??

  "Are the talismans drawn by you Taoist priests really that powerful?" I asked Tong Hetu, it's very difficult to catch him once a year, now he lives in Hong Kong and comes back once a year, only at that special time can the probability of seeing him be higher.

  He is still the same as when he was a kid, our conversations are always so down-to-earth. He looks harmless with his pale complexion, just like any other person. Swirling the wine in his cup, it's self-brewed corn liquor, a few yuan per kilogram, there's a workshop in the village that has been doing this for decades. Using River Tu's words, it's still a familiar and admirable taste. For the sake of drinking, his master didn't spare him from beatings, this kid is good at everything, but he used to be especially fond of wine, stealing sips secretly.

  "My drawing skills are not great, sometimes useful and sometimes useless, far inferior to those of my master." His drinking capacity is much better than mine, and when talking to him, I am always in a half-drunken state. Seeing that I was interested, he dipped his finger in the wine cup on the table and started drawing for me: "You see, what I draw belongs to two categories: one is tangible but lacks spirit, often unable to capture the essence inside; in modern terms, it can only be considered a high imitation. Two, I don't have that big seal, you've seen TV dramas, right? Those generals in ancient costume dramas who hold the tiger tally can mobilize thousands of troops and horses."

  I've seen this before, it's usually the plot where the emperor bestows a tiger tally to a general who is about to go on an expedition, or when a general gives the tiger tally to one of his subordinates, and with this tally, they can mobilize troops.

  Actually, the talismans drawn by Taoist priests are similar to their principles. The soldiers in this army recognize the tiger talisman but not people. Whoever has the talisman in hand can give orders, and there must be no mistake; violators will be punished according to military law. That's why it often happens on TV that a group of people fight each other to death for the tiger talisman symbolizing military power.

  Taoist talismans are also like this - they don't care about your level as a Taoist priest or whether you're really a Taoist priest; as long as you can draw them out, you can mobilize the abilities of all beings from the land deity to the Golden Immortal. Actually, these talismans aren't issued by Taoist priests but are given to them by the gods.

  It's just like when an emperor grants a tiger talisman to his generals; the generals use the talisman to command the army, but in essence, this army ultimately still belongs to the emperor alone.

  I used to think that talismans were a kind of magical technique used by Taoist priests, but later I came to understand that they are actually a certificate. It's an agreement between certain Taoist priests and the gods in their hearts. As long as you have this certificate, you can use divine power. So, later on, I understood another principle: those colorful talismans are just like the countless gods and immortals of legend - if you believe in them, they might be useful; if you don't believe in them, then they're naturally useless...

  Zha Wenbin's talismans, each with a base that needs to be printed first. He has a large seal engraved with the four characters "Tianshi Dao Bao" in seal script, which is usually wrapped in a bright yellow silk cloth and carried with him at all times.

  The door knocker on the gate was clattering away, and the few street lamps outside the courtyard suddenly flickered a few times before going out one by one. At that time, Shanghai's nightlife wasn't as lively as it is now, so no one would have noticed the street lamps outside this old mansion going out.

  That big rooster, now crestfallen, cowered on the steps behind the gate, its head hung low and neck shrunk in as if it had been defeated. Cha Wenbin narrowed his eyes, lantern in hand, but saw nothing unusual - the door to the inner room was open. He looked like a loyal old servant, lightly shaking out his pant legs before placing one hand behind his back and quietly turning into the house.

  What do yin spirits look like? If I remember correctly, I've actually seen them before. Unlike the black and white impermanences with long tongues on TV, they don't have pointed hats on their heads or mourning staffs in their hands. They're just a blurry shadow.

  By the brazier in the house, Cha Wenbin also didn't make a sound. The lantern hung on one side and quietly added paper money to the basin. His eyes were dripping with cow tears. This thing isn't easy to handle. Yesterday afternoon, he asked the steward to go to the slaughterhouse to get it. It was obtained from an old yellow cow before it died, collected in a small bottle and brought back. This is not recommended to imitate. Firstly, it's not hygienic and it's easy to infect your eyes. Secondly, after applying it, you might see some things that you can't normally see, which can give you mental shadows.

  He wasn't the first time dealing with those little demons, muttering to himself as he burned paper, just asking those old masters to take good care of the person they were going to take away tonight and promising them some benefits. If it was usual, these Yin messengers would not stay in the house for a long time, they belonged to extremely yin things, this Yang house was originally where people lived, staying too long would make people uncomfortable living here afterwards.

  Usually, if someone dies in a household, they will feel the house is very cold and gloomy for about half a year after the death, especially where the coffin was placed. In fact, most of it is just the yin energy left behind when the yin messenger comes to take people away. In cities, the dead are usually placed in hospital morgues or funeral homes, and they often die on hospital beds. However, in rural areas, almost all deaths occur at home, which is also why rural funerals are more lively than those in cities - more people means more yang energy.

  Tonight, those two guys don't seem to be leaving yet. Cha Wenbin got up and scattered a few more handfuls of paper money, sang a few small tunes, thinking that I'm urging you to leave quickly, but the damn thing to be taken away is in the coffin!

