Chapter II. A Taoist priest

I was also the one at the scene of that shooting seven days ago. But the spy who was killed at that time did not hunch over and shrug his shoulders. So I told my uncle about my doubts, and asked him how he didn't feel like the man who died that day, and how could he be like you said.

My uncle didn't answer me, but went on to tell me that the man was facing the bed, and he was standing near his pillow, and that the man was facing the direction of the bed, but when he turned on the light, he turned his head to look at me, and his face was bloody, his expression was fierce, and his eyes were a little red, and he looked like I had a deep hatred, and that face was the man who died in our teahouse that day.

Since my uncle saw it so definitely, he could be regarded as answering my question. But according to his description, if the ghost was standing near his pillow, then the sound that his uncle had heard very close to him at first in his half-asleep and half-awake was not the man who had bent down to face his sleeping uncle?

No wonder my uncle felt a strange feeling on his face when he got up. But I didn't say it, and if what my uncle said was true, I felt that if I did, he would be even more afraid.

It's hard for me to describe how I feel at the moment, in fact, I was also very scared, but I was inexplicably excited. When I was a child, I heard about the demons and monsters from my parents and elders, but I always thought that my predecessors had nothing to do and made them up, and I never took them seriously. And now my uncle's words seemed to suddenly tell me things I didn't believe in in a categorical tone, and it made my heart beat faster.

Uncle said that the ghost was standing there just glaring at him angrily, and the uncle was so frightened that he leaned his back against the door, his eyes were fixed on the ghost, and he tried to open the door and escape, but when his hand touched the deadbolt, the ghost suddenly began to move.

However, it did not walk in the direction of his uncle, but walked directly towards the bed, and its body seemed to be able to penetrate objects, and it did not step or detour because of the blockage of the bed, but went directly through the bed. Then he came to the wall, and then he disappeared through the wall.

Uncle said that it walked in a strange way, it looked like it was walking, but it was more like it was floating, its steps were empty, and as it walked, its head turned unreasonably, still staring at his uncle.

When I heard this, I tried to turn my neck, because I knew the layout of my uncle's room, a small boxy room, full of all kinds of clutter, and the position of the door and the position of the bed happened to be a diagonal relationship, so if the ghost was standing on the edge of the bed, looking at his uncle, but his body was walking towards the bed, the neck would be too weird.

I twisted my neck, a dull ache.

Uncle said, you will know the next, that ghost does not know why, since he came out to scare me and let me see it, but he didn't do anything to me, but went through the wall and smashed this whole pile of things.

The wall next to my uncle's bed, behind which is a corner staircase, is actually only six steps, and down the stairs is the lobby where we are sitting now. The uncle continued, "I saw it go away, and I was in a state of shock, when the sound of the bowl was dropped, and you soon came out." I knew you would be frightened if you walked by, so I opened the door and grabbed you in.

All of what my uncle said, plus my own experience in the second half of the night, although I did not see the ghost in his mouth, but it matched everywhere. Seeing that my uncle was so helpless and everything was broken, it was also pitiful.

Originally, my uncle was a victim, and that person's death had nothing to do with us, and besides, I was there that day, so why did that thing go to my uncle instead of me? So I asked my uncle, what should I do next? Originally, I wanted to say whether this place was haunted and could still be inhabited, but I couldn't help but say it, and my uncle smiled bitterly and said, what else can I do, find someone to do a ritual, clean it up.

In the political environment at that time, everyone's mind seemed to be filled with red thoughts, even for people like me who had only studied the old school for a few years and had never even come into contact with the new school.

In my impression, since the liberation of Chongqing, I have rarely seen Taoist priests, nuns, and monks wandering around the streets, and even the nuns and priests I often saw earlier. My mother once told me that they didn't come out very much, and they were all in their temples.

And I didn't visit these temples, so during those years, these professions seemed to have nothing to do with my life. Uncle said that after opening the teahouse for so many years, I still heard about some capable people, some people are not out of the event now, and the country is also rectifying the atmosphere, but these people can still be found.

After saying that, my uncle picked up a broken teapot from the ground, looked at it and saw that there was still a little tea in it, he bit the teapot spout and drank a few sips to dry his mouth, and then said to me, this shop is smashed like this, even if it is not haunted, we can't do business, come with me, someone I know can help me find a master who understands this.

So I followed my uncle, and in the afternoon, I found a long-bearded Taoist priest who looked to be in his fifties in a broken earth house far away from his uncle's teahouse.

