"Old Man Xiang? Who is Old Man Xiang?" I asked, both surprised and curious when I heard Old Man Chen refer to him as "His Elderly Self."

"Oh, Old Man Xiang is the last living Tima in Tangya. He’s ninety-eight this year, his eyes are sharp, his hearing is good, and he’s very healthy—he can easily down three bowls of white rice and a big bowl of hezha for one meal. He has enough stories to last three days and three nights, and he possesses some truly unique skills. Outsiders have no idea how he accomplishes what he does. He’s an exceptionally capable man, highly respected by the locals. Perhaps concerning the Blood Soul Stele, we can communicate with the spirits through him and dig up some information, saving you all the trouble of running around aimlessly."

Ji Ye and I exchanged glances. Although Ji Ye had previously speculated that the various 'sha' spirits in Anle Cave were tixu cast by Tima, we never imagined that beside the Tangya River, deep within the dense mountain forest, there was still a living, legendary, and mysterious Tima—and one of such advanced age. If we could truly gain his help, wouldn't many of the mysteries troubling our hearts be solved instantly? At the very least, we could learn the most detailed information about "Linjun Ba Wuxiang" from him, because the Tima are the ones who pass down Tujia history through sung narrative!

Ji Ye, Man Niao Niao, and Tan Ping'er shared the same thought. They jumped up abruptly, urging Old Man Chen repeatedly to take us to see the ninety-eight-year-old Tima. Just as Old Man Chen was about to rise, Old Lady Chen came upstairs, smiling, "Is the old coot burning his backside? These guests have been touring all afternoon; their stomachs must be staging an empty fortress campaign by now. I can ignore the old fool's well-being, but I can't neglect the guests’ health. I’ve prepared some simple tea and meager food; please make do, and then you can go see Old Man Xiang afterward... Old fool, if your stomach acts up later, don't expect me to rub it for you!" This last sentence was directed at Old Man Chen.

"Fine, we’ll fill our bellies first. Hey, woman, what are you still dawdling for? Hurry up and find the wine cups!" After speaking, Old Man Chen followed Old Lady Chen downstairs to carry some dishes and food up and arrange them on the bamboo table. Old Lady Chen followed, carrying a pot of corn liquor and several wine cups.

"Miss Tan, would you like a drink now?" Old Man Chen asked Tan Ping'er, having gathered from the previous conversation that she had been quite fond of drinking some time ago. Tan Ping'er shook her head and said, "Thank you, sir. I don't feel like drinking anymore; my back doesn't hurt either." Hearing this, Old Man Chen poured a cup for me, Ji Ye, and Man Niao Niao, pouring one for himself as well. Raising his cup, he said, "The wine isn't bad with these dishes; please make do with what we have. You gentlemen can 'cha qi' (drink heartily) with the liquor. To accompany the drinks, I’ll share some legends about the Tima with you. On my stilt house, you are the very first guests to be blessed with such a fortune for both the palate and the ears." (Cha qi: to exert strength/drink with vigor)

Indeed, sitting in this Tujia stilt house where the modern mingled with the ancient, amidst the misty ruins of the Tusi Imperial City, sipping clear corn liquor, savoring light, seasonal local appetizers, and listening to an old man past seventy recount tales of the mysterious Tujia Tima—this experience was certainly not something ordinary people could easily stumble upon.

Old Man Chen was very engaging, and through his melancholic yet forthright words, we gradually drew closer to the Tima—those who preserve Tujia history through song:

"Tima" is a Tujia word meaning someone capable of communicating with the divine, an intermediary between humans and the gods. Its direct meaning includes "a person of great skill," and in Chinese, they are known as Tulaoshi (Tujia Teacher), Duangong, or Laosizi, among others.

The Tima are divided into two ranks based on the level of their tixu skills: the "Zhan Tan Tima" who preside over large-scale sacrificial rites, and the "Bang Shi Tima" who hold a slightly lower status. They can also be categorized by their specific roles in the rituals, such as the "Luo Ma Tima" who carry ritual implements, the "Feng Zi Tima" who procure sacrificial offerings, the "Da Lie Tima" who officiate the "March Hall" ceremony, the "Qiang Ren Tima" who select sacrificial human subjects, and so on. This constituted a relatively large cohort of shamans, passing down their knowledge orally from primordial antiquity to modern times, generation after generation, continuously and unbroken. They were folk religious practitioners who had not completely detached from production and secular life, invited from village to village to perform tixu. They remained active in the deep mountain settlements where the Tujia people lived. They have always been the principal conductors of religious activities such as worshipping gods and ancestors, exorcising ghosts and dispelling evil, summoning souls to cure illnesses, and praying for rain in fulfillment of vows. Furthermore, they played an indispensable role in the aspects of production and daily life, including farming, hunting and fishing, marriage, childbirth, divining locations for settlement or migration, festivals, songs, and dances.

