Chapter 3: Broken Books
No one thought that I would be sick for thirteen years, and I had done nothing in the past thirteen years except to increase the financial burden on my family. As I grew up and became sensible day by day, I gradually felt that I was a burden to my family and was ashamed of such a life. I can't do anything about this damn disease. By the time he was twenty years old, the Internet spread throughout the village. Most families bought computers with broadband, and my dad bought one back.
By chance, I learned on the Internet that there is such a profession as an online author, and I feel that the days of doing cumbersome work are over, and I think I am so keen on supernatural novels, why not write one myself? I signed up for an account and I'm ready to write. The horror novels I have read in the past are inseparable from Maoshan Taoism. For Maoshan Taoism, the accumulation in the novel is far from enough, in order to write a novel I ordered a copy of "Maoshan Taoism" online.
When the book arrived, I almost died, the store sent me a broken book, the book was broken with tape and I didn't know where to start, I was worried that it would fall into pieces, and the paper was yellowed and full of age. When I decided to return the product, I also asked the store if the book had been passed on to him by his wife's grandfather.
When I went to the online store, I almost died of anger again, and the online store actually disappeared. Then the money for the book was automatically refunded to my account, and I was relieved that the money was back. I re-ordered another one online, and when I picked up the package of the book to throw it away, I found that there were giveaways insideβa brush, two stacks of yellow paper for drawing, and a packet of red powdery stuff with a label (cinnabar) on it. I thought it was useful and I left it. In the afternoon, when my grandmother went out to take out the garbage, she took it out along with my trash can.
When I woke up the next day, the book was next to my pillow, and I picked it up and looked at it to make sure it was the one I had thrown away. I asked my grandmother, "How did you pick up this broken book again?" β
Grandma picked it up and looked at it and said, "I didn't pick it up, why did I run back by myself?" β
I was afraid of scaring my grandmother, so I lied and said, "I read it wrong, it's not the one I lost, it's another one." β
Grandma smiled and said, "I'll just say, how can this thrown thing still run back by itself." β
I thought the book was a bit mysterious, and curiosity drove me to flip through it. A few drawn talismans fell out of the book, the rune paper was yellow, and the runes were red, which looked like they should have been drawn with cinnabar. I reached for it, but there was a burning pain when my hand touched the rune paper. I jerked my hand back, confused for a long time. There's no reason, aren't talismans used to cure ghosts? I haven't heard that you can cure people. I went to pick up another one, and it was the same feeling.
I opened the book, hoping to find some clues in it that would solve my doubts. The book mainly contains some charms, feng shui, and ghosts. I opened the talisman chapter, and there was a detailed introduction to how the talisman was drawn, as well as the usage and function, and I continued to flip through the book to see if I could find the two I had just touched. Sure enough, those two charms are recorded in the book - one is a talisman to ward off evil spirits, and the function is to eradicate evil spirits. Another Five Tigers Ghost Devouring Talisman is capable of devouring ghosts. I was about to pop my eyes out, but I just couldn't find a curative function.
I opened the introduction of ghosts again, and the book said that ghosts are the souls of human beings after death, belonging to yin and afraid of sunlight. Seeing this sentence, my heart was half cold. A terrible thought rippled through my heart, and I was afraid of the sun and the charm. I always thought it was a coincidence after that drowning thirteen years ago, but now the only one that can explain this phenomenon is that I was ..... in that drowning I don't dare to think any further. A trace of memory pulled me out of this terrible thought, I had a blood test thirteen years ago, and I had never heard of ghosts having blood. I touched my face and my chest again, and I had a body temperature and a heartbeat. But that wasn't enough to convince myself, I picked up the fruit knife and slashed at my left forearm, and I could clearly feel the pain coming from the knife, and there was blood gushing from the wound. The pain and blood proved that I was still alive, and I sneered and glanced contemptuously at the rune paper scattered on the ground. Since Lao Tzu is a human being, then why should I be afraid of you. I picked up the Five Tigers Ghost Devouring Talisman and immediately felt a heart-piercing pain. I endure the pain, I don't believe in this evil, Lao Tzu is a human being, not a ghost, how can you still kill me? An impulse drove me to put the talisman on my forehead. The burning pain spread from my forehead to my whole body in an instant, and I could see white smoke rising from the place where my forehead touched the rune paper, and at the same time there was a "stinging, stinging, stinging" sound. Soon I lost consciousness.
When I woke up, the runes were still on my forehead, and the runes were so dim that I could barely see them. I smirked and tore the talisman off and threw it on the ground. Then I picked up the amulet and thought, "Come again!" "I put it on my head, but I didn't feel it at all, and I smiled again, even happier than I had just laughed, which meant I had won.
I looked at the curtains, and the impulse I had just had was there. The emotions that had been suppressed for thirteen years were all ignited by this stimulus. I haven't seen the sun in thirteen years, and I've lived a ghostly life every day for thirteen years, and I'm fed up! I stood up and walked towards the door, I must see the sun today, I can conquer Huang Fu or maybe I can conquer the sun, the big deal is death, if I die, I will be free from everything, and my family is just one less burden.
