Chapter 043 Becoming a Demon
I stood in the courtyard of the Taoist temple and turned off the flashlight. It was quiet all around, so I didn't dare to make any noise. I cleared my throat and said with courage, "Is anyone here? I'm here to visit you."
After shouting twice, I heard a creaky sound and the corner door on one side of the inner hall opened, and a Taoist boy walked out. He was about my age, about 20 years old, with a handsome face and wearing a gray Taoist robe.
I have lived in a big city all my life and seldom went to temples or Taoist temples. I had never seen a real monk or Taoist priest. Now, when I suddenly saw one, I felt like I had traveled through time and was in a movie. Everything seemed so unreal.
Daotong stepped out of the doorway and stood at the corner gate. He made a strange finger print on his chest with his right hand, bowed slightly to me to show respect, and said, "Sir, my master wants to see you."
I wiped the cold sweat off my forehead, stepped across the yard, and came closer. The Taoist boy made way and signaled me to enter through the corner door.
I asked politely, "What's your name, young master?"
The Taoist boy pointed at the crescent-shaped mark on the front of his Taoist robe and said, "My Taoist name is Qingyue. Donor, please."
It turned out that his name was Qingyue. I calmed down, straightened my clothes, and went in through the corner door, with Qingyue following behind.
Entering the back hall, the area is not large and is clean. Opposite is an old table that serves as an altar. A person is enshrined on the main seat. This person is sitting cross-legged with his eyes slightly closed. He does not look very old.
I walked over and bowed to the man: "Senior, I apologize for my intrusion."
Qingyue laughed from behind: "That's not my master. It's the god worshipped in this temple."
I was shocked. This place was really strange. The object enshrined on the altar was not a clay or wooden sculpture, but a real person.
The inner hall was quiet. The man on the throne had a half-smile on his face, his eyes half-closed, and he seemed to be meditating. On both sides of him were floor-length yellow curtains, and at the top there was a horizontal plaque with three words written on it: Road of No Return.
On both sides of the curtain were ancient wooden pillars, with a couplet hanging high. The first line read: Forget joy, forget sorrow, forget love, forget hatred. The second line read: Nameless, surnameless, soundless, and breathless.
The atmosphere in the hall was eerie, with a strong sense of unease in the silence.
Qingyue said in a clear voice: "Master, the guests are here."
As soon as he finished speaking, a man came out from behind the curtain. I was stunned when I saw him. It was the middle-aged man I met in the elevator. He had an ordinary appearance and nothing eye-catching. He was the kind of person who would be hard to find in a crowd.
Now he is wearing a Taoist robe, holding a whisk in his hand, with an expression neither happy nor sad, and he really has the demeanor of a master.
Since I was a child, my father has told me many stories about strange people and things he encountered when he went out for exploration. He warned me that when I travel alone in the future, no matter who I meet, politeness is the first priority, otherwise I will offend people without knowing it.
I quickly bowed to the middle-aged man: "Hello, Master!"
He came to help me, suddenly grabbed my wrist and twisted it hard. I didn't dare to scream in pain. It turned out that he was looking at the bracelet on my wrist.
"Who gave this to you?" he asked.
"A friend of mine, her name is Wang Yue," I said.
"The ghost messenger Wang Yue?" he asked.
I nodded quickly.
He let go of my hand and said, "It's fate that you found this place. I warned you before not to be too curious and not to meddle in other people's business, but you still found this place."
"Master, I'm here in a hurry, otherwise I wouldn't barge in." I explained quickly.
The man turned around and asked Qingyue to bring three cushions.
Qingyue went down and soon came back with three cushions and placed them on the ground. The three of us sat in the shape of a character “品”.
I observed the two Taoists, they sat in a very formal posture, with their legs crossed on their knees. I tried to imitate them, but I couldn't do it at all, my legs were so stiff that it hurt even if I bent them lightly.
The middle-aged man said, "Just sit down. This is the Taoist sitting posture for practicing Buddhism, called the double-legged cross-legged sitting position."
Seeing that I was sitting firmly, he asked, "Tell me, where are you from and what are you doing?"
I didn't dare to hide anything and told him about my experiences during this period. The middle-aged man and his apprentice Qingyue listened quietly without interrupting me. Later, I was talking so much that my mouth was foaming, so I skipped a lot of details and just gave a general overview.
The middle-aged man nodded: "I see."
I said cautiously, "Excuse me, but you are..."
"Yes, I am Ma Danlong." The middle-aged man said, "You came to the right place to find the first volume of the Yinwen Tome. It is indeed with me."
From his tone, it seemed that he would not reject me. I secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said hopefully, "Can I..."
"Whether you can read this first volume depends on your personal fate." Ma Danlong interrupted me: "I won't stop you."
