Chapter 18
The master arrived at noon the next day.
He was dressed in a blue Taoist robe, with his hair tied up in a bun, holding a whisk, and a package slung across his back. His thick eyebrows were straight, his eyes were determined, and a tuft of beard made him look mature.
He just looked a little dusty, probably because he was in a hurry.
"Master Zhang, please come in and sit down." When Grandpa Gan saw the master come in, he hurried forward to greet him.
Master Zhang extended his hand to refuse Grandpa Gan and said, "Let's go to the scene first."
Grandpa Gan led the way, and a group of people followed behind Master Zhang. I also followed secretly behind. Grandpa pulled me aside and said, "Little sister, do you want to go too?"
I nodded: "What's wrong, Grandpa?"
"You have a special physique, don't get into danger!"
"Don't worry, grandpa, I'm very powerful now." I raised my little fist, twisted it in the air, and said proudly.
"Then just watch quietly, don't try to show off."
"I understand, Grandpa."
After saying that, grandpa followed the person in front, and I quickly ran to find Zhang Song.
When I arrived at Zhang Song's house, he was having dinner. When his family saw me, they asked me if I had eaten.
I winked at Zhang Song, and he understood what I meant. He immediately took two big mouthfuls of food and ran away with me before he finished chewing it.
His father's voice came from the house: "Could this boy have fallen in love with her?"
My face flushed a little. Now I know a little about the relationship between men and women. I am no longer that little girl who knows nothing.
Fortunately, Zhang Song was so focused on attending the religious ceremony that he didn't notice me, otherwise I would have been so embarrassed.
By the time the two of us ran to the reservoir, they had already gathered on the dam.
At this time, I saw a group of people surrounding a woman. Wasn’t that Aunt Xue?
Zhang Song and I moved closer and saw Aunt Xue kneeling on the ground, pulling at Master Zhang's clothes, crying and begging him not to hurt Lingling.
Master Zhang held Aunt Xue in his arms and said, "I will do my best to help her attain salvation."
Aunt Xue kept nodding, saying, "Lingling, Lingling."
He couldn't catch his last breath and fainted.
Seeing this, Grandpa Gan quickly sent someone to send her to the hospital.
Master Zhang took out a talisman from his clothes and told the two people who had escorted Aunt Xue, "This is a talisman for calming the mind. Remember to have her carry it with her."
Aunt Xue fainted because she was too sad.
After taking the talisman, the two young men hurried out of Xiagou and went to Xiaogangzi Health Center.
Everyone was silent for a moment. They were all from the same village, and they all felt sorry for Aunt Xue. She was middle-aged, her husband had an accident at work, and her daughter was gone.
Now, when she heard about the ritual, in Aunt Xue's eyes, it was to make her daughter disappear, which was no less than killing her daughter for the second time.
Finally, it was Grandpa Gan who broke the silence and said, "Master Zhang, when do you think we should start?"
Master Zhang said, "Tonight at midnight is the best time, so I can make some preparations."
As I expected, the time was set for tonight.
Generally, ceremonies to liberate the deceased are performed before midnight. This is because night is yin, making it easier to communicate with spirits. Another reason, from a Taoist perspective, is that midnight balances the yin and yang of heaven and earth, creating abundant energy and facilitating success. The reason for starting at 11:00 p.m. is to allow time for the ritual to occur, in case of any unexpected events.
After surveying the site, Master Zhang returned to his grandfather's house.
After everyone else had left, Master Zhang spoke again, "Brother, you and I are from the same family. Since you trust me, I won't hide anything from you. I was just at the dam, and I felt a great deal of resentment within the reservoir. I'm afraid it won't resolve peacefully. If we can't liberate it, should we eliminate it or just stop it? What do you think?"
Grandpa Gan frowned when he heard Master Zhang say this. After a moment's thought, he said, "The children in the village always sneak off to the reservoir to bathe in the summer. We adults can't keep an eye on them. If Xue's children don't leave, what will they do?"
Master Zhang nodded, indicating that he understood what Grandpa Gan meant.
"Then please do the cleanup work."
After saying that, Master Zhang began to prepare the magic tools.
He took out a lot of things from the package: Bagua mirror, Sanqing bell, talisman paper, lightning-struck wood, etc.
When he was ready, he began to purify himself.
Before the ritual, one must bathe and change clothes, and avoid eating meat, fish, or spicy food. During this time, one must maintain a calm mind and a pure heart.
This will allow for better communication between gods and ghosts.
Everything was ready, and it was almost the hour of Hai.
Grandpa Gan arranged for everyone to take the things to the dam, and the ceremony was about to begin.
Zhang Song and I were behind the crowd, watching Master Zhang fiddle with the altar.
This also has its own rules.
The table is filled with five fruits, symbolizing the Five Blessings: apples, oranges, pineapples, pears, and sugarcane. Then, pastries symbolizing good fortune, such as red dates and longans, are placed. Fresh flowers and water are also necessary. Flowers must be free of thorns or poison; lotus or chrysanthemum are typically used. Since we don't have lotus flowers here, we used chrysanthemums instead.
There are also rules for the placement of fruits and flowers. Flowers should face south and fruits should face east.
Then light the eternal lamp, which must not be extinguished during the entire ritual.
The ritual implements were neatly placed on the table.
Last but not least, it is the deceased’s clothes or favorite things.
Everything was ready. Master Zhang lit the incense, offered a few prayers, and then placed it in the incense burner. He then lit the eternal lamp. Although the flame was small, it burned steadily.
Zhang Tianshi began chanting an incantation: "Heaven and Earth are natural, the foul qi disperses..." This was completely different from what I had learned in the Yin Fu Lu. As he chanted, he performed the Stepping Gang Dou (stepping on the magic circle) steps, and a solemn atmosphere instantly descended upon everyone present.
I felt a pure power emanating from Master Zhang.
As he finished chanting the spell, he heard a voice: "Rise!"
The clothes that Lingling wore when she was alive rose out of thin air on the altar.
The dark water surface also reacted, and a transparent soul with a pale blue glow emerged from the water. It had cunning eyes, a sharp mouth and fangs, and smiled coldly.
Although everyone could not see Lingling's ghost, they could feel that the atmosphere was unusual. Zhang Song glanced at me and I nodded at him.
Among those present, only Master Zhang and I could see Lingling.
Master Zhang was also a man of real ability. When he saw Lingling's ghost come out, he kept his steps unchanged and chanted: "The Supreme Commandment, your soul is liberated, all ghosts and spirits, four tones of grace."
A golden light shone on Lingling, and black air came out of her body and she let out a miserable scream.
She opened her mouth and dirty blood flowed out of it. She endured the pain and rushed towards Master Zhang.
Upon seeing this, Master Zhang waved his whisk and a Bagua mirror appeared in his hand. A beam of light shot out from it and hit Lingling.
Lingling was beaten so hard that her breath became weak and her soul became blurred.
She was unwilling to accept this, and flew towards the platform with her fangs and claws bared, shouting, "I want you to come down and accompany me!"
Seeing that Lingling was so resentful, Master Zhang picked up the lightning-struck wood and placed it in his palm, and a flash of lightning appeared in front of him.
Lingling stopped and looked at Master Zhang with fear, her eyes fixed on him!
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