My father was still speaking when Mr. Zhang, growing agitated, quipped suddenly, “All of you could not have possibly known how distressed I was when he brought up about the time of my fall! I was drunk when I fell off the building. But the fear had remained until today! This time when I stood on the second floor, my knees also softened like jelly and threatened to buckle! Brother Hai gave me a Taoist robe. He said that it would protect me from any harm if and when I had any contact with Fen’s soul. But I had cared not for this; I was worried and perturbed! I promptly asked Brother Hai again, ‘Do I need to tie something to myself? A safety harness or a rope maybe?’ Instead, Brother Hai just smiled, ‘No matter. I’m here with you. You will not be in danger even if you’re standing at the top of a 20-storey building!’ His carefree demeanor when he uttered the words spoke much of his confidence as if it was merely a walk in the park, yet I could not help feeling anxious!”

Mr. Lee jeered playfully at Mr. Zhang, pointing at my father, ‘Say, Mr. Zhang, you have a deity here to protect you! I would not even have twitched my eyebrows if I were to stand atop a 20-storey building with Brother Hai with me! Hahaha!” Having downed more than three rounds of wine, everyone was already close and intimate with one another by now. Mr. Lee was on the lookout for every chance to jab in jest at Mr. Zhang. Mr. Zhang replied dolefully at Mr. Lee, “That’s easy for you to say, Lee. Let’s see if you dare jump from the top of the second floor of a building, I’ll buy you lunch!” Mr. Lee, suddenly mumbling incomprehensibly, whimpered, “Err…” Mr. Zhang broke into a laugh at this, “Enough with the old men’s banter. We’re too old for such stunts! I would instead believe you if you were to say Shiyan has the courage of jumping from such height!” Both of them continued guffawing loudly.

Mr. Zhang then said again, “But this was hardly the end of it. The wait before making the jump is the most spine-chilling thing here! It was morning when I made the call to Brother Hai, yet he told me that I would only jump in the evening! None of you here could possibly imagine the torment of watching the clock tick!” Mr. Zhang cackled at himself. He raised and waved the empty wine flask and beckoned for a waiter who came at once and took the flask from him. Mr. Zhang then went on, “Still, without telling anyone else, I quietly fastened to myself a safety harness that evening. Having a security measure filled me with some ease at least. But still, when I stood at the top of the second storey that evening, the steel hook of the safety harness snapped! To make things worse, the safety harness snapped just when I was about to fall! I could feel cold sweat breaking over my back that instant! I was so close to wetting my pants! Still, the ordeal helped ease my prostate illness somehow! But when I was dropping, I noticed that I was gliding down like a falling leaf! The plunge had turned out to be thrilling!”

Just then, Aunt Fen shared a thoughtful look with my father. This had not gone unnoticed as Mr. Zhang gasped at the revelation, pointing incredulously at my father, “What! Could that be you…” My father snickered slyly and said, “Well, I did say that we need a true re-enactment of the incident, see… Heh heh heh.” Everyone erupted into chortles of laughter once more.

But no one other than me knew that it was one of my father’s mysterious enchantment, the Autumn’s Decline, that had slowed his fall so substantially that he descended like a weightless feather. The spell was designed for oneself to enchant his or herself during an unintended and precipitous fall. But my father was able to cast the enchantment upon others as well, a trick that he had used so masterfully. It was a displayed of his skills which level I could not possibly hope to match for I failed miserably to use it even on myself. Father has a vast plethora of techniques and magical spells but I was only interested in three: the Autumn’s Decline, which was an enchantment used to lighten one’s descend to the ground; the Moonlit Strider, an awesome discipline of movement techniques; and the Champion’s Bane, a skill that I have never set my eyes on. I was only interested in the Champion’s Bane technique because of its fearsome name.

Everyone gasped with amazement at the tale of my father’s display of his skill. Mr. Lee clinked his glass against my father’s and pestered, “Wow, Brother Hai, that is a very formidable skill. Come on, teach it to me please.” My father giggled in return and asked wryly, “What? Do you want to leap off a building yourself? There’s no guarantee that my enchantment will work every time. Do not come back to me if you die in your attempt, you know.” There was another burst of merry mirth. My father raised his arm suddenly, and everyone fell silent before he spoke again, “In truth, Mr. Zhang could not see Fen was around. Shiyan had unsealed his gourd and let out Fen’s soul. She looked around, looking lost and bewildered when she first reappeared. Noticing my cue, I made Mr. Zhang fall with my magic and Fen saw him. Seeing him in danger suddenly jolted her memory, and she swiftly rushed to him. It was then I knew that her memory had recovered and I enchanted Mr. Zhang so that he began gliding slowly to the ground.” Mr. Zhang let out a long “ohh”, finally realizing what had indeed happened.

