Chapter 39: Painting Talismans

  Fifteen moves of ghostly technique, mastering one move is also incredibly powerful. I happily said that even one move would be good, but which one should I learn? Zhong Ling'er told me to choose myself, and I looked at her in surprise, asking: "Can you really master all these techniques?" Zhong Ling'er replied calmly: "I have a rough understanding of them." I was shocked and asked her how she came to understand so many things. She didn't answer directly but instead explained to me: "These fifteen moves of ghostly technique are extremely evil, so you can't learn too many."

  So it was like this.

  I said, since you understand these fifteen ghostly moves, why are you still afraid of not being able to subdue the Water Saint? Zhong Ling'er said that in fact, she only knew how to use these fifteen ghostly moves, but didn't know if they were effective or not, because she had never tried them before. So, she could teach me one move and try it out. I asked her how she knew about these fifteen moves, and Zhong Ling'er told me the truth. It turned out that a few years ago, a Taoist priest visited their home and was very fond of her. Zhong Ling'er had unintentionally seen a handwritten copy of the moves, which piqued her interest. The Taoist priest asked if she wanted to learn them, but she didn't want to at first. However, for some reason, she nodded her head. The Taoist priest was overjoyed and taught her all fifteen moves, but before she could fully master them, Li Shenniang found out. Li Shenniang was furious, scolding Zhong Ling'er severely and chasing the Taoist priest away. Since then, Zhong Ling'er had never seen that Taoist priest again.

  It turned out that there was a master who had passed it down, so these fifteen ghostly moves must be real. I was extremely excited and eagerly asked Zhong Ling'er to teach me quickly. However, Zhong Ling'er said: "Before I teach you, you honestly answer me one question." I asked her what the question was, and she stared at me and asked: "You and your friend, who is the witch doctor?"

  I was stunned for a while, and asked her why she asked this, and how did she know that one of us is a witch doctor, do we have a halo of witch doctors shining on our bodies?

  Zhong Ling'er said: "Just answer who it is."

  I said neither of us is.

  "Really?" Zhong Ling'er clearly didn't believe me. I said, "Stop stalling and teach me the ghost technique quickly, before Shui Shengzi arrives, we also have a winning move, otherwise our lives won't be spared." Zhong Ling'er slowly said: "If you're not honest with me, I won't be able to teach you, this ghost technique is extremely evil, if there's even a slight mistake, it will lead to disaster and bring calamity upon yourself."

  I really can't take her nonsense anymore. I said okay, I'll tell you the truth, I'm not a witch doctor, my friend isn't either, I just have yin-yang eyes that can see ghosts.

  "It's indeed the case." Zhong Ling'er asked again, "Where did your Yin-Yang eyes come from?" I said I didn't know, since I married Wu Lele in the underworld, I could see ghosts. Zhong Ling'er seemed to be thinking deeply and said that Wu Lele was already dead, but after marrying me in the underworld, he came back to life. Li Shenpo was also very surprised by this matter, but before she could investigate further, something unexpected happened.

  I was stunned, had Wu Lele really died? Then how did she come back to life? Was it after sleeping with this extraordinary and unique person that she walked back from the underworld?

  A bit of a fantasy flavor.

  "Maybe Wu Lele isn't dead," I ventured: "Could it be that your mother misjudged?" But Wu Lele firmly said that her mother would never make a mistake. I didn't want to dwell on this matter anymore, so I said let's drop it and not bother with Wu Lele, let's talk about our own business instead. When are you going to teach me the ghostly arts? Zhong Ling'er told me to choose one move myself.

  I took out the book and read through the 15 Ghost Summoning Techniques again. Zhong Ling'er said that these techniques were extremely evil because they required blood, but there was one technique that didn't require blood - the third technique, "Ghost Taming Technique". This technique used a spirit symbol to restrain the ghost's soul and make it serve me. I thought, why kill ghosts when I could capture them? I've heard that many people keep small ghosts as pets, like those wealthy tycoons and celebrities. Once they have a small ghost, they become rich and famous overnight. Although I don't plan on keeping a small ghost as a pet, if I can subdue one and make it listen to my commands, wouldn't that be even more satisfying than killing it?

  Then I said I want to learn how to tame ghosts.

  Zhong Ling'er agreed, so I'll learn this move. This move's prop is a spirit symbol, so I have to first learn how to draw the symbol.

  Drawing symbols follows a certain procedure and cannot be simplified or done out of order.

  From a general perspective, all Taoist rituals require the setting up of an altar and the holding of sacrificial rites. This is especially true for Daoist priests, who have what is known as the "General Altar Ritual". The General Altar Ritual involves the recitation of incantations invoking the gods typically worshipped by Daoists - these include the Earth God, the City God, the Eastern Green Emperor, the Southern Red Emperor, the Western White Emperor, the Northern Black Emperor, the Vermilion Bird General, the Dark Warrior General and the Black Killer General.

