The store had prepared the meal, and the old man happened to be back from selling wine.
The two of them were not busy eating. They first dug out the ancestor's tablet from the package and respectfully lit incense and candles. The old Taoist took out another talisman from his arms and placed it in front of the tablet. This talisman was made of yellow paper, with cinnabar as the talisman, and the edges of the talisman paper were lined with gold thread.
This is the most precious thing in the Taoist body, a talisman passed down by the ancestor, used to protect one's life.
Then, he opened the wine gourd at his waist and took out a small gourd from behind. This small gourd is also filled with wine, but it is not the bad wine that the old man bought from the market, but the high-quality Fen wine. He is reluctant to drink it at ordinary times, but only uses it to worship his ancestors.
He pulled out the cork, took a deep breath of the wine, then carefully poured a glass and placed it respectfully in front of the ancestor's tablet.
Then, Lao Dao took Li Changan to start his daily homework.
After finishing, he carefully put away these items and poured the glass of wine back into the gourd.
Then, the old man didn't waste the small cup filled with wine. He picked it up and smelled it before taking a sip of the bad wine. Xu narrowed his eyes and looked intoxicated, as if he was drinking not the bad wine from the big gourd, but the fine Fenjiu from the small gourd.
Li Changan really couldn't stand it.
"Can't you just pour the wine into the cup and drink it?"
"You kid, what do you know?" the old Taoist said leisurely, "You can't drink just one cup if you rinse it, but if you smell it and drink it, you can drink a big gourd!"
After eating and drinking enough, the old Taoist said slowly:
"I inquired about the news when I was buying wine. There are only two jobs that can be done in Yulin City now. One is that a family named Zhou in the north of the city is haunted. I stopped by to see it, but it's just that the dead people can't leave. It's not a good idea. The second is that a family named Zhou in the north of the city is haunted. There is a wealthy family named Zhang, you and Lao Dao will go over there later to find out what’s going on.”
"So urgent?" Li Changan was stunned.
He had eaten and slept in the open all the way, and when he entered the city, he thought he could rest a while.
"Urgent?" The old Taoist wiped his beard and glared at Li Changan, "Boy, let me ask you, what is the most important thing when traveling in the world?"
Li Changan thought about it carefully. After traveling with him for a month, Li Changan had already figured out the basics of the old Taoist. This old Taoist was not very capable, and even less courageous. His ability to seek good fortune and avoid evil with one hand was very good, and he could smell it from a distance. If you smell danger, you will take a detour ten miles away.
The last time he took a risk to save Li Changan, firstly, it was because the ghost market had its own rules, and secondly, as he said, it was entirely because of the Patriarch who wanted to accept Li Changan as his disciple.
So, he said firmly: "Safety is the most important thing!"
"Shit!" Unexpectedly, the old man took a sip, "Of course eating is the most important thing."
"Let's go." Lao Dao collected all the things and said, "Come with me to find money for food."
……………………
The two of them wandered around, but did not go to the Zhang family's door. Instead, they went around the alley next to the Zhang family's house.
There were not many people passing by in the alley, which made it easier for the master and the disciple to do what they did. It was not that they had any evil intentions, but that the next move was not very elegant and did not conform to the image of an expert and should not be seen by outsiders.
The old Taoist took out a piece of talisman paper, kneaded a spell in his hand, and murmured a spell. The talisman paper spontaneously ignited without any wind. He drew a few circles under his nose with the talisman paper, and then twitched his nose. Sniff.
This sect of Lao Taoism is called Shangjingmen. The Taoist tradition was born out of the "Twenty-Four True Treasures of Three Parts and Eight Scenes of Taiwei". The so-called "scenery" refers to the gods corresponding to the parts of the body.
The talisman used by the old Taoist is the "Chonglong Jade Talisman" which he is best at relying on. Its function is to evoke the nose god Chonglong Jade, which is used to identify and explore monsters and ghosts.
The old man was already lying on the wall, moving his head following the smell. After a while, he found a dog hole at the root of the wall, raised his buttocks, and stuffed his head into it.
But right away.
He pulled out his head and rolled away, his nose and mouth wrinkled, and he kept fanning his nose.
Li Changan guessed: "It stinks."
The old Taoist couldn't answer, he just nodded.
"Carrion?"
The old man shook his head.
"Huangpizi?"
Still shaking his head.
Before Li Changan could continue to guess, the old man finally recovered and said angrily: "It's bullshit!"
"Well……"
It seems that being too sensitive to smell is not always a good thing. Seeing that the old man was getting angry due to the smell, Li Changan wisely decided to turn the page.
"Are there any monsters?"
"have."
The veteran has superb skills and can find clues in the huge stench.
"Is it bad or not?"
"It's just a kid!" The old Taoist waved his hand, "Follow me and slay demons."
Li Changan responded excitedly, turned around and walked towards the Zhang family's gate, but was immediately pulled back by the old Taoist.
"Wrong go."
"Isn't this the direction of the Zhang family?"
"Go to the Zhang family, go to the Zhou family in the north of the city."
"ah?"
…………………………
"The Zhou family's wife is so pitiful."
