Chapter 36: Yin Chuan Yang Chuan
"Okay, then come with me!" Pan Jianjun was extremely anxious.
"I have one last question," Tan Xiao said. He had learned a little from following the archaeological team. "How old is this talisman? If it's a cultural relic, the Taoist priest can't mess with it, right? We have to protect it where it is."
Pan Jianjun: “…Ah?”
He was dumbfounded. Could they not just dispose of the lucky charms fished out of the river? They had to protect it where it was? What about the young people in their village who were in trouble?
Pan Jianjun scratched his head frantically: "Wait, I want to ask my dad, I don't know how many years this thing has been around."
"Boss, it's okay. Even if it's a cultural relic, we can use other rituals to replace it, and the relevant departments will take care of it." Tan Xiao comforted Pan Jianjun and tried his best to make this happen.
The main reason was that he was immediately attracted when he heard Pan Jianjun say that he could teach him a single prescription. Not to mention him, even if Tan Chunying was here, she would probably be immediately attracted.
Ethnic minority prescriptions are very popular nowadays. Many health shops and massage parlors use the names of various Yao medicines and Tibetan medicines, and provide people with Yao bath head treatments and the like.
And it seems like they don't know anyone from the 404 Office. This kind of thing can be coordinated by the 404 Office.
"Tan Xiao?" The teacher called Tan Xiao from not far away and found that he had not caught up yet.
"I'll talk to our teacher!" Tan Xiao saw the teacher and remembered that his consent was not enough.
Tan Xiao is a minor, and if he wants to leave the main group and stay behind alone, this must be done with permission from his parents and teachers.
Tan Xiao slightly modified Pan Jianjun's reasons and only said that Pan Jianjun's father's family wanted to discuss technical cooperation with his own family.
Sure enough, after Tan Xiao finished talking to the teacher, the teacher asked him to call Tan Chunying. Tan Chunying agreed with the reason and immediately said to the teacher: "I can pick him up myself later. Thank you for your help, teacher. He will not return to school for the time being!"
The teacher knew about Tan Xiao's family situation and thought that the village was relatively safe, otherwise the school would not have chosen this place as the practice site: "Well, since you have something to do at home, you can stay here by yourself. If you have anything, call me and tell me when you get home. Hey, you're here to talk about business during the practice activities..."
Or is it a technical and business exchange? The teacher is wondering what this Yao medicine can cure. Is it useful for hair loss caused by writing lesson plans?
"Thank you, teacher." Tan Xiao saw from afar that his classmates had already boarded the bus. There was a figure that seemed to be looking at him from the window. Judging from the position, it should be Kong Xuan.
After a while, Tan Xiao was tagged in the class group by Lin Yang: [Brother Xiao, why haven’t you gotten in the car yet? What are you talking to the teacher about? ]
Tan Xiao replied: [You guys go back first, there is still some water in my thermos, give it to Kong Xuan.]
Tan Xiao thought about it and said, "I want to stay here and exchange some experience with the wizards in the Yao Village."
There was silence for three full seconds.
Then in an instant, the class group was flooded with messages.
【Awesome】
【Master, I kneel before you】
【Hahahahahahahaha】
You can even see the expression of the head teacher Ji Huiming mixed in: [laughing and crying] [question]
…
The bus for Nanchu No. 1 Middle School has left.
Tan Xiao and Pan Jianjun walked back to his homestay together. Judging from their clothes, the middle-aged man who had come to see Pan Jianjun before was still here. Next to him stood an old man with a short buzz cut and wearing old cloth clothes. There were even spots of mud on his pants. He looked like an old farmer working in the fields.
This is indeed the case. His daily occupation is farming. Even at his age, he has not stopped working even though his family's conditions have improved.
From a distance, Pan Jianjun shouted, "Dad!"
