The ultimate master in the city

Magu Qingshan is not far from Jiuweng Town, only a few dozen miles away. The most famous thing about the mountain is its nunnery. Because of their religious beliefs, many widowed women in the nearby mountains who have no children do not choose to remarry. Instead, they go to the nunnery on the mountain to become nuns, spending their remaining years with only the ancient Buddha and the dim lamp for company. As a result, the whole mountain has become famous.

There is an old nun in this nunnery, whose Dharma name is Qingyang. She must be eighty or ninety years old. She can drive away wandering spirits, call back souls, and guide the dead. She was very famous in the neighborhood in the past, and Old Man Xu knew about her.

The father and son set off early in the morning and arrived at the nunnery around noon. They first gave incense money, and then went straight to the point with the nun in charge, saying that they had urgent business with Abbess Qingyang.

As it turned out, the nun said, unfortunately, the teacher had recently gone to the Western Paradise.

That means he's dead!

Upon hearing this, Old Xu was troubled and didn't know what to do.

On the way there, his son learned about the strange fish's background and tried to persuade him, "Dad, it's just a strange fish. Sun the Cripple wanted to kill it, and it got scared and came to you for help. Why don't we be the bad guys and kill it and eat it?"

Old Xu was somewhat tempted upon hearing this; the strange fish was indeed quite troublesome. But then he thought about it and shook his head. "Would you dare eat something with such sentience, something that can communicate through dreams? And if you kill it, could you really have peace of mind?"

His son then said, "Then how about... we give it back to Sun the Cripple, and let him cook it as salted fish or braised fish, it's up to him."

Old Xu thought about it too much and shook his head: "No, since it's come to me, what if something goes wrong with Sun the Cripple and I don't kill it or release it? What if it comes looking for me again at night?"

His son sighed in frustration, unsure of what to do.

As the father and son were sighing and complaining, a middle-aged nun came over, chanted a Buddhist prayer, and said, "Seeing you two so sighing, are you facing some trouble? I am a disciple of Abbess Qingyang. What can I do for you?"

Old Xu's eyes lit up, and he pulled the middle-aged nun aside to tell her the whole story about the big carp.

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged nun said with great confidence, "This is a mountain spirit that has entered your home and is bringing misfortune to your family. Don't panic, take me to exorcise it."

Upon hearing this, Old Xu thought it was a good idea, so the father and son drove the middle-aged nun and her two young nun apprentices back.

As dusk fell, the group arrived at the house. As soon as Old Man Xu got out of the car, he led the middle-aged nun and her two disciples straight to the pond behind the courtyard.

The water was empty at this moment, and the big carp was nowhere to be seen, probably having sunk to the bottom.

The middle-aged nun walked around the pond three times and then instructed, "Go and prepare nine candles, a stack of yellow paper, seven mirrors, three steamed buns, and a roast chicken. I will then use my magic to drive it away."

Old Xu did as instructed. After buying the items, he handed them to the middle-aged nun, and then the whole family gathered around to watch.

The middle-aged nun set up an altar and arranged a formation. Finally, she threw yellow paper onto the water's surface, placed steamed buns and roast chicken by the pond, and chanted three times facing the pond, "Wandering souls, spirits from all directions, do not deceive good families, please proceed to the underworld, Amitabha!"

Finally, he sat by the pond with two young nuns, striking a wooden fish and chanting sutras.

Old Xu's family members were still discussing it nearby, exclaiming, "Amazing! Amazing!"

"That's good, Dad can finally get a good night's sleep!"

"It's funny, our family got involved with a big dried carp, haha."

"Shh! Shut up!" Old Xu scolded, "Can't you see the nun is performing a ritual..."

Before she could finish speaking, the large carp surfaced, blew a bubble, flicked its tail, and sank back to the bottom. The middle-aged nun coughed up a mouthful of blood, her face turning deathly pale.

Old Xu was startled and quickly stepped forward to ask, "Master! What's wrong?"

The middle-aged nun ignored him and kept saying to the pond, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Then, with a look of terror on her face, she grabbed the two young nuns and fled through the door, and they couldn't catch up with her.

Old Xu and his family were terrified. They didn't dare look at the pond and all ran back into the house, locking the door tightly.

Old Xu looked at his family, gritted his teeth, and said, "Even the nun from Mount Magu couldn't cure it! I... I'm not sleeping tonight, let's see how it tries to appear in my dreams now!"

That's what I said, but as soon as I sat down, I felt dizzy. I finally made it to the middle of the night, and before I knew it, I was holding a teacup and fell asleep.

The giant carp appeared in my dream again, this time fierce. "Uncle Xu! What are you doing? Huh? I told you to invite Abbess Qingyang, why did you bring three nuns to subdue me?"

Old Xu was quite frightened and quickly tried to shirk responsibility, saying, "Oh dear! Abbess Qingyang has died of illness, and this nun is her disciple. She insisted on showing off and driving you away, so I couldn't do anything about it!"

The giant carp snorted, "Idiot nun, she has no magic power whatsoever, she's not even as good as that brute Sun the Cripple. Pretending to be a god, and trying to subdue me, what a moron! It's a favor not to kill her!"

Old Xu remained silent, too shy to speak.

The big carp softened its tone and said, "Uncle Xu, since Abbess Qingyang is dead, I'd like to trouble you again. I've heard that there's a Daoist named Zhuzheng at the Baiyang Temple on Qingtong Mountain with very high magical power. Could you please ask him for help?"

Old Xu dared not refuse, and quickly said, "Alright, alright, I'll go invite them tomorrow morning!"

Just as I was saying this, I felt someone nudge me. I opened my eyes and found it was already daylight. My son was yawning and calling to me, "Dad, why did you fall asleep again? Did that big carp appear in your dream?"

Old Xu had dark circles under his eyes, felt weak all over, and was filled with bitterness. He gritted his teeth and said to his son, "Let's go! To the Baiyang Temple on Qingtong Mountain. The big carp told me to invite Master Zhuzheng. Oh dear! What sins have I committed! To bring this thing home!"

The father and son rushed to Baiyang Temple on Qingtong Mountain, seventy miles away, only to find out that Master Zhuzheng had gone on a pilgrimage and might not return for another six months.

Old Xu returned home with a bitter taste in his mouth. He ran to the pond and muttered to himself, "Big carp, oh big carp, it's not that I didn't want to invite you, it's just that you've gone on a pilgrimage. There was nothing I could do!"

This time, the giant carp didn't even show its face.

That night, Old Man Xu went to bed anxiously, and sure enough! The big carp was back, this time completely turning hostile. "You, surnamed Xu, I told you to invite Abbess Qingyang, and you said she was dead. I told you to invite Daoist Zhuzheng, and you said he was traveling. I think you're deliberately refusing to help me. Fine! Don't blame me for being ruthless! Just you wait!"

He disappeared in the blink of an eye!

The next morning, Old Xu was woken up by his family's shouting. When he went outside, he saw that the house was a complete mess. The walls and furniture were covered in mud, chopsticks had been thrown into the latrine, and plates and bowls were smashed to pieces!

His youngest son yelled, "Dad! What's going on in our house?"

Old Xu told the story of the big carp getting angry in its dream with a wry smile.

Upon hearing this, his eldest son flew into a rage, cursing, "Damn it! We kindly saved its life, and it treats us like this! It's just a damn fish! I'm going to kill it!"

Ignoring Old Xu's advice, the two brothers pulled out a fishing net, ran to the pond in the backyard, jumped in with a splash, and scooped it up with the net! They thought to themselves, "Once we get it out, we'll smash it to death!"

I like the novel "The Strongest Master in the City".