I recall that when I was a kid, maybe seven or eight years old, there was a juggling troupe at the intersection of Baixiang Street. Different from ordinary entertainers, these performers are all people with partial physical disabilities. Some had lost their hands and feet in the war, some had more than a dozen fingers on their hands, and some had fan bones on their backs that looked like a pair of wings.
I clearly remember a teenage boy who was always shirtless because under one of his armpits, he had a very short hand. The fingers on his hand were still intact and each one could move. . There is also the trick of dwarfs training monkeys. After each performance, he would ask the monkey to hold a small bowl and ask for money from the surrounding crowd.
So at that time, I would watch it from a distance every day. In fact, I wasn't very interested in the juggling. Instead, I was curious about those with physical disabilities. Because I can't believe how such a person can still survive. I don't mean to be discriminatory at all, just curious.
But even though I had seen those strange people in my childhood, what Master said now is still extremely unbelievable. So I asked the master to be more careful, because when I saw his big beard before, it was really hard to imagine that there was a small mouth and eyes covered under the beard.
Master said that he didn't know about it at first, but he just heard that the other party was disabled. But I never thought that it was not a missing body part, but an extra one. At that time, it was Senior Qin who pushed aside his beard to let him see his other mouth and eyes. Master said, actually it’s inappropriate to say it’s the eyes. After all, there are no eyes inside, it just looks like two closed eyes, different sizes and crooked. Without the mouth, the eyes would look more like scars or birthmarks on the face.
Master said, but that mouth is different. It looks very specific, but it is much smaller than a normal mouth. It is only about one-third the size of our mouth. What is strange is that not only can that mouth open on its own, but the inside There was also a row of tiny broken teeth and a pedicle-like thing, which seemed to be the tongue in the mouth. The master also said that this mouth can speak in a very small and strange voice, and can also make expressions such as crying and laughing, but no one knows that it is Senior Qin himself who controls this mouth. He was still the twin brother who assimilated most of his body, leaving only one mouth.
Listening to Master talking about this bizarre thing, I remembered that I had been in contact with this bizarre person in the past two or three days. It felt like I was listening to people's gossip behind my back, and I accidentally learned a big secret. Same, it feels quite amazing. The master went on to say that it was just that his beard was too thick. If he didn't mention it on purpose, he wouldn't be able to notice it if he wasn't paying attention. Since he didn't tell you these things, it's naturally because you don't know each other, so he has no reason to tell you this.
The master said that later he was seriously injured, so he temporarily stayed at Senior Qin's house to recuperate. During this period, everything was delayed, and Senior Qin did not continue to work alone. After his health improved a little, he felt that he could no longer do it. If you continue to do this, you will encounter other dangers. The master sighed and said, we are not young anymore. Since some things are secrets, the fewer people know about them, the better. Apart from me and Senior Qin, you are probably the only one in the world who knows about it. And when you were in contact with Senior Qin, did you find that he also had a hoarse voice and a strange tone of voice? I nodded and said yes. I noticed it from the first time he used a snake to scare me secretly. Master said that his throat and vocal cords were also injured at the same time. Such injuries are permanent and cannot be cured.
After talking for a long time, I became more and more curious about the "secret" that Master mentioned and Senior Qin participated in together. In fact, based on my understanding of my master's temperament, I knew what he was planning. While he didn't tell me clearly what was going on, he kept making insinuations to arouse my interest. And he also understands me as a person. Once he knows a little bit about something, he will be easily curious and then inquire about it.
So I followed his pleasure and asked in a pleading tone what kind of secret it was. Master said to me with a slight smile, have you ever gone into the back room of his house, the one where the ever-burning lantern is lit? I said no, and twice in a row I stopped moving forward at the entrance. The master said that the secret was hidden under his bed, and he deliberately rented the house there because of this secret. The master paused and said that he had dug a secret passage under his bed. At the end of this secret passage, there was hidden the soul of the Witch King that had been sealed for thousands of years. If he could use it for his own use, given his current skill level, In our metaphysical world, we can almost be called invincible.
