As soon as I took in the scene around me, I couldn’t hold back. Despite the rain, I tossed out a paper figure and manifested through it.
I appeared out of nowhere in the deserted cemetery, making Tào’s mother gasp in shock. “Y-you… who are you?”
I immediately took out an incense burner and lit incense to calm Tào Tiểu Tinh’s spirit. Then I explained softly, “I’m a friend of Tào Tiểu Tinh’s. She appeared in a dream and told me something was wrong with her grave, so I came to take a look.”
Tào’s mother’s expression finally softened, but her eyes were still full of suspicion. “Something wrong with the grave? This is a famous feng shui site. I paid a fortune for this plot.”
Tào’s mother looked awkward for a moment, but continued slowly. “When I bought this plot, her husband even hired someone to perform a ritual and lay a protective formation. He said it would keep wandering ghosts and evil spirits from disturbing her, so she could reincarnate sooner.”
Tào Tiểu Tinh absorbed the incense, and her spirit steadied a little. I stood and looked around, the corner of my mouth lifting into a cold smile. “Her husband was certainly good to her! He put a lot of effort into building this grave for her!”
Hearing the mockery in my voice, Tào’s mother hurried over, her voice tense. “I can tell you mean something else by that, but…”
She hesitated, but I didn’t mind. “I’ve worked for many ghosts and met plenty of families who didn’t understand what was going on. I always explained things patiently. Ma’am, this grave is such a mess that I don’t even know where to start. The plot you bought really is a good feng shui site, but the person buried in this grave… isn’t Tào Tiểu Tinh.”
Tào’s mother went deathly pale. “N-no… that can’t be! I saw them bury her with my own eyes. And it wasn’t just me—so many relatives and friends were there…”
I cut her off, my voice cold. “Even after someone’s buried, they can still dig up the grave and replace the body with something else. I once had a client whose ancestral grave was dug up by someone trying to change their own luck. But this isn’t about changing someone’s fortune… it looks more like revenge.”
At that, Tào’s mother panicked like a headless fly, staggering in front of the gravestone. “Master… what should we do? I… I…”
I quickly reassured her. “I’m no master, and I won’t charge you a penny for what I’m about to do. Tào Tiểu Tinh has already paid me in full. You just need to follow my instructions and agree to everything I’m about to do.”
Hearing that it wouldn’t cost her anything, Tào’s mother’s eyes lit up, and she trusted me even more. “I’ll cooperate. I absolutely will!”
I formed a hand seal and calculated, then said clearly, “Before three this afternoon, find three men born in the Year of the Monkey. Each of them must tie a strip of white cloth, three chi and three cun long, around his waist, and dig up the coffin. Then we’ll see what’s amiss inside.”
Tào’s mother nodded, carefully memorized my instructions, then drove away.
As soon as she left, Tào Tiểu Tinh’s spirit grew so agitated that she nearly smashed the tiny paper figure.
I hurriedly lit another stick of incense to calm her. “Stop bumping around, or you’ll break it. Once we dig it up, I’ll know everything. If all goes well, you’ll be free tonight.”
Though comforted, Tào Tiểu Tinh remained restless. Fortunately, Tào’s mother was quick to act, and before long she had led the men back up the mountain. I gave them a little grain to ward off evil, then set to work digging up the grave.
In no time, the coffin was exposed. A gust of ghostly wind blew past, and the rain, already cold, turned even more bitter. Tào Tiểu Tinh’s spirit slipped out of the paper figure and hovered above the coffin lid.
After paying the workers and sending them away, I used a crowbar to pry open the coffin lid. A revolting stench immediately hit us, overpowering even the fresh scent of the earth after the rain.
Tào’s mother collapsed against the coffin and burst into tears, but as soon as she opened her mouth, her sobs caught in her throat. “W-what is this?”
Just as I’d expected, Tào Tiểu Tinh’s body was in a horrific state. Her arms and legs had been cut off, her eyes gouged out, and her entire body tightly wrapped in yellow silk. Faintly visible on it were talismans written in vivid red cinnabar.
Tào’s mother was too distraught to keep crying and didn’t care about getting dirty. She reached out to tear away the wrapping. I hurriedly pulled her back. “If you do that, her spirit will scatter! I’m here to take care of this. Just stand aside and don’t touch anything.”
Tào’s mother clasped my hand, trembling, and choked out, “Master… you just said the person in the grave wasn’t my daughter. Why… why did this happen?”
I lowered my head to look at the body in the coffin. “She was buried less than a year ago, yet her flesh has rotted away. But from her clothes, I can tell it’s Tào Tiểu Tinh. I’m no master. Just call me Văn Văn. I said the person in the grave wasn’t your daughter because, according to her birth date and time on her household registration, her allotted lifespan wasn’t over. She died unjustly.”