Thinking like this, I opened the door and walked out into the courtyard without hesitation. Unexpectedly, there was no discomfort other than feeling particularly harsh. It took me a while to open my eyes completely. The scenery during the day is so beautiful, the sky is so blue, and a few idle clouds floating in the sky are slowly moving. The sun was shining on me, warmer and more comfortable than being by the fire in the winter.
I'm enjoying the feeling and just listening to my father's "Ah! He ran over and picked me up and ran into the house. My father is in his forties, still strong and strong, and he runs into the house with me in his arms without any difficulty. He asked, "Who let you out?" Then he noticed something unusual, took my arm and looked at it, turned my hand over and looked at it, and said in a trembling voice, "You...... All right? β
I nodded, "yes!" I'm fine! I'm not afraid of the sun anymore. β
"Really! That's great. Daddy smiled excitedly. I moved the rocking chair to the yard and lay down, I wanted to enjoy this sunbathing after a long time. In order to celebrate my recovery from a serious illness, my father set up more than a dozen tables of banquets to entertain relatives and friends in the neighborhood. Hearing my grandmother say that this pomp was bigger than when my father got married, I was moved to tears. Afterwards, my dad asked me why I was so sudden. I thought there was something strange about it, so I chose to hide it. But I also felt that it had nothing to do with those talismans, and my gut told me that they should be good things, so I kept them all away.
After the newly bought Maoshan Taoist Technique was sent, I returned it after a few flips. Most of the above records are some fortune charms, fetal charms, husband and wife quarrels and discord charms, etc., which are useless at all. It was written in that broken book that was exactly what I needed.
The things written in that broken book are very mysterious, such as not being able to wear red clothes when traveling at night, because red is an unconventional color for evil spirits, and it is easy to attract attention. You can't wear black clothes either, and the dark color of ghosts and spirits like to attach to it. I suddenly remembered that once my grandmother was unwell, and injections and medicines didn't work. I invited a half-immortal to see, and the half-immortal said that it was related to a relative who had passed away in the family, and he wrote a date on the paper, saying that his father came back late on this day, and this relative came back with his father. In addition, he specially asked his grandmother: "Is the clothes that Ling Lang was wearing black at that time?" It was true that my father had come home late on the day he had spoken, and that the clothes he was wearing were indeed black. The half-immortal asked his father to burn paper and incense for the deceased relative, saying that it was best not to wear black clothes when going out at night in the future. The next day, my grandmother's illness was really cured.
There is also a phenomenon of ghost pressing, and I believe that there are not a few people who have encountered ghost pressing. Ghost press refers to people being pressed by ghosts and spirits when they are sleeping, and the person who is pressed by the ghost will suddenly become conscious, feeling as if there is a thousand pounds of weight pressing down on the body, and it is difficult to breathe and can't shout and can't move. The book says that if you are pressed by a ghost, you can crack it as long as you find a way to wake yourself up.
What surprised me the most was that the record of the cycle of life and death in the book was exactly the same as what Grandma Wang told me back then.
The book also says that cow tears have a psychic effect, of course, ordinary cow tears are not good, only the tears shed by the dying cow can. At that time, the cow had already stepped into the underworld with one foot, and there was still a breath left in the yang world, and the cow would be very desperate at that time, and people were prone to seeing ghosts when they were in extreme despair, let alone the cow? Therefore, cow tears have a psychic effect.
One morning I was woken up by a commotion and woke up to find a few people in the yard discussing something with my father. I also saw Rhubarb lying on the ground dying, tears streaming down one by one. Rhubarb is our domestic cow, and it has been in our house since I was sensible. The rhubarb was dying, and my father decided to sell it.
The information in the book drove me to collect a little rhubarb tears with an eye drop bottle, and I could clearly feel that rhubarb cried with emotions, and its emotions included nostalgia for the yang world and reluctance to our family. But it should be more despair, not because of dying and despairing, but because I have worked hard for this family all my life, and in the end I will be sold to cattle dealers to be slaughtered and sold for meat. I was very sad to see the condition of the rhubarb. Being in a lonely environment for a long time made my feelings very fragile, and I couldn't watch the rhubarb being sold.
I pulled my father aside and said to him, "Can you not sell the rhubarb?" β
Dad said, "This cow is so old and useless, why do you keep it?" β
I said, "Rhubarb has worked hard for the family all his life, and he has no merit and hard work, and he will be sold when he dies." The cattle dealer would slaughter it and make it into beef hot pot, which I think is too cruel. Daddy, don't sell it. I saw that my father was a little touched and a little hesitant, and hurriedly resorted to a trick: "This is my first wish after recovery, and my father won't refuse to agree, right?" β
When the old man heard this, he immediately agreed and sent the cattle dealers away. I walked over and stroked Rhubarb's head, which didn't seem to even have the strength to look up. Rhubarb passed away the next day, and we buried it next to our own field, so that Rhubarb could forever guard the fruits of his life's work.