Chapter 26: Lifesaver
The big black dog flew over, pressed its two big front paws on my chest, and threw me to the ground. The moment I fell to the ground, my back hit the ground hard, and I felt a sharp pain. Then, the big black dog growled, opened its mouth, and a strong smell came out of its mouth.
"Xiao Hei!"
A low growl came from the yard. The big black dog whimpered and then took its two big paws away from me.
I took a few deep breaths, quickly rolled and crawled to my feet, dodged to the side, and glanced at the big black dog with lingering fear. Damn, it's so big, it must be a spirit!
"squeak!"
The wooden door made a low friction sound when it rubbed against the dirt floor. An old man walked out of the yard. He didn't look very old, but he was hunched over and was leaning on a cane. What was even more strange was that he was wearing a pair of sunglasses. It was winter now, and even if there was sunshine, it was warm, not as hot and dazzling as in summer.
The old man was dressed simply, in clean and simple clothes, which made him look a little thin. I even wondered if a gust of wind would blow his small body away in an instant.
"Well, old man, I'm here to find someone, a ..."
Then I remembered that I didn't even know the name of the Taoist priest I was looking for.
"A Taoist priest?"
The old man said. My eyes lit up, it seemed to be him, and I quickly replied: "Yes, yes, I am here to find a Taoist priest."
"I should be the only Taoist priest here. What do you want me for? But I haven't been a Taoist priest for many years."
I smiled in my heart, thinking of that song. I haven't been the eldest brother for many years. I collected my thoughts and said, "Old man, do you remember that 22 years ago, you passed by a mountain village called Yejiazhuang. There happened to be a little boy born in a family in the village, and you held him in your arms. You seemed to have said something about Zhongyuansheng."
"I was wondering why this breath seemed familiar. It turned out to be you."
The old man smiled as he realized something. I nodded and said, "Yes, yes, that's me. You still remember me, you have a really good memory."
"Time flies. It's been more than 20 years."
The old man looked a little sentimental, lamenting the passage of time and the ruthlessness of years.
"Did you encounter any strange things or incidents?"
The old man suddenly asked.
My eyes lit up. This old man really knew something. I nodded and said, "It's more than just strange. It's absolutely insane!"
"Eh? What?"
The old man was stunned. I smiled awkwardly. Damn, I used the wrong word. I quickly said, "I mean, it's really weird and scary. It's deadly."
"If you think about it, the time should be up. Although I don't want to bother with these things anymore, but since you found me, I'll show you. Just give me your hand."
I understood the last sentence, and quickly reached out my hand. The old man also reached out his hand, but he touched the air before grabbing my arm, then moved down my arm and pinched my wrist.
My heart tightened slightly, I looked at his sunglasses and asked, "Uncle, your eyes?"
"Hey, the yin and yang are surprisingly harmonious. No, this yin energy is the power of ghosts."
As he spoke, he suddenly squeezed my palm, looking a little surprised, and said, "You have actually opened the Moon Wheel. No wonder you are still alive."
I quickly asked, "Uncle, what exactly is Zhongyuansheng, and what are the sun and moon? What exactly happened when I was born?"
He let go of my hand, reached out and patted the big black dog beside him, and suddenly asked me: "Do you know what will make me blind?"
I was stunned. Why did you ask such a question? How could I know? Are you sick? Did you see something you shouldn't have seen?
"There is a saying that goes: Heaven's secrets should not be revealed. In fact, a long time ago, I was considered a happy person. I had a warm family, a virtuous wife, and a lovely daughter. At that time, I was young and frivolous. I thought I had learned some skills, and I didn't know how high the sky was and how deep the earth was."
He suddenly paused as he spoke, a look of sadness revealed on his face, and behind this sadness seemed to be more helplessness, a kind of helpless sadness.
"My master once warned me that destiny is hard to defy and God's will is hard to predict. Haha, destiny, God's will, what sacred words they are. Now I am blind, my daughter drowned, and my wife left me. Maybe this is God's punishment for me."
I felt as if a big hand was holding me in its palm, making it difficult and oppressive to breathe.
Suddenly, I felt a sudden pain in my temple. I shuddered and took my hand back, saying, "What am I afraid of? What's the saying? It's a blessing, not a disaster. If it's a disaster, it can't be avoided. Who cares about fate or God's will? I will live the way I want. Good or bad is my own business. It's none of their business."
The old man seemed stunned, and I was also slightly stunned, but then I thought that what I said seemed to be quite powerful, so I raised my head.
"Hahaha!"
The old man suddenly smiled and said, "You are just like me back then."
"Twenty-two years ago, I passed by your village. You had just been born, and your family had a banquet to invite the villagers to eat and drink. I happened to pass by and asked for a glass of wine. I also happened to see you who had just been born. The Zhongyuan Festival is also known as the Ghost Festival. On that day, the gates of the underworld are opened wide and ghosts are released into the human world. Therefore, people born on that day are called reincarnated ghosts, who are neither human nor ghost.
Under normal circumstances, such people can only live to a few years old, or a teenager, before the yin and yang of their bodies become imbalanced, and ordinary medical skills are still unable to treat them, and they will die. I left a formation on your hand that can absorb the breath of the yang world to suppress the yin in your body. However, as you age, the yang in your body gradually increases, and you will become more and more likely to encounter those unclean things, and eventually you will die because of the imbalance of yin and yang. "
He talked for so long, but I only remember that he mentioned twice that I might be doomed because of the imbalance of yin and yang. The yin and yang he mentioned should be those opposite things like heaven and earth, male and female, white and black. I also roughly know some other things.
When I was born, this Taoist priest happened to pass by and noticed something was wrong with me, so he used magic to carve something on my hand. It was because of that magic that I was able to go back more than 20 years, otherwise I would have died long before I knew these things.
In this case, the old man in front of me is my lifesaver. As the saying goes: a drop of water should be repaid with a spring, this life-saving grace is something that I can never repay in my lifetime.
