Chapter 43: I'm a Taoist

  Originally, Taoist priests were also divided into three six nine grades, and the higher the grade, the stronger the ability to catch ghosts. The entrance Tao, small achievement Tao and great achievement Tao can deal with ordinary wandering spirits; Sect door Tao, respected master Tao can deal with evil spirits; Supreme Tao deals with ghost kings; Immortal Tao deals with ghost emperors. Mao Shi Jiu explained it to me in great detail.

  "How can I become a beginner then?" I asked expectantly.

  "Entering the Tao, literally means entering the door of the Tao. It requires learning to control the sword and draw talismans. This is a common technique that all Feng Shui masters know. Feng Shui masters actually have their own specialized skills, they are good at Feng Shui, but the most basic thing is that they must have the level of entering the Tao." Ma Shi Jiu explained to me.

  "Master, you've said so much, but you've never taught me anything." I complained.

  "Isn't this a waste of time?" Mao Shi Jiu retorted.

  "Do you have time now?" I asked further.

  "Now, yes, there is, but aren't we supposed to rush to the police station? Who knows what kind of trouble Li Jian Tian will shift onto us again."

  "Aren't you reluctant to teach me? You have many reasons. If you don't teach me, I won't want to learn anymore." I said stubbornly, tilting my head to one side.

  "It's not that I don't want to teach you, it's just that the timing isn't right yet. Your physique is extraordinary, and if you enter the Dao now, it will ruin this innate talent." Mao Shi Jiu tried to explain it clearly to me, but I just couldn't understand.

  "Alright, I'll make an exception and teach you some basic skills. Let me teach you a set of Ghost-Slaying Sword Techniques. Wait till we get to the police station, we'll find a quiet place." Ma Shi Jiu finally relented, saying impatiently.

  I secretly smiled to myself, such a small trick can deceive Mao Shi Jiu, it seems that in the future I should use more tactics of pretending to yield.

  Back to the police station soon.

  Li Jian Tian let us detail the clues at the scene of the crime, and in the end all the key points pointed to the Taurus Group. "The Taurus Group transported zombies through Jiangnan City East, the zombies were released, and they bit the citizens to death." This is the conclusion we drew.

  The police quickly filed a case and formally launched an investigation into the Taurus Group. Even the municipal party committee issued relevant documents, requiring a thorough investigation into the source of the zombies. However, for the sake of the people, the news was blocked, and it was claimed that the person was bitten to death by a mad dog.

  The Dou Niu Group was aware that the news had leaked out and had taken relevant measures. The company closed its doors and refused to see guests or accept media interviews. Moreover, the Dou Niu Group suspended many of its business transactions, making it impossible for the Commercial Bureau to investigate their accounts. The police were repeatedly rebuffed, with the excuse being that they did not have a search warrant. The Dou Niu Group had immense influence in Jiangnan, especially among underworld figures. When cornered, even a mad dog would jump over a wall; how much more so a big tiger like Dou Niu? The police dared not advance too aggressively, but neither could they retreat too far, creating a dilemma of being unable to move forward or backward.

  It was a rare leisure time. I followed Mao Shi Jiu to practice the Ghost Capturing Sword every day in the police station's training room.

  "Ordinary wandering spirits and ghosts mainly absorb a person's vital energy and eat their brain marrow. They usually use illusions to deceive humans. The Capturing Ghost Sword Technique, the first move is to break the illusion. A ghost's illusion generally has a ghost eye, you can pierce the ghost eye with your sword to dispel the illusion. However, where exactly the ghost eye is located requires testing your moral character to judge, seal off the five senses, and search for a black hole, that is the ghost eye."

  I listened with great relish.

  "Now I'll teach you the incantation of the Five Seals. First seal, double eyes, unseen heaven; second seal, double ears, unheard eight directions; third seal, nose, unscented flavor; fourth seal, mouth, untasted food; fifth seal, touch, unfeeling skin." Ma Shi Jiu's hands were constantly changing hand seals, making my eyes dizzy.

  The positions of the hand seals correspond to the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin. After completing the five seals, one can seal off the five senses and become a blind person, deaf person, mute person, anosmic person and anesthetic person.

  I started doing it one by one, and many times I was able to seal one or two successfully, but the rest were very difficult to succeed.

  "How stupid are you! Seal your ears, you're using the seal of silence on your mouth, are you a pig?!" Mao Shijiu glared at me, furious that I was too clumsy to succeed in sealing.

  I'm also being rushed to the point of sweating bullets. The more I'm rushed, the more mistakes I make, damn it, how come I'm usually so smart but now I'm so stupid? I kept looking for the problem and correcting it bit by bit.

  "One seal, both eyes, no sight of heaven; two seals, both ears, no hearing of the eight directions; three seals, nose, no smelling of fragrance; four seals, mouth, no tasting of food; five seals, touch, no feeling of skin."

  I did those dazzling handprints very smoothly.

  After that, my world immediately turned black, and everything seemed to have returned to a state of chaos. I couldn't hear, see, smell, taste or touch anything. Everything was engulfed in fear.

  "Damn it, Mao didn't teach me how to get out of this. Now I can't even hear what's going on outside, and I don't dare move randomly. What should I do?" I thought to myself, completely falling into a state of panic.

  "This little fool, I haven't even taught him how to break the seal yet, and he's already managed to do it himself. Who would have thought that with just a bit of stimulation, he'd actually succeed? Now we can only wait for the incense to burn out, for the spell's effect to wear off before he can recover. For now, let him experience the endless darkness." Mao Shi Jiu couldn't help but sneak a smile.

