Yin Yang Rogue

  The old man gave the madman a strange look, and under the candlelight, I found that one of the old man's eyes was a murky grey, clearly unable to see anything, apparently a one-eyed dragon.

  I couldn't help but think of my Shifu, who was also one-eyed, but he was a stubborn and interesting person, occasionally like a child with a hard mouth and soft heart, much better than this gloomy old man in front of me.

  "You little scamp, you've gotten into trouble again, and your mouth is still so foul." The old man muttered.

  I listened and felt a chill in my heart, and hastily said: "Wait a minute, old man, you said he got into trouble? What do you mean?"

  My original intention for coming here with Crazy was to investigate who had set him up, and the fact that he has been suffering for three months is absolutely not a coincidence. Every time he sets up a good game, someone sabotages it.

  Nothing was found at Lin Bin's home, but unexpectedly, this strange old man was a key to unlocking the mystery. Did he know something?

  The old man hummed: "No need to look, I can smell the smell on him just by smelling it."

  The madman pulled me and said, "Don't mind him, this old man looks crazy."

  I also think it's probably just my imagination, so I let out a sigh and said: "Old man, we want to buy some coffin nails. This alley has a strange thing, you see if it's convenient for us to do business with you. How much money will we negotiate?"

  The old man said to me: "Forget about the money, but you're still a sensible young man. Let's just say you owe me a personal favor. In the future, if I need your help, I'll look for you."

  The old man looked at me with a strange gaze, his face full of wrinkles looked a bit terrifying.

  I repeatedly expressed my gratitude and was about to ask the madman to leave his phone number, but unexpectedly, the old man waved his hand and said it wasn't necessary. He said that if he had something to do, he would find a way to contact me, and told me not to bother, as he didn't have a phone either.

  Listening to him, I couldn't help but think of my master. My master was also like that, never using a mobile phone, carrying a wine gourd and wearing tattered clothes, wandering around everywhere. Who would have thought that he had lived for nearly two hundred years?

  I nodded respectfully, but the madman gave me a white eye and said: "I'm going out for a smoke."

  The old man rummaged through the dark inner chamber for a while before handing over the coffin nails to me with trembling hands. As he handed them over, he said in a hoarse voice, "Tell your friend to be careful, ghosts causing trouble is a small matter, but if someone harms him, it's up to his fate."

  My heart skipped a beat, perhaps... this old man really knew something. A strong premonition gripped me tightly, and I opened my mouth to ask something, but the old man had already disappeared into the dark corridor with his faintly glowing lantern.

  I could only leave with a belly full of doubts. I didn't tell the old man's words to the madman, afraid he would think too much. The two of us returned to Lin Bin's home like this.

  This nail is called "镇钉" in the folk. The 镇钉 generally requires seven nails to nail the coffin, and its original function was to suppress the soul of the dead person, letting the deceased return to dust. In Western Hunan, many corpse carriers have coffin nails in their bags, which are said to be very effective for nailing zombies.

  Of course, this statement is orthodox, and later there were many to eliminate superstition, so the role of coffin nails in other people's mouths gradually became a blessing for future generations, prosperity at home, similar to eating dumplings during the Spring Festival to seek good luck, and later it was also called "descendant nail".

  The current coffin nails are about one foot two inches. However, this kind of coffin nail has little effect on dispelling evil spirits. The old man gave me a coffin nail made according to the ancient chi, which is three feet seven inches long. The surface of the coffin nail is already full of rust marks.

  I didn't think much and directly nailed the coffin to the end of the five-color gold thread. Lin Bin's wife asked fearfully, "Is this thing going to work?"

  I didn't bother with her, after buying the coffin nails just now, I feel my mind is particularly messy. I don't know who will deal with the madman, so I also have no heart to take care of other things, just want to quickly resolve this matter.

  I raised my hand and with a "bang" the coffin nail was nailed directly onto the black tile on the roof, in an instant, sparks flew everywhere, the whip came down, and the coffin nail was actually flattened by a section.

  The madman on the side shouted: "Damn it, moved, that thing just shook a little earlier."

  As soon as I heard that, I knew there was a show to be had. I directly told Lin Bin: "Bin Ge, in your living room, there's a small piece of wood about the size of a root carving, bring it over!"

