Old Lady Liu quickly drew a ghostly symbol on Zhang family's fifth brother's forehead using the ashes from her pipe. Then, she slapped the top of his head with force. Zhang family's fifth brother's body trembled, fell back onto the bed, motionless once more, becoming an ordinary corpse again.
Soon, Liu's eerie green eyes returned to normal as she released him and stepped back a few paces.
Grandpa cautiously stepped forward to inspect the body and asked, "Little sister, has the Yellow Skin left?"
Liu took a deep breath and said, "I've sent it away. Brother Wu, tell the Zhang family to come inside."
Grandpa hurried outside to call Zhang family's brothers inside. They were terrified by the earlier "resurrection" and hesitated to enter, but after Grandpa coaxed them, they came in together.
Seeing Zhang family's fifth brother lying still on the bed, the brothers finally felt somewhat relieved.
"This corpse shouldn't stay at home. It's best to bury him early tomorrow morning. Tonight, the Yellow Skin won't disturb him again, but you all must be careful. Especially you, second brother—during the day, you smashed the Yellow Skin's corpse with a shovel, and they might come after you," Liu warned.
Hearing this, Zhang family's second brother shivered and asked anxiously, "Why? That Yellow Skin killed my brother—I should be allowed to vent my anger on its corpse, shouldn't I?"
"No one knows what a Yellow Skin thinks, but you should know they hold grudges. If you offend them, they'll make sure your family suffers ruin. I'll stay at Brother Wu's house for the next few days. If anything happens, come find me—but I will charge a fee. You brothers can chip in," Liu said calmly.
The brothers reluctantly pooled a hundred yuan to pay Liu.
It's a rule among exorcists that services cannot be given for free. Liu didn't charge the Wu family but insisted on fees from others—that was the custom.
After settling the matter of Zhang family's fifth brother, Liu went home with Grandpa.
Before leaving, she advised Zhang family's second brother to keep several local dogs and a few large white geese at home.
The second brother agreed.
Liu still felt something was brewing, so she planned to stay at my house for a few days, waiting for me to get through this ordeal.
Unexpectedly, more trouble came that very night.
Around midnight, a bloodcurdling scream echoed through the village—half the villagers heard it.
The scream woke our entire family.
A few minutes later, frantic knocking sounded at our front gate.
Grandpa got up to open the door, finding Zhang family's second brother's wife trembling and crying at the doorstep.
"Uncle, please quickly call Old Lady Liu to come look at my house. Second brother has gone mad—he's definitely been haunted by that Yellow Skin," she sobbed.
Hearing this, Grandpa hurried to get Liu, who had woken up from the noise. Together with Zhang's wife, they rushed to the second brother's house.
Grandpa took his big machete with him.
When they arrived, both were shocked.
Zhang family's second brother's home was in complete chaos—chicken blood splattered on the walls and yard, with several half-dead chickens flapping on the ground.
Second brother stood bare-chested in the yard, gripping a hen in both hands, gnashing his teeth as he tore into its neck, gulping down the blood.
Nearby lay a Yellow Skin spirit with its head crushed, evidently dead for some time.
Seeing Grandpa and Liu, the second brother showed no fear. His eyes squinted with hateful malice, his blood-smeared face looked terrifying.
Suddenly, he dropped the half-eaten hen and made strange guttural noises, crawling on all fours with an eerie gait toward Grandpa and Liu.
"Zhang second brother, take one step closer and I'll chop you down," Grandpa shouted, brandishing his machete.
Perhaps because of the weapon, the second brother was intimidated and stayed low, only making strange cries without advancing.
His wife stood behind, crying uncontrollably.
Grandpa asked, "Second brother's wife, what happened?"
"We were sleeping when suddenly the chickens in the yard started flapping and squawking wildly. Second brother went out to check and saw all the chickens in the coop had been killed. A big Yellow Skin was standing there staring at him. He grabbed a hoe and smashed it dead. Then suddenly, second brother went mad, yelling and shouting. I ran to get you," she said, trembling.
"That Yellow Skin wants to exchange lives with Zhang second brother. Once it's done tormenting him enough, he won't survive," Liu explained.
Hearing this, Grandpa's anger flared again. He stabbed his machete into the ground and strode toward second brother, who didn't back away but stared at Grandpa with a sinister grin.
Grandpa grabbed him by the hair and slapped him hard several times, shouting, "Yellow Skin, if you keep messing with people, I, Old Wu, will fight you to the death!"
Each slap landed sharply, and second brother's face quickly swelled.
Despite the beating, second brother kept that eerie smile, then let out a strange, piercing screech—not a human sound.
Suddenly, his eyes rolled back as he fell stiffly backward, thrashing his legs, with fresh blood flowing from his nostrils.
Grandpa alone couldn't control him.
Second brother looked as if strangled, bleeding from the nose, foaming at the mouth, on the verge of death.
"Little sister, come quick and see what's wrong," Grandpa called, struggling to hold him down.
Liu hurried over and ordered, "Hold him down tight."
Grandpa couldn't manage alone and called second brother's terrified wife to help restrain him.
Liu then pulled several silver needles from her clothes and swiftly stabbed key acupuncture points on second brother's body.