You Xiaoqing came to the boy's dorm so we could head back to our village together. I met her in the lobby and bid her goodbye and safe travels. "I have to stay in Longan for an extra day." I told her, "Taoist orders." I winked at her, but she didn't return my smile.
"Be safe, okay?" She said. I promised I would and walked her to the bus stop before returning back to the dorm.
Without any of the boys roughhousing around the building it became freaky quiet. Several guards were now roaming around the campus and a few were guarding the first floor of my dorm. They gave me suspicious looks as I moved my bedding and things out of the room and across the plaza to the dean's office. Nothing could make me stay another night in that building.
Head Teacher Qu invited me to have a dinner in the village. I met him at a restaurant a few blocks away and we made idle conversation while eating noodles. When dinner was done we returned to the school and I began to assemble what I needed. Hu Hansan showed up and stayed long enough to give me his master key and wish me good luck.
"I'll be of no help to anyone here." He said, bowing his head. "Be safe, lad."
Head Teacher Qu waved a polite hand as the dean left. He stopped me as I was going inside. "When will your help arrive?" He asked.
"Why?" I returned, "You not sticking around?"
He lowered his eyes and shook his head. "No. This…" He waved his hand around at nothing or everything. "Is all beyond me."
"Is there anyone else on school grounds?" I asked.
"The guards." He told me.
"Do you have contact with them? I might need an extra set of hands." I said.
Head Teacher Qu immediately agreed and took out his phone. Four guards in black uniforms came to the dean's office. Head Teacher Qu ordered them to follow my directions, cast a pale look at the rapidly darkening sky, and then left with a lame goodbye.
The guards were Longan locals that looked and smelled like they lived in the bars. Their uniforms were crisp and new though, so someone was looking out for them. I was just glad to have company.
I mustered up my courage and began giving orders, hoping they'd listen. "You, you, and you, help me move the desk, altar, and all of these candles to the male dormitory.
The largest of the guards looked at me quizzically for a moment and then nodded at the others. I breathed a sigh of relief as they gathered up the desk like it weighed nothing at all. "You're a student here, eh?" The largest guard asked me. His voice was muddled with an accent I didn't recognize. It took a moment for me to comprehend and when I nodded he barked a laugh.
"Lucky kid. Gets to stick around and play religious master." I frowned at him, thinking it was a jab at me, but his smile was kind. "I've seen all this stuff before, the amulets, the incense, the altar. Tonight's a big deal isn't it? Does it have anything to do with the fellow who died the other day, what was is name Xun, Xuon?"
"Xuan. It is a big deal." I told him. "I'm going to perform the rites to send away Xuan Hailin's spirit." I lied, "I may need your help later."
The big man agreed with a huge grin and a crisp salute saying, "Yes sir." It made me feel infinitely better.
We arrived at the doorway and I began setting everything up. The altar was in place, the offerings around and on top of it. I double checked the necessary amulets and tried to steady my now rapid breath.
The street lamps glowed a dark yellow that complimented the half moon, which was beginning to peak over the buildings. I looked up at the moon and breathed a sigh of relief. "With your light I can use the mirror too." I silently told the moon. "This might just work."
I continued setting up while the guards sat against the outside of the building and smoked. Every now and then they'd laugh at a whispered joke and the noise would echo eerily into the plaza. After the second time, they must've stopped joking because the laughter died away. A few minutes later a young man came walking out of the darkness. The guards were on him in moments. "Who are you? Why are you here?" They yelled and swarmed around him. The young man clutched a crumpled paper bag to his chest and shrank away from them.
He cringed back and closed his eyes, crying, "My name is Wei Wei! I'm here to help out Shi Yong! I was told he was here!"
"Let him through, he's expected." I told them.
The guards were silent. The two nearest me stepped aside and let Wei Wei through. He walked under a street lamp and I saw him clearly. He was a younger man, couldn't have been out of his twenties, though older than me. His hair was combed neatly to the side and he wore a scholarly expression that matched his thin physique. He shuffled the bag to one side and bowed to me. "Hello! My name is Wei Wei. I've practiced Taoism for ten years." I started to speak, but he cut me off. "And you are Shi Yong! You're Master Liu's apprentice. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"You flatter me." I said, bowing back. "It's nice to meet you too, Wei Wei. What've you got there?"
