Chapter 16, Section 3, Exam of the Miao Township Witch Ancestor, Part 1

Sun Fatzi chimed in, "Lazi, getting zapped occasionally isn't that bad; think of it as electrotherapy." This guy clearly couldn't handle the electricity alone; he needed some company.

Unable to escape it, I gritted my teeth and stepped up to the Bagua diagram. After witnessing Sun Fatzi's ordeal earlier, I was on high alert. I carefully stepped on the numbers within the Bagua diagram. Despite being as cautious as possible, misfortune struck when transitioning from the thirteenth to the fourteenth step. I was slightly too slow, and an electric current surged through my left foot, traversing my internal organs before exiting through my right foot.

After lunch, we began our theory class. It ranged from discussing why Confucius talked about strange creatures to Taoist teachings, and from Zhang Jiao's "Taiping Qingling Shu" to Zhang Daoling's "Five Pecks of Rice" Dao (Tianshi Dao).

The theory class was taught by a deputy director from the Fifth Division named Mr. Yi. Due to the highly theoretical nature of the subject matter, Mr. Yi's lectures lacked liveliness and were somewhat rigid. It was nothing like his famous relative, Yi Zhongtian, when he discussed the Three Kingdoms. Sun Fatzi and I struggled to stay awake, but Mr. Yi didn't mind. He delivered his lecture, and we slept through it, with minimal disturbance. It was a good way to relax our nerves after the morning training.

We continued with this routine for over two months, and the evaluation day was approaching. Other aspects were manageable, but the Bagua diagram, which had frustrated us for over a month, had an added layer of difficulty. Now, we had to walk blindly, and after countless electric shocks, Sun Fatzi and I had to rely on pure memorization to complete the forty-nine-step pattern of the Bagua diagram.

Finally, the day of the evaluation arrived, and it was crucial for us to pass to receive our salaries the next month. As I looked at my shrinking wallet, I started feeling anxious. Oddly, Sun Fatzi appeared carefree. The saying "a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse" applied here. After serving as an undercover agent for so many years, receiving two salaries, he probably had a more comfortable financial situation than me.

Early in the morning, Sun Fatzi and I arrived at the underground training field on the second floor. Unexpectedly, Haowen Ming and Ouyang Pianzuo arrived earlier than us. They brought us to a training room made of glass panels.

We had never been to this training room. Besides Old Wang and Ouyang Pianzuo, there was a man in his forties seated in the center of the room. Well, he was more like half-lying on the chair. If it weren't for his occasional convulsions, I would have thought he was asleep.

"Alright, everyone's here, let's begin," Ouyang Pianzuo spoke up.

Huh? What did he mean by "let's begin"? Start what? While I was still puzzled, Haowen Ming said, "Today will be a real-life exercise for both of you. Your target is him," pointing to the guy lying in the chair. "This person is Liu Fenghua, a farmer from a village near Shijiazhuang. He killed his entire family of six half a month ago, and the neighbors reported him to the police."

"After a forensic assessment, Liu Fenghua was diagnosed with a type of mental disorder—hysteria, along with severe schizophrenia and delusional disorder. This case was transferred to our investigative bureau five days ago. Take a look at this man. Do you notice anything unusual?"

No! He's not mentally ill. I carefully examined Liu Fenghua, and I saw two blurry figures around him. One of the figures shared a 90% resemblance to Liu Fenghua but was being suppressed, unable to resist the other figure.

The suppressed figure appeared extremely violent, occasionally striking and biting the other figure. However, it was evident that this figure was deeply afraid of Haowen Ming and Ouyang Pianzuo. A single cough from them, and the figure immediately shrank into itself. As for Liu Fenghua, he seemed lifeless, with a vacant look in his eyes.

Before Sun Fatzi could say anything, I quickly spoke up, "He's not mentally ill."

"Oh?" Both directors looked at me with interest, and Haowen Ming said, "Go on."

"He's possessed, a malevolent spirit has taken over him. I don't know the exact terminology, but it's something like that...

"Now, both of you need to confirm that Liu Fenghua is possessed, not suffering from schizophrenia," Haowen Ming said, looking at Sun Fatzi and me.

Mr. Yi had briefly mentioned the methods to identify possession, such as examining the pupils, but I couldn't remember the details. As for Sun Fatzi, let's not even mention him. When we discussed possession back then, this guy slept like a log. He didn't even realize when his drool soaked his pants. After waking up and seeing his pants soaked, he had the nerve to ask me if urinary incontinence was a sign of prostate problems.