Tào’s mother took a small step back, a flicker of doubt in her eyes. “Tiểu Tinh didn’t die unjustly. She died suddenly from heart disease. Miss Văn Văn, it’s not that I don’t believe you, but we hired a feng shui master when we buried her, too. Maybe… we should ask him to come and take another look with you?”
I patiently explained, “To be more precise, your daughter’s time wasn’t up, but someone switched her fate, causing her to die suddenly of heart disease. Once her fate was changed, she was no longer truly herself. That’s why I said… the person in the grave wasn’t her. But now that we’ve opened the coffin, we’ve found that it really is her, and someone even placed a curse on her. So this matter… is definitely not simple.”
Tào’s mother finally understood. She threw herself against the coffin and wept without stopping. “Tiểu Tinh, who hated you so much that they couldn’t even let you rest in peace after you died? If your spirit is watching over us, please appear in my dreams. I’ll get justice for you!”
I took yellow paper and a pair of scissors from my backpack and began cutting out a paper figure. As I worked, I said, “You probably already know who hated her.”
Before I could finish, Tào’s mother’s crying abruptly stopped. “C-could it be… Tiểu Thu?”
She circled the coffin, looking all around as if searching for Tào Tiểu Tinh’s spirit, muttering nonstop. “Tiểu Tinh, was it Tiểu Thu? Tiểu Thu’s such a kind-hearted girl. How could she do something like this? Oh, what am I going to do?”
Once I’d finished cutting out the paper figure, I lit three red incense sticks in the northwest corner, then took another three and placed them in the burner in front of Tào Tiểu Tinh’s gravestone. I knelt and silently recited, “Three Pure Ones in heaven, five ghosts below; spirits, return here and help me right this wrong!”
When I finished speaking, I tossed the paper figures into the air. All eight immediately flew to the four corners of the coffin and stuck fast.
Tào’s mother was standing nearby. When she saw the paper figures fly on their own, she stumbled back in fright. I asked her, “Would you like to see Tào Tiểu Tinh? But she may look terrible, and it will cost you some of your remaining yang life.”
Tào’s mother nodded firmly. “I do! Even if I only get to see her one more time, I’d be content to die!”
I took incense ash from the burner, mixed it with water from Tào Tiểu Tinh’s coffin to make a paste, and dabbed it onto Tào’s mother’s forehead. “Close your eyes, then open them.”
As soon as she opened her eyes, she let out a shriek. “Ah! My daughter! My daughter!”
Before her, Tào Tiểu Tinh floated above the coffin, looking utterly gruesome in death.
“I know it’s cruel to make you see her like this, but I need her to borrow some of your living energy to stabilize her spirit. She still has something she needs to do.”
I guided Tào Tiểu Tinh’s spirit over to her mother. “Don’t be afraid. Can you hold her?”
Without hesitation, Tào’s mother clutched Tào Tiểu Tinh, whose limbs were missing and whose body was covered in blood. “I carried her for ten months and gave birth to her—how could I be afraid of my own daughter? Văn Văn, please, save her. She looks like she’s in so much pain.”
I immediately grabbed the scissors I usually used for cutting paper and plunged them hard into the corpse in the coffin. As the tips touched it, an invisible force pushed back. At once, the paper figures at the four corners flew over and clung to the scissors, allowing me to pierce through.
The yellow silk was torn, and the cinnabar talismans on the corpse immediately began to fade. Tào Tiểu Tinh’s spirit, held in her mother’s arms, went from translucent to distinct. I seized the chance to tear off the talismans binding her and remove the sealing spell over her mouth.
Tào’s mother burst into tears and peppered me with questions. “Văn Văn, the talismans on Tiểu Tinh are gone, but what about her arms and legs? She can’t be reincarnated like this! Will she be born disabled in her next life?”
I closed my eyes and worked it out. “This kind of curse is meant to reduce the harm to the perpetrator’s yin virtue. Usually, the severed body parts are buried within five li of the corpse. We’ll have to split up and search, focusing on the areas around locust trees.”
Tào’s mother helped Tào Tiểu Tinh’s spirit search, while I sent out more paper figures to scout. Sure enough, Tào’s mother and Tào Tiểu Tinh found the parts faster.
After removing the curse and reattaching her limbs, I placed all the body parts in the coffin. Tào Tiểu Tinh’s body gradually regained its human form.
The first thing she said left me stunned. “We have to hurry and save Tiểu Thu. She’s about to die!”