My throat moved. From what he said, it seemed that it was not that easy. What is the law of fate? What is the law of fate? How much is it worth?
Ma Danlong pointed to the real person enshrined on the altar and said, "Do you see this person?"
I exclaimed "Ah" and said I saw it.
Ma Danlong said word by word: "The person in the Yinwen volume you are looking for is this person."
"What?!" I was stunned when I heard it. I thought my ears were stuffed with donkey hair. I didn't understand it for a moment, so I scratched my ears hard and said, "Master, what did you say?"
Ma Danlong smiled. "The Yinwen Upper Volume is indeed in my hands. Many people have come to me and I always tell them that I will not stop you from looking for it, but whether you can find it depends on your fate. The Upper Volume you are looking for is the person on the throne."
I said, "I didn't understand, I thought it was a book..."
Ma Danlong interrupted me: "The person you see in front of you is named Liu Yang. He has a strange origin. Someone entrusted him to me to look after him a long time ago. You can't ask about the specific details. You just need to know that the first volume of the Yinwen Classic is in his mind, and only he knows how to decipher the Yinwen."
"Is he dead? Is he a mummy now?" I asked nervously.
Ma Danlong shook his head: "He is not dead, he just entered the void realm."
"What is the empty realm?" I asked puzzledly.
Ma Danlong smiled bitterly, "I don't know either. I only know that this method is called Five Aggregates Emptiness Meditation, and it allows one to enter the Emptiness in a state of concentration. It is an extremely profound method. I am completely unable to understand it, and even the explanation is incomprehensible. This method is not something that ordinary people can practice. Only by leaving the soul in the bardo first and then practicing in the bardo can one enter the emptiness."
I gasped. "Master Ma, I've been to the bardo. Are you saying that there are two levels of practice, the first is to enter the bardo from reality, and the second is to enter the realm of emptiness from the bardo?"
“That’s right.” Ma Danlong said, “You can say that the Void Realm is a higher spatial realm than the Bardo Realm. What is it like there? What does it feel like? Haha.” He smiled bitterly, “I can’t understand it.”
"So what should I do?" I asked.
Ma Danlong said: "There are two ways. One is to wait for Liu Yang to wake up and come back from the Void Realm. The other is for you to enter the Void Realm and wake him up. There is no third way."
My heart was pounding; none of these methods seemed feasible.
"How long has he been in there?" I asked.
Ma Danlong said: "He entered the Void Realm on August 8, 2014, and it has been almost five years now. When he wakes up," he paused: "It all depends on chance and luck."
"Master." I felt that Ma Danlong was very frank, so I stopped hiding it: "I also had a few friends who came in last night."
Ma Danlong nodded: "The middle three floors of this building are a unique barrier I built. It contains the ancient Taoist formation of all things returning to their origin. Not everyone can break in. You are lucky to find this place, in fact, it is because of the spiritual bracelet on your wrist. I also know those three people. They knew it as soon as they came in. I didn't let them go in order to punish them slightly. Since you said this, I will let Qingyue take you to find them and lead them out."
Qingyue sat aside and didn't say anything until this time she bent down slightly and said "yes".
"Master Ma, so, it was you who came out of our cave last night?" I asked with a blink.
"It's me." Qingyue said, "Master asked me to check where you came from. It was my fault for letting you in."
Ma Danlong nodded: "Qingyue is my disciple. I left him here to look after Liu Yang's body, which is also a form of retreat and meditation. You are so curious that you accidentally broke in and ruined his practice."
I quickly bowed to Qingyue: "I'm sorry."
Qingyue waved her hand: "After you leave, don't come in again. You can be an exception because you have the bracelet. I'll tell you how to come in, but don't bring other irrelevant people with you, otherwise you won't be eligible either."
I was sweating and quickly said yes.
"By the way, Master Ma, I encountered another strange thing." I told him what I saw Li Yang and Tongsuo in the dark just now. They were still there, but when the sound of knocking on the copper sound came, the two of them suddenly disappeared mysteriously.
Master Qingyue and disciple Ma Danlong looked at each other. It was obvious that they didn't know either and were not mentally prepared.
Ma Danlong murmured: "How could such a thing happen?"
I quickly asked, "Master Ma, do you know why we are here to investigate you?"
"Aren't you looking for books on Yin script?" Ma Danlong asked.
"I came here to look for negative writings. And those friends came here because of time confusion." I also told Tongsuo about how he accidentally saw the clock hands turning backwards.
An expert like Ma Danlong had an incredible expression on his face. He turned his head sharply and his eyes fell on Liu Yang.
"What's wrong, Master Ma?" I asked cautiously.
Ma Danlong murmured: "Could it be that Liu Yang has become a demon?"
