Xiaoyue frantically pulled out her phone.

The memo interface on the screen is still showing last week's milk tea order.

"Master, please wait a moment. Let me make a memo: draw a circle in the southwest direction, wrap seven coins in yellow paper, and prepare yam paste on the first and fifteenth of the lunar month..."

She tapped rapidly on the screen, occasionally looking up to ask if I had remembered correctly.

"When will Mengmeng finally wake up completely?"

Xiaoyue suddenly stopped what she was doing, the cold light from her phone screen making her eyes look red.

I released Mengmeng's wrist, and her pulse had changed from weak and shallow to light and slow.

"When the yang energy is at its peak during the Shen hour (3-5 PM), the soul needs to borrow the energy of heaven and earth to return to its place, and this cannot be rushed."

Xiaoyue nodded, then suddenly stood up and bowed to me, her ponytail swinging down to her chest.

"Master, if it weren't for you... Mengmeng... how about I treat you to beef noodles downstairs? The kind with double eggs!"

Well……

It's really simple and unpretentious.

I smiled and waved my hand, then carefully wrapped the lightning sword again.

To be honest, I'm really afraid that if I carry this thing on the road, I'll get arrested and taken away by Uncle Hat.

Fortunately, only my face was able to save me.

If he looked like a teenager, he probably would have been taken away long ago.

"I won't eat noodles, I have things to do at the shop. Remember, don't look back when you're burning paper money, and step over the fire pit when you get home."

...

When I left Mengmeng's house, the morning light was still bright.

About fifty meters from the shop entrance, I saw a middle-aged woman squatting against the wall.

She was wearing a faded blue cotton shirt, her hair was tied up haphazardly with a rubber band, and she was looking around warily, her right hand tightly clutching a red cloth bag.

"Ma'am, are you looking for someone?"

As I took out my keys to open the door, she suddenly looked up, her eyes bloodshot.

The moment she saw me clearly, her lips trembled as she asked, "Master Yuan... is Master Yuan Ying here?"

These words made my heart sink.

It seems he's a regular customer of Yingniang.

"Yingniang... passed away last month."

The woman's pupils suddenly contracted, and the red cloth bag fell to the ground with a "thud".

"Gone? How did they leave? What... what will happen to my Tiger Cub?"

She suddenly grabbed my wrist, her nails digging into the back of my hand: "Please, you must be her master, right? Please save my Tiger Cub!"

Master?

I smiled wryly and said that I was her apprentice.

Although Yingniang did not agree to take me as her apprentice, I had already considered her my master in my heart.

The woman was clearly taken aback when she heard what I said.

They probably thought that someone my age should be Master Yuan Ying.

But soon, she grabbed my hand and pleaded with me.

"Since you are Master Yuan's apprentice, you must have learned a lot. Please help me."

As she was saying this, she actually tried to kneel down before me.

An elderly man passing by cast a curious glance at them.

I pulled my wrist away and pushed open the shop door: "Girl, don't rush, come in and tell me what's wrong."

The room was filled with the scent of aged mugwort, and Yingniang's portrait on the shrine was still up, her smile gentle.

The woman tripped on the threshold as she stepped through the door. She hurriedly picked up the red cloth bag, inside which was half a yellowed talisman.

I had just poured myself a cup of barley tea when a man in a gray suit stood in the doorway, his face as pale as paper, clutching three white candles in his hand.

"Boss, I want to buy candles, the kind that are infused with cinnabar."

As he spoke, his sleeve slipped down, revealing three red ropes wrapped around his wrist.

"Wait a minute." I gave him the candle he needed.

"Thanks."

The man in the suit said thank you.

He had just turned to leave when the woman suddenly grabbed my arm: "Boss, who are you talking to?"

I was stunned for a moment, then turned around and saw her staring at the empty doorway with a look of terror in her eyes.

I didn't answer, and turned around to refill the hot water.

The glass cast shimmering light and shadow on the table, making Yingniang's portrait appear and disappear.

The woman's gaze shifted between the shrine and me, and I couldn't tell what she was thinking.

Without asking, I took out a compass from the drawer, and the needle was slowly pointing northwest.

"What did you just say happened to Tiger Cub?"

The woman suddenly stood up, the red cloth bag slipping from her knees: "It's...it's that every night when he sleeps, there's a handprint on the back of his neck. I suspect he's been possessed by something."

She stared at the compass in my hand, then suddenly remembered something and took out a photo from her cloth bag.

The boy in the photo is curled up at the head of the bed, and the bluish-purple finger marks on the back of his neck are particularly glaring.

The wind chimes outside the door rang again.

This time, a girl in a school uniform came in, carrying a book called "Zhou Gong's Interpretation of Dreams," with bits of locust bark stuck to her cuffs.

I recognized her; she was the daughter of the stationery store owner at the end of the alley.

But the woman seemed not to see it, still staring at the photo in my hand, her fingertips constantly stroking the talisman paper on the red cloth wrapping.

"Light the candles first."

I pushed the candle, stained with cinnabar, toward the woman.

The moment the flame flickered, the hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stood on end.

The compass needle began to shake violently, pointing towards the paper figure beside the shrine.

That was the soul-guiding doll left behind by Yingniang, which was now slightly turning its head, with the black dots in its eye sockets pointing in the direction of the woman.

"Put this talisman on the headboard of the child's bed at midnight tonight."

I quickly drew the soul-suppressing talisman, and deliberately left the lotus flower seal that Yingniang was used to in the corner.

"Remember, no matter what noise you hear, do not lift the red veil."

"This...this is it?"

The woman was somewhat incredulous: "Are you sure there's no problem?"

To be honest, I find this quite annoying.

It's like a patient going to the hospital to see a doctor. The doctor sees the medicine, prescribes something cheap, but is afraid it won't work, so he keeps asking questions.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!