Chapter 53 Chapter Twelve

In the west of Hunan, most of the mountains are steep, with overlapping peaks, covered with clouds and mist, and there are many rivers and streams. The streams and streams are connected, and the streams flow into the river. To survive in such an environment requires courage and tenacity.Of course, what is needed more is an optimistic spirit. Because of this, the Tujia, Miao, Dong, Bai, Hui and many other ethnic groups living here have their own unique recreational culture, and almost everyone is good at singing and dancing.For example, the hand-waving dance of the Tujia nationality, the autumn festival and the Miao song festival of the Miao family, the fireworks festival of the Dong nationality, and the torch festival of the Bai nationality.There are also other large-scale gatherings, such as Nuo Tang Opera, Half Ghost Festival, March 3rd, April 8th, June 6th, etc.

In terms of dance alone, there are drum drums of the Bai people, monkey drums of the Miao people, hand-waving dances of the Tujia people, grass gongs and drums, maogusi dances, and eight-treasure copper bell dances.Singing folk songs is also integrated into the unique wedding customs of Tujia and Miao people. Crying for marriage, scolding the matchmaker, pretending to be a mother, welcoming relatives, bumping the sedan chair, jumping through the screen, consummating the marriage, and giving blessings are even more interesting. It can be seen that people in Chenzhou Prefecture and Yongshun Prefecture like to be lively and love parties very much. This unique folk party culture is the accumulation of people's life for thousands of years.

Although exorcising corpses is a evasive technique, influenced by this folk culture, it naturally has its own unique way of gathering. This is the influential corpse exorcising conference in the exorcism world. The corpse exorcism conference is a grand event in the exorcism world, and in the eyes of exorcists, this is the top party for exorcising corpses.Although it is a grand event, it cannot be publicized, only those who drive the corpse will know.Because it is too public, it will harass the local residents, causing unnecessary panic. It's called the corpse exorcism conference, but it's not actually a meeting, but corpse exorcism sects, corpse exorcisers from all walks of life, get together, learn corpse exorcism skills, compare corpse exorcism secret skills, a bit like a martial arts conference, it's actually called corpse exorcism contest It may be more appropriate and more intuitive.

The Corpse Exorcism Conference is held every two years, and the exorcist artisans who participate come from Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Hubei, among which Hunan is the main one, followed by Guizhou. The location of the exorcism meeting is not fixed. Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Hubei take turns to sit in the village, and the location is mostly chosen at the intersection of the four places.The reason for this is that the borders of the four places are mostly mountainous, and the terrain is concealed, so they will not be noticed by outsiders; How long this habit has lasted, I'm afraid no one can say for sure.Probably since the birth of the evasive technique of driving corpses, there have been such gatherings.However, it is a grand competition of the secret skills of driving corpses, so naturally it is necessary to distinguish between the superior and the inferior.

Whoever's secret technique of expelling corpses is enough to convince the crowd can get the "Brahman Mantra Heavenly Rod".If you want to seize the "Brahma Mantra Heavenly Rod", the participating exorcists must exorcise the corpses themselves, and the other exorcisers who have not expelled the corpses are bystanders.Although the onlookers did not seize the strength of the "Brahman Mantra Heavenly Rod", they could watch the bustle, open their eyes, and encourage their fellow disciples. More importantly, they could learn a lot of new secret techniques for exorcising corpses.Therefore, as long as conditions permit, all corpse exorcisers are unwilling to miss the exorcism conference!

The "Brahman Mantra Heavenly Rod" is something that exorcists have dreamed of all their lives. It is not only a kind of glory, but more importantly, it is a magic weapon with supreme power! The "Brahma Mantra Heavenly Staff" integrates many magic powers such as exorcising evil spirits, eliminating filth, suppressing ghosts, absorbing souls, and summoning gods. Once the corpse hunter gets this treasure, other utensils can be discarded. In each corpse exorcism meeting, each sect will determine the winner first, and then the winner will challenge the current owner of the "Brahma Mantra and Heavenly Staff", that is, the leader of the last corpse exorcism meeting.Therefore, every corpse exorcism meeting is, in the final analysis, a battle to defend and compete for the "Brahman Mantra Heavenly Rod"!

