When Li Mazi and I returned to my room, we saw Yin Xinyue. She rolled her eyes at me. “Why did you run out so early in the morning? You made me worried. I called you several times, but you didn’t pick up!”

“Li Mazi insisted that I had beef noodles,” I said as I fabricated a story.

“Hey little brother, don’t blame it on me. You’re the greedy one that wanted to make some quick money!” Li Mazi cried out.

“What? Quick money?” Yin Xinyue became skeptical.

Li Mazi told her about the big cannon.

Yin Xinyue pinched me. “You haven’t even recovered yet, and you’re already thinking about otherworldly items? Do you have an occupational disease?”

I sat down and used my phone to search for the rich woman’s husband’s information. I soon found what I was looking for. The man was named Shen Yanchen, and he was the president of a multinational oil company. The man had a lot of titles before and after his name. There was also a link about his brother, Shen Hongbin. I clicked the link and felt surprised.

I had thought that Shen Hongbin was leading a life of debauchery, so I was surprised to see that he had a master’s degree from Oxford University. He had also set up a medical institution for charity.

However, our first impression of him was really bad. Li Mazi cussed, “He used his brother's money to do charity. This fella knows how to build a reputation! What a pretentious rascal!”

Yin Xinyue said, “Sometimes, we can’t tell if a person’s good or bad from the first impression. I met a person like that in the film studio. She had a bad reputation in the industry, and it was rumored that she had slept with the director to buy all kinds of famous-brand clothes. They even said that she had bullied the makeup artists. However, after knowing her for a while, I’ve found that she’s a pretty nice person. She’s friendly and kind. It turned out someone had hired the netizens to fabricate negative rumors to shame her…”

“Who is that? Is she pretty?” I asked. Yin Xinyue just snorted and ignored me.

Li Mazi had stayed up the whole night and was no longer able to put up with the tiredness. I just let him sleep on my patient bed.

I went out with Yin Xinyue and saw that the cars were still parked outside the hospital. That rich woman was really patient.

After we left the hospital, we went to the flower and pet market. Yin Xinyue had recently been interested in keeping a pet. I wasn’t that interested in keeping dogs or cats, but I didn’t hate them, either.

After lunch, we returned to the hospital. As there was a loud commotion from the Intensive Care Unit, we went over to take a look.

When we got close to the oil tycoon’s room, we heard banging noises as if someone was throwing things. A man was screaming in the room. “The corrupted officials plotted against me! The corrupted officials harmed me!”

“Darling, darling, what happened to you?” The rich woman stood in front of the room, covering her teary face with a handkerchief. A lot of expensive medical equipment was scattered on the ground, and the bodyguards in the rear wore helpless expressions.

I took the chance and called Li Mazi. I asked him to come over here.

The tycoon seemed to be tired out from throwing things. He sat by the door and sighed. "A life's work has ended up in vain, and all of my achievements were worth nothing. I do not worry about lacking brave warriors after my death, for my loyal spirit will continue to guard Liaodong forever."

I remembered it was a short poem written by a famous general before he died. I pondered for a while and discovered the origin of the otherworldly item.

Li Mazi quickly rushed over. He checked the corridor and saw the rich woman. He quickly took out a small comb to tidy his messy hair. He then adjusted his clothes and walked over.

“What’s going on?” He muttered to me.

I told him about the situation and my assumption. Li Mazi winked at me and walked confidently toward the rich woman. “Benefactor, we meet again.”

“Grandmaster, you’re here!” The rich woman looked as if she had just seen her savior. She rushed toward him. “As soon as my husband woke up, he turned into this. Grandmaster, please see if something has possessed him.”

Li Mazi counted his fingers. All of a sudden, he frowned. The rich woman became anxious. “Grandmaster, did you notice something?”

“The departed soul that has possessed your husband isn’t an ordinary soul. He’s Yuan Chonghuan [1], the Commander in Chief of Liaodong from the later years of the Ming dynasty.”

“How bold of you! You dare to call my name?!” The tycoon sitting on the ground suddenly growled.

When the rich woman saw that Li Mazi had gotten everything right at the first try, she was totally convinced. She asked respectfully, “Grandmaster, do you know how to solve this?”

“Of course…” Li Mazi proudly raised his head and waved at me. “My apprentice, come here!”

I couldn’t ruin his performance, so I had to pretend to be his apprentice. “Master, is there anything you need me to do?”

Li Mazi introduced Yin Xinyue and me to the rich woman. The rich woman just gave us a nod and pretty much ignored us.

Li Mazi ordered, “Prepare something for me.”

“What do you need?” I asked.

With a stern face, he shouted at me, “You’ve been following me for so long, and you’re still asking me what I need? Our usual stuff!”

Li Mazi’s acting skills could get him an Oscar for sure.

