Qi lässt sich leicht weitergeben

Kapitel 13

Xiaoyue said, "As a hair-eating demon, you are not inherently evil. You have always only been associated with infants, but you have never harmed them. Why are you tormenting an adult like this today?"

The hair-eating ghost continued to kowtow, its shrill, infant-like voice saying, "Look at me, with runny nose, pus, and bleeding, all because I swallowed his first hair. This forced me to cultivate in a cold, dark place for twenty years to preserve my spirit. How could I not avenge such a great grudge? But knowing the law of cause and effect, I only tortured him half-dead to vent my hatred."

Xiaoyue thought for a moment, then smiled and said to me, who was puzzled, "When Aqiang was a baby, he had malaria and was about to die. The tribal shaman at the time came up with a plan: to hang the baby's hair outside the door, hoping that a ghost would eat it and thus transfer the malaria to him. Unexpectedly, the hair-eating ghost was so unlucky that it actually took the bait and ate it. Hair is the manifestation of essence and blood, and as a result, Aqiang's illness was transferred to it."

Upon hearing this, I laughed and said, "It's all because you can't break your bad habits. No one invited you to eat, so who can you blame? But you saved Ah-Qiang's life because of this, so you've reaped a good result, which is a good thing!"

Xiaoyue smiled and nodded, saying, "Since you're suffering so much as a hair-eating ghost, why don't we perform a ritual to help you pass on to the afterlife?"

The hair-eating ghost lowered its head and thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. If it weren't for Ah Qiang's affair, it wouldn't have met us. And a powerful ghost like it is beyond the reach of ordinary wizards.

At that moment, Xiaoyue removed the Five Elements Formation and infused a "Rebirth Mantra" into the hair-eating ghost's forehead, while I chanted scriptures beside her, the protective aura that aroused enveloped the two of us and the ghost to reduce its resistance to resentment.

About half an hour later, the hair-eating demon, which had been active in both the human and spirit realms for five hundred years, finally transformed into a golden light and shot towards the far north, searching for its own infant form.

Everything returned to normal. After Xiaoyue explained the whole story to Master Xu, she went home with me. Master Xu was left to handle the secular matters. These semi-public shamans are usually very adept at interpersonal relationships and thus cannot maintain a pure cultivation.

---janeadam

Reply [24]: But as for Xiaoyue, she does not object, because it is precisely these people who are despised by society who are the best protectors for these practitioners who are indifferent to worldly affairs.

Now we have to deal with that green-clad girl whose origins are unknown. What frightens me the most is that I can't feel any hatred towards her at all. On the contrary, a strange sense of pity and unease wells up in my heart and cannot be dispelled.

"Xiaoyue, what exactly is that girl? Why did she cling to me as soon as I entered the town, yet I have such a deep impression of her, but I just can't remember who she is?"

“I understand you. The issue now is not about performing a ritual to release or expel that female spirit, but about resolving your relationship with her. As a girl, I can feel her deep, ocean-like affection and unforgettable love for you.”

"But I can't get in touch with her at all. It's always her who comes to me, not the other way around." I was so frustrated. "How can I tell her that the person I love is named Xiaoyue, and not you, little girl?"

Xiaoyue blushed slightly and rolled her eyes at me when she heard my straightforward declaration of love. She said, "That's so blunt, it's too hurtful. If I were that girl, I would hate you to death!"

I thought about it and realized that maybe I owed someone something in the past. But if I did owe someone, it was when I was a child, and children say things without thinking. Can I take it seriously?

We talked as we walked home, but no one was home. My parents had already gone out to visit my father's old friends from his youth.

Xiaoyue asked me to move an academic chair to the aisle in the center of the courtyard, and then I sat down.

The two main halls are very spacious, with side rooms and corridors on both sides. The courtyard is divided into two symmetrical pool-shaped blocks by the central walkway, with flower racks on top. The flowers and plants I planted looked vibrant and lush under the moonlight.

The moonlight, like water, shone on the blue-clad woman.

I sat down as Xiaoyue instructed, took a deep breath, and then gently closed my eyes in the most comfortable and natural way, because Xiaoyue was going to hypnotize me and help me find a memory that I had forgotten.

Following Xiaoyue's instructions, sit up straight and adjust your focus.

First, relax all your muscles and feel the release of force as you exhale. I felt a sense of softness, relaxation, calmness, and powerlessness throughout my body, and gradually forgot their existence.

