Burning Incense, Holding Rituals, and Summoning the Horse Immortals

[Traditional Folk Customs + Supernatural + Period Setting + Mild Horror + Genre Fiction + Third-Person Narration] The nouveau riche worship the Yellow Immortal, while spirit mediums fish corpses from the water and conceal the truth. The medium who journeys to the underworld rolls her eyes white, while the incense-bearing disciple counts underworld money. “Raw pork is dead pig meat to begin with.” “Then what about ghosts?” “They’re people!” After falling ill and taking a leave of absence from school, Zhao Qingteng is sent back to the countryside. A simple act of kindness brings him into contact with a Mother-and-Child Evil, binding him to its karma. From then on, he makes a name for himself and establishes his own path. The righteous faith guards the nation; a shaking head summons the spirits. The Kitchen God takes the field, the local deity holds court, and the goddess strikes a pose. Matters of the underworld belong to the netherworld authorities; matters of the living belong to the government. What lies between yin and yang belongs to my lord. The Immortal has a name of his own: Qingteng, who brings peace to the Central Plains!