The Three Pure Ones' Secret: Expressing Spirit

Seeing that the old man was acting mysterious, I urged him, "Uh, bro, just tell me your name. I don't understand why you're saying so much."

Fan Biao smiled somewhat awkwardly: "The feng shui formation nearby has a name; the hillside we're standing on now is called 'Golden Toad Offering Treasure.' But the mountains stretching for dozens of miles behind form an even more powerful feng shui formation, and the hill we're standing on is its feng shui position. This hill is situated on a dragon vein, and feng shui classics call this kind of formation 'Wandering Dragon Swallowing Pearl.' If I'm not mistaken, there should be a large burial ground behind this mountain, but these people haven't found the location. I only figured it out a few days ago."

Seeing how impressive he sounded, I secretly thought to myself, with such good feng shui, if Old Qiu is buried here, wouldn't his family be even more powerful?

Seeing me lost in thought, Fan Biao nudged me with his shoulder: "Hey, what are you thinking about?"

I paused for a moment, then shook my head: "It's nothing, I just don't understand. With such amazing feng shui, if that old man is buried here, wouldn't his descendants be destined for great success?"

Fan Biao stroked the few hairs on his chin: "It's hard to say. I only have a superficial understanding of feng shui. I can only see the situation, not the fortune. For feng shui, you have to look at the Qimen Dunjia technique from the Three Pure Ones. They specialize in this kind of thing. Moreover, the Three Pure Ones Qimen Dunjia technique can not only utilize natural feng shui, but also use the methods in Qimen Dunjia to enhance the surrounding Dao energy on oneself as a means of attack and defense."

I only have a superficial understanding of feng shui; perhaps I can use methods like the Eight Trigrams and Five Elements. But Fan Biao said he could only see the shape of the land but not its fortune. I was puzzled. If he wasn't sure, how could he dare to persuade the Qiu family to bury the old man here? What if this place is an inauspicious site?

So I asked him doubtfully, "Uh, you're not even sure about this? You think you can bury someone like this?"

Fan Biao chuckled mischievously, saying somewhat nonchalantly, "Even with the best feng shui, if a person's character is flawed, not even a deity can save them. Good feng shui is also related to one's own cultivation; otherwise, all those emperors throughout history, despite their immense power, would have seen dynasties rise and fall. Feng shui is merely an aid; it cannot completely change the fate of one's descendants!"

Surprisingly, what the old man said actually made some sense. Then, seeing that the old guys had stopped what they were doing, he went over and offered them cigarettes.

I went over to take a look. The grave seemed to have been dug. Old Fan was standing a few meters away from the grave, pointing his finger at it and gesturing something. I saw him with one eye open and one eye closed, as if he was measuring something.

He then walked over to the group and said, "It's still a foot short. Remember to cover it up later, as it's prone to heavy rain in this weather."

Several old men took a measuring tape to take the measurement. They didn't seem to question Fan Biao, but rather to confirm it. After they finished measuring, they flattered Fan Biao: "Young Master Fan, you've really mastered the craft. This one looks pretty much right."

I felt a little awkward looking at the old men's flattering faces. Old Fan seemed to be used to their praise and didn't take it seriously at all. He simply put away his usual joking around in front of me and said to the old men in a serious tone, "You must dig the right size. No joking around. Use yin numbers, not yang numbers. I have other things to do. Call me if you need anything!"

Old Li looked at Fan Biao and asked with a grin, "How's the setup for the ritual going?"

Fan Biao lit a cigarette, took a drag, and then said, "I don't know either. I was just worried you guys might have run into some problems, so I came to check on you. I'm going back now, you guys take your time!"

Fan Biao then led me back to the Qiu family's courtyard. Once inside, we found a large crowd had gathered, and wreaths and funeral banners were placed everywhere. Old Fan walked over to a large speaker, plugged it in, and tested the microphone. He fiddled with the speaker for a while, then started playing funeral music.

I was quite bored in the crowd, occasionally helping Fan Biao out. But I found that you can make a living in the funeral industry pretty quickly. After wandering around aimlessly in the crowd all day, it was evening before I knew it. In the first half of the night, Fan Biao and Grandpa Wu, along with their men, were banging gongs and drums. I was quite idle, so I went over to the funeral band and asked them to give me the gong.

Anyway, I was pretty bored, so I joined in and started randomly banging along to their drumbeats. Nobody seemed to care anyway.

