Ghost Pot

Chapter 5

Upon hearing this, Shen Caihua asked in bewilderment, "Didn't the blind old man go south into the woods?"

"Yes, it went into the woods, but... but it went around in circles and came back," Dudu explained.

“Then let’s go find him.” Shen Caihua turned and headed straight for the entrance of Zhaozong Temple.

Ancient cypress trees stand tall, a gentle breeze blows from the river, and the moonlight is soft and hazy.

Even before approaching the two mottled and dilapidated gates, a chilling aura was already palpable. Shen Caihua couldn't help but shiver and said, "This shrine seems a bit strange."

"There's a gap in the wall over there..." Dudu led Caihua around to the east wall of the ancient shrine, climbed over a collapsed gap, and arrived at the front hall of the Zhaozhong Shrine. The ancient trees were deep and secluded, and a faint fragrance of flowers drifted in the night air.

"The giant rock swallows the river's roar, echoing the sorrows of heroes throughout history. The shrine commemorates their battles, forever honoring the spirits of the sons and daughters of Hunan." The sound of reciting poetry can be faintly heard in the wind.

"Behind...behind," Dudu whispered.

Following the white wall around the main hall, and passing through a small moon gate, we arrived at the rear wing.

The cool moonlight spilled into the courtyard. A stone table sat on which lay a bottle of wine, with two small cups beside it. Two people sat on a stone bench. The old man in the black robe was the blind fortune teller who had kidnapped Ling Ge. Beside him was a bald monk in a gray robe, who appeared to be in his fifties.

"When Master Jia recited the couplet that Wenzheng Gong wrote on the Stone Bell Mountain in Hukou, it truly evoked emotions in people. The pale moon evoked thoughts of antiquity, and the melancholy of the late Qing Dynasty..." the monk said softly.

"Hehe, the Qing Dynasty has been gone for over seventy years. Elder Peng, are you still thinking about restoring it?" Master Jia said with a slight smile.

"Master Jia is mocking me," Elder Peng replied. "'Since parting from Hengyang, endless longing has been sent to Xuexiang. The Qiang flute plays year after year on the frontier, but the wanderer cannot return to Xiaoxiang.' My ancestor Xuecen was a Han Chinese, chivalrous and tender-hearted. He wrote 100,000 plum blossom paintings in his lifetime, resigned from office six times, and lived a life of integrity. This humble monk lives in seclusion on Shizhong Mountain, not only to rebuild the 'Baoci Zen Forest,' but also to spend his days with the ancient Buddha and the green lamp, merely reminiscing and feeling melancholy."

Bao Ci Chan Lin is located to the west of Zhao Zhong Ci Temple. It contains monks' quarters, a main hall, and front and back courtyards. The temple was first built in the eighth year of the Xianfeng reign of the Qing Dynasty. It was a place where Peng Yulin, the commander of the Xiang Army Navy, invited monks to chant scriptures and worship Buddha to repay his mother. It was rebuilt in the twenty-ninth year of the Guangxu reign, but was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. It was only last year that it was restored under the supervision of Elder Peng of Xieshan Mountain in Poyang Lake.

Master Jia remained silent upon hearing this, then poured two more cups of wine before speaking: "Since Elder Peng has spent his life in seclusion, living a life of quiet contemplation and detachment from worldly affairs, why is he so determined to obtain the spiritual embryos of the Maple and Willow Ghosts?"

Elder Peng pondered for a long time, then said quietly, "This is what my master asked me to do."

"I see. Elder Peng, may I ask what your master wants the spirit embryos of these two ghosts for? Is it perhaps to learn from me and perform divination and fortune-telling?" Master Jia asked indifferently.

Elder Peng's face flushed slightly, and he said with considerable displeasure, "This humble monk truly does not know."

Master Jia picked up the wine cup on the stone table, drank it all in one gulp, and then turned to the bushes and flowers in the corner and said, "Hey, kids and that big bird, you can come out now."

Chapter 6, Part 3

Oh no, that blind old man is really cunning, he still managed to find us... Helpless, Shen Caihua and Dudu had no choice but to emerge from behind the bushes where they had been hiding.

"I have questions for Brother Ling and Sister Ling," Shen Caihua said frankly to Master Jia as he approached the stone table.

When Elder Peng saw Dudu, such a beautiful bird, he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "What a fine bird!"

Dudu glanced at the old monk and said in surprise, "So, he's an elder of the Bon religion."

