Zhang Yunyao stared at me, a little dazed. After a long moment, she finally said, "Young Master Wu, you really are something. You know so much."
"It's not that I'm particularly skilled," I replied with a smile. "It's just that we work in different fields. For example, when it comes to studying, I was always one of the worst in my class back in school."
"Seriously?" Zhang Yunyao looked at me in disbelief.
"Would I lie to you? You can ask any of my old classmates," I said, though I didn't elaborate further. It wasn't exactly something to be proud of.
Then I stood up and walked over to the workers lying on the ground.
Earlier, for reasons unknown, they had all climbed into the coffins and ended up mouth-to-mouth with the corpses inside, losing a great deal of their yang energy to them.
Now, their life energy was extremely weak. The three soul-fires on their shoulders had two flames extinguished.
Every human carries three soul-fires, representing the three souls: the Heavenly Soul, the Earthly Soul, and the Life Soul.
Once all three fires are out, death is not far behind.
I approached the unconscious workers, formed hand seals with my left hand, and chanted a few incantations. Then, I lightly slapped each of their shoulders to reignite the soul-fires, hoping to strengthen them a little.
Next, I asked Zhang Yunyao to hand me the two bottles of vinegar. I opened them and poured the soot from the bottom of the cooking pot into each bottle of aged vinegar. After shaking them well to mix the ingredients thoroughly, I had her help me pour the concoction into each worker's mouth.
They didn't react at all. Some of the liquid dribbled out from the corners of their mouths.
Still, I pinched their noses to help force some of the mixture down their throats.
The aged vinegar mixed with stove soot is a known remedy for corpse poison, and it also replenishes yang energy.
I wasn't sure of the exact scientific reasoning, but my master had taught me this method, and I trusted him completely.
After we managed to get the mixture into all the workers, some color returned to their faces. I could feel their yang energy gradually strengthening.
We didn't stop there. I asked Zhang Yunyao to assist me in placing corpse-suppressing talismans—drawn with my middle finger's blood—on the foreheads of each corpse.
Each of these corpses had absorbed significant yang energy from the living and could transform into jiangshi (hopping corpses) at any moment. I needed to take precautions.
By the time we finished all of this, two hours had passed.
I was utterly exhausted.
As I stopped moving, a wave of soreness surged through my shoulders. They were so swollen and stiff that I could barely lift my arms.
Looking eastward, I saw a faint line of white light breaking through the horizon. Dawn was approaching.
Only then did I remember Uncle Huzi. I glanced over at him—still possessed by the malicious spirit, endlessly circling inside the spirit-trapping formation.
He had been pacing for hours, and the ground beneath his feet was nearly worn flat.
I hadn't done anything to help him beyond keeping him trapped. Honestly, I wasn't strong enough to fight that ghost head-on.
Zhang Yunyao hadn't slept all night either.
Now that things were settled, she leaned against a coffin, yawning repeatedly.
Seeing how tired I looked, she asked, "Young Master Wu, what do we do next?"
"We wait," I said.
"Wait for what?" she asked, curious.
"For sunrise. Once the sun rises, the evil spirit possessing Uncle Huzi will be forced to leave. As the yang energy grows and the yin energy fades, the danger will pass, and those corpses won't become jiangshi."
"Will Uncle Huzi be okay? And will my brother wake up?" Zhang Yunyao looked at me with wide, hopeful eyes.
"Uncle Huzi will be fine. Your brother will wake up too," I assured her.
Hearing that, she finally let out a sigh of relief.
She was completely worn out. After such a nerve-wracking night, she slumped down beside me, resting against a coffin.
We sat together in silence, waiting.
It was so quiet that I could hear her steady breathing.
Before long, I felt her head leaning on my shoulder. She had fallen asleep.
The eastern sky grew brighter and brighter. I kept my eyes fixed on Uncle Huzi.
Just as a golden sliver of light rose over the horizon, Uncle Huzi suddenly froze mid-step and collapsed backward stiffly.
I opened my heavenly eye and saw a flash of red light burst from the top of his head, flying off into the distance before vanishing entirely.
The vengeful ghost that had possessed him had finally departed.
But I knew this wasn't over.
Whoever was targeting the Zhang family wasn't going to give up. That ghost had a deep connection to the Zhangs and would be back.
Seeing Uncle Huzi fall, I immediately stood up and started walking toward him.
Zhang Yunyao stirred as I moved, her head slipping from my shoulder. I quickly reached out to support her.
She woke up, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry, Young Master Wu… I don't know how I fell asleep. I didn't delay anything, did I?"
"It's fine. The ghost left Uncle Huzi. Let's go check on him," I said.
She nodded and followed me to the spirit-trapping formation. I removed the array's flag markers and approached Uncle Huzi.
As I got close, I could hear him snoring loudly. The man had actually fallen asleep.
He probably had no idea how close he came to death.
Still, Uncle Huzi had a rare fate—pure yang constitution with natural spiritual resistance. Ghosts could barely affect him.
I gently shook his shoulder and called softly, "Uncle Huzi, wake up. It's already morning."
After several attempts, his eyes finally fluttered open. Looking utterly worn out, he groaned, "Young Master… I'm so tired. Feels like I walked a hundred kilometers last night. Can I sleep just a little longer?"