Night Lights

Chapter 14 Zhang Yibai dies young

Anyone who cultivates is destined to commit a calamity, no blessings or misfortunes, five disadvantages and three shortcomings; : It is not good fortune, no prosperity, no longevity, the name is: Poor and lonely, three lives and three lacks; the fate of magic number, one is chosen by nature, and only those who accept the order can do the way of heaven, so ordinary people can't do it. ——Excerpted from Chapter Three of the General History of Taoism in "Book of Words Without Words".

……

"Ah... blood!"

As Blind Zhang spat out a mouthful of blood, his body immediately collapsed on the ground, he supported Bai Shibao's shoulder vigorously, and said, "Don't make a fuss, help me go home quickly."

Bai Shibao supported Blind Zhang on his body, took a short cut and went straight to the house, took off his coat, and carried him to the kang. After boiling hot water, he saw that blind Zhang was lying on the kang, still coughing dryly, with blood running down the bed. The corners of his mouth twitched, and his heart was anxious. Seeing that the sky was getting brighter, he took out the 50 yuan silver dollars, grabbed a handful of them, and then knocked on the door of the pharmacy to seek medical treatment for Zhang Blind.

Blind Zhang stopped and said, "I know my body better than the doctor, so don't waste time and effort."

"But how can you get better if you don't take medicine?"

Blind Zhang shook his head and sighed: "I cast too many spells, and I asked ghosts to help me, my body will definitely not be able to take it anymore, you bring me my gown, and bring me a basin of clean water."

Bai Shibao followed the instructions one by one, and put a basin of clear water in front of the kang. Blind Zhang pulled out a black pen, yellow paper and cinnabar from his gown, crossed his knees on the kang, made a mantra, and drew the paper talisman. Finally, tear it into a fish shape and throw it in a clear water basin. Finally, tear the remaining yellow paper into small pieces like fishing bait and sprinkle it in the basin.

The big yellow paper fish unexpectedly made a splash, its tail swung non-stop, and it began to swim in the basin pressing the water splash.Bai Shibao was amazed, and saw this big fish open its mouth in the water to swallow those scraps of paper. Every time it swallowed a mouthful, Zhang Blindman felt a sharp pain in his chest, and spit out a mouthful of blood.

"one two three four five six……"

Bai Shibao stared at the big fish in the basin, and counted to nine. The big fish shook its tail and stopped eating. The fish's lips stuck out of the water, swallowed, wagged its tail, turned over and died in the water, and turned into a piece of yellow paper. sank.

Bai Shibao was shocked and said: "Master, this fish is dead."

Looking up again, I saw Zhang Blind's complexion was bruised, his lips were dry, his whole body was trembling, and he kowtowed, "Ninety-nine..."

"What did Master see with this technique?"

Blind Zhang closed his eyes, and said softly, "My life span is over, and my destiny is coming soon!"

"Ah...how is this possible?" Bai Shibao would never believe that, relying on his master's morality, how could he be so good that he would die after coughing a few mouthfuls of blood?
"This technique is called 'Fish Swallowing Longevity', which is the same as 'Grave Fragrance'. It is a technique for measuring Yangshou. If the big fish in the pot does not eat the bait, it proves that I have a long lifespan; I swallowed nine yuan, you must know that this year happens to be the year of the ninth year, and my life expectancy is 59 years old, so it can be seen that my life is not long."

"So what if it's the ninth year? Didn't Master also experience nine years old, 19 years old, 29 years old..."

"Nine is the extreme number of yang numbers, the largest odd number, also known as: the number of old yang; the so-called extremes of things must be reversed, and the fleeting year is too old. Every nine years, the ghost official's sentence will be submitted to the book of life and death as the ghost king. Young people will be marked immediately, no matter men, women, old or young, those who are marked will be canceled from the world and report to Yincao."

After Bai Shibao heard this, he bowed his head and remained silent. Although he had not been with Zhang Blind for a long time, he walked the yin and yang for others, encountered ghosts blocking the way, saw five ghosts carrying coffins, tried ghosts to possess him, and fought deadly witchcraft. The past is presented in front of the eyes, vividly.

