Since seeing a real ghost this time, I have become more diligent in my daily practice. Fortunately, when Master brought me here before, he left behind a lot of books that I couldn't read at home. The so-called one-size-fits-all approach to most spells of the same sect requires specific theoretical knowledge and diligent practice for the rest. , many of them can master the essentials, unless it is the secret method of the sect that the master often talks about, that is, each sect or even each branch of each sect will have more or less content that is passed down orally by its master, apprentice or father and son. These contents must be learned by the master, and they are also particularly difficult to learn.
With my current skills, as long as it is not a particularly difficult matter, most of it can be solved by myself. Especially after the incident of Old Man Wang's funeral, I subdued three ghosts in a row without any preparation. Although my master has always taught me to be humble, I still feel that I am pretty awesome.
After Old Man Wang's funeral, their boss came to see me again and told me that everything went very smoothly as I expected. I felt that the old man was at ease when he left. He hoped that I could do it for the family on the night of the first seven days. It was a small ritual. I didn’t need to do the ritual on the day of the soul’s rebirth. This should have been arranged by the Taoist priest in advance at the funeral. But since the other party asked, I agreed.
Afterwards, the Wang family brought eggs and some poultry to Aunt Xu's house to thank me. I ate and drank at Aunt Xu's house for several months, and now I have given some reward.
Soon my story was spread among the villagers. Generally speaking, everyone said good things and would not refer to "cow ghosts and snake gods". I could feel that although we were in rural areas, everyone's thoughts were at least Normally, no one would report me because a young ghost catching master came to the village.
At the end of the year, Master came to the village again. After hearing about my story, he was stunned for a moment. Then, although he scolded me for being low-key, he couldn't hide the pride in his eyes. At this moment, I am the person who understands Master best, because if he encountered the same thing, he would not hesitate to stand up and help, even if he knew that he might be reported by someone with ulterior motives.
Master said that the city is in chaos now. At the beginning, people were just arrested and criticized. If they should be sent to labor camps, they would be sent to labor camps. If they should be punished, they would sweep the streets. Although it was very chaotic, it was nothing compared to what it is now. Great witch. Now, it has been three months since I left the city and hid in Sancun. During this period, Master came once, and the last time he came, he told me that the news in the city had hardly changed, and it was still the same as a while ago. I continued to hide. But I guess that the team of people who captured me at that time no longer care about looking for me, the escaped feudal element, because according to their logic, there are endless people to arrest every day, so why bother to keep an eye on a little guy like me? .
But this time when Master came to see me, he said that basically all factories have stopped working. Each factory has organized its own armed team, and they fight with other armed teams every day to grab territory. Some time ago, it was a rare thing to beat someone to death on the street, but now, it's not a big deal at all.
When Master mentioned factories, I immediately had a bad feeling, because almost one-third of the factories in the city were military factories that existed before liberation. After the surrender of the national army, they were taken over by the People's Liberation Army and continued production. If even factories are involved and start fighting each other for turf, wouldn't it be normal for some guns to leak out? Could it be that a few days ago, Aunt Xu told me that the city was setting off firecrackers? I thought it was fireworks and wondered how we could hear the sound of fireworks in the city when our village is so far away. Master told me, let’s set off fireworks, let off fireworks, those hills are divided by factories, today you beat me, tomorrow I’ll beat him, more and more people will die, and the resentment between each other will become bigger and bigger, and guns will be used. Cannons are just a small thing. A few days ago, not only did a certain factory use mortars, but tanks also took to the streets. Those loud noises were the sounds of artillery shells and tanks.
I was really scared when I heard that. On the day of liberation at the end of 1949, I followed Di Baotian to see the People's Liberation Army entering the city. The majestic tanks drove past, and I felt that the ground under my feet was a little shaking. Trembling, coupled with the novels and some revolutionary movies I read later, I knew the power of tanks. A few rounds of artillery shells were enough to destroy a large number of enemies. What Master said made me feel particularly dangerous. Master said, so this time I may stay a little longer, and it may not be easy to go back to the city.
