Diez historias clásicas y conmovedoras sobre lo sobrenatural

Capítulo 4

I asked my classmate where to find these things. He said that "purple alum" cannot be found in ordinary Chinese medicine shops, and even if it is, others may not sell it to you. You can ask in some chemical plants, maybe they have industrial-grade purple alum. As for the other things, apart from the bitter bean grass, you might be able to find them. The other two things are highly poisonous and generally cannot be bought without a prescription.

I was shocked after hearing that. What would Yang Zhan want with these poisonous things? He couldn't find them even after searching for them, so how could Lai Bao and I possibly find them? The weekend passed by in a blur. On Saturday morning, Lai Bao and I were huddled at home. I was watching a DVD, and Lai Bao was in front of the computer, animatedly chatting with someone who called herself a literary young woman about so-called "lower-body writing," when my phone rang. I picked it up and saw it was a text message from Lao Fu. It simply said: "Tianchi Village, Shishui Township, Tieyan Town, M City. Come quickly, the sooner the better, urgent!"

After reading the message, I quickly handed my phone to Lai Bao. After glancing at it, Lai Bao said to me, "This bastard went to such a far place. M City is at least 2 hours away from here. We don't even know where that town is."

Lai Bao immediately stopped chatting and started searching for place names online. Although you could search online whenever you wanted back then, the information wasn't as comprehensive as it is now, a few years later. For local information, all he could find was that there was a town called Tieyan in M City. He couldn't find anything else. He only knew that he could take a rural minibus from the North Station in M City to get there, and the journey would take about two hours.

My home city, J, is not far from M city. Although I know there is such a town, it is famous for its fruit production. Even though it is in the mountains, it is crowded with people during the fruit harvest season, not to mention the flower viewing season.

Lai Bao and I calculated that if we set off now, we wouldn't arrive in Tieyan Town until at least 6 PM. But Lao Fu is Lai Bao's childhood friend, and we've practically become sworn brothers since we met. Although he's a scoundrel, he'll always help us whenever we need him, whether it's with money, effort, or even donating a kidney. So we have to go through fire and water for Lao Fu this time. Without further ado, Lai Bao and I quickly packed our things and headed to the station.

On the highway to M City, Lai Bao looked out the window at the cars that were passing us and sighed, wondering when we would have a car. He said it would be so convenient to have a car, and we wouldn't have to take a bus. We could just step on the gas and be in M City. It would be so convenient.

I was thinking that my family still had a house in M City, so if all else failed, I could stay there after I got back. After arriving in M City, Lai Bao and I immediately took a taxi to the North Station. Once there, we quickly transferred to another bus to Tieyan Town. When we got on the bus, Lai Bao and I were almost crushed by the crowds. Logically speaking, even if we were going to see the peach blossoms, no one would be squeezing there in the afternoon like we were. There was a lot of traffic on the way to Tieyan Town, and by the time we arrived, it was almost 7 o'clock. After getting off the bus, Lai Bao and I looked around for a bus to that place called Shishui Township. Apart from some motorcycles, which are called "mo tuk-tuks" locally, there weren't many four-wheeled vehicles going there. We heard that the road was not easy to travel on. Lai Bao and I found a motorcycle. The young man riding the motorcycle looked to be no more than 19 years old. After we told him the name of the place, he said he could take us directly to Tianchi Village because he lived in the next village. He also said that he could take both Lai Bao and me in one vehicle. After agreeing on the price, Lai Bao and I got on his vehicle and set off.

After walking for a while, I remembered to ask the young man, "How much longer until we reach Tianchi Village?"

Because the wind was too strong, the young man didn't hear me clearly, so I repeated myself. The young man said, "It's not far! My bike is fast, it'll probably only take about a hundred minutes!" I felt a little relieved, and then enjoyed the bumpy ride of the motorcycle while looking at the sparse peach trees along the way.

When we arrived at Tianchi Village, it was already 9 o'clock. Lai Bao and I gave the money to the young man, and he turned around and rode away on his bike. After the young man had gone far away, I cursed, "Damn it, he said it would take about a hundred minutes, but it's been two hours."

Lai Bao chimed in, "Two hours makes 120 minutes, he wasn't lying to you." I rubbed my backside and started looking around at this so-called Tianchi Village. I looked around and saw no houses, no crops, just barren mountains and wilderness. I thought to myself: Oh no, that guy on the motorcycle tricked us. He probably just dropped us off somewhere and left. Maybe there are even some robbers lying in ambush.

