To release the malevolent spirits, a purification ceremony was needed, but it couldn't be done here—an altar had to be set up. s.h.i.+ Changxuan would bring them to the temple and personally perform the rites.
In addition to talismans, the Zhengyi priests specialized in the . The zhai (Retreat or Purification) and jiao (Offering) ceremonies encompa.s.sed many rites and rituals, and were both complicated and time-consuming. Leading a ceremony was a great test of a priest's skills and endurance.
Xie Lingya remembered that there was still a forlorn ghost here. The ghost must've hid, though, as Xie Lingya didn't see him anywhere.
The people from Taihe Temple came by car, and they seemed to have contacted the person in charge of the construction site because they were able to drive right up to the unfinished building. Xie Lingya greeted them. He waited for them to load up and watched them leave, before heading back inside.
"You can come out now," he said.
The ghost materialized, shrinking in front of Xie Lingya.
Xie Lingya wanted to ask him some questions, however, the ghost couldn't speak. So, Xie Lingya said, "Just nod or shake your head. I do not know how you became a ghost, but since you have helped me, do you want me to get a priest to help you pa.s.s on?”
Soon, it would be the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar, when the Ghost Festival was held. At that time, there will be many public purification ceremonies, and if the ghost agreed, he could be purified together with other wandering spirits. The ghost looked scary, but it was because the cause of his death was falling off the building—he was not a malevolent spirit, just a ghost of a person who died an unnatural death.
But the ghost shook his head fervently, refusing Xie Lingya's offer.
"All right, if you don't want to." Xie Lingya thought that the ghost might still have some unfinished business, and he didn't want to force him, given the ghost had helped him. "Then tell me your name and eight characters, I will burn incense and paper money for you first.” Anyway, if the ghost changed his mind later, it was the best he had some funds to spend in the underworld.
The ghost was quite happy with that. He squatted by a ditch, using the water from it to write on the floor. The water followed his finger, leaving wet traces. If someone else was here, they would see an eerie image of words appearing on the floor by themselves.
“Ding Aima…” Xie Lingya read the name out loud. The ghost looked up and smiled at him, which made his face look even scarier.
Xie Lingya noted down the eight characters on his mobile phone and wiped the cinnabar off his forehead with the back of his hand—he really didn't want to see Ding Aima's ghostly face again.
The divine power filling him flowed away. His eyes started to ache, which was probably a sequela of using this technique.
"Sorry, my head is killing me—I'm gonna go, I'll come back later to burn joss paper for you. Be careful from now on. You might have helped me, but if you harm someone, I will still hunt you down," Xie Lingya said towards the place Ding Aima stood when he could still see him, then headed back to Baoyang Temple.
A faint, grievous sob echoed in the air, quickly drowned out by the sound of the wind.
When Xie Lingya got back to the temple, there were still many people in the front yard. It was a bit more lively than usual.
This was because the news about the lack of mosquitoes in Baoyang Temple had quickly spread around. As the day was getting late, many of the nearby shopkeepers as well as residents who came out to exercise had heard about it, so they stopped over to have a look.
When hearing 'mosquito-repelling talisman,' most people's first thought was that the temple was deliberately mystifying things to trick people into buying talismans.
However, in this hot summer abundant in mosquitoes, it didn't stop them from coming over to see for themselves. After all, it wasn't as if they could be forced to buy talismans, so what was the harm in just looking around?
As a result, after entering the temple, the first-time visitors were all shocked.
They thought the rumour that there were no mosquitoes at all must have been a lie—at most, there would be fewer mosquitoes. But after staying there for ten or twenty minutes they found that there really weren't any mosquitoes here! Even one!
For the people who liked to enjoy the cool of the evenings out in the open, this was good news.
As for the mosquito repelling talisman, there were many people who wanted to buy it. They have seen its effect and thought they might as well try it—it was only twenty yuan anyway. Even if it was a trick, the temple had done a good enough job with it to deserve some praise.
The front yard was open-air, without the possibility of hiding anything. The visitors had looked around for a long time, but still couldn't figure out how Baoyang did it.
With the help of some high-tech equipment? With the temple being so obviously poor, how could it afford such thing?
There were all kinds of guesses and speculations. However, only a small number of people felt awe for the temple's mystic prowess and went to burn incense in the Three Purities Hall.
Zhang Daoting insisted that the temple being mosquito-free was the effect of the talismans. And of course, that was the truth, but most people still felt there must be some other reason for it.
Zhang Daoting's job was promoting and selling the talismans. He wanted to sell some other types as well, but everyone was only interested in the mosquito-repelling talismans. In the end, he sold out the stock Xie Lingya left him.
As such, he had to tell the rest of potential customers to come back tomorrow. He had no choice, Xie Lingya was not here.
So by the time Xie Lingya finally made it back, the crowd had already thinned, but there were much more people than usual, most of them regular visitors who lived nearby.