  Lin Bin's wife asked me strangely: "What do you want that thing for? That thing has been lying around for many years, I wanted to throw it away early on, but the old man wouldn't let me. Now that the old man is gone, there wasn't even time to deal with it."

  The madman sighed and shook his head: "Fortunately you didn't throw it away. That thing is called a Thunder-Struck Jujube Tree."

  Lin Bin hastily asked: "Struck by lightning on a jujube tree? What does it mean?"

  I helplessly explained: "The lightning-struck jujube tree, also known as 'lightning-struck wood' and 'evil-repelling wood', is the essence of the combination of yin and yang energies between heaven and earth."

  Apart from the essence of the sun and moon, there is also the essence of the Big Dipper, the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The wild peach tree must grow on the mountain top to receive the essence, and the older it gets, the more spiritual energy it has, having gone through the spring, summer, autumn, and winter winds and cold, as well as the baptism of day and night stars.

  "Especially after being baptized by thunder, all evil and fearful things are afraid of it."

  I said these are all from before on the mountain, knowing by reading Taoist related books. Many of the Taoist ritual objects were made from this kind of thing.

  About the lightning-struck jujube tree, there is another legend in the book. It records that a young boy who made a living by selling dates had his father pass away early and his mother bedridden with illness for many years. He would climb to the top of the cliff every day to pick fruit from an old jujube tree for his mother, using the date pits and wood to boil water to drink, hoping that his mother could recover.

  The heavens sensed his filial piety and merged spiritual energy into the thunder, striking the jujube tree with heavenly lightning. The jujube tree was split open by the heavenly lightning, emitting a rumbling sound. On the second day, when the boy saw that the jujube tree he relied on for survival had been struck by heavenly lightning, his heart was moved. For a long time, due to his dependence on the jujube tree, the boy had come to regard it as the benefactor who supported his whole family.

  The boy finally moved the remaining few jujube trees and jujubes back home bit by bit. He planted the jujubes in front of his house, and when he soaked the jujube wood in water that day, he surprisingly found that the jujube wood which usually floated on the surface of the water had all sunk to the bottom of the water bowl.

  After drinking this water, his mother miraculously recovered and was able to get out of bed.

  The jujube trees planted by the boy began to thrive, which is also why the big jujube can nourish qi and blood, because it contains the divine power of heaven. And being struck by lightning on a jujube tree can also drive away disasters and evil spirits.

  It's not easy to get wild Thunderstruck Oak, it needs a lot of luck.

  After I finished speaking, Lin Bin's wife covered her mouth with her hand and stared at us in surprise, then turned back to look at the jujube tree, with a glint of light in her eyes.

  The madman muttered to himself: "I advise you, sister, to restrain your greedy heart. This thunder-struck jujube wood is meant to be used on the beam of your house to ward off evil spirits. Don't take it down, or else the yin energy will overflow into the room and bring about the calamity of having no descendants."

  Lin Bin's wife handed the wooden stick to Lin Bin with a reluctant face, staring at him fiercely. She was probably grumbling in her heart, thinking that if the old man hadn't died, they could have sold this wood for money. I secretly found it amusing, thinking that if the old man hadn't died, she would have thrown this thing away as trash sooner or later.

  I'm really speechless about Lin Bin's wife. Turning back to Lin Bin and saying

  "Lin Ge, in a moment I'll use three moves to pull out this plug. Before the plug hits the ground, you must replace it with the thunderbolt oak, otherwise there will still be trouble."

  Lin Bin nodded repeatedly and quickly stood on the table, opening his hands in a gesture.

  I stepped on the heavenly punishment again, and the other hand remained in a sword-like shape. With two loud cracks, I whipped out two whips, only to feel a deafening roar piercing my eardrums. The madman beside me shouted loudly: "It's gone! Quickly switch to the Thunderbolt Oak!"

  Lin Bin's eyes were fixed on the Pi Xiu, and just as it was about to leave the beam, a lightning-struck jujube wood fell directly on top of it. At that time, when I saw this piece of wood in Lin Bin's house, I felt that it could be used. The lightning-struck jujube wood is also a yang object that can suppress evil spirits. Now it's just right to use it as a substitute for the Pi Xiu.

  The red cloth strip that was hung upside down for Old Master Lin's birthday also floated down. The moment the glutton fell to the ground, I seemed to hear a beast roar, and a shadow flashed by, disappearing into the glutton.

