When Leader Liu asked me what was wrong, I told him that I had been arrested as a feudal and then hid in a mountain village. If I return to the city in the future, this is also my only means of livelihood, and I hope that Leader Liu will save me today, and he will explain it in the future, so that it will be convenient.

China has been like this since ancient times, no matter which dynasty, no matter who is in charge of the country. After listening to me, Leader Liu laughed and said, this is no problem, if you encounter any trouble in the future, you can just report my name, as long as I am still in the local area, I will definitely help you. However, the people who arrest people outside are not soldiers, but some members of society, so you still have to keep a low profile in everything.

After thanking Leader Liu, I went out with Da Mao. Escorted by the guards, the two of us walked out of the military compound. In the past, Da Mao and I were afraid of such a place, but now it is quite strange that two magic sticks can swagger out of it.

I sent Da Mao back to his master, and we talked a lot on the way, and although the master still lived in the city for a while after I left, he didn't go back to live much since almost a year ago. Several times Da Mao went to Master's house to look for Master, but he saw that the door was locked, and the top was about to rust. So Da Mao also asked me about the situation in the past two years, and I told him that everything was fine with me, and after leaving the city, life was not so restrained.

Da Mao listened to what I said about what happened in the countryside and slowly walked with me. I've only been back once in this city since I left, and I came back at night, and now when I look at the familiar streets during the day, I don't feel so familiar. Almost every household along the street blocked their doors and windows with thick quilts, and Da Mao said that since the city began to shoot and fire, many people were accidentally injured by stray bullets, so in areas where the conflict was more serious, everyone did this, so that stray bullets could not hit. I asked him if he was still fighting fiercely. Da Mao told me that it is still very fierce, and sometimes those who are divided into factions will go to the neighborhood to do mobilization, and this group will come in the morning, and another group will come in the afternoon, and everyone will be loyal to the leader, and I don't know why they have to fight.

I don't know, I don't even want to know. I only feel that for a child like me, who was born during the Anti-Japanese War and grew up during the Civil War, this period has become the darkest years of my life.

I arrived at Da Mao's house while talking, and since I'm back, I still have to visit the old-timers back then. Mr. Wang Chengqian's health is not bad, but he seems to be thinner than the previous two years, and his spirit does not look as good as it was back then. He was very happy to see me come back with Da Mao, sat down and chatted for a while, talking about the situation in the city in the last two years, as well as the situation of other old-timers, when I learned that several old-timers had taken their apprentices to hide in the countryside, I thought that they were probably living a similar life there as me.

We talked until the afternoon and evening, when I got up to take my leave. Then I asked them to come to me to play when they were free, Da Mao knew my address, and by the way, I also asked Mr. Wang Chengqian, if my master came back, remember to remind him to come and see me more. Then I returned to the compound of the military region, and Leader Liu sent a car to take me back to the village as promised.

It was already dark at the entrance of the village, and on the night of the first day of the Lunar New Year, the village was quiet. So I went back to Aunt Xu's house in the dark, it was not too late, everyone was still awake. Aunt Xu pulled me to ask long and short questions, and Meng Dongxue also said again and again that it was good to be back, so I simply told everyone what happened in this day, knowing that I didn't sleep the first night, so Aunt Xu quickly made me something to eat and let me go to bed early.

They all say that the new year is new, but I prefer the quiet of the village. The days went on as usual, and at the beginning of March, Master returned. Master and I haven't seen each other for almost half a year, so naturally we are very happy. He happily told me about what he had seen and heard these days, all kinds of wonderful scenery and people, and those who were far away from the hustle and bustle and untouched in the depths of the mountains, and those who hid in the countryside. I was fascinated by all of this.

After eating, Meng Dongxue came back. When I saw that Master was at home, I thought it was a guest who came to visit, so I greeted him warmly. I introduced to Meng Dongxue that this is Lin Qishan, my mentor. Then I told the master that her name was Meng Dongxue, a female intellectual, who only came to the village last year, and now she is in line and lives in Aunt Xu's house.

Master had a weird smile on his face, and then looked back and forth between the faces of Meng Dongxue and me. Of course, I knew what Master was thinking, but Meng Dongxue smiled embarrassedly, and then lowered her head, like a child who had done something wrong. As if interrogating the family, the master began to inquire about Meng Dongxue's situation, and during this time, he even thought that I was an eyesore and kicked me out.