Xie Lingya, who still had the Three Treasure Sword in hand when he came in, was caught off guard.
"Hey, Xiao Xie, what were you doing? Why do you carry a wooden sword?"
"I said I didn't see Xiao Xie… No wonder, he just came back now."
When he'd left, Xie Lingya used the back door and besides, there were much less people in the temple then. Putting on an awkward smile, he said, " I… went to the square to practice Taiji sword."
The uncles, aunties, grandpas, and grandmas immediately oohed, "You're pretty good, Xiao Xie, you even know Taiji sword. Next time, you should teach us too!"
"Yeah! Why should you go practice outside? Just practice here."
"Usually, it's rather empty here, so there would be enough s.p.a.ce. It was crowded today just because the people heard there aren't any mosquitoes here. They couldn't believe it—really, I thought they were going to take out magnifying gla.s.ses, they were so determined to find one."
For these leisurely folks, it didn't matter at all why there were no mosquitoes or why the well water was so sweet.
Xie Lingya went to put away the sword. He also soaked a towel in hot water and put it on his eyes. It made him feel much better.
It was about time for the temple to close its gates for the night. Zhang Daoting came over to talk with Xie Lingya and got a shock—Xie Lingya's eyes had gone red and puffy after applying the hot compress.
Zhang Daoting: "Boss, why were you crying?"
Xie Lingya: "…I wasn't crying, my eyes are just tired."
"Oh, thank G.o.ds. By the way, I'm surprised that you even know Taiji sword."
"……" Xie Lingya sighed, "Thank you for reminding me, I will start learning Taiji sword tomorrow."
Zhang Daoting: "……"
Boss, why do you make yourself suffer…
Fighting off the fatigue, Xie Lingya started drawing talismans. He finished a certain amount, then stopped and said to Zhang Daoting, "After these are sold out, we will stop selling mosquito-repelling talismans. I'm giving you a free hand, so do as you see fit."
Today, a lot of people came to visit the temple, and many of them bought the talismans. It could be seen that the rumor about the lack of mosquitoes in Baoyang was spreading, which meant there would be even more visitors in the future. The mosquito-repelling talismans did their job, so it was time to control their number. In any case, their mosquito-free front yard was still there for everyone to see.
Zhang Daoting nodded. "All right. Actually, some people did buy other talismans, those who'd bought mosquito-repelling talismans earlier. They said they wanted to try them out too."
"That's good."
After that, Xie Lingya went to take a look at the incense burner and estimate the number of people who wors.h.i.+pped in the temple. Today, more than ten visitors had offered incense.
This might have seemed a pitiful number, but for Baoyang Temple, this may be the day with most wors.h.i.+pers this year.
Xie Lingya gone through a long fight with ghosts today, then, after returning, he did more work. He was both tired and hungry. He picked a few green onions from the backyard and made two bowls of green onion noodles for his and Zhang Daoting's supper, then headed off to bed.
In the next few days, the news that there were no mosquitoes in Baoyang Temple spread wider and wider by word of mouth, attracting a large number of visitors. Many of them did their best to find even one mosquito but all, without exception, failed.
Zhang Daoting limited the sale of mosquito-repelling talismans and took every opportunity to promote other charms and amulets which might interest people, like the ones to stop hiccuping or night crying.
In fact, many people would rather buy this kind of miscellaneous talismans than personal or house protection charms and such. Not only were the protection charms much more expensive, but it was also hard to tell if they really had some effect.
Some people also asked about other talismans, like those for love or wealth. Unfortunately, Baoyang hadn't done much research on those.
The past Baoyang priests collected many spells and techniques during their travels, but none of them focused on those areas—Baoyang's founder, Spirit Official w.a.n.g's speciality was exorcising evil spirits and curing diseases. Anyway, it was impossible for one to be good in everything.
How Xie Lingya put it, "If I knew how to draw wealth talismans, I would first stick them around our temple. We are too d.a.m.n poor!"
The first thing many people did after buying talismans was not to use them, but to take a photo and post it on social media. Most of those people were non-believers and bought talismans just to join in on the fun.
To the photos, they added comments like:
[This small Taoist temple is very interesting, it has no mosquitoes at all. It's supposedly because of the mosquito-repelling talisman… I was curious so I bought one!]
However, the effect of the talismans wasn't dependent on their faith or the lack of thereof—they worked as long as the user followed the instructions and either put them up in a house or wore on the body.
And so, in the residences around Baoyang Temple, there happened many scenes like these:
A husband who had an attack of the hiccups, used the talisman and within five minutes, the hiccups stopped. "What the f.u.c.k, I really don't hiccup any more!"
An old man with sore back and headache felt a lot better after using the talisman.
A child who often cried during the night, peacefully slept till dawn after using the talisman.
As a result, the latest messages posted by many people on social media went like this:
[f.u.c.k! This talisman is really working. Someone come explain to me how??]
