As he was speaking, a girl of about seventeen or eighteen entered from outside. She was quite beautiful, and Young Master Liu recognized her—it was Luo Siyu, a former classmate from town. Luo Siyu came in and spoke to Luo Ping'an, "Uncle-in-law, Third Aunt and Fourth Aunt have arrived. Second Uncle asked me to call you to greet them."

Luo Ping'an acknowledged her, offered a greeting to Young Master Liu, and then went out.

Luo Siyu turned to Young Master Liu and asked, "Big Young Master, why are you at my house?"

Young Master Liu looked a bit awkward. "Well, I am the Yin-Yang Master your family invited to perform the rites for your grandfather."

Luo Siyu covered her mouth in surprise. "No way! You're a Yin-Yang Master? I always thought you were just a bit strange, but I didn't realize you were into all this pretending with spirits and ghosts!"

Young Master Liu didn't know how to respond for a moment. He never imagined running into someone he knew here! He scratched his head. "Believe it or not, it's up to you!" He struggled internally; ever since meeting Granny Fan, he no longer viewed this line of work as shameful, yet standing before his classmate now, he felt thoroughly embarrassed. He couldn't help but think: If I had known I’d run into a classmate, I wouldn't have come even if you beat me.

Luo Siyu smiled at him. "I didn't expect you, a socialist intellectual youth, to study this. With your grades, you must be looking for an alternative path because you're afraid of not getting into university. Heh heh!" She laughed as she spoke.

Young Master Liu sighed and continued eating, ignoring her. After dinner, the three of them went to a room to rest. The Suona King said to Young Master Liu, "Big Young Master, that girl just now was your classmate, quite good-looking, why don't you go out and spend some time with her?"

Young Master Liu shook his head. "Brother, you saw it just now. She detests our profession. She and I, no, we don't align."

The Suona King sighed. "That's true. They all think we're engaging in superstitious activities, so it’s unavoidable that you feel repulsive to her! Heh heh."

Gong-and-Drum Chen chimed in, "Alas! That's the way it is. My own daughter is quite averse to me."

Young Master Liu snapped, "Are you two ever going to quit? It’s time to sleep!"

Gong-and-Drum Chen retorted, "Sleep? It’s still early, not even eight o'clock. I’m going to chat with some people I know around here. I made a few friends last time I visited! I’ve asked the Luo family to send word out for them; they should be here soon. If you want to sleep, sleep by yourself then!"

The Suona King agreed. "Exactly! It's so early, how can one sleep? Come on, I’ll go with you." Saying this, the two walked out.

After they left, Young Master Liu lay alone, contemplating the day's situation, thinking about the worst-case solutions. In the afternoon, he had examined the corpse and found that its Earth Soul was missing, likely having gone to the Luo family's peach orchard. The Heaven Soul remained stable, everything normal, but he couldn't shake the unease about that lingering breath in the chest. If a spiritual entity were to cross over the body, the static electricity from the entity could activate the qi within the corpse. If that breath were expelled, fine, but if it were inhaled, an abnormality would occur—a corpse transformation, in other words, becoming a Jiangshi. A sense of alarm arose in him, so he got up and drew several protective talismans.

Returning to the ** room, thinking about countermeasures, he eventually drifted off to sleep while pondering.

Following Young Master Liu's instructions, Luo Ping'an gathered over a dozen men to stand vigil in the main hall. The dozen men split into three groups, playing cards, occasionally keeping an eye out for any cats or dogs passing by. Time crept to midnight. The Luo family members were discussing matters in the kitchen. Since their rooms had been given up, Luo Siyu was also listening to the adults chat. Of course, much of the time she was engrossed in the strange tales told by the Suona King and Gong-and-Drum Chen. Although she didn't entirely believe in ghosts and deities, Luo Siyu listened with keen interest.

Just as a bizarre story was being recounted, a cat darted in from somewhere, perhaps drawn by the warmth of the charcoal fire. Lost in the narrative, Luo Siyu was brushed by the cat’s body and cried out in fright. Seeing it was just a cat, her annoyance surged; she kicked out with her small foot, not forgetting to mutter, "Damn cat."

Her exclamation startled Luo Ping'an awake. He shouted loudly, "Don't let the cat into the main hall!"

It was too late. Startled by the kick, the cat darted towards the main hall. The men inside playing cards heard the cat's cry and Luo Ping'an’s shout. They dropped their cards, intending to stop the cat from crossing over the corpse. Unexpectedly, the cat, which was originally going to pass under the corpse, jumped onto the bier upon seeing the men approach, leaping directly over the corpse's chest.

