"Alright. With that, I had everything I needed packed," the boy claimed, closing the small backpack. Looking over at his Auntie Zhao who had helped him pack the supply in neat order inside of the bag, the boy smiled from ear to ear, his well-cared teeth showing its vitality as the boy's eyes narrowed from the full brunt of the smile. "Wish me luck, Auntie."

The middle-aged woman watched the young master with a gentle smile on her face. There was a hint of pride at Auntie Zhao's gaze, seeing Te-Nang dressed in the ceremonial garb befitting of his role as an exorcist. Yet there was also an amusement at seeing a figure with such an important role donning such a childish smile. So innocent. "I'll await your successful return, young master Te-Nang."

Locking the supply room with his own copy of the key, the boy began to depart to assume his duty. Yet several steps in, the boy stopped. His face flushed, reminded of the mess he had left behind in the library. "Auntie Zhao, about the books in the library..." the boy's voice tapered off.

"Bah! Little Nang, why are you thinking useless things like that at a time like this? Don't you worry about that! You have a more urgent matter to handle, so you just let Auntie take care of it. Now chop chop."

The boy grinned. "Hehe. You're the best, Auntie." Securing the straps of the backpack on his shoulder, the boy resumed his journey. "I'm off, then."

----------------------------------------

"Young master Lu," the messenger bowed to the young boy. "This one is Wu Jing. Head servant Bao had informed me of the situation. If you please, I'll show you to the nearest site of possession."

Nodding his head at old man Bao in appreciation, the young master addressed the messenger. "After you, messenger Wu."

Rising from his bow, the messenger leads the young master out of the dressing room. If the messenger has anything to say about the boy replacing his uncle, he has shown no hint of it.

The two walked across the courtyard, heading towards the manor's stable. Inside, a retainer under his uncle's employment has awaited. "Young master. Head servant Bao had tasked me as your rider for the night," the man informed, bowing at the boy.

Nodding his head in acknowledgment, the young master let the man support him to mount the horse. Once the two mounted the horse, the boy held the rider's waist for support.

In the meanwhile, the messenger has mounted his city lord's issued mount.

Seeing that they were ready to depart, the boy nodded at the messenger. The man complied, leading the way.

The horse galloped through the city street, sending the boy a jolt of pain every step of the way.

While the boy had learned how to ride a horse several times, he was very much an amateur still, unable to even match his rhythm to that of the horse. He very much preferred to use a carriage instead for traveling around or walking if his destination was near.

However the commotion in the city due to the outbreak of ghost possession prevents such a cumbersome mode of transportation.

But the ghost outbreak very much prevents that. It was midnight, and the city was abuzz with activity. Curious citizens came out of their houses to gossips with someone nearby, eager to know what happened.

At this time of the night, the streets that should have been vacant on any other day were filled with pedestrians, hindering the mobility of horse-drawn carriages through the city. In a time of emergency like this, speed is very much the priority. The boy grimaced, resigned to endure the battering against his groin.

Racing through the lantern-lit city street, they saw their first sight of the ghost possession.

In the intersection between the main street and one of the side streets, a mass of people congregated in the open space, leaving no room for anyone to proceed without pushing aside others.

Slowing as they reached the outer edge of the incident site, the messenger began to shout at the human wall blocking the way. "Make way, make way. Make way for the exorcist."

Evacuating from the horse path, the surrounding citizens murmured among themselves as they noticed the exorcist who was trying to pass.

"Young master Lu?"

"Eh, that's young master Lu?"

"Whoa, it's truly young master Lu!"

A multitude of reactions spread among the masses. This close to his uncle's manor, many people recognize his face. His frequent walks and shopping he had done as he accompanied his auntie shopping for some household necessities made him a familiar face among the local populace.

Feeling a bit embarrassed at the increased attention, the young boy returned his focus back to the situation of the incident.

Encircled by a thick human wall that tried to watch the situation, around a dozen uniformed guards and a handful of civilians stood around the possessed victims.

The guards wield a polearm with a two-pronged fork with blunted tips, a standard issued tool for an incident like this. On the other hand, the civilians held various types of blunt tools that they could have their hands on, be it wooden poles, broomsticks, or even oars.

Bathed beneath the light of an almost full moon, numerous lanterns that hand from the surrounding building, and even a few torches held by the peanut gallery, the garrison guards and the handful of civilians stand aside in vigil.

