Captain Zhang Junjie glared at Li Chengfeng, veins bulging at his temples. "These parents have been cheated enough! How dare you exploit their grief with this… *parlor trick*?" He jabbed a finger at the roosters and gourds. "We've used sonar, drones, thermal imaging—what can your *chicken feed* do that science can't?"
"Precisely this," Li Chengfeng replied calmly, arranging the ritual items.
Wang Jun sighed, suddenly noticing the youth's frayed collar and baby-smooth jaw. *Have I lost my mind, trusting a boy barely older than Xiaoming?*
"Rest assured," Li Chengfeng said, sensing the doubt. "If I fail, you owe me nothing."
Captain Zhang snorted but stayed rooted, arms crossed.
---
**The Ritual Begins**
Li Chengfeng placed the roosters by the water's edge. Strangely, the birds sat motionless, as if entranced. He lit **six sandalwood incenses** and burned two stacks of **spirit money**, murmuring incantations.
"Feeding chickens ghost cash now?" Zhang mocked.
The roosters suddenly **crowed in unison**—a synchronized, unnatural cry—and **bowed their heads**.
Gasps rippled through the crowd as the birds slumped dead, necks twisted.
**Cultural Note:**
- **Sacrificial Roosters (祭鸡)**: In folk rituals, live roosters act as psychopomps, their deaths signaling the spirits' acceptance of offerings.
Li Chengfeng ignored the panic. "Your sons' birth dates and hours. Now."
Wang Jun and Yang Dongming stammered out the **astrological particulars**. With a brush dipped in **cinnabar ink**—the color of blood and authority—Li Chengfeng scrawled the **birth horoscopes** onto yellow talisman paper.
**Thunder Seal Sigils** flared crimson as he burned the papers before the gourds.
"**Rise!**"
The gourds leapt into the water as if yanked by invisible strings.
---
**Defying Physics**
Against all logic, the gourds drifted **upstream**, cutting through ripples toward the reservoir's heart. Rescue boats halted mid-search, crews gaping.
"Impossible…" Zhang muttered, wiping sweat. "Wind's blowing east—they should be drifting *west*!"
The gourds halted abruptly, anchored despite churning waves.
Li Chengfeng turned to the parents. "You must leave. They won't surface while you watch."
Wang Jun clutched his wife's arm. "Why?"
"Would you want your child's last memory to be your tears?"
As the parents retreated, the gourds sank vertically—**straight down**, like stones.
Zhang waded into the shallows, radio crackling. "Divers! Follow those gourds!"
---
**Underwater Camera Footage (Later Recovered)**
The submerged gourds glowed faintly, trailing wisps of incense smoke through murky water. At **18 meters deep**, the camera lights revealed:
- Two small figures curled fetal-like in a submerged crevice, arms entwined.
- Silvery **carp** circling the bodies—an omen of souls lingering near water.
The gourds settled beside the boys, their hollow bellies filling slowly… with **black silt**.
---