Chapter 55
"What happened between you and your family?" I asked her.
"I feel annoyed when I see my mother. She has to control everything for me," said Xiaorong.
"You don't know how lucky you are. I want someone to take care of you, but no one cares about you." I sighed.
"Why don't you just be my mother's daughter, hahahaha."
I heard her teasing me, so I tickled her armpits with both hands, making her beg for mercy.
"By the way, sister, why do you insist on changing the store into one that sells those things?" Xiaorong said.
"Because my sister knows how to catch ghosts." I said mysteriously.
"Oh, that's amazing." From her tone, it was clear that she didn't believe it.
After a few playful jokes, we started discussing the layout. A shop like this couldn't be laid out like a bakery; it had to adhere strictly to feng shui principles. While I'm a master at dealing with ghosts, I'm only half-baked when it comes to feng shui and eight trigrams. I've also studied the inscriptions in the Yin Fu Lu, but compared to Li Danyang and the others, I'm like a baby. It's mainly because I'm self-taught, with no one to teach me. Even Erma is better than me.
I have made up my mind to ask Senior Brother Danyang to make the arrangements when the time comes.
Over the next few days, I ran around like crazy. First, I went to the Tianshi Temple to find Li Danyang. When he heard I'd recovered, he was shocked. I brought him to my shop, and after he inspected it, he made a detailed layout for it. I wrote down all these things in a notebook. It's not like I didn't understand everything; some things came to me instantly.
After sending him back to the Tianshi Mansion, I began renovating the shop. I followed Li Danyang's exact specifications, decorating it to the last detail. I asked Qingyun to make me some more magical instruments so I could sell them in the shop. Unexpectedly, when he brought me the instruments, he also gave me a plaque with the inscription "Dragons Soaring and Tigers Leaping," a calligraphy attributed to Zhang Pingyin.
I was flattered. Zhang Pingyin is the current Heavenly Master of the Heavenly Master's Mansion, but I never expected he would give me such a precious plaque. The entire plaque is made of exquisite materials, and I carefully examine it, especially the four characters, which exude a sense of righteousness.
This is undoubtedly a powerful magic weapon, but only a fool would treat it as a magic weapon. This is a good sign.
I have also thought of a name for the store, it’s called “Fuyuantang”.
When everything was ready, I set off two strings of firecrackers in front of the door, and the business was open.
However, the reality was not as good as I imagined. After a week of opening, there was not a single customer. Xiaorong and I sat in the store bored, especially Xiaorong, who sighed.
At this moment, someone suddenly came to the door. I turned around and saw that it was Erma, who had returned from her hometown.
"Sister, where is your bakery?" Erma said.
"Oh." When I heard her mention the bakery, I really missed it a little.
"I don't know if you are really stupid or just pretending to be stupid. This place is so close to the Tianshi Mansion. Who would come to you to buy magic tools?" Erma said.
Her words really woke me up, and I immediately thought of the key point.
"What should I do? I can't change it back, right?" I said.
She smiled proudly and took out a piece of paper from behind her, on which was written: Tianshi Mansion Direct Store.
"Just put it on the door of the store," said Erma.
"Is this okay?" I asked.
"It's okay, Master agreed." Erma said.
I feel relieved after hearing Erma say this.
I then asked Xiaorong to look after the shop while Erma and I prepared to go to Changsha. We booked tickets for the day and left. Before leaving, I told Xiaorong to give her a couple of days off, as there would be no one around anyway. She had been so busy following me around these past two days that she hadn't had a chance to rest.
When Erma and I arrived in Changsha, we dropped our belongings off at the hotel and then headed to Orange Island for some photos and a photo op. The night view was stunning, and there were a lot of people snapping photos and checking in. The snacks and Hunan cuisine were also delicious, though a bit too spicy for my taste.
The next day, we went to Yuelu Mountain.
On Yuelu Mountain, there is not only Yunlu Palace, but also Gulushan Temple.
We visited Yunlu Palace. When the gatekeeper heard we were from the Longhu Mountain Heavenly Master's Temple, he hurried inside to report. I took this opportunity to admire the scenery of Yunlu Palace. The sound of Daoist music flowed like flowing water, and the fragrance of the plants and trees resembled a fairyland. When the gatekeeper emerged, he respectfully bowed to us and then led us into the palace.
The first thing that caught my eye was a two-story attic, which, according to the boy, was originally dedicated to Guan Yu. Next was the Xuanwu Patriarch Hall, dedicated to Zhenwu Emperor, and finally the Sanqing Hall. Most striking was the 700-year-old ginkgo tree, its gnarled branches conveying a sense of age.
The boy led us to a residence with the words "Qinglian Mind" written on it. He knocked on the door and said, "Master, the guest is here."
"Come in." An old voice came from inside.
Erma and I entered the shrine and bowed to the master. We were just stopping by, so the atmosphere was relaxed. We learned that the master's Taoist name was "Chun Yang," and that he and Tianshi Zhang Pingyin were longtime friends, having met in Thailand. Master Chun Yang smiled when he recounted that past.
You know, Tianshi Zhang Pingyin is usually very serious and stern, but Master Chunyang is more affable and actually told us many interesting stories about Tianshi Zhang.
It's said that Master Chunyang traveled to Thailand alone in the past for a client. The client's name was not revealed, but the master said that the client had returned from a trip to Thailand feeling unwell, frequently waking up at night, and his physical condition rapidly deteriorating. Fortunately, he knew Master Chunyang, so he came to Yunlu Temple for help.
Master Chunyang could tell at a glance that he had been put under a spell.
Black magic belongs to the South Asian evil magic, which is actually a branch of witchcraft.
Master Chunyang asked him if he had offended anyone in Thailand, because at that time, Thai sorcerers would not cast sorcery on people for no reason. Firstly, it would be time-consuming and laborious, and secondly, it would easily backfire on them.
The victim said he was just out for fun with his wife and hadn't had any conflicts with anyone. He thought about it for a while and said that he did have some contact with a woman selling amulets, but it wasn't very frequent. He had no intention of buying amulets at the time, so he turned the woman down.
Master Chunyang understood as soon as he heard it. It must be that the woman saw that the victim was from a wealthy family and wanted to make some money from him, but the victim did not believe her. As a result, the woman cast a spell on the victim so that she could make a lot of money.
The victim then remembered that he did often dream about that woman.
Master Chunyang cleaned up the situation immediately and promised to help the victim deal with the matter.
At that time, Master Chunyang was young and full of vigor, having traveled to Thailand alone. Our Chinese tradition, with its long-standing tradition of using courtesy before force, emphasizes the importance of using force. But in Thailand, such principles were not valued. Upon learning of Master Chunyang's intentions, they assumed he was looking for trouble, and the meeting ended in acrimony.
But Master Chunyang couldn't stop until he had done what he promised the victim. If soft tactics didn't work, he'd resort to hard tactics. But Master Chunyang only wanted to break the black magic, but he didn't expect the woman to strike first, and with such ruthless tactics, she actually wanted to kill him.
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