Nachtgespräche in seltsamen Geschichten

Kapitel 5

As a result, Xiaoling pinched me lightly on the cheek, then giggled and ran away. She always has a way of making me happy.

"I found it! The record about the haunted house... Grandpa wrote this in his diary..." Ah Feng suddenly widened his eyes, stared at it for a long time, "What?! It's classical Chinese, all those archaic phrases, so hard to understand. Boss Luo, it's yours now!"

"I teach math," I muttered, reluctantly taking the yellowed, thread-bound book. Looking at the calligraphy inside, I painstakingly translated it sentence by sentence. I didn't understand some of the Taoist terminology, but with Ah Feng's half-baked explanations, I managed to grasp the content.

Around the eighth year of the Guangxu Emperor's reign (1889), a hundred and twenty years ago, Ah Feng's great-grandfather, Xiao Yuzhi, traveled far and wide. Unbeknownst to the world, he silently slayed demons and exorcised ghosts, following the Taoist ideal of non-action. On one occasion, he mistakenly befriended a wicked man surnamed Wu. This sorcerer, Wu, possessed great magical powers, had subdued and liberated countless evil spirits, and was arrogant and fond of causing trouble.

A hero is lonely. For Wu the Wizard, the evil spirits that roam the world, no matter how powerful, are like crushing an ant, unable to enhance his magical power in actual combat.

One day, Wu accidentally discovered that Nanfang Tianyizi, one of the evil spirits who caused chaos in the world, was sealed in Gantian Village, a small mountain village in Ruli County. Wu was overjoyed and invited Xiaoyu Zhi to work together to eliminate this group of evil spirits and increase his experience and magic points.

Although Xiaoyu felt something was amiss, she was young and impetuous and couldn't resist the provocation of Wu the sorcerer, so she conspired with Wu to come to Gantian Village.

Xiao Yuzhi first arrived in Gantian under the guise of a fortune teller, offering free fortune telling and healing services to the local villagers. She became familiar with them and gained their trust, thus becoming their inside agent. Meanwhile, the sorcerer Wu disguised himself as a feng shui master, falsely claiming that the feng shui of the Lin Clan Ancestral Hall in Gantian Village was bad and its location was incorrect. With Xiao Yuzhi's agreement, the villagers actually believed it and moved the ancestral hall back one meter and turned it south.

Thus, the first seal that had imprisoned Tianyizi for three hundred years was broken.

On September 15th of that year, it was the moment when Tianyizi was at his strongest in the sixty-year cycle of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. His true form broke through three layers of seals. After losing the strongest and last layer of seals, he calmly emerged and fought fiercely with the Wu Wizard and Xiaoyuzhi, who were lying in ambush, for three days and three nights. In the end, both sides were severely injured.

Wu realized he had stirred up a hornet's nest. He was, after all, only human, and even with his powerful magic, his abilities were limited. How could he possibly fight against a malevolent ghost? To reseal Tianyizi, Wu sacrificed his life to force Tianyizi back into the Earth's magnetic field, using his own three souls to rebuild the triple seal. However, during the battle, Tianyizi imbued numerous wandering ghosts with his evil spirits, causing these irrational vengeful spirits to slaughter the entire village of five hundred people.

"Xiaoyu Zhi, your great-grandfather, was too badly injured after that battle between humans and gods, and passed away a year after his return. Before he died, he instructed his descendants that Tianyi Zi would recover after a hundred years and break through the seal on September 15, 2003, one hundred and twenty years later. His descendants must do everything in their power to prevent him from escaping."

---janeadam

Reply [21]: As I spoke, I yawned. It's time to eat, time for a nap, time for sleep! Damn witchcraft!

Xiaofeng's face was pale, and her lips trembled as she said, "Even my great-grandfather couldn't handle this ghost, how could my sister possibly manage it? No wonder my usually stingy sister suddenly bought me such an expensive thing and even asked my uncle to take care of me."

At this moment, the ghostly figure trembled, and her eerie words reverberated throughout the Linshui Palace: "Why is it that Master Xiao, who taught me magic and treated me like her own daughter, is the culprit who killed five hundred people in our village!"

We looked at Xiaofeng and exchanged bewildered glances. Zhu'er wanted to say something but couldn't get the words out.

“They did it unintentionally,” I said.

"This is probably fate! I hope that through the descendants of the Xiao family, we can be saved." Miss Ghost said slowly, and with a flash, she flew into He Zhu'er's backpack.

Urged on by Xiaofeng, we quickly finished our lunch and immediately boarded the long-distance bus arranged by Zhu'er's father, returning to Ruli County in the evening.

