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  There are two major schools in Chinese Taoism: Quanzhen and Zhengyi. However, the Maoshan school was founded by Sanmao Zhenjun during the Han Dynasty, along with Longhushan and Gezao Mountain, as one of the three major talismanic schools of Taoism. During the Yuan Dynasty, Maoshan was merged into Zhengyi Dao, which was originally known as the Wudoumi Teachings founded by Zhang Daoling Tianshi. He was famous for using talismans to drive out ghosts and cure plagues. The Maoshan school is even more skilled in talismans, and this school is the most active folk religion in the Jiangzhe region, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Southeast Asia, with countless branches, including the Tianzheng Dao of Cha Wenbin.

  Unlike Quanzhen, Zhengyi Daoists are allowed to marry.

  The Quanzhen School Taoists are monks who do not marry, eat vegetarian food and live in temples. They are also known as the Hidden Immortals Sect. Because they practice the pure and clean alchemy of solitary cultivation, they prohibit their disciples from marrying and consider celibacy an important standard for spiritual practice.

  Male disciples of Quanzhen are called Taoist priests and females are called Taoist nuns, both need to grow long hair, male Taoist priests also need to grow beards.

  While Orthodox Unity Daoists can marry and eat meat. Most of this branch are non-celibate Daoists, also called fire-dwelling Daoists in Daoism, only a few will become monks.

  There are some Taoist priests who do not leave their homes, some of whom are active in palaces and temples, while many others have no palaces or temples and are called scattered Taoist priests. These scattered Taoist priests generally wear ordinary clothes at ordinary times, live at home, work on the ground at ordinary times, and rarely wear Taoist robes or wear beards and crowns, looking like ordinary people with nothing special. Zha Wenbin is one of them.

  From a certain perspective, Quanzhen Taoists are more devout while Zhengyi Taoists are more carefree; each has its own merits.

  Zha Wenbin had actually turned this house into his Taoist temple. From the outside, it looked no different from any ordinary rural courtyard, and inside, he had even set up a set of farm tools. For several days, I also stayed there, rarely seeing him speak, except for sitting in meditation for an hour each morning and evening, most of the time he was just like a native farmer.

  I also advised him, I said these things are not suitable for him to do, we're not starving, at least in that year, I was one of the few wealthy households. But he said that's not what he wanted, he wants to find himself again in life, this person is very stubborn and hard to communicate with, I know the Old Eagle Cave incident had a huge impact on him.

  That evening, Xiaobai cooked a few dishes. This kid is quite good too. The rice was already prepared in excess, you can eat it or not, and it will be taken away when the time comes. I sat in the courtyard drinking beer, while Cha Wenbin was stewing porridge with a coal ball stove on the side. I couldn't help but say: "Are you doing this on purpose? Didn't you see that someone has already prepared food for you, yet you still want to cook your own small meal?"

  "He turned a deaf ear and said, 'You eat yours, I'll eat mine, no one's bothering anyone.'"

  "I said, are you being too sensitive? Is it necessary?" At this time, Yuan Xiaobai also walked over with a bowl and chopsticks, saying: "Xiao Yi, don't mind him, eat whatever you want to eat, I'm too lazy to serve him, come and let's eat our own."

  I put down the beer bottle and said to her, "I'm telling you, your brain is just like his, can't even turn a corner. What's good about this place? Can it compare to the Yuan family mansion or an American apartment? Running around here all day, being looked down on by others, what kind of show are you two putting on?"

  "She said irritably: 'Eat your food, can't all these dishes shut you up?'"

  These two people are in such a state, living under the same roof but not speaking to each other, not interfering with each other, and not interacting. Just a few years ago, they were comrades in arms in the same pit, how did it become like this? Sometimes I really want to pull them together, clarify things, otherwise, I feel uncomfortable just watching them, it's like I'm going crazy. But these two goods, one has a brain with no strings attached, and the other has a brain with only one string, they are not on the same wavelength, he won't even enter the same door.

  At that time, I almost never went home either, and about half a month later, Wangfei came to the door.

  What's going on? It turned out that her sister and parents were doing the 100th day, when a person dies for a full 100 days. According to custom, filial sons and daughters need to set up a table of wine and dishes to welcome the spirit back home to receive incense and fire, commonly known as "calling food". In the afternoon or at dusk, younger generations and relatives would burn incense paper at the grave, called "respecting the 100th day".

  She's a girl, how would she understand these things? Besides, isn't she still my adopted sister now? It makes sense that she came to me for advice. I glanced at Cha Wenbin and said, "You're the expert on this, I don't know anything about it."

  This matter, Cha Wenbin would not refuse and could not refuse. Emotionally and rationally, he should go take a look. So, after some thought, tomorrow I'll prepare to go to Shang'an Village. Since her family is also gone, we might as well pool our resources and hold a simple funeral for her.

  According to the rules, after a person's death, there are: doing seven, hundred days and anniversary, then three years and ten years, these are all important days. The hundredth day is just a sad moment of sacrifice, not many people come, I and Zha Wenbin, Xiaobai and Guanfei, because there are no adults to take charge, my father and mother went as dry relatives, also invited those who helped carry the coffin and mourn at that time, a total of only two tables. Early in the morning, men were responsible for buying vegetables, women were responsible for cooking and folding paper money, I and Zha Wenbin went to the grave mountain to take a look.

