Ghost Pot

Chapter 114

"Enjoy your meal. I'll go to Fushou Palace to inquire about Elder Anxi, and I'll be right back." While waiting for the food to be served, Jia Shiming said goodbye to everyone and then hurriedly left.

In Ganbaidi, Jia Shiming's original clothes had been torn to shreds by the little Yin infants, so Amin found him a set of local Burmese clothing to change into: a white, long-sleeved, button-front shirt, a dark-patterned "longyi" tube skirt, a yellow headscarf, and slippers. To outsiders, he looked like a typical thin old Burmese man.

The Hakka grandmother's miraculous medicine "Hanqing" was very effective. The wounds on Jia Shiming's body had all scabbed over, and his missing toes were itchy and new toes were growing. Although his body was still very weak, he was no longer in serious condition.

Climbing the marble steps, Jia Shiming arrived at the base of the pagoda, where incense smoke swirled, tourists thronged, and the sound of chanting could be heard everywhere. In the distance, he glimpsed a small Chinese temple to the left of the Shwedagon Pagoda and thought that must be the place he was looking for.

Several men in dark suits lingered at the entrance of Fushou Palace. They neither burned incense nor spoke, their faces serious and their eyes wandering. Who were these people? They looked like bodyguards, their appearances resembled those of people from the Central Plains, and they were skilled in martial arts... Jia Shiming felt a vague sense of unease.

He walked straight over, catching a glimpse of the wary eyes of the group out of the corner of his eye. Although they were aware of him, they did nothing unusual. Perhaps some wealthy Chinese businessman was offering incense inside the temple, he thought.

The main hall was dimly lit, filled with the fragrance of sandalwood incense. Several elderly female worshippers were praying to Buddha, bowing and kowtowing three times and nine times on their prayer cushions with great devotion.

"Benefactor, would you like to offer incense?" a young monk asked in Burmese, his hands clasped together.

"Excuse me, is Elder Anxi here?" Jia Shiming asked directly in Chinese.

The young monk paused for a moment, then replied in broken Chinese, "The elder is unwell and has not received any guests for many days."

Jia Shiming smiled faintly, thinking to himself, "The master of the bodyguard outside the door is not among the worshippers in the main hall at the moment, so where could he be? Hmph, maybe he's receiving a private audience with Elder Anxi."

“Elder Anxi is an old acquaintance of mine. Please inform him that my old friend, Daoist Jia, has come to visit,” Jia Shiming said with a smile.

"This..." The little monk seemed a bit embarrassed.

Just then, an old monk emerged from a side room of the main hall, looked up and saw Jia Shiming, and was suddenly taken aback...

"Elder Peng, it's your old friend Jia Shiming who greets you." Master Jia cupped his hands and chuckled.

Inside the side room, Elder Anxi's eyes lit up when he saw Jia Shiming enter, and he asked eagerly, "Master Jia, you've finally arrived! Where is Xiao Xiao... Chen Caihua?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Shiming was startled: "Elder Anxi, how did you know that I and Shen Caihua were coming to Yangon?" Then, glancing around, he saw Master Xufeng of Baiyun Temple sitting in a corner, smiling at him.

"Hahaha... I told the elder, Master Jia, how have you been?" A familiar, raucous laugh suddenly rang in my ears.

Jia Shiming turned around abruptly and saw a leader in a gray Zhongshan suit standing at the door of the side room. Beside him, Youliang's hateful eyes were staring at him menacingly...

"Oh no!" Jia Shiming felt a chill in his heart, thinking, "The commander is indeed all-powerful; nothing can be hidden from him."

"Commander, you look much better than when you were in the Yuxi Grand Canyon," Jia Shiming said casually.

The leader chuckled, unperturbed by his teasing, and said with apparent sincerity, "Master Jia, after our parting in western Henan, I heard that you had traveled a long way to Myanmar, so I made a special trip to visit you."

Jia Shiming was anxious and didn't want to beat around the bush, so he said directly, "Chief, you are very busy with your work, so please just say what you have to say."

"Good, that's great. Master Jia, you still retain the true nature of a chivalrous person from back then. What brings you to see Elder Anxi?" The leader nodded and then asked directly.

"To clarify," Jia Shiming replied.

