The hall was a sea of fire, smoke choking, crawling souls screaming silently—a true Asura hell.
I was half-paralyzed with fear, wanting to flee through the hall but lacking courage. You might say, just run. But even in a static mass grave, could you? Try it.
Glancing at the pitch-black back hall, it felt sinister, brimming with danger. The front hall, though fiery and chaotic, was brighter, livelier. Spotting a shadowed nook behind the altar, I hid there.
Peering from the darkness, I planned to wait for the fire to die down before escaping.
Watching, I noticed something odd: despite the blaze, the hall wasn't burning. The fire and souls seemed like vivid projections, not real, like a 3D movie.
Still, I wasn't brave enough to test it. The scene was a thousand times scarier than any horror film. I shrank back, closing my eyes tightly.
Silence was deafening. Though my eyes were shut, tortured faces haunted my mind. I recalled a news story about a photographer capturing a suicide jumper's back by chance while shooting a sunrise. The image haunted him for days.
Negative energy is infectious, torturous. The goddess dragged by her hair into the fire was seared into my memory, making me tremble. Her pain seemed to infect me, urging me to scream and vent.
After an unknown time, I opened my eyes, peeking out. The front hall was dark, silent, empty—the fire gone, like it never existed.
I bolted out, racing toward the gate. At the threshold, I saw a figure in the courtyard under bright moonlight.
A woman, in ancient attire, hair in a bun, stood with her back to me, graceful, deep in thought.
Seeing her, I froze—she was the woman from the painting, praying to Buddha. My breath caught; I was truly in the painting!
Instinct screamed she was dangerous. As I backed away, she turned, spotting me in the moonlight. Her gaze was puzzled, and she murmured something so faint yet thunderous to me: "Where's Li Damin?"
I wiped my face, steeling myself, and approached. Li Damin's fate was tied to her.
She watched me near. She was beautiful, her skin pale and delicate, almost translucent. Without speaking, I felt she asked my name. "I'm Liu Yang," I said.
"Liu Yang," she called.
A chill ran through me, my body floating, eyelids heavy, yet my mind clear—a strange, sleepless drowsiness.
"Liu Yang!" Her tone sharpened.
My eyes closed, and I jolted, feeling grounded, awake, like I'd escaped a dream back to reality.
Opening my eyes, I was still kneeling on the tatami, holding the sand tray, facing Master Xie, his apprentice, Li Damin's mother, and Li Yang.
Li Damin's mother hugged me, sobbing, shoulders shaking. I tried to speak, but my lips felt leaden, body numb, aching.
She cried, "Damin, you don't know how much I missed you. I nearly died."
Was she mad, calling me Damin?
Master Xie said softly, "Ms. Tang, don't cry. We know where Li Damin is now. We'll find a way… It's time to send him back."
She clung to me, then knelt before Master Xie. "Master, I have a selfish request."
"Speak."
"Since Damin's soul is here, let him stay."
Master Xie's face darkened. "What do you mean?"
"This is all Liu Yang's fault, that little bastard. Let Damin take his body and live on!"
What! I was stunned. She wanted to kill me!
Master Xie's expression wavered.
She sobbed harder. "Damin said he's suffering terribly there, each day like a year. You said his body might not survive. Better let him borrow Liu Yang's body than let that bastard suffer there."
Master Xie said grimly, "That's soul-seizing, against the natural order."
"Master, please save my son. I'll pay anything, do anything!" She groveled, hair wild.
I seethed. If there was a hell, she'd be first to burn, forked, slapped, dragged. I'd never hated anyone so much.
How could she be so vicious?
Master Xie didn't answer, his shifty eyes on me. My heart raced—did he know I was back? I was at their mercy, like meat on a chopping block.
Thankfully, I was quick. Struggling, I stammered, "M-Mom, Mommy."
She didn't notice the difference, hugging me, crying, "Damin… Mommy's here."
Master Xie, holding prayer beads, approached, grabbing incense ash from the table.
He blew the ash into my face, blinding me, filling my nose and mouth with its spicy, hypnotic scent. Sleepiness overwhelmed me, and I drifted off.
In the dream, I was back in the painting's Yin-Yang Observatory, the woman still before me, unchanged. She looked surprised, as if saying, "Why are you back?"
My mind was muddled, memories blank. I couldn't recall why I'd returned and didn't care to.
She called, "Liu Yang."
My consciousness floated, then snapped awake, back in the tatami room. Master Xie's face was shocked, like he'd swallowed a fly. Grimly, he ordered the boy, "Let's go!"
The boy swiftly packed the altar's items and statues.
Li Damin's mother, dazed, looked at me, then Master Xie. "Master, is my son back?"
He ignored her, made a call, and soon the white-clad man joined them. Silently, they packed two travel bags.
Master Xie bowed. "Farewell." He gave me a meaningful glance before leaving.
Li Damin's mother grabbed his sleeve. "Master, what about my son?"
"My abilities are limited. I'm sorry, find someone else," he said.
She froze, then glared at me, asking slowly, "Who are you?"
I stood, rubbing my numb legs, relieved. "Who else? I'm Liu Yang."
"Give me my son!" She screamed, lunging, grabbing my collar, tearing at it. Hair wild, eyes bulging, she looked ready to devour me.
I snapped, prying her hands off, cursing, "Damn you, trying to kill me?"
Li Damin's father rushed in, shocked. He grabbed his wife. "Xiao Tang, calm down!"
She was hysterical, shrieking, "Leave your body! Give it to my son! Let him return!"
She flailed like a demon. I swallowed, my anger replaced by fear. Why did she hate me so? Like a rabid dog, snarling without reason.
Even her burly husband struggled to restrain her. He shouted, "Xiao Yang, get Liu out!"
Li Yang, stunned, snapped to, pulling me out.
In the yard, Li family relatives crowded around, asking questions. Li Yang glanced back at the house, shaken. "My aunt's lost it. Get her to a hospital. I'm taking Old Liu home."
The eldest aunt, reasonable, held my hand. "Xiao Liu, no matter what, the Li family thanks you."
"No need, no need," I muttered, heart pounding. The house's events felt like a dream.
A loud crash came from upstairs, followed by an inhuman wail, like it came from hell, matching the fire-tormented souls in the observatory's hall. Everyone in the yard shivered.
Li Damin's father yelled, "Hurry, I can't hold her!"
The relatives rushed inside to help.
I was terrified, sweat on my brow. Why was Li Damin's mother so unhinged when I was the one summoned?
"Let's go," Li Yang said.