At first, I thought my master refused to deal with the zombie because he was holding a grudge against Sheng Yu Po, but I quickly realized that wasn't the case, as his expression was one of pain and complexity.
On the day I became his apprentice, he told me to do more good deeds. Now that many innocent villagers were suffering, his refusal to act seemed unjustifiable. Not long ago, he also told me not to hold grudges against women, and given his temperament, he would never ignore the villagers' requests just to spite Sheng Yu Po.
Suddenly, I remembered that his health was already poor, suffering from tuberculosis for over a decade. A few days ago, he had coughed up blood twice while trying to save me. Perhaps he really was too weak to help.
Shortly after, someone else came knocking, saying that mirrors, brooms, almanacs, glutinous rice, and other items had no effect, and the ink line couldn't stop the zombie. They pleaded with Mr. Zhou to intervene. The master said, "If you can't beat it, hide and lock the doors tightly. Apply glutinous rice to the wounds of those bitten to draw out the poison, then burn the wounds with mugwort. When dawn breaks, the zombie will flee to dark places. Follow it and surround it with dry firewood, pour some gasoline, and burn it."
The people seeking help were frustrated and angry, with some even cursing, calling my master a coward and other names. But the master refused to open the door. Seeing that I was getting impatient, he sighed and said, "I'm almost a useless person now, and you haven't finished learning your craft. For now, we won't get involved in anything, and we definitely won't hold grudges. Mastering skills is the real deal. Those with evil intentions will inevitably harm others and themselves."
Old Lin couldn't stand it anymore: "That old prostitute caused trouble and doesn't take responsibility, but you can't just stand by. I refuse to believe you can't deal with a single zombie!"
The master was very calm at this point, saying indifferently, "The situation is far more complicated than you think, and I have my own measures."
There were still people complaining outside the door, and I lost my temper, shouting, "Shut up! Yesterday, my master and I were surrounded by ruffians, did any of you step in to help? You can stand by and watch us die, so why should my master risk his life for you? Sheng Yu Po claims to have a divine spirit attached to her, so why don't you go ask her for help?"
After my outburst, no one dared to come and complain anymore.
What exactly was the master worried about? Suddenly, I thought of the dream with the blood mist enveloping the village and the words of the genius madman. Could there be a connection between all of this? The king is angry, the king wants to eat people.
I suddenly asked, "Master, what is 'the king'?"
The master gave me a strange look: "You're a teacher yourself, how can you not know?"
I recounted the strange dream from the morning two days ago and the words of the madman, and the master's expression grew even more somber: "Have you read 'Journey to the West'? Many spirits and monsters like to call themselves 'the king'; the minor gods and evil spirits in some dilapidated temples also like to be called 'the king'; every village of a certain size and age has a guardian spirit known as the 'Lord of Fortune' or 'the king'."
My mother looked terrified and asked, "Could it really be because we borrowed the bronze bell?"
The master immediately said, "Don't listen to Sheng Yu Po's nonsense, and don't take the words of a madman seriously. Borrowing the bronze bell is definitely not a problem, we'll talk about this tomorrow. Xuanming, if you can't sleep, I can give you a lesson."
I broke out in a sweat. With zombies chasing people all over the village, causing chaos, he actually had the mood to give me a lesson? With such a pressing need for time, could it be that he didn't have many days left to live?
The master asked, "Can you write with a brush?"
"I can. Our school offers calligraphy classes, and I won first prize in the school's soft brush competition." I was quite proud and also indicated my level of skill.
"Very good, very good!" The master nodded, visibly relieved. "Although drawing talismans is different from writing, holding the brush is the same. When drawing or writing, you need to have a clear plan in your mind, be fully focused, exert your strength through the paper, and complete it in one breath. With this foundation, you'll have no problem with talisman drawing. The main things are the hand seals, steps, incantations, and binding the evil spirits. Before learning to draw talismans, let's talk about the preparations. Talisman drawing has 'ten taboos and eight precepts' and 'three-five forbidden methods.'"
