NOVEL FULL

Strange Stories

Chapter 51: The Talisman School and the Spiritual School

Chapter 51: The Talisman School and the Spiritual School Lin Jue lowered his head and looked at the fox beside him. He saw that it also looked up and looked at him. Its newborn eyes were clear and bright, as if it understood nothing. As a result, there were fewer distracting thoughts in his mind. "Don't become a demon and harm others in the future..." He said this with emotion, and seeing that its eyes were still confused and clear, as if it didn't understand, Lin Jue smiled but didn't stop. Soon we arrived at the woods at the entrance of the village. "This is it." Lin Jue pointed to the pit in front with traces of fire. It must be Zhang Da who set the fire here, which somehow caused the ground to collapse, and the curses and insults finally angered the evil creature, prompting it to be born early and making it resent Zhang Da. I don’t know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. It depends on whether the Taoist priests of Fuqiu Peak and the divine power invited from Qiyun Mountain can discover it if it does not come out in advance. At this time, a villager carried a table over.

The two Taoists from Mount Qiyun unpacked the bags beside them. One was responsible for taking out the items, while the other was responsible for arranging them. Soon, they had set up an incense table and an altar in the forest. The still young little fox was a little tired from walking, so he looked at Lin Jue and sat down on the spot. Lin Jue looked forward with solemn curiosity. One person lit incense and candles, and another person wrote a green seal and stamped it solemnly. Then he stepped on the Yu step, chanted something, called the name of the gods, and burned the petition. “I am a disciple of Qingxuan from Xuantian Temple in Qiyun Mountain. I am a disciple of Taoist Xujing. I would like to ask for your advice. "last night…… "This place is evil... deadly... “I specially ask Lord Yili to assign additional thunder generals to send down divine thunder to cleanse the evil spirits and death energy here! "Please leave the Divine Lord..." Taoist Qingxuan first introduced his name and master, then explained the whole situation and asked the God to assign some extra thunder generals. Then he kept shouting out requests, which was somewhat similar to an official in the mortal world requesting troops. And this is obviously not an easy task. There is nothing magical or magical about this process. According to Lin Jue’s understanding, this is indeed the case— This is a ritual and does not require any magic power. Whether it was a Taoist who had been granted a talisman and had a name in heaven, or a believer who had sincerely worshipped the gods for many years and had a particularly strong spiritual character, as long as they performed these rituals, burned incense and prayed, the gods would be able to hear their voices. Even some people with high moral cultivation or who were particularly favored by the gods, in times of emergency, even if some procedures in the ritual were omitted, the gods would still be able to hear them. This is how many temple priests communicate with the gods, but they may not have any magical powers and know nothing about spiritual practice. As for whether ordinary people can perform these rituals... The master did warn Lin Jue— The ritual of summoning gods should not be attempted lightly, especially by those who are practicing Buddhism and have acquired magical powers! Lin Jue now has a better understanding of the Talisman School.

Compared with the Lingfa School, the Fulu School has some differences similar to those between court officials and Jianghu warriors. Jianghu warriors practice martial arts hard, and they have the power to intimidate others. Officials take a different path. When they encounter things that need to be dealt with, they also draw forces from the court. Therefore, officials do not need to be strong, do not need to have martial arts talent, and do not need to study hard for half a lifetime. They just need to have the talent to be an official and follow the officialdom. If necessary, they can naturally call in warriors from the court. It is just like the officials and warriors of the time: the court rules the world, and as long as the court does not collapse, officials will always outnumber warriors, and being an official is always easier than practicing martial arts, and their status is more honorable. The official path is a widely recognized avenue, while warriors, although free, also have to work hard, and gradually become a narrow path, and can only get ahead in troubled times. There are also disadvantages of official roads: Even if you are a high-ranking official in the imperial court, you can mobilize a large number of troops with a transfer order. When you walk on the road, ordinary bandits will naturally avoid you. But if you happen to meet a stubborn person, when you are suddenly in danger, or something beyond your preparation happens, you will not have time to mobilize a large number of troops in a hurry. On the contrary, all the power of a warrior is in his own body and can be exerted at any time. Therefore, many Taoists of the talisman sect, in addition to offering sacrifices to gods, studying Taoist scriptures, and cultivating moral character, also practice martial arts and swordsmanship in order to protect themselves. In fact, there is not much difference in meaning between the talismans used by the talisman school and the talismans used for military purposes. Of course, this is just a metaphor. The talisman school and the spiritual school are not exactly like officials and warriors. Although one of them is powerful and the other is weak, they are not so unbalanced. The Xuantian Temple on Qiyun Mountain is naturally larger, more famous, and has a higher status than the Fuqiu Temple on Fuqiu Peak. However, for Lin Jue, Fuqiu Temple is more suitable for him. Taoist Qingxuan is now "mobilizing troops". Before going down the mountain, Taoist Qingxuan brought talisman paper and asked for permission from the gods. However, things here were beyond expectations and not as originally reported. The divine power originally requested was not enough to deal with the death energy here. However, the talisman sect has its own rules, the Nine Heavens has its own rules, and summoning gods has its own procedures and rituals. The gods will not allow you to borrow their divine power at will, so you need to report to the gods again and ask for divine power again. This deity seems to be called Lord Yili. "Please, Lord God..." Taoist Qingxuan is still calling. At this time, the sun gradually came out, and Lin Jue could even hear a few roosters crowing from Xiaochuan Village behind him. Maybe Lord Yili didn't hear it, or there were too many voices calling him everywhere and he was too busy to respond, or maybe he heard it but was checking Taoist Qingxuan's words, or maybe it took him several steps to release his divine power. In short, Taoist Qingxuan didn't get any response. Taoist Qingxuan remained patient. The little fox was already yawning. Lin Jue was thinking silently. Suddenly, Taoist Qingxuan's eyes fixed, and he pointed the wooden sword in his hand towards a deep pit in the distant woods. It seems like the gods have come? As Lin Jue was thinking, he felt a vast and pure energy appear above his head, which made him look up subconsciously, but he only saw a layer of clouds and nothing else. "Snapped!" A muffled sound startled him. Looking down, I saw thick white smoke rising from the deep pit in the woods as if it had been struck by lightning. A foul smell spread out and was blown away by the breeze. "Snapped!" This time I could see it clearly, it was a sudden thunderbolt. "Snapped!"