  The two graves of the old Guan family were together, with Old Guan and his wife buried in one joint grave, while Guan Xiao was buried alone on the left. The address was a piece of abandoned farmland that Old Guan had bought from someone for 100 yuan before he died, located inside a bamboo forest.

  When I left, I and Zha Wenbin found the problem. There were ants in and out around that grave all the time. At that time, Zha Wenbin's heart skipped a beat and said to me: "The old Guan found this piece of land for himself is not good."

  I don't understand Feng Shui, but these ants are all crawling out from the grave, I guess it's not a good thing. They're probably holding onto the old man's flesh in their hands. I lifted my foot and stomped on them a few times: "You didn't see that at the time?"

  Zha Wenbin shook his head and said, "The place was chosen by him himself. The deceased is to be respected, and following his wishes before death is also proper. However, this is not a place where yin energy gathers, and Lao Guan will likely have trouble sleeping if he stays here for too long. You come back with me first."

  Returning home, Wen Bin didn't chat with her, and directly asked Na Bangfei: "Has your father recently given you any instructions or messages in a dream?"

  "Did you have a dream?" The queen hesitated for a moment before saying, "Yes, I did. I was a bit afraid and didn't dare to say it out loud. Recently, I had a dream that he and my sister were bitten by insects, and it scared me awake several times."

  As soon as I heard that, it was indeed the case, so I told the truth: "There is a pile of ants there, Wenbin's intention is to move the nest for you, you are the only relative, this matter depends on you."

  The princess has no such experience, only looking at my father to ask for a solution. My father is what kind of temper, never believed in this set, directly shouting: "Can't sleep well, just move around, living people still know how to dry the quilt, dead people move a nest, what's the big deal?"

  "Needless to say, just move the grave, turn the coffin around and rebury it."

  "My dad didn't believe it: 'How could ants just disappear after turning around?'"

  Cha Wenbin didn't argue with him either, he also knew my dad's temper. He just said to my dad: "Uncle, I'll tell you this and you'll understand. You've seen a lot, both on the mountain and in the fields. If you don't believe me, go take a look later. Whether it's the mouse holes in the fields or the rabbit holes on the mountain, even the ant holes at the door, they all dig towards one direction. Even if the entrances are not in the same direction, as long as you dig deep enough, it's not hard to find that the paths inside the holes are actually the same."

  "My dad said, 'I know about this. In the past when we had famine, every spring we would dig up molehills to find food. Those moles are really cunning, their underground tunnels are all over the place, but as long as you find an anthill nearby and open it up, following the direction of the anthill will lead you straight to the mole's granary. Sometimes one hole can yield over ten kilograms of grain.'"

  "That's it, that's because the place is where the angry energy flows, animals are much more sensitive than humans, if they're angry, they'll stay and feel comfortable, if not, they'll feel uncomfortable. Just like how we feel particularly oppressed in some places, just like our Hong Village's big temple, no matter who lives there, it's always uncomfortable."

  "My dad nodded and said: 'Yes, walking out of that door makes me feel stuffy and uncomfortable.'"

  Cha Wenbin continued: "Where there is life energy, there is also death energy. When we encounter places with death energy, we will feel uncomfortable. Life energy is yang and death energy is yin. Places with life energy are suitable for the living, while places with a lot of yin energy are suitable for the dead. The distinction between yang dwellings and yin dwellings must be clear. The reason why there were many ants on Lao Guan Shu's grave was that the direction in which the coffin was placed was incorrect. It is the same principle as the orientation of a house's front door. If the door is not facing the right direction, people living inside will also feel uncomfortable."

  My dad listened and thought it made some sense, so he didn't say much more. As he got older, his temper actually started to get better, and he began to listen to what others had to say. If my grandfather were still alive and said these things, they would probably have gotten into another big argument.

  In the Taoist teachings, there has always been a saying about the seven passes. The so-called seven passes refer to Yunyue Pass, Shangmeng Pass, Zichen Pass, Shangyang Pass, Tianyang Pass, Yusu Pass, and Taiyou Pass, which correspond to the seven stars of the Big Dipper: Greedy Wolf, Giant Gate, Lucky Store, Literary Curve, Honest Integrity, Military Curve, and Broken Army. The seven passes represent the direction of the vital energy flow in any populated area. To identify these seven passes, Cha Wenbin needs to spend some time, which is nine days.

  After the hundred days ended, Cha Wenbin did not leave. He had to stay and help the old lady who was sleeping on the ground to solve her troubles. Of course, he would be staying at the Wang's house. However, it was inconvenient for Cha Wenbin to live here alone, after all, this was the Wang's home. So, Wang Fei said she would stay behind to cook and do laundry, and I would keep Cha Wenbin company. Xiao Bai heard that none of us were leaving, so she also stayed behind. Thus, the four young people, two in each room, spent the night at the Wang's house.

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