Elder Peng was astonished upon hearing this. This large bird not only understood human speech but also saw through his true identity at a glance, leaving him utterly perplexed.

Seeing the old monk's embarrassed expression, Dudu chuckled to herself and said, "You... the little bottle around your neck."

Dudu, a blue-and-white macaw, spent over twenty years at the National Palace Museum in Taipei. She saw a peculiar human bone bottle in the museum's collection. The bottle was engraved with a swastika symbol, which rotated in the opposite direction to the Buddhist symbol swastika created by Shakyamuni. Experts at the museum told her that it was a sacrificial vessel from Bon, an ancient Tibetan religion, so she recognized it at a glance.

Elder Peng had an inconspicuous small yellowish-brown bone bottle hanging around his neck. No one had ever known its origin. Today, this large blue-feathered bird had revealed its secret in a single sentence. How could they not be surprised?

Master Jia was even more astonished. He knew that since the fifth century AD, after Indian Buddhism was introduced to Tibet, the indigenous Bon religion, also known as the Black Religion, gradually declined and was replaced by the Gelugpa Yellow Religion, the Nyingma Red Religion, the Karma Kagyu White Religion, and the Sakya Flower Religion. The Bon religion, which had once been influential on the snowy plateau, disappeared without a trace.

"To my shame, I never knew Elder Peng was a member of the Bon religion. I always thought he was a high-ranking Zen monk," Master Jia said expressionlessly.

Elder Peng remained silent for a long time, then sighed and said softly, "The Demon Ben has long been forgotten in the martial world, and this old monk has no face to mention him."

"I have only heard that the Black Sect is divided into three types: Duben, Qiaben, and Jueben, but I have never heard of 'Moben'," Master Jia said with a puzzled look.

Elder Peng did not answer, but turned to Shen Caihua and said kindly, "Child, what brings you to Stone Bell Mountain with this divine bird tonight?"

"I want to ask Brother Ling and Sister Ling questions," Shen Caihua repeated.

"What do you want to ask?" Elder Peng asked with a smile.

"Where is Mo Mo?" Shen Caihua replied.

"What is MoMo?" Elder Peng asked, puzzled.

“She’s my friend, she’s a woman,” Shen Caihua told him.

Elder Peng smiled slightly, looked up at Daoist Jia and said, "Daoist, could you please help this child?"

Master Jia looked troubled: "Brother Ling has not yet been ingested, so I cannot answer."

"Then I'll ask Sister Ling first," Shen Caihua quickly said.

"Alright, go ahead and ask," Master Jia said, lifting his black robe to reveal his dark belly, which he then gently patted.

"Sister Ling, I am... Zhu Xiaoxiao."

"Hehe, Zhu Xiaoxiao, are you asking about the missing Momo?" A voice that sounded exactly like a little girl came from inside Master Jia's stomach.

"Where is she?" Shen Caihua asked anxiously.

Chapter 6, Section 4

After a long silence, Lingjie answered shyly in a low voice, "I can't feel it..."

Shen Caihua blinked and asked, "Sister Ling, you said you can't feel it?"

"There isn't a child named Momo within hundreds of miles, so it seems to be beyond my capabilities," Sister Ling said apologetically.

"Alright, little kids, you heard everything. Sister Ling can't find your friends. You can leave now." Master Jia threw off his black coat and sternly ordered them to leave.

"Where is Brother Ling?" Shen Caihua was still unwilling to give up.

Master Jia chuckled and said, "This humble Taoist was just about to swallow it."

"You, you want to eat Brother Ling?" Shen Caihua asked him in surprise.

“Of course, how can it meet Sister Ling if it’s not swallowed?” Master Jia said with a strange smile.

"Then I'll wait until it can talk, and then I'll ask Brother Ling." Xiao Caihua's stubbornness came through.

Elder Peng patted the child's head affectionately and said, "Xiaoxiao, Brother Ling and Sister Ling are both ghost immortals. Once Fengliu meets, they will unite and stop answering any questions. It will take several days for Sister Ling to give birth to a spirit fetus. So you should hurry home."

"Do they really give birth to babies?" Shen Caihua asked curiously.

"Yes, the spirit embryo has been born and knows everything. If fate allows, it will surely find your little friend," Elder Peng comforted Shen Caihua.

Upon hearing this, Shen Caihua remained silent, thinking to himself: He and Dudu had escaped secretly. If they returned to Nanshan Village, Lan'er's mother would surely keep a close watch on them, making it difficult to escape again. It would be better to stay here and, after the spirit fetus was born, find out where Momo was and then go to look for her. But he needed to find a suitable reason. With this thought, he made up his mind, and in a blink of an eye, a few tears unexpectedly fell.

