Chapter 17

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Kang Wenhong’s spirit had wandered all night. When he woke up, the child seemed to have completely forgotten everything. He chattered away with his parents and grandmother, then noticed a new older boy in the house. Curious, he stole several glances, feeling a vague familiarity, and shyly gave Chu Ning a soft smile.

Chu Ning, ever patient, reached out to gently stroke Kang Wenhong’s hair. The child closed his eyes in comfort, purring like a contented cat. Before long, he couldn’t fight the sleepiness any longer and dozed off again in his parents’ arms.

Kang Yanming and Zou Shulan, seeing their child fall asleep once more, instinctively glanced at Chu Ning with a look that plainly said:

“Our child hasn’t left his soul again, has he?!”

“Leaving one’s soul isn’t that easy. He’s just sleepy,” Chu Ning clicked his tongue and added, “His spirit must be tired from wandering around.”

The Kang couple exchanged puzzled looks.

...

It was late, and Kang’s mother, worried about the child, took Kang Wenhong back to his room to sleep.

Having witnessed Chu Ning’s abilities, the Kang couple treated him with newfound respect. Kang Yanming regretted having once dismissed Chu Ning as a fraud like that so-called fairy lady and repeatedly apologized. Zou Shulan was even more straightforward, taking out the large red envelope she had prepared for the fairy lady and handing it to Chu Ning.

The money seemed to fall from the sky, and Chu Ning accepted it without hesitation.

Zou Shulan hesitated before nervously asking, “Master Chu, I want to understand why our child suddenly left his soul like that. Nothing like this has ever happened in our family before.”

“Hmm... Do you think it could be the house’s feng shui?” she wondered aloud.

It was understandable she thought this way—after all, the Kang family had only moved into their new home six months ago. For such an incident to happen so soon, it felt too much like a coincidence.

“Call me Xiao Chu, and you can call me Aunt Lan,” Chu Ning waved his hand and said, “It’s not the house.”

Surprised, Zou Shulan asked, “If not the house, then what else could it be?”

Kang Yanming frowned and guessed, “Maybe the child accidentally attracted some unclean spirits outside?”

Chu Ning glanced at him without denying it, then asked, “In the days when the child first started acting strangely, or even before that, did he come into contact with any strange people or things?”

“Strange people or things?” Kang Yanming and Zou Shulan were stumped.

Both of them had been busy with work. Kang’s mother had been taking care of the child more often. At the time the child first acted odd, Kang Yanming was on a week-long business trip to the neighboring province, and Zou Shulan was busy launching a new TV program. They hadn’t noticed what their son had been doing.

With no other option, they woke Kang’s mother to recall what happened in those days.

...

Kang’s mother put on a coat and sat on the sofa, racking her memory. “Nothing much happened those days, really. I went shopping every morning and took the child out for walks. After his nap, Wenhong liked to go to the playground to find other kids to play with. Oh, wait, there was a man who claimed to be a friend of Yanming’s. He came by one day, said he had business with you, and brought lots of food and toys for Wenhong.”

“But I told him you were on a business trip. Your friend seemed disappointed. I don’t know if he contacted you again later.”

Kang Yanming was stunned. “I had a friend come to our house? Mom, who was it?”

His mother thought for a moment. “I’d never seen him before. I just called him Xiao Song. He looked about your age, had small eyes, and a big mole under his lip. He showed me a photo—an old university picture of you both.”

A university classmate named Song, with small eyes and a mole under his mouth...

Kang Yanming’s expression suddenly stiffened. “Wait, that’s impossible!”

Zou Shulan looked at him curiously. “What is it, Lao Kang?”

“I did have a classmate with a mole under his mouth named Song Xifeng,” Kang Yanming said grimly. “But I haven’t contacted him for years. The last time I heard, when I was on a business trip, I ran into an old classmate who told me Song Xifeng had died in a multi-car accident years ago.”

He exchanged a glance with his wife, and fear suddenly filled their eyes.

