The One Who Came Back

The colored ribbons on the deerskin drum swayed gently with Bai Lingmiao’s steps as she walked alone through the somewhat rundown alleyways of Qianjia Village.

Occasionally, barefoot farmers leading oxen and women carrying children cast curious glances her way. A girl dressed like this had never been seen in the village before—she was a rare sight.

Looking a bit nervous, Bai Lingmiao lowered her head and continued toward the location the Second Spirit had indicated.

After a short walk, she spotted two low houses side by side, one large and one small. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the yard.

“Woof! Woof, woof!” The watchdog’s barking startled Bai Lingmiao.

But the barking also saved her the awkwardness of having to announce herself.

With a creak, the door opened. A simple, honest-looking farmer emerged, his eyes carrying a hint of fear as he asked, “Who are you looking for?”

Bai Lingmiao opened her mouth but found herself at a loss for words. This wasn’t something she had done many times before.

After hesitating for a long moment, she finally asked cautiously, “Um… does anyone in your family have a possessing spirit?”

Bang. The newly opened door slammed shut.

“Ah…” Bai Lingmiao stood there, embarrassed. She turned her head to look at the Second Spirit beside her and spoke to it in her mind. See? They closed the door. Maybe there’s nothing wrong.

Then, as if hearing a reply, her face showed a troubled expression as she quietly argued back.

“I know the Immortal is pressuring us. If we don’t work, they’ll come looking for trouble. But maybe this family doesn’t have anything… Ah… well, alright. I understand. I’ll try again.”

She walked over once more and knocked on the door with her fair hand. “Please, open the door! I have some skill in exorcisms and catching ghosts. If you’re really having that kind of trouble, I can help!”

She knocked several more times. Just as she thought they wouldn’t open the door, the wooden door cracked open a sliver. A single, aged, jaundiced eye suddenly appeared in the gap, startling her.

“How do you know we’ve got a visitor?”

Hearing the voice, Bai Lingmiao realized that the jaundiced eye belonged to a person.

“Uh…” Bai Lingmiao couldn’t find a good reason right away.

“Elder, never mind how I know. I really can help with this kind of thing. A vile spirit shouldn’t stay in a person’s body for too long, or it will cause trouble.”

“How many coins do you want?”

“Fifty coppers. No matter how powerful the possessing spirit, it’s fifty coppers.” Bai Lingmiao quoted the standard price for a spirit-dance rite.

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a younger man’s voice from behind the door. “Dad, let’s go with her. This spirit-dancer is a lot cheaper than Granny Cui!”

The door slammed shut again. The father and son inside seemed to be discussing something. Just as Bai Lingmiao was starting to feel anxious waiting, the door creaked open once more.

A short, stocky old farmer came out, a heavy-hearted look on his face, carrying a carrying pole. He studied Bai Lingmiao again for a moment before saying, “Fifty coppers—you said it. Our family is poor, so don’t try to cheat us.”

Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao breathed a sigh of relief and stepped over the threshold into the house.

The moment she entered, she was startled by the white all around her.

The entire room was decorated like a funeral hall. No, it was a funeral hall, just without a coffin.

“Elder, why are the ancestral tablets here at home instead of in the clan hall?”

Hearing this, the old man let out a deep sigh. “If I could put them there, I would have long ago. Come, there are things I need to tell you inside, in detail.”

Past the house was a small, bright courtyard where a few chickens were pecking at the ground.

Looking tense, the two men led Bai Lingmiao into the yard. They pulled over a bamboo stool and set it in front of her, then habitually squatted down and began to pour out their troubles.

“My old woman passed five days ago. She lived to be seventy-one and didn’t suffer before the end, so we could call it a happy funeral. But she hadn’t even passed her first seventh day when trouble started. Our nephew, who was keeping vigil, heard someone knocking on the coffin lid.”

Hearing this description, Bai Lingmiao’s heart tightened. She looked around warily but found nothing unusual.

“We got scared and buried her in a hurry. But the very next night after the burial, she jumped out and came back on her own…”

Although the farmer’s words were dry and plain, they sent chills down Bai Lingmiao’s spine and made her hands and feet feel cold. This seemed different from the possession cases she had encountered before.

“She pushed open the door and said she wanted meat. Me and my boy were terrified. The way she looked… it was like, if we didn’t give her meat, she would eat us instead.”

“After that, we took down the half a pork leg we’d been saving for the New Year hanging from the beam. That was cured meat, you know. But she started gnawing on it raw.”

“She finished the whole leg clean off the bone, then left. Before she went, she said she’d be back tomorrow.”

As the old man spoke, the bitter look on his face deepened.

“I’m not being stingy, not wanting to give my old woman something to eat. But that thing wasn’t my old woman. The way she gnawed on that meat… like a wild animal. Her mouth was all bloody and torn—it was terrifying. This possessing spirit is vicious…”

“To pay for the old woman’s burial, we already sold both our pigs. If she comes back and there’s no meat to eat, she’ll probably eat the two of us.”

“If you can get my old woman to go to her next life peacefully, then you’re a living Bodhisattva to our family.”

Having said his piece, the old farmer drooped his head weakly and fell silent.

“Cadaveric reanimation after death? Possessed by something?” Bai Lingmiao thought to herself, beginning to assess the danger of the situation.

She discussed it with the Second Spirit in her mind. After concluding that the danger wasn’t great, she looked up to check the time. “Elder, the sun is about to set. Since I’m here, let me stay tonight. What do you think?”

Since she had come, she had to resolve it. After everything she had been through with Brother Li, this kind of small matter seemed well within her confidence.

“What? You really have a way?” The old man grew excited.

He had thought the young girl was too inexperienced to have any real skill.

When Bai Lingmiao nodded in confirmation, the old man immediately stood up and lunged toward the chickens in the yard.

“Good! Stay for dinner! Don’t be polite!”

That evening, a whole chicken was set in front of Bai Lingmiao. But she had no appetite. She nervously awaited the arrival of night.

When night fell, the father and son hid in the back room to sleep, leaving Bai Lingmiao alone in the funeral-hall-like main room.

The family seemed very poor. There was only a single oil lamp in the room, casting flickering shadows that made the already terrifying environment even more sinister.