Chapter 944 The Returnee's Notes 18
The ward was quiet, with only the old woman's voice. Her breath grew weaker, and she finally squeezed Old Ming's hand, saying, "Little Ming, you're a good boy, Grandma knows that. From now on... let yourself go."
Old Ming stared blankly. "You...know?"
The old woman didn't reply to him again.
Old Wang gripped the wooden stick in his hand, tossed it upwards, sending the long stick flying forward. He then exchanged a glance with the old woman and said, "It's done."
The mediation was successful; the next step is to get rid of that thing.
Old Ming's face was blank, as if he couldn't accept it. He knelt down and begged Old Wang, which startled Old Wang. He quickly helped him up, as people like them didn't easily accept such gifts.
"I've heard that we can enshrine them; could you please help me, venerable Taoist priest?"
"No." Old Wang frowned and refused without the slightest hesitation.
Wang Ze whispered to Xie Ning, "Offering to such things will bring you no peace for the rest of your life."
They won't help with this anyway; wouldn't that be harming people?
"Xiao Ze, fetch the paper money and go to the road to respectfully send it off."
Then, seeing that Lao Ming was hunched over, Wang Laodao stroked his beard and said casually, "If you feel guilty and want to repent, then go and recite scriptures and practice magic to seek salvation."
Since the vengeful spirit has already been sent away, this ritual might be useful, but it might not be. It's mostly just a way to comfort yourself.
Zhang Guizhi only learned about this past event today, so she didn't know how to comfort her and was still in a daze.
Just like the old lady said, let go of yourself, but Lao Ming obviously can't do it.
After the paper money was burned out and the vengeful spirit was sent away, Zhang Guizhi noticed Xie Ning. She said, "Why did this girl seem familiar at first? Isn't she a student at Lao Ming's school?"
Old Ming was so engrossed in his memories that he didn't notice Xie Ning.
Seeing Zhang Guizhi staring at him, Xie Ning nodded slightly, not afraid of being recognized. At worst, he would just be labeled a charlatan.
Old Ming was still kneeling in front of the bowl of burning paper money, his gaze seemingly fixed on something else, as if trying to see the formless vengeful spirit, his teacher.
But in the end, it can never be seen.
The leaves, tinged with yellow, drifted down, and before we knew it, it was late autumn.
Perhaps Lao Ming regrets that if he had been braver back then, his teacher might not have died.
But just as he feared, his bravery might lead him and his teacher to die under the scorching sun.
Or perhaps he regrets that if he hadn't participated in that struggle, would his hands... not have been stained with his teacher's blood?
Over the years, he has been reviewing his initial choice and suddenly realized that no matter which way he went, it was a dead end.
In the end, Lao Ming entered the Buddhist order, seeking salvation.
He originally wanted to join the Xiaowushan Taoist Temple, but Old Wang wouldn't accept him. They weren't proper Taoist practitioners; they had only learned some magic and worked as exorcists.
The younger ones in the temple were all people he couldn't bear to take in. Why would he take in an old person when he had nothing better to do? He didn't need the money for incense offerings, and the people in the temple were always "on business trips" and didn't have time to take care of people.
Among the younger ones, there was one who was a teenager, and that was the one who stayed to look after the house and the children.
The child stopped studying after junior high school and just stayed at the Taoist temple. Old Taoist Wang wanted to teach him some skills, but the child refused to learn, saying he was afraid, so he gave up.
As the number of collaborations increased, Xie Ning and Wang Ze's relationship grew better and better. Wang Heng, the eldest disciple of Wang Laodao who returned to the Taoist temple from out of town, even gave Xie Ning a foreign brand smartphone as a gift, which was very generous.
Seeing that Xie Ning was embarrassed to accept the gift, Wang Heng smiled and said, "Keep it. Grandma Xie has helped me a lot. It's nothing for me to buy you a cell phone."
The old lady nodded, and Xie Ning accepted the gift.
She had used such a phone before, but it had been a long time, so Wang Ze taught her how to use it, and she got the hang of it in no time.
Meanwhile, Wang Heng was still talking to the old lady about the commission. He was in charge of this commission and was going back to pick up Wang Ze to go together. On the one hand, it was to teach his junior brother, and on the other hand, it was to share the money with Wang Ze.
Old Master Wang did not participate, after all, Wang Heng was already capable of handling things on his own.
"Ah-mei, are you going? To broaden your horizons."
Xie Ning has just started his winter vacation and spends all his time at home studying Taoism, researching how to draw talismans, and refining red ropes.
The old lady then taught her how to make red ropes to ward off evil spirits, the same red ropes that she and Wang Ze usually wore on their wrists, necks, or ankles, some of which also had a copper coin hanging on them.
The refining method is actually quite simple, requiring only talisman paper, peach wood, incense ash, salt, and gold and silver chopsticks to correspond to the five elements. After refining, it is offered in front of the statue of Laozi for three days, but the red rope used must be made of cotton.
As for the red rope used to bind the spirit... the old lady hadn't taught her yet, only saying that it wasn't the right time.
Wang Laodao and his disciples also knew how to make such red ropes, but their methods were different, so the effects were also different. The red rope that the old lady used to bind the spirit was undoubtedly the best.
Therefore, Wang Laodao and his group would often come to the old lady to buy spirit-binding ropes, as well as special soul-guiding incense.
The case Wang Heng was commissioned this time was from a large factory in a special economic zone within the province. The client was a factory leader who said that strange things were happening in the factory, and everyone's accounts were different, causing widespread panic.
They also sent security personnel to investigate, but they couldn't find anything. In addition, they heard the sound of opera singing just like everyone else, which almost scared them to death.
Later, factory leaders invited Taoist priests and monks to perform rituals, but it didn't have much effect.
Of course, there are some imposters trying to take advantage of the situation, but there are also genuinely skilled peers who are simply not skilled enough, which is why they are recruiting others in the group.
Wang Heng happened to be nearby, so he accepted the commission.
The old lady met Xie Ning's clear eyes, put down her teacup, and said, "Alright, she's already entered the field. Staying at home all the time won't teach her anything real. Let her go out with you and broaden her horizons."
She's old and won't move easily.
I just hope that these younger generation members will get along well and support each other.
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