In the village there was a barefoot doctor who hadn't studied medicine formally, but had opened his own small clinic. Whenever anyone in the village got a headache or fever, they would go to him for treatment.

  The doctor came over to take a look, no breathing, no heartbeat, and the pupils had already begun to dilate. On the spot, he declared that the woman had passed away. As Ah Fa's several nieces let out a loud wail, his son's head hit the cement floor with a thud, like a drumbeat.

  The people outside suddenly made a commotion, and now no one was in charge. The only ones who could make decisions were the elders of the family, namely Ah Fa's older brother. He also had a bitter heart that he couldn't express. This woman had been manipulated by that Taoist priest somehow and fainted, then died. However, Zhang Wenbin's reputation at that time was already half-divine in the local area, so how could he dare to say more? After discussing with several brothers and sisters, seeing that Ah Fa's wife had already stopped breathing, they still followed the village rules.

  Three firecrackers rose into the air one after another, and soon, all the men, women, old and young in the village rushed to that school. It is said that the dead should be placed at home, but these days everyone knows that the house is not clean, and no one dares to go there, so they discussed it and decided to place it on the spot at this old school, which has a large and spacious area.

  After a person's death, firecrackers are set off. This is a custom that has been passed down for a long time. Firstly, it is to inform other villagers that someone in this household has passed away and they should come to take a look. Rural funerals usually require the help of the whole village, even if there was great hatred between the host family and others before, now they have to put aside their differences. The men will be responsible for physical labor, such as building a mourning platform, setting up tents, and moving tables, chairs, benches from their own homes. Women will bring vegetables, fruits, and melons from their own gardens because the deceased's household needs to feed many people that night, and there is no time to prepare, so everyone has to chip in.

  In rural areas, people attach great importance to mutual help and unity. When someone dies, everything else is put aside. After death, the body usually stays at home for three days for relatives to mourn, so meals are often eaten in the courtyard, requiring a sturdy canvas tent that can hold six large tables.

  Everyone who was preparing to report the news had received the addresses they needed to notify and were ready to go far away to inform Afah's relatives to rush to mourn. There were also a few people who had gone up the mountain, under Ah-ba's leadership, preparing to call out to Zha Wenbin to come back, after all, this person was dead.

  The people on the mountain also naturally heard the sound of the firecracker, and looking in that direction, they roughly knew it was from that area. They were all muttering to themselves whose family member had passed away. According to reason, at this time they should be going down the mountain, but Zhang Wenbin and his group were below, causing a dilemma, not knowing what to do for the best.

  "Brother Wenbin, it seems like someone in the village has passed away." Chaozi said to Cha Wenbin after hearing the firecracker sounds.

  "Zha Wenbin pointed at the paper figure and said: 'It's her.'"

  "She? That paper person?" Chaozi was somewhat perplexed. He had never understood why Cha Wenbin wanted to carry this thing in.

  Zha Wenbin said faintly, "A Fa's wife is dead, but not really dead. Now her soul is on this paper man. I have to use her as bait. If I bring her real self up, I only have seven out of ten chances of bringing her back, but if it's this paper man, I have a full ten out of ten chances. Shh, don't make a sound, you all retreat a bit."

  After confirming that it was a pair of male and female vengeful spirits causing trouble, Cha Wenbin decided to just go ahead and match them up as a couple. Living people have many uncontrollable factors, but paper people are much more obedient. Vengeful spirits only have the ability to perceive living things, or rather, they can only see things that possess a soul. In the past, one of the hiding techniques in Mao Shan Taoism was to close off one's seven apertures and not let out even a hint of life energy, in order to avoid being detected by those filthy things.

  He handed out three talismans to them, and then he himself squatted down in front of the paper man, saying: "It's best if you cover your noses and don't breathe. Before the talismans are burned, don't move."

  Paper people can also be possessed, but the time that can be sustained is not long. This is because paper people do not have a vital energy. Vital energy is the foundation of human physiological function. Without it, the soul will think this is a dead body and eventually leave. Even if Zhang Wenbin used Taoist magic to support it, the time would not exceed half an hour.

  In fact, he didn't have much confidence in his heart. Firstly, this cave really couldn't be distinguished as to how deep it was, and secondly, he always felt that there was something fishy about this matter.

