Ita Era

Chapter 21 Peach Blossom Village (19)

Ding Shi glanced at the main task on the interface. The main task was still to participate in the sacrifice. Originally marked as a ghost, it now had a demon mark. The demon clearly corresponded to the mountain demon.

The mountain path grew increasingly steep, transforming from a slope into steps. These steps were made of dirt dug out with hoes, and due to rain erosion, what should have been right angles were now angled. Stepping on these steps required a firm grip with the toes, further exacerbating Ding Shi's physical exertion and increasing the difficulty of the climb.

At this point, Ding Shi was completely certain of one thing: Master Baiyun was no ordinary person. Ding Shi had cheated through the system, turning his luggage into cards to lighten his load. Master Baiyun was seventy years old, yet he could carry 35 kilograms of luggage up the mountain; he must have mastered at least one technique of lightness.

The climb eventually came to an end. After nearly three hours of trekking, Ding Shi finally saw Baiyun Temple.

On the mountainside of Taoyuan Mountain, there is a strange rock shaped like an inverted U. Baiyun Temple is built in the middle of the U. The roof and floor are made of the mountain rock, and wooden walls are built on both sides for shelter from the wind.

Ding Shi stepped onto the last step and stood on the edge of the strange rock, with a plaque bearing the name "Baiyun Temple" hanging high in front of him. The front entrance was wide open, without a lintel, a threshold, or even a door. Shining a flashlight inside, he could directly see the statues of the Three Pure Ones enshrined on the stone platform.

Ding Shi's strongest impression of Baiyun Temple was its simplicity; it had almost no superfluous facilities. To the left of the main hall where the Three Pure Ones statues were located, a winding path led to an unknown destination. To the right of the main hall was a homemade stone bed, on which sat an old Taoist priest with a black beard, sitting cross-legged.

Inside Baiyun Temple, a dozen or so oil lamps were lit, so the lighting wasn't too bad.

The old Taoist priest's eyes gleamed, and he watched Ding Shi, who was looking around, without moving. Ding Shi pretended not to see him, took three incense sticks from the altar, and lit them with the oil lamp in front of the offering table. Holding the incense in his left hand, he fanned out the flame with his right, held the incense upright, and bowed three times, chanting incantations, displaying an extremely devout demeanor.

Regardless of his manners, the old Taoist priest was very satisfied with Ding Shi's behavior. He silently walked up to Ding Shi, bowed, and said, "Greetings, layman."

Ding Shi hurriedly turned around and bowed slightly in return, saying, "Greetings, Daoist Baiyun."

Master Baiyun nodded and asked, "What brings you here?"

Ding Shi said, “My name is Ding Shi, and I am the assistant to the village chief of Taoyuan Village. A few days ago, ghosts appeared in the village. Although they were dealt with by Blind Zhao, it also resulted in the deaths of some villagers. The village chief, after much reflection, realized that Blind Zhao was too incompetent to advance further, so he sent me, the smartest person in the village, to Baiyun Temple to learn some skills in exorcising demons from you, Master Baiyun.”

Ding Shi spouted nonsense so easily that he left Master Baiyun speechless. After a while, Master Baiyun finally said, "This way, please, layman."

There was a flat, large stone on one side serving as a table, and two relatively flat stones serving as chairs. An oil lamp was placed on the stone table.

Beside the stone table was a honeycomb briquette stove. After the two sat down, Master Baiyun placed the kettle on the stove to boil water.

Master Baiyun used the light of the oil lamp to observe the hour of Ding Shi for a while, and then said regretfully, "I do have some ability to suppress ghosts and subdue demons, but you, layman, cannot learn it."

Ding Shi was unconvinced: "Why?" He learned things very quickly. He was self-taught in all sorts of skills, including smoking, drinking, fighting, framing, exploiting, threatening, intimidating, sowing discord, picking locks, surfing the internet, and circumventing firewalls.

Master Baiyun smiled without saying a word: "If we are fortunate enough to meet again in a few years, we can have a detailed discussion by candlelight."

Ding Shi then took a step back, took out a talisman, and said, "Blind Zhao owes me a favor and gave me this. He said you can teach me hand gestures and how to draw talismans."

Master Baiyun took the talisman, glanced at it, and returned it to Ding Shi, gesturing for Ding Shi to look at his left hand. There were two movements: first, he clenched his fingers together; second, he extended his index and middle fingers, pointing towards the talisman.

The movements were very simple, and Ding Shi imitated them perfectly on his first try.

