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The story takes place in an inn, where Mr. Su's son, Su Xiaoqiang, falls ill with a mysterious mental disorder. He behaves erratically, using foul language, breaking things, and becomes uncontrollable, causing everyone to stay away from him. Mr. Su hears of a sorcerer in a distant place who can cure illnesses with spells, so he sends someone to bring the sorcerer to the inn.
The sorcerer arrives at the inn and immediately recognizes the severity of Su Xiaoqiang's illness, which he believes to have taken root in the heart, beyond the reach of conventional medicine. He informs Mr. Su that a special method is required to heal the boy. The sorcerer constructs an altar in the living room, adorned with incense, paper money, and talismans. He asks Mr. Su and others to leave the room, emphasizing that they must not disturb him or try to see what he does. Mr. Su, though anxious, trusts in the sorcerer's abilities and leads everyone out of the living room.
At midnight, the sorcerer begins chanting incantations. He proceeds to extract Su Xiaoqiang's heart and hangs it from the eaves of the northern roof. The sorcerer aims to expel the malevolent forces from the boy's heart using his spells and then restore him. However, unbeknownst to the sorcerer, an emaciated dog, drawn by the scent of blood, sneaks in through a window and devours the heart while the sorcerer is engrossed in his incantations. Upon completing the ritual, the sorcerer discovers the missing heart and is overcome with fear. Desperate, he searches the floor with a knife, hoping to find the heart, but it is nowhere to be found. In a panic, the sorcerer rushes outside, intent on replacing the heart with another.
Meanwhile, Mr. Su and the others, unaware of what transpired inside the living room, assume the sorcerer is still performing his ritual. After some time, the sorcerer returns with a replacement heart. It turns out that he encountered a courier from a distant postal station ten miles away. These couriers would carry mail and shout "letters" to inform the next station of their approach. The sorcerer had killed the courier, taken his heart, and inserted it into the boy's abdomen. He wrapped the heart in a cloth, muttered some words, and the boy's wound closed.
Su Xiaoqiang wakes up, but he repeatedly utters "letters, letters," just as the deceased courier used to. His family is perplexed and thinks he is not fully cured. The sorcerer, however, claims that the cure was successful and that the boy needs some rest. While Mr. Su remains somewhat skeptical, he still thanks the sorcerer and provides him with a substantial sum of money. The sorcerer swiftly departs, fearing that the truth might be discovered. In the end, Su Xiaoqiang recovers his sanity, but occasionally, he still cries out "letters."