Chu Ning pulled out his phone and searched “Song Xifeng,” “multi-car accident.” He showed the black-and-white, pixelated news photos to Kang Yanming. “Is this him?”

Before Kang Yanming could answer, Kang’s mother leaned closer, clutching her chest in fright. “That’s who I saw when I opened the door that day!”

The multi-car accident that killed Song Xifeng caused many casualties across all ages. In such sudden tragedies, if the deceased do not receive proper rites, their spirits often become trapped by deep resentment, unable to reincarnate, doomed to linger as wandering lost souls or worse, malicious ghosts.

Why Song Xifeng’s ghost chose the Kang family was unclear. But since he could still communicate rationally with Kang’s mother, it meant he hadn’t yet become a vengeful spirit, only a restless soul.

Zou Shulan, pale and trembling, asked, “Lao Kang, tell the truth—did you offend someone while alive, and now they’re back for revenge?”

“I didn’t! I swear I didn’t!” Kang Yanming protested.

He and Song Xifeng had no quarrels during university and hadn’t been in touch for over a decade. There was no reason for Song’s ghost to target their family. Kang Yanming was terrified yet innocent and baffled.

After a pause, Kang’s mother suddenly remembered something. “That Xiao Song brought a wooden doll when he came. Wenhong really liked it, hugged it while sleeping, and carried it everywhere during the day. Later, Wenhong took it to school, but the teacher confiscated it when she found him playing with it in class.”

“After that, Wenhong started crying every time he had to sleep, only calming down when his father comforted him.”

Zou Shulan’s face darkened. “A little over a month ago, Wenhong’s homeroom teacher returned the doll to me.”

Coincidentally, from the day the wooden doll was returned, Kang Wenhong became very drowsy and hard to wake. Only now, after witnessing Chu Ning’s abilities, the family realized the child had actually left his soul during sleep.

That wooden doll was definitely the problem!

They all thought so at once. Zou Shulan hurried to her room and opened a locked drawer. But after searching thoroughly, the wooden doll she had locked away was gone!

She muttered, “I clearly locked it in here...”

Neither Kang Yanming nor Kang’s mother had touched the drawer. The child couldn’t have known the confiscated doll had been returned.

Could it be that the doll had grown legs and walked away?

A chill ran down the spines of the three family members.

What on earth was this thing?

Chu Ning wheeled himself to the bedroom doorway, seeing their incredulous faces, and suggested, “Why don’t we look in the child’s room?”

Kang Yanming and Zou Shulan’s expressions instantly darkened.

...

This was destined to be the most chaotic night the Kang family would ever experience.

They all entered Kang Wenhong’s bedroom.

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Kang Yanming pushed open the door first, anxiously scanning the room. Kang’s mother and Zou Shulan opened the wardrobe and drawers, searching for the wooden doll.

The child still slept soundly on the bed. Chu Ning glanced over and tapped Kang Yanming’s arm. “Check under the bed.”

Though surprised, Kang Yanming knelt down and shone his phone light beneath the bed.

Sure enough, a palm-sized wooden doll stood upright in the center.

The doll wore a red-and-green bellyband. Its stiff face, painted black, showed narrow eyes and a wide, grinning mouth—a grotesque and eerie sight.

Kang Yanming locked eyes with the doll, vaguely sensing a sneer in those rigid laughing eyes.

A cold shiver ran through him, and he froze. Zou Shulan noticed and tried to pull him up, but just then, a loud thud came from under the bed. The doll toppled over and rolled out into view—

“Hee hee hee.”

“Hide and seek...”

“So much fun...”

A thin voice echoed softly in the silent room. Papers on the desk fluttered as if stirred by a wind that wasn’t there. A chilly breeze swept through the bedroom, whistling eerily.

The Kang family was terrified. Zou Shulan and Kang’s mother screamed.

The doll rolled to Kang Yanming’s feet. Its painted face twisted from a strange smile to one filled with deep resentment and sorrow.

“Ah!”

