Dao Qi Wu Zang Guan Guan: I became a Daoist Master in the 1990s

Chapter 130 Old Taoist Pine Breeze
At noon, the sun was blazing.

Without further hesitation, the old Taoist priest Songfeng flicked his whisk, his voice like metal striking the ground: "The auspicious time has arrived. Those born in the years of the Dragon and Tiger, take your places and lift the coffins!"

The eight strong men who had been waiting under the shade of the tree stepped out in response, their bare chests revealing their bronze backs and bulging muscles. They strode to the edge of the grave and stood in a line.

Although they were all the strongest men in the surrounding area, everyone's face was tense as they faced this strange coffin.

The old Taoist priest solemnly ascended the simple ritual platform that had been set up earlier.

His disciple, Sun Miao, a middle-aged man with a capable-looking face, respectfully presented him with a black Taoist crown with cloud patterns.

The old Taoist priest accepted it with both hands, solemnly put it on, and it immediately added a touch of majesty.

Sun Miao then handed over a peach wood sword with a dull, oily sheen and made from the heartwood of a tree struck by lightning.

The old Taoist priest held a sword in his hand, his expression solemn, and he chanted incantations, all of which were obscure ancient spells.

He pointed his fingers like knives and swiftly swept them across the peach wood sword's edge. A faint light seemed to emanate from his fingertips, carrying a trace of extremely faint yet pure true qi that attached itself to the sword.

This faint radiance, barely visible to ordinary people under the blazing sunlight, could not escape Qi Yun's eyes.

"Stepping the Dipper!" the old Taoist shouted, his feet moving in a mysterious footwork, his body darting about, his peach wood sword dancing in the air, cutting through the air and creating a whistling sound.

The sword's momentum suddenly solidified, and the tip of the sword pierced through the stack of yellow paper talismans on the altar with precision!
Immediately afterwards, he flicked the tip of his sword, directing it toward the burning candlelight nearby.

boom!
The talisman instantly ignited, turning into a ball of ghostly blue flame, which then extinguished, leaving only ashes that fell in a soft rustling.

Sun Miao had already prepared eight white porcelain bowls filled with water.

The old Taoist's sword tip trembled slightly, guiding the remaining ash from the talisman to fall evenly into eight bowls of clear water. The water immediately became turbid, turning a strange grayish-black color.

Immediately afterwards, Sun Miao took a large, robust rooster with a fiery red comb from the man next to him.

The rooster seemed to know its end was near, and it struggled and clucked fiercely.

Sun Miao moved swiftly, gripping the chicken wings and head tightly with one hand, while the other hand flashed a short knife, instantly slicing open the chicken's neck. Hot chicken blood gushed out and dripped into the bowl of water.

When the ash water met the blood, it did not mix. Instead, it spread out in thin strands like ink in water, turning the liquid in the bowl a dark red and deep color, with a strange smell that was a mixture of fishy sweetness and sandalwood.

"This is the 'Yang-Protecting Soup'! It can protect you for a time, preventing the invasion of Yin evil!" The old Taoist's voice was like a booming bell, and he pointed his sword repeatedly, signaling the eight strong men to step forward.

Sun Miao immediately dipped a new brush into the mixture of talisman blood and applied it to the foreheads of the eight men in turn.

As a dark red dot fell, the men all felt a chill between their brows, as if a faint warmth had seeped in, dispelling the inexplicable chill around them and calming their anxieties.

The old Taoist priest was performing a ritual, using talismans, fire, and blood sacrifices. The steps were complex and full of ancient charm, captivating the two or three hundred onlookers around. They didn't dare to breathe, feeling that it was a hundred times more exciting than the operas performed in the city. If it weren't for the solemn occasion, they would have almost applauded and cheered.

Today's excitement is definitely worth it!
Qi Yun, mingling in the crowd, stood with his hands behind his back, a faint smile playing on his lips.

In his eyes, this old Taoist priest Songfeng was indeed a true Taoist priest with cultivation and nobility, not a charlatan. The thin true qi attached to the peach wood sword was genuine; it was just that his cultivation was shallow, and under the bright sunlight, that bit of true qi was so weak that it could be almost ignored.

He thought to himself, "If this old Taoist priest can really handle it with his own skills, it will save me the trouble of taking action, and I can continue on my way."

As his thoughts raced, he turned to a fellow villager beside him who was watching with great interest and asked, "Brother, what kind of heinous and despicable thing did the Zhou family do to disturb even their ancestral graves?"

The fellow villager was engrossed in watching when he heard the voice and turned his head. Seeing that Qi Yun was an unfamiliar face and his accent was not from the local area, he immediately became interested in talking and lowered his voice to say, "Hey! You're from out of town, aren't you?"

You've come to the right person! The Zhou family has done all sorts of despicable things!

He glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention, then launched into a tirade, spitting as he spoke: "They seized three mu of irrigated land from Old Man Li in the neighboring village, insisting it was theirs, driving Old Man Li to hang himself; they lent money at exorbitant interest rates, which compounded until Wang Wu couldn't repay, so they broke his leg, and his wife was taken to pay off the debt, ending up drowning herself within two days; and that's not even the worst of it, that old murderer from the Zhou family..."

He pointed to the old man Zhou being helped in the distance, "He took a fancy to the daughter of the tofu seller Yang family and forced her into the mansion to be his seventh concubine. The girl was strong-willed and refused to submit, and hanged herself on the peach tree in the backyard of the Zhou family that very night!"
I heard…I heard that before she died, that old bastard fed her medicine, wanting to use her…to grow some kind of 'yin jujube'! What a sin! Truly, she was rotten to the core!

Several people nearby gathered around upon hearing this, adding their own comments, all filled with righteous indignation.

Qi Yun listened quietly, his face calm, but his eyes gradually turned cold.

Just as everyone was getting into the gossip, the old Taoist priest had already completed the ritual at the grave. The eight burly men, who had been given the "Evil-Repelling and Yang-Protecting Soup," took a deep breath and jumped into the grave. The space inside the grave was already small, and it felt even more crowded with eight people inside.

They first looped the thick, long hemp rope around the head and tail of the coffin and tied a tight carrying knot.

"One, two, three—Go!"

As the shouts rang out, the eight men exerted their strength at the same time, veins bulging on their foreheads, muscles bulging all over their bodies, and the soil beneath their feet was shoved deep!

However, the black lacquered coffin seemed to have taken root, becoming one with the earth, and remained completely still!

"Huh? This is weird!"

"Keep it up! Drink!"

Everyone strained again, their faces turning red and purple, but the coffin remained as stable as Mount Tai, without even a tremor.

"That's strange! This coffin is so heavy!" a man exclaimed, panting heavily.

"Could it be...could it be inside?" another person struggled to finish, their voice already filled with surprise and doubt.

The old Taoist priest, Songfeng, standing by the grave, suddenly frowned, his expression darkening.

"Master, could this...could this be my father in the coffin...not wanting to leave?"

The old man from the Zhou family leaned closer and asked in a trembling voice.

The old Taoist priest remained silent, took three incense sticks, lit them, and jumped into the grave himself.

He gestured for the strong men to calm down, and then carefully inserted three burning incense sticks into the soil in front of the coffin.

Inside and outside the grave, there was complete silence. Everyone held their breath and stared intently at the three incense sticks.

The burly men in the pit felt like every second was an eternity, cold sweat trickling down their spines, terrified that the coffin lid would suddenly explode and some thing would jump out.

Time passes slowly.

The incense sticks burned quietly, and the smoke rose straight up.

Finally, the incense went out.

It was crystal clear that there were two short and one long lines!
People fear three long and two short, just as incense should not be two short and one long!
This is a very bad omen!

The old Taoist's face instantly turned extremely ugly.

He climbed back onto the pit, quickly walked to Old Man Zhou's side, lowered his voice, and spoke very fast: "Master Zhou, the situation is not good!"
The coffin was filled with extremely heavy Yin energy, connected to the earth's veins and drawing upon the power of the earth, making it exceptionally heavy and impossible to move by ordinary force! Something truly might have happened to the person inside!
It is only thanks to the yang energy at noon today and the yang energy of everyone that it dares not make any moves.

The only course of action now is... to burn it immediately to prevent future trouble!

"What? It burned... burned?"

Upon hearing this, Old Man Zhou was struck dumb, his face turning deathly pale. He waved his hands repeatedly, “No! No! Daoist! Moving the grave is already a great disrespect. If we were to burn the corpse as well, how could my Zhou family have any face to stand in Wuling?”
You'll be cursed by your neighbors for a hundred years! You...you must think of another way, I'll spend any amount of money!

The old Taoist priest looked troubled. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "If you insist on moving it... the only way is to first try to seal off the evil energy, temporarily severing its connection with the earth's veins, and then use an ink line to seal the coffin multiple times. That might be worth a try. But this will require a great deal of effort and carries considerable risk..."

Just as the old Taoist priest and Old Man Zhou were discussing countermeasures in hushed tones, Qi Yun sighed softly: "It seems that I still have to take action. We need to finish this quickly and then continue on our journey!"

Having made up his mind, Qi Yun immediately stepped forward, parted the crowd, and walked straight toward the grave pit.

The fellow villager who had been gossiping with him was startled and hurriedly tugged at his sleeve: "Hey! Young man! Are you trying to get yourself killed! The Zhou family won't let us pass! Offending them is no laughing matter!"

The Zhou family is powerful; they'll deal with you later!

Qi Yun didn't turn his head, but just smiled calmly: "It's alright."

(End of this chapter)