In the middle of the intersection, the victim of possession writhed against the hold of an adept cultivator. The bearded victim's torso spasmed, sending its limb swinging like a wet noodle, the limbs incapacitated. Circling each limb like a bracelet, four sheets of smoking talisman stuck on the victim's skin, working its magic to immobilize the ghost.

Big brother Zuo-Zhu, the young boy identified the cultivator. The handsome visage of the familiar cultivator was grimaced. His lips mouthed something at the possessed victims, his voice drowned by the cacophony of sounds around the intersection.

But alas, the victims heard nothing of it, the ghost having taken over all conscious control and sense of the victim's body.

There was a crazed look in the victim's bloodshot eyes. The bearded man fought against its magical binding, shrieking, shouting, and screaming his throat out, utilizing every muscle remaining in his control now that his limbs were incapacitated.

And that includes the facial muscles. The victim's mouth foamed, his teeth gnashing at the cultivator behind him. His cheek muscles were pulled taut as his forehead creased and frowned. A myriad of facial expressions flitted across his face, familiar yet alien as the ghost worked its vessel of all the remaining muscles.

Facing the two a few feet apart was a middle-aged exorcist. He was dressed in an exorcist ceremonial garb, donning a red headpiece and a red outer robe with wide navy-colored cuff, hem, and collar. Unlike Big Brother Zuo-Zhu's robe's solid black and white color that was devoid of any ornamentation, the middle-aged exorcist's garb was rich in pattern, imagery, and symbolism.

With the victim immobilized and held by the cultivator, the exorcist was free to enact his ritual. Pouring colored sands into a mandala, the exorcist created a binding spell ritual. In his right hand was a Vajra, the golden ribbed mace swung with a rhythm of his muttered sutra as his other hands moved through mudras after mudras. Influenced by the sequence of hand signs, the surrounding qi moved to adhere to the exorcist's design.

As the sand that he poured on the paved streets completed its circuit around the victim's body, a semi-translucent barrier manifested itself from the sand mandala. At the barrier appearance, the possessed victim's struggle waned, the potent barrier spell weakening the ghost.

Seeing that the exorcist had the situation under control, the young boy turned his head to the messenger. "It seems that the situation here is under control, messenger Wu. Please lead us to the next location."

"At once, young master Lu."

Skirting around the perimeter of the site, the pair of horses parted the wall of bodies once again, moving farther towards the outskirts of the city.

With only around eight exorcists that operated in this city, the outbreaks of more than a dozen ghost possessions meant that more victims needed exorcist interference than the number of available exorcists.

The party departed at once, racing through the city once again. Passing through several major intersections, the party arrived at the next site.

It was a plaza just before the western gate of the city. Compared to the intersection, the broader open space allowed the bystander to spread around more, making the walls of bodies thinner than the previous site.

Passing through the parted path, the boy watched as the plaza was exposed. After galloping through the main street westward, now they stood on the eastern side of the western plaza, the towering western gate and city wall blocking the horizon across the plaza.

In the plaza, the guardsmen are busy at work. Holding the victim in place, they prodded at the possessed young lady with their blunted polearms. Without the presence of an exorcist on hand, the guards were careful at confining the victim in the plaza.

Without the assistance of the binding talisman of exorcists, immobilizing a possessed individual was very much inadvisable. The moment the ghosts realized that they had no chance to escape the physical binding they were trapped in, they would escape the bodies and fly toward their next victims.

In the best-case scenario, the fleeing ghost would latch onto someone in the peanut gallery. The reason the guards were letting the civilians form an encirclement around them was for this scenario. As long as they didn't disturb the guards on duty, the guards would let the unwitting civilians get their share of entertainment.

On the other hand, there was no guarantee that the ghost would latch onto the surrounding civilians. Instead, it could fly across the city to possess an unwitting victim. Not only would the guards need to locate the new victims, but they would also need to mobilize an adequate amount of guards to corralled the victim into a suitable area and confine it there, waiting for an exorcist to arrive.

With his vantage point atop the horse, the young boy observed the whole situation.

A captain with salt and pepper hair orchestrated his men. This close to the city gates, there were more than adequate numbers of guards than before. There was no need to involve civilians' help.

While the guards were a little bit overwhelmed with containing the victim, the groups moved with a sense of unison between them. Whenever the ghost rushed in a particular direction, the neighboring personnel came and supported the attacked side.

With the help of their allies, the guardsmen were able to push the victim back into the middle of the plaza. While the ghost was able to exert a greater strength than what the vessel should be capable of, it was still limited by it. As long as the guards didn't let the possessed victim get near the edge of the encirclement, the possessed victim wouldn't be able to leap over the human wall and escape into the city.