It was so dark, and we had no idea what might happen. All around us were trees, but there was still a small path leading into the mountains. Although we were already in the mountains, the real mountains were ahead, visible as soon as we looked up. It was so dark that going back was unlikely, so Lai Bao and I had no choice but to grit our teeth and keep going. After walking for a while, Lai Bao stopped and walked to a tree, saying, "We should be at the village entrance by now."

I asked Lai Bao, "How did you know? Were you here?"

Lai Bao pointed to a large tree next to him and shone a lighter on it. He saw a wooden sign hanging on the tree with the words "Entrance to Tianchi Village" written on it.

Just as we were about to continue our journey, a person suddenly emerged from behind a tree. Lai Bao quickly lit his lighter and could vaguely see that the person was dressed in classical attire. I had only ever seen this kind of outfit in TV dramas and movies; it was quite rare to see it in real life. The person walked over carrying something that looked like a lantern and said, "Is one of you named Lai Bao?"

Lai Bao nodded, glanced at me again, stepped forward, and cupped his hands, saying, "I am Lai Bao." Seeing Lai Bao's expression, I thought to myself, "Oh no, this kid's gone mad too..." The man walked over carrying what he was holding, and I could see clearly that he was carrying a lantern, but the lantern was not lit, and the man's attire was somewhat like that of a Taoist priest.

The man didn't say much, just waved his hand and said simply, "Come with me, your friends are waiting for you inside."

Lai Bao and I hesitated for a moment. Lai Bao gave me a wink, and I didn't say anything. I followed the man with Lai Bao, and we walked unsteadily for what seemed like forever. We were almost halfway up the mountain when I finally saw a tiled house on a flat area. As we got closer, the house looked dilapidated and must have been quite old. It was so dark that we couldn't see anything else clearly. The man led us into the house, and as soon as we entered, we saw Old Fu sitting cross-legged in the middle of the house. In the very center of the house was a statue. We couldn't tell whose statue it was by candlelight, but we knew that it was probably a temple or something like that.

As soon as Lai Bao and I saw Lao Fu, we dropped our things and jumped over, ready to start a fight. But Lao Fu pushed us away seriously and said, "Stop messing around! Don't you know there are gods watching over the mountains? You can't make noise here!"

Lai Bao immediately got angry: "You're still pretending! You can't just make noise like this, right? We're not being unreasonable, we have a reason for this. Explain yourself, what are you doing here? And why did you call us here? This place is in the middle of nowhere!"

Chapter 11 of "Tangdun Strange Tales Notes"

Chapter 11 of "Tangdun Strange Tales Notes"

Author: Tang Xiaohao

Just as Lai Bao was pointing at Lao Fu and getting angry, I saw a man dressed like a Taoist priest emerge from behind the statue. He walked to the altar, and by the candlelight, I recognized him immediately – it was Yang Zhan! I quickly pulled Lai Bao back, and he looked up to see Yang Zhan standing before the altar. Yang Zhan was expressionless, just like the statue beside him. Just as I was about to ask Yang Zhan a question, he opened his mouth and shouted, "Welcome the Immortals!" Then he knelt down. The boy who had carried the lantern slowly walked out from behind, followed by another man – a short old man with a long beard. The old man slowly emerged from the inner room, sat down before the altar, pointed at Lai Bao and me, and asked Lao Fu, "These two are the ones you mentioned who also came to seek immortality, right?"

Old Fu nodded hurriedly and said, "Yes! Please enlighten us, Laozi." Lai Bao and I were dumbfounded. What were Old Fu and Yang Zhan up to? They were talking about immortals and Laozi, offering enlightenment and seeking immortality.

Just as I was about to explode, Lai Bao tugged at my sleeve. I looked down and saw that the finger Lai Bao was using was pointing downwards. I looked in the direction of his finger and saw Lao Fu, who was sitting cross-legged, with one hand outstretched behind him, slowly waving it...

Then the old man smiled and nodded, saying that everyone has the desire to become an immortal, but only a few can attain it. However, sincerity is the key to becoming an immortal. Lai Bao and I simply sat on either side of Old Fu. Then the old man started reciting some things that I couldn't understand, but Old Fu listened very attentively. It seemed like he wanted to take a pen and write down what the old man was saying.

After the old man finished reciting, he stood up and said to Yang Zhan, "Disciple, tomorrow night around dawn, bring a few of you to the peach grove behind the mountain to find me. If I am there, you may have a chance of enlightenment; if I am not there, you may have no hope. It all depends on fate." After saying this, he left. Yang Zhan then shouted, "Send off the immortal!" as if he were having a mental breakdown...