  What's even more outrageous is that when my senses hadn't recovered yet, Mao 19 actually used the ink from a brush holder to draw a big flower face on me and a turtle on my forehead. I really don't know if it's because of his childlike innocence or just being childish!

  For a moment, I was wandering aimlessly in circles on the spot. After endless torture, the effect finally wore off.

  "Ma Shi Jiu, you son of a bitch." I regained consciousness and looked at the patterns all over my face, I was so angry that I was fuming.

  Cao Jing Yu covered her mouth and laughed so hard she was rolling on the ground.

  After a big fuss, I finally calmed down the anger in my heart, but both I and Mao 19 were already bruised and swollen.

  "You turtle grandson is too heavy-handed." Mao 19 scolded.

  "You're quite ruthless." I retorted, rubbing the bruises on my face.

  "Alright, alright, I'll continue teaching you. With a master like you who gets beaten up by everyone, I've resigned myself to my fate." Mao Shi Jiu said lightly, touching the edge of his swollen eye.

  "Next, wait a minute and I'll call out Old Five. It will set up an illusion. Seal your five senses and focus on feeling the location of the black hole. One strike will break it." Mao Shi Jiu instructed.

  I nodded.

  Lao Wu came out, and the surroundings around me began to change. A stunningly beautiful woman appeared in front of me, with a flirtatious and charming appearance, playing coquettishly, with a prominent front and back. I coldly swallowed a mouthful of saliva, but quickly calmed down.

  The first reaction was to seal the senses, and this time it was more skillful than ever before. The five senses were quickly sealed off.

  It's another piece of darkness, I've gradually adapted to this environment and no longer feel panicked or afraid. Now I need to calm myself down and find the Ghost Eye as soon as possible.

  "How can't I find it?" I tried my best to calm myself down, but still couldn't find the black hole in Mao Shi's mouth.

  My heart began to feel anxious, the more anxious I became, the more confused my mind was. I urgently wanted to find a black hole, but the more I looked for it, the more I couldn't find it. Everything around me was pitch black, where could I possibly find a black hole?

  "Right, they're all black, how can we find a black hole? No way! It's definitely not right!" I suddenly felt that my method was wrong, this wouldn't break the illusion.

  I suddenly opened my eyes and saw a black whirlpool. I stabbed into it with one sword, and the scene in front of me began to restore.

  "Right! It's the eyes. The first reaction of people who have their senses sealed off is to close their eyes, but with closed eyes, where can you find a black hole? Everywhere around is pitch dark, only by opening your eyes can you distinguish the black." I thought to myself.

  Mao Zedong was right in front of me, nodding his head like a child who could be taught.

  "This Ghost Capturing Sword Technique's first move you've learned, it wasn't in vain that I took a beating. Mao Shi Jiu felt that this beating was well worth it, and he was delighted in his heart, thinking to himself that from now on he must participate in more activities like this."

  "I'm just a genius." I said proudly.

  "Alright, genius, if you can learn the second move so quickly, I'll acknowledge your skills." Mao Shi Jiu said with a hint of competitiveness.

  "Come on, watch me dismantle your moves."

  "The second move is called 'Guī Guǐ' (Ghostly Ghost), the ghost's second most lethal move is 'Wú Yǐng Wú Zhuō' (No Shadow, No Trace), you can't find out where it is, so you're always in a dangerous situation. With this second move, Guī Guǐ, you can track down the ghost and trap it."

  "The first part of the 'Kuangui' is to chase the soul, of course, this is just the simplest way to chase the soul. Use a sword to chase the soul, throw a talisman into the sky, and during this time, take fire from an oil lamp, the small flame on the sword quickly nails the talisman and ignites it, requiring one breath to complete, finally throwing out the sword can automatically attack the ghost."

  "Is that all? I used to watch zombie movies and those Taoist priests were always pretending to be mysterious, no big deal." My confidence was a bit over the top.

  "Give it a try." Mao Shi Jiu handed me the wooden sword, with a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

  I took the wooden sword, held the talisman paper, and threw it into the sky with one hand. With the other hand, I hastily reached for the wick of the oil lamp. Just as my hand was about to touch it, the talisman paper floated back down from the sky and slowly fell to the ground. I was taken aback, and the wooden sword was suddenly ignited by the wick. I quickly extinguished the flames on the sword.

  Cao laughed loudly without saying a word, and in my opinion, this was even more of an invisible mockery.

  "Just you wait." I tried again and again but failed each time, while Mao laughed and jeered at me.

  "Damn it, I've had enough, I'm done." I angrily broke the wooden sword and sat down to rest on one side, panting.

  "You're still too young! You can't even handle this little setback. How will you accomplish great things in the future?" There was a hint of rebuke in Mao's tone.

  "Right, why should I feel like a failure? I'm still young, this is just the beginning, how can I give up so easily?" I thought to myself.

  "Come on! Master, I understand."

  Time and time again...

  Failed again.

  Sweat drops on my face kept dripping, but I didn't give up until one time I succeeded.

  Throw out the talisman paper, sword out, lamp wick rises, stab out, talisman paper breaks, talisman paper burns, throw out, sword chases soul. All in one breath.

  "It succeeded." I had an expression of joy all over my face.

  But then something strange happened, and the wooden sword flew out of the window.