PCJ – Chapter 28 Departure

“Mother, from now on, if she continues to be unreasonable, don’t indulge her anymore. Every time you indulge her, she thinks you’re easy to bully. Last time, our family was missing three ducks, clearly because of her unreasonable behavior. I overheard mute telling someone else that their ducks were stepped on by her. His mother intentionally came to our house to cause trouble, just to take away a few ducks from our family by force.” Zhang Jiaohua was very dissatisfied with his mother’s concessions.

“Child, in dealing with neighbors, one must be forgiving. Some truths, you’ll understand when you grow up,” Liu Qiaoye said as she gently patted Zhang Jiaohua’s head.

“Mother, I understand,” Zhang Jiaohua said, although he still didn’t really understand.

During the day, going to school meant no more napping like usual. By night time, Zhang Jiaohua would feel sleepy. He’d end up falling asleep directly on the table, but at least he managed to finish his homework.

Liu Qiaoye lifted Jiaohua, saying with concern, “Jiaohua seems very tired on his first day of school.”

“Sitting in the classroom, without carrying heavy loads, what’s tiring about it? My child is so clever, is he destined to be a farmer in the countryside?” Zhang Youping felt his wife spoiled the child too much. He was somewhat displeased.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t let Jiaohua study hard. Jiaohua usually sleeps a lot, but when he goes to school and can’t sleep, he must be a little sleepy.” Liu Qiaoye pouted, very unhappy.

After Zhang Jiaohua fell asleep, the old Daoist immediately appeared in his dream.

“You’ve learned about 99% of my skills. Now, you can finally graduate,” Zhang Jiaohua heard this and felt like a heavy burden had been lifted from his heart. Finally, he could sleep well. No more getting beaten up at night.

“But,” the old Daoist immediately gave Zhang Jiaohua a blow, “before you graduate, I need to test your skills.”

To graduate, the disciple had to perform magic in front of the master. The old Daoist took a chopstick and cut it into three pieces, each sharp enough to be considered a knife blade.

“You must swallow all three sections of this chopstick for your skills to be considered mastered, then you can graduate and carry on the lineage,” the old Daoist said.

Zhang Jiaohua felt as if thunder had struck his head. Was this really graduation or a funeral? Even though the chopstick was cut into three pieces, trying to swallow each section would likely be a dead end.

Zhang Jiaohua wanted to curse the old Daoist, but his body was not under his control. He couldn’t utter a curse or even move. Under someone else’s control, his body obediently picked up a section of the chopstick and brought it to his mouth.

“Darn it! I’d rather wake up early,” Zhang Jiaohua thought, wanting the whole farce to end quickly so he could wake up from the dream.

To his surprise, when the chopstick entered his mouth, it softened like a thick noodle and slid down his throat smoothly. There was no scene of it piercing his throat as he imagined.

The second section went in, he chewed it a bit, then it softened like the first one and went down smoothly. It even gave a feeling of fullness. The chewiness wasn’t bad at all. Hmm, let’s have another.

The last section of the chopstick also went into his mouth, he chewed on it, and then swallowed it.

This time, the fellow disciples around him cast approving glances, and the old Daoist nodded in satisfaction.

“After graduation, you must prioritize virtue. You can’t casually gossip about your peers, envy them, or bully them. When treating patients, regardless of their wealth, you must provide treatment. Even those without money must be treated. When treating patients, you cannot hold back or harm them. Secondly, you must be loyal. Loyalty to your master and friends. Treat patients sincerely, without cheating or extortion. Thirdly, you must be sincere. Every first and fifteenth of the month, you must diligently cultivate yourself. When patients come for water, you must not be lazy. After graduation, you must visit your master and wish him well every year. You must also visit him frequently. When the master reaches one hundred years, you must mourn him with filial piety. Come, let me perform the graduation divination for you.”

This divination ceremony, akin to praying to the gods for water, required various sacrificial items like three sacrifices, wine, tea, and fruits, as well as money, paper horses, and other items for worship. In addition, several square boxes were prepared and placed under the table.

After Zhang Jiaohua refined the water three times, the old Daoist invited various ancestors and then cast two hexagrams, one yin and one yang. This time, his luck was good, and he succeeded in one go. Zhang Jiaohua secretly rejoiced, it seemed that even the ancestors couldn’t bear to see him suffer. His master was too harsh on him.

After casting the hexagrams, the old Daoist killed a rooster and sprinkled its blood on the paper money and the scriptures Zhang Jiaohua had copied during this time.

Using his right index finger and middle finger dipped in chicken blood, the old Daoist smeared it on Zhang Jiaohua’s forehead, temples, Di Kuai, palms, and soles of the feet. “In the future, when you perform your duties, you won’t be afraid of evil at night, nor will you be afraid of poisonous snakes and insects when you go up the mountain to collect herbs.”

After the old Daoist finished casting the hexagrams, Zhang Jiaohua involuntarily knelt before the old Daoist again and presented a red envelope, containing thirty-three large coins.

The old Daoist took the red envelope, laughing heartily, “From now on, you’ll have to walk your own path. I can’t help you anymore. This soul-capturing bell has been with me for many years, and today it is passed on to you.”

The old Daoist had clearly called out the disciple’s name earlier, but Zhang Jiaohua couldn’t hear it clearly. However, when the old Daoist said other words, Zhang Jiaohua could hear them clearly.

The old Daoist took Zhang Jiaohua into the room and privately told him the usage of the soul-capturing bell. This was a protective tool for his disciple and the method couldn’t be disclosed to others.

Surprisingly, the main purpose of the soul-capturing bell was to raise ghosts. The bell had five bells, each capable of capturing a ghost soul, which would be nurtured inside the bell. It was said that the ancestor of Daoist master had once raised five ghosts into ghost kings, carrying them around as his own, demonstrating an extraordinary state.

However, the old Daoist immediately gave Zhang Jiaohua a blow; this soul-capturing bell was not the same as the ancestor’s immortal tool, but merely a replica. At most, it could only raise ordinary ghost soldiers.

Seeing Zhang Jiaohua seemed somewhat disappointed, the old Daoist chuckled, “It’s already good enough. If you can really raise five ghost soldiers, as long as you don’t venture into dangerous places, you can do whatever you want in this world.”

The old Daoist then taught Zhang Jiaohua some methods of raising ghosts. According to this method, in five years, ghost soldiers could be formed. Even if he couldn’t raise ghost soldiers, keeping ordinary ghost souls in the soul-capturing bell and summoning them for protection would suffice against ordinary people.

On this point, Zhang Jiaohua agreed. Last time, they had beaten up the human trafficker quite thoroughly.

[Note: The translation is a rendering of the provided text. Some phrases may require further context for accurate translation.]

PCJ – Chapter 29 The Buffalo Incident