Notes III: The Quest for Immortals, Chapter 3: The Story of the Fu Family

Then Yang Zhan went in too. I was about to follow him when Lao Fu stopped me. Lao Fu then gestured for us to be quiet. Lai Bao and I followed him out of the temple and into a grove of trees down a slope outside the temple. There was a tent in the grove. After the three of us crawled inside, Lai Bao and I pinned Lao Fu down and were about to throw punches. Lao Fu shouted, "Don't! Listen to me. After you hear me, you'll understand."

After we helped Lao Fu up, I asked him, "Tell me first, how come Yang Zhan, our former boss, is here with you? Did you know him before? Or did you and he deliberately try to fool Lai Bao and me?"

Old Fu shook his head, took out a piece of paper from his pocket, and handed it to us. We turned on our flashlights and saw that it was the same piece of paper Yang Zhan had given us, the one with the address written on it. How did it end up in this kid's hands? No wonder we hadn't found it before, or rather, we hadn't paid any attention to that piece of paper at the time, focusing all our attention on the prescription.

Old Fu said, "I found Yangzhan by following this address. I've been to this address before. It's a bookstore. When I asked the people at the bookstore, the old lady who was guarding the bookstore said that she knew Yangzhan, but they weren't close. It was just that Yangzhan bought books here, and they got to know each other after a while. Since he was a regular customer, Yangzhan asked her to help him get some things. She also said that if anyone brought something, she should hold it for him and he would come to pick it up."

Old Fu thought that Yang Zhan wasn't here, but the shop owner didn't know his contact information either. He figured Yang Zhan would come every now and then, so he started waiting in the small teahouse across from the shop every day. He chose a spot directly opposite the bookstore, and to his surprise, Yang Zhan appeared the next day.

At this point, Lao Fu paused, lit a cigarette, and handed one to each of us, saying, "I was very curious about this person before, so I pretended to be Yang Zhan's friend and asked him if he had found a book I had asked Yang Zhan to find. The shop owner said that Yang Zhan had not looked for that book, but only read about fortune telling, feng shui, and sometimes even novels about cultivating immortality."

When I heard this, I roughly figured out what was going on. Yang Zhan had probably gone mad. Considering the sequence of events—his statement on the day he left the company that he didn't need us mortals to understand—and thinking about that old man earlier, the only person I could think of was Yang Zhan. He'd actually run off to these mountains to cultivate immortality. (At that time, I didn't know there was a specific term for this stuff called "cultivation." Later, I even saw a forum about cultivation on some website. Lai Bao found it while researching for his own nonsensical cultivation novel. It was full of people wanting to become immortals, claiming they'd already attained enlightenment in some mountain and were preparing to undergo some kind of tribulation. Some even said they'd already successfully transcended their tribulations, and the method was simple: find an open space during a thunderstorm, take an iron pipe, and wait to be struck by lightning. If you survived, you'd successfully transcended the tribulation, and a "heavenly gate" would open on your skull… In short, it was utter nonsense!)

After Yang Zhan appeared, Lao Fu didn't go up to ask him directly. Instead, he stayed by Yang Zhan's side. Lao Fu followed him wherever he went. After a day or two, he saw that Yang Zhan was either inquiring at pharmacies or going to the bookstore. A few days later, Yang Zhan left City C, and Lao Fu followed him. That's how he ended up here.

Just as Lao Fu was about to continue, someone called my and Lai Bao's names from outside the tent. I could tell from the voice that it was Yang Zhan. When Yang Zhan saw us, his face lit up with a big smile. He asked us, "Have you found the things? Hurry up, we're only missing a few items!"

Lai Bao and I shook our heads. Yang Zhan's face immediately showed disappointment. Only then did we notice that the man who had been carrying the lantern was behind Yang Zhan. Lai Bao suddenly said to the man carrying the lantern, "Judging from his attire, he must be a member of the Tang Clan of Southern Sichuan, right?"

The man with the lantern remained silent. Yang Zhan looked at Lai Bao strangely. As soon as Lai Bao spoke, I knew what he was going to do, so I held back my laughter. Lao Fu beside me also desperately tried to suppress his laughter. The man with the lantern still didn't speak. Lai Bao asked again, and the man simply nodded. Lao Fu and I almost burst out laughing at that nod. Lai Bao then asked, "Judging from this man's appearance, he must have been cultivating in the Tang Sect for decades. Does he know a senior in your sect named Bu Jingyun?"

