Chapter 9: Buddhist Rites

  A week after moving, Master helped with a little decoration at home and also bid farewell to my parents. This time, he brought me along. Under the guise of bringing me into the world for practice, to see the multitude of people and the hundred flavors of life. It was said that it was just a simple decoration, but it really was just a simple decoration. Master only took out an octagonal copper mirror from a rattan box and hung it in the middle of our house's main hall.

  "Will my Miao Miao be able to get married and have children in the future?" My mother asked again, a question she had already asked countless times. In her heart, I would grow up safely, find a job to make a living, get married, have children, and carry on the family line, only then would her life's mission be accomplished.

  "Heh heh, Auntie Lou. This young one is just following me to learn the way and cultivate himself. It's not that I want him to spend his days facing a solitary lamp, renouncing worldly life, or getting married and having children - those are all natural and proper things. The Taoist path is different from the Buddhist one; it's about going with the flow of nature. You and Brother Lou can rest easy now. Before I leave, there's one more thing I need to remind you both: no matter how you arrange the house in the future, remember two things: first, don't change the position of this mirror; second, don't place the bed facing the mirror. Both of you must remember this." The old master took a sip from his cup and spoke seriously to my parents.

  Only when I left home did I realize that I was nothing. Now I have this feeling, and sometimes I wonder if I'm crazy? I actually agreed to follow this old Taoist priest to learn some Taoist magic. With a 10-yuan note stuffed into my pocket by my mother, I followed Master with a somewhat listless attitude towards the train station. This 10 yuan was also secretly given to me by my mother without telling Master. In Master's words, from now on I would follow him and live a life of luxury, so why would I need money? But mothers are always mothers, and in their hearts, they never stop worrying about their children.

  At this time, if there was anyone who said to me, "Lóu Miāo Miāo, don't go, let's take a few days off and sign up for school together!" I would immediately abandon my master and turn back! However, until the day I boarded the bus with Master, no one came to say this to me. Everything in the world has its own destiny. From that day on, following Master to learn the Tao was also destined.

  The farther I am from home, the more downcast my mood becomes. All along the way, I sat silently on the hard wooden seat of the bus. The scenery outside the window, to be honest, has nothing to do with me. My master also knew that this was my first time traveling far away from home, and my mood wouldn't be good anyway. Along the way, he didn't bother me much, but when we stopped at a rest stop to use the restroom, he bought me a few pieces of candy and a 5-cent ice cream stick.

  "Are you taking your grandson out to play?" The bus is going somewhere, I don't know where, all I know is that when I was intently licking the ice pop, an old man squatting in the aisle of the bus was making small talk.

  "Take the apprentice out on errands." The master was outside and didn't say much. He just softly replied to that person with one sentence, then closed his eyes to cultivate his spirit.

  "Master, there's something I don't know if I should ask or not!" The old man saw that the master was somewhat interested in chatting and hesitated for a while before finally opening his mouth to ask.

  "What's going on?" The master heard this and slightly furrowed his brow, opening his eyes to look at the person.

  "Yesterday, an elderly relative passed away at home. According to the old man's will, he wanted to find a Taoist priest to perform rituals and chant scriptures! So, the village elders asked me to come out and receive the Taoist priest. However, nowadays these things are considered feudal superstition, and no one is willing to take on this task! It was our fate that we met you, Master Tao, in the car. If you're not busy, would you be able to help us fulfill the old man's lifelong wish? That would be a virtuous deed!" The old man was quite eloquent and quickly explained the situation clearly.

  The old man stretched out two fingers and continued: "As long as the Taoist priest is willing to help, the host family is willing to give 20 yuan in funeral expenses!"

  "Address!" The master heard 20 yuan and his eyes lit up with a hint of excitement, immediately asking. 20 yuan is equivalent to half a month's salary for my old man, no wonder the master was moved.

  "When the train reaches the terminal station, Master Dao will ask about Dahong Village. In front of the main house, there is a large jujube tree, easy to find. After getting off the bus, I'll return tonight and hand it over. Tomorrow, we'll wait for Master Dao's arrival." The old man said excitedly after seeing his master agree.

  The car drove until 8:30 in the evening before stopping. At that time, there were no highways or anything like that, and after driving for six hours on bumpy dirt roads, we had only traveled a little over a hundred miles, just entering the county next to my hometown. After getting out of the car, Master took me to check into an inn. After a simple wash-up, the two of us, master and apprentice, used the faucet's cold water to gnaw on two steamed buns for dinner.

  Back in the room, I lay on a creaky wooden bed and pondered. Cool water with steamed buns, is this what Master said would make me eat well and drink spicy? At this moment, I think he's just a big scammer. Meanwhile, I made up my mind that if it's still like this in the next few days, I'll use the 10 yuan my mom gave me to secretly take a bus back home.