Pan Jianjun's father was called Pan Longxiang. He hadn't finished tending the land at home today when he was hurriedly called over to help. He had just been talking to the middle-aged man next to him. When he saw the handsome young man standing next to his son, he nodded politely and said hello: "Daogong , hello."
"Hey, hello, little snake witch." Panlong Xiang shook hands with Tan Xiao. He spoke with a local accent, but it was not difficult to understand. "Sorry to bother you later."
"Dad Longxiang, can you please hurry up? If it gets dark, it will be even harder to find my son. It's too dangerous in the mountains. Dozens of people are wandering around and we can't find him." The middle-aged man next to him said anxiously, and his expression became more and more panicked as time went by.
When Tan Xiao heard what they said, he originally thought that they took the equipment just to set up the altar for re-releasing the Iron Turtle, but now after hearing what this person said, why is there something else going on?
"What mountain?" Tan Xiao asked. Was his son lost in the mountain? What was the connection with the Iron Turtle of the Pai Sect?
The middle-aged man glanced at Tan Xiao unintentionally, but he recognized him immediately and exclaimed: "I've seen you live, you are the drummer of that band!"
Tan Xiao: "..."
I'm not, I don't.
Tan Xiao wanted to explain, but Panlongxiang stopped him.
"Okay, okay, let's talk about it later. Let's get down to business first."
Panlongxiang glanced at his fellow villager. If he hadn't owed his family a favor in his early years, he wouldn't have made an exception for this and would not have even tried to trick the villagers into giving him the clothes back.
He frowned and said, "Lei Yong, what's the point of you getting anxious about this matter now? When your son dragged the iron turtle to your home, you didn't feel anxious? You have gone out to make a living, and you don't take the old rules of the mountains seriously."
"I have to find a way to get my belongings from the village above. Please prepare some pork and chicken for me here..."
He gave a list and asked the other party to prepare it so that Lei Yong would have something to do and not act crazy.
Lei Yong nodded and wrote it down. There was nothing he could do. He was one of the first people in the village to go to school. He was away from home most of the year and seldom came back. He had not thought of the old customs buried in his childhood memories for a long time. Especially strange things are afraid of light. Since the mountain was electrified and began to receive tourists, it seems that there are fewer and fewer people.
But this matter is too weird. Weird things keep happening at home, and there has been no news since the son disappeared. Only Father Longxiang can take care of it.
The witches in the village gradually changed their professions, went out to work, and even Father Longxiang stopped performing magic in the past two years. He was an old man, who had moved down from the Yao village on the top of the mountain, and he also knew about the Paijiao.
Moreover, Lei Yong knew that the masters usually had two kinds of magic medicine, and Pan Lao was also an excellent herbalist, and was more familiar with the roads in the mountains than anyone else, which was very important. However, Pan Lao insisted on having his own equipment before he was willing to help.
"Little snake wizard, please come with me. The ancestral hall is in the village on the mountain." Panlongxiang wanted to take Tan Xiao to his village on a motorcycle. The old man was still in good health and stepped onto the motorcycle.
Tan Xiao also got on the back seat, and Panlongxiang drove up the mountain road.
"Master, what did that uncle just say about looking for someone?" Tan Xiao asked curiously. He was responsible for fooling the ancestral hall, but he was also wondering what had happened.
This was originally a village matter. No matter whether it was the young people or Pan Jianjun, they were all secretive and did not want to tell the truth in front of Tan Xiao.
But Panlongxiang asked Tan Xiao to come for help. He has his own principles in dealing with things. Even though Tan Xiao is young, he cannot bully others. No matter how young Tan Xiao is, he is still a colleague.
"Have you seen an iron turtle at the entrance of our village?" asked Panlongxiang.
"Yes, there are lucky characters written in snake-foot script on it. I was also wondering if it is a cultural relic. Cultural relics cannot be moved casually, right?" Tan Xiao asked.
"That's not the case. Although that thing is old, it can't be considered a crime." Panlongxiang said.
