shamans come to our village to handle matters for so many years?"
The village chief's words startled me. There's no territorial claim in the Yin professions; whoever has the skill eats. Those without skill eat dirt. Gou Danzi used to be the kind of Yin person who ate dirt.
After a moment of stunned silence, I chuckled and said to the village chief, "Uncle Liu, you don't need to comfort me. I don't have my master's skills, so it's normal for others to say so. As long as the children are fine, I'll be going now."