Chapter 6: Ming Xiang
Over the past thousand years, Wu and Nuo have been separated and combined, and their influence has been profound. The profession of spiritual master, tracing back to Wu, has its roots in Wu, but occasionally uses Nuo rituals.
In the eyes of the world, the most significant feature of Nuo rituals is probably the masks. The "golden four-eyed" Nuo mask was recorded in the Zhou Li, but most people think that they used wooden masks.
The mask that Tan Xiao took out from somewhere was made of kraft paper, painted bright red and black, forming a feather-like pattern.
"I knew a wizard from Qi Province before, and they all used camphor wood masks." Mr. Xu touched his chin and said, no matter whether it is camphor wood, poplar wood, or willow wood, no matter which school, there may be differences in habits, but in his impression, wooden masks are basically used more often.
"Maybe it's to save costs. You see, they have already industrialized it. It's good enough that they don't use the electronic version." Mu Fei was still wondering if Master Tan had made some innovations after switching to another industry.
"…That's because the deity used in the sacrifice uses a 'dark phase', which is a wooden mask that covers the entire face, while the disciples who are offering sacrifices to the deity have to use masks made of paper, which also cannot cover the entire face, but leave it exposed, which is the 'bright phase'." It was not like Tan Xiao couldn't hear them talking, so he turned around and explained speechlessly. How could they suspect that their products were cutting corners? Cost control would not go to this extent.
Mr. Xu and Mu Fei smiled awkwardly and lowered their whispers.
"But he doesn't offer sacrifices to the Yuan Feng?"
"I remember it now. It might be because there was a peacock feather on the magic tool we saw at the bottom of the tomb. Tan Xiao said that the peacock was the son of Yuan Feng. The magic tool of the witch figurine is probably a replica of it. I guess they wanted to sacrifice to the son of Yuan Feng without having to bother two masters for the same thing."
They were almost right.
Not only spiritualists, but wizards in general all over the place have their own main gods for worship. They will worship whoever they think is the most effective, and add other gods as assistants.
But as a student whose main job is to be a minor spiritualist who works for his family during holidays, Tan Xiao has not decided who will be the main performer. Most of the time he just randomly picks one and puts it in the front, or even watches the reactions of tourists.
Tan Xiao had briefly used the King of Chu's magic weapon in the tomb last time. It had a peacock pattern on it. He had a vague spiritual response at that time, so this time he subconsciously chose to sacrifice to Yuan Feng's son.
Unable to bear the urge to interrupt them, Tan Xiao adjusted his mask again and recited the witch words. His tone had a strange rhythm, like singing: "Spring is known before the sunbird sings, and incense is burned before the gods are summoned. The incense smoke lingers in the misty hall, and the gate of heaven opens to form dark clouds..."
He murmured the chant, unconsciously immersed in the lyrics, with his eyes slightly closed.
As the dark incense flickered in half light and half dark, he seemed to see a pair of eyes again. His mind became clear like lightning, and only these two pupils remained.
In the time that seemed to be stagnant, Tan Xiao stared at him for a long time.
The ancient rituals represent thousands of years of favor, the lingering smoke emits a unique aroma, and all encounters here are like dreams, or perhaps the wizards are convinced that only by falling into a dream can they feel the spiritual response.
Thousands of things touched my heart, thousands of things changed my thoughts. Countless voices, seemingly invisible, were chanting mantras.
Suddenly, Tan Xiao didn't even know whether he closed his eyes or opened them, whether he saw or forgot, and whether these eyes appeared in the darkness or in his mind.
The slightly raised eyes seemed to appear nonchalantly, but they paused when they saw Tan Xiao. They recognized the young man from last time, as well as the extremely delicious, thoughtful, and extraordinary sacrificial food, which made their eyes sparkle.
The history that has passed away with the wind is too long, and wizards are no longer active on this land.
Even a thousand years ago, because of the Yuanfeng, few people offered sacrifices to him or asked for help. He stared at the young wizard for a long time, and while watching, he almost forgot to enjoy the sacrifice.
He was also certain that anyone who met Him would be impressed, without a doubt.
He seemed to be able to see the shock and admiration in the other person's eyes...
Then let it be him.
…
Everything happened in just a moment. Tan Xiao kept reciting the poem, pinching the "Big Dipper" seal with his hands, and then changing it to the "Golden Hook" seal, "One point is as big as the universe, and it can be carried for a month. It can collect all the evil spirits and go to the sky together!"
As he finished speaking, his hand touched Professor Mo's eyes - no, it was just a hair's breadth away, almost touching Professor Mo's eyeballs.
Professor Mo seemed to have received a huge shock, and his head tilted. After a few days of nutritional injections, he opened his mouth and vomited. Streams of transparent mucus came out of his mouth, which seemed to include some white flocs.
