Chapter Ten: The Stinking Corpse

  A loud rumble, the place where the altar was located collapsed into a large pit, and both Jiucheng and I fell down. The empty underground space echoed with a vast sound, "Old Dao, I was actually destroyed by a little doll's hand, even if my soul flies away, I will perish together with you."

  Jiucheng shouted "Oh no!"

  At this moment I have lost consciousness.

  The stinking corpse came out, with a struggling face, sharp fingernails, and pounced on Jiucheng.

  "Bang."

  Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew, the sky and earth turned upside down, and the sun and moon lost their light. I sprang up with a "whoosh", saying: "Yang Jun Song, the ancestor of the Lian Shan Sect is here, which demon dares to be presumptuous." Later, I heard from Jiucheng that the ancestor had possessed my body.

  The stinking corpse suddenly stopped, seemingly extremely fearful, but he rushed up again.

  I am no longer myself.

  Rush up, kick away the stinky corpse's head with a single kick in mid-air, take out the talismans from his 'chest', stack them into three human-shaped piles, "Quickly, as if by imperial order, the Great Supreme Elder Lao has lent me three divine soldiers."

  A headless stinking corpse pounced forward with its claws and teeth, the talisman suddenly expanded and transformed into three small yellow men, who rushed forward and violently beat the stinking corpse. The ancestor pointed to the "chest" of the stinking corpse with his finger, and a triangular symbol was squeezed out from the "chest", this triangular symbol immediately disappeared, and the stinking corpse would never move again.

  Ninety percent of people were frightened by this scene.

  "Nine Success obeys." Nine Success went down on one knee with a thud.

  "Tell him, from today on, our ancestor officially recognizes Niu Yunshan as the 132nd generation successor of Lianshan Sect. Don't let him mention that he's the 169th generation anymore. His Daoist name is Yun Jing, and the large seal with 'Xiong' character in front of Lianshan is proof. Since you also have half of the large seal on your chest, then you should be his junior fellow apprentice. Uphold justice and take care of the world, that's your responsibility. Farewell."

  Heh heh, I let out a fart.

  Jiǔ chéng bèi zhe qì, gěi wǒ yuán běn běn shuō le yī biàn.

  Translation:

  He was choked with anger and told me the whole story from start to finish.

  This is really becoming a Taoist priest, and it was personally conferred by the ancestor, so can I still marry a daughter-in-law?

  It's hard to say, being happy is not right, and being sad is also not appropriate.

  Below is a tomb, according to the inscription on the stone tablet, it was a general of the Qing Dynasty who died for his country, and since his body was not intact, a clothes mound was erected here. However, inside appeared a huge 'flower' petal, and on this 'flower' petal sat a person.

  "Ah———Ghost———" Jiucheng shouted loudly.

  "What are you yelling about, why didn't you yell when you were possessed?" It turned out that this old Taoist had occupied someone else's grave. The old Taoist indeed seemed to have obtained some high-level skills, as his corpse did not rot or decay. "Huh, Jiucheng, this person looks a bit like you, come take a look."

  "I'm just going." I really can't figure out how this coward became a tomb raider, dragging me along and shining the flashlight.

  "Hey, 90%, isn't this you?"

  "It's indeed so." Jiucheng surprisingly resembled this old Daoist, no wonder he was always dressed in Daoist attire. "You're not here to take my life on behalf of that old Daoist, are you?"

  "What nonsense, I'm already half dead."

  Lao Dao's eyes suddenly opened wide, "Ah———" This time it wasn't Jiucheng who shouted, but him, he came back to life.

  My screaming echo had not fallen, the old Taoist's corpse had turned into powder. And under this throne, there was a book. Patting off the powder on it, blowing it with my mouth, several big characters appeared in front of my eyes, "Qimen Bai Cao Fang".

  The corpse that held the stinky corpse was boiled into oil, and 90% of it was applied to the wound. Sure enough, the wound healed quickly, and after the Wu Huai formation was broken, Xiaoman and Liu Jin in the house also gradually woke up. Along the way, it was full of 'spring' atmosphere, and the momentum was strong.