I was about to burst out laughing. I pinched my thigh hard to stop myself from laughing. Damn it, Lai Bao, that bastard, even dragged "Storm Riders" into this...

At this moment, the man with the lantern actually grinned and nodded. I couldn't hold back anymore, so I ran back to the tent, covered my mouth and stomach, and started rolling around in pain. Not long after, Lai Bao came in and shook his head, saying, "The two schizophrenic people are gone. We'll go home tomorrow morning and not go crazy with them."

To my surprise, Lao Fu stopped Lai Bao when he said that, insisting that he wouldn't go back tomorrow. It was then that I noticed a crucial question: "Lao Fu, why are you so interested in Yangzhan? Or rather, why are you so interested in what Yangzhan is looking for?"

Old Fu lit a cigarette and started smoking. He smoked several in a row, filling the entire tent with smoke. Lai Bao then opened the mesh window on the top of the tent to let in some fresh air. Old Fu had probably had enough, so he took a book out of his clothes. We looked at it by the light of our flashlights and saw that it was the same book that Old Fu usually carried. Old Fu pointed at the book and said, "It's all because of this."

Old Fu said that the book was actually left to him by his grandfather's father. At that time, his great-grandfather was a highway robber who would spend his days with a group of brothers squatting by the roadside. They would let go of those who chopped and sold firewood or did small business. If they saw those riding tall horses who looked like they had some capital, they would rob them. He was basically a robber with a conscience. However, his great-grandfather's principle was that he would never kill anyone unless absolutely necessary.

As a result, his great-grandfather (hereinafter referred to as Grandfather Fu) caused several deaths during his last robbery. Before that robbery, Grandfather Fu met a fortune teller who told him to stop immediately. He said it was still not too late to stop, and although he would miss a great opportunity to become rich, at least he would not be responsible for any deaths.

After returning home, Grandpa Fu thought about it again and again. He had been robbing people for so long without taking any lives. Based on his past experience, even robbing people didn't necessarily have to result in death. Besides, his brothers were all from poor families. Although they were forced into robbing people, they were not ruthless characters and wouldn't resort to violence so easily. So he didn't take the fortune teller's words to heart.

That year, a severe drought struck, and even highway robbery yielded little. Grandpa Fu was considering fleeing with his family, but just as he was about to leave, he saw a group of people outside the village entrance. They appeared to be escorting goods, but there were only five of them, pushing a cart. It seemed they had a lot of valuables. Grandpa Fu thought he might as well pull off a heist before fleeing, so he gathered his men and got their weapons ready. He then changed into the clothes of a villager and loitered around the group, secretly following them. Finally, when he saw the five men pushing the cart out of the west entrance of the village, he told his men to ambush them. After arranging for his men, Grandpa Fu went back to settle his family, preparing to leave as soon as he got his hands on the goods.

When Grandpa Fu returned to the ambush site after settling his family, he was shocked to find his men already fighting the five men. Four of his men were already dead. He thought, "This is bad; we've met a real expert." Grandpa Fu knew his men were mostly farmers; they had some strength but no real martial arts skills, just wild hacking and slashing. But there was no other way. So he sneaked up to the back and quickly killed two of them. The other three, seeing some of their men fall, started to flee, abandoning the cart. Grandpa Fu noticed one of them carrying a bundle on his back and thought, "Since I've already killed people, I might as well finish them off." He left a few men to guard the cart. The others chased after them. Although the three men had some martial arts skills, they were outnumbered and outmatched. Two of them died quickly. The remaining man put down his bundle and knelt down, begging Grandpa Fu to let him go, offering all the belongings to them. Grandpa Fu didn't hesitate and slashed him with his sword, sending the boy to meet his maker. Before dying, the boy muttered something about finally having a chance, then took something from his pocket and swallowed it. He then closed his eyes with a smile. Grandpa Fu found a box in the man's bundle, inside which was the book. Grandpa Fu was not very educated and couldn't read a single word. He initially wanted to throw the book away, but then he thought that since the book was in such a nice box, it must be something valuable, so he kept it.

Chapter 12 of "Tangdun Strange Tales Notes"

Chapter 12 of "Tangdun Strange Tales Notes"

Author: Tang Xiaohao

Afterwards, Grandpa Fu and his gang divided the loot, only to find that besides some medicinal herbs, there was also some loose change. So they split up and went their separate ways. After leaving his hometown, Grandpa Fu settled down in another place. It was the early years of the Republic of China, and the situation was still very turbulent. Grandpa Fu didn't dare to take out all the money he had saved up, for fear of being targeted. So he started doing medicinal herb business with a doctor in the town where he lived. It was then that he realized that the portion of the medicine he had taken from the car was all precious and valuable. Grandpa Fu then remembered the book and showed it to the doctor. He thought that since the car was full of medicinal herbs, the book must be some kind of medical book. He showed it to the doctor, who said he couldn't understand what was written in the book, but he was absolutely certain it wasn't a medical book.

