Uncle San didn't say a word. He took out the bamboo pole he carried with him and stuck it into the mud. Then he stuck talismans on the heads of the two fighting cocks. The two roosters, which were originally restless and moving around, seemed to be frozen and unable to move. Even when Uncle San took them out of the cage and put them on the grass, the two chickens neither fought each other nor foraged for food. They just stood there upright.

Then Uncle San flicked the bamboo pole with his fingers. Strangely, although it was made of bamboo, it made a sound like metal. Then he pulled out the bamboo pole and waved it gently in the air a few times. He grabbed a handful of soil and held it tightly in his hand. Then he gently hit the fighting cock's head with the bamboo pole. When it was hit, the fighting cock's head stretched and contracted and finally moved. Then the movement became larger and larger. The two fighting cocks began to make cooing sounds again. When they were about to fight, Uncle San threw the soil in his hand into the air and inserted the bamboo pole into the soil again.

The strange thing is that when he finished all this, the two fighting cocks became listless as if they had lost their souls. Their heads drooped on their chests, as if their heads were chopped off but connected by a layer of skin. Their originally bright eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of dust and became turbid.

Wang Gui naturally saw clearly the obvious changes in the fighting cock. I had been observing him secretly and saw that he nodded involuntarily several times, but the amplitude was very small, which showed that he approved of the magic performed by his uncle.

Then Uncle San placed the bamboo pole horizontally on the ground. As if being pulled by an invisible force, the two chickens walked straight up to the ends of the bamboo pole and stood still. Uncle San steadily held up the bamboo pole with the fighting cocks standing on it and said, "The two chickens have lost their souls. Is this okay?"

Wang Gui nodded and said, "No problem."

Uncle San smiled slightly and said, "Just recognize it. Then, Ouli's grave..."

"As long as you can find the place where the evil spirit in Laolong Village is concentrated, I will leave Ouli's grave to you. I will never regret my words."

"Just your words will do." After saying that, Uncle San took out a very thin black thread from his pocket, about two meters long. He said to Chu Sen, "Wrap this thread around the necks of the two chickens."

After Chu Sen did as he was told, Third Uncle shook the bamboo pole and said, "Go."

Strangely enough, the two fighting cocks that had their heads drooped suddenly raised their heads, as if they had been trained to goose-step, and walked forward in unison.

Uncle San followed the two chickens with a bamboo pole in his hand. We followed Uncle San and saw that the black line was stretched straight. If the two chickens' steps were slightly offset, Uncle San would lightly hit the black line with the bamboo pole, and the steps of the two chickens would immediately be adjusted to the same.

They walked all the way forward until they came to a big tree with dark, twisted branches. Then the two chickens stopped and returned to their drooping head state.

Uncle San asked, "Do you know the species of this tree, sir?"

"I don't understand. Country people only grow crops, not trees." Wang Gui said.

Uncle San walked around the tree and said, "I have a suggestion. It would be best to find someone to identify the species of this tree."

"I'll ask someone from the agriculture and forestry department to come and take a look tomorrow." At this point, Wang Gui naturally listened carefully to what his uncle said.

Uncle San said, "Don't ask someone to look at it on the spot. Get some wood chips from the tree trunk and send them for testing. I need an accurate answer."

Wang Gui thought for a moment and said, "No problem. I'll find someone to do it tomorrow morning."

"Okay, then I'll wait for your news." After saying that, Uncle San was about to leave.

"Now that the matter is done, won't you give me an explanation?" Wang Gui said.

"When the tree bears fruit, I will give you an accurate explanation." Uncle San smiled friendly and took us away.

Before leaving, he asked us to take the two fighting cocks with us. When we first saw the two cocks, their feathers were shiny and stood up, looking very majestic. But now, not only are their heads drooping, but even their feathers are limp, sticking to their bodies and even a little wet. They look like mixed-feather chickens, without any trace of the fighting cocks' demeanor.

"Uncle, if these two chickens have no souls , they will be like walking corpses?" Chu Sen said.

"Yes, the Hezhu technique is about sending souls away. The two black strings tied to the chicken's neck are woven from the heads of women who died in car accidents in the four directions of east, south, west, and north . It's a soul-snatching device. It's tied around the chicken's neck to prevent the rooster's spirit from possessing it again if it hasn't left yet."