  "Distant guests, please stay"

  The "flowers" by the roadside are in bloom.

  The fruit on the tree is waiting for people to pick it.

  Waiting for someone to pick.

  Distant guest, please stay.

  Luxuriant ears of grain swing in the wind

  Looking forward to people cutting it down

  Cut off

  Distant guest, please stay.

  Girls hurry along with white sheep

  Stepping on the sunset glow they want to return, come

  "Let's go back," I and Jiucheng jumped and sang all the way back home.

  Liu Jin and Xiao Man soon recovered, and I took my apprentice Jiu Cheng back to the Taoist temple. Liu Jin and Xiao Man also became good friends of mine.

  I did something bold, and that was not bringing back the dragon, it was really too cautious, after doing a Buddhist ritual, I smashed it to pieces.

  Back to the Taoist temple, the incense is still so prosperous, and it's been four or five days since I returned. There were many people rushing to the entrance, all waiting for me to handle those things for them, but with 90% of the work done, it's much more convenient.

  Maybe this is fate, going out to help someone with something and bringing back an apprentice, what a mess, but who doesn't say I'm great at this?

  He's quite good at flattering himself, and he's been praising me to the skies just to make himself look good.

  Sitting in a rattan chair, holding a teapot, Jiucheng gives me a back massage and leg rub. When the tea runs out, he refills it; when the water runs out, he adds more. This is how I spend my days.

  "Master, what's that book you brought back?" "You didn't mention it and I had forgotten, bring me that book."

  "Alright."

  This strange 'door' of Baicao Fang can be a bit interesting. This opening chapter tells a magical story, and I'll share it with everyone.

  In the prosperous era of the Great Tang Dynasty, there was a great master named Li Chunfeng who knew astronomy and geography, yin and yang, and was well-versed in the classics.

  Li Chunfeng, his father Li Bo, both father and son are masters of 'Yin' Yang Feng Shui.

  Around 650 AD, Chang'an City had several cases of mysterious and supernatural events. For example, in 647 AD, a large man wearing a black cloak suddenly appeared at the city gate, killing dozens of people with his sword, shocking the imperial court. The thief was finally caught, but it turned out that he had been dead for three months.

  The imperial court entrusted Li Chunfeng to thoroughly investigate the case, and Li Chunfeng spent a full six years compiling a set of "Qi Men Yao Shu" that detailed how to prevent the Xuanling from haunting.

  "Qimen Dunjia" is a metaphysical but real Qimen escape method summarized based on the Feng Shui meridian theory, "Yin" and "Yang" life door.

  After a person's death, apply the oil of the raccoon dog, wrap it in zongzi leaves (actually the same as the leaves used to wrap zongzi, because after a person dies, they need to become a "walking corpse", also known as a zongzi), cut off the head, cut off a piece of flesh from the middle finger, apply it to the neck of the corpse, and then reattach the head. Wrap it tightly with zongzi leaves. (The middle finger is connected to the heart, in the "Tongmen" technique, it's called "supporting the corpse", only this way can the corpse be supported, refusing external air from entering, corrupting the corpse's heart, so that the yang energy of the newly deceased does not leak out.) The corpse's head being cut off is equivalent to breaking the seal, removing the consciousness left behind by the person before they died. The corpse then truly becomes a corpse. Finally, have the corpse and the "corpse maker" (the person who makes this kind of walking corpse) share a bed for 49 days, in order to make the corpse recognize only that one person.

  When the time comes, remove the palm fronds, and with a slight movement of the middle finger, the corpse can move according to the intentions of the person controlling it. Breaking this "rigid" corpse is not difficult either. It's said that humans have three flames, one on top of the brain, and two under the feet. As long as you take off your shoes, aim at that thing and throw it over, knocking off its head, you can get rid of that scourge.

  However, this book is absolutely not to be leaked out. Li Chunfeng of course also knew the importance of this book, but did not want it to be destroyed, so he did not report it to the imperial court and quietly kept it for himself.