Everyone froze. They knew the seriousness of the situation because Luo Ping'an had explained it before they began the vigil. The dozen men stood rooted, staring at the corpse, utterly at a loss, hoping nothing untoward would happen. Luo Ping'an rushed out anxiously, and the people from the kitchen also crowded into the hall. Luo Siyu, not knowing what had transpired, followed them out. About twenty people stood there, foolishly staring at the corpse on the bier, all silently praying that no accident would occur.

Luo Siyu whispered, "Dad, what's wrong? Why are you all looking at Grandpa’s body?"

Everyone held their breath. Luo Ping'an did not answer his daughter's question. Time ticked by, second by second, everyone restraining their breath. Just as they were about to let out a collective sigh of relief, it happened!

The body of Elder Xiang suddenly sat up without any warning, and his eyes snapped open. Instantly, the temperature in the hall seemed to drop dozens of degrees, and everyone felt a chilling sensation that prickled their skin. In that moment, everyone forgot how to scream; they instinctively took a step back. Luo Siyu buried her head into her father's chest, clutching his clothes tightly with both hands. Since the corpse merely sat up and made no further move, everyone gradually calmed down. Because those keeping the vigil were mostly young men, even though a few almost soiled themselves, they didn't flee in panic. Perhaps everyone wanted to see Elder Xiang's next move! People are sometimes like that; the more afraid they are, the more they want to see clearly. Everyone stared without blinking, just as the Elder’s vacant eyes remained unblinking. They waited expectantly—were they hoping the Elder would move, or hoping he wouldn't? Perhaps even they weren't sure. The Suona King and Gong-and-Drum Chen were also terrified by the sight. They had been in this line of work for decades and had encountered strange things, but an event like this was something they had only ever heard about.

Luo Ping'an, being directly involved, was the first to regain his composure. He stammered to his daughter beside him, "Xiaonan... Xiao Nan, quickly... quickly go call the Master."

Luo Siyu nervously asked, "Which Master... which one?"

Luo Ping'an replied, "The one you mentioned, your high... high school classmate! Quickly... go."

Luo Siyu looked at Luo Ping'an, confirmed it, and ran toward the room where Young Master Liu was staying.

Perhaps exhausted from the journey, Young Master Liu was sleeping soundly, so much so that he didn't hear someone push the door open. It wasn't until someone turned on the light, pulled back his quilt, and finally called him awake that he realized a young girl was standing before him, trembling. He mumbled, "Luo Siyu, what are you doing? Even if you dislike me, you don't need to do this."

Luo Siyu was too frightened to speak. She mustered her last bit of strength. "Young Master Liu, something... something has happened!"

Young Master Liu instantly sobered up. Even using his imagination, he knew what must have occurred. He quickly dressed, grabbed the few talismans he had prepared before sleeping, and was about to rush out when he felt someone gripping him tightly—it was Luo Siyu. He looked over and saw Luo Siyu looking at him helplessly, saying, "Young Master Liu, I'm so scared, won't my Grandpa turn into a ghost?"

Young Master Liu patted her shoulder. "No, if we don't go now, he'll turn into a Jiangshi. Let's go."

Leading Luo Siyu to the main hall, Elder Xiang was still sitting stiffly. Young Master Liu dared not delay; he chanted an incantation and slapped a talisman onto the Elder's forehead. After the talisman touched him, Elder Xiang slumped down, his eyes closed, as if nothing had ever happened.

Young Master Liu rubbed his eyes and said to the more than twenty people present, "You were too careless. Thankfully, the Elder didn't have much residual breath left. If he had more, who knows what kind of trouble it would have caused! With so many people keeping watch, you still let a cat cross over him!" He then looked toward the other two: "And you two brothers, really, you two don't even know what to do in a minor matter like this. How have you been mixing around?"

The Suona King looked embarrassed. "How can we compare to you and your Master? We are just assistants. We've only heard about things like this! But it seems different from what we heard."

Young Master Liu's cheek twitched slightly. "What's different? Did you hear that after something like this happens, the deceased turns into a blood-sucking Jiangshi? Did you think that wouldn't happen? That's for those who died full of resentment; what remains in their chests is resentment qi, and there's a lot of it. Now, Elder Xiang passed away peacefully; what remains in his chest is merely residual Yang energy, but it has now been infected by Yin energy and will soon turn into malevolent qi. By then, he will still become a Jiangshi. Do you think he wouldn't suck all your blood dry!"

Hearing the words "suck all your blood dry," the crowd grew uneasy. Luo Ping'an asked, "Then, Little Master, what should we do?"