Heavenly Xuan, Earthly Huang, the Six Qi of the Great Void. Morning attire imbued with spiritual essence, with divine tiger patterns in gold. The sky is my roof, the earth is my bed, the Five Sacred Mountains and rivers are my bridges; the mysterious movement of primal essence is my clothing.
I was born into a family of "Yin-Yang" Cultivators, specializing in the spiritual practices of exorcising souls and geomancy. Thus, from a young age, I was exposed to the art of drawing talismans, and I've read many ancient scriptures. My calligraphy, naturally, was second to none.
Now that I had officially embarked on the path of cultivation, I decided to simultaneously practice drawing Daoist talismans and learn some minor spells to deal with those who offended me. Every time I practiced, I could feel the vitality coming from my little "flag." Although my cultivation was still in the early stages of refining essence into Qi, unable to generate true Yuan (primal energy), I could still tap into some of the essence from the little flag.
As Baopuzi says: "Zheng Jun says that the talisman originates from the Old Lord, and they are all celestial writings. The Old Lord is able to communicate with the divine, and all talismans are bestowed by the divine." The so-called celestial writings refer to natural phenomena such as the rising and setting of the sun and moon, the movement of stars, and the occurrence of storms and lightning. Talismans are a kind of "script" created based on these natural phenomena and celestial patterns.
In the Huainanzi, it's written: "Ghosts fear peach wood. In ancient times, people used peach branches about the size of a finger, cut them in half, and wrote prayers to dispel disaster." These written prayers on the peach wood are considered the earliest form of "talisman records."
After that English class, I began to peruse a large number of books about Daoist talismans, but the results were minimal. I secretly spent my meager savings on high-quality yellow paper and cinnabar brushes, and I started drawing talismans based on the Huangting Dun Jia Yuan Shen Jing in class...
A knife is not sharp without steel, and a talisman is not effective without a killing intent. Drawing talismans is easy, but creating the right energy is difficult. When drawing a talisman, one must strictly follow the procedure, using various techniques and requirements. Also, while drawing, one must concentrate and infuse energy or divine intent to make the talisman effective.
My first talisman, a Liu Wu Liu Yi talisman, was said to be used to suppress fire. I drew it in class, and that night, I secretly went to the kitchen to test its power.
I opened the gas, lit a flame, and silently muttered "Fast!" as I tossed the talisman onto the fire.
Something strange happened.
When I threw the Liu Wu Liu Yi talisman into the flame, the gas flame was instantly suppressed and quickly extinguished.
Haha! I succeeded! I couldn't help but laugh out loud in joy.
"San Tong, what's going on with you?" Aunt San hurried into the kitchen when she heard my laughter and smelled the gas. She anxiously said, "Why did you open the gas? What's wrong with you?"
Oh no! The fire was extinguished, but in my excitement, I hadn't noticed the gas was still leaking. The talisman could suppress the flame, but not the gas! I had been too careless.
I chuckled, quickly turned off the gas, and ran out of the kitchen. Back in my room, I continued my talisman drawing.
I cleaned my hands and prepared the cinnabar brush.
Spreading out the yellow paper, I first recited the paper incantation: "The Northern Emperor orders this paper, to write talismans and exorcise evil spirits. Anyone who disobeys shall be dragged to the capital, as decreed by law!"
I then took up the cinnabar brush and recited the ink incantation: "I call upon the five Thunder Gods and the electric flashes of lightning, one to protect my life, another to bind ghosts and evil, all living and dead will be controlled by the Heavenly Way, I shall live forever, as decreed by law!"
With the brush in hand, I prepared to draw the talisman and muttered: "Heavenly garden, earthly place, the law of the nine chapters, now I strike the brush, all ghosts will be sealed away, as decreed by law!"
With concentration and focus, I drew the first talisman. As I drew, I recited, "Heavenly and Earthly Yin and Yang, the sun rises from the East, I decree this talisman, sweeping away all misfortune, as decreed by law!"
In one go, I completed over a hundred yellow paper talismans, including Feng Shui Lamps, Prison Break Talismans, Soul Collecting Talismans, Mountain Opening Talismans, Communication Talismans, Demon-Suppressing Talismans, Wealth-Seeking Talismans, Plague-Dispelling Talismans, Evil-Repelling Talismans, Karma Talismans, Child-Bearing Talismans, Protective Talismans, Five Thunder Talismans, etc.
Among these, I drew many Wealth-Seeking Talismans, and a few Karma Talismans and Child-Bearing Talismans. I mischievously planned to secretly give a Child-Bearing Talismans to Wu Xiaoman, wondering if it would work... Hehe, no food, skinny Buddha!
Though the small flag provided me with vital energy, I still felt exhausted after drawing the talismans. I put all the talismans in my backpack and continued my nightly practice.
Each night's practice left me feeling refreshed the next morning. When I went to school the next day, I couldn't resist my itch and glanced around the classroom to see which classmate I disliked most, to test out my Karma Talismans.
Wu Xiaoman noticed me taking out the yellow paper talismans and curiously asked, "What are these?"
"Treasure!" I replied, proudly.
"Go to hell, who are you calling treasure?" Wu Xiaoman glared at me in anger.
Whoosh!
The surrounding classmates all focused their attention on us. I sweated! I was referring to my talismans as treasures, not calling her my treasure, what was she getting angry about?
Unfazed by the curious glances of my classmates, I calmly muttered, "Bored!"
Wu Xiaoman's chest heaved in anger, and my heart skipped a beat. For the first time, I noticed how beautiful her chest was.
"You... pervert."
So I'm a pervert, big deal! Seriously, today's girls, I only looked at her a little longer, what's the big deal?
Suddenly, I felt an intense gaze burning into me. Looking up, I saw my cousin staring at me with a strange look. What was that about? I didn't do anything to Wu Xiaoman! It was so annoying!
I took out a talisman and said to Wu Xiaoman, "See, this is the treasure I was talking about."
Wu Xiaoman, curious, asked, "What treasure?"
"Good stuff, I usually don't tell anyone, haha!"
"It's just a few sheets of paper, what's so special about them? Really, I think you're the one who's boring!"
I glanced at Wu Xiaoman, then turned my attention back to the class to see if I could test my talisman on anyone.
Eventually, I fixed my gaze on a quiet and kind girl named Zhang Yu, who was delicate in appearance but always looked pale. I heard she had some illness.
The Plague-Dispelling Talismans, Evil-Repelling Talismans, and Protective Talismans should work for her, but how to give her the talismans became a problem. I looked at Zhang Yu and racked my brain for a solution.
Wu Xiaoman and Zhang Yu were close friends. Could I get Wu Xiaoman to pass the talisman to her? No, that's too difficult; Wu Xiaoman really dislikes me, it wouldn't work.
After thinking for a long time, I suddenly had a bold idea, and it made me grin with satisfaction.
Hehe! I smiled with confidence.