"Yes, she did nothing when she was alive, and she still clings to her after she's dead, so what's the deal with mother and son?"
Several aunts gathered together on the street to whisper. The protagonist of their discussion was the Zhou family's wife, who was holding several young children with a worried look on her face.
And they couldn't see it. There was a young man standing next to Mrs. Zhou. The man looked at the mother and son with nostalgia. When he heard the gossip of the aunts, he glared at her fiercely, but he immediately retracted his gaze, cautiously. Looking to the side, Liu Laodao was holding a talisman in one hand and a long sword in the other, calm and composed.
The old man hooked his fingers at the male ghost, and the ghost moved reluctantly, came to the center of the yard, and turned around to reveal his figure.
"scare!"
The people who were watching the excitement were suddenly frightened and crawled away to hide away.
On the contrary, it was the young son in the Zhou family's arms who stretched out his hands towards the man and called out in a sweet voice: "Daddy."
The wife of the Zhou family also looked at the male ghost with a complex expression and called out: "Mr.
The male ghost opened his mouth, but couldn't speak.
The old man's eyes widened again.
The male ghost nodded in resignation, turned around and carried his wife on his back, showing a terrifying death look.
The male ghost owed a large amount of gambling debt and was beaten to death with a stick to pay off the debt. Not only was the appearance of his death horrific, but he was also covered in blood. The entire street was so horrified that there was no sound. The wife of the Zhou family also covered the child's eyes. , pleading in his words: "Taoist Master."
The old Taoist nodded, swung his sword, and chanted loudly:
"The gods of the ten directions, as numerous as sand and dust, have transformed into the realms of the ten directions, helped save the heavens and people, gathered their merits, and saved the world with one voice..."
When the male ghost heard this, he was stunned for a while, then immediately knelt down and kowtowed.
It should be noted that there are three ways for mages to exorcise ghosts: exorcism, annihilation, and salvation. Among them, exorcism is the easiest and most common, and annihilation can permanently eliminate future troubles. Only salvation consumes energy and mana, and most mages will not easily transcend it.
When the male ghost saw that Liu Laodao was willing to spend his magic power to save him, how could he not be grateful?
Amidst the chanting, the male ghost reincarnated and ascended to heaven.
After the ritual was completed, Mrs. Zhou's wife walked up to the old Taoist carrying a bamboo basket, but suddenly knelt down and kowtowed.
"Thank you, old Taoist Priest, for saving my husband-in-law. However, I don't have much money in my family. My husband-in-law's funeral has depleted all my belongings. I have to use these worthless things to pay for the funeral expenses. Please give me a few days' grace for the rest. …”
The old Taoist quickly helped her up and looked at the items in the basket. They were just some grains.
Looking at the children looking at him timidly behind the woman, the old man took out an egg from the basket and said with a smile:
"It's just a trivial matter, it's not worth mentioning. Having this chicken is enough."
After saying that, he turned around and turned back to his bitter face.
After walking a few steps, I saw Li Changan coming towards me from a distance, so I stepped forward and caught him.
"Where were you running just now?"
It turned out that Li Changan disappeared just as the ritual ceremony began.
"I……"
As soon as Li Changan started talking, the old Taoist saw a piece of yellow paper in his hand with sharp eyes, and his heart suddenly became angry.
"What's this?"
"Taoist Master Xuanji!" Suddenly, a middle-aged man with a rich face and a mustache jumped out from the side. The Taoist couldn't avoid it, so he hugged his leg.
"Please save my master's life!"
After the rat-bearded man cried and complained, the old man realized that this was the steward of the Zhang family. Just then, Li Changan did nothing else but went to expose the yellow list and brought the steward of the Zhang family along the way.
This steward was also lucky enough to have seen everything from the appearance of the male ghost to the moment he was saved.
"Don't worry, lay people. How could we as Taoists allow evil spirits to cause trouble?"
The old Taoist's righteous words frightened the steward, and then he pulled Li Chang'an aside and asked in a low voice, as if his butt was burning: "What kind of nonsense are you doing?"
Li Changan was surprised: "Master, didn't you say it was just a little devil?"
"What's wrong with the kid? You're not mean, kid!" As he said that, the old Taoist pointed at the Zhang family steward, "Go and push this matter away!"
But Li Changan stood still and didn't move. Instead, he asked Mr. Liu: "Master, I don't know how much compensation you received for the Zhou family's rituals."
The old Taoist blushed, knowing that his apprentice had seen the scene where he had slapped his face to look fat, but he refused to lose face, put on the master's airs, and defended himself:
"How did I teach you? The purpose of our sect is to save the world and save people, and to subjugate demons and eliminate demons as its foundation. What is the reward for doing things?!"
Li Changan sighed. Along the way, he had seen the old Tao's soft-hearted behavior too much. With the old Tao's ability, the food, clothing, housing and transportation should not be so shabby. However, he was cautious on the one hand and refused to take on big business. He is a soft-hearted person who cannot bear the money of poor people.
Liu Laodao is a good person, but it's a pity...
Li Changan looked at the old Taoist and said seriously: "Master, we don't have to pay any more."