Many of Qiu's relatives and friends came to the courtyard. They set up six or seven mahjong tables in the courtyard and gambled under the guise of sending off Old Man Qiu. They have been playing since the afternoon.

As I watched the laughing and joking people moving about in the noisy crowd, I found myself unconsciously tapping my gong. Perhaps it was about time, so we stopped what we were doing. I had originally thought we were going to pack up and go to bed, but the Qiu family had arranged some entertainment. I saw a group of women dressed in flamboyant clothes singing and dancing.

Watching the people come and go, I couldn't help but feel that life is somewhat fleeting. It seems that fate is quite fair; although people are born differently, their final fates are all the same. Some people in the crowd were talking and laughing, children were running around, and others were busy conversing, but Old Qiu, lying in his coffin, remained silent. His soul had been confined to a small bottle by Fan Biao. If he were released now, and allowed to see his relatives who slept in the morning, gambled in the afternoon, and sang and danced at night, what would he think?

As I was thinking, I snapped out of it and realized that I was being a bit sentimental for some reason. These things didn't seem to have much to do with me. I was just here to earn some money, so who cares? I'll go to sleep after I'm done!

The obese man went home today. Seeing that we had all finished our work, he specially prepared a late-night snack for us. Fan Biao and I had been cooking for most of the night, and we were starving.

When Grandpa Wu said to start eating, the group didn't stand on ceremony and began to eat and drink heartily! After two glasses of baijiu, I felt dizzy. My alcohol tolerance isn't particularly high, and when I drink, I tend to become a repeating machine, repeating the same thing over and over again.

I was afraid their argument would spill over to me, so when I saw that it was about time, I sent Lao Fan away to do our own thing.

After washing up, Lao Fan and I lay down in bed. Grandpa Wu was fast asleep as usual, while Fan Biao checked his bag, muttering to himself in confusion, "Huh! That's strange, where did it all go?"

Still dazed, I asked him, "What are you looking for? What's missing?"

Fan Biao smiled helplessly, "I forgot where I put Old Qiu!"

I was a little surprised. He had put it in his bag last night, and hadn't taken it out today. He was also a bit confused, carefully recalling the events from last night to today. He didn't seem to have touched his backpack, and nothing was missing from it, except for the small bottle containing Old Qiu's ghost!

Fan Biao became increasingly suspicious. His playful and confused expression turned serious. He calmly said to me, "I think someone took advantage of our busy schedule and touched my bag! But why would they take the bottle containing Old Qiu's ghost?"

I was completely bewildered. Who would be so bored as to go and steal a bottle from Fan Biao's place alone? I didn't know what to say, but seeing that he seemed to have something on his mind, I asked him, "What will happen if we don't find Old Qiu's ghost?"

Fan Biao said to me with a serious expression, "If we don't find him now, it's not a big deal. At most, the old man will become a helpless wandering ghost. The real danger is that some malicious person might take his ghost to do evil or seek revenge."

What he said made sense to me. So who stole the bottle? I was a little confused and uncertainly thought of the three monsters, but those three monsters knew Bai He, and Bai He had saved them; they had also killed Old Man Qiu. I hesitantly asked Fan Biao, "Uh, could it be those three monsters?"

Fan Biao shook his head: "It shouldn't be them, because there were so many people today, it's impossible for them to appear among so many people unnoticed. After all, they are animals. Their transformation magic can only deceive a few people, but the way they look after transforming is obvious to anyone with eyes. They are monsters. How could they possibly sneak in and rummage through my bag?"

I thought that made sense, but who exactly took the bottle containing Old Qiu? I was completely baffled. Then I remembered Fan Biao's device: "Could your watch retrieve him?"

Fan Biao said helplessly, "I don't know either, we can only try. If we don't find him, it doesn't matter if the old man's ghost becomes a helpless wandering spirit; what we're afraid of is that something unpredictable might happen!"

Despite being drunk, Fan Biao took out his watch, a chain, and yellow paper talismans from his bag. Seeing what he was about to do, I asked him, my head still spinning, "Shall we go out and look for them now?"

He nodded: "There's no other way, we'll just have to see if we can find it. It's not convenient here, let's go out first!"

Fan Biao and I got up. I didn't know if we could find it. I took a candle from Fan Biao's bag. He was a little curious: "We're carrying a flashlight. A candle is a bit inconvenient."