"What doubts are you trying to clarify?" the leader pressed.

“You’ll find out if you just listen from the side,” Jia Shiming said calmly.

The leader smiled slightly, waved his hand, and said, "Please ask."

Elder Anxi gazed at Jia Shiming quietly, and said with considerable doubt, "Master Jia, what do you want to ask this old monk?"

"Elder Anxi, after drinking your bottle of 'Resurrection Water,' the person still hasn't woken up. I don't know why?" Jia Shiming asked.

Elder Anxi was taken aback upon hearing this. After a long silence, he sighed and slowly said, "Alas... I have little time left. Today, I will reveal the secret of this Bon holy water. The 'Returning Soul Water' was formed from the body of Shenrab Miwo, the founder of Yungdrung Bon, who came from the sacred mountain 'Gang Rinpoche' in Zhangzhung, after his Nirvana three thousand nine hundred years ago. When it came to my generation, there were only three bottles left. One bottle was given to Red Boy, one bottle was exchanged for your spiritual embryo, and the remaining bottle will continue to be passed down..."

Upon hearing this, the leader secretly regretted his actions. He realized that he had wasted his bottle of "Resurrection Water" in the process of having intercourse with the female ghost Guo Ke'er. What a pity!

"This holy water is very effective in summoning souls, but I wonder how long the person who drank it has been dead? Has their body been destroyed?" Elder Anxi asked.

“He has been dead for six years, and his body is intact,” Jia Shiming replied.

"The person has been dead for six years, yet the body remains intact?" Elder Anxi was quite puzzled.

"It's simple, just refrigerate it in a freezer," the leader said quietly from the side.

“Oh, is that so…” Elder Anxi pondered, “In that case, there is only one possibility.”

"What is it?" Jia Shiming asked anxiously.

“The soul is lost,” Elder Anxi replied.

"The soul is lost?" Jia Shiming asked in surprise, wondering how the ancestor's soul could be lost. He then asked, "It is said in the folk tradition of the Central Plains that when a person dies, the soul leaves the body and goes to be reincarnated after forty-nine days. So, only drinking the 'Returning Soul Water' before the 'Seven-Day Break' will be effective."

“That’s right. Only in the intermediate state can the soul return,” Elder Anxi replied. Seeing Jia Shiming’s disappointed look, he added, “Of course, if the deceased, due to some exception, remains in the intermediate state for several years after death, the soul should also be able to return.”

"What exceptions could there be?" Jia Shiming asked dejectedly.

“For example, the Yin Corpse, whose soul does not dissipate after death, whose body does not decay, and whose hair and nails continue to grow, is a rare case in the world,” Elder Anxi explained.

Is the ancestor a Yin Corpse? Jia Shiming shook his head with a wry smile.

The leader, who had been listening nearby, interjected, "Master Jia, does this mean you've already used up that bottle of 'Resurrection Water'?"

“Exactly,” Jia Shiming replied.

"So that's how it is," the leader thought to himself. Now that the "Ghost Pot" had been stolen by Master Qiao and the "Returning Soul Water" had been used by Jia Shiming, the "Xuanyuan Plan" that the director had painstakingly planned to implement was definitely going to fail. "Hmph, going against the heavens, it's no wonder it failed." Thinking of this, he chuckled smugly.

Jia Shiming glanced at it in surprise and asked in confusion, "Chief, why are you laughing?"

The leader stared sharply at Jia Shiming and said teasingly, "Master Jia, I heard you gave birth to a 'spiritual fetus'. How was it being a woman? I really can't believe that you can give birth through your belly button. Doesn't that make all women in the world ashamed?"

Jia Shiming blushed slightly, ignoring the leader's teasing. He cupped his hands to Elder Anxi and said, "Elder, my doubts have been resolved. I will take my leave now."

“Wait a minute,” Elder Anxi hurriedly said, “Where is Chen Caihua? This old monk wishes to see him…”

"Where's Nizi? Give me back my Nizi!" Youliang roared angrily at Jia Shiming.

The leader coughed softly, and Song Diweng and two or three men in suits crowded into the side room.

Jia Shiming glanced at him disdainfully, a surge of pride welling up within him, and said coldly, "Chief, do you intend to force me to stay?"

