Chapter Fourteen: The Art of Incantations and Seals

  After we finished paying respects to our master, he told us: "We are a branch of the Orthodox Unity Sect. Our sect is called Huo Ju Dao. We can cultivate at home, get married and have children, eat meat, but we must adhere to loyalty, filial piety, honesty, kindness, accumulate virtues, follow the teachings of the Tao, accumulate good deeds, achieve success, refine our spirit, become immortal, and cultivate with even more diligence, without any slackness. Starting from tomorrow, study literature during the day, martial arts at night, and practice heavenly eyes at midnight."

  "Master, can we also open our heavenly eyes?" exclaimed Dumb Egg excitedly.

  "Shifu said: 'How can you not open your heavenly eye? We Taoist priests, although we are fire-dwelling Taoists and not those high-ranking officials from famous mountains and rivers, but among the common people, most of them are ghosts, monsters, and evil spirits. Without a heavenly eye or martial arts skills, it's impossible to deal with those refined monsters. Therefore, you must not only open your heavenly eye but also learn how to draw talismans and recite incantations. Mastering these skills will make your efforts twice as effective, making you a capable person. As for how much I can teach you, it depends on how much time heaven gives me.'"

  The master said up to here, not saying a word, facing the wall. I took a look at the master's appearance and quickly said to him: "Master, you are an immortal, you must live for a thousand years."

  The master said, "Life and death are already predetermined, let's not talk about these things. Cultivating the Tao for decades may not necessarily lead to small achievements. Now is a chaotic era, learning the skills of the Taoist family will definitely not work. From tomorrow on, I will teach you the cultivation method of Zhu You Shen Gong. For now, help me take care of the layman who has just arrived."

  This is how we spent our first day helping Master take care of the lay practitioners. On the second day, we officially began learning from the Book of Prohibitions, one of the thirteen sections of Zhu Yüe's teachings. Master called us to a small room and had us sit cross-legged on the floor. Then he said: "Humans are born with the ability to breathe, but it is difficult to achieve great things through this alone. However, some people can practice for just a few years and then split open large rocks or cure illnesses and disasters. Why is that? Simply put, it's because of their cultivation. They combine their thoughts and intentions with their breathing in the dan tian (lower abdomen), cultivating a ball of true energy. Using this true energy, they release their power outward. As the saying goes: 'Internally cultivate one breath, externally cultivate tendons, bones, and skin; cultivate both internally and externally, and have a correct heart without evil.' Only then can you achieve enlightenment."

  The thirteen strokes of the blessing are to infuse one's own cultivation and true energy into the brush, generating a powerful force that can subdue demons, drive out ghosts, bring good fortune, and cure illnesses. If there is no cultivation, then the written talisman will be nothing but a useless piece of paper. Now, I'll first talk about the rules you must follow.

  First, make a poisonous oath. From now on, you will not eat mantis shrimp. That is to say, from now on, you can't eat these things. After eating, your power will be completely lost, and the heavenly eye will also disappear. Can you remember?

  We all said in unison, "Remember," and the master continued, "For 49 days, from the seventh day of the seventh month, nothing shall happen between men and women. This is not to be mentioned again. Next are the incantations: the Incantation of Blessing Water, the Incantation of Silent Meditation, the Incantation of Paper Spirits, the Incantation of Pen Spirits, the Incantation of Literary Spirits, the Incantation of Book Spirits, the Incantation of Emperor Huangdi's Healing, the Incantation of Sending Off, the Incantation of Emperor Huangdi's Guarding the House, the Incantation of Heavenly Sovereign, the Incantation of the Nine Heavens' Mysterious Maiden, and the Incantation of the Old Lord of Heaven. Each night at 11 pm, light seven incense sticks and recite each incantation seven times. In the early morning at 5 am, face east and exhale seven breaths while reciting each incantation seven times. Additionally, on the 39th day of the third month, the Dragon Boat Festival (May), the 19th day of the sixth month, and the 19th day of the ninth month, at noon, light seven incense sticks, place paper and pen on the table, and recite each incantation seven times. After mastering these incantations, they cannot be used casually, for in situations involving harming others or seeking revenge, these incantations will not work.

  Also, you must have a kind heart. In the future when treating fox demon diseases, do not be greedy for beauty or harbor evil thoughts, nor should you lightly harm the lives of foxes. Fox spirits are still very kind and good-natured. If you also practice heavenly eyes, after forty-nine days, there will definitely be small achievements."

  We all nodded, at this time the master took out an oil paper package from the house and said to us: "Three apprentices, you follow the master to a place."