"Oh my god, after all this time, this is a dead person 's head. This is so weird ." After Chu Sen said this, he asked for the linen cloth used to clean the car to wipe his hands.

Uncle San handed him a hand-cleansing talisman and said, "After the ritual , you must use the talisman to cleanse your hands. Water and cloth are useless."

There are certain rules for washing hands with talismans. You must put your palms together and rub them gently, then rub the backs of your hands together. You cannot just rub the talisman randomly.

After washing his hands, Chu Sen said, "Uncle, since the two chickens have lost their souls, why can they still move?"

"Soulless creatures are most sensitive to yin and yang energy. Laolong Village has an imbalance of yin and yang. Using soulless chickens, we can find the areas where the yang energy is heaviest."

"Why does it have to be cockfighting?"

"That doesn't make sense. If there's any truth to it, it's that chickens ward off evil spirits . Even if you lose your soul, you won't be disturbed by evil spirits. Secondly, using chickens is cheap, and Wang Gui is an expert, so he would bring chickens without me saying anything."

Luo Tianbao said, "Since the evil spirit has been found, why wait until tomorrow?"

Uncle San asked, "Can you tell what kind of tree that is?"

I said, "It looks a bit like a poplar, but it's thicker and bigger. Could it be a larger poplar?"

"That's not a poplar tree at all. If I'm not mistaken, it's most likely a pine or cypress tree."

"Ah!" The three of us exclaimed at the same time.

"Uncle San, let's not talk about other pines and cypresses, there should at least be pine needles, right? But the tree with buds on its branches is obviously a leaf," I said.

"Moreover, the trunks of pine and cypress trees are straight, but this one is crooked. Could it be a deformed pine or cypress?" Chu Sen said.

"Let's wait for tomorrow's news. I'm just guessing. If it can be confirmed, there's no need to find someone to identify it." Uncle San yawned.

It seems that we will have to wait until tomorrow to find out the answer to the mystery, so we can only go back to sleep with curiosity.

The next day, around noon, Uncle San received a call from Wang Gui. The result was exactly the same as Uncle San said. The crooked tree that looked like a poplar was indeed a pine tree.

"This is caused by the mutation of the tree growing at the source of hyperactive yang energy." This time, Uncle San took the initiative to explain without waiting for us to ask.

"This principle may be difficult for you to understand. How could it be that it's clearly a pine or cypress tree, yet its appearance has undergone such drastic changes? It's actually the same principle as for deformed people. Aside from radiation, why do humans have naturally occurring deformities? It's because of the imbalance of yin and yang. Pregnant women often stay in this imbalanced environment for a long time, which affects the fetus. The term "deformity" is medical, and we call this an "evil form."

"The reason why Feng Shui affects people and things is that it is the two energies of Yin and Yang that are at work. When Yin and Yang complement each other, it is a perfect situation. When Yin and Yang complement each other, it is an unlucky situation. When people and things are affected by the unlucky energy, their appearance and personality will change."

After saying that, Uncle San stood up and said, "Let's go and get this over with."

Today, Luo Jinbao followed closely and asked, "Uncle San, is there any hope for the business?"

"There's definitely a chance. No one else can take on this job except us." Uncle San said with a smile.

They drove up the road and soon arrived at Laolong Village. They got out of the car and walked to the tree. Wang Gui was still alone. He said, "I never dreamed it would be a pine or cypress. You really have some skills."

Uncle San didn't respond. He said to Chu Sen, "Go somewhere far away and dig up a handful of soil."

After Chu Sen trotted out five or six hundred meters and dug up a handful of soil, his uncle dug a handful of soil from the roots of the tree and piled the two handfuls of soil into two piles. Then he picked up the fighting cock that had been standing motionless, cut its neck with a knife, and poured the blood into two paper cups.

After doing all this, Uncle San said, "Everyone hold your breath first." Then he took a deep breath and held it.

We did as we were told. After Uncle San confirmed that no one was angry, he poured two cups of chicken blood on two piles of earth. We saw that the soil that Chu Sen dug from a distance quickly absorbed the chicken blood, but the soil under the tree did not absorb even a drop of chicken blood. The chicken blood flowed down from the pile of earth, and the earth did not absorb the blood. The chicken blood was like being poured on a concrete floor.

Uncle San then exhaled and said, "That's enough."

We all let out a sigh of relief. Strangely, the chicken blood that was originally floating on the soil was instantly absorbed by the mud, leaving only a dark red mark.