The next evening, the sky was ablaze with the glow of sunset. I lay on the wicker chair on the balcony, leisurely sipping tea while listening to Enya's "Memories in the Woods" on the CD player. I thought, this might be the last day of my life I'll spend here quietly drinking tea and listening to soothing music.

I was calm. In my suite on the third floor, which I had all to myself, I almost forgot about the noise from Zhu'er and Xiaofeng in the study, and I barely noticed Xiaoling beside me, who was chattering on like a secretary about the trivial matters in the class.

I said to Xiaoling, "You should do your homework now." Then I closed my eyes.

Xiaoling suddenly grabbed my hand, tears streaming down her face. "Teacher, you must take care of yourself. If anything happens to you, I'll be devastated..."

Sigh, whenever she sees how nonchalant I am, she always worries that she won't see me tomorrow.

I told her I would protect myself. In my heart, I still love this world and my life. I won't try to take my own life like I did two weeks ago. Xiaoqingzi taught me to let things take their course.

Actually, I'm also reluctant to part with her. During the two years I was her teacher, I had the most comfortable life. She took on all the chores in the class by herself, which made me feel at ease being lazy. She was young, but she was like an older sister, always taking care of me silently. Sometimes I didn't even know why she did it, but I was too lazy to think about it.

---janeadam

Reply [22]: Chapter Ten Divine Fist

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In the morning, those two little devils stayed at my house as soon as they got out of school, making a racket.

I tried everything to prevent Xiaoling and Zhu'er from going to Gantian Village with Xiaofeng and me tomorrow, but they had a lot of objections.

I told them that it was easy for me to ask for leave, but it would be difficult for them to ask for leave. More importantly, this trip was a matter of life and death for us, but for them it was a matter of life and death for them. I would never let them go to their deaths.

Throughout the day, I learned a shortcut from Xiaofeng to use less psychic energy. I always thought that adults' learning methods were always rigid, laborious and thankless, while kids were more quick-witted and practical.

Psychic energy is a form of spiritual energy that requires willpower to drive. The meridians in the human body are its pathways, and it is emitted from acupoints.

The way to use it lies in being natural, doing as one pleases, moving one's hands and feet freely—that is divine fist. So, I let my mind control my whole body, and when my mind went to me, my body moved, my hands and feet moved together. This made me, who had never learned martial arts before, start to look somewhat decent. More importantly, I was able to control the magnitude, force, distance, and range of my spiritual energy strikes.

I tried it a few times, but later the test subject, Miss Ghost, and her owner, Pearl, objected, saying that I was abusing my pet. So although it had some effect, I wasn't sure about it.

Xiaoling and Zhu'er were very interested in Xiaofeng's talismans. They often watched Xiaofeng draw talismans on rice paper with a cinnabar brush and asked him all sorts of questions.

"Isn't the 'ghostly talisman' a scam? You're doing it too? How are you any different from Xiao Fugui, the disgrace of your Xiao family?" Xiaoling asked.

"Who says talismans are useless? It's the human heart that's useless. Want to know the real reason? Give me chocolate and ice cream." As soon as Ah Feng finished speaking, Pearl gave him a loud smack on the head.

"Talismans are the manifestation of the combined power of gods and Buddhas, and also a tool for exorcising ghosts. To put it simply, talismans are actually just a medium for communicating with the power of gods. Through the activation of the talisman by the shaman, the power of various gods and spirits, such as heaven, earth, sun, moon, stars, wind, clouds, thunder, rain, mountains, rivers, seas, water, and fire, can be obtained. Therefore, when drawing talismans, one must first be upright, selfless, devout, and humble, using one's breath to guide the brush, and infusing it with the spiritual energy of the practitioner to communicate with the god of the power being borrowed. Only then can the talisman be effective."

"This is somewhat similar to the Western wind, fire, water, earth, ice, and dark magic! They make a pact with the five elemental spirits and use their power to cast spells."

"Yes, it's the same source of natural spiritual energy field, just with different names and mediums."

"Xiaofeng, you're amazing!"

"Cough cough, I just finished eating, please don't make me feel nauseous, okay, big sister? -- Ouch, that hurts!"

Pearl unleashed her fury.

I walked straight over and said, "You've written over a hundred different ones, have they all been useful?"

"I haven't tried it yet. I was naive when I was little and my dad tricked me into practicing Qigong. I was best at it. Later, I studied science and strongly resisted these feudal superstitions like talismans (I was too playful and used them as an excuse not to study, according to Zhu'er). I'm not very confident about it."