Grandpa Fu saw that it wasn't a medical book, but he still felt that it might be useful, so he kept it without burning or throwing it away. Then Grandpa Fu encountered something that he would fear for the rest of his life...

Notes III: The Quest for Immortals, Chapter 4: Resurrection

As Old Fu spoke, he had already taken the portable ashtray out to empty it several times. Seeing that he was almost finished with a pack of cigarettes, he lit another and said, "To be honest, all of this was told to my mother by my father. Because I was very young before he passed away, I didn't know anything, so he told my mother these things, saying he absolutely had to tell me. The things before that seemed quite ordinary, but the following parts, besides what my mother told me, were also written in the letter my father left behind. Of course, I should state upfront that I don't know if what's written in that letter is actually true. To be honest, I don't believe it at all."

Grandpa Fu ran a medicinal herb business in town for two years. On the Dragon Boat Festival of the third year, Grandpa Fu was busy with his business at home. Just as he was about to close the shop in the evening, the doctor told Grandpa Fu that he had brought a distant relative. Grandpa Fu looked at the person behind the doctor and said that he was not his relative. However, the person who came with him interrupted him, made the doctor leave, sat down, and handed Grandpa Fu a form, saying that he had come to buy medicine. Grandpa Fu took the form but could not understand it. Although he had been running a medicine business for two years, he was still illiterate. He only knew which medicines were which and could look at them. Whenever someone brought a form, he would ask his old friend, who had been a private tutor, to help him read it, and then he would go to get the medicine. Otherwise, the doctor would come to his door to pick it up.

The shop was almost closed, and Grandpa Fu said it was too late to get the medicine now, as the old shopkeeper had already left. The man said he was in a hurry and even laughed, saying he was turning down business. Grandpa Fu was stunned by the smile, because he recognized the man in front of him as the young man with the bundle he had stabbed to death during his last robbery. The young man's appearance had hardly changed. Logically, he should have changed a bit over the years, but since Grandpa Fu had stabbed him to death himself, he remembered his appearance very clearly.

Grandpa Fu was stunned. His back was covered in cold sweat. He thought, "It's over. He must have come back as a ghost to seek revenge." He ran outside as fast as he could, and the man chased after him, shouting something Grandpa Fu couldn't understand. It wasn't until late that Grandpa Fu realized his family was still there. Running away like this wasn't a good idea, but he was too scared to do anything. So he found a shaman in town who often performed exorcisms and went home with him. He didn't dare say anything about what had happened, for fear that others would find out he had a murder on his conscience. When they got home, they found that the man was gone, but his family was still there. The prescription for the medicine was still on the table. His family said that the man said he would come to pick up the medicine the next day, and he had also left the money there.

Grandpa Fu plopped down on the stool, pondering what to do. He thought he might be being paranoid; there are so many people in the world who look alike, and that person was already dead. Besides, it happened during the day, before it got dark. If it were a ghost, why would it be out in the daytime? Grandpa Fu picked up the list and started looking through it. He handed it to the shaman, asking if he recognized what was written on it. The shaman looked at it for a long time but couldn't recognize many names. Instead, he was attracted by something printed on the back of the paper. The shaman said that what was drawn on the back was a talisman. Grandpa Fu asked what kind of talisman. The shaman said it was probably a talisman for exorcising ghosts. It was definitely a talisman because he had seen such things in a book of his master's when he traveled the world with him. But the shaman was a complete idiot, a half-baked expert who didn't actually know anything and was just fooling people. But he remembered this talisman because the talismans in the book were completely different from the ones he usually drew for people, or they looked like ordinary talismans upside down.

Grandpa Fu felt increasingly uneasy, so he told his family to pack their things and leave that very night. However, Grandma Fu refused, saying that they had been running away all day and didn't know when it would end, and this time she was definitely not leaving. Grandpa Fu had no choice but to spend the night at home in fear. The next day, when the old man came, he asked him to tell him the names of the medicines on the list. If the man wasn't a ghost, he should be able to leave after taking the medicine. The old man said that the names of the medicines on the list were: bitter bean grass, purple alum, sheep rhododendron, and red ladybug.

