I never imagined that I would become a Taoist priest when I was twenty-three years old.

In 2010, I had just graduated from university, and I was immersed in the talent market in Modu every week, watching one resume after another sink into the sea.

That day, I was about to go out when I suddenly received a call from my mother. She said that the second uncle was probably dying, and I would rush back now to see him for the last time.

I was so frightened that I didn't have time to think about anything at the moment, so I went straight to the station and bought a ticket home.

I only found out about my second uncle's cancer half a year ago. On the last day of February, that is, during the Lantern Festival, my second uncle suddenly appeared at my doorstep.

Sixteen years ago, after my father passed away in a car accident, my mother took me back to her hometown of Beishi to live. Since then, she has refused to allow anyone who has anything to do with her father into our lives. Of course, the second uncle is no exception. I thought that the reason why she didn't want to meet people related to her father was because they were afraid that they would remind her of his father. It was later learned that this was not the case at all.

Because of these reasons, my memory of my second uncle has always stayed when I was seven years old. In my memory, the second uncle was burly and strong, but the second uncle who appeared in front of our door that day was like a dead wood in late autumn. Shriveled and lifeless.

As soon as I got out of the car, I took a taxi straight to the hospital. When I arrived at the hospital, I learned that my second uncle had been discharged.

I rushed home right away. It turned out that the second uncle knew that he could leave at any time, and he didn't want to die in the cold hospital, so he asked my mother to take him home.

The second uncle was very happy to see me, and he was also in a lot of spirits. Seeing the second uncle suddenly get better, my mother and I couldn't be happy. We all know it's a flashback.

The second uncle said that he wanted to talk to me and let my mother go out first. Mom looked at me, sighed, and left.

The second uncle struggled to sit up from the bed and asked me to open the top compartment of the bookcase. On the top of the grid is a clumsy brass box. I handed the box to the second uncle, and he suddenly looked at me seriously and said, "Zhong Ming, you kneel!" ”

On your knees? I was stunned for a moment, and then I thought about it, I haven't been around to take care of my second uncle for so long, and I should really kneel down and apologize. Unexpectedly, as soon as my knees hit the ground, the second uncle said: "I, Zhong Youdao, officially accept you as an apprentice as the fifth-generation head of the Heavenly Dao Sect of the Maoshan Sect!" ”

"Take me as an apprentice?" I was so frightened that I crawled to the side, I knew that my second uncle was a Taoist priest when I was a child, and because I was young at the time, I didn't know what sect he was, let alone that he was still a leader. But at the moment, my focus is not on these at all, I said, "Second uncle, don't make trouble. There's a lot of beautiful women waiting for me outside! If I become a monk and become a Taoist priest, how miserable they will be! You have pity on them! ”

The second uncle smiled and said that you don't have to worry about this. Taoism is mainly divided into two major systems: Quanzhen Dao and Zhengyi. The Taoist priests of the Quanzhen School are monks, live a jungle life in the palace, do not eat meat, emphasize the cultivation of the inner Dan, do not still have the Fu Gong, advocate the double cultivation of life, and take the cultivation of truth and nature as the right way; The Taoist priests of the Zhengyi faction generally have a family, do not taboo meat, and take the practice of talismans as the main characteristics, such as drawing talismans and chanting spells, exorcising ghosts and subduing demons, praying for blessings and disasters, and so on.

Maoshan Taoism is the Zhengyi Fu Zheng School, and Maoshan is the main dojo of the Zhengyi School of Taoism. Therefore, the Taoist priest of Maoshan is very special, we can marry a wife and have children.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and that was a different story. But as a college student in the 21st century, it doesn't seem like me suddenly becoming a Taoist priest. I struggled desperately. The second uncle immediately put on a weak appearance and said that you can't bear to let your uncle die without turning a blind eye?

My back was cold, and I kowtowed without saying a word, "dong dong".

The second uncle smiled comfortably and asked me to sit down next to him, saying that since I became a disciple of the Heavenly Dao Sect, I should know a little about the history of this sect.

The second uncle told me that although the Maoshan Sect was regarded as the ancestor of Sanmao Zhenjun, it was actually founded by Tao Hongjing in the tenth year of Yongming in the Southern Qi Dynasty, that is, in 492 AD. Tao Hongjing is a famous pharmacist, alchemist, and writer, known as the "Prime Minister of the Mountains". The famous "Commentary on the Materia Medica" is his work.

Our Heavenly Dao Sect is a very young branch of the Maoshan Sect. Founded in 1905. Founded by a Taoist priest named Zhang Tiandao. Later, in order to avoid the scourge of war, the Heavenly Dao Sect once traveled through several countries in Southeast Asia for a period of time. The second uncle said: "Later, after liberation, the third-generation successor Gao Tianfang wanted to return to China, but he didn't know that there was another ten-year catastrophe in China. After several twists and turns, it was not until the end of the Cultural Revolution that Gao Tianfang returned to China and opened a Taoist hall in Zhanjiang, Guangdong. ”

I said, "Zhanjiang? Isn't that your and my dad's hometown? ”

The second uncle nodded, saying that it was because of this that the two brothers had the opportunity to worship under the High Heaven Gate. My dad and second uncle are called Zhong Youtian and Zhong Youdao, which together are the word Tiandao. Gao Tianfang thought that the two of them had a relationship with the Heavenly Dao Sect, so he accepted them as disciples and passed on all his skills to them.