Kang Yanming screamed and instinctively kicked the doll away.

“Wuwuwu...”

“It hurts, it hurts so much...”

“Child, I’m in pain...”

“Please come be with me, child...”

“We’re good friends...”

“Good friends should be together...”

“Come be with me...”

The thin voice echoed again, an eerie child’s voice that made the two women nearly faint.

The doll landed at the foot of the bed. Meanwhile, Kang Wenhong suddenly burst into a deafening cry, as if terrified by a nightmare, resisting with all his might.

Kang’s mother and Zou Shulan tried to rush forward in panic but were stopped by Chu Ning’s wheelchair.

Zou Shulan, confused and with eyes red from worry, grabbed Chu Ning’s arm. “Master Chu, Wenhong is crying...”

Chu Ning shook his head, turned her wrist over, and pressed a yellow talisman into her palm. Calmly, he said, “Aunt Lan, look closely. It’s not the child crying.”

It was just an illusion.

Zou Shulan instinctively clutched the talisman. The palm burned slightly as the mist before her eyes lifted. Looking back to the bed, the child still slept soundly, but the harrowing cries came from the doll at the foot of the bed!

The wooden doll was crying!

Its ghostly face contorted into a terrifying grimace.

Zou Shulan: “...”

Zou Shulan: “!!!”

Where was her emergency heart medicine? She felt faint!

But fainting was not an option. Taking a deep breath and leaning on Kang’s mother, she trembled as she looked at Chu Ning. “What kind of ghostly thing is this?!”

Chu Ning replied, “Judging by its appearance, it’s a refined Willow Spirit Child.”

Zou Shulan shuddered. “Willow Spirit Child? Is it a ghost or a demon?”

Chu Ning explained, “It’s a kind of yin spirit, a folk ritual involving the refinement of an evil deity.”

The refined Willow Spirit Child is a dark folk magic that captures the souls of infant spirits for one’s use. According to records, the ritual begins by selecting a pure soul of a deceased child under three years old, planting a willow branch at their grave. After several years, if a willow grows beside the grave, it means the soul has attached to the tree. The practitioner then cuts the tree, carves the wood into a child’s shape, and uses spells and talismans to refine it over 81 days. When the doll can speak, the ritual is complete.

Because the Willow Child can convey dreams and messages, it is often called an Ear-Message God. Its master can seek wealth and guidance through it. However, as a yin spirit and former infant, it lacks concepts of right and wrong; whether it’s good or evil depends on its master’s upbringing.

It was clear this Willow Child had been influenced by its master to be unfriendly and malicious.

Chu Ning gave a brief explanation. Kang Yanming took the talisman from Zou Shulan’s hand—it was a Clear Mind talisman to dispel illusions—and saw the true scene beneath the illusion.

A doll with a ghostly face crying loudly?

He had only seen that in movies!

Needless to say, he was shocked.

The Kang family, faced with such unexplainable phenomena, huddled behind Chu Ning like frightened quails.

“Xiao Chu, it’s up to you!”

Charge! Defeat it! You can do it!

Fortunately, Chu Ning was fearless. Slowly pushing his wheelchair, he bent down, picked up a homework notebook blown onto the floor, opened the page with the densest writing, and launched a verbal onslaught at the resentful ghost-faced doll.

The Willow Spirit Child was stunned, shrieking in pain.

Young spirits are most vulnerable to the power of written faith and had no chance to resist.

The doll glared resentfully with black, hollow eyes. Suddenly, a shadowy black smoke rose from its back—its attached infant spirit attempting to escape.

But Chu Ning was prepared.

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He quickly drew a talisman and wrapped the Willow Spirit Child tightly from head to toe, forcing the shadow back into the doll’s body, leaving no chance to flee.

Caught trying to escape, the doll cursed, “...Damn!”

Chu Ning grabbed the notebook and scolded, “Such a young age, and you curse again?”

The doll was beaten again, shaking and finally giving up, “Ouch! Stop, stop! I was wrong!”