But I already had my own ideas. Since I was with Lao Fan, and he had the Three Pure Ones' God-Slaying Technique, I'd try out my self-taught Three Pure Ones' God-Transmitting Technique. Since my God-Transmitting Technique could summon that female demon Chang Qingqing, it could definitely summon other deities too! Because the God-Transmitting Technique records that it's not just for summoning ghosts and demons; its true purpose is to summon deities!

So I shook my head and said to Fan Biao, "Brother, I can't always let you do the dirty work. I'm afraid you won't be able to find Old Qiu's ghost later. I want to try using my teleportation token!"

Fan Biao suddenly realized: "That's right! I almost forgot about it if you hadn't mentioned it. You have the Divine Transmission Technique, finding a ghost is a piece of cake for you!"

We then left the room, and the people guarding it and those playing mahjong looked at Fan Biao and me curiously. The portly old man Qiu's son, seeing us heading out so late at night, asked us with interest, "Hey, you two young masters, where are you going?"

We couldn't very well say we were going out to find your father, as that sounded like an insult, so Fan Biao told him, "We're going out to perform some rituals. Don't get close; there's evil energy there. Watching will bring bad luck, and you'll lose at cards every day. Don't be curious and follow us!"

Old Fan and I walked towards the village entrance. In the quiet darkness, we reached a public toilet behind the village committee building. After checking that no one was around, Fan Biao used his device to check. He was making hand gestures while looking at the device on his wrist. But the green light flashed and then disappeared.

Fan Biao tried several times, but still couldn't find the location of Old Qiu's ghost. Seeing that he really couldn't find it, I comforted him and said, "It's okay, how about I try using the teleportation token?"

Fan Biao sighed helplessly, then nodded: "Alright then, see if you can find a local deity to come and ask."

I looked at Lao Fan, hesitating for a moment, a little shy. Fan Biao stared at me blankly, and seeing that I hadn't moved for a while, he asked, "What's wrong, brother?"

I felt a little awkward: "Uh, well, I'm a little embarrassed!"

Fan Biao was speechless for a moment, then chuckled and said, "Damn, what's there to be embarrassed about between us brothers? Go ahead and mess with your brother, I won't laugh at you if you fail!"

I was a little speechless and embarrassed, so I gave an awkward laugh: "Then I'll give it a try!"

Then I took out a candle and placed it in my left palm, preparing to make hand gestures with my right hand. But just as I was about to speak, I suddenly remembered something and said hesitantly to Fan Biao, "Uh, old Fan, I think I only remember one incantation. I don't know how to directly invite the gods to help!"

Fan Biao was somewhat speechless. He asked me helplessly, "What kind of mnemonic rhyme did you use before, brother?"

I said to him sheepishly, "I only used it once, and I managed to summon that vixen Chang Qingqing!"

Fan Biao asked me curiously, "Is she a fairy?"

I shook my head. Fan Biao asked again, "Ghosts?"

I shook my head again, and he looked speechless. "Then what is she?"

I thought about it for a moment, then said to Fan Biao, "She said she was a deity, a local deity, but she's a monster!"

Fan Biao understood immediately and then said to me, "Oh, he must be a wandering immortal! Inviting a wandering immortal would be fine, after all, wandering immortals are worshipped by people, and it is their duty to manage the surrounding environment and affairs."

I nodded, intending to take a deep breath to calm myself, but the place next to the public toilet was just too smelly.

I calmed myself, then began chanting while making hand seals: "All things in heaven and earth return to Yin and Yang, the two energies of Yin and Yang roam the four directions. If an immortal obtains the energy of Yin and Yang, he will surely attain a long immortal position. The energy of Yin and Yang returns to heaven and earth, one pure and one turbid transforming into Yin and Yang. The left hand is Yang, supporting the lamplight; the right hand is Yin, pointing to the four directions. Above, it points to the heavenly palace of immortals; below, it points to the earth where ghosts and demons hide. Juniors need your assistance in transmitting divine teachings, and you must keep in touch with those who convey these commands!"

As I chanted the incantation, I felt the surrounding temperature begin to change slowly. The candle in my left hand was the same as last time, but its color was different. A tiny golden flame appeared out of nowhere on the wick. Fan Biao and I watched the rice-grain-sized golden dot on the candle wick; it actually flickered, then slowly grew larger at a visible speed until it turned into a swaying golden spark.

The golden light illuminated the surroundings, and I suddenly felt a gust of wind blow by, but the golden flame on the candle remained completely unaffected.