"Just draw the most useful and powerful talismans," Xiaoling suggested.

"It's easier said than done! The most powerful one is the Kunlun Five Thunder Talisman, which can slay ghosts and evil spirits, command gods and ghosts, and borrow the power of the Thunder God. Its power is boundless. I can't draw it. It is said to be very difficult to draw. My great-grandfather spent fifty years drawing nearly ten thousand copies, but only ten were successful. My father took five copies with him when he passed away. Now I only have two copies. The other three are with my sister."

On Tuesday, urged by Xiaofeng, I got up very early. Fog filled the mountain town, and I rented a van and set off with Xiaofeng for Gantian Village.

Cars can only be parked at the foot of the mountain, five kilometers away from the village; the path up the mountain must be walked. Judging from the bluestone slabs on the road and the dilapidated ancient pavilions on both sides, this mountain path, though narrow, is an ancient post road from the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is evident that Gantian Village is now remote, but in the Ming and Qing dynasties, when transportation was underdeveloped, it was a vital transportation route for people to come and go.

The further we walked, the cooler it became. The sun was still shrouded in thick fog, but a halo of white light dispelled much of the chill. A mountain breeze rustled through the pines, but after walking for so long, we couldn't hear a single bird sing. The entire mountain was as silent as a giant tomb.

Halfway up the mountain, Miss Ghost said in our minds, "In the Five Mile Pavilion, there is an extremely powerful vengeful spirit."

Sure enough, in a dark octagonal pavilion with the plaque "Listening to Cicadas" in the middle of a tall pine forest and lush bamboo thickets, sat two strange undead spirits. They wore tall hats from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, had pointed mouths and monkey cheeks, and their eyes were gray. They were playing chess on a stone table, one hand on each side.

As we approached, they all turned around in unison, and then we saw that behind the bamboo forest, a large swarm of dead trees rushed towards us like the wind, like ants trying to devour our spirits.

---janeadam

Reply [23]: "Boss, taking down the little devil is the best way to accumulate merit points." Xiaofeng was overjoyed. While running, he took a handful of talismans from his back. He could use them to save energy and spiritual power and exert maximum power. This kid always knew how to do big things with little effort. He has a bright future!

I really want to use this convenient and hassle-free thing, but unfortunately, I'm afraid of making things worse because I've only been learning it for a day. So I can only use my divine fist, concentrate my mind to silently circulate the spiritual energy in my dantian, and strike out in a controlled manner.

"By order of the Supreme Lord Laozi, may the evil spirits be annihilated by this incantation!" As the talismans flew from Xiaofeng's hand, they pierced through the evil spirits like sharp arrows. Some stuck to the dead like fire, causing their souls to scatter and making it difficult for anyone to get close to them again.

My divine fist was far inferior, often missing its mark. But fortunately, there were many evil spirits. If I missed one, I would accidentally hit another. In this way, the evil spirits would get close to me first, but I had protective spiritual energy protecting me. As soon as they got close, a white light would immediately knock them away. I was overjoyed, "Trying to possess me? No way!"

So the two of us were like tigers among sheep, invincible and awe-inspiring, thinking to ourselves that even if it were me, I would be no match for you.

Soon, we reached the pavilion. Once we dealt with the leader of the evil spirits, the roaming spirits would disperse on their own. The two evil spirits stood motionless, as if welcoming us, which made me uneasy.

When my spiritual power and Xiaofeng's talisman were used, the two evil spirits vanished into thin air. A mist rose up all around, and various shrill ghostly cries echoed in my ears, terrifying and heart-stopping. Evil spirits in the most terrifying forms, such as decapitated, disheveled, and bleeding from all seven orifices, attacked from all directions one after another.

"Bafeng Pavilion!" Xiaofeng suddenly exclaimed.

"What is the Bafeng Pavilion?" I asked as I typed.

"I don't know either. I'm so tired. I've noticed my spiritual energy is dropping rapidly—maybe my spiritual energy level is so low that it can't withstand this kind of consumption! Ah, I remember now. My dad once said that water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. If these eight divination symbols are used correctly, they can enhance one's power, while if used incorrectly, they can increase one's magical power."

"Then rush out!" I shouted anxiously, but no matter where I rushed, it was like I was going in circles. I would rush out of one pavilion and arrive at another. Or were the pavilions following me?

Layer upon layer of undead, seemingly real yet illusory, attacked us relentlessly, as if possessed. We truly didn't know if we had stumbled upon a ghostly abyss or accidentally opened the gates of hell.