I was stupid and said, "My dad is also a Taoist priest? ”

The second uncle said Of course, not only that, but the fourth generation head of the Heavenly Dao Sect is your father. I thought about it for a while, and said extremely seriously: "Second Uncle Master, shouldn't every disciple of our Heavenly Dao Sect be the head of the sect?" The second uncle's face was red and white, and he said, "This...... This ......" I added: "Our sect is too unserious, right?" ”

The second uncle said angrily: "What! Let's call this small but fine! Every disciple of our Heavenly Dao Sect has been strictly selected. Every disciple has been practicing Taoism with the master for many years, and everyone has the ability to inherit the position of the head of the family! Do you think we're going to find a random person to be a disciple and then make him the head of the sect? ”

I said uninterestingly, "So I was carefully selected, huh?" Who are the other candidates? ”

The second uncle coughed a few times and said, "Don't talk about this, you can kneel." Since you are already a disciple of my Heavenly Dao Sect, I will pass on the position of head to you! ”

Me: "......"

The second uncle said: "One worships the ancestor of Maoshan and the third Mao Zhenjun." "I respectfully kowtow.

"Second worship Heavenly Dao Patriarch Zhang Tiandao Dao Chief." I kowtow again.

The second uncle said, "Okay, get up." From today onwards, you are the sixth generation head of the Heavenly Dao Sect, and in the future, you will take it as your responsibility to carry forward the Heavenly Dao Sect, you know? "I said, Second Uncle, Master, don't worry.

The second uncle opened the brass square box and took out a yellowed ancient book and a black iron lump from the box.

The book is thick, and the book cover should be in sheepskin. The book "Heavenly Dao Atlas" is four big characters. The second uncle said, "Master's time is short, and I can't pass on your skills in person." This "Heavenly Dao Atlas" has been passed down from generation to generation by the head of the Heavenly Dao Sect. The book records the experience and methods summed up by the disciples of the Heavenly Dao in the past hundred years of catching ghosts and monsters. Learn more on your own. ”

I took the book, flipped through it cursoryly, and found that it was full of pictures and texts of hundreds of demons and monsters that I had never heard of.

At the same time, I also found that the understanding of these ghosts was uneven. Some descriptions contain detailed descriptions of the reasons for the formation of this type of ghosts, their evil practices, habitual habitats, and methods of killing. Some only record the name and nothing else.

The second uncle handed me the black iron lump again, saying that this is called the Heavenly Dao Seal. It is a token of the head of the Heavenly Dao Sect, which can force ghosts and undead to appear and deter ghosts.

I put away the book and the seal, and looked at the second uncle who wanted to speak and stopped. The second uncle said, "If you have anything to say, just say it." We are both uncles and nephews, as well as masters and apprentices, what scruples do we have? ”

Then I said, "My mom never told me about my dad, I wanted to know what kind of person my dad was." ”

The second uncle sighed and said, "Of course your father is a good person. Although he later killed someone by mistake, in fact, he is not to blame. ”

If I get an electric shock, my dad kills someone?

The second uncle said: "Your father regrets it very much, although there were no witnesses when he accidentally killed someone, and no one knew that he did it, but he still decided to go to the public security bureau to turn himself in." Alas, I just couldn't imagine that he would have such a serious car accident on the way to the Public Security Bureau by car. The whole car was on fire, and by the time the fire came and extinguished the fire, he had been burned to the ground as a charred corpse beyond recognition. ”

"Your mother didn't want you to be pointed at by the neighbors, so she brought you to live in North City. The reason why she doesn't want to contact people related to your dad is probably because she doesn't want you to know that he is the son of a murderer. Pity the hearts of parents all over the world, and it's no wonder that she. But Uncle thinks, you are already so old, it's time to know the truth. Besides, your dad didn't deliberately kill someone, he just missed. The most important thing is that he did not evade responsibility afterwards, he was going to turn himself in, who knew that God was so ruthless, he did not give him a chance to be tried and sentenced, but took him away directly. ”

The second uncle was infinitely sad when he thought of his deceased brother.

My mind was in a state of chaos, and three words kept flashing in my head, murderer, murderer, murderer......

That night, the second uncle's condition deteriorated sharply, and he passed away in the early morning of the next day. Mom said that in fact, the second uncle is just holding on and waiting for you to come back.

The second uncle's funeral was very deserted, and there was no one who came to mourn. I thought it was because the funeral was in a hurry and I didn't have time to inform my second uncle's relatives and friends.

But my mother didn't think so. She said: "The second uncle spent all his energy in his life on exorcism and ghost hunting, and he didn't spend time managing interpersonal relationships at all, or even taking time to care for his family. If it weren't for that, how could his wife leave him? ”

I said, "I still have a second aunt?" How did I not know? ”

My mother said, "Of course you don't know, you were only two or three years old when she divorced your second uncle. ”

Mom also said that many vulnerable ghosts had been helped by the second uncle. Although the funeral of the second uncle in the Yang world is deserted, he will definitely be warmly welcomed in the underworld.

I was silent. Because I don't know if it's a blessing or a misfortune. Am I destined to have this kind of lonely end in the future?

A piece of paper money twisted into a pitch-black ruin in the fire, carried up by the cool autumn wind, fell on a withered daisy, and shattered into a lonely place.