My father waved off the stares of amazement from around the table and went on, “Later that night, Nie Xiaojun called me. At last, he had found a suitable person. Knowing that there was no certainty in the prediction of one’s time of death, I immediately went with Shiyan into the city. Dr. Nie was already waiting at a spot that we’d agreed to meet.” My father took another gulp from his glass and I continued for him, “Uncle Nie then explained to us the conditions of the dying patients that he’d shortlisted. Father nodded and replied curtly, saying, ‘Very well. Understood.’ Father then took out his phone and made a call. Into the mouthpiece of his phone he spoke in a deep and hollow voice, a voice so dark and sinister that I’d almost felt a chill, ‘Do you want to resurrect your daughter back to life? Meet me three hundred meters from the west of the hospital.’ Father immediately ended the call. He looked as if he had just spoken into thin air. He then beckoned to us, calling us to come and wait with him under a parasol tree. Not long afterward, I saw two people walking towards us with hurried footsteps, surveying the surroundings anxiously.

“When the pair had finally come within earshot, Father muttered, ‘Here.’ They walked over to us and Father said calmly to them, ‘Are you both the parents of Han Xue?’ They replied swiftly with a ‘Yes!’. ‘Your daughter is dead. You’ve just seen her with your own eyes. But I can resurrect her, with one condition…’ Father allowed his voice to trail off mysteriously, but the man interjected immediately, ‘What condition!?’ But Father had not even spoken when the man’s wife exclaimed, ‘Anything! If my daughter could be alive once more, I’ll do anything!’ Father nodded and said, ‘But you have to understand. There is but only one way to bring your daughter back to life, that is to revive her with the soul of somebody else’s. This would mean that the resurrected person would no longer possess your daughter’s consciousness and memory. “‘Still, I assure you that she will uphold her responsibilities as a daughter. But you will have to agree to the marriage of her own choosing, and you will give her your whole-hearted support. Please discuss my terms. I shall await your reply. But please, be quick, lest everything would be too late.’ Father then led us away from the couple to give them some space.

“Still rooted to the same spot where Father had left them, the parents of the dead patient whispered to themselves. Before long, the mother of the deceased patient came to my father and asked, ‘But what of the actual soul that belonged to my daughter? Will she be well in the afterlife?’ Father nodded to her, indicating towards me with an outstretched finger, ‘He will see to everything to make sure she will be well; from the journey into the Underworld to the arrangements with the Taoist Lord Lingwu (literally the Taoist Lord of Spiritual Valor).’ He indicated again towards Aunt Ling and her husband, explaining to the woman, ‘This couple will be handling the sacrificial offerings on all occasions and special dates. If you agree to my terms, I’ll need you to head back to the hospital. Tell the staff that you need to see your daughter for one last time and when you see your daughter, tell them that you’ve noticed your daughter’s hand moving and summon for a doctor quickly. Here’s my name card. Call me again immediately once your daughter has been rescued. I will have further instructions for you then.’ Father then came to me and asked for the Spirit Gourd which I took out and handed to him. He whispered to the calabash gourd and said, ‘You are now the daughter of your parents. Treat them well, lest retribution comes due. Not even I will be able to save you from danger then. Understood?’ There was a speedy reply coming from within the calabash gourd; the voice of a woman that said, ‘Thank you so much!’ Father handed the Spirit Gourd to me and mumbled, ‘Be quick and subtle. You must not be seen.’ I nodded and went after the husband and wife earlier into the hospital. When I reached the emergency room, I took a swig off a Cola can and slowly uncorked my Gourd. A tiny strand of green fumes rose from the neck of the Spirit Gourd, floating slowly into the emergency room where the doctors were trying frantically to work the magic of their own. I waited silently outside next, hearing the unmistakable and distinct gasps by the doctors inside, crying, ‘She’s up!’ I sniggered and turned to leave.” I rubbed my nose proudly and paused to let the moment sink in before I went on, “A few days later, Aunt Ling and her husband, Uncle Zhang, the patient’s parents along with my father and me ate together. Father left them some further instructions and cautioned them to keep the entire matter a secret.”

At long last, Aunt Fen spoke, “Even till today, there are still some matters which have been blurry to me. My father told me that when he first received the call from the Head Person, the caller ID on his phone clearly showed a phrase—’The man who will save your daughter’. Moreover, my mother, who was obviously not on the phone, could also hear the things that the Head Person had said to my father. His voice was echoing vaguely over and over again until she’d finally met him.”

Mr. Zhang listened to his wife retelling her accounts of the tale and chipped in, “One day after that, Brother Hai came and said to me, ‘I have come to play matchmaker. I’d hope that you can take Fen as your wife! For so many years she has loved you!’ I was so shocked when I heard him said this that I nearly leaped. Immediately I told him, ‘No! She’s just 19, and I’m a frail old man of 50! This is hardly appropriate!’ Brother Hai paced slowly around my office before he left, saying, ‘Ve-ry w-ell!’ Somehow I felt something was not right. Something wrong must be happening, my senses told me. One week later, I received a call from a nephew of mine, telling me that my brother was very ill on his deathbed and I had to come to see him, even if it was for the final time.”