"Master Jia," the leader earnestly advised, "Elder Anxi exchanged the Bon religion's holy water for the spiritual embryo. You've already used the 'Returning Soul Water,' so shouldn't the spiritual embryo be returned to the Bon religion?"

“And Nizi!” Youliang exclaimed.

The leader nodded and sneered, "Master Jia, you're quite a well-known figure in the martial arts world, how come you've gotten involved in trafficking young girls? Tell me, where are Lingtai and Nizi?"

At this moment, Elder Anxi spoke up: "Red Boy, this old monk saw that the 'spiritual fetus' was born with congenital disabilities, so I gave it to Xiaoxiao. This has nothing to do with Master Jia..."

The leader said with a serious expression, "Elder, you have been deceived. That spirit fetus was pretending to be disabled. This time in the Savage Mountain rainforest, it was the spirit fetus that defeated that sorcerer named Mengla Chaweng Kunba and rescued twenty-four baby girls, right, Chairman Song?"

“Indeed, everyone in Ganbaidi knows this,” Songdiweng replied.

Elder Anxi looked at Jia Shiming and asked doubtfully, "Master Jia, is this true?"

Jia Shiming knew that a fierce battle with the leader was inevitable. In the past, he would not have been afraid, but now he was injured and his internal energy had not yet recovered, so he feared he would not be able to escape unscathed. However, Elder Anxi was an honest man, and he could not deceive him.

“Elder, the spirit fetus is indeed not disabled, but it has a strange temper. After rescuing those babies in the rainforest, it crawled into Shen Caihua’s pocket and refused to come out. Moreover, no matter what you ask it, the spirit fetus refuses to answer,” Jia Shiming said truthfully.

Upon hearing this, Elder Anxi sighed and said, "Never mind. Since I have already given the spirit fetus to Xiaoxiao, I will no longer concern myself with it. Now that I know Xiaoxiao is still alive, I am content. Red Boy, don't make things difficult for him. Master Jia, you may leave..." After saying this, the elder closed his eyes wearily.

The leader smiled slightly and said, "Elder, since you've said so, I naturally won't make things difficult for Master Jia, but Youliang still has a score to settle with him..." After saying that, he gently pushed Youliang.

"Give me back my girl!" Youliang lunged forward and grabbed Jia Shiming's wrist.

Jia Shiming didn't take the little brat seriously at all, so he wasn't on guard at all. By the time he realized something was wrong, it was already too late. His innate internal energy was gushing out from the Lieque acupoint on his wrist like a dam bursting...

Chapter 174

In that instant, Jia Shiming was utterly astonished...

But he was a seasoned veteran of the martial world, and he reacted immediately. He instantly protected himself with his protective qi, and then shook off Youliang's small hand with a swing of his arms. But at that moment, he suddenly felt a numbness at the spinal acupoint of the seventh vertebra of his back. It turned out that the leader had taken the opportunity to attack him from behind.

The spinal acupoint is one of the nine fatal acupoints in the human body. It is the weakest point of the central nervous system in the spinal joint. If struck, it can cause paralysis in mild cases and immediate death in severe cases. Fortunately, Jia Shiming's protective qi neutralized most of the force of the attack. Although his whole body was stiff, it still couldn't stop him from leaping with all his might, knocking Song Diweng and several bodyguards off balance, and then rushing out of the side room.

"It is the power of nature, its fierce spirit enduring through the ages; how could there be any other trickery, neither Yin nor Yang can thwart it!" Inside the main hall, an elderly man with a white beard, dressed in a dark suit, clenched his fists, bent his left elbow, raised his right arm high, and touched the ground with his toes, striking a pose reminiscent of the "Taishan Pine" from the Cultural Revolution era. He solemnly recited this, blocking the way. This man was none other than Master Qiao…

Inside the restaurant in the parking lot outside the Shwedagon Pagoda, the curry chicken rice, fish noodle soup, and coconut milk noodles on the table were almost finished, but Jia Shiming still hadn't returned, and the Hakka nanny was starting to feel uneasy.

"Master Jia hasn't returned yet..." she said, frowning in thought. "Caihua, do you know this Elder Anxi?"

“Elder Anxi and Elder Peng are both good people, I’ll go and see them,” Shen Caihua gave an affirmative answer and volunteered.