When he went to bed at night, the master seemed to be very happy, and he seemed to be very satisfied with Meng Dongxue. He said to me, Shan'er, I think this girl is very good, if you are both willing, and the other family's family is willing to accept you, Master will be the father and make the decision for you. Although I was very happy in my heart, but when the master said this, I still had to pretend to be euphemistic, I said that it was still early, although she and I knew each other in our hearts, but no one broke the relationship, it was a tacit acquiescence. Then I started to divert the topic and asked Master how long he planned to stay this time, and he said that he would not stay for a few days, and he would have to go back to the city, and there were still some things to be done.

I asked him what was the matter, and he told me that a doctor friend of mine in the city hospital had asked him that the hospital was not clean and that he would have to deal with it in a few days. I sat up at once and said to Master, "Then take me with you, I have nowhere else to go in this village except to do farm work." However, the master said that the hospital had explained that it must be handled in a low-key manner, because it had not been peaceful recently, and the hospital often accepted those faction members, so it could only be done secretly. I said I'd just be careful, I'm not a newbie anymore, and I'm sure I won't make a mess. Master hesitated for a while and said, let's talk about it then, and go to bed now.

For the next few days, I basically didn't read, so I walked around with Master. Master asked me, do you remember when I first sent you to the village, I said that our sect has a craft, and I will have the opportunity to teach you later? I said I remember, when I asked you, you didn't tell me very carefully, just said that you would know when the time came. How do you think now is the time? Master said, "Originally, I thought it was time, but now I am a little uncertain. Because you and Meng Dongxue are in love, if you really get married and have children in the future, then this craft is not suitable for you to learn.

Hearing this, I became more and more curious, so I asked Master what kind of craft it was. Master said that this set of crafts has also been passed down from generation to generation, but if you want to learn it, you must lack one of them. Because this set of techniques is passed down from the Luban book, which is a strange book, the person who learns it is either a monk like the master and cuts off the red dust, or he will be the father and the son, and he will be extinct. I was taken aback and asked, why is it so vicious? Is that what you call the art of "playing talismans"?

Master nodded, and then said to me, Lu Ban, you know, right? I said yes, the originator of the craftsman. The master said that the Luban book is divided into two volumes, the first volume is about the craftsman's skills, and the second volume is about the secret art of metaphysics. However, the true chapter has become extinct, and most of the folk circulars are just fragments, and the same is true of the section left by our master. I asked Master, could it be that part of the content of Lu Ban's book is a set of secret techniques of our master? Master said yes, as early as a hundred years ago, there was a master, by chance to get a part of the fragment, he was surprised that if this part of the fragment is studied, it will greatly damage himself, so he selected some of the less harmful parts, plus the integration of the Dao of this sect, into a Luban method as the root, the Dao art to improve the craft. After that, he destroyed the fragment of the Luban book, and only passed on the improved part of the craft in this sect.

Master said that for hundreds of years, there have been very few people who have been able to learn it, and usually they start with the most harmless talismans. However, this set of secret techniques actually contains a lot of content, most of them are based on the tools invented by Lu Ban as spell casting tools, so many years, I have only learned to play this set, even if I want to pass on to you, I can only teach you this, and the rest of the content, if you have the fate and understanding, learn it yourself.

I hesitated, not because I wasn't interested in this set of spells, but because I thought that the consequences were too serious, and if I started a family in the future, I would naturally put my family first, and learning this set of spells would hurt my family, so why should I learn from him. The master saw that I didn't speak anymore, so he tried to ease the atmosphere, he smiled and said, "There is no hurry to do this, and the future will be long." After speaking, he handed me a booklet folded in half, which was a handmade thread-bound book. He told me that there are sixty-nine pages of this skill, and the content of the first ten pages is the content of the introductory character. The tool needed to play the talisman is the "ruler".

I asked, is it the kind that is usually used to measure length? The master said no, but Lu Banqi. In addition to the normal measurement length, it can also measure good fortune and bad luck. However, this door is used to play the Fu Luban ruler, in fact, it is only the ruler head part, the front is dry, the reverse side is Kun, the dry is yang, Kun is yin, the dry refers to the male, and the kun refers to the female.

Seeing that I was blindfolded, Master took out a brown piece of wood about the size and thickness of my token from his bosom and handed it to me. I looked at it, and it did make the shape of a ruler, but there were scales, and there were also some hexagrams of the heavenly and earthly branches, but the two sides of this ruler were engraved with the cathode and anode of Tai Chi respectively.

The master took out a blank rune paper from his bosom, folded it in half several times and put it in the palm of his hand, and then said to me, hit the charm with a Luban ruler, according to the content of the charm, the life and death of the male and female of the object, choose a certain side of the ruler, even if you are elsewhere, as long as you have the relevant information of the other party, a charm, you can determine the life and death of a person.