I couldn't help but interrupt him: "Master, didn't you say that as long as the spiritual power is strong enough, even farting can scare away the demons, and drawing a few strokes can subdue dragons and tigers?"
The master paused for a moment and immediately tried to justify himself: "What I meant is that a person with high attainment can improvise with simple talismans and incantations, like someone with a hundred-jin strength can easily lift ten jin, and someone with a thousand-jin strength can easily lift a hundred jin. Now, you don't have a high level of attainment, so even the simplest talisman must be drawn carefully, and no steps can be skipped."
I was speechless. A master has the privilege of saying that something is round if it's round, and square if it's square.
Then the master taught me about the precepts, the 'ten taboos' being not to be avaricious, to not desecrate the gods, to not kill without cause, to not be addicted to alcohol and women, etc.; and the 'eight precepts' being to avoid drawing talismans during menstruation, to not be tempted by beauty, to not use talisman drawing as an excuse for immoral behavior, and to not draw talismans for evil people.
The master said, "These taboos have been passed down through generations and always have some reasoning behind them. Let's continue with the previous topic. For some common talismans, such as those for stopping bleeding, dissolving bone splinters, and relieving pain, as long as you concentrate and draw them, they will be effective, even if a person with high attainment draws them in the air. For more advanced talismans, such as those for summoning spirits, dispelling evil, and controlling plagues, before drawing them, one must fast, bathe, cleanse the mouth, prepare offerings, burn incense, pray, and recite purification spells for the body, brush, and paper. When drawing talismans, one must focus their thoughts and energy, recite incantations, step in the pattern of the Big Dipper, and coordinate with the left hand forming seals. After drawing, one must 'bind the evil spirits', which means reciting the appropriate spells for the talisman, and this cannot be done haphazardly. 'A blade without steel is not sharp, a talisman without evil spirits is not effective.' As for even more advanced talismans."
The master stopped there, remaining silent for a long time. I asked, "What about even more advanced talismans?"
"Even more advanced talismans require the spirit of a ghost or god to possess the body. However, such talismans are mostly lost, and I can't teach you them. Let's not talk about them."
I had been learning modern knowledge and had an unconscious skepticism towards these mystical things. I couldn't help but ask, "Why is it so complicated to draw advanced talismans? What is the working principle of talismans? I mean, is there any scientific basis?"
The master shook his head and sighed with a wry smile: "In the past, it really wasn't allowed to doubt these things, and it was also impossible to explain. However, I can try to explain it now. Modern science has already proven the existence of things like magnetic fields, force fields, and energy fields, some of which are beneficial to the human body and some harmful. The effect of talismans is to fix the spiritual power of the person drawing or the spiritual power of the heavens and earth on the talisman paper, forming a magnetic field or energy field. It's like a small-scale formation, concentrating, transforming, and amplifying spiritual energy, producing beneficial or harmful effects on people, or causing certain great changes."
I nodded to show I understood: "I see, many of the rules of talisman drawing are mainly to make people serious, respectful, and sincere, focusing their minds to produce positive energy."
"A pupil who can be taught!" The master laughed heartily, showing great satisfaction. "Talismans mostly belong to the Yang, which is the positive energy you mentioned. Women's menstrual blood and the like belong to the Yin, which is extremely filthy and carries a dying energy. If it gets on it, it might become ineffective, so it must be avoided. Also, most gods and spirits like honest and upright people, so to borrow divine power, one must be an honest and upright person, at least while drawing talismans."
After explaining the confusing rules and principles for a long time, we finally began the formal transmission of the craft, starting from the simplest "hemostasis talisman."
