Chongqing Taoist Shadows: A Maoshan Exorcist's Tales from South of the Yangtze

Maoshan Taoist arts aren't what you think.

You think Maoshan Taoist priests can only draw talismans and chant spells? Wrong.

Calling back a soul: Use a red string, a bowl of clear water, and three chopsticks to call back the soul frightened out of a child. Stand the chopsticks upright in the bowl, and the soul returns.

Subduing a corpse: Spread glutinous rice on the ground, seal the coffin with an inked carpenter's line, and pin down all four limbs with peachwood nails. No matter how vicious the corpse demon is, it won't be able to move. When the glutinous rice turns black, the corpse poison has been drawn out.

Capturing water ghosts: Dip willow branches in talisman water and whip the surface of the river. With each stroke, one fewer water ghost remains. When a branch breaks, get another and keep whipping until the river is calm.

Delivering ghost soldiers: Recite the Scripture for Delivering People. If one recitation isn't enough, recite it seven times; if seven aren't enough, recite it forty-nine times. The ghost soldiers file out of the air-raid shelter, pass the monument, salute, and dissolve into points of light.

All locations in the novel, including Qixinggang, Tongyuan Gate, Jingang Pagoda, Huangjueya, Ciqikou, Eighteen Steps, and Fengdu Ghost City, are based on real places in Chongqing. The story is entirely fictional, and any resemblance is purely coincidental.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.