  There were two little ghosts, one seemed to be measuring the house, and the other was taking their belongings, seemingly satisfied with Zhang Wenbin's contribution. These are all high-quality paper, generally speaking, there are four types of hell money: gold paper, silver paper, god paper, and paper money. Gold paper was used in the past to worship gods and emperors, while silver paper can be used to make yuanbao, which is used by wealthy people to worship their ancestors and gods, and the yellow paper we ordinary people use is the most common type of paper money, which is burned during Qingming Festival. God paper is rarely seen and is also the most mysterious, only used in some very special places, and even fewer people can make it. Once, I and He Tu saw a five-colored paper with exquisite patterns during the rebellion at Zhang's house, and that kid said it was god paper, but we stole it to make kites.

  Tonight, Cha Wenbin specially used gold and silver paper, especially the gold paper, which had gold foil on the outside. The two little boys in the Yuanbao suit had their arms full of it, and the ordinary paper money was even more abundant on the ground. The incense sticks were from Shanghai City God Temple, and the housekeeper specially asked the abbot for them. They were top-grade products from Yunnan Province, known as "divine fragrance" that made people stumble when they smelled it.

  Here is the translation:

  "That's all said and done, the money has been given, and Cha Wenbin thought his attitude was sufficient. So he plucked up the courage to ring the bell loudly: 'In front of Xiaozidang, the coffin is lifted; on both sides of the altar are the guardians of the law. First, we invite General Zhao Hei to lead the way with a whip and ensure safe passage. The door gods guard the left and right, while the twenty-eight constellations protect the treasure coffin. This is not a place for the spirit to linger; let the deceased head west for a spell!' What he was shouting was an incantation to lift the coffin, meaning that the deceased should prepare for burial, urging those two little ghosts to hurry up and take the person away. I'm busy now."

  Zha Wenbin stood at the door with a lantern, that was to see off the guest. The little ghost seemed not to want to leave yet, he turned his head and took a look, good guy, a little ghost seemed to be walking towards the stairs...

  The little ghosts are not lonely wild ghosts who like to wander, they have strict rules about when they come out and when they leave, just like our punch cards for work. As the saying goes, if Yan Wang wants you to die at three o'clock, he won't let you live until five o'clock, this is very punctual, according to folklore, the Book of Life and Death is accurate to the minute without any error. Seeing that something was not right, Cha Wenbin hurriedly turned his head back, at that time he was still a bit pale, gritted his teeth and took out a colorful divine paper from his arms.

  Don't underestimate this paper money, not to mention its craftsmanship is complex. As far as I know, the existing divine paper won't be more than Tang Bohu's true work. To put it precisely, it's not ordinary paper money at all. It's as big as a table surface but thin as a cicada's wing, and when folded up, it almost has no weight, emitting a mysterious and elegant fragrance throughout its body.

  Have you seen a whole sheet of money? It's an uncut sheet of renminbi, this thing is a whole sheet. Zhang Wenbin carefully tore off one from the middle and waved it around, and sure enough, those two little ghosts were immediately attracted over. I've played with that before, each sheet consists of about ten sheets of paper, each with colorful patterns printed on it, similar to ancient silver notes, and also has a seal. The Tianzheng Dao has only three editions of this divine paper in the world, said to be stolen by Master Ling Zhengyang from a certain thousand-year-old Taoist temple, Zhang Wenbin now holds half of this edition, with only five sheets left.

  This person and the little ghost communicated in their own unique way, like a Taoist reciting scriptures, ordinary people couldn't understand it at all, that's called ghost talk. Zha Wenbin didn't actually understand ghost talk either, he didn't even know what those scriptures meant when he was reciting them, but both humans and ghosts are the same, they open their eyes when they see money, as the saying goes "money can make a ghost push a mill", Zha Wenbin waved that thing around, pointing at the coffin and then at the door.

  Those two little ghosts were also shocked, thinking that this mortal could still recognize them? Good guy, then try it out. One of the leaders, who was about to go upstairs, pointed at the floor above, meaning he wanted to take a look. Zhang Wenbin hastily made another series of gestures, pointing at the coffin and the clock on the wall, telling the other side that time was up, and if they didn't leave now, it would be unlucky.

  Actually, ghosts are much smarter than humans, they can see that there's a problem with this coffin. The little ghost turned his eyes and stretched out two fingers towards Cha Wenbin, what does it mean? I have two brothers here, how can we divide one spirit paper between us?

  Got it, Cha Wenbin finally understood. Today he met two greedy ghosts who wanted money, so he gave them some. This was his first time doing business with the little ghost. As the saying goes, once you start, you'll do it again, and from then on, he got used to dealing with the little ghost. The Taoist temple became even more prosperous and bustling.

  Two sheets of incense paper were burned, and the fragrance filled the entire room, almost suffocating him. The two little ghosts were overjoyed, as if they had ascended to heaven. What is this? It's something used by the emperor to worship heaven and earth. Those two don't have the qualifications to use such a thing, it's like when ordinary people settle accounts with RMB, but the other party directly gives you two pigeon egg-sized diamonds instead.

  As expected, one of the little ghosts held a chain-like object in his hand and gently waved it towards the coffin. A woman's shadow "floated" out from the coffin. When escorting the woman away, the two little ghosts kept winking at Cha Wenbin with excitement. After sending the two gods out the door, Cha Wenbin completely collapsed to the ground. He had just finished the first batch, and there was still a second batch of souls waiting for him...

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