Elder Peng was startled and quickly asked, "Child, what's wrong?"

Shen Caihua sobbed and refused to speak. Only after the old monk repeatedly asked him did he finally sob and say, "My father and mother are both dead..." What was originally an unintentional excuse suddenly stirred up the bitterness buried deep in his heart. His biological parents were actually Zhu Biao and Yinshi Shen Caihua. Although he was young when they died, he still vaguely remembered their images. However, under the loving care of Hansheng and Lan'er, it had long been suppressed deep in his subconscious.

"Ah, so he's an orphan." Elder Peng felt compassion. No wonder this child was so determined to find the missing child; perhaps Mo Mo was his only remaining family.

"Alright, alright, stop crying. I'll do as you say," Elder Peng said, looking at Daoist Jia with an unquestionable tone. "This child has a pitiful background, so let's take him with us to Shoe Mountain."

Master Jia neither agreed nor disagreed. He looked up at the night sky, then bent down to pick up the small grass basket from under the table, placed it on the stone table, and said, "It's almost midnight, so we should not delay. I'm about to perform my ritual."

Elder Peng nodded and reached out to pull Shen Caihua into his arms.

Chapter 7, Part 1

Master Jia stood facing north, grabbed the wine bottle, and drank it all in one gulp. Then, his eyelids drooped, and he visualized the green energy from his liver emerging from his left eye, transforming into a green dragon standing on his left side. Next, he imagined the white energy from his lungs emerging from his nostrils, transforming into a white tiger standing on his right side. Then, he imagined the red energy from his heart emerging from his mouth, transforming into a fiery bird, its body crimson, circling above his head, flapping its wings in protection. Then, he imagined the black energy from his kidneys emerging from his left ear, transforming into a tortoise behind him, with a spirit snake coiled on its shell. Then, he imagined a stream of yellow energy emerging from his navel, transforming into a suanni (a mythical lion-like creature), guarding him in front… Finally, he lifted the straw basket covering the stone table, grabbed Ling Ge, and threw him into his mouth, swallowing him whole…

"The Big Dipper dispels calamities, the Xuanhuang opens the sun, the immortal spirit appears, illuminating the ten directions, the seven energies govern the records, the purple chamber is brightly displayed, protecting the body and prolonging life. Mengzhang supervises the troops, the spiritual light holds the light, the five beasts surround, the seven stars protect the body, hurry as the law commands..." After swallowing it completely, Master Jia recited the Big Dipper Seven Stars Incantation aloud.

Several years ago, Master Jia was the abbot of the Baiyun Temple in Beijing, a branch of the Quanzhen School of Taoism. His Taoist cultivation was unfathomable, and his true identity remained a mystery to the public.

"Alright, we can set off now," Master Jia said, waving his hands.

Hidden in a huge crevice in the rocky outcrop overlooking the river at Shizhong Mountain, a wooden boat was moored. Elder Peng untied the rope, led Shen Caihua and Daoist Jia onto the boat, and then sailed around the cliffs towards Poyang Lake overnight.

Poyang Lake is nearly 200 kilometers long from north to south and tens of kilometers wide from east to west, covering an area of more than 3,000 square kilometers. With an average depth of more than 10 meters, it is China's largest freshwater lake.

The bright moon hangs in the sky, the lake is a vast expanse of white, a gentle breeze blows, and the waves are calm.

Elder Peng stood at the stern of the boat, gently rowing the oar, and murmured: "The immortal wind blows the seed from Penglai, and sixty trees grow on Zhongshan Mountain. They do not allow the mortal world to invade their jade bones, and their icy souls are supported by spring."

Master Jia chuckled coldly twice and said, "Elder Peng is a highly accomplished monk, yet he can compose such tender and poignant verses. Could it be that he once had a deeply unforgettable love?"

Elder Peng smiled slightly and continued reciting: "The moonlight flows across the vast river and sky, and looking back at the beautiful window stirs up family sorrow. An old plum tree adds a strange appearance, and thirty years of worldly dreams awaken in Hengzhou."

Gazing at how the oars shattered the moon's reflection on the river, he sighed deeply and said, "This is my ancestor Peng Yulin's 'Plum Blossom Poem,' written for Mei Gu. Such devotion is truly unforgettable and evokes sighs from later generations."