I observed the tycoon and made some calculations in my head. Normally, Li Mazi was the one in charge of preparing the necessary items. Since I was asked to go and find them this time, I was at a loss.

“Master, are they black beans, realgar wine, refined salt, and hemp rope?”

“Good apprentice!” Li Mazi nodded. “We have no time to waste. Hurry and prepare the items!”

I grimaced. “I don’t know where to get them.”

The rich woman said, “It’s not a big deal. I’ll ask my men to buy them.”

Then, she asked her bodyguards to seize the time and buy everything needed.

Li Mazi asked, “Little Brother Zhang, are those enough to deal with Yuan Chonghuan?”

“It should be,” I said.

“Can you give me a precise answer? What if it doesn’t work? I don’t mind losing face, but losing the client would be bad!” Li Mazi said.

Yuan Chonghuan was a palace graduate that didn’t have the strength to truss a chicken. Although he never killed people on the battlefield, he still managed to become a general. He was one of those rare Confucian generals.

Back then, the Qing army had attacked the Ming dynasty’s Liaodong border many times. Although the Ming dynasty had sent elite forces and their army to build defending walls and fortresses, they couldn’t stop the blood-thirsty Qing army outside. Yuan Chonghuan came forth and submitted his five-year plan to settle Liaodong to Emperor Chongzhen.

Emperor Chongzhen was pleased. He ordained Yuan Chonghuan as the Commander in Chief of Liaodong and asked him to lead hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers. Yuan Chonghuan was competent. After he got his position, he had several furious battles that made his military tactics shine. The Manchurian Qing people considered Yuan Chonghuan their biggest problem! They immediately plotted against him and made the Ming dynasty misunderstand his intentions. Soon after, Yuan Chonghuan was arrested and taken back to the imperial city, where a slow death sentence was awaiting him. Many folks didn’t know the truth and thought that Yuan Chonghuan was a traitor. Thousands of people came forward to ask for his head.

It was said that his sentence was unprecedentedly tragic. Yuan Chonghuan’s flesh was sliced off and eaten, and only his skeleton remained. It wasn’t hard to imagine how resentful he was.

I guessed that normal tricks wouldn’t be enough to deal with him. “Li Mazi, I have to return to my shop. You stay here and see what you can do to calm the situation.”

When I returned to my shop, I immediately grabbed the Peach Soul Flower and some talismans. I also took the Sirius Whip before rushing back to the hospital.

I could hear Yuan Chonghuan’s loud voice even before entering the room. Li Mazi had asked people to tie him on the bed with the salt-covered hemp rope. At the same time, he threw handfuls of black beans at him. The black beans that hit Yuan Chonghuan dried up and yellowed as if they were fried, leaving light burn marks on his skin.

Every time Li Mazi sprinkled the black beans, Yuan Chonghuan growled and scolded. However, since he was a Confucian graduate, he would only say something like ‘bold peasant’ or ‘ignorant scoundrel,’ which weren’t really bad words.

The rich woman stood aside, dumbfounded. She wiped her husband’s sweat from time to time and was awed by Li Mazi’s skills.

As Li Mazi threw black beans, he mumbled something and pretended to chant a spell. From time to time, his eyes shot out of the room. When he saw me, he exhaled in relief.

I guessed that if I was a little late, he would no longer have tricks up his sleeve.

Anyway, it was as I had guessed. Yuan Chonghuan’s soul was really strong, and ordinary methods weren’t enough to deal with him. I immediately handed Li Mazi the Peach Soul Flower. “Master, take the magic tool!”

“All right!”

Li Mazi was delighted. He used the Peach Soul Flower to gently touch Yuan Chonghuan’s forehead. Right after, the latter convulsed as if he had received an electric shock. The bodyguards held him down until his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell unconscious.

The rich woman exhaled and asked. “Grandmaster, is my husband all right now?”

“I’ve subdued the evil soul in his body…”

Li Mazi shot me a discreet, questioning look. I shook my head and signaled at him to not confirm anything because I wasn’t certain yet. Li Mazi quickly changed his words. “But I need to observe the situation some more to know if I can summon your husband’s soul back.”

The rich woman, who had just calmed down, was now tense again. “You can’t solve it at once? My husband manages more than thirty oil companies. He earns millions of renminbi each day, and our company can’t afford his absence even for half a day. Due to his sickness, our company’s share has dropped more than 3%. I know exports like you like to keep tricks up their sleeve. Please, if you have any skills that you have yet to use, use it now. I promise the payment will please you.”

Li Mazi shook his head. “I didn’t conceal anything from you. This calamity is something your husband is destined to face!”

When the rich woman heard that, she was scared. “Grandmaster, what do you mean with that?”

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_Chonghuan