Tan Xiao stepped back suddenly. It couldn't be said that Professor Mo was vomiting, it was simply spraying. There was no time to catch it in a container.
He vomited about half a pot of vomit, and a damp fishy smell instantly filled the room, making everyone feel sick. Not only was the smell creepy, it also made them think of snakes. It didn't seem like human vomit, but more like snake saliva.
"Go dig some soil to cover it, then sweep it out and bury it!" Mr. Xu gave the order. The vomited stuff should not be thrown away randomly.
After Professor Mo vomited so much, he gradually stretched out his limbs and regained consciousness.
His two disciples rushed over to support him, anxiously asking if their teacher was okay.
Mr. Ji also rushed forward two steps, looked at him with concern, and everyone gathered around him.
Tan Xiao was anxious, and he also tried his best to squeeze in, like a spectator: "Let me see, let me see, what's the effect?"
Everyone: “…………”
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Professor Mo regained consciousness after a long while. He opened his mouth slightly and said weakly, "I'm hungry!"
The first word he uttered was "hungry".
Tan Xiao quickly served Professor Mo some chicken soup, and added tofu and fish.
These food offerings are also called "ghost food". People used to say that eating them can make people braver, so every family likes to give some to their children after the sacrifice. Now, feeding Professor Mo, who has just been possessed by evil spirits, is the right thing to do in all aspects.
Professor Mo grabbed the bowl with his skinny hands, almost snatched the food from the boy he didn't even know, and stuffed it into his mouth desperately.
I don’t know if it’s because of the simmering, but even the chicken soup tastes particularly delicious, refreshing and soothing to the stomach.
If you add some fish as a side dish, it will be even more delicious. The rich fish meat bursts with a strong aroma between the teeth, and the freshness is stronger than the aroma. After swallowing it, it around the internal organs. It’s a pity that he was seriously ill and couldn’t eat too much greasy food. He was stopped after only a few bites of fish meat.
Professor Mo looked at the fish eagerly and swallowed a few mouthfuls of tofu. Fortunately, tofu was also very delicious. He ate it as soon as he woke up and had no time to talk to anyone.
Ji Lao grabbed the fish meat and felt that everyone was staring at the dish. He said helplessly: "Are you here to see the sacrifice or to enjoy a feast?"
Everyone was embarrassed. We didn't expect Tan Xiao to have this skill...
They even suspected that Tan Xiao chose dishes deliberately to make them easier for patients to digest, such as chicken soup, fish, and tofu.
At this moment, Professor Mo's disciple suddenly realized: "Wait, Master, it seems that you haven't finished the ceremony. This sacrifice must have a beginning and an end. There must be invitation to the gods, sacrifice to the gods, and send off the gods, right?"
Tan Xiao was stunned and a little embarrassed.
He had never encountered a situation where someone was actually cured while a ritual was halfway through, so he immediately went to see the patient and had no idea that the ritual was not over yet.
At this time, even if I close my eyes, it seems that I can't see the other person.
Is he gone?
Tan Xiao wasn't quite sure either.
"It should be fine," Tan Xiao thought, "Professor Mo is already well now... How about I send him off now?"
Professor Mo's disciples looked puzzled and asked, "Do you want to just leave it alone?"
Tan Xiao made a crane gesture on the spot, meaning to send off the gods.
Professor Mo's disciples were now very respectful to Tan Xiao, but they were somewhat confused by this situation. Was there any sacrifice that started well but ended badly? It was different from the common sense he knew.
Although most of his knowledge came from literary works, such as it is easy to invite gods but difficult to send them away, and one must be thorough when dealing with ghosts and gods.
Tan Xiao was really perfunctory in sending the gods off, and he even planned to ignore it...!
Mr. Xu laughed twice: "This only shows that Chu witches are very retro. Do you know the difference between witchcraft and religion?"
He pointed at Tan Xiao and then at Mu Fei. These two represented witchcraft and religion respectively.
Professor Mo's disciple humbly asked: "Where is it?"
Mr. Xu is also a top student who graduated with a master's degree in religious studies. He happily said: "In the words of anthropologists: the most significant difference between religion and witchcraft is that religion is intended to please and persuade the gods, and regards the gods as personalities. Although witchcraft has direct dialogues with gods during sacrifices, in essence..."
He glanced at Tan Xiao and said, "Wizards regard the gods as inanimate objects. Their goal is to use all means, even coercion, to make the gods carry out the wizards' orders."
Today, many people see little difference between the two, and even believe that they do influence each other. But there are actually fundamental differences between them.
…Not to mention that Tan Xiao also has the buff of a cultural and tourism mascot, so it’s hard for him to think like a traditional wizard.
Professor Mo's disciples suddenly realized: "So that's how it is. So, the Chinese people often turn hostile to the gods when their prayers are not answered, and even whip the statues of the gods. This is also the origin of witchcraft."
