Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 26 It’s hard to say goodbye when we meet

Feng Sheng and his wife were filled with mixed feelings of sorrow and joy. They held hands and looked at each other with tears in their eyes. They had endless pain of missing each other and endless feelings of separation.

Only Feng Sheng's figure was reflected on the window. To Ren Yuan and Senior Sister outside, it looked like he was crying and laughing at the air alone...

Senior Sister's eyes were already filled with tears. She bit her handkerchief and sobbed, "Is this the love that lasts through life and death? It's so touching. I want to have a taste of it, too."

"I advise you not to do it, it's very painful." Ren Yuan was unmoved and said, "Love between men and women is the most hurtful. It has a hundred harms and no benefits. Mr. Feng is a living example."

"You're just saying the grapes are sour because you can't eat them." The senior sister rolled her eyes at him.

"I don't like any fruit." Ren Yuan curled his lips.

The two were bickering quietly when they suddenly heard a rooster crowing in the distance.

The senior sister raised her head quickly and saw the Jade Rabbit sinking to the west and the Morning Star emerging. She hurriedly whispered, "It's time for Madam Feng to go back. Quickly beat the drum to call Feng Sheng out."

~~
Mr. Feng was reminiscing about the happy times in the past with his wife when he suddenly heard the sound of drums outside the door.

The happy smile froze in an instant and turned into extreme reluctance.

The drums sounded again, and he could only say goodbye to his wife in tears.

There was a third drumbeat outside the door, the beats were fast and heavy. Feng Sheng finally made up his mind to separate from his wife. When he turned around and pushed the door open to leave, he heard his wife's heart-wrenching cry.

"Feng Lang, goodbye forever."

Feng Sheng's heart was broken when he heard this. He could no longer control himself and turned around to take a last look at his wife.

~~
Outside, Ren Yuan beat the drum three times, but the scholar still did not come out. The senior sister could not help but said anxiously, "It's bad."

He quickly pushed the door open, only to find that the room was empty. Only the lantern, which had long been extinguished, was swaying gently on the lampstand.

Feng Shusheng's family also followed in, and they were all panicked when they saw the situation. The reckless ones even shouted that they wanted to send Ren Yuan to the authorities.

“How dare you!” Ren Yuan shouted, his whole body emitting golden light. He looked like a god and no one dared to look at him closely.

"I've made it clear beforehand that if you can't play the three drums, you'll have to bear the consequences." Ren Yuan intimidated the Feng family with murderous intent, and then said coldly: "If you want him to die, just go ahead and make trouble."

Feng Sheng's sister quickly bowed and apologized, begging him softly. After Ren Yuan calmed down, she timidly asked, "Excuse me, little master, where is my elder brother?"

"Do you even need to ask? Follow me." Ren Yuan's expression eased a little, and he led the Feng family to the cemetery quickly. He pointed at Mrs. Feng's grave and said to Feng Sheng's sister:
"Right here."

"Ah? Little Master, are you saying that my elder brother was taken into the grave by my sister-in-law?" Feng Sheng's sister said in surprise.

"That's right." Ren Yuan nodded and said, "If we don't open the coffin and save him quickly, they will really have to sleep together in the same bed and die in the same grave."

Everyone in the Feng family looked embarrassed, but saving the head of the family was the most important thing. They rushed forward to dig up the grave, opened the coffin and saw that Feng Shusheng was indeed inside.

He was seen with a livid face, barely breathing, but with a look of happiness on his face as he lay beside a female corpse that had turned into bones.

Everyone hurriedly lifted him out of the coffin and asked the young master to rescue him on the spot.

Feng Sheng's sister stood aside, wiping her tears and said, "My elder brother is so infatuated with me, how can I harm him?"

"Your sister-in-law didn't mean to harm your elder brother." Then the little Taoist boy said softly, "The ghost's soul is incomplete, so it can only act on instinct. She only knows that she doesn't want to be separated from your elder brother, and she doesn't understand what the consequences will be."

"Oh, so that's it." Feng Sheng's sister suddenly realized and hurriedly apologized to her sister-in-law.

~~
It was already noon when Feng Shusheng woke up, and he had no memory of what happened after the three drum beats.

After listening to his sister's story, Feng Shusheng naturally thanked her profusely and presented a generous gift to repay Ren the temple keeper for saving his life. On the way back, the red leopard's back was full of treasures, so Ren Yuan had to walk with his sister.