After saying this, Old Fu said, "Do you know why I came after him? This is only one of the reasons. After that, that person never went to my great-grandfather to get the medicine. My great-grandfather was afraid that something might change in the future, so he carefully preserved the prescription. But do you know how long this piece of paper can be preserved? So he had to find someone to rewrite the talisman and other things. Every so many years, they would rewrite it and redraw the talisman. That's how it has been preserved."

“When my grandfather was about ten years old, my great-grandfather suddenly left home. I don’t know where he went. He just said he was going to find someone and told my grandfather to keep this book safe. He told him to keep it safe and that if he didn’t hear from my grandfather before he died, he should pass the book on to the next generation. When my father was about ten years old, my grandfather left the same message and left. Then my father disappeared too…” Old Fu glanced at me and Lai Bao and shook his head. “I really don’t understand what’s written in this book. Over the years, I’ve asked many people to make copies of this book and have them look at it. They all say they can’t understand it. It’s all meaningless stuff, and the writing is very messy, with text from several dynasties. Some antique dealers say this book is worth a lot of money, probably at least several hundred thousand or even a million. But my father left a letter repeatedly telling me not to sell this book and to keep it. But my father has been gone for so many years, and I haven’t heard from him at all. I’m almost exhausted. I really want to sell this book. Keeping it is useless. My father won’t come back.”

After Lao Fu finished speaking, I shone a flashlight on Lai Bao and I carefully browsed through the book. Lai Bao was a little better than me; he roughly knew some of the things in one chapter, which were about human organs and such. He couldn't recognize the other words, but he could make out the gist of it. That chapter, however, was also very disjointed.

Before going to sleep, Lao Fu said, "I'm guessing that Yang Zhan is probably involved in this matter, or that old man definitely knows something. I'm just guessing, but you can all tell that the old man is either mentally ill or a liar. There are too many flaws in his story. As for Yang Zhan, I think... he really is mentally ill. He doesn't seem to be faking it. After I followed him up the mountain, I saw him meet this old man and get excited, so he came out. I wanted to ask him, but seeing them talking nonsense, I realized that I couldn't get anything out of them by being direct. So I had no choice but to go along with their nonsense. I felt that I couldn't handle it myself, and I didn't have anyone I could trust, so I called you all here."

The three of us discussed it and decided to see what Yang Zhan and that old man were up to tomorrow. We'd see what they did and see what happened. If we had the chance, we'd kidnap Yang Zhan and question him. If the old man wasn't a real religious person, we'd call the police.

The next morning, Yang Zhan woke us up early, saying that morning meditation should begin. So, we followed this idiot to the outside of the temple in a daze. Yang Zhan pointed to the dew on the grass, trees, and leaves and said that it was some kind of holy dew, telling us to drink it as our whole breakfast. Then he started drinking it greedily, getting more and more enthusiastic. He basically licked all the grass around us... Looking at Yang Zhan like this, I thought, "That's it, this idiot is completely hopeless."

The three of us also lay down on the ground and pretended to lick it, then looked at Yangzhan with satisfied smiles. Yangzhan also seemed very happy and asked us if we didn't feel hungry at all and if we felt much better than yesterday.

We all nodded and said, "Much better, much better! We're in so much better spirits!" But what we were really thinking was, "You fucking idiot, I'll give you a good beating the moment I get the chance, and throw you off a mountain so you can ride the clouds!"

Then Yangzhan started leading us in reciting scriptures, which reminded me of the morning reading sessions when I was in elementary and middle school. But seeing Yangzhan's stupid expression, I had to hold back my anger. I couldn't argue with an idiot. For Lao Fu's sake, we had to endure it!

When Yang Zhan started reciting the first line, the three of us were completely dumbfounded: Damn it, the Three Character Classic is also called a scripture? As he continued reciting, Lai Bao basically went crazy too, starting to recite 3.1415926... He went crazy for a whole morning. Then Yang Zhan started telling us to sit in meditation, saying that sitting meditation is about cultivating the mind, and that cultivating the body and mind should be given equal importance. He said that cultivating the mind is especially important, and that we should enter a state of meditation. After a period of time, we can see the Heavenly Gate, but we still can't enter it.

Meditation? I'll throw you, you idiot, down the mountain and send you straight to the underworld!

Then the three of us sat behind Yangzhan and began to meditate... Lao Fu looked down at his phone, Lai Bao listened to his MP3, and I counted how many spider webs were on the roof. At that moment, I suddenly remembered a song that would be perfect for the three of us to sing: "Stupid Kid".