Ah Feng followed closely beside me, panting heavily. He was too weak to cast spells anymore and could only desperately use his spiritual energy to prevent the evil spirit from entering his body and invading his nerves. The situation was extremely dangerous. In the end, thanks to Miss Ghost Lin Caixia, who slipped into his pocket and channeled her spiritual energy into his body.

I simply pulled him down to sit, and spread my protective spiritual energy to surround Ah Feng, keeping the other undead out.

Ah Feng groaned and said, "Boss, give it your all! If we can get out of here alive, I'll marry my sister to you."

"Is your sister pretty?" I asked, hoping to focus his attention and prevent him from losing control of his mind.

"She's a virtuous wife and loving mother, but also fierce and stingy. However, she's very beautiful and capable. Someone as lazy as you needs my sister to take care of you."

---janeadam

Reply [24]: Chapter Eleven: Relief

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Suddenly, a golden light shone from outside, and then I heard someone chanting scriptures. My heart skipped a beat. Great! There must be a wizard nearby, and maybe he noticed the strange occurrences and came to rescue us.

Without hesitation, I grabbed Ah Feng and ran wildly in the direction from which the scripture came. After two or three minutes, I finally discovered the source of the scripture. The sound was getting closer and closer. Suddenly, my feet felt light, and I burst out of the fog. I found myself standing on the ground a mile away from the pavilion, but I was immediately stunned by the scene before me.

It was truly a living hell. It looked like a battleground, with five monks lying haphazardly on the ground, and only two Taoist priests back to back in a defensive formation, sweating profusely as they chanted scriptures to ward off the attacks of the dead.

I casually swatted away two spirits, threw Ah Feng into the spiritual energy field, and began reciting the Heart Sutra. When they saw an expert like me join in, they smiled slightly, then focused their energy on reciting the sutra. Only then did I realize that one of the two sorcerers was a girl, and she was quite dashing and exuded a powerful spiritual aura.

However, I had no time to appreciate her beauty and could only concentrate on reciting the scriptures. Strangely enough, as soon as I focused on reciting the scriptures, all the undead were immediately driven back by my voice. With a thought, I spread my spiritual energy in a disc shape in all directions. After wave after wave of screams, things calmed down, the black mist gradually dissipated, and I heard the sound of flowing spring water, which felt unusually familiar.

"Sister Yaxian, you're here too! I knew my sister would ask you to come out of seclusion. Where is my sister now?" Ah Feng clearly recognized the girl and warmly took her hand.

"Ah Feng, what brings you here! Do you know how dangerous it is here?! Your sister is still in Gantian Village. If she finds out you're here, she'll tie you up and beat you up."

“I’m not a child anymore. I have to protect my sister. Besides, I’ve found a reclusive master to help us.”

"Is that the silly guy from earlier? He's not very skilled, clumsy and awkward. His attempt at a set of divine punches looks like he's going crazy. I could defeat them without his help."

"I feel the same way. I almost forgot who taught me that, you brat, I cursed inwardly. That's why I took a break just now." Ah Feng defended himself for his inaction earlier.

Listening to Ah Feng and the outsiders gossiping about me, I could only sigh inwardly: evil spirits are easy to deal with, but little devils are hard to handle!

“Sir, thank you for your help,” I said, shaking hands with another strange guy who was wearing a Taoist robe, sunglasses, and had straight, yellow, gangster-like hair.

"It was the boss who helped us! (You're even saying that with a semblance of humanity.) May I ask which famous mountain the boss is from? You look unfamiliar! Judging from your spell power, you should be better than me, so let's cooperate and split the profits fifty-fifty. How about that? It's fair." The grinning guy slyly pulled me aside and said.

I was completely confused.

"You don't know, do you? There's a treasure I taught you hidden in Gantian Village, Junior Sister, don't you think?"

I gave a wry smile. No wonder this lazy guy is so diligent in catching ghosts instead of going to internet cafes, dance halls, and picking up girls, and instead coming to this desolate wilderness to be exposed to the northwest wind.

“Keep talking, Fang Long, hurry up and bury them, and then perform a ritual for them to pass on to the afterlife.” Ya Xian urged, “They usually value material desires too much, and they all fled for their lives in battle. This way of dying is a kind of benevolence for them.”

"He died just like that, how pitiful. He cultivated for decades, and this is the end?" I muttered to myself as I worked with them, introducing ourselves to each other. They were very surprised when they heard that I was their teacher.

I asked curiously, "They came with you, weren't the dead people from your group?"