The soul of the Witch King? What the hell is that? Since something is buried deep underground and sealed, you don't want to conquer it just because you want it. And since the other party wants this thing, why does Master follow him to join in the fun? The master smiled and said that in terms of skills, he is no match for Senior Qin, but in terms of knowledge, he is comparable. When he invited me to complete this matter together, I originally just wanted to join in the fun. Driven by curiosity, I also wanted to experience it, and I didn’t think too much about it. In addition, we are Taoists, and although the arts of the Wu family are of the same origin, they are not from the same source. Even if I covet the soul of the Witch King, it will be of no use. After all, I do not have the magic lineage of the Wu family.
To put it this way, Master just wants to see something strange. However, I don't understand how Senior Qin knew about this thing buried deep underground. Master said that Senior Qin’s Dharma lineage originally had roots in the Wu family, and there must be some rumors within the sect. In recent years, some other countries have paid more and more attention to our country. The country believes that the other country is gradually beginning to show capitalist ambitions. So although it was not clearly communicated, some instructions were given to local governments, saying that everyone must pay close attention to national defense to prevent the war between capitalism and socialism that will one day come.
As a result, many families, especially those in cities, mainly bungalows, dug cellars to ensure that the common people had a place to hide when enemy planes attacked.
This was the “digging holes deeply and accumulating grain widely” movement that swept across the country in the following years. In fact, before this spirit was conveyed, many large cities had already begun to prepare such civil defense facilities in advance, but there was no such concept as "digging a hole deeply" at that time. Master said that almost every household in the neighborhood where Senior Qin lived had been dug. If there is a mountain next to the house, dig into the mountain; if there is not, dig underground. Later, someone seemed to have dug up something weird, but was not sure what it was, so the news came out when he inquired. This is how Senior Qin learned about it. He first suspected that it might be one of the thousands of stories circulated in the Wu family sect, and decided to come here to verify it. After on-site investigation, he found that the place had been backfilled, so he rented After getting off the house, I planned to dig out and have a look.
Master told me that when he visited Senior Qin, most of them had already been dug up. At first, he didn't want to talk to the master, but the master later said that he could help dig together. Senior Qin probably thought that it would be twice as fast, so he agreed.
I thought to myself, okay, I thought it was because he and you cherished each other for so long, but I didn’t expect that he actually wanted you to help out with the coolies. The master also smiled a little sheepishly, and then he said that no matter what, they finally dug the tunnel, but when they entered, they encountered something strange. His injuries were caused by this.
Master lowered his head and glanced at the scar on his chest, then slowly buttoned up the button, and then said, "Originally, the injury would not have been so serious, but that senior Qin, while dodging himself, also pulled me to block it. would make it so serious. The master smiled bitterly and said, that's why after that, I took the opportunity to live far away and never went to see him again. And he probably felt sorry, so he came to see me from time to time.
When I heard this, I couldn't help but feel angry. I have met many kinds of people, and the ones I despise the most are the selfish ones. It would be fine if Senior Qin used at least some small things about my master to block the knife. I can't bear this kind of method of finding a scapegoat when encountering danger. Looking at my master's weak appearance and thinking of this, I immediately All the blame for the master's sudden change in the past two years was placed on Senior Qin.
The master said that the place where the Witch King's soul is sealed is like a huge secret room with a total of eight doors. The order is based on the Bagua combination, which shows that the person who built the secret room thousands of years ago was a master of Yili. People, six of the doors are blocked, and only two can be pushed open to get in and out. But judging from the arrangement, these two gates belong to the two gates of life and death among the eight gates.
After the gate of life is pushed open, there are many twists and turns. Although it is a lucky gate, you also know that in the art of Qimen, there is the meaning of endless life. If it were so easy to pass through, the original sealing of the Witch King by the master thousands of years ago would be meaningless. Sure enough, as soon as we turned the first corner, we encountered a ghost soldier blocking the road. He was originally a small character and could be easily dealt with. However, if one was not dealt with, two would appear. After dealing with these two, there would be two. Four of them appeared. Such a reverse growth method made it impossible for the Shengmen to pass through.
The master said, so we can only do the next best thing and enter through the door of death. Although the door of death is the most dangerous door, once it is opened, it is a straight path. At the end of the road is a decaying stone gate. I thought there was a vicious blocker behind the door. However, if he and Senior Qin team up, there should be no problem in cleaning up. But obviously they underestimated the person who set up the eight-door array. Just when they were about to open the stone door, Qin The old senior was caught off guard and even harmed his master.
I asked Master, what kind of ghosts are hiding behind the door?