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Every once in a while, the middle-aged captain of the guards will order several of his men to advance at the victim. Thrusting their forked polearms, they caught the victim's limb with the space between the prongs. Holding the victim in place for a little while, the guards's efforts let their comrades rest while the possessed woman was contained.

Though the respite was much needed, it was not for long, lest they gave the ghost a reason to escape the body and flee across the town.

But still, the captain's experience came through here, knowing when to order his men to immobilize the victim with their custom-made polearm, and also know when to let go.

With the directives of the experienced guard captain, the group moved with purpose. Yet, while the group was capable enough to contain the victim, hints of exhaustion had appeared in each of the guardsmen's body language.

Finishing his observation, the young boy unmounted from his horse with the help of his rider. His hips were sore, yet he endured the pain and walked up to the commanding officer.

The boy waited for a lull in the action before he addressed the gray-haired captain. "Captain," the called with a firm voice.

Hearing the call, the man turned his head at the boy's direction. "What? What is it, kid?" the captain snapped at the young boy.

"I'm exorcist Lu Te-Nang, here to answer the city lord's Chu request to quell this ghost possession outbreak," Te-Nang announced. His back was straight, and his hands were held in front of his chest covered by the long sleeves of his ceremonial garb.

Processing the words of the young boy, a vein popped at the middle-aged captain's temple. His gauntleted hands tensed, forming a fist. The wide frame of the captain moved to face the young boy, irritation clear in the captain's posture. "Kid. Can't you see that I'm busy here? There was an innocent woman here, being possessed by a fucking ghost. She's a victim, and all we can do is hit and battered her frail body while we wait for an exorcist to release us from this fucking disaster. And you want to play acting with your expensive costume? Fuck off! I have no time to entertain you silk pants."

The boy's eyes widen, taken aback by the captain's hostility.

Finding no objection from the surprised boy, he returned his gaze to the unfolding situation. Even that small amount of distraction has worsened the situation. Without the senior officer's timely instruction and directive, the groups are unable to muster a united front against the enraged ghost.

Analyzing the situation in an instant, the captain barked orders after orders to his men.

The boy frowned at the captain's disregard for his presence. Beside talking him down and looking straight the the boy's eyes, the captain paid no mind at all to the boy's entourage. He didn't even notice the messenger's presence, his outfit signifying his position as the city lord's retinue.

The young boy sensed messenger Wu moved to talk back to the captain, but the young exorcist halted the messenger. "Let him be," the young exorcist ordered.

"But young master-," the man protested. Seeing the boy pay him no more attention, dismissing him, the messenger relented and stayed silent.

The boy was irritated. Both at the disrespect of the captains, and both at his inability to correct the man. The middle-aged captain was stressed, and he had to exert his all to contain the ghost. The man needed an exorcist to lighten his burden, yet he couldn't even spare a bit of his focus to greet his savior. It was ironic. The boy couldn't help but chuckle at the captain's expense.

It was very easy indeed, to ask someone the boy knew to teach the captain of the mistake he had just committed. Even messenger Wu was about to inform him of it, the fact that he had unknowingly interfered with an exorcist employed by the city lord to quell the ghastly outbreak.

While his accumulated experience from long hours in the dreamscape has helped him develop a decision-making skill beyond his age, his lack of life experience doesn't help him much in regards to emotional development.

The boy could even punish the guard himself by abandoning this place, consigning the guards to a more prolonged battle to contain the ghost.

He was irritated. After the disrespect at him, even the city lord would understand his decision if he were to abandon this site. He was a child still, and having his emotion clouding his judgment is something that the city-lord could excuse. Especially if that means that he could curry favors from an influential exorcist and his prodigal protégé.

Or I could convince them with my own skill, the boy thought.

While he could be excused for abandoning this site, it doesn't make it the right decision.

He was here in the capacity of his uncle's replacement, and doing something rash due to emotional outbursts would reflect back on his uncle. Not to mention, as this was his debut as a qualified exorcist, he very much wanted to make his accomplishment as flawless as possible.

And letting emotion ruin his flawless debut, be it the captain's tension or his own frustration, is very much against his desire.

Besides, the boy felt that letting messenger Wu accost the captain was a mistake. The man was stressed, and confronting him about something that he had made a decision about and thrown out of his mind would only make him double down on his stance, worsening the situation.

The man was only doing his job. In his stressed mind, saving the victim is a higher priority than talking with a kid. Te-Nang could respect that.