"Is Aunt Mei a woman?" Shen Caihua asked.

Elder Peng smiled faintly and said, "Back then, Peng Yulin was a down-on-his-luck scholar who wandered the world making a living by selling calligraphy and paintings. He fell in love at first sight with Miss Mei, a young lady from a wealthy family in Hukou. However, he felt that his social status was too different from hers and that he was not worthy of her. So he reluctantly joined Zeng Guofan's Xiang Army Navy, intending to make a name for himself before proposing marriage. Seven years later, Peng Yulin had become a general and commanded the Xiang Army Navy. He personally went to Hukou to propose marriage, but Miss Mei had been ill from missing him day and night since he joined the army. She had just passed away not long ago, leaving behind a handkerchief embroidered with plum blossoms. On the plum blossoms, there was a red stamen stained with Miss Mei's last breath of blood... That handkerchief was etched in Peng Yulin's heart. From then on, the general carried that handkerchief with him wherever he went in his campaigns, and he never married."

"It's really... touching," Dudu sighed.

“Mo Mo…” Shen Caihua said sadly.

Chapter 7, Part 2

As dawn broke, the lake gradually became clear, and an island in the middle of the lake came into view.

"We've arrived at Dagushan," Elder Peng announced to everyone.

This island, high at one end and low at the other, resembles a giant shoe floating on the azure waters when viewed from afar, hence its other name, "Shoe Mountain." Rising about 70 meters above the lake surface and over 100 meters long, its single peak is majestic and beautiful, earning it the ancient title of "Little Penglai Wonderland." The mountain is covered with towering pines and lush green trees, and hidden within its forests are the Tang Dynasty Putuo Temple and a seven-story brick pagoda. The Ming Dynasty poet Chen Yunde praised it in a poem: "Who carved this green lotus, planting it alone in Penghu Lake? It divides the clouds of the Five Old Men, and draws in the waters of the Nine Rivers. The sun and moon rise and fall together, and the mists and clouds flow and shift. It powerfully blocks the raging waves, remaining with the heavens forever."

With a splash, a stream of water rushed out, carrying with it a rushing sound. The water was clear and the spray was intense. The sound was deafening.

Elder Peng, moved by the scene, said: "The Jin Dynasty's 'In Search of the Supernatural' tells the story of a merchant who was traveling by boat past Shoe Mountain when he met a beautiful young woman who asked him if he was going to Hukou City and asked him to buy her a pair of shoes. The merchant kept his word and went to Hukou City to buy the shoes. On his return journey, he stopped his boat at Shoe Mountain but did not see the woman. So he placed the shoes in a bamboo basket (a kind of square bamboo container) in front of the statue of the god in the temple on the mountaintop. Just as he was about to set sail again, he suddenly saw a large silver carp leap into the cabin from the water. When he cut the fish open, he found the book and knife he had forgotten in the basket inside its belly."

"Where is that older sister?" Xiao Caihua asked.

"I don't know," Elder Peng shook his head and said, "Maybe it's a fairy."

The small boat docked beside the stone steps of "Yitianmen," the only entrance on the north side of Shoe Mountain, and the group disembarked.

As you ascend the mountain path, you'll find yourself surrounded by shady shrubs, lush green grass, and rugged, craggy rocks.

Upon reaching the mountaintop, a red sun had already risen from the misty, vast expanse of blue water. Looking north, the Yangtze River resembled a jade belt encircling Poyang Lake; looking west, Mount Lu appeared and disappeared, exuding an ethereal aura. The vast expanse of water, dotted with sails, presented a boundless and expansive scene.

On the steep cliff face are the two characters "Mianyun" written by Mi Fu of the Song Dynasty and the elegant and unrestrained characters "Lingbo Diyi, Jinwa Wushuang" carved by a Qing Dynasty artist. Turning past the ancient cypress forest, a dilapidated temple appears before you, with yellow walls and a plaque under the eaves inscribed with "Putuo Temple". Legend has it that during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty, General Xu Jingye shaved his head and became a monk after his rebellion in Yangzhou failed, and lived in seclusion here.

Elder Peng led the way up the stone steps. Two people silently emerged from behind the mottled pillars of the temple. Both were dressed in black Zhongshan suits, looked to be in their thirties, had dark skin, and yellowish eyes, and did not appear to be from the Central Plains.

The two men's sharp gazes swept over him, and Shen Cai felt a chill run down his spine.

Elder Peng asked, "Guardians, I have brought 'Brother Ling' and 'Sister Ling' to you."