  There are also those that do not set up a "general altar" or build an altar, such as the "Qingxianji Fa".

  Before drawing the talisman, one must first purify their mind — gather their spirits, be sincere and genuine, eliminate distracting thoughts, focus their thinking, as well as purify their body, face, hands, and mouth. They must also prepare offerings of fruit, millet wine, incense, etc., and have ready writing instruments, cinnabar, yellow paper, etc. For these items, the Daoist first uses a divine spell to command them, so that they possess spiritual power.

  The divine incantation is divided into five types: pen incantation, water incantation, inkstone incantation, ink incantation and cinnabar incantation.

  Before drawing the talisman, incense must be lit and a kneeling bow made to inform heaven and earth and the spirits of the matter about to be prayed for. After the announcement is finished, take out paper and ink or cinnabar, sit up straight with your clothes properly adjusted, concentrate your thoughts and control your breath, then with one effort draw out the talisman you want to draw, without any interruptions or pauses in the middle. When drawing the talisman, blow air into it at the same time, and also chant softly while drawing. Moreover, the left hand not holding the brush must make the necessary gestures of the sun seal, moon seal, heavenly net seal, etc., used when writing talismans.

  The materials used to draw talismans are generally specified; talismans must be drawn with ink or cinnabar, with cinnabar being the most common. The reason for the frequent use of cinnabar is that ancient people believed it had a calming effect on evil spirits. The medium used for talismans is mostly peach wood boards, because in ancient times it was believed that peach wood had a very strong power to drive away evil spirits. Next are cedar wood boards, jujube wood boards, stone blocks, bricks and yellow paper. In addition, the use of cloth and silk threads is also very common.

  Zhong Ling'er spoke like a lecturer, talking non-stop. I listened in a daze, afraid that if she continued, the sky would darken. So I interrupted her and said: "In movies, aren't Taoist priests just biting their fingers to draw talismans on yellow paper? Why so many tricks?"

  "Movies are movies, reality is reality. Movies have exaggerated plots, how can they be compared to reality?" I interrupted her words, Zhong Ling'er was very dissatisfied with me, and I was worried that she would not teach me because of this, so I seemed to have an epiphany and said: "I see, I see..."

  Zhong Ling'er said, "Of course, there are also a few special methods of drawing talismans. One is the tongue-tip writing method. The tongue-tip writing method is different from brush writing. Brush writing uses a brush to write, while tongue writing uses the tongue as a pen to directly write. The reason for using the tongue-tip writing method is that the symbols written by the tongue tip have a very strong calming effect. Two is to use hand gestures to virtually draw and paint in mid-air. This symbol does not need to be drawn on any object, the key is the action of drawing the symbol, so the requirements for the action are extremely complex and strict. The purpose of this talisman is not long-term defense, but rather requires immediate effect in emergency situations, so the importance of the symbol body is far less than the action of drawing the symbol. Since the symbol body does not need to exist for a long time, it can be simply drawn with hand gestures in mid-air."

  This reminds me of the first move, Killing Ghost Skill. Isn't it just drawing a symbol in mid-air? He hastily said: "This method of drawing symbols is great, teach me this move."

  Zhong Ling'er said she also didn't know this move.

  So I had to use a pen to draw talisman on paper with cinnabar water.

  As shown by Zhong Ling'er, I first drew on white paper, and when I was familiar with it, I drew on yellow paper. I don't know how long I drew, but I finally found a feeling. Just as the sky was about to darken, Zhong Ling'er said that drawing talismans couldn't be learned in one day, so today would end here. After finishing speaking, she took out a talisman and handed it to me, saying: "You put this talisman on your body, if Shui Shengzi really comes, you can try using this talisman."

  I've been holding onto this talisman, but I'm really unhappy about it. I drew so many, and in the end, I still have to use yours. It's really frustrating!

  However, I was still worried and had to ask some questions. I said that the Water Saint's speed was extremely fast, and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to stick the talisman on him. Zhong Ling'er said: "That's why your speed has to be even faster than his, and it's not just about sticking the talisman on him, you also have to recite an incantation." She then taught me a Ghost-Controlling Incantation, telling me that I had to memorize it well, otherwise, having only the talisman would be useless. I said that this incantation was easy to remember, but the key was speed - the Water Saint was like an arrow, disappearing from sight in an instant, and there was no way to stick the talisman on him. Zhong Ling'er said: "In that case, you need to improve your speed and reaction ability." Then she looked outside and said: "Alright, it's dark now, you can go back."

  I let out a soft sigh, since it's already dark, why don't you stay for dinner?

  After thanking her, I put away the amulet and prepared to head home. Just as I reached the door, a gust of wind blew in, causing me to shiver involuntarily. Oh no, it's so cold!

  It's Yin Qi!