If the captain thought that I'm here to play, then I'll show him how I play, the boy decided.

Unfasting the straps of his backpack, began to plan his action. Even without the captain's and his men's help, the boy could still do several things to weaken the ghost.

The captain was stressed, and doing something that interfered with his men's mobility was out of the question. That meant that he couldn't approach the victim.

A sealing mandala like what the middle-aged exorcist formed was out of the question. While it was strong, it needed a lot of colored sand for such a small circumference. He needed a method that still works even from a long range.

Besides, relying on a sand mandala in the open air was not something he thought wise. While it was one of the strongest forms of binding ritual, the fact that a strong enough gust of wind could break its circuit formation made it unsuitable for outdoor use.

Putting the backpack on the plaza's pavement, the boy took a set of five incense sticks and its holder. The five sticks are of different colors; made out of ingredients infused with the five elements.

Surveying the plaza he began to orient his sense of direction.

Like all major cities in the empire, the Blazing Cloud City had four city gates in the cardinal direction. They were at the western gates, the square-shaped plaza nestled right against the gate and city wall.

Craning his head around the encircling human wall, the boy began to pinpoint the location to place his five incense. A perfect pentagon. That's what he was aiming to create.

Retying his backpack, he looked at Messenger Wu. "Please hold my backpack and follow me. My rider will take care of the horse."

Taken aback by the sudden request, the messenger nodded.

Leading the bag-carrying messenger, they took off towards the northern side of the plaza. The pair skirted around the circle of bystanders.

Stopping at his desired location, the boy placed an incense holder on the pavement and placed the black incense inside. Performing a quick sequence of mudra with its accompanying sutra, the boy lit the incense stick. A billowing black smoke cascaded down, refusing to rise into the air like normal smoke. Infused with water elemental, the black smoke pooled on the ground of the plaza.

Numerous bystanders exclaimed in surprise. They shifted their legs around the smoke, wary of the pooling black smoke.

Satisfied with his job, the boy departed to the next location.

Behind him, he could hear the faint voice of messenger Wu telling the bystander off. "Don't you dare mess with the incense!"

With a brisk pace, the boy placed each of the colored incense around the plaza. The clockwise circuit brought the boy back near his rider, where he placed the last incense, a white incense of the metal element.

By the time the boy reached the last place to put his incense, the murmur of the surrounding bystanders had reached a higher level. This far from his uncle's manor, not many people were familiar with his face.

They don't know of his status as the nephew and protégé of the famous exorcist Lu Li-Qin. While his garb drew numerous discussions his way among the citizens, they dared not disturb him, hopeful that the young exorcist was a real deal.

Even while the peanut gallery was abuzz with excitement and relief at the young exorcist's appearance, the guards were still focused on their task. Under the captain's lead, the guards worked with utter focus.

The moment the boy lit the last incense sticks, the white smoke billowed harsher than the previous four. As if blown by nonexistent wind, the metal-infused smoke flowed northward towards the black incense.

From the southeastern part of the plaza, the earth elemental smoke of the yellow incense approached the white incense by his feet. In synchronicity, the smoke of the five incense reached their neighboring incense.

As if summoned by the union of the five elements, gray lightning emerged among the smoke. A ring of colorful smoke transformed into a penta-colored thundercloud. The surrounding qi roiled more and more arcs of gray lightning generated from the generative cycle of the five elements.

If the guards didn't notice the anomalous smoke before, then they did now. But despite their agitation and growing excitement, the magical anomaly doesn't stop them from executing their orders.

As if energized by the gray lightning's presence, the incense smoke production accelerated. The excess smoke swirled, shooting a tendril across the plaza. The five-colored smoke raced among the legs of the guards. From incense to incense. From water to fire, and then to metal, to wood, and to earth before returning to water. A destructive cycle of the five elements.

It all happened in an instant, the mandala completed before the ghost even realized what had happened. The moment the destructive cycle was completed, the possessed ghost dropped into the ground, like a puppet with its string cut.

Seeing the victim immobilized, a collective sigh of relief was exhaled by the guards. Their shoulder relaxed, released from the tension it had been under all these times.

In the corner of the boy's eyes, he can see the middle-aged captain turning to look at the kid he had dismissed. His expression was conflicted. A smug satisfaction rises inside of the boy, an urge to brag threatening the tight control of his emotion, lest it ruins his attempt at looking aloof.

But before that could happen, a clear voice cut through the cacophony of the plaza. "Good job, little Nang."