Next, under Xiaoyue's instructions, I imagined myself immersed in sunlight and warm water, feeling the warmth and flow of the water, imagining the scene of waking up early to see the sun, feeling infinitely bright in my heart and bright in my body, opening myself up, merging into nature, and melting into the sunlight.

Xiaoyue then instructed me to think of a flower, a beautiful flower, which suddenly transformed into a book. I learned that books are the messengers and means to a better world; they bring us knowledge, abilities, and lead to a better life. At that moment, I felt that my body was no longer my own; it felt heavy yet ethereal, floating yet real, perfectly natural, without any discomfort. It was as if it were there and yet not there, but my body was definitely there.

Finally, Xiaoyue instructed me to go back to when I was seven years old and recall the girl I dreamed of. Ah, I saw her! The girl was wearing a green dress, dancing and singing in the spring breeze, and I stood happily beside her, watching, clapping and jumping.

That oval face, those big eyes—I felt as happy as if I'd found my older sister, and I said to her:

"Big sister, will you play with me?" Then the scene changed. My grandma and I were praying under the wishing camphor tree when I heard a clear laugh. I looked up and saw the girl sitting on the tree trunk, her legs dangling in the air, swinging back and forth. Then she jumped down and ran into a patch of grass. I shouted, "Grandma, I saw that big sister!"

Grandma scolded me for talking nonsense, but I ignored her and ran towards where the girl had fallen. But she was gone; all I saw was a very beautiful and peculiar blade of grass.

Grandma said this was a gift from the tree god, and told me to dig it up and plant it at home.

After that, that older sister would often appear when I was alone, taking me to play in the countryside. She taught me to read, recite poems, and dance. Years passed, and I grew up day by day, while she remained the same fifteen or sixteen-year-old.

The scene shifted to my grandmother's funeral. Just before the coffin was nailed shut, my mother suddenly grabbed me, cut off a lock of hair from beside my ear with scissors, wrapped it in a white cloth, and placed it next to my grandmother's body. My mother said, "Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. With your beloved grandson's hair by your side, don't come looking for him anymore!"

I saw the older sister in green come to my grandmother's side, and then I saw my grandmother's spirit stand up with her and fly into the sky. I cried out, "Grandma, older sister Nanling, don't leave me!"

Then I was plunged into endless pain and darkness.

"Pain and darkness are gone, Kenshin, awaken! You are surrounded by light." I heard Xiaoyue's voice, and saw a golden light. I woke up to find myself with tears streaming down my face.

“I remember now. After my grandmother passed away, I fell seriously ill with meningitis. After returning to the city, I forgot many things from before,” I said loudly.

"I know who that girl in green is. She's always been by your side, she's never left." Xiaoyue said, a faint sadness in her eyes.

---janeadam

Reply [25]: Chapter Twelve: Expressing My Feelings

"Nanling, where is she? Why won't she see me?" I cried out, suddenly remembering her name, Nanling. She had been with me throughout my lonely childhood and guided my elderly grandmother on her way to heaven.

Xiaoyue walked quietly to the flower stand on the right, afraid of disturbing anything.

I followed her over.

Xiaoyue stepped aside, and then I saw that on each leaf of the delicate green grass that I had dug up from under the wishing camphor tree, there was a glistening, emerald-green dewdrop—no, those were tears that the grass had shed as it sensed my longing and sorrow, glistening in the moonlight.

At that moment, I realized that my heart was connected with that little green grass.

On that blade of grass, I felt a loving spiritual energy gently undulating. It was a pure, natural spiritual energy that could not be felt without careful analysis.

I was shocked: Could it be that Nanling was a spirit evolved from this green grass?

I looked at Xiaoyue with a puzzled expression.

“Nanling, yes, Nanling, I should have guessed it was you.” Xiaoyue turned to look at me, sighed and said, “She is the Autumn Grass Leaf Spirit, one of the seventy-two spirits who possess the unique spiritual energy of heaven and earth. She takes the form of a young girl, pure and beautiful, sometimes gentle, sometimes playful, with a fair complexion and dark blue skin. She can chase after those she likes, can turn water into wine, and is skilled in reciting poetry, dancing, and playing the flute.” Xiaoyue read aloud the description of the Autumn Grass Leaf Spirit from the book.

“She can only take human form in autumn,” Xiaoyue said. “So, you often live together every autumn.”

I was completely stunned, staring at that autumn grass leaf spirit, unsure whether to feel surprise, joy, or sorrow.