Chapter 1: The Young Taoist of Maoshan
The concept of ghosts and gods seems to have existed since the dawn of humanity, with similar legends appearing across time and geography. Looking back over five thousand years, there are few written records of ghosts and gods, yet they have left a deep impression on every person's heart, evoking a fear that comes from the soul.
After investigation, I discovered an interesting phenomenon: those who believe in gods also believe in ghosts, but not everyone who believes in ghosts necessarily believes in gods. Why is this? The reason is simple: divine miracles are rare, while ghostly apparitions are always present!
A few years ago, a friend told me that the concept of ghosts and gods was nothing more than a rumor, and that science had discovered that the earth's core is molten rock, and that spacecraft had traveled to Mars without finding any heavenly palaces or paradise. I didn't argue with my friend, as some things are meant to remain secret, and revealing them would only make them lose their significance.
Not to mention that science isn't all-powerful; even if it were, there would still be things that can't be explained by science. Secondly, the traditions passed down from our ancestors aren't necessarily entirely correct; dismissing them outright is an extreme view.
I once asked my friend: if he were to go to a remote mountain at midnight and open a coffin that had been buried not long ago, would he dare? My friend said I was putting him in a difficult position, and that he wouldn't dare do it, as he would be too scared. At the time, I asked him why he would be afraid. Corpses are everywhere; we're all just walking corpses ourselves, yet we're not afraid of them. Why are we afraid of motionless corpses? Moreover, animal corpses are something everyone has seen many times before, and no one is particularly afraid of them. But as soon as the corpse is human, whether it's day or night, if there's only one person present, I believe many people wouldn't dare look directly at it.
Here, I'd like to say that what people fear isn't the corpse itself; when we see a corpse, our subconscious mind thinks more about ghosts! No one can explain what happens after death, and this unknown is the root of our fear.
When the new China was founded, there were grand movements to destroy the old and overthrow the gods. Now, less than a century later, high-ranking officials who worship gods and Buddhas are everywhere. Without discussing whether their actions were right or wrong at the time, or why they targeted Taoism but not Buddhism, their motivations alone are worth pondering. In recent years, there have been many reports of ghostly information and paranormal events, with America even discovering instruments that can connect with spirits, Japan capturing numerous spirit shadows on camera, and China being abuzz with excitement. The authenticity of these events is not the issue here; this book is based on real events that have been altered to enrich the content and satisfy the demands of enthusiasts. The locations, times, and characters are all fictional, but the events themselves actually occurred. If any friends coincidentally encounter this book, I offer my apologies!
Introduction
"Kill!!" A loud shout rose, and instantly countless torches made the cold and gloomy knives and swords shine brightly. Following that, iron hooves splashed everywhere, submerging the entire valley in a bloody massacre. This valley was about a hundred miles in circumference, but in the vast land of China, it was just a grain of dust in the endless yellow sand. However, tonight it was heavily surrounded by 100,000 iron cavalry, solely because this was the ancestral home of the Ye family. The Ye family might be unfamiliar to ordinary people, but if you mention the ghost-catching family, everyone would understand. In the turbulent and ever-changing history, countless lives came and went, leaving behind only a wisp of soul drifting in the historical river. That's what people called ghosts.
Ghosts are thought to be a combination of seven crimes, including disease, disaster and misfortune, which are not accepted by the world. People do not care that ghosts were once one of them, nor do they care that they will join them in the future. In resistance, an unreasonable resistance, a method called ghost-catching spread, a group of people who knew magic gathered together, claiming to be righteous and opening schools, wielding swords and roaming the rivers and lakes, deceiving the world's wealth! And at that time, Ye Jia was also among them.
The Night House is different from others, with the purpose of saving ghosts. The Night House believes that people are born selfish and ghosts are born sad. In the eyes of the Night House, ghosts are abandoned by their loved ones, peers, and even heaven and earth. Occasionally, they appear only to remind humans of their past existence. Because ghosts themselves have no ability to harm humans, it is actually the ghosts who suffer from human mistreatment. Ghosts drift aimlessly, their forms completely shaped by human thoughts, and even a single thought can change the appearance of a ghost that has been gathering for a hundred years.
The night family's existence as a natural phenomenon caused dissatisfaction among various factions, until they finally discovered an unavoidable problem - the gathering of many ghosts to launch a joint attack, which could actually cause physical harm and even produce powerful evil spirits. As a result, all major sects joined forces to attack the Night Family, but unexpectedly, the Night Family was unscathed and killed off all the invaders at the gate. The Night Family's strength eventually caught the attention of the state, and after deliberation - the Night Family must be eliminated. And so tonight, there are 100,000 iron knights surrounding the Night Clan.
The night hall, dozens of people stood silently in front of it, and a blood-colored Bagua rose in mid-air. Below the Bagua was an infant about several months old, with seven five-line heavenly wooden needles pinned to its neck. Seven streams of blood slowly rose into the air, merging into the blood-colored Bagua. Strangely, the infant seemed completely unaware, its clear eyes curiously gazing at the blood-colored Bagua.
