"Jumping the God"

As the sun slowly dipped toward the west, a village gradually came into view. The scattered houses with black-tiled roofs appeared along the dirt road.

"Look, this is the village I mentioned," Li Zhi said with a smile, pointing to the black roofs in the distance before striding ahead. "Follow me. There's an old acquaintance of mine here, and we can stay at his place for free."

Li Huowang, after a brief wave, signaled for the two donkey carts to follow into the village.

As they walked along the dirt path between the houses, Li Huowang and his group looked around the quiet surroundings. But oddly, no one was in the fields or the courtyards.

"What's going on? Where is everyone?" Li Huowang wondered silently.

Just as he thought this, Li Zhi's head popped around the corner ahead, a look of excitement on his face.

"Hey! Come over here, there's something interesting going on! Looks like the old man's climbing the ashes! His face is all scratched up—it's really something!"

"Climbing ashes? What does that mean?" Li Huowang asked, but no one responded. When he turned, he saw the others wearing embarrassed expressions. Bai Lingmiao even blushed and lowered her head.

"Li Shixiong, let's not get involved in this. It's someone else's private matter," Bai Lingmiao suggested.

Li Huowang gave her a confused look but then turned to follow Li Zhi, whose excitement seemed uncontainable.

As they rounded the corner, the scene before them cleared up. A large crowd of men, women, and children, dressed in typical rural clothes, had gathered in front of a house. Li Zhi stood at the edge of the crowd, tiptoeing and peering over the shoulders of others.

"What's climbing ashes?" Li Huowang asked again as he joined Li Zhi.

"The old man sneaking around with his daughter-in-law. Isn't there a different term for it where you're from? Where are you from, anyway?" Li Zhi replied, looking him up and down in surprise.

After hearing the explanation, Li Huowang couldn't help but feel awkward. No wonder Bai Lingmiao had acted that way earlier.

Just then, a loud, piercing scream from the center of the crowd caused everyone to step back in a hurry. Through the gap that opened up, Li Huowang caught sight of something strange.

A woman, completely naked, was writhing on a table, her limbs twisted like a snake. She screamed and trembled uncontrollably.

"Oh no, this isn't climbing ashes, it looks like someone's been possessed," Li Zhi said with regret, slapping his hands together as he pushed forward through the crowd.

"Excuse me! I'm a shaman! Let me through, damn it, who stepped on my foot!?" he yelled.

Li Huowang, who had been about to leave, stopped in his tracks. "Is he planning to use his methods to exorcise the evil spirits?" he wondered.

Finally, Li Zhi squeezed through to the center. He glanced around and waved at Li Huowang. "Shixiong, come here! What are you standing so far away for?"

Li Huowang hesitated for a moment before walking over. This could be a good opportunity to see what Li Zhi was capable of. If he was just playing around, then Li Huowang wouldn't need him to help with his own issues.

Once he reached the center of the crowd, Li Huowang could see the woman more clearly. Her behavior was completely abnormal. Her eyes, usually sharp and beautiful, were completely black now, and there seemed to be five layers of eyelids over her eyes.

There were also two people standing beside her, an older man and a younger one, both of their faces scratched up. They looked like the victims of whatever had happened.

"Shixiong, what do you think? Should I handle this, or should you?" Li Zhi whispered in his ear.

"How about we do it together? You can charge more that way, and we'll split it evenly—this way, we won't break the rules of the ritual."

"No need. I'm not good at exorcising evil spirits. You handle it," Li Huowang replied firmly.

Li Zhi looked at him with surprise. "You're kidding me. You're a Taoist priest, and you don't know how to exorcise evil spirits? You must be a fake!"

"Just do it quickly, she's about to break her own bones," Li Huowang urged, pointing to the woman who was already gnawing on her own lips, blood dripping down her chin as her joints cracked painfully.

Li Huowang couldn't help but think that these common folk and the things they called "evil" weren't as distant from each other as he thought. They simply chose to interpret everything as a form of possession or evil spirits.

"What if Li Zhi isn't around today? What would these people do?" Li Huowang considered silently.

Looking around at the rundown farming tools and the elderly and young people with faces full of hardship, the answer seemed painfully clear. These kinds of problems were likely handled the same way as minor illnesses—endured until they became unbearable, and then laid to rest.

"Cough, cough!" Li Zhi's voice broke through the murmurs of the crowd, making them go silent.

"Boom!" With a light tap of a small drum at his waist, the noise seemed to echo in everyone's heart.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

"Please—oh—immortal!" Li Zhi's voice, strong and clear, rang out and drowned out all other sounds in the area.

Li Huowang turned to look outside. The red glow in the sky was beginning to fade as the quiet of night set in.

"Sunset, it's getting dark, the dragon returns to the sea, and the tiger returns to the mountain! The dragon calls the rain, and the tiger needs rest! Ahh—~"

As Li Zhi sang in rhythm with the drumbeats, the woman in the red veil, the "second god," began to tremble. The cloth on her head and the colorful ribbons she wore started to flutter.

"Seven stars of glass tile on the head, eight-lobed purple gold bricks under the feet. Step on the earth, the sky on the head. Walk in big steps, steady as a mountain, standing firm by the camp!" Li Zhi continued, his chant rising in intensity.

He lit several incense sticks and placed them in a circle around the woman on the table. As soon as the smoke rose, the woman, who had been writhing like a beast, stopped and shrank back, howling in pain.

Li Huowang's heart started to pound. He took a step back and massaged his neck, feeling more and more uneasy as the scene before him grew increasingly intense.

The crowd around them was clearly frightened. Some people, too scared to stay, began fleeing home, rushing before the night fully descended.

The woman in the red veil began to hiccup. Her body shook, and faint rustling sounds could be heard from beneath the veil.

Li Zhi glanced over his shoulder but didn't stop his chanting. "Old Immortal, I know you're coming, don't make a sound, don't make a fuss. Come with glory and fierce power, but less killing power!" he continued with a booming voice.