Another one. Three in a row. The aura of extreme masculinity and strength in the thunderbolt can be clearly felt, although it is not particularly strong, at least not as unimaginable and irresistible as the mighty power of the gods that Lin Jue imagined, but it is far from being comparable to the Taoism of several brothers in the Taoist temple. The dead air in the pit was instantly cleared away, and the next two thunderbolts seemed to be acting as insurance. "call……" Taoist Qingxuan then retracted the wooden sword, breathed a sigh of relief, and then spoke respectfully to the altar and incense table, telling General Lei that there was another place. So they moved to another place and did the same thing. "Snapped!" "Snapped!" "Snapped!" The same three thunderbolts, all at the same intervals, as if they were strictly executed according to the document. Lin Jue lowered his head and looked at his feet, wanting to see if the fox, which was always suspected by his fellow brothers to be the descendant of a fox demon, was frightened. However, he saw it shrinking to his feet, shrinking its ears and shaking its neck with every thunder. However, it just trembled and did not run away in fear. When it noticed his gaze, it raised its head and looked at him. It seemed that there was only shock but no fear. That is true—— This little thing is at most two months old. How could it know anything about gods? It has never done anything wrong, so how could it be afraid of gods? When he looked away again, Taoist Qingxuan was already seeing off Lord Yili and General Lei. "call……" Also breathed a sigh of relief. "Closing the altar!" Taoist Qingxuan said to another young Taoist priest, then let him do his work while he turned around and faced Lin Jue and the other two, bowing deeply. The three of them were slightly startled, and quickly returned the greeting. Looking at Taoist Qingxuan's eyes, for no reason, Lin Jue suddenly felt a sense of "Who cares whether it's the talisman sect or the spiritual sect, as long as it can eliminate harm for the people, it's a good sect." Perhaps the reason why the talisman sect is flourishing all over the world and is respected today is because of these Taoists who can exorcise demons and monsters without having to possess spiritual talent or practice magic spells diligently. Over the years, the people of the world have received countless favors from them. When I stood up, I heard footsteps behind me again. When I looked back, people from Ogawa Village were already approaching. The leader was Muramasa, Zhang Da's father, followed by many people from Xiaochuan Village, most of whom were ragged and skinny. After a conversation, they learned that the evil spirit had been removed and the deathly aura had gone, and they were all very excited. But the excitement did not last long, and was replaced by embarrassment.

"How should I reward a wizard for exorcising a demon?" The village chief first looked at Lin Jue and the other two, because he heard that his son was rescued by Lin Jue. He was closest to the villagers and saw it most clearly, and it was Lin Jue and the other two who made efforts. "I... fill my wine pot with the wine from the village, and that will be my personal reward!" The third brother laughed and shook the empty wine pot. "As for the reward from the temple, my master always looked down on me. When we went down the mountain, he handed this matter over to my junior brother." So Muramasa looked at Lin Jue again. Many villagers also looked over. Various expressions and complex eyes met Lin Jue's gazes. …… Two days later. Fuqiu Temple, inner courtyard. The eldest brother was sitting on the steps in a very unrefined manner, weaving a bamboo lady, with bamboo strips all over the ground. The old Taoist was also sitting on the steps, fanning himself with a cattail leaf fan. "Master, I'm back." Lin Jue stood in the yard and saluted to the old Taoist. "What about the remaining soul?" "Apart from." "The Yin Qi is burning?" "It's burned." "How much reward did you receive?" "..." Lin Jue presented five taels of silver: "This is a special reward from Muramasa for saving the life of Muramasa's son from the evil spirit." "What evil?" "It's an evil creature born from the dead air." "Eh? I was wondering why the spirit medium wrote a poem like 'The world is like a chess game, each game is new, who could have predicted this flower?' It seems that something is beyond my expectations. But judging from this poem, although it is unexpected, I don't see any danger or mistakes." The old Taoist was dressed in thin and casual clothes. He stopped fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan and looked up at him. "What about other rewards?" Lin Jue took out a bag of wheat from behind him. Make a bag out of your clothes and take out a pocket. "Except for Muramasa's family, everyone else in the village is very poor. Because of natural disasters and the chaos, they really can't afford to pay the reward. But they just harvested wheat, and the harvest was not much, so each family gave a handful to the disciple." Lin Jue lowered his eyes and chose to tell the truth. "Ah……" The old Taoist took the wheat and weighed it in his hand, but just smiled and did not take the money. He said to him, "Tell me about your experience of going down the mountain to eliminate demons. Where did the evil come from?" "Yes."

Lin Jue told him the truth. (End of this chapter)