It came so quickly, the day when we would be rejected by the world. But since that's how it is, then so be it. Suddenly, an old man with a long beard appeared on the blood-colored Eight Trigrams; "Tonight, let these 100,000 lives pave the way for us." He looked down at the baby and said; "Leave this child in this Ghost Valley, from now on his life and death will be determined by heaven." As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of people simultaneously whispered different words, and with the increasing speed and volume of their whispers, gray shadows appeared behind each person. At first, there was only one shadow behind each person, but eventually, tens or even hundreds of shadows appeared. After they appeared, the shadows began to devour the surrounding shadows, and as they devoured them, their own shadows grew more solid and powerful. In an instant, the dozens of giant shadows that remained in the great hall suddenly turned into the baby's body at the same time, and the old man with a long beard fiercely stomped his left foot on the blood-colored Eight Trigrams, pointing his fingers like swords at the baby and shouting; "Hurry!" The baby's body instantly began to emit a grayish-white light band, which transformed into a snake that quickly grew larger. As the old man and dozens of people chanted, the snake grew bigger and bigger, occupying the great hall, encircling the Night Family's forbidden land, until it covered the entire mountain valley. Just as the giant snake's shadow surrounded the 100,000 Iron Riders, all the sounds of slaughter disappeared in an instant, and the figures of people also vanished into thin air, connecting with animals, trees, and even buildings. They slowly faded away, finally disappearing completely, as if they had never appeared before...
The night was quiet, the Night House was also quiet, and even the wind didn't dare to enter. On the second day, in the entire Night House Ghost Valley, a baby's laughter broke the silence. The Night House clan of thousands disappeared, the imperial family's 100,000 iron cavalry also vanished, and the entire valley had no living creatures, except for a few months old baby... The news of the Night House's disappearance didn't attract attention for long before being replaced by another event. Suddenly, a large number of ghosts and demons appeared in the folk, these new-born monsters were extremely bloodthirsty, almost every place they passed through had no living creatures left. Then came a very long period of tug-of-war between humans, ghosts, and demons, countless great demons emerged, only to be killed by countless heroes, who were then swallowed up and assimilated by the newly born demons... After countless years of sedimentation, it finally arrived at...
The moonlight was dim, the lonely wind was bleak, and in a dilapidated house, two white candles weakly lit a black-and-white photograph. The photo originally depicted a pretty girl, but now looked eerie and strange. The broken window frame knocked against the wall with an unknown pain. A figure slowly appeared in the room. The figure quietly approached the front of the photo, gazing at it silently. A faint flash of light illuminated the girl's face, and to my surprise, this figure was identical to the person in the photo! "Blood debt must be repaid!" The figure let out a low, mournful cry, and the gloomy voice echoed around the house.
"Fortune-telling, fortune-telling!" A 16-year-old young man shouted. Originally, his tender age was enough to make him shiver among a group of old masters, but the young man didn't care at all. As passersby cast strange glances at him, the little fortune teller became even more excited. His handsome face lit up; "Two yuan per person, one free with every paid reading! No refunds allowed!" The young man shouted, pointing to a large character written on a piece of cloth. "Night Ask, be careful!" An old man beside him said with a slanted gaze; "You're not ashamed, I'm ashamed for you. Fortune-telling has become like buying radishes? One paid reading and one free?" The young man's name was Night Ask, a vagrant student who was also the 44th generation descendant of the Maoshan Taoist sect. He used to rely on his grandfather's support to attend school, but after his grandfather said; "I'm going to travel and visit friends, all the money is in the card, come back in three to five decades." And then disappeared without a trace. Poor Night Ask searched everywhere for the so-called "card" but couldn't find it. Helpless, he had to take on part-time work during the summer vacation. Relying on his Maoshan skills, he barely made ends meet. But now, with only one week left before school starts, his tuition fees were still far from enough.
"Mind your own business!" The young man, Ye Wen, said disdainfully; "You blind fortune tellers who deceive people with both heads covered, how can you be mentioned in the same breath as the great Maoshan master?" "Are you saying we're cheating people?" The old man was unhappy; "Can't say that, everyone is out here trying to make a living, aren't you guys also cheating people?" "Hey, hey! It's you!" Ye Wen emphasized; "The Maoshan master never cheats, I'm telling the truth!" "Tsk, tsk..." The old man spat out a wad of phlegm; "I'll spit black cat shit in your face. The Maoshan master claims to be honest, but we're not going to let that stand." The old man's name was Huang Sanwen, also known as the Master of Asking About the Future, Asking About Destiny, and Asking About Marriage. In this field, he was considered a big shot. Without his children around, he spent his days chatting idly with Ye Wen, who was also a frequent guest at his house - freeloading off their meals. "Forget it, I won't stoop to your level!" Ye Wen turned his head away and started shouting again.
"Master, give me a hangover!" A young man joked; Ye Wen looked up and saw the slightly fat guy smiling and said: "Get out!"
