Since my conversation with Liu Sandao and Yuan Ying, I haven't left the house for over a week.
This week, I've been learning how to draw talismans and studying Taoism at the shop.
Just like Liu Sandao said, if you want to avoid being manipulated and want to understand more about the truth of what happened back then, you can only rely on yourself.
Only when you have your own destiny in your own hands can no one control you.
I don't know if it's because I've figured out a lot of things, or maybe I have snake gall inside me, or maybe...
Because I don't have much emotion, my cultivation speed is exceptionally fast.
Yuan Ying once said that for ordinary people who are new to the art of talismans, it can take several months just to grasp the basics of "controlling the brush with Qi".
When she was learning her craft, she couldn't even draw the simplest peace charm in the first six months.
Each stroke of the brush felt like a struggle against the energy within his body. Often, before he could finish even half a sheet of talisman, he would be so exhausted that his vision would go black and his clothes would be soaked with cold sweat.
Now, after only seven days of study, I can barely draw a house-protecting talisman.
Even she was somewhat surprised by my speed.
Liu Sandao would also come over from time to time to give me some pointers.
Although neither of them mentioned taking me as their apprentice, I already considered them my masters in my heart.
The last stroke of the talisman on the desk had just been completed, and the character "镇" (zhen, meaning "to suppress") outlined in cinnabar began to glow faintly in the candlelight.
Before, when I was drawing talismans, it was impossible to finish even one whole sheet.
I can't even finish half a painting. I feel completely exhausted, drenched in sweat, and can't even hold the brush.
But at this moment, I still feel a warm energy flowing in my dantian, and I feel that I can draw a second one.
This is what Yuan Ying referred to as "Qi".
The essence of Taoist talisman drawing lies in this wisp of "qi"; without it, the yellow talisman is nothing more than a piece of waste paper.
I gritted my teeth and pulled out another talisman.
By the time I finished drawing the second talisman, the veins on my wrists bulged, my breathing became heavy, and beads of sweat dripped from my forehead onto the character "宅" (zhai, meaning "home"), spreading out as a patch of vermilion.
After barely managing to finish the exercise, I found that my limbs felt like they were filled with lead, my breath became weak, and even the hand holding the pen was trembling uncontrollably.
Just as I was about to force myself to finish the third drawing, I heard Yuan Ying's voice behind me.
"Xiao Chen, haste makes waste. Drawing talismans is like cultivating qi, which requires a slow and steady process. Your forceful stimulation of the qi in your body is no different from pulling up seedlings to help them grow."
She was already standing at the door, holding a bowl of mugwort water: "Wash your hands first, then drink this refreshing soup."
I took the bowl, and the bitterness of the mugwort spread across my tongue.
"Yingniang, why do I always feel like my energy channels are blocked when I draw talismans? Is it because I'm not hot enough, or..."
"Although you still have residual traces of the Reincarnation Soul and the snake pill you took earlier in your body, they have not yet been fully integrated."
Yuan Ying pointed to the paper patterns on my palm: "Just like these patterns, they seem connected, but in reality, they go their own way. When drawing talismans, you need to use your mind to guide the Qi in your body and let it circulate along the meridians, rather than using brute force."
She unfolded a piece of talisman paper, the tip of the brush hovering three inches above the surface: "Watch carefully, the beginning of the stroke is like drawing a spring, the middle like flowing clouds, and the ending like a broken string..."
Before he finished speaking, the copper wind chimes outside the door suddenly rang out.
This sound is different from usual.
In the past, when customers entered the shop, the sound of the wind chimes was as clear and crisp as pearls falling onto a jade plate.
At this moment, however, it was dull and stagnant, like copperware that had been soaked in water colliding, exuding an indescribable chill.
There's only one explanation for this sound: it's a living person who's entered, but they have a heavy aura of yin energy.
Either they're about to die, or they're being entangled by something evil.
Yuan Ying's expression hardened: "The yin energy is too strong, let's go out and take a look."
After she finished speaking, she lifted the curtain and went out.
I quickly washed my hands with mugwort water and then went outside.
When I went outside, I saw a man in his thirties standing in front of Yuan Ying.
His body was hunched over, and he seemed to have lost all his energy and spirit.
His glabella was as black as the bottom of a pot, the veins at the root of his nose were bulging, the area under his eyes was bluish-gray, and there was a faint black aura around his nasolabial folds.
According to Liu Sandao's theory of the twelve palaces of face reading, this is a typical case of "five palaces obscured by dust".
It signifies financial loss, misfortune, and being tainted by extremely evil spirits.
To be honest, I don't have a deep understanding of physiognomy.
After all, Liu Sandao had already asserted that I didn't have the talent in this area, so I didn't put too much effort into it.
Looking at this person's face now, although I made a judgment based on the Twelve Palaces of Face Reading theory that I have learned, I am still not sure if it is accurate.
"Master Yuan, you have to help me this time! I've really seen a ghost!"
He was trembling violently as he said this.
His face was deathly pale, and his eyes were wide open, as if he had just remembered something.
Hearing this, I couldn't help but feel a little smug.
It seems my half-baked physiognomy skills actually came true this time.
When he saw me come out from behind the curtain, the man paused for a moment, then politely called me "Grandpa".
My lips twitched slightly, but I didn't say anything more; I was used to it anyway.
Seeing that Yuan Ying gestured for me to sit down, I pulled out a chair and sat down next to her.
As soon as he sat down, he heard the middle-aged man swallow hard and ask nervously, "Master Yuan, can you tell me if someone died in this house? If so, I won't buy it."
Yuan Ying glanced at me and said indifferently, "I don't know if anyone has died there. How about this, you go back first, and come back tonight. I'll have this old master go with you."
The man glanced at me, and perhaps noticing my 'age,' he quickly nodded and said, 'Okay, okay,' and he'd come over that evening.
After saying that, he held her hand and thanked her profusely, saying that he would have to trouble the master craftsman that evening.
Why are you thanking me?
I have no idea what happened to him. Where am I supposed to go tonight?
I asked Yingniang what they had been talking about.
Yuan Ying turned around and tidied up the incense and paper money on the counter, and replied, "He was planning to buy a second-hand house, but he stumbled upon a haunted house. Could you help him deal with it tonight?"
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