Tian Gudao and I entered the industry not long ago, and it was the first time to participate in such a conference. Although we were fascinated for a long time, we were uneasy.The corpse exorcism meeting is not only a contest of strength between the various sects, but also a secret rivalry between the disciples of the various sects of the sect.The Liu School has developed to exorcise corpses to this day, and there are hundreds of disciples under the sect.Only one branch that my master inherited from Tianpu has dozens of disciples.One can imagine how difficult it is to stand out at the corpse exorcism conference.

In a hurry, we decided to take a shortcut.If you enter Laifeng, Hubei via Longshan, you will take a detour in the middle.Youyang County in Sichuan and Longshan in Hunan are close to each other. If you pass Beiziyan, go to Youyang County in Sichuan, and then enter Longshan, you can go directly to Laifeng in Hubei. In this way, you can save some time. Passing Beiziyan, passing through Daojiping, and crossing the watershed, we came to a place called Shiziyan in Youyang. At this time, when the sun was setting, the golden afterglow sprinkled on our bodies, and there was a faint warmth in our hearts, but this warmth disappeared after a short time.After a while, the sky gradually darkened, the birds returned to their nests, and the entire Shiziyan was surrounded by dusk.After walking forward for a while, I felt that I had entered a dense forest, and it seemed that it was difficult to get out through the forest.

Going forward or staying overnight, I had a disagreement with Tian Gudao.Tian Gudao thought that those who had been walking for a whole day and suffered from sore backs should rest on the spot and recharge their spirits before leaving tomorrow.I think that the rocks here are deep, and in order to avoid accidents, we must continue to move forward, and find a place to rest after climbing over the Lion Rock.In this way, time can also be squeezed out to arrive at Wulong Mountain, the gathering place for the corpse exorcism conference, earlier. While they were arguing, they suddenly saw a glimmer of light in front of them.We heard the sound of broken footsteps, and saw a person walking across the street, holding a paper lantern in his hand.

Through the dim light, we could see clearly that it was an old woman, staggering, and her front teeth had all fallen out. "Guys, have you seen a child who is about five or six years old?" The old woman asked us. We replied that we didn't see any children. "I don't know where this naughty thing went to play again, hey..." The old woman sighed softly, and told us that the child we were looking for was her grandson. "It's dusk now, and I can't see my fingers, so it's inconvenient to walk. Moreover, the wind in this mountain is dense and the forest is dense, and there are occasional bandits and insects. I don't think they look like villains. My thatched hut has rested, and I will go on my way tomorrow." The old woman sent us an invitation.

