Home

the old lady of the Bai family

**Chu Ma (出马) Spirit Mediumship**: This is a folk tradition, especially alive in Northeast China, where a human becomes the "mount" or vehicle for a powerful spirit—often a fox, weasel, snake, or other animal immortal. The process is violent and involuntary; the chosen person typically suffers a life-threatening illness or madness that only resolves when they "mount the horse" and accept the spirit. Bai Lingmiao's confession that she became a *chu ma* disciple *without* Li Huowang's knowledge is a huge character reveal—she has taken on a body-changing, reality-bending burden to save him, and it makes her far more than the "helpless girl" she appeared to be.

Definition

**Chu Ma (出马) Spirit Mediumship**: This is a folk tradition, especially alive in Northeast China, where a human becomes the "mount" or vehicle for a powerful spirit—often a fox, weasel, snake, or other animal immortal. The process is violent and involuntary; the chosen person typically suffers a life-threatening illness or madness that only resolves when they "mount the horse" and accept the spirit. Bai Lingmiao's confession that she became a *chu ma* disciple *without* Li Huowang's knowledge is a huge character reveal—she has taken on a body-changing, reality-bending burden to save him, and it makes her far more than the "helpless girl" she appeared to be.

Story context

Li Huowang wakes up from his brush with death in the Dao-Twisted World, only to find his body inexplicably healed. His desperate need for certainty collides with Dr. Li's maddening suggestion from "reality": if he can send things *to* the hallucination, what does that say about which world is real? The chapter pivots on a dark, intimate revelation—Bai Lingmiao confesses she secretly became a *chuma* medium and used her spirit to save him. But just as Li Huowang feels his footing return, he learns that the world around him is rotting in a stranger, quieter way: the entire village has forgotten who they are.

Why it matters

This chapter is about the unbearable weight of proof. Li Huowang has been given a terrible tool—a logical test that could either confirm or destroy his reality—and he chooses *not to use it*. His desperate laughter of relief when Bai Lingmiao reveals her secret is not joy; it is the sound of a man catching a rope before he falls back into the abyss. He needs *this* side to be real so badly that any evidence, even a confession of hidden magical healing, feels like salvation.

Quick facts

Source novel
Dao Gui Yi Xian
First appearance
The Cure and the Forgetting
Chapter references
1
Type hints
bai lingmiao confession, chuma spirit medium, wujia village
Guide tags
emotional rollercoaster, lore drop, slow-burn horror

Appears in chapters

Jump back into the novel from the exact chapter references used to build this glossary page.

Chapter 99
The Cure and the Forgetting
Bai Lingmiao’s secret saves Li Huowang’s life—but the cost confirms she’s no longer helpless. Meanwhile, a village has forgotten itself.

Explore connected lore, concepts, and glossary entries from the same novel.

Chuma disciple Yang Life Pills Reality

Source novel

Dao Gui Yi Xian