The Last Taoist

Chapter 3

Looking for the Mad Taoist Priest

My grandmother recalled that the Mad Taoist priest had mentioned a place - Wulipu in An County, so she quickly sent my grandfather to ride his bicycle there. My grandfather asked people along the way in a hurry, and finally found the place in a small town. It was dark when he arrived at Wulipu. He asked people if there was a Taoist priest there. After several inquiries, he finally got some clues: an elderly man pointed out to my grandfather that there was a small village to the west of Wulipu, but it was very remote. You had to pass through a chestnut forest, and below was a cemetery. After passing the cemetery, walk another five miles. It was said that there was a Taoist priest there before, but no one knew his name.

Grandpa thanked the old man and rode the moonlight at night. When he passed by the chestnut forest, he didn't know whether it was fireflies or ghost lights, but it was green. He was so scared that he pedaled the pedals desperately and fell down. He got up without checking and drove forward with gritted teeth. When he arrived at the small village, he was sweating profusely. He sat at the entrance of the village to check and even saw the bones. Grandpa loved this little daughter very much. He was also anxious and squatted on the side of the road and cried.

Just when Grandpa was crying, a young man came out of a broken thatched house at the entrance of the village. He had thick eyebrows, big eyes, a high nose bridge, and a white robe. He looked like an immortal. He caught up and asked Grandpa what was going on.

Grandpa was really impatient. He told the stranger everything.

After listening to my grandfather's story, the young man said, "Brother, don't worry. Come with me into the house and talk slowly. I'll bandage you." Then he led my grandfather into the house. After entering, my grandfather saw the portraits of the Three Pure Ones of Taoism hanging on the wall of this inconspicuous hut: Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun, Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun, and Taiqing Daode Tianzun.

The man made a cup of tea for my grandfather, motioned for him to sit down, and looked at his wound. It was a big cut, even the pants were torn, and the blood soaked the cloth. He went into the house and took some herbs to apply to the wound first, and then wrapped it with white cloth. The bleeding stopped temporarily, but my grandfather was still in pain.

After bandaging, the man got up and made a cup of tea for my grandfather. The tea looked ordinary, but it was strange that my grandfather drank it in one gulp. The anxiety in his heart gradually subsided, and the wound slowly stopped hurting. Grandpa then began to narrate the whole story and asked the man if he knew that there was an old Taoist priest here.

The man said, "If I'm not mistaken, you should be looking for my master, but unfortunately he passed away three years ago. Since my master told you to find him before he died, if you believe me, I will go and take a look. Do you think it's okay?"

When Grandpa heard that the person was dead, what else could he do? He could only try his best. He nodded repeatedly, fearing that he would not be able to find this person later.

The man asked about my aunt's birth date, took out a compass and calculated with his fingers, and said to my grandfather: "If nothing unexpected happens, your little daughter may not live past the 15th of this month. My master warned me nine years ago, but I didn't expect you not only didn't believe it, but also... Alas!" My grandfather knelt down to the man and cried bitterly: "None of us thought that the crazy Taoist priest, oh no, what the Taoist priest said was true. This, you see, what should we do?" Everything may be destined , the man helped grandpa up and said to himself: "Forget it, wait a moment."

After a while, the man came out from the side room, wearing a Taoist robe with gold and silver threads, a Bagua hat, white Bagua shoes, and a Bagua bag on his back, and said to grandpa: "Take me to your home, the sooner the better, if you can walk now, leave immediately."

Grandpa saw that the man was dressed as a Taoist priest, and knew that he had met someone who knew the business, so he got up quickly, and the two rushed back to grandma's house overnight. Little did he know that grandpa's rush would also cause problems with his legs in the future, and he would walk a little lame from then on.

To say that grandpa was a good laborer in the village at ordinary times, but at this moment his legs and feet were injured, and the Taoist priest was so anxious that he could only grit his teeth and insist. This man was Cha Wenbin, who later formed an indissoluble bond with our family. That year, Cha Wenbin had a son and a daughter, twins, who lived a poor rural life, working from sunrise to sunset.

