Volume 1 Chapter 054: Stealing the Master
"Everything in the world is available for you to take and demand. If you want to get one of them, you must pay the corresponding price. It may be hard work or blood and tears. If you want to master a skill, which one does not require a lot of practice? Of course, there are spells that you can recite a few times at random, but you have to exchange your life for it! You usually boast that you are a little smart, but you don't even understand such a simple truth. Is it unfair to say that you are stupid?"
Qingzi is usually a quiet woman who doesn't talk much. Today, she talked so much for once. Although her tone was harsh and aggressive, I didn't feel any rebelliousness. I just felt like a child who had done something wrong and was listening to his parents' lecture.
When I was with my uncle before, he would always scold me when I did something wrong. But although this old man looked fierce on the surface, he loved me very much in his heart, and I knew him thoroughly. So even though he acted like a strict father, I was not afraid of him at all. Although I loved to talk back to him, I still listened to what he said.
But Qingzi was different. Perhaps it was because of the experience in the ancient tomb in southern Xinjiang, I had a sense of awe towards her from the beginning. Although she spoke harshly at this time, it was actually because I made a big mistake, and she was patiently teaching me like a parent.
I really like this somewhat unfamiliar feeling.
Now that I think about it, she left me under the sun not as a punishment, but because my yang energy was too depleted. But it was really humiliating that she took off my pants and exposed everything.
"Why are you acting so weird? Are you still not convinced?"
When I heard Qingzi's cold voice coming over, I suddenly woke up. It turned out that I was happy and embarrassed at the same time when I was thinking about it just now. My face couldn't help but become strange, and I hurriedly shouted in a serious manner that I accepted it.
Qingzi looked at me for a few times, then ignored me and went back to his room. I stood there for a while, then turned to the "Resurrection Mantra" in the thin booklet in my hand and read it for a few seconds. Thinking of the time at the bottom of the well, I couldn't help but feel a lingering fear. Fortunately, I was lucky that I didn't faint at the bottom of the well, otherwise there would be another dead body in the well by now.
Just as I was thinking deeply, I heard someone inside calling out, "When is dinner?"
I was startled and looked up at the sky. The sun was already setting and it was almost noon. I hadn't eaten since last night and was already starving. I quickly responded and went to the kitchen to get busy.
While eating, I took a few bites of rice and stole a few glances at Qingzi. I saw that her long eyebrows were relaxed and she didn't seem to be upset about what happened before. So I asked, "What is the Zhengyi Sect?"
Qingzi ate his meal leisurely and ignored me. After a long time, he replied: "You don't even know this. What ?"
My face turned red. I have lived in our small mountain village since I was born, and the most common things I have come into contact with are all kinds of corpses. Teacher Tian is considered the most knowledgeable in our school, but he would never tell me about the Zhengyi School.
"That person didn't tell you either?" Qingzi picked up a vegetable and ate it.
I was slightly stunned, and immediately understood that the "that person" she was referring to was the dead face. I couldn't help but be a little speechless. In fact, I really didn't know anything about this dead face. I didn't even talk to him for a few words. As for his background and origin, I didn't know anything about him. I could only say vaguely: "Well... I'm not very familiar with him."
Qingzi stopped and looked at me, seeming a little strange.
"I don't know you very well, so I gave you all my belongings?"
I felt a little uncomfortable with her look . But after she said that, I thought about it and it was true. Ever since I first saw Dead Face, I have been suffering at his hands. But judging from the box of things he left for me, it was probably all his assets.
Qingzi was only slightly surprised, and quickly turned his eyes away from my face, put down his bowl and chopsticks, took a sip of tea, and said, "Zhengyi Sect is a Taoist sect. Taoist priest, you should know this, right?"
My face turned red when I heard this. Even though I was a bumpkin, how could I not know ?
Qingzi ignored me and continued: "Zhengyi Sect originated from Tianshi Dao in the late Han Dynasty. It is a major sect of Taoism."
