stjorthotic Chapter 4: Evil Spirits?
Chapter 4: Evil Spirits?
The next day, in the morning.
Li Xuan was awakened by knocking on the door before he was fully awake.
He yawned reluctantly. "Who is it, so early in the morning..."
When I opened the door, I found it was none other than Aunt Wang, who had come yesterday.
His expression immediately softened considerably. This was a patron who had given him money before; he should be more polite.
"Oh, it's Aunt Wang. Please come in."
Li Xuan stepped aside, took a bottle of cola from the refrigerator, lay down on the sofa, and asked:
"Aunt Wang, what's the rush? Is it because Zhang Xiao doesn't want to go to school again?"
"Oh dear, Master Li, what happened to your neck?"
"My neck is fine, please continue."
Aunt Wang nodded repeatedly and said, "Let me tell you first! Last night, around one or two in the morning, I got up to go to the bathroom and found Zhang Xiao eating raw pork by the refrigerator door! His eyes were all black!"
Do you think he's gotten himself into some kind of filth?
Li Xuan felt increasingly uneasy as he listened. His heart skipped a beat as he recalled the handprint on his neck. Could there really be something unclean in this building?
Thinking of this, his expression turned serious, and he asked, "Aunt Wang, are you sure you didn't see wrong? Or is it a dream?"
"Of course! He even held up a piece of pork and asked me if I wanted some, which scared me so much I fainted."
As she said this, she twisted her waist, looking pained, and said, "Zhang Xiao woke me up today, and I was sleeping on the floor! It was so uncomfortable!"
"Zhang Xiao woke him up? Did you ask him where he is now?" Li Xuan pressed.
"I asked! He said no, he said he slept in bed all night and never woke up, and now he's gone to school."
Li Xuan frowned as he listened, his mind racing with calculations.
The fact that the old woman woke up on the ground means that what happened last night must have happened.
Zhang Xiao said he didn't wake up, which suggests that he was very likely not conscious at that time.
The more I listen to this, the more it seems like it's a case of demonic possession.
Damn it, the problem is I don't have any magic power right now!
Cultivation is fucking hard!
Seeing Li Xuan's furrowed brows, Aunt Wang was also filled with fear and couldn't help but ask, "Master Li, what exactly is going on?"
"Your child is most likely not possessed by an evil spirit, but rather by a malevolent spirit."
Li Xuan frowned and voiced his guess.
"Oh no! What should we do then?!"
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Aunt Wang was restless, her face filled with regret and worry.
"Don't worry, even if it really is possessed by an evil spirit, the fact that it chose to cause trouble at night means that it probably can't control your child for long during the day."
"So we'll wait until midnight to see if it's really an evil spirit possessing us."
"Also, you need to prepare two things for me. I need a boy's urine, and it can't be mixed in with any non-boy's urine, otherwise it won't work!"
"And black dog blood. Remember, it has to be from a black dog. You'd better go to the dog meat market yourself, buy one, and watch them bleed!"
"I will prepare the rest, and I will confront this evil spirit tonight."
These are some commonly used tools for dealing with ghosts and monsters that Li Xuan learned from the Huangting Daojing.
Although the scripture mainly discusses spiritual practice, it also mentions how to deal with ordinary ghosts and monsters.
Ordinary ghosts are weak in combat and have almost no magical power. Although they can usually come out, they are unlikely to have any effect on people with strong yang energy. Therefore, most ghosts only come out to do evil when the yin energy is strongest at midnight.
In fact, people are not afraid of ordinary ghosts and monsters. They don't need magic power. As long as they have the right tools to deal with them, they can overcome their fear and perform normally.
Ironically, the vast majority of people are afraid of ghosts and monsters. When they see a ghost, they instinctively run away and then become easy prey for others.
Of course, more ferocious things like vengeful ghosts are not included in this category.
This is the fundamental reason why Li Xuan did not intend to run away. Since he had embarked on the path of cultivation, he naturally had to face this challenge.
Is he afraid?
afraid!
Does he dare?
dare!
Fear and daring are two different things.
Just like people are afraid of death, of course they are.
But some people, even knowing they will die and terrified, still choose to go and fight.
Li Xuan wasn't that great; he just felt that since he would have to face ghosts and monsters sooner or later, he might as well practice with something that could only do evil in the middle of the night.
What?
Hiding away and lying low for half a year before coming out again?
Even when he lacks the ability, he will do it without hesitation.
But when he has the ability, he will not hesitate to step forward.
"Thank you so much, Master Li! I will definitely take care of it. I will give you whatever money you want!" Aunt Wang nodded excitedly and kowtowed repeatedly.
Even before she arrived, she had been kowtowing repeatedly to the so-called deity enshrined at home.
However, it didn't work; they completely ignored her.
They ignored the incense and paper money being burned.
Having no other choice, they came to Li Xuan's place.
Actually, she had guessed it yesterday; it might be related to the spirit medium in her house.
But she thought that putting the amulet on her child would solve the problem, but things still went wrong.
It seems that the great immortal cannot be allowed to stay any longer.
But she dared not move rashly, fearing that she would be killed on the spot if she angered the other party, so she sought help from Li Xuan.
She had personally witnessed Master Li exorcising evil spirits before, and had even demonstrated his skills in front of him yesterday, which is why she trusted him so much.
"Don't rush to talk about money. I need to see just how troublesome that evil spirit is before we deal with it," Li Xuan waved his hand.
"Alright, go get those two things. I need to get ready too."
"Okay! Okay! I'll go right away, thank you Master Li! I promise I won't let you down after I'm done!"
Aunt Wang nodded repeatedly and followed closely as she walked outside.
Li Xuan rummaged through the room, and besides finding some useless talismans, he only found a lighter with the same peach wood sword design.
Presumably, this is for unforeseen circumstances.
"If you're going to put on a show, at least do it properly! Even the copper coins on the copper coin sword are fake!"
Soon, he found a copper coin sword, thinking he could use it, but little did he know that the copper coins inside the sword were fake.
And it's instantly new, undeniably new!
Who's ever seen a copper coin without any inscription, just 'Yuan Shikai Dollar' printed on it?!
Even if it's true, it still needs to be enshrined in front of the shrine, absorbing incense offerings all day long, so that it can borrow a trace of divine power when needed.
Just throw it in the box like trash, what good is that!
"Fortunately, they sell peach wood swords here."
Li Xuan knew of a place that sold peach wood swords; he saw someone selling them while strolling around Chinatown yesterday.
Of course, there are quite a few for sale, but there's only one shop that sells genuine peach wood swords.
He finally breathed a sigh of relief after buying the peach wood sword.
Actually, this thing is useless without magic power. It can only rely on the function of peach wood to ward off evil spirits and keep things in check. It's useless if you encounter an evil spirit.
Everything is ready, except for the final push!
Li Xuan let out a long sigh and sat cross-legged.
He kept thinking about the introductory methods of cultivation from the Huangting Daojing.
Once we can cross that threshold, tonight's events will be even more secure, and there's absolutely no chance of things going wrong!
The main reason he helped Aunt Wang, besides making money and testing himself, was that he suspected the handprint on his neck was made by something dirty from Aunt Wang's house. He had already made an enemy of that thing yesterday, and even if he didn't go after it, it would come after him.