But the master patted me on the shoulder and said, "But now, the arrests of people in the city have eased a lot. After all, those with red tassel guns can't beat those with guns. People with guns can't do anything." If we are fighting with ourselves, who can care about us, a bunch of ghosts and ghosts? After the master finished speaking, he laughed self-deprecatingly, but I felt that his tone sounded helpless. He probably felt that he was born at the wrong time and encountered a chaotic era. After beating foreigners, he beat his own people. After beating himself, People started to let people kill each other.
What a ridiculous time this was.
The New Year will be celebrated in a few days. Master said that he came this time to accompany Uncle Zhou and Aunt Xu to celebrate the New Year together.
Since I haven’t been back for a long time, I can only learn about the changes in the city from my master’s mouth. Because there are people I care about in the city. My uncle and second uncle are both in the most troubled areas, so I am also very worried. their safety. But Master told me that those who should have run away have already run away. Your uncle and the second uncle who sells glutinous rice balls are both engaged in small businesses. However, this kind of private business is considered capitalist road in the eyes of this group of people. Sent. Your uncle has been hiding in the countryside for a long time. The last time I came to see you, I took a special look and asked people around. As for your second uncle, I really haven’t found him. If I have a chance, I’ll help you find out more.
During the New Year's Day, many houses in the village set off firecrackers and cut grilles on their windows. Although they were a little poor, they were still full of joy. Aunt Xu told me that there is a tradition in their village. Because there are not many people there, they meet every New Year. Each family cooks meat and vegetables at home and brings them to the yard of the village chief’s house to celebrate the New Year together. The village chief only needs to be responsible for rice and steamed buns. Everyone got together, talked and laughed, and felt like home. It was so lively.
Master and I are looking forward to it, because we have never celebrated the New Year with a group of unfamiliar people like this. In the past, when we were at Master’s house, the New Year celebrations were mostly just us, master and apprentice, plus two meat dishes that we didn’t eat much on weekdays. Just pass it by being confused. Neighbors around us know that we are Taoist priests and our daily lives. They occasionally bring us some eggs, flour, fruits, etc., which is regarded as doing good deeds. Originally, we as Taoists lived on donations from all directions. So that day, Master and I added an extra dish each, and went to the New Year dinner with Aunt Xu and Uncle Zhou.
At the banquet table, Master and many fellow villagers chatted happily, and I drank several glasses of wine under the atmosphere. While changing glasses, I heard that the topic that everyone talked about the most was still the matter of helping Old Man Wang and his family earlier, because this was the first thing the eldest and second eldest son of the Wang family said at the banquet. The two families also participated, and then many people began to congratulate my master, saying that he was lucky to have such a young and capable apprentice like me. Although the master said he was modest, I knew that in his heart he was already as happy as Like a girl.
After the meal, many people gathered together in twos and threes to chat. Some of them had things to do at home and went home early. The women were all helping to clear the table or mop the floor. I stood aside knowingly because I didn’t want to Because my idleness gives the women a reason to let me wash the dishes. But at this time, the village chief came to me and said, "Little Master Situ, come on, let me introduce you to someone."
I am a stranger in this village, because most people already know me from the previous experience, so why do I need to go out of my way to introduce people to me? Out of curiosity, and because I was also at the village chief's house, I followed him. When I walked into the side room of the village chief's house, a middle-aged man who looked about the same age as the village chief stood up from his seat, looked at me with a smile on his face, then reached out and took off the hat on his head, and gave me a slight smile. He saluted and then extended his hand to shake my hand. I was a little overwhelmed by his sudden enthusiasm. Except for a pair of Jiefang shoes on his feet, his whole body, from his hat to his trousers, were all made of dark blue fabric. He was dressed in a Chinese tunic suit, except that his clothes were a little dirty. , it looks like it hasn’t been washed for a while, and everything else is no different from an ordinary farmer.
But at this time, I noticed a leader's head badge hanging outside the left breast pocket of his clothes.