When they arrived at my grandmother's house, my grandfather explained the origins to my grandmother, and took Cha Wenbin to my aunt's room. Strangely, this time my uncle's little black dog was particularly friendly when he saw Wenbin, hugging his legs happily. You know, this dog is usually very fierce to strangers. It is said that even my father was almost bitten by it.

Wenbin touched the little black dog's head, smiled and went in, and asked others to wait outside. After an incense stick of time, Cha Wenbin came out, his face a little heavy. Grandma asked nervously, "Master, what's going on?"

Cha Wenbin didn't say anything, but just asked grandma to prepare a table outside the door. Grandma didn't dare to neglect it, so she quickly moved a small table and put it at the door. Then Cha Wenbin asked grandma to prepare a bowl of rice (a bowl of rice is to fill the bowl with rice, press it firmly, pour it out, so that the rice is in the shape of a bowl, and then put the rice upside down in the bowl, keeping the bottom of the bowl facing up, and it must be half-cooked rice).

After setting up the table, a bowl of rice was placed in the middle. The man took out three incense sticks, a stack of talisman paper, a box of cinnabar, and a brush from his bag, and asked grandpa to lift my aunt's bed to the position facing the door, and asked grandpa to tie up my aunt with a hemp rope.

Besides, my aunt at that time had been moving around since Wenbin went in, and even my grandfather, an adult man, could hardly hold her down, as if she had become as strong as an ox overnight. After listening to the Taoist priest, my grandfather tied up my aunt with a hemp rope. Later, I learned that the hemp rope was not only to prevent my aunt from moving around, but also to lock her soul, that is, to tie up my aunt's soul and prevent her soul from leaving her body.

After tying up my aunt, the Taoist priest took a black stone-like object and stuffed it into my aunt's mouth, saying that it was to prevent her from biting her tongue and committing suicide later. After doing all this, the Taoist priest respectfully lit three incense sticks. That kind of incense is longer and thicker than the ordinary incense we see, and the color is yellowish. It may be the legendary tribute incense. Strangely enough, there is no wind in this room, but the smoke from the lit incense is three strands merged into one, and then slowly floated into my aunt's room.

Then, Wenbin took out an inkstone. My grandfather is a person who loves calligraphy. When he saw the inkstone, he knew it was not an ordinary inkstone. It was a white copper ink box inkstone, shaped like a Bagua, but the middle part of this inkstone was red, not black like ordinary inkstones.

The Taoist priest glanced at my uncle, touched his head, and said to him with a smile: "Little kid, go pee a little, collect it in the bowl and bring it in for me."

Grandma quickly took another large bowl and led my uncle out. After a while, my uncle's urine was brought in. The Taoist priest poured some urine into the inkstone, then put the box of cinnabar into the inkstone, stirred it, picked up the brush and began to draw talismans on the talisman paper. When drawing talismans, the brush did not leave the paper, and all were connected to the end. A total of eight talismans were drawn, and then they were pasted in eight directions in my aunt's room.

Strangely enough, when the last talisman was pasted, my aunt on the bed actually let out a terrified roar, but something was stuffed in her mouth, so she couldn't hear what it was. Her eyes were wide open, and she shook her head uneasily, as if she was very scared and very angry!

Wenbin didn't even look at the struggling aunt, but walked over quickly, stepping on the Seven Star Steps. With each step, he drew a talisman, and then pinched his fingers. I don't know how it happened, the talisman paper started to burn, and then he began to chant a spell. The aunt on the bed began to struggle constantly with Wenbin's spell and talisman paper. A nine-year-old girl seemed to be about to break free from the hemp rope as thick as a finger. Even the bed board creaked, her face turned from white to blue, and she kept making sounds: "Hu... Hu..." I couldn't hear what it was.

After burning 7749 talismans in total, the aunt seemed to have exhausted her strength, leaving only loud gasps. Grandma's family was so scared that they dared not move, but Wenbin's expression became more and more solemn, and gradually he began to sweat. After burning the last talisman, he was sweating all over.

The Taoist sat on the ground and drank a cup of tea handed over by grandma. He looked very tired. He sat for about three minutes before he stood up, looking very weak. He waved to my grandfather and whispered, "Don't keep anyone in the room anymore. Go to the door. I have something to tell you."