Opening my eyes to see a ghost

All was in readiness, and the master drew a huge yellow cloth, covering the Divine Statues of the Three Pure Ones. I asked Master Li why we had to cover the Divine Statues of the Three Pure Ones, and Master Li rewarded me with a thump on the head, asking me how I could suddenly become so obtuse—without covering them, how could those lonely ghosts and wandering spirits come in?

I muttered under my breath, wondering if lonely ghosts and wandering spirits were only afraid of the divine statues. Even if they came, wouldn't they be taken care of by you?

Even such a quiet voice was heard by the master, who awarded me another thump on the head. I stood to one side with my head bowed, pouting and saying no more.

...

"Master Li, can we start now? Look, there's fog out there," the warden said as he looked at the fog enveloping outside, a touch of unease in his voice. It had been clear just a moment ago; how had the fog risen so suddenly?

The master said it was still too early, that we must wait until Yin Time, because Mao Time was the moment of the day when the yin energy was the strongest. By then, the conditions would be suitable to fulfill his desire to see ghosts.

The dense fog seemed to conspire to meet the warden's wish to see ghosts. By Yin Time, visibility had become exceptionally low. Initially, the master intended to have him complete the ritual in the courtyard of the Taoist Temple, but in the end, there was no choice but to proceed in an empty room at the rear hall.

The required props were very simple: the master set a table under the west wall, covered it with a yellow cloth, and placed a mirror on top of the cloth, with a Peach Wood comb next to the mirror. In front of the mirror, there was a small bowl holding half a bowl of millet, with two candles placed on either side.

To prevent accidents, the master instructed me to take some yellow talismans and climb up to the roof beams. In case of emergency, I could extend a helping hand. Most houses now are buildings without beams, but the Taoist Temple, built at an unknown time, had beams because it was a tiled house.

After I made my preparations, Master Li wrote the character for "hide" on the warden's arm with cinnabar and told him that no matter what he saw later, he must not be frightened, and most importantly, must not make a sound, or else he would be discovered by the ghosts and risk becoming possessed.

The master also explained that once he saw the ghost, he should press the mirror face down hard on the table and break it. This way, we could expel the ghost before it had a chance to notice.

Once the warden understood, Master Li had him light three incense sticks and place them in the bowl with the millet. Then he took the Peach Wood comb and began combing his hair incessantly, staring unwaveringly at the mirror.

After giving his instructions, the master turned and left, saying that his presence would affect the spiritual atmosphere, making it difficult for the ghostly apparitions to approach.

At this moment, the warden seemed to regret his decision. After hesitating for a long time, he slowly picked up the comb and began to draw it through his hair.

The warden followed Master Li's instructions, staring steadfastly at the mirror while still combing his hair with the comb.

Watching his reflection in the mirror, his appearance began to change bit by bit, growing somewhat unfamiliar. The warden seemed to have noticed as well; his hands began to tremble, and his eyes widened more and more.

Gradually, the movements of the person in the mirror diverged from the warden's, becoming slower and slower, more and more out of sync, until, no matter how the warden combed his hair, the person in the mirror stopped moving altogether and slowly revealed a sinister smile.

Their face began to turn white and quickly became void of any color. The hair started to grow longer and became disheveled.

The warden's hands were shaking even more violently now, and it seemed as though his teeth were chattering too.

The appearance of the reflection continued to change. Perhaps frightened, the warden reached out to cover the mirror, but his hand retracted halfway, possibly due to a sense of reluctance.

A trickle of blood flowed from the corner of its eye, and two sharp fangs extended from the edges of the lips. Following that, its skin began to decay bit by bit, and maggots squirmed out of its nostrils.

Thud.

One of its eyeballs fell from its face, dropping out of the mirror onto the table outside.

Following that, a chilling wind blew, and the candles on the table were suddenly extinguished, plunging the room into darkness.

Bang

It seemed to be the sound of the mirror slamming onto the table, but no sound of breaking glass was heard.

Next came the Warden's distressing cries for help. I cursed under my breath, hurriedly grabbing a talisman and tossing it from the beam above. Since my eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark, I could only wildly throw, letting them flutter down wherever they may, hoping they could alleviate the urgent crisis.

But contrary to my wishes, it seemed none of the talismans I threw had landed on it. The Warden kept screaming for help, but it seemed as though something was gripping his throat, altering his voice.

I, too, was anxiously spinning in circles on the beam, but because of the darkness, I couldn't find my way up there, fretting helplessly as I couldn't get down...

Just as the Warden was struggling fiercely, the door was kicked open. A savior had arrived.

Master Li came in, holding a lantern and an Eight Trigrams Mirror in his hand. With the light, I quickly slid down the column below the beam, and with Master Li here, everything would be alright. Without a second thought, I ran to the candles and relit them.

The room was instantly bright again. Master Li dropped the lantern and with a swift move was by the Warden's side. He sidestepped and delivered a kick directly into the lower abdomen of the Mirror Specter, and the Mirror Specter was sent flying, crashing into the column I had descended from.

After it got up, it wanted to pounce on Master Li, but it seemed to fear the Eight Trigrams Mirror in his hand and instead turned and lunged at me.

I chuckled with glee, thinking it wasn't so foolish, knowing to pick on the easy target. What a pity it made the wrong choice, grabbing at steel instead of soft fruit.

At that moment, I had already picked up a talisman but kept it hidden behind my back. As it pounced, I raised my hand and slapped the talisman onto its chest.

Boom

A faint explosion sounded, and it vanished into thin air.

I thought it was over with one blow, but before I could even celebrate, the Warden suddenly reached out and choked me, gripping my throat tightly, leaving me gasping for air.

Seeing this, Master Li picked up the Eight Trigrams Mirror and shone it at the Warden. A beam of golden light flashed, and the warden cried out, releasing his hands.

I spun around quickly, and before I could grasp the situation, my throat was tightly gripped again.

At that moment, I saw the Warden's eyes, which could no longer be described as human eyes, for they were faintly glowing green. They resembled the eyes of a wolf at night.

Seeing that I was being choked again, Master Li became somewhat flustered and shouted for me to strike the Warden's groin, saying that would drive the ghost out of him.

I obeyed Master Li's command, and due to the lack of oxygen from being choked, I hadn't much strength left, but I still gathered all the remaining energy in my body and kicked at the Warden's groin with all my might.

It seemed that kick didn't hit the wrong spot, as the Warden released his grip on me and his body went limp, collapsing onto the ground...

At that time, a green light flew out from the Warden's body. Master Li seized the opportunity and with another flash of golden light, the Eight Trigrams Mirror hit its target directly.