The Little Demonic Cultivator in the Courtyard: Borrowing 100,000 Japanese Pirates to Heal

The three deaf elderly women walked west along Nanluoguxiang, turning into several alleys, and finally found a small temple.

The temple wasn't big, and the incense wasn't very strong, but in this chaotic world, it was already quite an achievement that the temple gate wasn't smashed by the Japanese.

The deaf old woman stood at the temple gate for a while and saw a monk squatting on the threshold peeling peanuts. His gray robe had several patches, but the ordination scars on his head were genuine.

The deaf old woman stepped forward, put her hands together in a gesture of respect, and recounted what had happened the night before. First, someone saw a dark shadow climbing over the wall in the middle of the night, and then there was the ghost sighting. Everyone in the courtyard was so frightened that they couldn't sleep, and they wanted to ask the master to perform a ritual to help them pass on to the afterlife.

After listening, the monk patted the peanut shells in his hand, stood up, put his palms together in return, and said, "Amitabha. This humble monk understands and knows a little about the methods of deliverance. I am willing to share your burden."

The deaf old woman looked him up and down and thought that the monk's words were reliable enough, and the ordination scars were not painted on. So she nodded and said, "Please come with me, Master."

When Monk Liaoran returned to the courtyard with the deaf old woman and the other two, it was almost eleven o'clock.

Yi Zhonghai and Xu Jiande have already gone out to patrol.

He Daqing stayed in the courtyard. He was a cook, not a steel mill worker, and he was free in the morning.

The deaf old woman asked He Daqing and others to help move a few tables and place them in the middle of the courtyard.

He Daqing brought out his own small square table for meals, and the third aunt brought a bench from the backyard. They put them together to form a simple altar.

The deaf old woman went back into the house and took a piece of yellow cloth, which she then laid on the table and placed the incense burner and candlesticks on top of it.

An older woman brought out a bowl of white rice from her house, and a third older woman brought out a plate of steamed buns, which they placed neatly on the offering table.

Hearing the commotion, Jia Zhangshi came out of the house. Although her legs were still trembling, she couldn't be absent from the ritual.

She felt that if the monk really had the ability to drive away the ghost, she would be the first to feel at ease.

The monk Liaoran had the deaf old woman lead him around the courtyard, and at each place he would put his hands together and recite a few sutras.

He paused when he reached the three pools of blood covered by yellow soil in the middle of the courtyard. He lowered his head and muttered something for a while, his voice so low that the people next to him couldn't hear what he was saying.

After reading it, he looked up at the courtyard wall, then at the window of Jia Zhangshi's room, and nodded thoughtfully, as if he had really figured something out.

After finishing the chanting, Monk Liaoran stood in front of the altar and took out a stack of yellow paper talismans and a bronze gong from his cloth bag.

He pasted the talismans one by one on the four corners of the courtyard wall, then took out a copper bell from his cloth bag and walked around the courtyard while ringing it. The bell sounded crisp and urgent, as if he wanted to drive away something unseen.

After walking around three times, he returned to the altar, picked up the gong, and struck it hard.

With a loud clang, the sound of the gong shook the paper windows, and everyone present instinctively took a half-step back.

Jia Zhangshi covered her ears, but her eyes were fixed on the monk's hands, as if afraid of missing something.

Sha Zhu emerged from the courtyard at some point, squatted down beside He Daqing, and looked up at him with great interest. Liu Shi grabbed him and pulled him back into the house.

After striking the gong, Monk Liaoran took out a willow branch from his bag, dipped it in water, and sprinkled it into the air a few times, chanting, "Sweet dew cleanses, evil cannot invade."

After sprinkling water, he picked up a steamed bun from the altar, broke it into several pieces, threw one piece into each of the four corners of the yard, and put the rest back on the altar, saying that this was an offering for wandering ghosts, so that they could eat their fill and go on their way, and not linger in the human world any longer.