The Hakka woman turned to Ah Ming and said, "We can't wait any longer, let's go to Fushou Palace now." After saying that, the group paid the bill and left the restaurant, hurriedly climbing the stone steps of the Great Golden Pagoda and arriving at the base of the pagoda.

“Fu... Fushou Palace.” Dudu hovered in mid-air, caught sight of the ancient Chinese temple, and stammered.

The Hakka woman then led everyone straight to Fushou Palace.

Several men in dark suits suddenly emerged from the vermilion temple gates and blocked the Hakka women and their companions.

"The temple is not accepting worshippers today." One of the middle-aged men held a walkie-talkie in his hand, his eyes fixed on Shen Caihua and Nizi with suspicion.

"We've come to see Elder Anxi," Shen Caihua said in a childish voice.

"Oh..." The man's expression suddenly became tense, and he hurriedly said, "In that case, please come in."

The Hakka woman looked at the man's strange expression and became suspicious, but she still stepped into the main hall.

With a loud bang, the temple door slammed shut, and Dudu, who was in the sky, was trapped outside before he could even come down.

The candlelight inside the main hall was dim, and the surroundings were empty. There were no worshippers in sight. A person sat cross-legged on a prayer mat with his back to him. He wore a yellow "gangbao" on his head, a white long-sleeved shirt with a front opening, and a dark-patterned "longyi" tube skirt. The Hakka nanny noticed the person's incomplete and uneven toes at a glance and wondered to herself, "Isn't that Jia Shiming?"

"Master Jia..." The Hakka woman stepped forward warily to take a closer look, and indeed the man was Jia Shiming, so she exclaimed in surprise.

At this moment, Jia Shiming kept his eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to everything, as if he were in deep meditation.

"Master Jia, what's wrong?" The Hakka woman sensed something was amiss, reached out to check, and her face suddenly changed color...

"Master, why are you sitting here?" Nizi stepped forward and tugged at his collar. With a "thud," Jia Shiming suddenly collapsed to the ground...

"Heaven and earth possess righteous energy, which manifests in various forms. In man, it is called righteousness, and the imperial road should be clear and peaceful..." Wen Tianxiang's "Ode to Righteousness" echoed softly in the hall, its lingering sound desolate and tragic. A man with white hair, white beard, and white eyebrows emerged from behind the Buddhist altar; it was none other than Master Qiao.

The Hakka woman was secretly surprised, but said coldly, "Master Qiao... was it you who injured Master Jia?"

"Rainwater gathers from all directions, floating on beds and tables, that's water vapor; mud splatters for half a day, steaming and bubbling, that's earth vapor; sudden sunshine and scorching heat, with wind blocked, that's sun vapor; the shade of eaves and the burning of firewood, fueling the blazing heat, that's fire vapor; rotten grain stored away, stale and oppressive, that's rice vapor; huddled together, shoulder to shoulder, stinking and sweating, that's human vapor; latrines, decaying corpses, rotting rats, all exuding foul odors, that's filth vapor. 'What Wen Tianxiang called mixed vapors back then are precisely you bandits of the Jianghu. Master Qiao, with his upright and righteous spirit, naturally wants to eradicate evil and cleanse the source…' Master Qiao shook his head, reciting these words with conviction."

"Master! Master... how did you die?" Nizi shook Jia Shiming's body violently, her voice trembling with sobs.

"Granny, how could Master Jia be like this?" Amin asked in surprise.

"Alas, Master Jia is already exhausted and needs immediate treatment, otherwise it will be too late," the Hakka nanny said anxiously.

"Master, how can we save Master Jia?" Shen Caihua had already developed a good impression of Jia Shiming, and he had been the one carrying Momo all the way south.

“Since Elder Anxi has the ‘Resurrection Water,’ things will be much easier,” the Hakka woman pondered, then called out loudly, “Please come out and meet Elder Anxi.”

After a long pause, a weak voice came from the side room: "This old monk is powerless to help..."

Upon hearing this, the Hakka woman swayed and suddenly slipped into the side room.

The room was dimly lit. On the bed lay a gaunt old monk, and another old monk stood beside him with his hands clasped in front of him. The man sitting upright in a chair, dressed in a smart suit and exuding a faint scent of cologne, was none other than Master Xufeng!