"You've never played with a planchette, so I won't blame your ignorance. When summoning a planchette, you turn off all lights and use candles for illumination. This is more advanced—it uses an ancient incense burner. Not only does it light up, but it also releases fragrance."
Li Yang took out a paper packet from the box, containing neatly arranged dark brown solids the size of a thumbnail. Some were missing, likely used before.
I picked one up and sniffed it—a cloying, faint aroma.
"This isn't some kind of psychedelic drug, is it?"
"Heh, if it was, it'd make you feel like a god." Li Yang chuckled.
Tong Suo sighed. "Old Li, you're possessed. Your guts are unreal. Old Liu, talk some sense into him—don't play with fire."
Li Yang explained, "Since this was likely used by Lin Xia before she died, we need to try it to uncover the truth."
I smacked my lips. Honestly, I was intrigued and eager to try, thinking it couldn't hurt.
"Is it dangerous?"
Li Yang grinned. "Don't worry, I've locked all the doors and windows. Even hid the kitchen knives and thermos. If we lose it, the worst we'll do is bang our heads on the wall."
"No, no, I mean… we won't summon something unclean, right?"
"I'm not scared of summoning something—I'm scared we won't summon anything! This is a lead we have to follow." Li Yang said.
"Fine, let's try it. Just this once. Old Tong, join us. If we're gonna die, we die together." I made up my mind.
"Damn, you guys win. But if anyone goes crazy, don't come for my ass," Tong Suo grumbled.
We sat around the table. Li Yang took an incense block from the packet, lit it with a lighter, and it soon emitted dense green smoke, swirling like white clouds—quite beautiful.
He tossed the block into the burner and closed the lid. Soon, a faint fragrance filled the room, making us feel limp and relaxed.
Each of us extended a finger, pressing it onto the copper coin.
The room was unlit, with only faint moonlight filtering through the window. We glanced at each other, the atmosphere heavy.
"Do we need to chant something?" I asked.
"You know any chants?" Li Yang asked.
"Nope."
"None of us do. Let's skip that part."
The room was silent, save for the faint "hiss" of the burning incense block in the burner. The fragrance grew thicker, enveloping us in its sweet scent.
Tong Suo suddenly said, "I'm feeling something. Who's asking first?"
I stammered, "Ask… ask what?"
"The Coin Spirit we summoned. If no one's asking, I'll go first. Are you male or female?"
As soon as he spoke, the coin under our fingers began to move slowly. I was shocked and looked at them. Both Tong Suo and Li Yang looked surprised.
Did we actually summon something?
The coin circled the map and stopped on the word "female." It was a woman!
Tong Suo cleared his throat. "Are you human… or a ghost?"
The coin moved slowly across the map, passing "human" without stopping, heading toward "ghost."
As it neared "ghost," my heart leapt to my throat, a chill running down my spine. The room's temperature seemed to plummet.
The coin reached "ghost" but didn't stop, continuing onward. We watched, transfixed, when a sudden force pulled on the coin, nearly yanking our fingers off.
With a "whoosh," it slid to the blank edge of the map and stopped. The sudden shift left us shaken, unsure what had happened.
Li Yang looked thoughtful. "Maybe what we summoned is neither human nor ghost."
"Then what is it?" Tong Suo whispered.
Li Yang thought for a moment. "Are you Lin Xia?"
The coin moved slowly again, sliding across the map and stopping on "yes."
I nearly stopped breathing. We'd actually summoned Lin Xia!
Tong Suo's voice trembled. "Are you… already dead?"
The coin slid slowly, stopping on "yes."
Li Yang asked, "Where are you now?"
The coin moved, stopping on two words in succession: "Yin" and "Jian."
Tong Suo jumped up. "She… she says she's in the underworld!"
"Sit your ass down and don't lift your finger off the coin!" Li Yang roared.
Tong Suo shakily sat back down; I could hear his teeth chattering.
"Have you seen Li Damin in the underworld?" Li Yang asked.
We watched eagerly, but oddly, the coin didn't move, staying in place.
Tong Suo said, "Old Li, your question's off. There must be millions of Li Damins throughout history. How would she know which one you're talking about?"
"What's your point?" Li Yang frowned.
"Let's ask something specific about her to piece together clues about the underworld. Watch me. Lin Xia, how did you die?"
The moment Tong Suo asked, the fragrance in the living room thickened, almost solid, like two thin white snakes slithering into my nostrils.
I saw Tong Suo and Li Yang weren't spared either—the fragrance converged into six white streams, burrowing into our noses.
My head throbbed painfully, and the surroundings began to shake. The dim light seemed to fail; Tong Suo and Li Yang's figures blurred.
When I could see again, I found myself standing at the edge of a tall building. The dawn light was faint, and a strong wind blew, fluttering the red pajamas I wore. I took one last longing look at the vibrant world, spread my arms, and leapt forward, plunging downward.
The wind roared in my ears, intensifying my headache. I saw the manhole cover on the ground grow from the size of a thumbnail to a basin, still expanding. The earth shook and rushed toward me. I screamed, "No!"
The scene shook again, and I was back in the living room, drenched in sweat, as if pulled from water. The jump had lasted only a few seconds in my memory, but the psychological shadow it cast would haunt me for a long time.
We stared at each other, their expressions strange. I was pale from the ordeal, Tong Suo's face was twisted in distress, and Li Yang looked grim and thoughtful.
Our fingers had long left the coin. At some point, the incense block in the burner had burned out, leaving only a faint wisp of smoke.
For a long time, we sat motionless in the dark, silently processing the vivid hallucinations.
Tong Suo stood, turned on the living room light, and we seemed to come back to life, each letting out a long breath.
"What did you guys see?" I asked.
"You first," Li Yang said.
"I saw myself jumping off a building," I described, sighing. "It felt so real. The feeling of death closing in was indescribable. I thought I'd never come back, never see my family or you guys again. That despair—I wanted to cry."
Li Yang asked Tong Suo what he saw.
Tong Suo hesitated, then gave a wry smile. "It's my fault for running my mouth about getting my ass kicked. I saw myself… in an 'old man pushing a cart' position…"
In his vision, Tong Suo was naked, rear raised, on a bed, feeling something foreign enter him rapidly. He couldn't describe the sensation but seemed to linger on it.
His first thought was that he was being violated, his mind exploding. As he tried to resist, he looked down and saw two large, white, jiggling breasts on his chest, moving with the rhythm.
His hair stood on end. "Holy crap, did I turn into a woman?"
The scene changed. He was lying on an operating table, legs spread, covered with a white sheet. The surgical lights were cold and ominous, sinking him into a sense of abyss. "I felt like I was dead," he said. "I understood what it means to lose all hope."
A male doctor in a mask stood under the surgical light, coldly observing him, close yet worlds apart.
Li Yang couldn't help laughing. "Were you getting an abortion?"
"No abortion," Tong Suo sighed. "The woman I was in—probably Lin Xia—refused the surgery at the last moment. I heard her say she'd raise the child alone, even without a father."
He gently rubbed his stomach, his eyes filled with affection.
Li Yang and I shivered with unease.