  I picked up the pastry, only to find it was a black stone, nothing special. I directly threw it at the madman. Turning around, I said to Lin Bin: "The matter has been settled, you can all have a good rest tonight."

  Lin Bin's eyes were red, this month had driven him crazy. Lin's wife was also abnormally excited. I and the madman turned around to bid farewell, but Lin Bin insisted on inviting us to dinner, however, I no longer had the heart to stay. Together with the madman, we made an excuse and walked to the corner of Xiangpiao Alley, where Lin Bin caught up with us again, handing me 5,000 yuan, which I didn't refuse.

  They say that once you get used to doing something, it becomes second nature. I pushed aside two thousand and took three thousand. Smiling, I said to him: "The Taoist principle of cause and effect only takes the numbers 3, 6, and 9. These are enough."

  Lin Bin was a bit anxious and insisted on going back to get 1,000 yuan to make up for the 6,000 yuan I had. It wasn't until I firmly refused that he gave up.

  I looked back at the madman who had been silent all along, only to see him studying the food in his hand. Thinking that I hadn't returned for two days, I decided to head back to the dojo first. As soon as I thought of the dojo, I remembered that Jiang Pangzi was still waiting for me and wondered how things were going on his end. Just as I was thinking about this, the madman suddenly said to me: "This town's food... is a bit strange."

  Strange? I heard the madman say so, and shifted my gaze to this town object. This thing is all black, cold to the touch. Don't know what kind of stone it's made of, but its nature is definitely yin.

  If Master were here, he might be able to refine the properties of this thing and turn it into a usable treasure. But with my current abilities, there's no hope.

  Only I don't know, the sky is vast and the earth is wide, where is Master now?

  The madman pointed to one corner of the four-square base under this set of questions and said: "Look here!"

  I looked in the direction the madman was pointing, and all I saw was a strange carving on one corner of the stone. It seemed to be nine circular dots, then some weird lines connecting them together, with a circle around the outside and what looked like a character in the middle. The font was very ancient, like an eerie symbol used for incantations.

  But this character I'm sure I don't recognize and have never seen before.

  "What is this?" I frowned staring at those already somewhat blurry words.

  The madman rubbed his chin and said in a low voice: "Is it an incantation? No, no, no, that's not right. It looks more like..."

  I also seemed to think of something and hastily said: "Like a seal?"

  The madman nodded: "Maybe it's really the person who is going to harm me, no way, I'll ask later who did it. Having a clue is better than having nothing."

  I also nodded in agreement, if it's really like that, we need to pay more attention. In the future, when there are special events, we need to see if the same mark appears again. It's just unknown why this behind-the-scenes black hand wants to harm Fēngzi again.

  We were chatting when Crazy's phone suddenly rang.

  He hastily picked up the phone and heard a wailing sound on the other end. Who else could it be but Jiang Baozi?

  Jiang Pangzi wailed on the other side: "Crazy brother, where is my master? Our school is haunted, it's very serious, you guys come quickly, and...and I suspect that this has something to do with me!"

  The madman handed me the phone with his mouth, and I frowned and asked, "What's it got to do with you? What's going on?"

  "Master, please save me! I suspect that the matter is related to the jar you asked me to move last time. Now... it's gotten out of hand! You'd better come over first, it's not clear on the phone. Our school is now haunted, and it's very serious, people are in a state of panic, and the school has started asking for masters."

  Are schools starting to invite masters now? To think that's a university, universities are places where superstition is dispelled with expertise. If it can drive the principal to this extent, I'm afraid something big has really happened. I glanced at the madman and said into the phone: "Alright, you wait for me at school first, I'll head back to the Daoist temple and inform Master Qiankun about some things, then I'll come over to your school tomorrow."

  "Ah, my dear Master, please don't drag this on any longer! I'll book the farmhouse for you two to come over tomorrow and stay here tonight. I'm already on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Our school has already had one death and one mental breakdown, and one of my friends is also missing. If things continue like this... who knows what will happen next?"

  I was shocked when I heard him say that, so I said to him: "Then I'll go back to the dojo and report it. Remember not to run around randomly. Wait for me calmly."

  After finishing speaking, I hung up the phone and rushed to the dojo with the madman. I never thought that things really had something to do with Fatty, and the one who got into trouble was actually that jar.

  Volume 3 End