  Finally, Li Chunfeng thought of a way to kill two birds with one stone. He wrote down all the events in the "Qi Men Dun Jia" technique into biographies, which are now known as "categories". Only true masters can understand them.

  Later on, this thing became like a football, you add a story to it, he adds a small note, you kick it over, and it rolls over, becoming an old intimidation tool for the young.

  Thus, it went through several dynasties without being persecuted until the Qianlong period when it was discovered by a Feng Shui master. This person was Zhang Zhenren, the founder of Li Qi Pai, Zhang Daoyuan.

  Zhang Daonian, also known as Longquan and Dongshan Yeshi, was a gongzi year imperial scholar. He was the eldest disciple of Li Zhenren (Li Huashan) from the Li school of Feng Shui. Zhang was well-versed in Feng Shui, astrology, and geography. After Li Huashan's death, he returned to the Li school to take over as its leader and subsequently gave up his official salary.

  Just as he was idle, drinking tea in a teahouse, he heard the teahouse staff talking about some strange and unusual things, so he went up to listen for a moment. This one listen is not tight, just like readers reading my book, it sparked interest, and suddenly shocked in his heart, these ordinary people said that none of them were wrong. Only then did he learn that this all came from a book, "Yin Yang Ji". After studying it, it was found to be extraordinary, indeed the work of a master, only the various things in between had been exaggerated several times.

  Zhang Daoyan took over the "door" with this book, and also because of this book, he became famous. He spent a whole 15 years organizing the records in the book, which is divided into three parts: Xuanling (mostly about gods and ghosts), Yiren (about strange phenomena), and Tianxiao (about omens). This book is called "Qimen Yaoshu" or "Qimen Bai Cao Fang".

  Jiucheng listened with a stunned expression, "Oh my goodness, this is too much, Master can show me, right?"

  "Like watching? Take it and watch then." Jiucheng dragged him away with one hand.

  Time passed quickly, and soon it was time to start school. When school starts, I will go to the city. Xiao Man and Liu Jin brought many delicious foods from home to see me off. At first, I went back to the Taoist temple directly and didn't visit them because I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, after all, I'm still a student.

  "Niu Daozhang, Niu Daozhang, I've come to see you." Jiucheng burst out laughing, "You two little rascals are fine now, thanks to my master. If it weren't for my master, the three of us... Ah, never mind."

  "Alright, alright, now you're all apprentices of Master Niu, so in the future if we have anything to do, we'll have to find you, haha."

  "Whatever you say, it's a must, I'll definitely give you a discount."

  "Damn it, you still dare to ask for money? Six taels, give him some color to see." A porter almost got nine out of ten blown away.

  "Alright, alright, let's not make a fuss." I said with a smile. "I have to start school tomorrow, so we won't get drunk and return tonight. You can stay at my place in the temple tonight, just go take whatever you want from the god statue."

  "The road is long, so I won't be polite."

  "Hey, what's with the politeness among us brothers? We're all our own people. I see that you're all just a few years older than me, so just call me big brother. I find that this temper of ours is really quite suitable."

  "Ah, Elder Dao said this, ah, big brother said it sounds good. Big brother, if you don't mind, I'll be your elder brother."

  "What's wrong with you, what's wrong with you, are you kidding me? You think you're the big brother, but I'm supposed to call you uncle?" Jiucheng was 90% unhappy.

  "I'm your second brother, I'm his second uncle."

  "Shut up, you nonsense. What are you talking about?" Jiucheng hurried over, "Master, don't listen to his nonsense, our relationship can't be taken away by outsiders, he calls me brother, and together they should call you Master."

  "Call Master. Quickly." The melon seed skin in Jiucheng's mouth hadn't been spat out yet.

  "Come on, come on, listen to your big brother, Master Niu."

  "Alright alright, let's drink, this is a matter of tea cups." Perhaps it was fate, but I ended up becoming sworn brothers with the three tomb raiders.