Wei Wei reached into the crumpled paper bag under his arm and withdrew a paper man similar to the one I'd faced in my village. The paper man went on and on as he came out of the bag, almost seeming larger than the bag itself. I gaped at Wei Wei as he set up the paper man, who stood almost as tall as I did, and then reached into the bag and began pulling out another. "How?" I asked, but Wei Wei ignored me.
When the second paper man was standing vigilantly next to the first, Wei Wei peered around and then brought his attention back to me. "Shi Yong, it's not normal to have bystanders for this sort of thing. Shouldn't we send them away so they don't get hurt?"
I nodded my head, adding, "I asked them to help me out until you got here. Now you are." I gave him a smile and walked past the paper men to the guards. Waving the leader over I told him, "Thank you for helping me set up. You and your men should go now. These spiritual events can get dicey, if you know what I mean. Wei Wei and I can handle it."
The big man considered me for a moment and then nodded once. "As you say kid. We'll go to the security office by the school gate." He patted me on the shoulder, "Call if you need help, yeah?"
"Will do." I waved them goodbye and returned to the dorm entrance.
"What's next?" Wei Wei asked.
I stared at him blankly for a moment until it hit me. "I'm in charge." I said in understanding. Wei Wei nodded slowly, like he didn't know if it was a test or not.
"Yes…you are." He finally said.
I took a deep breath, and then picked up a pail of soul suppressing amulets, "We'll start soul suppressing religious rites tonight. We only want to suppress her, not catch her. Hence these," I gestured with the bucket of amulets. "Let's walk around the dorm and place them below each window."
Wei Wei took a handful of amulets, saying, "Okay, you go left, I'll go right?"
I nodded and went to it. I walked to each window on the first floor, muttering the incantation and pasting amulets. I waited, heart in my throat, for anything to happen at the first window, the second, the third, but nothing ever came.
Wei Wei and I met in front of the altar when it was done.
Wei Wei continued to ask, "And now?"
I pointed to the paper men, "What are those for? Are you going to burn them to stop the ghost?"
Wei Wei looked over at them proudly. "They're my master's creations! Two soldiers with golden armor amulets! They can fight for at least an hour as long as I'm supporting them."
"What grade are they?" I asked, trying not to sound stupid. "Can they handle a green ghost?"
Wei Wei's proud expression crunched into one trying to remember. "I don't know…" He said finally, "Master only said that they could fight a ferocious spirit..."
"That's great then!" I told him. "If she gets out then they'll buy us some time." I pointed to the weird paper bag that couldn't have held both of the soldiers. "Got anything else in there?"
He dug into it with both hands, speaking as he did so. "I've got a frock and another treasure. I grabbed what I could on my way out the door." He turned to me with a smile. "This is my first real spiritual event and I didn't know what to bring. Ya' never know with ghosts though, right?"
"First event?" I thought, feeling my eyes widen on their own accord. "Shit."
"Here," Wei Wei said, holding out the frock. "This is for you since you're in charge."
I took the frock and held it up to examine it. The formal Taoist garb held the eight trigram insignia. It felt like it was humming in my hands. The robe felt huge, definitely big enough for a fully grown man to fill out. "Oh well," I thought, "Here goes." I pulled the frock over my head and yanked it down over my chest. The material hugged me perfectly, like it'd shrunk down to my exact measurements. When I pulled the hood out of my face Wei Wei was beaming at me. He was already wearing a frock of his own. He turned to the bag and withdrew a peach wood sword and a copper bell.
"There's no way that sword would fit in that paper bag!" I thought wonderingly at him.
I picked up the Peach Blossom Mirror and shot Wei Wei a glance, hoping he wasn't judging my tool of choice too harshly. "He looks so cool with his sword and all I've got is this mirror."
I pushed the thought away and shook my head. "Get serious." I told myself.
"The time is almost right to start the ritual. You ready?" I asked him.
Wei Wei swallowed loudly and nodded. "I'm here to help you, Shi Yong. Lead the way."
I looked into the sky and saw the moon well above the buildings. Its light was shining down onto us. "Light the candles." I told Wei Wei, "Put the tributes on the desk. I'm ready."
Wei Wei did so and then came to stand beside me. "If anything happens, I'll need you to protect me." I told him. "Use every skill and all the power you have. Do you understand?"
"I understand." He said quietly.
He hefted the sword in his left hand and bell in his right. I heard his voice fall into the rhythmic meditation incantation beside me.
I fell into the meditation incantation with him, feeling my heartbeat slow into an even drumming. When the world was silent around me and my mind was calm, I raised one foot and began the ritual.