[Ghost Stories In Yichang 1: The Strange Way]

The next day, Wang Ba got up at dawn. He found that other people in the yard had already gotten up and were sitting in the pavilion in the yard. Wang Ba thought he had gotten up very early, but he didn't expect that others had gotten up even earlier.

Wang Ba had roughly thought of the layout of this courtyard last night, and without delay, he walked to an angle. He walked to the leftmost end of a row of bungalows and the first door he approached. Wang Ba stood there for a while, then pushed the wooden door, which was ajar, and opened with a sound.

There were no seats or furniture in the room, just a great Bagua drawn on the floor, that was all.

Lao Yan sat in the center of the Bagua, not the exact center, but at the mouth of the Yin fish. His eyes were closed, but he knew that Wang Ba had come in, so he waved his hand toward the corner of the room. Wang Ba understood and walked gently to the corner and stood there.

Wang Ba saw the eight trigrams around Lao Yan, except for the two trigrams Qian Qian Kun, all of which had ghosts standing on them. Lao Yan's method of controlling ghosts is indeed very profound. The Taoist method of raising ghosts is an orthodox method of controlling ghosts. However, the folk charlatans only want to achieve quick results, and they are willing to use their own blood to raise ghosts, even at the cost of being attacked by the raised ghosts. They turned this bright and upright magic into a crooked way. But Lao Yan's method is absolutely an authentic method of controlling ghosts.

The six ghosts around him all stood upright, quietly following Lao Yan's breathing and practicing together.

Lao Yan is indeed practicing the way of immortality. Wang Ba still cannot accept it. Gui Dao does not agree with cultivating immortality. Wang Ba himself also thinks that cultivating immortality is a vague thing. But the magic of Lao Yan in front of him is indeed cultivating immortality. Wang Ba can't see a trace of coldness from the ghost controlled by Lao Yan. From this, he knows that Lao Yan's skills are really pure.

Old Yan's week ended. He said to Wang Ba, "To make a long story short, I have to go out again today. You have to stay here."

"Where are you going?" asked Wang Ba.

"Something happened in Laoshan." Lao Yan replied, "This is a private matter of the sect, so I won't take you there. You stay here. If I don't come back in half a year, you can leave Beijing."

"No, my master…"

Old Yan threw a string of copper coins on the ground, looked at them, and said to Wang Ba, "You and Zhao Yier, your relationship as master and apprentice has ended."

"Master, is there something wrong?" Wang Ba Dahe said, "I have to say goodbye now."

"Things that are predetermined by the hexagram, you don't believe in fate?"

"I don't believe it," said Wang Ba. "I believe it can be changed."

"How do you change it?" Old Yan asked, "Can you get back Zhao Yi'er's soul?"

The turtle was stunned.

"If you have this ability, why did you come to Beijing with me?" said Lao Yan.

"Since you are saying that something bad will happen to my master," Wang Ba replied, "there is no point in me staying here."

"Okay, as you said, you go and turn it around." Lao Yan said, "Then you have to learn something before you go back. You can learn my Liangyi Ghost Controlling Technique and call your accomplice to give it a try."

"But my master…"

"Nothing will happen to your master this year." Old Yan asked, "You still have seven months."

"How much can you learn in seven months?" asked Wang Ba.

"How much did you learn before you followed Zhao Yier?"

"Master only taught me to enter the Yin and follow the way. The techniques I used were actually what I learned in the past."

"It took me twenty-three months to learn how to control ghosts," Lao Yan paused, "You only have seven months."

"I can do it!" Wang Ba answered firmly.

Old Yan stared at the bastard for a while with an expressionless face, and said, "I hope I am not wrong about you."

Wang Ba said: "I never let anyone down."

Lao Yan changed the subject, "After I leave, you can walk around, but you can't leave Beijing. You can enter any room here, and how to enter depends on your ability. No one will stop you. Even if you want to ask others for advice on magic, that's no problem… Here, take it." Lao Yan threw a work card to Wang Ba.

Wang Ba looked at the card. It was just an ordinary work card with a laser barcode. It said "China National Taoist Association*****"

Wang Ba hung his work card on his body and said, "I don't think I have time to go out. Seven months is too short."

Lao Yan stood up, sighed, and said to Wang Ba, "You can get out."

The turtle stood still.

Lao Yan asked, "Do you have anything else to do?"

"I have something I haven't figured out yet." Wang Ba asked slowly, "Since you believe that everything in this world is predetermined… then why have you been running around for so many years?"

Old Yan narrowed his eyes and looked at Wang Ba without saying a word. The room was quiet for a long time, and Old Yan said: "Someone asked me this question once…"

"Is he my master?" Wang Ba asked, "Did you know him back then?"

