Chapter 3: Picking up Filthy Money and Being Possessed by an Evil Spirit

  I hurried over to hold him and comfort him, but my second brother suddenly said: "Old man, I have a few questions to ask you. This may help us brothers to help you cure your son's illness."

  "Please ask me anything that can help you cure my son, and I will tell you everything truthfully." The old man said excitedly as if he saw the hope of his son's recovery.

  "Good. My first question is, why do the people in your clan and your family think that your son's condition is due to illness, while only you and the old man in the village believe it's because of superstition? Logically speaking, rural areas have strong superstitious beliefs, so when they see your son's situation, they should think he's been possessed by evil spirits. In fact, many people in rural areas don't even go to the doctor when they're clearly ill, and instead use superstitious methods to solve their problems, such as drinking holy water or eating incense ash. Of course, I also believe that your son has been possessed."

  "This old man may not know that our Wuzhi Village, although a rural area, has produced many cultured and knowledgeable people since ancient times. During the Qing Dynasty, several of our villagers became Xiucai and Juren through imperial examination. The villagers were influenced by them and believed that when they got sick, they should see a doctor. Most people knew the story of 'hiding illness and avoiding doctors'. Especially now, many young people from our village have gone abroad to study and returned to vigorously attack superstitious ideas and promote new foreign thoughts, so this superstitious idea is not very prevalent in our village." The old man replied in detail.

  "No wonder the villagers have such strong superstitious thoughts." I thought to myself.

  The second brother nodded thoughtfully to the old man and said, "Old sir, what you said makes sense. My second question is whether there was any unusual behavior or encounter before my brother fell ill? I hope Old Sir will recall the events of that day carefully."

  "This made me think carefully, and it seemed that there was no unusual behavior. Right, on the day my son came back, the sky was already darkening, and everyone was waiting for him to go to our house together to drink wine. After entering the house, he suddenly said excitedly that he had picked up two shiny coins and showed them to us. When asked where he picked them up, he said that he had picked them up on the side of the road. At that time, I was worried in my heart that the person who lost the money must be very anxious."

  "Are the two silver coins your son picked up placed on the roadside where incense and paper money were burned, and after the paper money was burned out, there were several ceramic bowls containing meat and wine cups, and those silver coins must be wrapped in red paper?" asked the fourth brother.

  "How did this old man know?" The old man was shocked for a long time and couldn't close his mouth.

  "So, it's certain that your son has hit something unclean. Do you know that the money placed on the side of the road is absolutely not to be taken? This is the send-off master putting those unclean things there due to ritual needs and placing the send-off money. Alas, I don't know which heartless send-off master casually put these unclean things in a place where people pass by." Second Brother cursed angrily.

  Upon hearing this, the old man suddenly scolded the woman with a gentle appearance beside him: "It's you, this unvirtuous person. If I had done things my way back then, my son might not have ended up in his current state."

  The woman, who had been scolded by the old man and was already hanging her head in shame, now turned bright red with embarrassment, not knowing where to put a face full of guilt. The mediator hastily advised the old man, "Elderly sir, you can't blame her entirely. Since ancient times, when people fall ill, they need to take medicine. Many people blindly believe in superstitions and even when they're sick, they don't see doctors but instead seek help from local quacks and charlatans, which delays their treatment. What was originally a minor illness eventually becomes a chronic disease, leading to untimely death and wasting of money. Your son's situation is an exception, so please don't blame your daughter-in-law too much."

  After my persuasion, the old man seemed to calm down a lot and looked at me with gratitude. At this time, I heard the fourth brother continue to ask: "By the way, isn't there a very famous nine-fingered blind fortune teller in your hometown? Can you ask him to take a look at your son?"

  "She looked at it on the same day and shook her head, saying that time had been delayed and now it's too late to save. When she was about to leave, she told me that there is a very powerful Taoist priest named Chen Zhou Luo Gong Shan who might be able to help you. If he can't do anything either, then your son will have no hope. Following his directions, I finally found this place after asking around, otherwise how would I, a rural villager, know that there's a master hiding here?" The old man sighed with emotion.

  My second brother smiled at me, I knew he wanted to say no wonder this old man found me here, it turned out that the nine-fingered goddess told him. However, for now, I still can't conclude that I can drive away the evil spirit that his son contracted, and I need my second brother to go with me to assist me in order to have a greater chance of winning.

  "By the way, Daozhang, I have something else to tell you. I don't know if it's related to my son's matter." From the old man's tone, it seemed like he had thought of something again.

  I refilled his tea and smiled saying: "Please go on."

  The old man drank tea and said with a sigh, "I almost forgot about this matter. I only suddenly remembered it now, and I've never mentioned it to anyone else, not even my son. Fourteen years ago, when I was in my prime, I was doing some small business in our county town of Xupu. I heard that there was a very powerful fortune teller in the city who was opening a stall to tell fortunes, and everyone said he was very accurate. At that time, my son had just gotten married for less than a year and had just given birth to his first grandson. I also wanted to have him calculate the fate of my grandson and son. After giving him the money and reporting their birthdays, the fortune teller first calculated the fate of my grandson. He said that my grandson's fate was too big, and it would be bad if he didn't recognize his parents as his own. The best solution was to not acknowledge his parents."

  "Why disown one's parents? How can you not acknowledge your own biological parents?" Gu Ling asked, puzzled.

  "Listen to me, young lady. At that time, I was shocked and didn't understand what he was saying, so I quickly paid him and asked what to do next. The fortune teller said that my grandson should not recognize his parents by mouth but by heart. He said that my grandson can only break the fate of being oppressed by his father and mother if he calls his father 'uncle' and his mother 'aunt'."

  "It turns out that's why your grandfather told you to call me Auntie." The old woman beside him chimed in.

  The old man glared at the woman and shouted: "When men are talking, what business is it of yours to interrupt?"