I told Li Laosi everything from encountering the paper figure carrying the coffin in the village to seeing Qiuge swallowing the ingot today.

Li Laosi listened silently for a long time.

After waiting for a while, he looked at the red string around my neck.

I said it was a talisman given to me by Sixth Uncle, and I couldn't be without it day and night.

Li Laosi took the talisman and opened it, pointing to the symbol on it and explaining to me:

"This is not a talisman for warding off evil spirits, it's a summoning symbol for ghosts."

Li Laosi looked at me again, then reached into my collar and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

After opening it, it was a small paper person made of white paper, with fingers of varying lengths, complete with mouth and eyes. Although there was no wind in the room, the hands and feet were still moving. My birthdate and horoscope were written on the back.

Li Laosi lit the paper person with a candle.

The paper person immediately made a squeaking sound, and its arms and legs continued to move.

As the paper person burned, my mind suddenly became clearer, and I no longer felt drowsy as before.

I didn't understand why Sixth Uncle wanted to harm me.

Li Laosi smiled.

"This is not Old Liu's talisman; he doesn't have this ability yet."

Looking at the charm, he said:

"This is the curse of the Diao family."

I didn't understand. Diao Laiyin had been the village chief for many years and even led the way in breaking the Four Olds and feudal superstitions. How could he believe in this?

Li Laosi said:

"Those who don't show off are the real experts."

Li Laosi then asked me if I remembered the Sanmao Society in the county town before the liberation, with Lu Laoxian as the chairman.

I did hear the adults mention it when I was a child.

They said Lu Laoxian fooled many people with his tricks and was executed after the liberation when the Party cracked down on secret societies. It became a joke in the village.

However, Li Laosi said:

"The execution is true, but when they tried to arrest him, several people fired their guns, but none of the guns went off."

"What happened?" I asked.

"He had a technique, but in the end, my grandfather smashed a brick on his head, and then they shot him to death."

"..."

I had only heard that martial arts were afraid of knives, but I didn't expect spells to be afraid of bricks.

At the time of the execution, Lu Laoxian's two sons were also executed.

But Lu Laoxian left behind a daughter who was over ten years old, who is now Diao Laiyin's grandmother.

Knowing this, all the other pieces fell into place.