There's a folk saying that the souls of young women and children under ten are extremely fragile and can easily be lost to sudden shock, a phenomenon known as "soul loss." This condition manifests as drowsiness, difficulty waking, listlessness, and a slow reaction time. If the soul isn't quickly called back, the child's mental state can lead to an accident. 

The method for calling back the soul is very particular. First, the mother must do it at midnight. To do this, she must prepare yellow paper and incense sticks and burn them at her doorstep or at a crossroads no more than ten meters away. She then recites her child's name, gradually increasing her voice until the flames of the burning paper reach her. If the mother sees ash in her eyes, it means the child's soul has arrived. The mother can then extinguish the flames and return home to sleep. The next morning, the child's soul is full of life. 

Taboo: No men can be present, otherwise... 

1. Fright. Sun Yani checked her watch. It was exactly midnight. She leaned over and lit the yellow paper and incense sticks in the basin. Aided by the midnight breeze, the flames quickly filled the basin. Yani kept repeating, "Liu Xin, come back, my good son Liu Xin, please come back soon..." 

Three days ago, Liu Xin had been frightened. 

Liu Xin was Sun Yani's son, or more precisely, her eldest son, who was five years old. Liu Xin also had a younger brother, Liu Lei, who was less than a month old. 

Three days earlier, while Liu Xin and his father, Liu Wei, were on their way to pick up Yani from the hospital, they encountered a large, ferocious wolfhound. It suddenly burst out of a small alley, frightening passersby. Worst of all, it was not only incredibly fast, but its roar was also terrifying. From that day on, Liu Xin began living the life of a "sleeping beauty," even skipping meals to sleep. 

This terrified Liu Wei and Sun Yani. They visited several hospitals, but to no avail. Finally, Yani's mother came up with a solution: "calling back the soul." 

As the saying goes, when you're sick, try any remedy. Since it wasn't a harmful treatment, they decided to give it a try. So, in the dead of night, Sun Yani went to the gate of her residential complex alone to burn paper and "call back the soul." 

Traditionally, burning paper should be done at the doorstep or at an intersection no more than ten meters away. However, with so many residential complexes these days, setting fires in the hallways could easily set off a red alarm. So, out of desperation, they could only run to the gate of the complex, since the entire complex was considered their home. 

Twelve o'clock in the city isn't always quiet. Fortunately, a heavy rain fell around eleven o'clock, lasting for about half an hour. The streets were now deserted. To avoid unnecessary complications, Liu Wei even treated the community security guards to a meal, asking them not to disturb Yani's "calling back her soul" at midnight. The security guards had only one request: to be sure to inform them before lighting the fire so they could check it afterward. 

Everything went smoothly, the blazing flames swaying in the breeze. Yani's mother told her to wait until the flames were steadily moving toward her and she felt something in her eyes before she could put out the fire. Once the fire was out, she should immediately return home and not look back. The door would not be closed until she returned. Yani did as she was told. 

As the flames began to turn toward her, her heart began to race. She realized that if, as her mother had said, the flames would disregard the wind's guidance and change their natural path to rush toward her, then this would prove to be true. 

"Come back soon, come back soon, my good son, my good son Liu Xin, come back to your mother soon." Sun Yani's "calling" voice became louder and louder. 

"Who? What are you doing?" A man's voice came, and then a flashlight shone on Sun Yani. 

Yani was a little panicked. The sudden order made the hairs on her body stand up, but she could neither respond nor look sideways, because her goal was to let the paper ashes blow into her eyes. 

At this moment, the flames flew towards Sun Yani with a "puff". Before the man with the flashlight arrived, Yani's eyes were hurt by the ashes brought by the flames. Yani knew that now was the time. Immediately, she picked up the wooden stick she had prepared in advance, lifted one side of the washbasin with force, and with a "pop", the washbasin turned over, and the red flames instantly disappeared in the silence of the midnight. 

Looking back, Sun Yani saw a security guard standing behind her, staring at her blankly. She ignored him and continued walking home. She only heard the security guard slap himself hard and say, "How could I forget? I'm so sorry, Mrs. Liu."