The traditional culture and religion of the Tujia people in Xi Du are intimately connected; many cultural phenomena are tightly interwoven with religious belief and manifest through religious sacrificial activities. In the Tujia region of Xi Du, a primitive folk religion centered on totem worship, ghost worship, ancestor worship, and nature worship was prevalent. The Tujia shaman, the Tima, would travel through villages and hamlets, presiding over rituals to seek and honor the gods. Through conducting these various Tujia religious sacrifices, the Tima disseminated a vast amount of systematic ancient Tujia culture, such as the lengthy Tima Shenge (Tima Spirit Songs) and the epic Banshou Ge (Arm-Waving Dance Song), both propagated by the Tima during their rituals. Not only did they recite sacrificial chants and ancient songs, but they also performed traditional dances, such as the Banshou Dance and the Eight Treasures Bronze Bell Dance, singing while dancing, integrating song and movement to serve their sacrifices. Song and dance accompanied not only ancestor worship and rituals for the local kings but also other sacrificial rites. For example, when worshipping the Nuo gods, they had to perform Nuo plays and sing Nuo songs; in funeral rites for the deceased, they were required to sing "Sangtang Ge" (Funeral Hall Songs) and "Xiao Ge" (Mourning Songs), etc. These folk religious sacrificial activities allowed many ancient cultural works of the Western Hubei Tujia people to be preserved. The Tima became the inheritors of Tujia culture, making tremendous contributions, both consciously and unconsciously, to preserving and passing down traditional Tujia culture through their sacrificial ceremonies.

When performing ritual activities, the Tima possessed specific attire, fixed ritual implements, and ancient spirit songs. During religious activities, they wore phoenix crown hats, eight-panel silk skirts, held eight-treasure bronze bells, blew conch shells, brandished ritual knives, performed divination, sang spirit songs, and danced shamanistic dances, acting wildly as if in a trance. This mysterious performance convinced observers that they could truly communicate with ghosts and spirits, leading to unwavering belief.

Besides conducting a major collective ancestor worship ceremony once every first lunar month, the Tima mainly practiced the following types of tixu:

First, Divination. Divination was used to predict fortune and misfortune and to ascertain the will of ghosts and monsters. Legend has it: "When a thousand-year tortoise dies and leaves its shell, divination using it is efficacious." It was common for the Duangong to set up altars and cast lots for people. They possessed many divination tools, which were not tortoise shells but rather combs, chopsticks, copper coins, swords, or stones. The most frequently used were the Si Dao and the Zhu Dou Gua. The Si Dao (Division Knife) was "a metal ring attached to a handle, several inches in diameter, decorated with strips of five-colored cloth, strung with nine, eleven, or thirteen interlocking metal hoops of varying sizes. After the Tima shook the Si Dao, the resulting arrangement of interlocked and separated hoops of different shapes was used to determine fortune or misfortune." The Zhu Dou Gua (Bamboo Stalk Lots) was usually a section of bamboo stalk split in half. When divining, the Tima decided the outcome based on how the bamboo pieces landed. This method was simple and thus widely applied in matters of funerals, marriage and childbirth, sacrifices, summoning gods and expelling demons, and production.

Second, Ancestor Worship and Vow Fulfillment. Fulfilling vows to ancestors, commonly known as "making a Tujia Buddha" or "returning a divine promise," was a shamanistic activity intended to avert disaster, summon souls, or seek progeny for a person. This was generally organized on a household basis, inviting the Tima to preside. If the scale was large, both the "Zhan Tan Tima" and several "Bang Shi Tima" participated, requiring the slaughter of cattle and sheep and the hosting of banquets, usually lasting for three days and three nights. The sacrificial content was extensive, and the rituals complex. The spirit songs sung were divided into forty-nine sections according to the ritual procedure, and each section contained numerous specific rites. For instance, the "Lao Yue Tang" (December Hall) section included seven rites: establishing the hall and honoring the gods, presenting grievances and seeking lots, dragging the grindstone, seeking lots, dragging the soul, carrying the soul, and offering wine to conclude the ledger. Among these, dragging the grindstone was a form of soul-summoning technique. The procedure involved laying a mat on the floor of the main hall, the Zhan Tan Tima lying supine on it, placing a winnowing basket on his stomach, a grindstone on the basket, and a small wooden box containing the clothing and handkerchiefs of the "lost-soul" person atop the grindstone. A rope was passed through the hole in the grindstone, and the Bang Shi Tima would continuously drag it around the mat while chanting incantations, with others joining in with shouts. After dragging was complete, the grindstone was flipped over, and lots were cast to determine whether the soul had been retrieved.

Third, "Dispelling Evil." When ancient Tujia people encountered continuous misfortune, mental confusion, or chronic illness, they believed they were "afflicted by evil" or had "lost their soul," requiring a Tima to perform rites to dispel the affliction. "Dispelling Evil" was smaller in scale than "Vow Fulfillment," usually requiring only one Tima to officiate, without slaughtering cattle or hosting banquets, though a sheep was typically sacrificed. The format was flexible, unrestricted by time or location. Larger ceremonies required treading the "Earth Blade" or ascending the "Heaven Blade." The former usually involved setting twelve knives, edge-up, onto a horizontally placed log; the Tima, holding the freshly severed sheep's head in one hand and divination tools in the other, would step barefoot across the blades. Afterward, he would chant spirit songs while shaking stones for divination.