  On the ground, five small flags of different colors were inserted, symbolizing the power of the Five Elements. Since seeing the ancient array on Mount Qi, Cha Wenbin's use of the Five Elements seemed to have reached a new realm. These five elements are the fundamental components of the entire world, and the energy contained within can only be glimpsed from one corner.

  The paper man can't speak or move, but at this moment, there is indeed a woman's soul on his body. As for dirty things, you need to find a scapegoat, don't care if she can move or not, it's better if she can't move, and it's more convenient to take action. Many people die unknowingly in their sleep, actually being hooked by the little ghost.

  Cha Wenbin kept his eyes fixed on the compass in his hand. When the needle started to sway slightly, he knew that Zheng Zhu was finally coming.

  It was mentioned earlier that ghosts are the manifestations of people's lingering thoughts after death, and they don't have a physical form. Some people with special conditions can see them, and these people are called those who possess yin-yang eyes. With the help of some tools, it is also possible to see them, such as the ox tears often used by Zhao Wenhong, or when one's flame is extremely low, at which time a person's aura is weak, making it easiest to see ghosts.

  A vague figure began to float out from inside, and the compass needle shook even more violently. The five small flags on the ground were originally limp, but now they all seemed to have been blown by a strong wind, and they all floated up, and the flag surface also slowly adjusted its direction with the compass needle.

  With a loud "boom", when the oil lamp in front of that paper man began to reignite, even Chaozi and the others saw this scene.

  That paper man who was bought from the funeral shop in town for ten bucks has come to life.

  They saw the paper man, made of white paper with colored drawings, roughly and evilly crafted, sitting up in its original position. Because it was made of paper, due to the bending, the paper on its back had already been completely torn apart. The sound of the paper tearing, like claws scratching at one's heart, sent chills down their spines.

  Cha Wenbin's mouth corners, lightly hooked up, let you run once, and won't let you run a second time. All he saw was that in his hand, he was holding a black line that was almost imperceptible in the dark, only as thick as an embroidery needle. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the ink knife used by the carpenter.

  It is said that this inkstone was invented by Lu Ban, and has the ability to subdue vengeful spirits. For Taoist priests, this thing is like the "Soul-binding Rope" recorded in ancient books, although it cannot harm the life of a vengeful spirit, it can trap it and render it immobile.

  That paper man was about to break off from the waist, and at that moment, Cha Wenbin's wrist shook, and the ink thread retracted back and forth, tightly binding the paper man.

  Next, a scene that made Chaozi remember even more happened. The mouth of the paper man, which was originally painted with red paint, suddenly split open and closed like a human mouth, and a faint angry roar could be clearly heard from the paper man's mouth.

  The howling sound that people often refer to as the "wolf's lair" is roughly this kind of sound, giving one the feeling of a person without vocal cords, emitting a hoarse and exhausted moan from their abdominal cavity, with great penetrating power, piercing directly into one's heart.

  Cha Wenbin held the thread in one hand and swiftly cut off the red thread tied to the paper man's hand with his sword in the other. The copper coin that was originally strung on the red thread fell rapidly, but he cleverly used his sword to flick it upwards, and when it fell again, the bag of eight trigrams on his back had already opened its slit, and the coin fell into it without any deviation.

  This copper coin must not fall to the ground. If money falls to the ground, one's life is not guaranteed. If it isn't caught, Ah Fa's wife will really be gone.

  Quickly circling around the paper man, layer upon layer of ink lines wrapped around him like a glutinous rice dumpling. Although it looked a bit disheveled, all these lines were wrapped in a specific pattern, and those who understood the technique would know that the lines had already wrapped around the seven orifices of the paper man. When all the lines were wrapped up, Cha Wenbin threw out the ink brush and shouted loudly: "Chaozi, catch well!"

  With a black parabola, Chaozi immediately reacted and rolled on the ground, getting himself covered in an unknown amount of bat dung. Only then did he firmly grasp it in his hand, cursing, "I knew you'd cheat me!"

  Chaoziyi took the inkstone, but found that the inkstone box in his hand was shaking violently at this moment. He looked again and found that the black thread that had come out was constantly flashing and jumping...

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