"I hope you know how to follow God's will better than Zhao Yier." Old Yan signaled Wang Ba that he could leave.

Wang Ba returned to his room, unable to calm down, and kept thinking about what happened between Master and Lao Yan. Lao Yan seemed very disappointed with Master. Why?

Wang Ba thought for a long time, walked out of the room, went to the southwest corner, and entered a room. As he expected, this was the library, which was full of Taoist books. The Daoist Canon was placed near the door. Wang Ba didn't have any hobbies, he had read it a long time ago.

But halfway through the walk, I looked back and found that many of the books were ones I had never read before.

Wang Ba couldn’t put the book down after he picked it up. Wang Ba endured it and walked to another bookshelf. He was even more surprised when he saw that these were all Taoist classics that had been lost for a long time. The first row contained Qianlouzi, Huangdi Ming, Huangdi Sijing, Huangdi Junchen, Li Mu, Jiezi, Langzhong Yingqi. . . . . . . . . .

Wang Ba immediately flipped through the pages of Li Mu. When Wang Ba was studying, he had seen some fragments of this book in some ancient books, but he had never seen the full version. Wang Ba couldn't wait to open the book and read it. Some of the methods he had been thinking about for a long time were enlightened by the words recorded in the book and became a master. After reading dozens of pages, Wang Ba could no longer think while reading. Instead, he closed the book. Leaning against the bookshelf, he slowly thought about the Taoist techniques he had learned, and verified them bit by bit.

Just as he was thinking about it, Lao Shi came in and gently called Wang Ba: "Master Wang, it's time to eat."

"It's noon so soon." Wang Ba touched his head.

"It's not noon," Lao Shi said, "it's dinner time. I looked for you everywhere at noon and came here, but I didn't see you… Fortunately, Xiao Fang told me you were here."

While eating, Wang Ba saw that his food was different from others', and that it was specially prepared by Lao Shi. Wang Ba wanted to look at Lao Shi gratefully, but Lao Shi said that this was his job and he couldn't neglect it.

A month passed in a flash, and Wang Ba stayed in the library every day. Looking at these ancient books, all of which were reprints from the Ming and Qing dynasties, he sighed in his heart that these long-lost things among the people were actually collected by the rulers of the regime. Now they have fallen into the department where Lao Yan works. If he hadn't followed Lao Yan here, he would not have known that there was such a complete book list.

Wang Ba and the other Taoists did not have much communication. But starting from the seventh day, Wang Ba also got up early and sat in the pavilion with others. But he was late on the first day. On the second day, he got up even earlier, at 2:30 in the morning, and sat in the pavilion. Sure enough, others came one after another. Everyone was not surprised to see Wang Ba coming. After sitting down, they started to do their own things.

All of them came from different sects and schools , and their methods of cultivation were different. The sects of Taoism had branched out over the past thousands of years, and some of them were already very different.

I wonder why everyone wants to come here early to practice. After carefully looking at the pavilion, I understand that the layout of this pavilion is a microcosm of the entire courtyard. The air gate of the entire courtyard is here.

When these Taoist disciples saw Wang Ba, some of them looked disdainful, while others showed a flattering look. Wang Ba knew that this was because his identity had been confirmed and he was designated by Lao Yan to take over. Of course, some of these people were not convinced, and some had already started to curry favor with him.

Wang Ba suddenly felt very bored. Taoism emphasizes tranquility and inaction, but these people practice Taoism, but their minds are on fame and fortune, which is completely contrary to Taoism. Wang Ba missed the days with the madman. Back then, they happily studied Taoist methods in school, without any purpose or intention. But now, he is just like these people, with impure intentions.

Wang Ba was so careful that Fang Zhuo rarely came in the morning. The one time he came, it was his senior brother who pulled him by the ear. He was still sleepy and was very embarrassed. Three days later, Fang Zhuo came again.

Fang Zhuo had his period every four days. After two months, Wang Ba had figured out his pattern. Although Fang Zhu was very reluctant, he still had his period.

By the third month, Wang Ba and the Taoists from other sects gradually became familiar with each other, and some of them even started talking. However, several older Taoists from Longmen and Zhengyi never took the initiative to greet Wang Ba. Whenever they met, Wang Ba would always be the one to say hello respectfully.

When Wang Ba felt that he could no longer stay in the library and wanted to walk around and look at other rooms, the Taoists who were under fifty years old all called Wang Ba affectionately: Baoyangzi.

Wang Ba decided not to go to the library and went to the fourth room in the northeast corner of another courtyard on the west side. There were several pictures hanging inside, all of which were images of Taoist Ying Tian Cheng Di. Wang Ba later took out the most popular one and took it with him.

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