"Okay, thank you, old mother..." Tian Gudao took over the conversation. I heard that bandits and wild beasts appeared in this mountain, so I also agreed to rest on the spot and didn't object any more. The old woman staggered and led us to the house where we lived, and we followed behind, groping forward on the mountain path. After half a cigarette, we came to a thatched hut, which was also dimly lit, but saw a bouncing child coming out to greet the old woman affectionately. The old woman beckoned us to enter the house. We looked at the house and found that it was very simple inside, except for a few tableware, there were almost no valuable things.What was even more strange was that her son and daughter-in-law were not in the house. The old woman seemed to see our doubts, so she explained: "In order to make ends meet, my son and daughter-in-law have traveled far away to do some small business to earn some money to support the family." We quickly apologized and said that we should not have caused trouble to them. Although poor, the old woman seemed very warm and hospitable, which moved us very much. I thought I must give her some silver taels when I left. She told us to put down our gear, then build a fire and start cooking.The old woman's grandson and the ghost cub got acquainted not long after, and the two played together, appearing very affectionate. The laughter of the two children added a bit of vitality to the cold rock in the deep mountain. Suddenly, the ghost cub made a strange cry.I saw that the grandson of the old woman was turning back and forth in front of the dead body we were chasing, and suddenly wanted to tear the talisman off the dead body with his hands. I was startled and ran up to see that a talisman had been torn from his hand. I quickly let the child go away, praying in my heart: Don't let this child be frightened! Tian Gudao and I quickly took out a new talisman and put it on.But as soon as he turned his back, the ghost cub screamed again.It turned out that the child was going to tear off the talisman again. I hurriedly stopped him, wondering in my heart: Why is this kid not afraid of death? At this time, the old woman had already prepared the meal and greeted us to come to the table for dinner.But I saw that the chopsticks placed on the table were all made of tree branches.I am a little strange. "Several, my house is too simple, I'm really sorry, let's make do with it." The old woman's face was full of apology. When she said this, we were even more embarrassed.Picking up the bowls and chopsticks quickly, he pushed the rice into his mouth vigorously, pretending to be delicious. However, just after taking a bite, the food felt cold. I looked at the bowl on the table, but it was obviously steaming... At this moment, an old man with gray beard and hair suddenly entered the room. When he entered the room, he couldn't help but sweep the food on the table to the ground and shouted loudly: "You old woman, how can you serve such food to the guests?" !" The old man's sudden behavior took us by surprise.The child burst into tears, obviously frightened. "You old man, it's none of your business, mind your own business!" The old woman also lost her temper. We also blamed the old man for being so reckless.The old man was not angry when faced with our accusation, instead he said to us: "This is a place of right and wrong, you should leave immediately!" After hearing what the old man said, we were about to raise our legs to see what happened, but we felt that our legs were weak, and suddenly they went limp, and we fell on the table... After an unknown amount of time, the old man shook us awake again: "Why haven't you left? I told you earlier that you shouldn't stay here for long. You should pack up your things and hurry! Before you leave, I have something to give you. This thing is This treasure, which has been with me for decades, is called "half-side palm". Be pious, and recite the mantra: "Look at the blue sky with your eyes, and the master is by your side; Hengdan has a long sun and moon, and half of the universe is big; Bao Guosheng is full of phenomena, and gods and Buddhas sit in the center; King Wen is in front, Kong Ming is behind, and Liu Bowen is a magic trick. The temple king The land will show up quickly, and the gods will ask questions, ask the hexagrams to get the hexagrams, find the lost things, ask the wind to get the wind, ask the gods for help, be as urgent as the law!' After reading the mantra, you will have the guidance of the gods. Things are clear!" I was very surprised, immediately wrote down the formula, and then asked: "Where is that 'half palm' now?" The old man replied: "Go two hundred steps forward from here, turn right, there is a cave, enter the cave, and enter another fifty steps. At the height of the person, there is a small ridge. On the ridge is a wooden box, which is half a palm. Get up and get it right away." I saw the old man hit me with a palm... "Wake up, wake up!" While I was in a daze, I seemed to hear the cry of the ghost, and I opened my eyes, only to find that the morning light was just emerging, and the table I was lying on at night turned out to be a tombstone! It turned out that we slept next to a graveyard all night.I was shocked! The ghost cubs are shaking Tian Gudao.At this time, Tian Gudao also woke up, his eyes dimmed from sleep. I remembered the scene of last night, and looked around, but found that there was no hut at all, and the old woman and child were gone. I was very surprised. I was about to ask Tian Gudao, but he also looked dumbfounded.As soon as the two communicated, the scene of last night was exactly the same. I suddenly remembered what I ate last night, and I searched the ground, only to find an old crock lying on the ground, and earthworms crawled out of the crock from time to time. "Could it be that this earthworm was the food we ate last night?!" Tian Gudao let out a strange cry. When I heard him say that, I couldn't help vomiting. "Xiu Cai, I'm afraid I encountered a ghost last night!" Tian Gudao judged. "It shouldn't be possible. We have magic tools and talismans to suppress ghosts on our bodies. Ordinary wild ghosts can't get close to us!" "Then it might be a ghost!" "Impossible! There is only one possibility, and that is that we have been tricked!" "Who is that? How dare you play tricks on us!" I can't guess for a while.I looked back at the ghost cub, and saw that his eyes were red and he was sitting next to the dead body. Could it be that the ghost cub stayed