Chapter 5: Zhongli Ba Duan Jin In the small courtyard on a moonlit night, cicadas chirp incessantly. After the female ghost left, the cicadas began to chirp again and the occasional barking of farm dogs could be heard, making the place seem quiet and deep. After vomiting out the filth, the man finally regained consciousness. Under Zhang Jiuyang's questioning, he slowly told his experience. After delivering pork to a restaurant in the county today, he met a woman in red and white clothes on his way home. She looked vaguely familiar, so he went up to her and asked. Unexpectedly, the other party grabbed him and kept asking where Lu Yaoxing was. He said he didn't know and then lost consciousness. Talking about this, the man was still frightened and his face turned pale. "Where did you meet that woman?" Zhang Jiuyang asked. "White Stone Bridge over Xiaoyun River."

"You said that woman looked familiar. Do you know her?" Hearing this question, a hint of hesitation flashed in the man's eyes, and he seemed to be hesitant to speak, as if he didn't want to mention that name. Aunt Wang glared at him and said angrily, "You have no conscience. If Xiaojiu hadn't saved you just now, you would have died by now." "Say it!" "If you dare to hide a word, I will break your legs!" Seeing that her husband was fine, Aunt Wang regained her tough character, frightening the man so much that he dared not hide anything anymore and told the whole story honestly. "She, she seems to be... Yunniang." When she heard the name, Aunt Wang, who was pinching her waist, changed her expression, as if she thought of something scary. "So it was her, Xiaojiu, do you still remember what Auntie told you not to set up a stall by the Xiaoyun River in the future?" Zhang Jiuyang nodded and said, "You said someone drowned there... Could it be that Yunniang?" Aunt Wang looked around and lowered her voice and said, "You were still young back then and you don't remember much, so you may have forgotten that a few years ago, more than one person drowned in Xiaoyun River. It was a big commotion!" "The first one to drown was named Yunniang. She was a famous tofu beauty in the county, but for some reason she suddenly got pregnant. No one knew who the father was, and many people scolded her behind her back for this." After a pause, Aunt Wang sighed, "In fact, Yunniang is also a pitiful person. She didn't steal or rob. She gave birth to a child and raised him with her own hands. I don't know how much better she is than many men who only know how to gamble and drink!" "Unfortunately, God was blind. When her daughter was six years old, she suddenly disappeared. It was said that she was abducted by human traffickers from other places. Yunniang was so depressed that she jumped into the river and committed suicide." Zhang Jiuyang asked with some confusion: "Then why did other people drown later?" Aunt Wang whispered, "Perhaps Yunniang was too resentful because she didn't find her child. During that period, many people fell into the river and drowned while walking at night. Many of them were good swimmers. Don't you think it's strange?" "The incident became a big deal, and the county magistrate found several experts to perform a ritual together, and finally no one was drowned. By the way, your master, Blind Lin, also participated in the ritual." After listening to Aunt Wang's story about Yunniang, Zhang Jiuyang found a suspicious point. If that female ghost was Yunniang, her greatest wish after death should be to find her daughter. Why did she care so much about Lu Yaoxing? Could it be that Lu Yaoxing was related to her daughter's disappearance?