After meditating for a while, the idiot from the Shu Nan Tang Clan who was carrying a lantern last night—that guy who was Bu Jingyun—came in (for ease of narration, we'll call him Lantern from now on). As soon as Lantern came in, he said, "Amitabha! Please follow me, the Great Immortal invites you."

You're a Taoist, why are you chanting Amitabha Buddha? At this point, Lai Bao started to act again, and went up to Ma Deng and said, "I have a request. I was originally the chief disciple of Jesus, but now that I've joined your sect, I'm afraid the higher-ups won't let me off the hook. At the very least, they'll have to cleanse the sect. I beg the great immortal to save me."

Lantern shook his head and said, "The disciples of Jesus are not scary. Their power is only half that of my immortals. Follow me." At this moment, I noticed that Yang Zhan's mouth twitched, as if he wanted to laugh but held it back. I thought to myself, "Damn it, this bastard is really suspicious."

Notes III: The Quest for Immortals, Chapter 5: The Broken Clues

We followed the lantern to the peach grove behind the mountain and saw the old man sitting under a peach tree. When he saw us, he smiled and said, "You all performed well today and have a good chance of attaining immortality. I have decided to take you into the cave to formally cultivate immortality, but you must leave behind all your personal belongings except for your clothes."

Chapter 13 of "Tangdun Strange Tales Notes"

Chapter 13 of "Tangdun Strange Tales Notes"

Author: Tang Xiaohao

Old Fu glanced at us. We were now certain this bastard was a conman. Telling us to leave all our belongings and only take our clothes meant we had to leave all our money and things here and go with him. Suddenly, Old Fu stood up and punched Yang Zhan to the ground, then kicked Ma Deng. Ma Deng panicked, tried to dodge, but lost his footing and fell to the side. Lai Bao and I quickly grabbed the old man and pinned him down, then slapped him several times. While taking the blows, the old man kept saying, "You dare offend this immortal? You'll be punished by heaven!"

It seems that Lao Fu and Lai Bao's patience has reached its limit...

Lai Bao slapped him again: "Fuck you! Heaven my foot! Show me your divine retribution! Strike me with lightning? I learned from that foreigner named Franklin when I was a kid, he was struck by lightning from childhood!"

The old man started muttering to himself. Lai Bao and I watched to see what he was up to. After a while, we understood that he was chanting something like "Amitabha Buddha." At this moment, Lao Fu said, "Let's rest for a bit and wait for the police. I just texted the people who stayed in Shishui Township to call the police and have them come find us. I left some marks on the road so they can find us."

Old Fu, that bastard, didn't come alone; he came with his two cousins. The two cousins stayed in the village waiting for news of him, ready to rush over if anything happened. Several hours later, when the old man was almost asleep, Old Fu's cousins and the police arrived. I kicked the old man to wake him up and asked him how he could sleep. The old man actually said: "Pretending to be a god is actually very tiring..."

Then the old man, Yang Zhan, and the lantern were taken away. The old man and the lantern were a father and son, completely illiterate and uncultured. They were originally villagers from a remote village further into the mountains. A few years ago, the two went out to work and noticed that in recent years, there were many people in the city seeking immortality and medicine. So they came up with a plan to come back and deceive people. They returned to the village and said that they had met a master while working and that they had achieved great things. They then used the tricks they learned from TV on how to avoid being scammed to scare the uneducated villagers, and almost all of them were fooled. Then they actually became local tyrants in the mountains. They really were emperors. The most invincible thing was that they even established a country called "Great Sage" and called themselves the Jade Emperor! They appointed ministers and generals and so on. Afterwards, they sent people out to spread the word that there were immortals in the area (according to the old man, the immortals' appearance and attire were learned from the TV series "Journey to the West"), which deceived some fools from the city who wanted to seek immortality.

But Yang Zhan refused to speak, only saying that he was also one of the victims, and said nothing else. A few days later, the incident made the headlines, and it was then discovered that the number of people who had been defrauded in recent years had exceeded 200, and the old man and his son had defrauded at least 100,000 yuan.

The most shocking thing was yet to come. The police found a highly decomposed female corpse in the so-called palace (which was actually a cave) where the old man who claimed to be the Jade Emperor lived. The clothes on the female corpse were intact, and it was found that the clothes had been put on after the body was washed. There was a wound on the back of the female corpse's head, but it was not fatal. Finally, a large amount of soil was found in the female corpse's nostrils, ears, and mouth. It was determined that she had been buried alive and suffocated. In the end, it was found that the female corpse was Yang Zhan's wife.