Having done all this, the monk Liaoran put away the gong and bell, put his hands together in prayer, and said to the deaf old woman, "Amitabha, the ritual is complete. This humble monk has already exorcised the resentment in the courtyard, so all benefactors can rest assured."

The deaf old woman and the others were very happy to hear this and thanked the master.

Unexpectedly, Master Liaoran said again, "The yin energy in this courtyard is heavier than I expected, but if you stick talismans in the four corners, you should be safe for seven days. I will come back to stick them in seven days, and stick them in three times in total, which should resolve the problem."

The deaf old woman thanked him repeatedly and took out a few crumpled bills from her pocket and stuffed them into the monk's hand.

The older woman and the third woman also took out their money. Jia Zhangshi hesitated for a while, but finally took out a few cents from her pocket and put them on the altar.

He Daqing and the others also contributed some money. The monk put away the money, put his palms together in prayer, glanced at the talismans at the four corners of the courtyard wall, and then turned and left the courtyard with his staff.

During this process, Bai Ling, who was helping out, always felt that this monk was somewhat of a fraud, wondering how he could exorcise ghosts so easily.

Of course, more importantly, Bai Ling is a party worker and doesn't believe in this.

Of course, this monk, judging from his appearance, acted quite seriously.

……

When Xu Jiande returned in the afternoon and heard Bai Ling mention the matter, he just smiled.

Bai Ling asked him what he was laughing at, and he said nothing, he just thought that monk was pretty good at bluffing.

Bai Ling looked at him with suspicion, feeling that there was something hidden in his words, but she didn't press him for details.

Around 11 p.m., Xu Jiande resumed his practice.

He was still sitting cross-legged on the bed, and he still separated a small wisp of resentment, which condensed into an invisible snake.

This time, the target is not Jia Zhangshi, but Yi Zhonghai.

During the day, when Yi Zhonghai was listening to the training with him in the camp, he brought up Bai Ling's background again, saying "we are all neighbors and look out for each other" while his eyes kept glancing at his reaction.

Xu Jiande didn't say anything at the time, but he had already made a mental note of Yi Zhonghai's actions.

An invisible snake slithered through the wall and silently entered Yi Zhonghai's house.

Yi Zhonghai was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), with an older woman sleeping next to him, her breathing steady.

The snake slithered to the top of Yi Zhonghai's head and poured its icy resentment down his head.

This time, the amount of liquid administered was slightly more than when dealing with Jia Zhangshi last time, enough to let him experience true fear, but not enough to leave any lasting effects.

Yi Zhonghai suddenly shivered in his sleep and began to dream.

He dreamed that he was standing in Caishikou Square, surrounded by people, but they were not living people.

Those were people he had reported, those he had led the Japanese to capture, and those he had identified at the execution site.

They all stood in the square looking at him, their eyes vacant and their faces expressionless.

Then they walked towards him at the same time, slowly, but getting closer and closer.

Yi Zhonghai wanted to run, but his legs felt like they were nailed to the ground. He wanted to shout, but his throat felt like it was filled with cement, and he couldn't utter a single word.

The old woman walking at the front was the widow he had reported a few days ago for burning incense at home. She walked up to him and reached out her cold hand to grab his neck.

"A ghost!" Yi Zhonghai suddenly jumped up from the kang (a heated brick bed), his hands flailing wildly in the air, his voice muffled and hoarse, carrying a fear that seeped from his very bones.

The old woman was so frightened by him that she rolled off the kang (a heated brick bed), her knee hitting the blue brick floor, and she gasped in pain.

Yi Zhonghai didn't even glance at her. He huddled in the corner of the kang (a heated brick bed), hugging his knees, his whole body trembling like a leaf.

His eyes were wide open, but his pupils seemed unable to see what was in front of him. He kept repeating the words "Don't come any closer" over and over, his voice growing softer and softer.

In the end, it turned into a muttering that no one could hear.

Soon, one by one, the lights in the courtyard were turned on.