[I used to mock superst.i.tions until I bought this stuff [covering my face]]
[On my knees!1An internet expression meaning: I'm so in awe I am on my knees I only bought this because the Taoist priest was handsome but the pain really became much smaller! Quick, tell me if it's just a psychological effect!]
Before, it was just the word of mouth, but now, courtesy of the internet, the name of Baoyang was spreading like wildfire.
If the news only mentioned the talismans being effective, most of people would just think it was a coincidence or autosuggestion, and not pay any attention to it. After all, it was nothing more than stopping hiccups or lessening pain, or other similarly minor things. Basically, the talismans worked because you believed they worked.
But this time, things were different. The buyers originally visited Baoyang Temple because they had heard there were no mosquitoes there!
There were no mosquitoes in that Taoist temple!
The lack of mosquitoes was just a fact—it had nothing to do with belief.
Thus, due to this distinctive feature, Baoyang Temple came to be known to a part of Niuyang City's population.
Baoyang was just next to Golden Osmanthus Street and Dawn Square, very popular locations. Though many people were simply intrigued by the unusual rumor, guessing what method the temple had used, they had still remembered the address, thinking that next time they were in vicinity, they would perhaps visit and see by themselves.
There were also some who had a brush with the supernatural, or had friends or families with similar encounters—they were willing to believe in the story. Although nowadays, the genuine mystics were rare, there used to be many of them, especially in countryside. Due to the underdeveloped healthcare facilities in rural areas, many people there went to them for treatment.
Such extraordinary people still existed even today, although very few knew where to find them. Maybe this temple was such a case.
Moreover, after seeing these social media posts, many people thought: Hey, isn't this the Taoist temple where you can fetch water for free? The one next to the pedestrian street. I only knew they had tasty water, since when was there such a strange thing happening there?
In any case, Baoyang Temple's fame has grown rapidly in just half a month. It was now quite well-known.
The number of regular wors.h.i.+ppers had increased to dozens. It wasn't all that many, but expecting that non-believers would suddenly develop faith was somewhat unreasonable. Within those few dozen wors.h.i.+ppers, most had already been believers—only some of them were new converts, who were tentatively convinced because the talismans proved to be working.
Majority of the wors.h.i.+ppers were still just casual visitors, but perhaps these casual visitors would also become regular wors.h.i.+ppers in the future.
Xie Lingya had a good night's sleep. The next day, he made a paper bag out of yellow joss paper and wrote Ding Aima's name and eight characters and name on it. This was to ensure that the offering would reach Ding Aima and not be intercepted by other wandering spirits.
Xie Lingya filled the paper bag with joss paper and lit it together with incense sticks and candles.
A few days later, Xie Lingya happened to pa.s.s by the construction site, and he went in to check up on Ding Aima.
The construction, which had stopped due to shortage of funds, resumed again—presumably another sponsor was found. Ding Aima's lonely figure floated among his former coworkers.
Thanks to Xie Lingya's offering, Ding Aima seemed more corporeal than before. He could even speak.
"Thank you for your incense and paper money, Daozhang. I guarantee I won't try to harm anyone anymore—earlier, I was just too immature and bored," Ding Aima promised the moment he saw Xie Lingya. The other day, he witnessed first-hand how savage Xie Lingya could be.
"Fine, I'll believe you. But I'm not a Taoist priest, you can call me Teacher if you like," Xie Lingya said. "Can you tell me why are you refusing to pa.s.s on? Do you have some unfinished business? Or maybe you are resentful because of your unnatural death?"
Ding Aima replied weakly, "Not really. It is just that I'm afraid of death…"
Xie Lingya: "???"
Xie Lingya: "Um… you know you're already dead, right?"
"But it happened in an instant, before I realized!" Ding Aima said, aggrieved. "At that time, I was very tired. I just didn't pay attention for a moment, slipped, and fell to my death. Luckily, I became a ghost. But if I pa.s.s on and leave this world, wouldn't it be like dying again? Closing your eyes, not knowing if you will open them again—it just feels so scary…"
Xie Lingya: "……"
What initially stopped Ding Aima from pa.s.sing on and caused him to become a ghost was his resentment about his tragic demise. Now, however, what kept him here wasn't resentment, but… fear of 'death'?
"By the way, Teacher, when spirits get purified, do they go straight into reincarnation or do they need to queue down below to wait for their turn?" Ding Aima asked. "Do other ghosts want be purified? How does it feel? Is it just me who thinks about things like that?"
Xie Lingya: "……"
Teacher… Teacher can't answer these questions!
Don't call me Teacher, call me fellow student instead!
Originally, Xie Lingya wanted to persuade Ding Aima to agree to be purified, but now he was tongue-tied by all the questions. He thought for a while, then said, anguished, "I really don't know. You know what? For now, carry on as you are. Our temple also should be holding a ceremony during the Ghost Festival. I will observe it and try to collect opinions from your fellow ghosts then."