1 001

In the countryside, there are always some villages that harbor mysterious figures. Even as science advances rapidly, many people still hold deep faith in them.

Shen Family Village was home to one such figure.

At the foot of the mountain near the Nine Dragon Cauldron, there stood a small house. The true name of its owner had long been forgotten by the villagers. They simply called the family “Shen One-Cut.”

This was because his family had, for generations, made a living by wandering from street to street, selling various knives. But unlike ordinary merchants, they had a peculiar tradition: their knives were only sold on credit, never for immediate payment. Moreover, when selling, they would leave the buyer with a prophecy.

Only when the prophecy came true would they return to collect the agreed-upon payment.

Early one morning, Shen Manchang hurriedly ran toward Shen One-Cut’s house, carrying his granddaughter Shen Yuan, who had been dazed and unresponsive since playing with some village children the previous afternoon. His wife, Zhou Aizhen, followed anxiously.

Facing the twelve-year-old girl who opened the door, the elderly couple’s wrinkled faces were etched with worry. “Xiao Tang, please, you must save our Yuanbao.”

“Put her on the bed first, then tell me exactly what happened,” Shen Xiaotang said solemnly, wearing an inscrutable expression.

It had to be this way. With their master gone and her young age, the villagers could not trust her as they had trusted her master.

Shen Manchang himself was not entirely convinced of Shen Xiaotang’s abilities at first, but there was simply no one else in the nearby villages with such mysterious skill.

“She played with some kids on the hillside yesterday afternoon,” Zhou Aizhen explained, her eyes red-rimmed, “and ever since, she won’t speak or eat, and she doesn’t sleep at night… She just sits stiffly on the bed, staring at us all night long!”

They had nearly been frightened sick in the middle of the night. They even tried to call her soul back at the door, but to no avail. They had wanted to come sooner but feared that disturbing her in the middle of the night might make things worse, as she was already so withdrawn.

“Did she go to the hill?” Shen Xiaotang looked into Shen Yuan’s eyes and gently touched her temples and the spot between her eyebrows.

Zhou Aizhen nodded repeatedly, “Yes, yes, they went to the hill.”

Shen Manchang stared anxiously at Shen Xiaotang’s movements, worried that she might not have fully mastered her skills. He feared that if she failed to properly read his granddaughter’s condition, it could only worsen.

Fortunately, Shen Xiaotang soon withdrew her hand. “It’s nothing serious. The child was just mischievous and accidentally offended one of the ancestors.”

Though she spoke with a tone of wise authority, the “child” she referred to, Shen Yuan, was only four years younger than herself.

“Offended an ancestor?” Shen Manchang and Zhou Aizhen, fully focused on their granddaughter, hardly noticed this.

“Don’t you have several ancestors buried on the hill?” Shen Xiaotang said as she stood and fetched a bowl of water and three chopsticks.

The Nine Dragon Cauldron was named for its nine peaks of varying sizes. The hill beside their village was one of these peaks.

In the countryside, traditional burial was still common.

This hill offered excellent feng shui and was a prime site for ancestral burials, housing many of the village’s deceased.

During the May Day holiday, many children returned home to play and had wandered up the hill, where wild raspberries grew in abundance.

Usually, passing through or lingering on the hill was harmless, but Shen Xiaotang’s divination revealed that Shen Yuan had accidentally stepped on a grave mound while playing.

After death, souls enter the underworld, but entering it did not mean they immediately reincarnated.

When checking Shen Yuan, Shen Xiaotang detected faint traces of yin energy lingering between her eyebrows. Fortunately, it was not strong; it appeared the ancestor was merely angered by the disrespect and had struck out to punish her.

The hill contained numerous graves of Shen Family ancestors. For anyone else, identifying which ancestor had been offended would require considerable effort.

But Shen Xiaotang did not need to.

Still, she went through the motions, as her master had said that for many who did not understand the metaphysical arts, if she appeared too casual, they would refuse to believe.

Under the watchful, anxious eyes of Shen Manchang and Zhou Aizhen, Shen Xiaotang placed the water bowl on the bedside table, took the chopsticks, silently recited the name of an ancestor buried on the hill, and stuck the chopsticks upright into the water.

If the chopsticks fell, it meant the wrong ancestor had been named.

One name after another was tried, until when she pronounced “Shen Youxi,” all three chopsticks stood straight and firm in the bowl.

As the chopsticks remained upright, Shen Xiaotang quietly muttered again. Suddenly, Shen Yuan’s wide-open eyes slowly closed!

“It’s done! It’s done!” Shen Manchang and Zhou Aizhen could not hide their joy.

At last, the elderly couple truly believed Shen Xiaotang had some skill.

“Take the child home and let her sleep. She’ll be fine once she wakes,” Shen Xiaotang advised. “But you should prepare some offerings and paper money to go and pay respects to the ancestor and apologize.”