Master Baiyun corrected Ding Shi's movements, saying, "The five fingers form a lotus. When the five fingers are brought together, there is no distinction between high and low, and the fingertips resemble a lotus flower at the base. This is also the starting posture for most talismans. That's right, just like that. The second movement is to form a sword with two fingers, taut, and forcefully penetrate to the fingertips. Good, just like that."

Ding Shi performed the hand seals a few more times, gaining Master Baiyun's approval. Ding Shi then made his second request: "Master, how is this talisman drawn? I've studied it for a long time, and it's very difficult to draw it in one stroke." Master Baiyun smiled, poured hot water into Ding Shi's and his own teacups, bent down, picked up a piece of coal ash from the ground, and began drawing on the stone table, explaining as he drew: "This talisman contains the power of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, drawn in the order of mutual generation. Metal generates water, water generates wood, wood generates fire, fire generates earth, and earth generates metal. You can use any one element as the main element, with the other four as secondary elements."

Master Baiyun broke the talisman into five parts, with four auxiliary lines in the upper left, lower left, upper right, and lower right, and the middle line as the main line.

A talisman with metal as its main element must begin with the character for water, and then be drawn in a series of strokes to form the character for metal in the center.

This is the main framework; there are many more details. For example, the water-generating-wood symbol uses the raindrop method. The key to drawing raindrops is to create continuous dots, which is the most difficult aspect of the water-generating-wood symbol.

Ding Shi only then realized there were these intricacies. He and Blind Zhao originally thought that by finding the beginning of the thread and drawing it to the end, they could complete the talisman in one stroke.

Ding Shi immediately thought of finding a photocopier to produce talisman paper indefinitely. Now, listening to Master Baiyun decipher the talisman, Ding Shi realizes that every word, every dot, and every stroke on the talisman paper has its own meaning.

Master Baiyun had a very kind personality and patiently taught Ding Shi how to thoroughly understand the talisman. Still not satisfied, Ding Shi asked a third question: "Master, what kind of talisman is this?"

This question stumped the kind-hearted Taoist priest Baiyun. Others' order was: What is this? How do you draw it? Ding Shi's order was: How do you draw it? What is this?
Master Baiyun asked, "You don't know what kind of talisman this is, so why do you want to learn it?"

Ding Shi explained: "Confucius said: 'To learn and at due times to practice what one has learned.'"

Master Baiyun didn't understand: "Is there any connection?"

Ding Shi explained: "Learn first, then practice."

Master Baiyun, though puzzled, finally spoke after a long pause: "This is called the Five Thunder Talisman: Metal Thunder, Wood Thunder, Water Thunder, Fire Thunder, and Earth Thunder. If metal is the main element, it is Metal Thunder; if wood is the main element, it is Wood Thunder."

Ding Shi asked, "Is it powerful?"

Master Baiyun replied, "That depends on the person who draws the talisman's understanding of the Five Elements."

Ding Shi: "Please instruct me, Daoist Master."

Master Baiyun didn't hide anything, saying, "The Classic of Difficulties says, 'I was born as a mother, and I was born as a son.' The Spring and Autumn Annals says, 'Wood is the beginning, and water is the end...'"

It sounds simple, just the theory of mutual generation and restraint. But it's not simple at all; it contains Master Baiyun's own unique insights into the Five Elements.

To give a simple example, fire overcomes metal, which sounds like a bad thing for metal. However, Master Baiyun believes that if metal is not overcome by fire, it cannot take shape or become a useful object; fire overcoming metal is what makes metal stronger. The same applies to metal overcoming wood, and so on.

The two exchanged questions and answers, and several hours passed just like that.

During this time, Ding Shi also inquired about the materials used for the talisman paper, which was a very complex issue. Theoretically, cinnabar and yellow paper would suffice, but in practice, ink, chicken blood, gold powder, white paper, green paper, and gold paper were also used.

Taking the Five Thunder Talisman as an example, if one has their own understanding and experience of the Five Elements, they can choose the most suitable materials for themselves. If one's understanding of the Five Elements is limited, Master Baiyun recommends using cinnabar and yellow paper.

While ink's exorcising power isn't as strong as cinnabar's, it can imbue the artist with their spiritual essence. Taking the Five Thunder Talisman as an example, ink can enhance the strength of a particular line based on the artist's characteristics. Cinnabar, though universally applicable, requires precise proportions, and there's no single, perfect ratio. Only by understanding the talisman's function and the artist's abilities can one create the most suitable cinnabar mixture.

(End of this chapter)