There are many types of hemostasis talismans, each different among various schools. Here, I'll only mention one that doesn't require brushes or cinnabar, is easy to learn, harmless, and can be used by everyone, suitable for daily use and travel: Concentrate your energy, use your right hand to form the sword seal on paper or cloth, and trace a complex character for 'horse' in the air. Recite the twelve terrestrial branches for each stroke of the complex 'horse' character. The complex 'horse' character has twelve strokes, and the twelve terrestrial branches—zi, chou, yin, mou, chen, si, wu, wei, shen, you, xu, shi, and hai—just happen to be recited by the time you finish. Then, facing yourself, recite the incantation: 'A drop of oil from the east, the 'horse' character seals the door, blood does not flow.' Then press it firmly onto the bleeding wound and shout 'Stop' loudly.
The village was noisy until almost dawn before it gradually quieted down. Throughout the night, I had been sitting in meditation practicing Qi, and when dawn broke, I completed my practice, only to surprisingly find a faint sensation of Qi in my Qihai acupoint. This greatly surprised me, as my master had said it would take at least a few months to feel the Qi. Could I be a prodigy?
The Yangyin Jue is different from most Taoist cultivation methods. Instead of circulating Qi through the meridians to open the Ren and Du channels, it circulates Qi through the twelve regular meridians. At the beginning of cultivation, one gathers their own essence and Qi at the Qihai acupoint with their mind, known as one's own life Qi. After accumulating a certain amount of this life Qi, one can use it as a source to gather Qi from outside the body. The Qi gathered from outside is impure and needs to be refined and purified within the body as it travels along the meridians, stored for later use.
Life Qi is rarely consumed during spellcasting and is hard to replenish. Using too much can directly harm the body or even shorten one's lifespan. The Qi used to perform various spells is external Qi, which can be quickly restored through meditation, taking tonics, or in emergencies, can be converted from life Qi, but external Qi cannot be converted into life Qi.
When I told my master about the sensation of Qi, he was very certain: "This is an illusion. Even if you are a genius, it would take more than a month to feel the Qi. It's impossible to feel it in just three days. Let's go for a walk outside."
"Alright, I guess I was too impatient and it was just an illusion. I followed him out. A crowd had already gathered at the neighbor's door, talking animatedly. Everyone's face was filled with fear, and they immediately fell silent and glared at me with hostile eyes, as if everything that happened last night was all my doing.
The master walked past them calmly: "What's the situation?"
The son of the reanimated corpse's victim, Xu Jianmao, was very angry that my master didn't help last night but dared not offend him. With red eyes and a hoarse voice, he said, "We couldn't catch up with it when it ran outside. We don't know where it went."
The master nodded and asked, "How many people were injured?"
"Probably six?" Xu Jianmao counted on his fingers, mostly elderly people who couldn't run fast.
"What should we do now, sir?" Xu Jianmao was on the verge of kneeling and kowtowing. His father had attacked and bitten people, and all the consequences would fall on him. If someone died from the zombie toxin, his troubles would be even greater.
My master said, "First of all, let me clarify that this incident is not because I didn't help, but because it shouldn't be my responsibility. Cough, cough… Your family is also a victim. Since you asked me, I can't not give you some advice: Now, go find it immediately. During the day, its abilities decrease, and it dares not appear under the sun. If you block it, you can burn it. If it's not solved during the day, there will be even bigger trouble tonight!"
Xu Jianmao agreed repeatedly and hurriedly called his relatives and friends to search, and asked the village leaders to mobilize the villagers for help. He wasn't an idiot; he understood the implied meaning behind my master's words. Without evidence, he couldn't accuse Sheng Yu Po, but applying pressure on her was definitely going to happen.
I followed my master out, and everywhere I saw groups of three or five people discussing animatedly. They were both afraid and hostile towards me, but there were also some of my master's relatives and "fans" who came up to ask for advice and told various rumors. It was said that during the reanimation, Sheng Yu Po suddenly fainted at home and was still lying in bed, looking quite ill. It seemed that she had failed to harm me and was suffering a counterattack.
My master didn't make any comments and led me towards the Fengtou Temple outside the village. As we reached the door, we saw about seven or eight elderly people screaming and rushing out from inside the temple.