At the familiar voice, Te-nang whirled in surprise. The boy watched as adept cultivator Shan Zuo-Zhu approached them.

"Big brother Zuo-Zhu! I didn't expect you to be here. Does that mean that your previous ghost has been caught already?"

"Indeed. Exorcist Cheng is done with suppressing the ghost inside the dreamscape. He was just cleaning up now before moving on to another incident site."

Hearing the cultivator's explanation, the boy felt relieved. While it was expected of him as an exorcist to be able to operate on his own, the fact that he could have big brother Zuo-Zhu backing him up was reassuring. It added a layer of security for him screwing up.

Not that he was intending to screw up, of course. But backup support was much appreciated.

While the boy could rely on the guard captain and his men now that he had shown them his legitimacy as a real exorcist, he preferred a familiar face more.

"You're here to back me up, then? Hehe. Please take care of me, big brother Zuo-Zhu."

"Yes, yes, you little rascal," the cultivator followed along, exasperated at the boy. "Now hurry along. The incense was burning up."

The cultivator was right. Turning around to look at the plaza, the boy noticed that a fifth of the incense length was already burnt up in this short amount of time. While the incense mandala was stronger than the sand mandala that exorcist Cheng used, it lasted far shorter.

But under the conditions that he was on, it was more than enough to suit his goal. Not only has he demonstrated his legitimacy to the guard captain, but he has also done it in a manner that allowed no objection to its results.

Locating the messenger that was carrying his backpack for him, the boy accosted the impromptu bag-bearer to retrieve his backpack.

With his supplies in hand, the boy strode to the incapacitated victim.

Placing his bag on the ground, the boy took out a roll of leather. He unfurled it, placing the treated leather on the pavement. The inside of the roll was lined with a sterile white lining made out of stiff material.

It was a mobile workstation. The platform was four feet long by three feet wide. While he must content himself with working on the ground, the ease of carrying thanks to its light weight and ability to be rolled was much appreciated, not to mention its more than adequate dimension.

Kneeling on the plaza, the boy took out all the supplies that he needed and put them on the platform. A stack of talisman paper, several small bottles of ink, a spirit core, several inkbrushes, and a pair of hollow needles with a rubber sack on its other end.

Taking four sheets out of the paper talisman stacks, the boy placed them on the workstation. He then reached over to take a small ink bottle and the spirit core.

Opening the cap of the ink bottle, Te-Nang placed it on the platform. He then took a space paper talisman and shaped it like a cone, forming a makeshift funnel, and then placed it on the mouth of the ink bottle.

Done with that, the boy performed a series of hand seals with one hand, the other hand forming a fist over the spirit core. The mudras help him impart his intent upon the qi contained in the spirit core.

Done with the ritual, the boy crushed the core in his fist. Primed by the ritual, the core shattered into uniform fine dust, eager to perform its imparted function.

Moving his hand over the ink bottle, the boy poured the sparkling dust over the funnel into the ink bottle. The reaction was instant, the pitch-black ink began glowing a soft yellow while also producing an opalescent aurora.

While the magical glamour was beautiful, it leaked the magical potential of the ink. That's why all exorcist must concoct their ink on the field, otherwise, the ink would lose too much magical potency to cast any spell, let alone contesting against the ghost's struggle against its binding.

Taking out the makeshift funnel, the boy dipped an ink brush into the activated ink. His hand glides over the talisman paper, his movement practiced as he completes the four sets of binding talismans. Unlike the regular strokes of the empire's official script, the glyphs of the talisman are much more irregular. More ancient.

Taking the completed talisman, the boy offered it to his right despite no one there. But sure enough, someone stepped up to take the talisman out of the boy's hand. All this time, Zuo-Zhu was just outside of the boy's sight, standing still so as not to disturb Te-Nang's concentration.

"Fast one, aren't you?" complimented the adept.

"Thanks," the boy flushed at the compliment. Schooling his expression, the boy took one of the hollow needles. He then offered the tool to the cultivator. "Please take her blood for me, big brother."

"Sure," the cultivator accepted.

Watching the retreating back of his big brother Zuo-Zhu, the boy exhaled a sigh of relief. While the start of his debut was a bit rocky, now with the cultivator by his side, the young exorcist has nothing to worry about.

His uncle had trained him to the best of his ability, preparing him to be a great exorcist. Even though there were still more victims waiting for an exorcist to save them, the boy was certain that the ghost outbreak would be quelled without further incident.