"How is it, are you satisfied, senior sister?" Ren Yuan diligently peeled an orange for his senior sister.

"You said you don't know how to be a temple priest? You did a great job!" The senior sister was very happy.

But Leopard was unhappy. It was turned into a armored horse and had been hungry for a whole night. Now it was treated like a cow or a horse. It was whining as it walked on the road, looking unhappy.

It was not until Ren Yuan fed him the big rooster that had been bled last night that the red leopard began to laugh happily.

"Sister, can you teach me now?" After pacifying the leopard, Ren Yuan presented his sister with the sticky, chewy white cocoon candy.

"Of course, we keep our word." A Yao happily took it, put a piece into his mouth, and explained to him:

"The first question is actually very simple. A single yang cannot produce life, and a single yin cannot grow. It is natural that you will not succeed if you practice the Golden Light Skill alone."

"Then what else should be added?" Ren Yuan asked hurriedly.

"I told you a long time ago that the method of our school is to 'cultivate the three lights internally to achieve the Tao, and use the three lights externally as a talisman.'" The elder sister smiled and said, "The three lights are the sun, the moon, and the stars. The Golden Light Technique is only one of them."

"So there are also Moonlight Art and Starlight Art?" Ren Yuan suddenly realized.

"It's the Taiyin Jue and Tiangang Jue." The elder sister smiled and said, "Golden light belongs to Yang, and moonlight belongs to Yin, so if you practice Taiyin Jue, you can balance Yin and Yang and continue to make progress."

"Please teach me the Taiyin Jue!" Ren Yuan said flatteringly, "Junior brother will work harder in the future and repay you well."

"Of course I have no problem teaching you." The senior sister tapped his forehead apologetically and said, "It's just that you haven't opened your mind yet, and you haven't opened your third eye yet. Even if I teach you now, you won't be able to draw the moonlight into your body."

"Ah, just opening the top acupoint is not enough?" Ren Yuan was surprised. He thought that after opening the top acupoint and the door of life and death, he could continue practicing.

"Of course it's not enough. Didn't I tell you? Well, I really didn't tell you." The elder sister stuck out her tongue in embarrassment and quickly gave her younger brother a lesson:

"Humans have three palaces and nine orifices. Opening the orifice at the top of the head is only the first step to enter the door of cultivation. After that, every time you open an orifice, you will reach a higher level. The more orifices you open, the greater your magical powers will be."

"I see." Ren Yuan couldn't help but look fascinated, and asked curiously, "How many acupoints have you opened, Senior Sister?"

"Nine orifices are unique to humans, but we monsters also have similar twelve levels." A Yao held up four fingers and said proudly, "I have passed four levels so far, and my magical power is equivalent to that of a human with three orifices opened!"

As if she was afraid that Ren Yuan would look down on her, she emphasized again, "Don't think that the level of the fourth gate and three orifices is very low. Among humans, those who have three orifices are already the limit of the poor race. Above that is the privilege of the noble race."

"Why? Are all the people of the Han clan mediocre in talent and not hardworking?" Ren Yuan asked puzzled.

"Of course the Han Clan has many talented people, and they are definitely more hardworking than the Shi Clan." A Yao shook his head and said, "But if you want to make progress, you must use the nine kinds of external pills to open up the nine orifices one by one. You can never do it by your own strength."

After a pause, she sighed and said, "Actually, the demon race is the same, but at least we have a long lifespan, so we can always encounter our own opportunities."

Ren Yuan finally understood why his senior sister and the Wuxiang siblings were not interested in the Youxian Pillow anymore, because they were also stuck like him, only at a higher level.

After pondering for a moment, he asked, "Is the external pill the awakening pill I took?"

"Yes." A Yao nodded and said, "But the Kaiqiao Pill is only the most basic one. The higher the level of the external pill, the more precious it is. For example, the Tianmu Paste for opening the second orifice is worth tens of thousands of strings of cash, and even this is still in short supply. As soon as it appears, it is bought at a high price. As for the Jiuzhen Powder for opening the fourth orifice and above, it is completely monopolized by the royal family and the nobles. The common people can forget about it."

"I didn't expect that even this road has such strict hierarchy." Ren Yuan couldn't help but sigh.

But on second thought, this makes sense. Otherwise, how could the royal family and the aristocracy monopolize all the privileges?

(End of this chapter)