Since Tan Xiao had seen the iron turtle and observed it carefully, Panlong Xiang believed that he knew something about it. After all, he was a spiritual master, so he spoke without reservation: "The young people in our village took Lei Yong's son who came back for vacation to Nanxi River to play. They touched the exposed iron turtle and lifted it up. They thought it was interesting, or something that could be sold for money. They discussed inviting people to come and see it, and even wanted to broadcast it live. After lifting it up, it was temporarily placed in Lei Yong's home.
"But this iron turtle was cursed by a magician of the Pai sect in the past to suppress the evil spirits in the river. They moved back rashly, and I was working in the fields all day, so I didn't know about it. After a few days, these young people were in trouble. The pigs, chickens, and sheep in the family were found to have lost their eyes one after another! They were not feeling well either. Lei Yong's son went crazy today and ran out of the house and ran to the top of the mountain. We haven't found him yet."
When Lei Yong's son ran away, his family members first looked for him, but they couldn't find him, so they mobilized the neighbors to help. It was a mess, and his companions who were trying to retrieve the turtle were scared. They wanted to throw the turtle away, but Pan Jianjun stopped them in time.
It's no wonder they were scared. When Qiyunyao said that the top of the mountain was not an ordinary mountain climbing route, but a deeper area where tourists were not allowed to go. Even ordinary Qiyunyao would not go into the mountains casually as it was too dangerous, unless they were going to collect herbs with professional guides like Panlongxiang.
Lei Yong’s son didn’t even bring his cell phone, so it was difficult for him to go to the police station to check his location.
"They searched for almost a whole day but couldn't find it. Only after the elders in my family reminded them did they remember to ask me for help. I said it was okay, but I had to use the method of our Yao witchcraft to get my belongings back and set up an altar for a ritual. Otherwise, not only can we not find it, but even if we do, I might not be able to survive."
After Panlongxiang finished telling the whole story, he didn't hear any response from Tan Xiao behind him.
He smiled and said, "Oh, you are still in school. Do you think the old man is exaggerating? Those are obviously just folk customs and coincidences. Young people are hysterical, suffering from collective hysteria." He knows that many of his current colleagues are also constantly looking for scientific and cultural explanations for these rituals.
Tan Xiao frowned. The old Taoist priest knew a lot of terms. That's right. Many phenomena of seeing ghosts and demons are explained in this way. Some are true and some are false. Just like Tan Xiao believed before, many problems are caused by parasites and food poisoning.
"No, I believe in you." Tan Xiao was just thinking about the iron turtle he saw, which was a real thing, but he didn't know the specific situation of those young people.
"I was thinking that there are two possibilities for what happened to them. One is that the thing in the river town escaped, and the other is that the town town backfired."
——Although the iron turtle was cast to suppress the river, it also has its own place. Moving it at will will have unexpected effects, or even bad things. This is why Panlong Xiang does not allow them to place it randomly.
"Hahaha, you're not bad! You're not trying to please me for my prescription, are you?" When Panlongxiang heard Tan Xiao's guess, hey, it's really rare, we are really of the same mind.
I know that their family has gone to perform, but I can't say for sure, is this young man just a little psychic? After all, there are real wizards in his family.
"Of course I want it to be one-sided, so I haven't returned to school." Tan Xiao did not shy away from it. After all, Panlongxiang had already agreed. "But I really believe it."
He never tried to hide it, even the incident with Sister Maomao was half true and half false.
"So, is this considered Yang Chuan?" Panlong Xiang asked with interest.
The wizards' inheritance is divided into Yin inheritance and Yang inheritance.
Panlong Xiang himself is a Yangchuan, and he learned it from his father. He memorized all the mantras, scriptures, and rituals word by word. How much spiritual talent one is gifted with depends on each person, as each generation is inferior to the previous one.
He also knew that there were people in the same profession who were taught by their ancestors or some senior who took a liking to them in their dreams. After a serious illness or a dream overnight, they could learn all kinds of spells. This was called Yin Chuan.
