I do recall a video of him entertained by strippers. but surely him being able to not blink at all is a feat, no? any chance you will get to ask tua ya pek / di ya pek about this? haha

i recall 木吒宫 used to be at a different location. back then my father always bring me there whenever there's a festive. and i do recall a deity asking me if i dont believe him. could be ji gong / dato gong, but tbh i was very small at that age and that frightened me a lot. did not really visit the temple since my father passed back in 2009 so i dont have any information on their consultations. a bit of a non-believer myself haha but this thread has certainly piqued my interest.

On a separate note, I hope this is not a repetitive question as I'm still halfway through your thread.

1. what is the difference between a demon and a ghost in sintua context? Are demons once human too?

2. what is the role of sai gong in a funeral? From what I've seen, they seem to be channeling heavenly powers to... gather the soul? If so, why are these rituals usually commenced at night? Why not day time too?

I think in a way I have grown interest in this is because my grandma was a strong believer in sintua and she was very committed. I recall my father was a very strong believer too. According to my family members, my father built a very impressive altar for guanyin at my old house, which unfortunately is no longer there after we moved out and rented the house out.

I've asked my mother if I was sickly or prone to spiritual disturbance when I was small, and if that's the reason I was adopted by Guan Yin, and the response I got is "are you crazy? you where got sick?"    according to her, my father asked for me and my sisters to be adopted by Guan Yin, and that was how we were adopted. Are there cases like this?

I certainly appreciate you taking your time to share your knowledge in this. I might not have the commitment nor belief to be a religious sintua believer but I would like to understand my roots.