“Of course, of course!” Shen Manchang and Zhou Aizhen eagerly agreed.

Before leaving, Shen Manchang looked at Zhou Aizhen.

She took a red envelope from her pocket, prepared in advance, and respectfully handed it over.

“Yes, put it on the table,” Shen Xiaotang said coolly.

Then she returned inside and came out holding a sickle.

Zhou Aizhen took it with a beaming smile, while Shen Manchang cheerfully lifted their granddaughter onto his back.

*

Back home with the sickle, Shen Manchang and Zhou Aizhen quickly followed Shen Xiaotang’s instructions, bought numerous offerings, and went up the hill to Shen Youxi’s grave to sincerely apologize.

By noon, Shen Yuan had completely come to.

“Grandpa, Grandma, I’m so hungry,” the little girl rubbed her dry eyes, her soft, tender voice coaxing the elders, nearly making Shen Manchang and Zhou Aizhen weep with joy.

Choking up, Zhou Aizhen said, “Grandma will make you something delicious right away.”

“Start by steaming some egg custard for Yuanbao; it cooks quickly,” Shen Manchang said as he hurried toward the chicken coop to fetch farm-fresh eggs.

Their free-range chickens were raised locally from purebred stock and fed carefully, ensuring nutritious eggs—far superior to the half-grown chicks some villagers bought from outside.

As the fragrant egg custard steamed, Zhou Aizhen brought it to Shen Yuan, while Shen Manchang went to catch a young hen that had just laid an egg to prepare for their granddaughter.

At that moment, a familiar black car drove up and stopped in their yard.

The door opened to reveal their son Shen Qiming and daughter-in-law Yang Xiuxiu, who had rushed back from the county seat, worried about their daughter’s condition.

Shen Qiming stepped out anxiously. “Dad, how is Yuanbao today? Is she any better?”

“Better! Better!” Shen Manchang shouted happily. “I tell you, Xiaotang’s skills are amazing! She immediately saw that Yuanbao had offended an ancestor…”

Holding a hen he was plucking, Shen Manchang excitedly recounted to Shen Qiming and Yang Xiuxiu how Shen Xiaotang had examined and healed Shen Yuan that morning.

Both Shen Qiming and Yang Xiuxiu were proper professionals, having graduated from a normal university and currently teaching at the county’s top high school.

Yang Xiuxiu taught physics and furrowed her brow at Shen Manchang’s words. “Dad, the chopsticks standing in water is not some mystical phenomenon! It’s a physics effect—I’ll tell you, it’s due to water’s adhesion! Plus, three chopsticks together form a fairly large surface area that contacts the bowl’s bottom, making it quite easy to stand them up!”

Yang Xiuxiu thought her explanation clear enough that her father would immediately see reason and doubt his beliefs.

But Shen Manchang grew angry instead, retorting, “Physics, physics—I don’t understand any of that. All I know is that after Xiaotang did her thing, Yuanbao got better right before my eyes!”

“Dad, it’s true!” Yang Xiuxiu pressed. “If you don’t believe me, bring out the bowl and chopsticks—I’ll show you!”

Now Shen Manchang was even more annoyed. “I’m not talking to you anymore, you don’t understand a thing…”

His stubborn refusal to listen infuriated Yang Xiuxiu, and just then, Zhou Aizhen, who had been watching over their granddaughter eating egg custard, came out upon hearing the commotion.

Seeing her son and daughter-in-law back, her eyes reddened again with worry and fear. “We should bring some more offerings later to thank Xiaotang…”

Yang Xiuxiu’s frustration deepened.

Earlier, when they spoke on the phone, her in-laws insisted the girl’s problem was soul loss and that doctors would be useless, refusing to seek medical help. This had left her and Shen Qiming worried and fearful, rushing back immediately.

Seeing Shen Yuan healthy and well, and then learning that the so-called “mystic” Shen Xiaotang was merely a twelve-year-old girl only slightly older than her daughter, Yang Xiuxiu became even more convinced her in-laws had been deceived.

“Putting superstition aside, do you really believe such a young child could have these powers?”

“It’s not about being unwilling to part with six hundred yuan,” she said, turning away from her in-laws, eyes blazing with anger, “I just don’t want to see our parents get scammed again.”

Yang Xiuxiu glared at the hesitant Shen Qiming. “Losing some money is one thing, but what if this time she tricked Mom and Dad into giving Yuan something harmful to eat?”

At the thought of their precious daughter, Shen Qiming’s expression darkened.

Yang Xiuxiu continued, “Besides, I heard this child was adopted and now is alone at home. Without adult supervision, letting her roam freely outside is bound to cause trouble!”

While children their age worried about daily meals and lessons, the girl named Shen Xiaotang was already using pseudo-physical tricks to swindle money from the elderly.

How frightening!

As teachers, they could not bear to see children without proper guidance, heading down the wrong path.

Her gaze firm, Yang Xiuxiu declared, “We’re calling the police!”