Considering Tan Xiao's family background, both situations are possible. It could be that he became enlightened on his own, or it could be that it was passed down from his ancestors.
Tan Xiao thought about it, "It's both Yin Chuan and Yang Chuan, let's call it family inheritance..." He received family education at home, but Peacock God also taught him some. However, Peacock God also lives in his house now, so it's right to call it family inheritance!
As they were talking, Panlongxiang's motorcycle had already arrived at the village on the mountain. The degree of Chinese integration here was not that deep. The ancestral hall was at the entrance of the village, but it was locked. Panlongxiang found the old man in the village, spoke a few words to him in Yao language, and then pointed at Tan Xiao.
The old man looked at Tan Xiao with his cloudy eyes and said in Chinese with a stern face: "Are you from the Tan family?"
——Whether in the field of folk wizards or folk tourism, the name of Tan Jia Lingshi is still quite famous.
Tan Xiao took out the family business card he brought with him and said, "Yes, hello, my family has discussed with the travel agency and now we want to develop a tourist route with Pan Daogong, called the Healthy Nanchu Tour. We will use Daogong's Yao family ancient prescriptions to develop a fumigation health project, experience the Wu Nuo culture of Nanchu Han and Yao, and also enjoy the sea of clouds in Qiyunling..."
Panlongxiang: “…” If he didn’t know, he would have thought it was true!
Tan Xiao's story was more detailed and true than Pan Jianjun's. Pan Jianjun just wanted him to fool people with his performance, but he made up a storyline to fool people more. After all, if we only talk about performance, they and Tan Chunying should be competitors, so it makes sense for them to cooperate on the same storyline.
Sure enough, the old man in the village believed it immediately. Many Yao villages in Qiyunling also had similar cooperation, including singing and dancing. It seems that Panlongxiang also wants to change his career. It's not shameful to want to make money, but...
"Well, can't you just make custom performance costumes and props? I know that many people's performance costumes are made of the same new clothes." The old man is not ignorant. There are many tourists who come to ride Yunling. He just feels reluctant to return the costumes. After all, it breaks the old rules.
"We want to develop a boutique route, so of course we need some old things for tourists to see. People can recognize factory goods." Tan Xiao responded quickly, "Don't worry, we ask Pan Daogong to perform, not to perform rituals, so it won't touch any taboos."
"In that case, then wait for me to bring it to you. But you can't break the rules, otherwise you will be the one who suffers the most." The old man reminded again, this time speaking to the Panlong Elephant.
"I understand." Panlong Xiang was well prepared. He would try his best to ask the ancestral gods to calm down.
Panlongxiang's equipment was buried in the soil under the ancestral hall. The old man called young and strong men to dig up the soil, revealing a large jar containing Panlongxiang's complete set of equipment for being a Taoist priest.
Panlongxiang held his outfit in his hands and stroked it lovingly, "Not bad, there are still people who help me oil and clean it regularly."
These were all handed down from ancestors. Unlike those donated to museums by Tan Xiao's family, these have been used by his generation without changing.
Time was urgent, so he picked up the things and immediately drove Tan Xiao back along the winding mountain road.
When Tan Xiao and Pan Longxiang went to get their luggage, Pan Jianjun had already helped set up the table at home, and arranged the incense, candles, paper money and other offerings neatly. After all, he had been influenced by this since he was a child, even though he did not take over the altar himself.
Panlongxiang put on his robes, with a long drum around his waist and a magic bell in his hand. Suddenly, his whole aura was different.
Panlongxiang's outfit also includes some Nuo masks. Nuo culture also has a long history in Qiyunyao, and they have a tradition of Nuo dance. But these masks are different from the style of Tan Xiao's family. It is said that according to the custom of Qiyunyao, all the masks in the hall are taken out from the same tree.
"Jianjun, get out. You haven't received the altar yet, so you can't watch." Pan Longxiang first drove Pan Jianjun out. Since he was not in this line of work, his son was not allowed to watch the core ceremony.