According to Yang Zhan's later confession, he had been married to his wife for less than two years. He had pursued her with great effort, but after marriage, she remained the same as before, enjoying the feeling of being surrounded by men. She spent her days either posting photos online to show off or meeting people she met online. He didn't know how many times she had cheated on him, letting the bright green sun shine on his head… Yang Zhan was a quiet person who usually seemed melancholic. He kept these things bottled up inside. Later, he saw an online advertisement from someone claiming to have successfully cultivated immortality, saying they could change a person's heart simply by attaching a talisman to them. The method involved burying the body in the ground for three days, then digging it up at the same time three days later. The person buried would then have their heart follow only that person. Benyangzhan didn't believe this, but his wife's actions made him completely lose his composure. During an argument, he accidentally knocked her unconscious. Panicked, believing his wife was dead, he remembered the method he found online and decided to try it. He happened to hear about "immortals" on a mountain in M City, and, momentarily blinded by greed, thought of the online claim that burying the body in a sacred mountain would guarantee success. So he borrowed someone's car, loaded his wife's body into it, wrapped it in ice, and drove to the mountains to find the Jade Emperor…

Once on the mountain, Yang Zhan quickly discovered that the deity was fake, but since he had killed someone, there was nothing he could do. So he lied to the outside world, saying that his wife had gone back to her parents' home in the north, thinking that it wouldn't be bad to stay on that mountain and spend the rest of his life there.

Although it's not easy to see death row inmates, thanks to my family's connections and Lao Fu's friends, we finally managed to meet Yang Zhan. Upon meeting, we went straight to the point, asking Yang Zhan about the herbs. Yang Zhan cried, saying he really wanted to save his wife. The person online wrote that a small amount of each herb needed to be placed in the mouth of the person being buried, and only with a talisman would it be effective. He also mentioned seeing this in a bookstore he frequented. At that moment, we all thought of the talisman, so we asked Yang Zhan to draw it. However, the police wouldn't let Yang Zhan draw anything for us. We had no choice but to ask him to tell us the website address he'd seen. Yang Zhan said he didn't remember it; he'd found it by chance.

We then rushed to the bookstore called "Youth That Flows Down," and found the book based on Yang Zhan's description. It was more like a small notebook than a book, the kind of book you often see people selling on the street, like those self-fortune telling books, or predictions for the Year of the Tiger and the Year of the Dog. The store still had quite a few of those books left. We flipped through one and sure enough, there was a page with that same thing written on it, completely unrelated to the rest of the book. There was also a talisman drawn on the back. After Lao Fu looked at it, he said that the talisman was exactly the same as the one left by his great-grandfather. So he asked the shop owner, an older woman, where the book came from. The woman said that sometimes people who sold these kinds of books would come to the store to promote them, and they would sell them by weight. Buying those books would cost less than ten yuan. She thought that even if she sold them for a little over a yuan each, she could still make a profit, so she kept them.

The older woman also mentioned that the bookseller had only come once; he was a rather tall, middle-aged man who seemed somewhat educated and didn't appear to be a bookseller. Old Fu immediately described his father to the older woman, who shook her head, saying, "That man was at least 1.85 meters tall." After hearing this, Old Fu shook his head at Lai Bao and me. The lead on the books had run its course. Lai Bao suggested we try searching online; perhaps we could find the person who posted the information and see if they knew anything.

We searched online for a long time but couldn't find it at all. We then thought, what if we did find it, but the person also saw it in one of those little notebooks? Lai Bao and I threw ourselves back into our work, still dreaming of getting rich or becoming writers every day, while Lao Fu started doing business seriously, starting with computer consumables, which he was most interested in. He would also collect those little books from street stalls from time to time to see if he could get any clues, and he would also ask his customers if they had seen any places where he remembered those few herbs or talismans.

Old Fu kept the book in a bank safe deposit box, carried a photocopy with him, and also gave a copy to the cultural center in City C, hoping that those who specialize in archaeology could find something out of it.

Yang Zhan was also executed after the autumn harvest. After Yang Zhan's death, the company leaders often used Yang Zhan's case as a negative example, talking about it in meetings large and small... In 2005, when I returned to M City to work for an insurance company, I asked a college classmate to mention this matter. He told me that he had interviewed two similar people in another city. They either buried their wives or their husbands, but the difference was that no one taught them or showed them how to do it.

[over]

Notes Part 3: My Compilation of "The Legend of Immortals"