  "Alright, today Master will take you to eat spicy and delicious food." The next day, early in the morning, Master washed himself with water and then changed into a half-new Taoist robe. He pulled me up from bed and said...

  Out of the hostel's gate and onto the street, Master found a familiar hand-pulled tractor. Yes, that kind with a long head. The diesel engine was exposed outside, puffing out black smoke. When busy, the engine would be installed on the tractor to transport goods and people. During idle times, people would dismantle the engine, make some adjustments, and use it to roast corn on the cob and other snacks as they wandered through the streets.

  "Going to Dahong Village, how much money!" After Master helped me get on the trailer behind the tractor and sat down, he began to discuss the price with the driver.

  "Da Hong Village? That's not close, Daoist, give me 2 yuan." The driver asked for 2 yuan as soon as he opened his mouth. Da Hong Village is in the suburbs of this county, about 15 kilometers away. With a hand-held tractor that travels at a speed of about 7 kilometers per hour, it will take two hours to get there.

  Master heard this and took out the 10 yuan that my mother had secretly stuffed into my pocket and handed it over. After the driver found the money, he put those crumpled tickets back into his own pocket, thus completely cutting off my retreat. And I was also wondering, how did this old man know about the money that my mother had secretly given me?

  Sitting in the tractor cart filled with straw, until my butt was almost numb. Finally arrived at the destination of this trip, Dahong Village! The tractor stopped at the village entrance, not because the driver was not particular, but because the dirt road leading into the village was too narrow. Narrow to the point where only two people could walk side by side carrying a load of manure, with small farmland plots on either side of the road. On this sweltering day, waves of heat carrying the scent of straw and mixed with the smell of cow dung and pig dung hit my face and body!

  Walking along the dirt road for a while, I saw a tall jujube tree in the distance. Under the jujube tree were several earth-brick houses. At this time, a group of men and women were sitting at the entrance of the earth house, wailing. They were just wailing, still some distance from loud crying.

  "The Daoist has arrived, the Daoist has arrived, everyone make way!" In that local dialect, please was called "jie de". As soon as he saw my master's majestic appearance, the old man from yesterday on the carriage immediately came out of the crowd to welcome us. On one hand, he respectfully led Master and me into the house, while on the other hand, he said something to those shouting men and women.

  The master's sleeves brushed against the hem of his robe, and with a hint of reserve, he followed the old man into the main hall. As for me, my heart was racing wildly, and I didn't dare step over the threshold. Why? Because there was a dead person inside the main hall. To be specific, on the right-hand side as you enter the main hall, there was a dead person. Dressed in a black suit, he lay motionless on the door plank. On his forehead, a small oil lamp had been lit, and with people coming and going, the flame flickered back and forth.

  "Come in, come in!" Master finally didn't let go of his thoughts, walked into the hall and sat down beside the dead body, beckoning me to come over.

  "What time did he pass away?" The master saw me hesitating and not wanting to enter the house, but didn't force me. Instead, he turned his head to ask the eldest son of the host family what time the old man had died.

  "The night before last, my father still ate two big bowls of dinner. Who would have thought that he would leave in the middle of the night? If it wasn't for my wife getting up to use the restroom and coming over to check on him, I wouldn't even know what time he passed away." The eldest son of the family said this as he began to sob. As the filial son cried, those aunts from next door who came over to help also started crying along with him. Of course, this was just a matter of courtesy and custom. To say that the deceased had anything worth grieving about would be untrue!

  "Was it the first half of the night or the second half?" The master asked, not caring about the host's sad mood at all!

  "Good grief! In the second half of the night, when my wife called me, the rooster had already crowed twice!" Filial Son said to Master after a pause.

  "Later that night, which was yesterday. Here, is it three days to ascend the mountain or seven days to ascend the mountain?" The master asked again! Because local customs are different, some places have a funeral on the third day after death, while others have one only after seven days! In order to respect local customs and avoid making a fool of themselves, the master had to ask clearly.

  "Three days on the mountain!" The filial son hastily replied.

  "That's tomorrow then. Alright, let the filial sons go to sleep now!" The master picked up the tea cup beside him and took a sip, saying to the several filial sons standing beside him.

  "What? Sleep? Are you kidding me, Taoist?" The eldest of the filial sons was fed up. His father had just passed away and they hadn't even finished dealing with the aftermath, yet he was telling them to go to sleep?

  "You can stay up all night if you want, as long as you can endure it!" The old master said with a light tap on his robe. He was just kindly reminding them, whether they slept or not had nothing to do with him. Now the master's task was simply to wait until tonight to recite scriptures and offer sacrifices for the deceased, and then lead the deceased to rest in peace tomorrow, which would be a great accomplishment.