Whoa, whoa, whoa...

A few crows flew outside the door at unknown times, hanging from the treetops and chirping in a low voice.

Bai Shibao was furious and got up to drive the crow away, but was stopped by Zhang Blind Man and said, "This is the crow calling for its soul, what should come will always come, you don't need to pay attention, come here and kneel down!"

Bai Shibao knelt on the ground, watching Zhang Blind Man slowly take out all the things in the gown, put them properly, and there are countless magic tools and spells.

"I carry all these shady things with me on weekdays. I accept you as my apprentice, and your name will be recorded in the book. I haven't taught you every move, and now I will pass it on to you. You have to remember it carefully." Hold on, in the future it will depend on you alone..."

Blind Zhang asked Bai Shibao for the old book handed down from his ancestors, and then took up a pen and ink to write down the method of walking through the yin, spelling and drawing talismans, the starting formula of the art of penetrating the yin and armoring the horse, the outline of the footwork, and copied in the back of the old book, as well as other taboo days. Note it, and told Bai Shibao to practice hard, don't let the master down, and break the school.Bai Shibao put away the old book and opened it from the back. The script on it was carefully written by Zhang Blind, and his eyes couldn't help but dry up, and tears filled his eyes in an instant.

"There are a few more things to tell you, you should write them down carefully!" Blind Zhang coughed more and more heavily, his chest was soaked red with blood, his voice was hoarse, and the eyes of the pair were already full of red.

"First: The scroll of the sect's roster of yin, together with the patriarch and the king of yin, you have to collect and enshrine it. If the teacher is homeless, you can take it with you. You have this half of the house to protect you from the wind and rain. You can enshrine it here. Every year, moon and moon burn paper to worship..."

Bai Shibao nodded in agreement.

"Second: You don't need to spend money to pay for Master's funeral. When Master is gone, just choose broken wood and collect it for incineration..."

Bai Shibao gritted his teeth and nodded in agreement.

"Third: Whenever it is cloudy, you can paste some shrouds, pillows, and yellow paper for incense candles, and go to the intersection to set up a stall to sell, don't disturb strangers, specialize in selling ghosts' needs, listen to ghosts' requests, and be a good person to accumulate virtue between Yin and Yang... "

Bai Shibao cried and nodded in agreement.

"Finally, you only have one year left in your lifespan. I have recorded the formula for increasing your lifespan on the back of this old book. This old book is a dharma object handed down by the ancestors. I have no chance to penetrate it. If you have an epiphany in the future, it will be good. If you practice Taoism If it is not enough, I will pass this book down from generation to generation, hoping that someone will break this secret..."

Bai Shibao wiped away his tears and asked, "Since there is a way to increase one's lifespan, why doesn't Master increase one's lifespan at this time?"

Blind Zhang shook his head and said nothing, obviously it was too late, he handed the ghost whip to Bai Shibao and said, "You are destined to be poor, and you are destined to be poor for the rest of your life. Otherwise, you will suffer big losses in the future; besides, you can carry this ghost-scare whip with you, so you can count it as a magic weapon to drive away Yin and fight ghosts..."

Bai Shibao used this frightening whip to kill corpses. The whip was wrapped in linen cloth with charms drawn on it. The neck of the whip was wrapped with snakeskin. The whole whip was made of coarse linen, soft to cloudy, and soaked in cockscomb blood. The masculinity is strong, the wind is strong, and the power is astonishing. Bai Shibao holds it tightly in the palm of his hand and cherishes it very much.

Blind Zhang stared at Bai Shibao in ecstasy, with a smile on his face, he was very satisfied with his three-point love and seven-point care for this apprentice, but he had no choice but to draw the lottery, and the Taoist mantle was handed over, which was fine But wish.Suddenly, Blind Zhang felt a stuffy air welling up in his chest, which seemed to stir his chest like fire, accompanied by a dry cough, but it was Yang Qi. Blind Zhang shouted, "Go!" Then he closed his eyes, and died.

Poor Blind Zhang went to Yin all his life, and his last three souls returned to Yin. Others said he was blind, but he could see through Yin and Yang, black and white.

