Chapter III. Tea

Surprised, I didn't speak for a long time. The eyes of everyone present looked at me in unison, except for Hu Zongren on the bed, of course. Sister Cai's eyes were full of worry, and the eyes of Fu Yunni and the others were not only worried, but also full of expectations. This kind of look of expectation is the hardest thing I've ever tolerate. I understood Fu Yunni's eyes, although she knew that I might have some unpredictable dangers in this way, but this was probably the most effective way we could think of to save Hu Zongren now. On the other hand, Hu Zongren is a good friend of mine, and I am willing to take risks for him, but although I can't say that I am repulsed by such a thing as going to the yin in person, I am still very afraid in my heart.

Sister Cai's eyes were full of worry, I knew that she was unwilling to agree from the bottom of her heart, but she also knew that I still need to make my own decisions in the end, and with her understanding of several of us, she also knows Lu Dao, I will definitely agree. When I think of this, I put my heart sideways, it's a big deal, even if I can't beat it after it really goes down, can't I still run away?

So I said to Fu Yunni, "Okay, I'll go with the old woman."

For the rest of the time, I briefly explained to Sister Cai and repeatedly promised that I would definitely come back. Then Situ taught me a spell to protect myself, which I kept in my mind. Because when I went to the yin, my body was actually almost the same as Hu Zongren's current appearance, I couldn't move, but there was some kind of connection so that I wouldn't get lost. In order to make me feel relieved, Sister Cai told me that you can go with confidence, Hu Zongren and Nini will take care of it. Bring him back to us.

Situ said, I'll go to Granny Huang with you, if you two encounter any situation, I may be able to help. Situ's words reassured me a lot, so I said goodbye to everyone, and I drove Situ's car to Granny Huang's.

Granny Huang knew that I was coming, and during the time I was on the way, she had gathered several of her closest good believers, and when she saw Situ also coming, the two looked at each other and smiled. There is very little intersection between Granny Huang and Situ, and the most recent one is the one when Fu Qiang explained the aftermath. Situ bowed to Granny Huang, although Granny Huang was a little older than Situ, but due to the different learnings, there was no difference in generations, and the two cherished each other, which can be regarded as too late to see each other. Granny Huang took us into the house and let her good believers wait outside, and the place outside was the place where I waited every time I asked Granny Huang to go to the shade. Granny Huang closed the door and said to Situ and me, the matter of going to Yin is very difficult for inexperienced people, so you must think about it before doing it, although the possibility is very small, but I must tell you that we may not be able to come back.

I said I knew it, and I was scared, but it seemed like it was the only way to do it at the moment. Granny Huang said that when she first learned to walk in the yin decades ago, she was lost in a trance for a long time before she found her way back, and she couldn't remember what happened below after waking up. Granny Huang said to me, if we can come back smoothly, you may not remember anything, maybe only some fragments, the reason why I want you to follow me is mainly to let you protect me, so that I can bring you back. I nodded and said to Granny Huang I understand, my main task is to protect you. Granny Huang sighed and said, I have walked countless times in the past few decades, and it is a blessing to be able to live peacefully and calmly to this day, but you two children have caused some big troubles every time, which is somewhat beyond the scope of my old woman's ability.

I asked Granny Huang, what are you doing with those good letters outside the door? Granny Huang said that this time is more dangerous, which is to be expected, if it is an ordinary yin, it is fine, and it is no problem for me to go alone, but because of the special situation this time, I am afraid of any chaos, so I specially asked them to help hang red. I nodded, I have seen these people hanging red, the so-called hanging red is to put those red silk cloths, in a certain direction order, on the ritual vessels at home in turn, in order to remind Huang Granny that after the yin goes down, she can feel these red lights with Buddha nature through her own body, so as not to get lost. I asked Granny Huang again, what about me, is there anything I need to pay special attention to? Granny Huang said, you follow me, but if we are unfortunately separated, you should remember to go in the direction of the uphill slope, and climb wherever there is a slope.

It's so ethereal, it makes me feel so uneasy. So I rubbed my hands together and said to Granny Huang, "Okay, when are we going to start?" Granny Huang stood up and said a little nervously, let's ask the Bodhisattva for a hexagram first. After saying that, she took me to her Buddha platform, handed me a futon on the ground, and asked me to kneel down in front of the Bodhisattva and kowtow to the incense. I told Granny Huang that I am not a believer in Buddhism, and Granny Huang said that I know the Tao, but you need the Buddha to bless you this time with me. Granny Huang's tone was sincere, so I knelt down and kowtowed. After inserting the incense, Granny Huang asked me to stand aside, and she took out the pile of horn hexagrams on the incense case. Let me hold it in my hand first, close the two halves of the horns, and then bow to her a few times, and then hand it to her. Then she repeated this position again, bowed three times, and then let go of the horn hexagram and let it fall to the ground.