Tan Xiao blinked. It was the first time for him to know that the two were distinguished in this way academically, and he hadn't really thought about it that much subconsciously.
At that moment, Professor Mo let out a long sigh and put down his bowl and chopsticks.
Everyone's attention was drawn to it.
At this moment, he finally regained his sanity. The old man rubbed his belly and said shyly, "Excuse me!"
How could everyone not understand? Just say he is well and send him back to the hospital for a physical examination. But then you will have to fool the doctor about how the patient was taken away and recovered in just a few hours.
"From what I just heard, it was this young comrade who saved me?" Professor Mo looked at Tan Xiao. Tan Xiao was a smart man, and he was not completely ignorant during his stiffness. He could still hear voices, but he just couldn't react. So he actually knew what was happening to him.
Tan Xiao was still dressed as a wizard, half wearing a mask. He waved his hand and said, "I'll try it too."
"Thank you so much!" Professor Mo grabbed Tan Xiao's hand and said, "You saved my life. I saw that you are so young, but you are so delicious!"
Tan Xiao: “?”
Everyone: “???”
Professor Mo pointed at the food and said, "Haha, I was wrong. After all, it was the first time I ate such delicious carp, and I was hungry for so many days. It left a deep impression on me."
The nutritional injection can only keep him alive, but don’t forget that he is conscious, and that feels so uncomfortable!
Carp is often seen on sacrificial tables, but it is not very popular in Southern Chu because it is difficult to cook well due to various reasons such as water quality. However, under Tan Xiao's cooking, the fishy smell is removed and the freshness is enhanced, showing the excellent flavor it should have.
This is far more than just a beautification of Professor Mo's hunger.
Everyone realized that Professor Mo was probably joking and burst into laughter. They felt that the tense atmosphere of the past few days had finally relaxed. They felt a sense of relief after having experienced a disaster and just glanced at each other, saying nothing.
After Professor Mo finished his joke, he said to Tan Xiao seriously, "Little comrade, which unit are you from? I don't know how to thank you." He has no special skills, but he should give a banner. He has heard about the identities of Mr. Xu and Mu Fei, so he thinks Tan Xiao also has a background.
"You're welcome, thank you." Tan Xiao paused. He didn't know what unit he worked at. "My unit is... Nanchu No. 1 Middle School, right?"
Professor Mo: “?”
He almost didn't react. What kind of unit was this? He thought it was either 404 or some other religious temple.
Professor Mo realized belatedly and asked, "Are you still a student?"
Tan Xiao nodded innocently.
"He's still in his second year of high school. You can call their school to thank them and say that he was brave enough to help you go to the hospital or something like that." Mr. Ji sat by the bed and offered some advice. "Hey, Lao Mo, you're finally sober. I have a lot to tell you. Did you know there's an altar in this tomb?"
Professor Mo noticed the transfer and his eyes widened: "Oh?"
"The burial objects this time are really rich, with many sets of musical instruments, jade articles, and many bamboo slips... These are all of great historical research value!" Mr. Ji thought, "Of course, there are also many snakes."
He slowly told the story of what happened in the tomb, including the nine male vipers he had seen recently surrounding the coffin.
Professor Mo slapped his forehead, so that's it. When he was in the tomb, studying the witch figurine, he suddenly felt something vomited on his face, covering his five orifices, and then he couldn't move.
"So, what should we do with this male viper now? Although it can no longer affect the excavation, classmate Tan, do you think we should move it to other places as soon as possible?" Old Ji looked at Tan Xiao and the others eagerly.
Tan Xiao had subdued Xiong Gui before, but Xiong Gui simply returned to the inner coffin. At that time, they decided to come up and rest first and deal with it later.
In fact, the 404 Office is responsible for the subsequent procedures, but Mr. Ji now trusts Tan Xiao more.
Tan Xiao looked thoughtful, "Well...actually, is it possible not to transfer it?"
Mr. Ji didn't understand at first, and the others were also confused. How could he want to let bygones be bygones after suffering such a big loss at the hands of the viper?
Mu Fei frowned and said, "Xiao Tan, you don't want to keep it as your subordinate, do you? It's a legendary creature. Usually, creatures of this level cannot enter the city casually even if they have been registered."
She knew that wizards dared to keep anything, just look at the King of Chu.
"No, no, why would I want it to be my subordinate?" Tan Xiao waved his hands repeatedly, fearing that he would be misunderstood. "I just remembered that the male snake can speak human language, so why not let it help to verify the cultural relics in the tomb? Even if it doesn't know the purpose of the cultural relics, it must know which King of Chu its boss is, right? Isn't it still not verified? I just think it's a pity, but I don't know if it complies with your procedures."
?! Yes, I was so scared that I forgot that this was a living artifact.
Professor Mo and Mr. Ji looked at each other, their hearts pounding: Let the cultural relics date themselves?
Shit, an unexpected path appeared!