"Aunt Wang, who is Lu Yaoxing? Do you know this name?" Zhang Jiuyang asked casually, not expecting to get anything out of it, but Aunt Wang continued, "Of course I know. He was the richest man in our county back then. He was a kind man who often built roads and bridges. The white stone bridge over Xiaoyun River was built with his own money!" "Later, their business grew bigger and bigger, and our small county couldn't accommodate them, so they moved away with their family. Some said they went to Xuzhou, while others said they went to Yangzhou, but we don't know where exactly." Zhang Jiuyang's heart moved, it was Baishi Bridge again. The place where he set up a fortune-telling stall was not far from the bridge. Aunt Wang's husband also encountered an evil spirit on the bridge. In addition, when he swallowed the ghost eye, he vaguely saw a white bridge through the memory of the female ghost. Baishiqiao must be hiding some unspeakable secret! Well, I'll avoid it next time. …… Zhang Jiuyang did not let Aunt Wang and her husband leave immediately. After all, it was late at night, and who knew if the female ghost was still hiding outside? What if he is just rescued here, but is possessed again when he returns there, wouldn’t that be a waste of the precious character? In this way, he held the willow branches and carried the talismans, and stayed up all night with Aunt Wang and the others, until the roosters crowed and the dawn appeared, and he finally felt relieved. "Aunt Wang, when you go back, put this portrait in your room, light a stick of incense every night, and recite 'Blessing the Home Guardian Saint Lord Tianshi Zhong Kui' three times silently, and it will ward off evil spirits, guard the home, and protect peace." Before leaving, seeing Aunt Wang hesitant to speak, Zhang Jiuyang guessed what she was worried about, so he personally painted a picture of Zhong Kui for her. Zhong Kui is known as the holy king who bestows blessings and protects the house. Having this portrait should be able to scare away ghosts and gods. Aunt Wang was immediately overjoyed. After what happened last night, she now had great trust in Zhang Jiuyang and regarded his words as golden rules. "Xiaojiu, thank you so much!" "This is all the money I have on me right now. Take it for now. When my husband recovers in a few days, I'll kill a good pig and give you some good meat!" She searched her body and took out four taels of silver and a dozen copper coins, but she seemed to think it was too little and felt a little guilty. Zhang Jiuyang knew that this amount of money was already quite a lot. Four taels of silver was equivalent to four thousand coins. If used frugally, it was equivalent to the expenses of a family of three for nearly two months. What’s more, the price of pork has risen to eight cents per pound. Not allowing Zhang Jiuyang to refuse, Aunt Wang forced the money into his hands, thanked him profusely, and then helped her husband leave. Looking at the other person's receding back, Zhang Jiuyang felt a strange emotion in his heart. Unlike the sympathy she showed yesterday, Aunt Wang looked at him with respect and gratitude today. He suddenly felt a slight sense of accomplishment and happiness after helping others. That was something I had never experienced when I was setting up a fortune-telling stall to cheat people out of their money. Maybe it would be nice to be a real Taoist priest? Zhang Jiuyang shook his head and put the idea aside for the time being. Being a Taoist priest in this world... might be a bit dangerous. The rising sun is rising, and the purple air is coming from the east. Perhaps it was because of the heat in his body, Zhang Jiuyang, who had not slept all night, did not feel tired at all, but instead felt full of energy. He suddenly thought of something, and sat cross-legged on a piece of bluestone in the courtyard, closed his eyes, clenched his fists, relaxed his whole body, and tapped his teeth 36 times. Then he crossed his hands and stroked the back of his neck, using his second finger to press his middle finger to massage the Fengchi point and Yuzhen point behind his head 24 times each. When his mouth was full of saliva, he swallowed it in three times... Close your eyes and sit with your heart, hold your fists and meditate. Crack your teeth thirty-six times, hold Kunlun with both hands. Beat the heavenly drums left and right, twenty-four times. Slightly shake the pillars of heaven, and the red dragon stirs the water. Swallow it in three gulps, and the dragon walks and the tiger runs...

This set of movements is called Eight Section Brocade, but it is different from the widely circulated standing Eight Section Brocade. This Eight Section Brocade is a sitting exercise, named Zhongli Eight Section Brocade, and its full name is Zhongli Patriarch Eight Section Brocade Guiding Method, which is said to have been passed down by Zhongli Quan, one of the Eight Immortals. In his previous life, he was a premature baby, weak and often ill. When he was six years old, his grandfather taught him to practice Zhongli Ba Duan Jin. He only practiced it a few times every day when the sun rose. His body gradually became stronger. Not only did he rarely get sick, he later joined the school basketball team. It was a pity that he had forgotten about Zhongli Ba Duan Jin after entering high school due to the heavy workload and accommodation issues. Now that he was in a different world, watching the sunrise at dawn, he suddenly felt something in his heart, and picked it up again without any unfamiliarity. After practicing it six times, Zhang Jiuyang felt that his body and mind were completely immersed in it. Every part of his limbs was warm, as if he was soaking in a hot spring. It was very comfortable. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt that the effect of practicing Zhongli Ba Duan Jin in this world was surprisingly good. After opening his eyes, Zhang Jiuyang let out a long breath, feeling refreshed and relaxed. Even the heat that was almost exhausted last night was now fully restored, and even had a slight increase. …… (End of this chapter)