Pan Jianjun said unwillingly: "Then why is he still in there? Dad, you'd better be careful that he might learn something secretly." But he only taught one way and did not teach the other moves.
Tan Xiao: "..."
Don't mention it, now that he's seen through me, I really want to learn something.
"It's the ability of the snake witch to learn it." Panlong Xiang said, they have their own set of principles. Tan Xiao is in the same industry, if the ancestor of the hall agrees, then Tan Xiao can learn it, if not, Tan Xiao will not be able to learn it even if he sees it.
Besides, what Tan Xiao said on the way showed that he was a man with a heart. If he just followed Tan Chunying, it would be hard for him to get guidance from a real wizard. Well, since the young man was willing to believe, he also wanted to help a little.
"Just watch." Panlongxiang said meaningfully.
Tan Xiao sat aside obediently: "Okay, thank you, Daogong."
The Qiyunyao people believe in polytheism, and all kinds of natural gods and ancestral gods are worshipped by them. They also imitate other ethnic groups and religions, including witchcraft and other sects.
And like spiritual masters, almost every master worships different gods and will figure out his own set of gods.
Therefore, not only the ethnic minorities, but the entire Chu area's folk witchcraft advocates accepting everyone, and the ghosts and gods they worship are numerous and diverse.
Otherwise, why do people say that witchcraft is prevalent in Chu?
There are at least a hundred gods worshipped by the Qiyunyao masters. If the tribe holds a large-scale event, the total number of gods, both large and small, can gather four or five hundred.
There are also eighteen gods in the altar arranged by the dragon and elephant.
What Panlongxiang wants to pray to now is not the ancestral god, but the local spirit in charge of the mountains, forests and rivers, to ask where Lei Yong's child is and to ask him to come back on his own. If he cannot come back on his own, where to find him.
The offerings Panlongxiang placed in front of the shrine were roosters, pork, and other bacon at home, but unlike the spiritual masters, these were all raw. He stuck chopsticks vertically on the bowl and rang the magic bell, "I respectfully invite General Qiyun to come, and the fairy wind will blow down the imperial incense. Come in through the door and into the hall, and tell your disciples what to do. I know his surname and his name..."
He stepped on the Yu Steps and chanted the witch words. Panlongxiang's body trembled and shook his head, falling into a mysterious state. He hadn't performed a ritual for a long time, but when he did it today, he felt that it was very effective.
After just a few words of witchcraft, the incense and candles began to shake, and a draught blew through the hall. Panlong Xiang felt as if a deity was in front of him between the time he opened and closed his eyes. The deity was dressed in gorgeous clothes and had feathers on his head. He looked extremely luxurious and aggressive, as if he was looking for trouble.
Panlongxiang couldn't help but be stunned. It was strange. He had been practicing witchcraft for many years, but it was rare for the great god to appear in person. Most of the time, it was a conversation in the dark, or he would see him in dreams.
Moreover, after taking a closer look at the image, he felt that it did not match any of the 18 gods in his hall today, or even any of the more than 100 gods worshipped at home!
Even if he hadn't practiced for a long time, how could he forget the knowledge he had mastered for decades?
The god was very powerful, not like a rural evil spirit. What on earth had he invited unintentionally, and it looked angry? This was a difficult problem!
Panlongxiang's heart felt as if it was washed by snow and water. He asked cautiously, "Disciple, may I ask which deity is in the hall? What advice do you have for me?"
Tan Xiao, who was watching obediently, stared at the visitor's long hair and clothes, and the more he looked, the more familiar he looked...
Wait, it seems like you picked the clothes yourself.
No way?
Tan Xiao looked at the translucent figure and confirmed the fierce look!
Tan Xiao quickly stood up and said awkwardly: "...Wait, Daogong, I'm wrong, it seems like this person is looking for me."
Panlongxiang: “???”