up all night to protect the dead body? This ghost cub has grown so big and is very spiritual, but it has a shortcoming, that is, it can't speak fluently, and it can only say two words at a time. I walked over and stroked the head of the ghost cub, full of gratitude in my heart. I started looking for clues in last night's situation. I vaguely remember an old man reminding us that this is a place of right and wrong, we have to leave quickly. Tian Gudao also said that he once saw an old man. So, who is this old man?Why did he knock down our jobs?Why are you reminding us? I thought about it, and always felt that this old man seemed familiar. After a while of meditation, I finally remembered that the old man was very similar to my fifth uncle Leng Sansi. All my life, I have been closely related to my fifth uncle, Leng Sansi.Because of his saying, "The descendants of the Leng family must be able to raise people and become Jinshi", I am determined to honor my ancestors and test for fame; because of him, I entered the industry to drive corpses to earn money to go to Changsha to participate in the provincial examination; because of him... I don't have much impression of my fifth uncle Leng Sansi, I vaguely remember meeting him when I was only three or four years old.He was admitted as a student in less than 20 years during the Tongzhi period, and wrote good articles. Later, he took part in the provincial examination, but because he did not want to appoint examiners, he failed repeatedly in the examination.After the age of fifty, Leng Sansi basically never stayed at home, and has been wandering outside.Because of his good handwriting and good articles, he makes a living by writing pleadings for others, and occasionally uses his medical skills to prescribe unilateral medical treatment for others.During this period, he insisted on participating in the scientific examination and never stopped.This kind of wandering life in the clouds and wild cranes continued until he passed away in his eighties.According to my parents, the fifth uncle traveled all over the famous mountains and rivers, and left his footprints in many places.In some places, there are still his ink marks and couplets and poems written by him, which is very famous among literati and refined scholars. Could it be that the fifth uncle appeared?Thinking of this, I suddenly thought of the strange scene I encountered in the peach blossom forest when I was a teacher.Could it be that the "Leng's God Table" placed in the uninhabited bamboo house in the peach blossom forest was set up by the fifth uncle?From this point of view, the bamboo house must have been built by him when he was traveling. If so, Fifth Uncle must have saved us by knocking down the food in our hands last night. I told Tian Gudao what I thought, and Tian Gudao also expressed his amazement: "Xiucai, since you think that is your fifth uncle, but the old woman is not a ghost, then who do you think the old woman is?" "I think, last night, it must be the ghost of the exorcist from other sects who came to participate in the exorcism meeting!" "So, the other party's Taoism is higher than ours!" "Not necessarily, it's just that his illusion is relatively advanced." I once heard Master talk about some things about the exorcism meeting.In fact, before the corpse exorcism conference officially started, the secret contest among exorcists had already begun. The mortician who aspires to win the championship usually hides in the dark and waits for an opportunity to attack the cadavers of other sects. He mainly casts spells to make the opponent dizzy, thus losing the fighting spirit and confidence to participate in the cadaver meeting.Of course, it would be best to be able to keep the other party out of the corpse exorcism meeting. In this way, one less opponent would increase the odds of winning the "Brahma Mantra Heavenly Staff". Some of the battles before the corpse exorcism meeting were carried out secretly, and some were carried out in the open, even if it was a warm-up before the official start of the meeting.Most of these battles are organized by sects, because in a sect, no matter who wins the "Brahman Mantra Heavenly Staff", he represents his sect first, and himself second. In order to make their sects look good, all sects will make overall arrangements and implement their own layout in a planned and step-by-step manner, hoping to show themselves in the corpse exorcism meeting. What happened last night shows that our vigilance is not high, which is related to our lack of experience as fledglings.Of course, the opponent's illusion is far superior to ours, otherwise we wouldn't have noticed it at all. "We have to be very vigilant in the future, otherwise we will be kept in the dark if we are plotted against!" I reminded Tian Gudao. "That's right, grandma is a kimchi, after you say it like that, it's really a bit like an army." Tian Gudao suddenly changed the subject: "If we are like this, will the two women Wang Erya be plotted against? " After Tian Gudao reminded me, I couldn't help worrying about these two girls.For some reason, I felt that I began to care about Tian Xiaomei.This was unimaginable before.I have always thought that I am very rational, except for obtaining fame, everything is very indifferent in my eyes.The thought of Tian Xiaomei made me quite confused, and I couldn't explain why.Are you afraid that you are bewitched? "Clean it up quickly, and hurry!" When we cleaned up the dead body, we found that the talisman on the forehead of the dead body was gone, which was very consistent with the situation last night.At this time, he suddenly found that the ghost cub was holding the half-torn talisman tightly in his hand. Could it be that he tore it while fighting with the troublemaker?Before we could think about it, we re-attached the talisman to cast the spell.After it was ready, he hurriedly drove the corpse away from this place, so as not to cause any further disputes. Walking two hundred steps forward, according to the old man's reminder, I found a wooden box in a cave. I opened the box carefully, only to see a strange thing lying inside.The thing is as long as a palm, but only half a palm wide, like a coconut shell, with some incomprehensible inscriptions on the inside, and it also looks like the number of Taiyi God, while the outside has slender lines, which are countless.There is a small hole at the end of this thing, and a beige sky stone is hung on it. I took out half of my palm, hung it on my waist, and walked forward.