As soon as I heard the name Tianshi Dao, I knew it and blurted out excitedly: "Tianshi catches ghosts! It turns out that Zhengyi Dao is Zhang Tianshi of Longhu Mountain!"
At that time, the story about Zhang Tianshi of Longhu Mountain catching ghosts and exorcising evil spirits was still widely circulated among the people. In our village, both adults and children knew about it.
Qingzi ignored me and said, "Zhengyi Sect is just a general term. It is also divided into Tianshi, Maoshan, Qingwei, Lingbao and other things. It makes it very complicated."
Of the names she mentioned, there were two that I was familiar with, Tianshi and Maoshan. Zhang Tianshi of Longhushan was well-known among us kids, and Maoshan was also very popular among the people due to the popularity of ghost-hunting movies in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
As for Qingwei, Lingbao and the like, I have never heard of them. I think they are some Taoist sects.
"So is this Hui Yang Curse from the Tianshi Dao or the Maoshan Sect?" Hearing Qingzi say this, I thought, could this dead face be from the Tianshi Dao or the Maoshan Sect? Or is this dead face simply a Tianshi? But then I thought, this dead face's surname is Zhong, and it seems that all Tianshis have the surname Zhang.
Qingzi said: "This Huiyang spell is not a rare spell. These sects probably have it."
I said "Oh", not quite understanding.
"Tianshi, Maoshan, and Qingwei, they are boasting about being the three major talisman sects. Although their other abilities are not that great, they are quite good at rune spells. You can learn from them."
When I heard her say that, I immediately took advantage of the situation and said, "Can I ask you if I don't understand something? Otherwise, you will just learn blindly and end up dying on the spot. You won't even have anyone to cook for you or wash your clothes."
Qingzi ignored me and said coldly: "It depends on my mood."
When I heard that she didn't reject it on the spot, I knew it meant there was a chance. I lost my appetite and simply went into the house to move out the box that Dead Face had left for me, so that Qingzi could take a closer look and see what was inside.
Qingzi picked up the book and flipped through it casually, glancing at each item briefly and saying, "This person is quite interesting. He has a deep understanding of the Zhengyi School's stuff, but it's not from any of their schools."
Qingzi said that he was not talking about any sect, which meant that although this dead face was proficient in many skills of the Zhengyi Sect, he was not from any sect such as the Tianshi Dao, Maoshan Sect, or Qingwei Sect. I was a little surprised. According to legend, these Taoist sects are very strict about accepting disciples and teaching. They will not teach to non-disciples. If this dead face is not a disciple of these sects, how could he learn these skills?
Qingzi flipped through a few more books and said, "This man's greatest skill should be numerology."
I blinked my eyes when I heard it. This was another term I had never heard of. Qingzi saw me in a daze and said, "It seems that you haven't suffered enough in that room."
When she mentioned the house where I had a hard time, I immediately thought of the haunted house called Dead Face. I was trapped in it twice and nearly died in it both times.
"Could it be..." I suddenly had a flash of enlightenment, "It's that trick?"
Qingzi put the book down and said, "Arranging the formation is just one of the secret methods of numerology. You can slowly experience the others by yourself." He took a sip of tea and said, "This person is quite interesting. I'm afraid he stole all the things of the Zhengyi Sect."
I exclaimed, very surprised. I was not surprised at how the dead face secretly learned the Zhengyi School's things, but I was curious about how Qingzi saw it.
"Look at these notes he wrote down, and you'll know that a lot of what he learned is not authentic."
I was shocked. It turns out that this dead face has not been able to master the knowledge learned from others. Fortunately, I didn't learn it randomly, otherwise there would be some problems.
"Why are you so nervous? This guy is much more capable than you think. Although some of his techniques are not authentic, they are not necessarily bad. He even made some improvements on some of his original techniques, which is quite creative."
I didn't expect Qingzi to have such a high opinion of Dead Face. However, judging from my previous experiences with him, although this old guy has a weird temper and a hard heart, he is indeed very capable.