When I was a child, I also met Taoist priests, who often wore funny clothes, held a small flag in their hands, and wrote "Iron Mouth Straight Break", wandering the streets and alleys, shouting in a strange tone, "Look at the whole picture, criticize the eight characters" and so on.

When I was a child, I thought it was a surprise, but I didn't expect to visit my uncle today. After my uncle told the Taoist priest the ins and outs of the matter, the Taoist priest said, "Your house must be haunted, and it is not an ordinary passer-by, but a ghost with a strong grudge." If you don't get rid of this ghost, your family will inevitably suffer, and your business will definitely not be able to do well.

The reason why this ghost didn't hurt you, but broke all your bowls, is that it just wants to stay here for a long time and slowly torture you.

My uncle frowned, and if he hadn't been convinced of what he had seen the first night, he would never have come to these metaphysical people for help.

The Taoist priest said to his uncle, but don't be afraid, this ghost is just a piece of cake, and it is not for you, in other words, no matter where it dies, it is where it messes around, if I am the boss of your teahouse, the person who pesters me will also be me.

The Taoist priest said that this ghost has no precise purpose, and it came back to mess around because of a sudden violent death, and it was unwilling.

Hearing the Taoist priest say this, my uncle was relieved a lot, so he asked the Taoist priest what to do.

The Taoist priest said, I don't have to go with you at all in this matter, I will give you a charm here, and when you go back, stick it on the inside of the door, and make sure that this charm can be seen from the position of the dead man after the door is closed.

After speaking, the Taoist priest walked to the bookcase, took out a brush and red ink, and drew a long strip of charm on a piece of yellow rune paper. Then he used a concave gossip mirror to shine in all directions of the charm in the light for a while, and then his left hand was on the elbow of his right hand, and a few fingers of his right hand were very strangely twisted, muttering a few words in his mouth, and then pointing at the charm like water in his hand.

Finally, he took out a square seal from his bosom and stamped a seal on the upper, middle and lower parts of the charm, the two of the head and tail were positive, and the middle one was crooked. Then he folded the charm into a small triangle and handed it to his uncle.

The uncle reached out and took it, and then asked, is this okay? It seems that it is really like a mountain across the line, and we are helpless, but it is really easy to solve it with you. The Taoist priest smiled and said, it's not over yet.

With that, he took out a canvas satchel from under the table, as if rummaging for something. After a while, the Taoist priest took out a copper hand-cranked bell from his bag, a square red cloth the size of a washcloth, on which a taiji and gossip were drawn in black ink, and then a small figure carved out of wooden strips, the little man's hands were stretched out and flattened, and his feet were herringbone apart, which looked like a large character. Then the Taoist priest grabbed a handful of rice from the rice jar, and grabbed a little incense ash from his own incense burner, and the rice and incense ash were pounded and mixed with each other in his hand, and soon the rice turned gray-white.

The Taoist priest put the rice dyed with incense ash in a small bag and handed it to his uncle, and told his uncle, in addition to attaching charms, you should take these things home, find a stool, and put the stool in the place where the person was shot, because if it reappears, no matter where it goes in the end, the first appearance must be the place where you died. Then find a rope to tie two of the feet of the stool, and tie the brass bell upside down to the rope, and then don't touch the bell.

The Taoist priest continued, and then put this red cloth with the gossip drawn with the picture side up, and put a bowl in the center of the Tai Chi place, and the bowl was filled with water first, and then the rice dyed with fragrant ash was put in, and the water was about 7 years old. Then put two chopsticks in parallel at night, one end of the chopsticks should be facing the door of the house where you enter and exit, and then stand the little wooden figure on the two chopsticks.

With that, the Taoist priest took out a pencil and drew it on the paper so that his uncle could understand. Finally, the Taoist priest said, you have to remember that when you put on the charm and close the door, the little wooden figure standing on the chopsticks should be as if he was facing the charm.

When the Taoist priest said this, he smiled at me and winked his eyes, and then said, "Young man, if your uncle can't remember, can you help me remember?" I nodded quickly, I didn't think it was unusual for the Taoist priest to take out any of the things in his pocket alone, but the combination of these things could catch ghosts, which surprised me very much and made me very curious.

The Taoist priest went on to say to his uncle, you need to prepare these things before sunset, and then you can only go out after you lock up in your room, and hear the bell ringing very quickly, and then suddenly there is no sound. Today is the first seven, and it will definitely appear again after the child, but you must stay at home, if you are not there, the thing will not appear. Uncle asked, "How do you know this?"

The Taoist priest smiled and did not answer.