Bai Shibao knelt in front of Zhang Blind Man and wept bitterly for a while, and then burned incense to worship and guard the spirit. Every night, with tears in his eyes, he cried and read the secrets of walking in the dark in old books, and kowtowed to Zhang Blind Man every time he felt something.

After a few days, it will be the first seven days.

Bai Shibao pushed open the door and went out, bought some yellow paper and cinnabar, rice wine and cooked meat, finally found a burial shop, selected a shroud, made a mouthful of birthday materials, carried them home, buried Zhang Blind, put them in the courtyard, burned paper to worship, and waited for tomorrow Someone came to carry the coffin and refine it.Bai Shibao spent another silver dollar to engrave the tablet of Zhang Blind, which read: Master Zhang Yibai's seat, placed at the mouth of the coffin, another prostration.

At midnight, Bai Shibao placed two cups in Zhang Blind Man's coffin, poured spirits on it, and drank in front of the coffin. It was like drinking and chatting with Master.While speaking, a gust of dark wind blew out from nowhere, blew out the incense candles in front of the coffin, and the yellow paper was blown away.Bai Shibao took advantage of his alcohol and cursed: "Where did the lonely soul come to my house to make trouble?"

Before he finished speaking, Bai Shibao felt someone slap on his shoulder, turned his head, and shouted loudly: "Master, Master..."

"What? You don't even recognize your master?" The ghost of Zhang Blind stood behind Bai Shibao, smiling, wearing the shroud that Bai Shibao burned for him.

"Master, you are back."

"The first seven came back to life and had nowhere to go. I heard someone calling me to drink, and I smelled the wine and came back..." Blind Zhang walked to the coffin and sat cross-legged. Choking on the hotness of his throat, Zhang Blind's face flushed.

Bai Shibao happily sat in front of the coffin and accompanied blind Zhang to drink. After drinking a few glasses of spirits, Bai Shibao asked: "Master, last time I followed you to the underworld. When I went to the underworld, there were ghosts begging for money to open the way. Didn't I meet you this time?" ?”

"Also! You burned so much paper money for Master, and I couldn't reward you all the way. If you have money, there is nowhere to spend it. Remember what I said, I told you not to waste money, why are you still wasting it like this? Look at this dress, I didn't get it. Without sleeves, it's a bit uncomfortable to wear."

"Master, all the shrouds sold in funeral shops are like this. You can't leave the cuffs. This one looks much better than the paper dress you gave me last time!" Bai Shibao laughed.

"My body should be burned tomorrow, I don't need to stay here to worship..."

"I have made all the arrangements. Someone will come to carry the coffin for cremation tomorrow morning." After Bai Shibao finished speaking, he saw Zhang Blind Man staring at the body in the coffin silently, so he changed the subject and asked, "When will Master go back?"

Blind Zhang was taken aback for a moment, then he came back to his senses and said, "Let's go after drinking, you can't stay overnight if you come back to your soul!"

When Bai Shibao was excited, he got up and ran into the house, put on the blind man's jacket, went to the coffin, took out some spell armor horses, and said, "Tonight, I will take a trip for Master and see you off!"

"Okay, after drinking this glass of wine, we will go on a journey between master and apprentice, and then go to Yin..." Zhang Xiazi laughed.

The master and apprentice ate all the wine and meat in front of the coffin. Bai Shibao got up and cast a spell to urge the yin fire to burn the spell armor horse. He got up and was about to follow behind Zhang blind man, but he tripped and kicked the master's tablet down. Bai Shibao was shocked After waking up, it was Nan Ke Yimeng.Looking at the coffin in front of him, the joss sticks were burning, the paper money in the brazier had been completely burned, and the wind was blowing on his head, which made him ache from the alcohol.

"It's already the first seven, why hasn't Master come back..."

Bai Shibao lifted up the tablet of Master, and after straightening it, thinking about the dream just now, he suddenly shouted: "That's right, if Master doesn't come back, I'll go to the underworld to see him, firstly, I can see how he is in the underworld, secondly, Also test your recent cultivation!"

(End of this chapter)