Chu Ning held the doll’s head and shook it, half-smiling, “Will you curse again?”

“No, no more,” the doll whimpered with lingering resentment. “Please spare me.”

Chu Ning flicked it lightly, amused. “If I let you go, will you keep hurting people?”

“I don’t hurt people!” the doll protested, then shyly whispered, “I just wanted to scare them a little because they tried to separate me from the child...”

The doll’s ghostly face shifted from a terrifying grimace to a pitiful look.

Chu Ning pinched its neck. “So you think bullying is justified?”

The doll grumbled nonsense, afraid Chu Ning would strike again with the notebook.

...

Dejected, the Willow Spirit Child was brought to the living room, tied up tightly with several talismans as if under interrogation.

The Kang family sat together on one end of the sofa, their gazes fixed on the doll, expressions complex.

“I really didn’t mean to scare you,” the doll said, its voice soft and childlike, behaving obediently. “I came to be your family’s Ear-Message God.”

“Song Xifeng sent you?” Chu Ning toyed with a yellow talisman, asking.

The doll nodded shyly. “Yes, yes.”

Kang Yanming frowned deeply. “But Song Xifeng died in that accident years ago.”

The doll looked at him innocently and smiled, “His ghost brought me here.”

Seeing the family’s fear, the doll was about to flash a strange smile when Chu Ning casually found a dictionary and opened it to the radical pages.

The doll froze. This was a clear threat!

It shivered and stopped playing tricks. Then, in a hushed voice, it said, “Don’t misunderstand. Song Xifeng didn’t want to harm you. He just wanted to find me a good home...”

The doll then revealed its origins.

It and Song Xifeng had both died in that multi-car accident years ago. Their bodies were unclaimed, so the local government buried them in a remote cemetery. Later, the cemetery became neglected, allowing a sorcerer practicing dark magic to capture the wandering souls, turning them into his evil minions.

The Willow Spirit Child’s fate was uncertain. Because of its age, the sorcerer spent three years refining it into a piece of willow wood. Months ago, as the ritual neared completion, the sorcerer got drunk and fell asleep. Song Xifeng seized the chance to sneak out and brought the doll to the Kang family.

According to Song’s ghost, these captive spirits had been forced to do evil deeds and had lost hope of reincarnation. But the Willow Spirit Child was different—it had been a child in life. If it could find a kind-hearted family, it might accumulate merit and be reborn someday.

Better than being destroyed by the sorcerer.

At first, the doll came to the Kang family with good intentions, hoping to grow and accumulate merit. After playing with the child, it became closer to the family.

The doll listed some kind deeds it had done: warning Kang’s mother about the stove left on; reminding Kang Yanming to bring documents; sending a dream to warn Zou Shulan about trouble at the TV station.

The Kang family was stunned.

Kang’s mother said, “I thought it was Wenhong that day...”

Kang Yanming agreed, “Me too.”

Zou Shulan gasped, “I thought that dream was just a coincidence...”

The doll was sulking, displeased.

It thought about how pitiful it was—finally escaped the evil sorcerer, arrived at a new home, tried to be a good, helpful Ear-Message God, made a new friend. But the happiness was short-lived. The doll was confiscated by the teacher, separated from the friend, then finally returned home.

Then, it was locked away in a drawer!

Life was unbearable!

No wonder it tried to scare people later.

The doll acted out its grievances, secretly glancing at the casually flipping Chu Ning, then whined softly.

This scene unexpectedly softened the Kang family’s hearts.

Especially Kang’s mother, who, filled with sympathy, forgot her fear and looked at the doll with maternal kindness.

After all, the Willow Spirit Child had been a child under three years old in life.

Even as a ghost, what harm could it truly mean?

It was just so tragic.

The doll pretended to cry, full of drama.

“I’m just a weak, pitiful, innocent child.”

“The world is at fault, not me!”

Chu Ning, flipping a page of the dictionary, thought: What to do... my fingers are itching.

He wanted to smack the ghost.