Even ask the three trigrams, if there is no auspicious hexagram in the three trigrams, it means that you can't go down to yin today. The first hexagram, with the two horns facing upwards, are two yang hexagrams. Granny Huang frowned, then picked it up, and then began to ask the second hexagram in the same way, but this time it was very unfortunate, both of them were cut face up, and it was a pair of yin hexagrams. Granny Huang picked it up again, took a deep breath, and then looked at the Bodhisattva for a long time, closed her eyes again and threw away her hand, this time, it is a yin and a yang, this is the so-called auspicious hexagram, Granny Huang saw the hexagram and breathed a sigh of relief, and then bowed to the Bodhisattva three times, chanting words in her mouth, and then put the horn hexagram back on the incense case, and led me back to the room where she did her daily errands.

Although I can't decipher her hexagrams, I know that I need a combination of yin and yang to be able to get the protection of the so-called bodhisattva. Granny Huang told me that this time I asked the three trigrams, two evils and one auspicious, and the danger would be greater, but fortunately, the Bodhisattva blessed us and let us go and return. I muttered to myself that the more I thought about it, the more likely I felt that I wouldn't be able to come back. It's just that at the point where I have reached the point, I have no way back, no matter how difficult and dangerous it is, I can only bite the bullet.

Granny Huang said to me, let's get ready and start, it's not early, it's almost noon, and after the yin qi is heavy, we will be more constrained. I said, okay, what do you want me to do? Granny Huang pointed in the direction of the toilet and said, you have and urine now, so let's go and solve it first. Our trip is two hours fast, and we don't know how to do it slowly. I said I don't have a need to urinate. Granny Huang said, listen to your mother-in-law, go quickly. You saw the things below, and you were scared to pee.

To be honest, I've seen a lot of strange ghosts, some of them are really scary, and I am so scared that I even feel creepy when I recall them years later, but the level of scare is never there. After all, I have an excellent pair of prostate. But since Granny Huang said so, I silently ran to the toilet, then held some urine hard, and then went back to her and sat down.

Granny Huang said to Master Situ, Master Situ, we are not the same family, it stands to reason that you are not allowed to watch everything that happens later. But it happened suddenly, and the future is uncertain, and I have to make an exception for you. Situ stood up and said, Mother-in-law, if you have any orders, just say it, if you need me to avoid it, I just stay in the room outside. Granny Huang said, I don't know much about your Taoist methods, but if we encounter any danger on this trip, I hope you will think of a rescue. I will tie a bell to my hand, and if the bell rings urgently, you can come in and help us.

Situ nodded, giving the greatest understanding of the rules of other sects. Then he walked up to me, patted me on the shoulder and said, come back alive, or I'll come down and get you personally! Although I know that the Tao is a joke, it is full of concern for me. In order not to make the atmosphere very tragic, I quipped, don't worry, I will definitely come back, I love humanity so much. Maybe I'll write novels and become an imposter intellectual in the future.

Situ turned and walked out of the house. It is said that the house actually does not even have a door, and what blocks the two spaces is just a cloth curtain. Granny Huang shouted outside the house and began to hang red! I couldn't see anything outside the house, but through the curtains, I could see the shadows of some people walking back and forth outside. Granny Huang turned to me and asked, are you ready? I nodded, trying to answer, but found I couldn't speak.

Granny Huang lit a plate of incense, which was sandalwood, after all, it was a Buddhist family. Then she poured out two cups of tea from the glass jar that she had originally used to make wine. The urine is yellow, and there are some powdered stars on it, which smells a faint fragrance, but it is different from ordinary tea. After Granny Huang put the tea on the table, she said to me, "You bring the chaise longue to me, and we will sit together." So I did so, and then Granny Huang tied her left hand with a rope with my right hand, and then handed me a cup of tea from the shore.

She told me that when she had drunk it, she would lay down on the chaise longue and not move, and try not to think of anything or listen to anything. If you can see something with your eyes closed, don't panic until you see me, and then you move.

I shivered and drank my tea, then relaxed, and collapsed on the chaise longue.