  As he spoke, he led us out and we headed north. As we walked, we arrived at the Luanyanggang in Beiling. The three of us were all confused - what was Master coming to Luanyanggang for? Master didn't say anything, and the three of us followed behind him without daring to ask more questions. Actually, I'm still quite afraid of Beiling. Those wild dog demons and zombies scared me so much that I wet my pants last time. Although it's over now, I still have some lingering fear.

  Master walked to a new grave, I was stunned at that time, wasn't this the grave of Er Dage? After Er Dage was torn apart by the wild dog demon, the Li family found someone to pick up the bones and put them back in the grave. They made a wooden head to match and buried it hastily. The people in the village have their own rules, that is, as long as there is a descendant, they cannot let their relatives abandon their bodies in the wilderness.

  We arrived at the tomb of Old Man Sha Dan Er, and Master took out the oil paper package. After opening it, we found that inside the oil paper package was a wooden plaque with strange characters carved on it. Master said: "Today I will bury this wooden plaque here, you remember the place, every day at midnight, come to take one wooden plaque and give it to me. These 49 wooden plaques are all different, after collecting all 49 wooden plaques and practicing for 49 days, your heavenly eye will naturally open."

  I was startled at the time, and the silly egg and thin monkey were also startled. I stuttered: "Master, master, why do you want to take out the wooden sign at this time?"

  The master said, "You don't know this, but our line of work can't avoid dealing with the dead. We are yang and full of yang energy, lacking yin energy, so it's hard to open the heavenly eye. The heavenly eye is also called the yin-yang eye. At midnight, when yin energy is at its strongest, you came to take the wooden signboard, which means you're coming to absorb the new grave's yin energy and death energy, speeding up the balance of yin and yang. This way, the yin-yang eye will open."

  "I said: 'Master, we're scared.'"

  Master said: "How bold, since learning skills, fear is not possible. You are now the eldest senior brother and should be a model for two younger brothers. This wooden headboard has another purpose, which is to practice courage."

  "But there are wild dog spirits and zombies here."

  Master said: "Don't worry about this, the Wild Dog Spirit is extremely rare and has a very large range. Within a hundred miles, there's only one, it won't appear again. As for that zombie, although it ran away, when it did, I cut off one of its arms. It won't be able to harm people for several years. The other ghosts and monsters are not worth considering. Besides, you came to touch the wooden sign at midnight, and I followed you, waiting for you a hundred steps away. After forty-nine days, your mind will open up, and you won't need to practice anymore."

  Since Master said so, as disciples we naturally have nothing to say. Back at Master's Sanbao Temple, the few of us started learning those incantations. Fortunately, all of us had a foundation in private school, so it wasn't too difficult to learn. We were all familiar with them, like the Xuan Yuan Huangdi healing incantation, which contains the principles of traditional Chinese medicine and the Eight Trigrams. I still remember that incantation: "Heaven and earth are divided, the five thunders are initially separated, the three yuan are long and fierce, the eight trigrams take shape, humans have illnesses, all have the five elements, press the illness to treat the medicine, place it in Shen Nong, before heaven has a way, internally follow the five viscera, externally balance the seven emotions, humans have sincere thoughts..." We started practicing these incantations and by evening, at the time of You, we had recited them seven times. Then we went to sleep. Just as we were dozing off, Master called us to get up, saying it was already Zi time.

  We put on our clothes, rubbed our eyes, and followed the master out in a daze. When we got outside, it was just right that there was moonlight and it wasn't very dark. The insect sounds at midnight were smaller, but other sounds were louder. The cowherd's calls in the mountain forest occasionally let out mournful cries. The moon sprinkled on the ground, shining brightly, and you could see Beiling far away. At this time, Beiling looked like a monster lurking in the dark night, quietly lying there, waiting to tear us apart.

  When we walked into a dry riverbed, the master found a stone and lay down, then said: "Alright, disciples go touch the wooden board, I'll wait for you here."

  I said: "Master, didn't you say yesterday that it was a hundred paces away from us? Now, even if we count from the North Ridge, there's still at least one more li."

  The master slept on the stone slab, opened the wine gourd and took a sip of wine, saying: "Yes, I was right, I said yesterday that it's 100 steps away from you, one mile is also 100 steps away. Besides, if we go forward, just a little further, we'll reach the tomb. In the middle of the night, the ghost fire flashes, and an old Taoist like me is hiding there, don't get scared to death? You little turtle bastards are now calling the shots for Master?"